Koban Japanese Restaurant

What a great place! Sitting here now just as in my many visits and thinking I should tell you guys it’s one of our fav sushi spots!

Going back to when they first opened I was a steady two to three times a week customer. I really don’t know why but a took a short break from Koban. Although all who know, and love eating more authentic Fair its best to consume what the chef prepares within a few minutes of it being made. I can’t really comment on some of their house roles as I can to order the most simple fair but tonight I got to take out of just three simple rolls one to know to yellowtail and five pieces of Uni everything was sensational. keep up the good work. Koban is defiantly my go to for when I’m craving and to lazy to go out. SG

I came here for lunch with the g-​friend and sat at the sushi bar. When I tried to order from the chef (who was doing everything to ignore us) I was directed to place it with the server… wow that’s a first. Why is there is sushi bar if your just going to order from the waiter. This was a Tuesday with less than 10 people who already had their food and only 1 other guy at the sushi bar. Food quality was ok a little on the expensive side though. Wait staff is ok but too eager to pick up plates. My g-​friend wasn’t finished with her food and they were trying to take her plate. I will not be returning here.

I ordered maki combo today and are very very disappointed. Instead of Sushi rolls it was big rolls of rice with minimal fish in it. Regular tuna and yellowtail rolls had half tuna and half rice instead of cucumbers or avocado. Such a waste of money and appetite for sushi. Never ordering from them again. I took pictures of my sushi rolls for reference so you can see exactly what I am talking about.

Favorite sushi/​Japanese restaurant int the Merrick/​bellmore area. The bento boxes are great, the salad, samurai style beef, chicken teriyaki, famous roll. All delicious! We go weekly.

Koban… Koban…Koban. What to say about Koban?
It used to be a great place with high quality food. The staff was never exceptionally friendly, but the atmosphere was good and the food made it worth the churlishness.
A recent outing, however, will likely be my last.
First: the newly redesigned menu is nearly illegible. Do less and do it better. Don’t get cute with lettuce wraps (served with romaine lettuce that is nearly impossible to wrap around the meat it’s supposed to contain) and «superhero» rolls (I had the Superman roll and had to send it back because there was something off putting about the taste and texture.)
Second: the prices! I’ve paid far less for far better, and left happier.
Third: the staff. My 10 year old loves to sit at the sushi bar and would have been thrilled to talk to the chefs; however, the sushi chefs only spoke to one another or watched the TV behind them (with their backs turned toward us). The waiter hovered in the corner near the sushi bar watching us eat – quite uncomfortable, to say the least – and when I asked him to take back my order, he sort of sneered before crediting me for that amount. Considering that the place was nearly empty when we were there, I would have thought the staff would be happier to see us.
As I now have to drive past at least 5 other better sushi places to get to Koban, I doubt that I will be going out of my way.

My husband and I love this place. Their rolls are amazing. We usually get the Fuji Roll, Famous Roll & Green Caterpillar Roll and they are to die for. We have tried a few other rolls and never had a complaint. We must order from here at least once every two/​three weeks. Highly recommend!

I left three pieces of whitefish sushi on my plate. Limp, no sheen, smelly.
Koban is expensive and the waiter for our table was less than welcoming. The tea was just lukewarm. Yuk. I had to force myself through the dinner.

Koban has fair quality sushi. I never had any complaints about the fish. It was just always very pricey. I used to frequent Koban until Merrick (and the south Nassau area) became densely packed with Japanese restaurants and sushi bars. Now there are many options for similar or better quality sushi.
The lighting and intimacy always made this venue good for a date.

I used to come here a lot before I realized that I could get a much better 3 roll deal elsewhere in the area. I find their sushi to be small and over-​priced and I prefer places where you can pick the rolls that come in the dinner special instead of them picking it for you. I would definitely consider coming back if they changing this aspect of the menu, and made more 3 rolls specials etc. Other than that, this place is pretty good. The tuna salad they bring out is pretty good. The atmosphere is modern and the staff efficient.

I write this review alone for their amazing sushi. While their service can be slow, almost each time I wait a good 30 mins for order, it never lets me down. Favorites: red chili crab roll, canadian roll, Tokyo roll. This place is delicious and they have a ton on the menu I have yet to try. When u have a good sushi place near your house it makes ordering in so much fun!

Koban Sushi is always fresh. Their specialty rolls are huge and presented beautifully. The sushi chef is very accommodating and will make changes to the rolls. The Japanese kitchen food is good but it is definitely the sushi that I give my recommendation for.

I love this place. Been coming for 15 years now and still the best sushi on LI. They know me by name and they already know my order!!! Now they even know my daughter and her order.

Great lunch special for the price! Love the samurai style or teriyaki choices! Good staff so far will come back for there special rolls

The sushi here is very good. The special rolls are the biggest and are the best. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere. The reason why I am giving this 4 out of 5 stars is that anything else other than the sushi is ok. This is the place to go if you only want sushi or drinks. I give it an A+ for sushi.

I ate lunch here yesterday with my husband and daughter. My daughter doesn’t eat seafood and she was very happy with her vegetarian rolls. The rolls that my husband and I shared were good, not great. Two problems: how difficult is it to buy a bottle of gluten free soy sauce. I’m glad I brought my own with me. Second: I got an order of beef teriyaki to go for my son and it cost $ 20. That’s just ridiculous. There are so many sushi places in the area that I don’t think I’ll be coming back here again.

Always the freshest of fish. Creative and different rolls (try the «shrimp bullet»)
Excellent value, especially at lunch.
Nice cuts of fish, not the anemic rice caps, you find at other sushi spots.
Friendly service (the CHEERS of local Japanese restaurants… everybody knows your name… and drink order).
THE BEST !!

Being that I am a dedicated Unilocal user I’m going to keep my comments brief and to the point.
What makes Koban’s sushi place one of my favorite places on long island?
1. Food– I highly recommend the Kamikaze Roll, Famous Roll, and Summer Christmas Roll. YUMMM… Ohhh and the Salad/​salad dressing is uh-​mazing
2. Ambience– Modern cozy atmosphere. Most important to me: CLEAN!
3. Service– Staff was very professional, friendly, and always smiling. Manager introduced himself and asked how everything was going.
4. Bar– Premium liquors, beer, wine & sake
5. Koban Rewards– Get something for nothing… hey, why not
Note: For those of you that don’t eat sushi keep in mind there is a lot of other options on the menu.

I’ve been here twice. My first experience was a decent one, but my second was not so much…
I ordered a salmon roll, and the waiter asked me if I wanted it spicy. I made sure to say not spicy at all because I just do not enjoy spicy food. Apparently he wrote down extra spicy because my tongue just about fell out of my mouth because it was on fire.
I will not go back.

So I ventured back here about a month ago for lunch. The lunch menu looked great, but they stuff their food with so much rice it was not impressive to me in the least. I also, asked for hot oil, and was yelled at and scalded by the sushi chef. He told me that it is because of the American way that people want hot sauces on «Fish that is perfect, and only needs soy sauce»…I wasn’t sure what to make of that. He also commented that it was my asking for hot sauce that «Made American People fat and unhealthy». I said that I understand that Koban’s fish is fresh, and doesn’t need any «dressings», but I liked hot oil for my sushi roll it and left it as that. He wouldn’t let it go, and then proceeded to charge me 3 dollars for the tablespoon of hot sauce, AFTER I had already pre-​paid for my lunch to take out.
I was not impressed, and being I am not into the pride profession from Chef’s…will not go back and will not feel bad posting this. I hope he reads this someday, and understands that being a chef, also involved being a business man… and if someone likes something different than what you as a chef might think is proper… it doesn’t make them wrong.
Not happy, won’t EVER be back.