Kooma

The moment I walked into kooma I thought that I would have a great meal. The atmosphere was awesome, but extremely loud. I was with 4 other people, but I struggled to hear them if they weren’t shouting. The child we were with started crying because he couldn’t hear anything. Then the food came… It was awful I ordered two items the spicy chicken wraps and the chicken fried rice. Both items could have been good, but they added far too many onions/​mushrooms/​vegetables. It seems like they were trying to make these items unusual, but I found that their attempts fell short. I give it a two star because of the great atmosphere and its potential to be great.

I love coming to Kooma. One of my favorite little «sushi» spots close to where we live.
Came in here for a late lunch on a Friday, although not crowded we were greeted so promptly. Sat close to the sushi bar and our waiter, Bobby came over immediately with a smile and a warm sense of welcoming. Although I didn’t see what I wanted right away on the menu he suggested items that hit the spot! The soft shell crab app is a must! Spicy tuna rolls a good favorite too. Décor is mod, but comfortable. This is hands down a great spot to eat fantastic sushi at a reasonable price in the heart of the borough. Not only can you get perfect sushi but you can also order Pad Tai… so many choices. The menu is extensive, but well diversified. A true local gem.

This used to be a very good place for sushi but after tonight’s meal, I don’t think it is anymore. Sushi rolls are smaller rolls for $ 20. Other dishes (teriyaki beef and seafood soup) we ordered were very salty. The wings were good. We advised the waiter that food was very salty. Not sure if we would return. Spent $ 100 for most of it was very salty food.

I enjoy this place, but it doesn’t blow me away. The menu offers a lot of different options, and the food is usually pretty good. I like the sushi and appetizers. The atmosphere is like a modern Asian disco; it is a cool space with lots of multicolored lighting.

I always come here because it’s one of the better sushi places in west Chester. The spicy tuna roll is definitely the best. Recently ordered a hot pot and it was pretty good. The best time to go is around lunch because it’s not crowded and the prices are lower.

Excellent variety of lunch specials. They feed you good for the price. It was a good find.

What ever i had in the bowl with the seared rice was very good. Would order again. Seafood something… service was good. Do love the atmosphere. I would go again. Didn’t experience the poor service I have in the past.

Kooma is AWESOME! Never disappointing! Try the rock shrimp tempura, pad thai and lettuce wraps! Yum!

I would give this 1.5 stars if able but the only saving grace is that the front end manager was very attentive. Kooma was once the best sushi in West Chester but seems to have let the quality of its employees and food deteriorate. I sadly picked this place for my 30^th birthday lunch with my mom and we both had a bento box and since it was a special occasion I got two pieces of uni. The server asked me if I wanted it sushi or sashimi so this was obviously a bad sign of things to come.
It took over forty minutes just to get a bento box out. By the time it had been delivered to me, the fried rice and shumai were both cold. I thought maybe the uni would be the saving grace however it tasted like ammonia. If I end up getting sick because of it this review will go down even further. I am not sure if it is worth giving this place a second chance now that there are other sushi options in West Chester. Sad to see this place go so far down hill.

Kooma is a fun atmosphere with great food. Also, the managers/​owners are very friendly! We always enjoy our dinner at Kooma!

I miss the décor and fell of the old Kooma still. I know it’s been over a year since they opened their new location but I just can’t get to liking it as much. Went there last night with a group of friends and even though it was not crowded at all, service was VERY slow. Food was still great but just not the same.

As stated in many previous reviews, Kooma definitely caters to a young, hip crowd. This was my second experience here, and both times I’ve fully enjoyed myself. Strangely enough, I’m not the biggest fan of sushi, but they have a menu that caters to the non-​sushi lover, like myself, as well, which I very much appreciate. Our waitress was wonderful. I was with a party of 10 and she was very attentive. No complaints here! For dinner I had the edamame and chicken teriyaki, and it was wonderful. The chicken was fresh off the grill and the veggies were cooked to perfection. They have a wonderful selection of drinks as well. Can’t wait to return to Kooma soon!

Hoping for more. Four visits over the course of eighteen months and there has been a noticeable decline in service and quality.
The cuts of fish have been sloppy, too large or nonexistent in the end of a maki roll. Waiting for food in a busy establishment is acceptable but I fully expect perfection when reasonable waiting times are exceeded. Kooma fails to deliver.

Was there with a few friends for a birthday party. I love the atmosphere they created at Kooma. The TV at the entrance is very nice too. However, the sushi was not well made. They sushi rice didn’t stick and there was not much integrity of each piece. My wife ordered the Korean Bulgogi, which was not all that good. In summary, I give it ²⁄₅ for food and ⁴⁄₅ for the atmosphere.

If I could give zero stars I would. The service took forever. The sushi was sub-​par, and apparently there is a «4 martini limit.» I found this out after being denied a drink, which was incredibly embarrassing for me, (as I wasn’t acting inappropriately and was taken off guard). The atmosphere was strange and the crowd consisted mostly of middle aged moms and dads. The old kooma was better.

Went on Monday night at the bar. Bartender was AWESOME, personable and attentive. Had the hung and volcano roll with udon noodles — so good to share.

We have been here twice, both during peak dining hours on Saturday. We were both surprised to find that both times, there were plenty of available seats. Even though Kooma accepts reservations, you can easily walk in and get seated right away
As mentioned in several other reviews, this place is pretty loud with an energetic and young crowd. Even with the restaurant half full, my girlfriend and I had to speak up when conversing with each other. It also doesn’t help that you sit in close proximity to other couples if you have a booth seat.
The two times I’ve been here, I have gotten the spicy kooma noodle with chicken. To say the least, it’s outstanding. Flavorful, but not too overpowering. The waiter/​waitress will ask you how hot you want the noodles. I have always requested it hot, but to be honest, the sauce is not that spicy. While this place is more known for their sushi, we feel that the prices are grossly overpriced. Obviously this isn’t a deal breaker since we will continue to come back here.
The food at Kooma is delicious. The service we’ve received is pretty great as well. We’ll continue to come back here as long as the quality of the service and food stays the way it is.

Food — good
Service — waiter personable but the wait for drinks/​food was way too long; cocktails 20 minutes after we sat… really?
Noise Level — Unforgivable!!! …when you have to lean-​in to hear/​speak with the others in your party, that is an issue. The noise level out of control/​complete madness. Does this really appeal to people, especially at these prices?
…Let put it this way ~ we couldn’t wait to leave, so why would we ever go back?

This is a great place to go for a date. The food is good. The cucumber martini is made for a hot day — cool and refreshing. Kooma is clearly trying to be young and hip.
I fear we are neither. Toddler in tow, we arrive at the restaurant. It is hot. We are going out for an early dinner (5pm) because we do not have a working refrigerator and, also, sushi sounded good. (And early so we can get in and out and annoy the fewest people with our honestly well-​behaved toddler.) The hostess gives us a once over before seating us. She is gone for a number of minutes before returning with a high chair. As we set out toddler in the chair, the toddler reaches for a plate, which we move out of her way. The hostess promptly clears the entire table and returns with plastic dishes. I understand the thought, but it was embarrassing and unnecessary.
Because it has become clear that we aren’t really the target clientele, we quickly decide what we want to eat so we can put the whole order in when the server arrives and not take too long. The server takes the drink order and before we can order food, leaves and doesn’t return until the martini we ordered was made. Then he takes the toddler’s order and leaves, returning a few minutes later with her bowl of noodles. Finally, he takes out order. This would be great service on a date.
We had vegetable tempura and a couple of very delicious hand rolls — spicy tuna and a couple of specialty rolls that were really very good. The vegetable tempura had a greta variety of veggies — one each of squash, yam, onion, asparagus, and a couple of other things.
So, the moral of the story, great good, great for a date or taking your adventurous parents when they’re in. NOT great for kids.

I’ve given this place so many tries. I’ve ordered several different things off the menu including sushi and every time I’m shocked at how horrible the taste is. People might get a kick out of the presentation or atmosphere but the food is horrible. Expensive as well.

I’ve given many five-​star reviews, but no place has deserved it as much as Kooma. The dining room is beautifully decorated, and the restaurant boasts expertly prepared food. But what really stood out to me was the service. I’ve never experienced such first-​class service at any other restaurant I can remember. My waiter made me feel that my every need was taken care of. Everything was smooth, efficient, and made to please and delight.
Food-​wise, I started with a very tasty, very light spring roll, not at all like the heavy egg-​laden Chinese ones I’m used to. It didn’t even taste deep-​fried, which was lovely for my tongue and my conscience! The vegetables were also perfectly spiced.
I prefer simpler sushi, so I had an Alaska maki and two mackerel nigiri. The maki was somewhat run-​of-​the-​mill; the nori didn’t have much structural integrity and the taste of the salmon was a little drowned out by the rice vinegar and the avocado. The maki was, if anything, too big – the fish slices hardly fit on the rice, and each piece was awkwardly more than bite-​size. It was delicious, fresh mackerel, though.
All in all, a great restaurant with outstanding service.

Looks like a dance club inside with all of its colored lights and white walls, so when we walked in for lunch I had to read the menu to make sure I was in a restaurant. Our server was delightful though and our shushi lunch was awesome so we will certainly be back.

Very Good!
We had dinner at Kooma West Chester, PA last Thursday June 4, 2015 because I had a $ 100 gift card and I was around the neighborhood so I decided to eat there. It was totally unexpected. This place is so cool. I love the modern décor and lights. I think it looks better in the evening because of the lights. The TV on the floor right by the entrance was pretty neat. The presentation of the food was very good. My sashimi and sushi were delicious. We loved the Pad Thai we ordered. Price was a little high but not ridiculous. I loved the ambiance. Our waiter, James, was so personable, friendly and wonderful. He made our dinner fun.
There was public parking in the next block so it was easy. There was a street festival in the neighborhood the evening we were there and we did not have a hard time parking.
I give the bathroom a D because the wash basins looked like urinals that I thought I walked in the mens room as soon as I opened the door. They were poorly designed too because water spills out at you when you wash your hands. That’s the only negative thing I have to say about the place.
I ate at the Kooma in Wilmington, DE which is close to me but the décor of that branch is not as nice as the one in West Chester. I do not mind driving farther to West Chester because I know I’ll be back to eat there again.

My friend and I stopped by on a Thursday to try this place out. It definitely caters to a younger crowd — the décor was sleek and mod, with so many hard surfaces (and so little sound absorption) that the volume really ramped up as the place filled up.
We ordered the rock shrimp and yakitori for appetizers. The rock shrimp was good, but the sauce could have used a little more kick — as it was, it tasted a little under-​seasoned. The yakitori had excellent barbecue flavor, which overwhelmed the teriyaki sauce that they poured on top.
However, the sushi were quite good. We ordered the Engine #6 and the OMG rolls, which tasted fresh and had great flavor combinations. Both were good sizes — small enough to be eaten in one bite with the correct proportion of rice-​to-​filling. Their sushi menu is quite varied — I was glad to see that not everything had «tempura» and that the sushi chefs played with fun flavors like jalapeño and lime infusions.
The drinks were also excellent. Kooma has a massive drinks menu that fully covers any drink combination you could possibly want. We ordered the lychee martini and water ice. They were delicious — you could barely taste the alcohol — but they were strong! We each had only one drink and felt a little tipsy by the end of the night.
Our server was attentive and helpful with drinks recommendations — however, because the place was so loud, we had some trouble hearing each other and I could see miscommunications happening quite easily. The price was decent — $ 80 total (inc. tip) for two drinks, two appetizers, and two rolls.
I wouldn’t recommend Kooma to families with small children or to people looking for an intimate romantic date, but it was a fun place to go with a friend to enjoy delicious drinks and sushi.

We sat at the bar staffed with two bar tenders. It wasn’t packed. BOTH of them within 5 feet of us did not once greet us or even look at us. The one bar tender was even cleaning the bar surface in front of us from the previous couple and STILL didn’t even extend a, «Hey– how’s it going?»
RUDE! After being ignored for 5 minutes– we left.

Ok, I gotta update my review. I know I said I wouldn’t be back, but the sushi is just too delicious to go for too long. So I ended up there again around the December holidays.
The experience was light years better than it had been since the new location opened. I’ve been back three times in the past month — embarrassing — and had three different servers: all excellent, accommodating, and friendly. Food came out at a reasonable rate considering how busy it was.
Management has improved, too. It seems like they are taking a more hands on approach. Was there this past weekend and had to wait about ten minutes for a table. We saw them take two tables apart (we were just a two top) and place them near each other. We groaned — we would be eating practically on top of another group. But management stepped in once they saw how close they really were, said nah, pushed the tables together and let us have a four top for just us two. I gotta tell you — seeing them make a snap decision about our comfort vs. seating as many paying butts in the restaurant as possible really cemented my change of heart.
So happy to say Kooma seems to be back.

Bottom line: fantastic service, good sushi, but overpriced.
Service: 5 stars
Food: 4 stars
Price: 3 stars
Went here with my wife last week and we had a great time. The place was busy and we got great service and the manager on duty even checked on us a coupe of times. The edamame and miso soup were on par with every other sushi place. The sushi itself was good. Not the best I’ve ever had and not the best I’ve had in the philly area (Check out crazy sushi in center city. Cheaper prices and better sushi.). Of course I have fairly high expectations for sushi. We live in west Chester so it’s nice to have a close place.
My biggest gripe is the price. It’s the most expensive sushi I’ve ever had and I’ve had better. Probably won’t return simply because of the inflated prices.

Excellent Asian in the heart of charming downtown West Chester.
I recently ate dinner here with good friends who just moved to the area.
The décor is modern with two bar areas and table + sushi bar seating. I would say the capacity is 100 people.
The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. We ordered 20 sushi pieces as an appetizer and they were all very good.
The standout was the beef bibimbap. I love Korean food so my standards are high. That said, this bibimbap is one of the best I have ever had (and I’ve pretty much made the rounds at Korea town restaurants in NYC). It comes in a sizzling stone pot and the beef arrives raw so you mix and cook it yourself. What fun!
We also ordered the spicy kooma noodle with shrimp. Very tasty and well prepared but a bit in the sweet side = hot sauce helped bring kick back to the dish.
Drinks were a very good sake and Sapporo on tap.
Great place for a memorable dinner!