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Koi Koi Sushi
Categories: Restaurants Sushi Bars Restaurants Japanese Sushi Bars, Japanese [Edit]
450 W Broad StFalls Church, VA 22046
(703) 237-0101
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11 am - 10 pm
Fri 11 am - 11 pm
Sat 12 pm - 11 pm
Sun 4 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
90 reviews for Koi Koi Sushi
Review Highlights
"the price of the specialty rolls range from 8-13 bucks."
(in 14 reviews)
"I love the James Bond Roll and Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll."
(in 13 reviews)
"my one compliant is that it was HARD to find."
(in 6 reviews)
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90 reviews in English
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Review from Charles S.
La Jolla, CA
Updated - 9/24/2011
My first ever Yelp review was Koi Koi. But when I wrote that review I was worried that Koi Koi wouldn't survive. The apartments/condos in the surrounding buildings were empty and the customers were few.
I shouldn't have worried. 7 of us had dinner at Koi Koi last night. The owner greeted us as family. The dining room was full and the California rolls are still great fun.
We all had dessert for a change. Mochi. Red bean ice cream. Fried ice cream. What a great evening.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/10/2009
Koi Koi is a great neighborhood restaurant.
The sushi is terrific and inexpensive. The decor is… Read more »
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Review from Diana C.
This is somewhere between 3 & 4 stars. I'm vacillating.
On the one hand, the rolls and sashimi are pretty good. The Hawaiian roll is tuna topped with more tuna. That's pretty much a recipe for win right there. They also have the pink lady rolls which uses tuna to wrap crab meat (instead of wrapping it with nori & rice). Delicious & a fantastic low-carb option. Similarly, the cucumber roll (the specialty rolls, not just cucumber in a bunch of rice), substituted the normal sushi substrate (say that 5 times fast) for long peels of cucumber. My only complaint is that a lot of the rolls are topped with various sauces or dressings, and everything kind of starts to taste the same, especially when all plated together.
The service has been ok on the few times I've been here. Nothing to complain about.
The prices are a bit high for some of the options, but not in the realm of ridiculous.
The space itself is small, but simple and open. The location in the weird condo complex is not really convenient to anything, though.Listed in: bad fish, bad fish, TASTY FISH
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Review from King Y.
Arlington, VA
11/20/2011
What can I say? It's pricey, the food is subpar, and there's a much better Japanese place (i.e. Maneki Neko) just a few blocks down.
I have no idea why anyone would go here instead. -
Review from Buddha N.
Annandale, VA
Over priced sushi and ehhhhh ok service.
So service here was blah, the waitress was kinda rushing us to order and had a slight attitude.
Sushi was very fishy smelling which is a sign of not so good sushi :-(
the prices were on the high side, each order was a minimum of $8-9 and simple rolls like veggie or cucumber rolls were $7 , which is almost two times more than other places .
There are better sushi spots within a 5-10 mile range. -
Review from Ryan M.
8/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Recap: Fantastic sushi and great service and location. But, a bit pricey. Excellent for a once in a while sushi binge, but probably too high price for a regular spot.
Sex on the beach roll - awesome! A must-order.
Kamikaze roll - good, but nothing special after having the sotb. -
Review from Imane B.
Falls Church, VA
10/18/2011
I had lunch a Koi Koi again today and the rolls were great!! the menu is soo big it gets kinda hard to choose!! since i'm no expert in sushi it kinda took me a while to figure it out!!
but the food was yummy and very affordable!! definetly going back there again!! -
Review from Que K.
Annandale, VA
9/17/2011
Okay this is one of my favorite sushi places for the following reasons:
1) Close proximity to where i live
2) Dog friendly! (when me and my friends have brought dogs here they bring out little water bowls for our four legged friends :D - sitting outside btw)
3) Creativity in the rolls - SOOOOOOOO many different ones to choose from.
The ones that we always order when we go here are:
1) Las Vegas roll: completely massive roll that has pretty much every fish and toping inside of it. TEMPURA'D! It has an appropriate name because it is over the top and delicious.
2) Spider roll: Soft shell crab and also tempura'd.
3) Ninja roll: This has crab on top with a very tasty sesame and mayo sauce on top.
The Interior is very "Japanese" with lots of light cedar/wood accents. Service is typically good and pleasant. I didn't give it a 5 because of the fact that parking is a pain in the butt when its busy. -
Review from Andy M.
Norfolk, VA
11/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
Quite simply, the fish was fishy. The waitress was attentive, and we received our food quickly, but it just wasn't good. It seemed that we were served food just before it was about to turn.
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Review from Daniel A.
7/22/2011
Koi Koi is a favorite among my family. The sushi is good quality. I'm not usually a fan of special rolls, but Koi Koi does a great job with the new age stuff. They don't really cater to the more sushi-traditionalists out there. I also love their green tea mochi ice cream. Sometimes they have deep fried ice cream, which is also delicious.
Also, the service is excellent. We have actually managed to go there enough that the manager recognizes us. We typically get free edemame when we go. They really appreciate their repeat customers.
My one complaint is the chairs: they are hard wood with a straight-backed. Don't go there with the intention to slouch. Also, parking can be tight, but there is a garage nearby that allows free parking. -
Review from Kaitlin E.
Fairfax, VA
10/16/2011 2 photos
The sushi rolls are pretty and colorful but I didn't think that the sushi tasted very fresh. I thought $14 was a bit steep for 6 pieces of sushi. Shoot, I can get that at Wegmans' for $6.
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Review from Sherry W.
Arlington, VA
2/27/2011
The five commandments of running a sushi restaurant:
- Thou shalt not charge more than Starbucks does for green tea, especially if thou givest the tea in a teabag
- Thou shalt not seat patrons at a warped wooden table where the menu can't even lay flat
- Thou shalt put more than 1 slice of mushroom, 1 fish cake, and 3 onions when making udon. Thou shalt be generous with veggies. Putting in a whole mushroom will not be the end of the world.
- Thou shalt not make thy udon as salty as the Dead Sea
- Thou shalt not put special sauce over rice with miscellaneous seafood bits and mushrooms and call it a roll. Thou shalt name it correctly and call it "hodge podge"
Koi Koi, thou hast disobeyed all 5 commandments and as a result, thou shalt receive only 1 star. Never again will I step through your doors -- partly because I nearly died on the rolled-up rug somebody carelessly left in the doorway, and partly because your fare is underportioned and overpriced. -
Review from Evelyn C.
Alexandria, VA
9/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
The husband and I are in search of a new sushi place that is a little bit closer to where we live. We decided to try Koi Koi based on the postive yelp reviews.
We arrived around 8:45 on a Saturday night and we were quickly seated by the friendly waitstaff. They seemed very chipper and eager to please.
The ambiance was nice, clean wooden chairs with the small sushi bar just across from the hostess area. There was also Korean pop music in the background.
We sat and scanned the menu and decided upon the large sashimi platter, the crazy roll, and the caterpillar roll. Since there weren't too many patrons, our sushi came our rather quickly. But I think I have just finished listing almost all the good things about this restaurant.
Okay, to be fair...I'll break it down:
Sashimi platter- there were two pieces of white fish, two pieces of seared tuna, three of regular tuna, and three of salmon. There was the standard shredded radish stacks beneath each pile of fish, but absolutely no rice was offered. For $20, I would expect some rice! This is a usual accompaniment to all other sashimi platters I've ordered at other restaurants. I will have to say that each piece of fish was a reasonable size and the salmon was tasty.
Crazy Roll- I think it was supposed to have some spicy tuna on the inside, and avocado and whitefish on the outside, which it did. But it also had this weird mustard sauce/drizzle over the entire roll. It was weird, and I did not want it on my fish. Clearly not a fan and was disappointed.
Caterpillar Roll- eel, cucumber, fake crab meat, with avocado on the outside. After eating a piece or two, it dawned on me that this roll was supposed to have EEL. There was so little eel in the roll that it was sad. Looking at the cross section of the roll, there was a large lump of imitation crab meat, and a tiny itty bit of eel smushed in the side of the center. So sad. So disappointed.
So really, hubby and I decided to cut our losses and not order addtional rolls because we were still hungry. For as much as we spent here at Koi Koi, we could have been thoroughly stuffed at Tachibana in McLean or Yamazato in Alexandria (and had leftovers!)
In summary:
Pros:
1. Convenient parking in the retail lot below the apartment/condos.
2. Nice ambiance.
3. Friendly waitstaff
Cons:
1. Lack of eel in a eel-centric specialty roll
2. No rice with sashimi platter
3. Still hungry when we left. -
Review from Noel O.
4/22/2011
As the two-star rating message says, "meh, I've experienced better." It had been a while since I had sushi, so maybe I was building this place up to be something better than it really could be, but wow I wasn't thrilled with my experience here. It's not exactly visible from the street, but once you get inside it's a pretty typical setup with friendly sushi chefs greeting you from behind the bar and relatively attentive service. It's rather new construction, so the look and feel of the place are fine. That's where the decent part of this review ends.
Opening up the menu, the first word that comes to mind is uninspired. This sushi menu is definitely catering to those who think that volcano role (whatever that means) is real sushi. When there are more deep fried and covered in sauce options on the menu, you've got to start questioning the direction in which this place is trying to go. Sure there were sashimi and nigiri options, but when it came to nigiri sushi, you only had the option of the number of pieces you wanted and then the staff would prepare it for you. The sushi itself was fine, but the menu is dominated by teriyaki glazed whatever the crap and rolls drizzled in syrupy sauces. This is not sushi! -
Review from Kerianne K.
Arlington, VA
9/24/2011
I think this is an above average sushi restaurant in the No. VA area, but I would say not the total best! But its great to get dinner and then jump over to Mad Fox and get a drink or two- definitly a great place for a date night!
Pros:
-HUGE variety of specialty rolls! Pages and pages and pages! And they are also all reasonably priced. I think the hardest part is choosing which ones to get!
-Clean clean clean! Everything is fresh and good ingredients.
Cons-
-It's hard to find from the road- but when you find the plaza, you have to go into the garage parking.
-(atleast every time I have been in here-) It has always been weirdly empty- there never appears to be a huge crowd in there, which is a pro since everything comes faster but as a negative- I feel like the wait staff is always watching you and jumps on you a bit quickly for everything. -
Review from Tim P.
Arlington, VA
2/7/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Yuck Yuck Sushi. Mad Fox had a wait for tables so my two friends and I ventured across the street to Koi Koi Sushi for some grub.
Now I'm not saying that the food was bad, just that it was tasteless, and the texture was off. It might be the time of day that we came (week night) or the chef who was in the kitchen (do they call it a kitchen at a sushi restaurant?), but either way, all three of us decided that the wait at Mad Fox would have been a better option.
If you want great sushi and better atmosphere a short trip up to Ballston Common Mall and Shiki Sushi will make your taste buds dance. -
Review from Krista V.
Falls Church, VA
9/6/2011
The closets I've come to Japan and truly authentic sushi, is the Narita airport on my return trip from Duabi. So I'm no connoisseur. But we love Koi Koi. It's too expensive, but the rolls are great. We almost always get the same thing. Lame, but reliable. We order the Sex on the Beach roll, the Oh Baby roll, the Sunset Roll and the Double Shrimp Roll. We almost always take out, but have had very good experiences dining in. The women who work there are very sweet and kid-friendly.
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Review from Alex N.
McLean, VA
2/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
Ok sushi GREAT Service
space is a little odd but food was good
Service GREAT
Parking BAD -
Review from Alex K.
Chicago, IL
1/13/2011
Big fan of Koi koi here. I have no idea why this place isn't more crowded but it really should be. I've been there five time and my latest visit was the best. It was my birthday and they brought us salmon bellies, a specialty roll, and mochi balls all on the house. Every roll was delicious and generous in proportion.
The service is attentive, quick, and extremely friendly.
The only bad thing about it is that it is in Falls Church. If they were located in Arlington or even DC, it would be a MUCH more popular spot.
Koi koi is good sushi wherever you are but, hands down, among the best in NoVA. I will continue to go here every chance I get. -
Review from Kim S.
9/7/2010 1 Check-in Here
I have to start this review by saying sushi is never on my list of things I'm dying to eat. However, I am somewhat of a convert after my recent visit.
They have a lot of options for people who prefer their food cooked. The Dynamite Scallop and Japanese Lasagna were truly amazing. The service was also excellent.
Not being a sake fan (or beer), I wish they had a full bar - watching my friends merrily destroy sakes while I sipped my diet coke was the only negative! -
Review from Helen V.
1/18/2011
Sashimi salad ($7)
Scallop handroll ($5)
On a day of errands, it was nice to creep up to the sushi bar, take a seat, and eat well. I wanted a quick snack and decided to try the place I've been eyeing for a while.
The chefs didn't try to converse with me, which I thought was a bit odd because I was by myself. Rather, they did their own thing and left me to my own devices. I may have subconsciously made that a reason to dock them a star, but I shall continue my review of the food and the menu.
It was a standard sushi joint menu, but I was pleased to see the sashimi salad. Being that it was present, I decided to indulge and found myself comparing this salad against all sashimi salads I have ever had. There was an abundance of fish, but of only two varieties really: tuna and salmon. They were diced and lightly seasoned with the ginger dressing, a very nice touch. The scallop handroll was also fairly tasty, but lacked my specification for spice :(. My only one request.
The place wasn't too packed, being an early dinner time. I don't think I'll be back just because there wasn't anything to hold me to this place, loyalty wise. The food was fine and that's why I'm a fan, but it's decor, ambiance, and chefs aren't so warm as keep me coming back for more. -
Review from Naomi A.
Fairfax, VA
11/22/2010
I am not someone who is critical of restaurants, but after my experience at Koi Koi, I have to be brutally honest- this is the WORST sushi restaurant I have ever been to.
When we arrived at Koi Koi, there was only one other couple dining, which is weird for a Saturday at 5pm. The service was good, minus the server leaving our rolls at the sushi bar for a long period of time. The serving sizes are NOT proportional to any other sushi restaurant I have been to. Minuscule wouldn't even begin to describe the Spicy Tuna Tataki roll. The Las Vegas roll was decent, nothing special but filling because it was the size of a normal roll. The seaweed salad and spicy tuna app is overprices for the amount of food you actually get.
If you want a decent sushi dinner for two, I would NOT recommend this place. -
Review from Sheila D.
7/9/2010
This is what Í'm talking about; SPECIALTY ROLLS!!
I finally made time to come to this place during my very busy work week, I flew in here solo, numero uno and sat at the sushi bar.
First thing I notice is all the specialty rolls; YESSSS!!!
I started getting chummy with the sushi guru (chef) and he made me a special roll made of albacore (my favorite sushi) which was not on the menu. And ofcourse he made it with soy paper;YUM!!
As I was looking thru the menu, I noticed a lot of specialty rolls named after Hawaii and they even had a tuna poki appetizer (famous appetizer from Hawaii). So my curiousity took over the best of me and I started probing about KOI KOI the company and where their other locations were, and sure enough, the other location was in CA!
Ofcourse, now it all started to make sense to me. Most sushi places on the west coast, are all about specialty rolls (which is very lacking out here in the DC metro area). So this originated in CA, hense all the specialty rolls and all the rolls paying homage to Hawaii (the closest island destination to CA).
So highlight of my tour de sushi;
1) Specialty rolls
2)Soy paper, with no extra charge!
3)abundant source of Albacore tuna!
4) Has a sister company in CA.Listed in: Super Sushi Supper!
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Review from Joanne F.
Falls Church, VA
5/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
The staff was nice, but I can't recommend this place to anyone for it's sushi. For the price,I found the sushi to be pretty disappointing. They tasted okay, but most of sushi is in the presentation. We ordered 4 rolls and each of them was falling apart as soon as they were touched. Also I was surprised that the sushi chef left served a mangled end piece on the sushi. I might be sounding overly critical, but as a Japanese person, I was very disappointed. Also the " hot" tea we got served initially was straight up cold. The server was super apologetic and fixed the tea right away, which was nice. Like I said, the service was fine, just don't expect great, authentic Japanese sushi here.
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Review from Tom H.
Annandale, VA
8/19/2011
Had not heard of it before a friend invited me despite living in the area for a long time. Received good service even though I sat outside, the waitress came out just enough to make sure we were alright and to fill our drinks, yet not too much that it was annoying.
I got the Crazy roll, which was very tasty. The spicy tuna aspect of it really made it stand out, but I would have liked to see more Albacore on top.
My only complaint is the soda I ordered came in a can, so no free refills, but that is pretty standard at all Asian restaurants.
Will definitely return. -
Review from Rebecca W.
Manassas, VA
8/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Amazing staff and the BEST sushi in town. I was skeptical going there at first especially my first time trying sushi, but the staff was so friendly even the chef greets you. They also gave me free samples of many types of sushi and that is actually how i found my favorite one... Crab Salad Rolls! if you are looking for sushi, COME HERE!
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Review from Sam F.
Annandale, VA
1/2/2011
I've been looking for good sushi in the NoVA area for a while, and while this isn't the best sushi I've ever had, it was pretty decent. I would probably give this a 3.5 if I could.
My husband and I went to dinner on a week night and ordered 2 specialty rolls (one with soft shell crab and the other with spicy tuna and eel). The roll with the soft shell crab was okay, but we both thought the spicy tuna roll was great. They have a lot of options for specialty rolls, including baked rolls, and have non-sushi options. The specialty rolls were sized comparably with other restaurants, and were flavorful and not overly doused with sauces.
We also got a couple pieces of fresh fish sushi (tuna and salmon). The fish was fresh and I really enjoyed the tuna.
The service was prompt and friendly, and we even got some free pieces of salmon belly (warm) at the end of our meal.
Overall: pricing is right, fresh, service was good, and sushi was good. -
Review from Yan W.
Fairfax, VA
Koi Koi sushi gives you the same experience as an awkward first date - you really want to like this new experience, you try your best to, but you can't bring yourself to.
It looks fine at first sight - the decor is decent, and the staff (as the other reviewers noted) are very friendly and polite. However, Koi Koi sushi is... quite frankly, boring and doesn't have many redeeming qualities. You know things are going downhill when you start to see... well... flaws. Right off the bat, you know this experience is going to be costly. Around 12$ for a roll? A picture menu? Okay, maybe it's worth that much for a roll... some people say "you get what you pay for" right? Well, there's also another saying "not worth its weight in gold."
Most importantly, there's the taste of the food. If you like the taste of grocery store sushi blanded to the "American palette" this place is for you! Nothing was anything like what I experienced in Japan. The salmon tasted a little off and the tuna was bright red, which is a sign of COs in your fish. No comment.
I decided to be adventurous and try the sushi taco appetizer and it was... different. Imaging a star Kist tuna salad mixture with mushrooms and pickles cooked warmed and mixed with copious amounts of mayonnaise, fresh lettuce, and served on a soft taco wrapper. The runny peanut butter sauce (think Vietnamese spring roll sauce) on top really didn't help any.
So at this point after the appetizers, you kind of already want to leave, but you can't. You're committed for the night and you try to be polite and pass the time by staring out the window. (As a side note, the view into the courtyard was actually quite pleasant, save for the teenage boys who kept slapping each other upside the head... who am I kidding, I enjoyed that).
There was only two wait staff, for the entire dining room so it took about 23 minutes to get the first appetizers to our table. Took another 5 minutes to get extra drinks. Their "tempura rolls" did not add to the night's ambience. Of course they are deep fried, but the rice shows signs of soaking in the deep fryer grease as opposed to a light fluffy crust. Finally, the low rating came from my "rainbow roll" with "5 different types of fish." Well, the SHRIMP (notice how that's not a FISH) in there was not cleaned properly (see photo). It was really apparent that no attempt was made to de-vein the shrimp. Like on any other date, I do not enjoy poopie on my sushi.
2.25 stars
So at the end of the night you leave full of regrets and feeling a little queasy in the stomach. Take it from me, there's plenty of other fish in this sushi sea. -
Review from Maria B.
Falls Church, VA
11/7/2010
I am a die-hard spicy tuna fan, so that's usually my litmus test when visiting a new sushi restaurant. Koi Koi passed the test on that one.
They have a widely varied menu with a nice selection of rolls, and of the three I tried, the fish was fresh and the flavor delicious. I was also impressed by their tempura options (although I thought the vegetables were significantly better than the shrimp, which was a tad disappointing).
Although the servers were all extremely friendly and polite, it took us a long time to get our order in and the spacing wasn't great in terms of check-ins for things like water refills (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) once it got busy. However, the prices were fair and the restaurant, although small, was clean and cute.
All in all, I'd recommend this place for anyone looking for some tasty sushi in Falls Church - I'm planning on going back. -
Review from Michael E.
Falls Church, VA
6/15/2010 2 Check-ins Here
The best sushi restaurant in Falls Church. The quality of fish is always high. This restaurant is also one of the few sushi restaurants in all of the DC metro area that makes California rolls with REAL crab (sushi ko in DC being the other).
The place is not a super cheap, but the quality of food is high. -
Review from Donald P.
2/12/2009 6 photos
After reading the reviews, I was somewhat skeptical of this place. Some people like it some people don't. I would say I'm in the middle. We were warmly greeted and led to our table. I like the menus because they show pictures of all the rolls...which seems to be their speciality, but the tape with new prices looks tacky.
Me and my wife ordered 3 types of rolls, 1 bowl of Udon, and 1 BBQ Chicken dish. The food was tasty, but for the money, you felt a little empty. Even the waitress warned us that the rolls were a bit small. The small salad that came with our sushi had a soy-sauce based dressing and pieces of salmon sashimi. The small salad that came with the BBQ Chicken was sweet and delicious...although I can't say it was ginger dressing like you find at many Japanese restaurants.
If you don't mind spending $25/person for dinner here, then you may be pretty happy, otherwise you'll leave disappointed.
Plenty of free parking at the parking garage. They take credit cards but not American Express. -
Review from Jimin O.
New York, NY
2/22/2008
4.5 stars! actually.
And I'm marking 5 rather than 4 because I am determined to get this place packed and bumpin'! I don't know why, but I have this genuine desire to help them get more customers. Don't ask questions, just go!
.5 off of a perfect score because I've been spoiled with awesome fresh sushi places that either had 50% off specials for all rolls or were all-you-can eat style. but koi koi is definitely my favorite sushi places in NOVA area so far.
Went there last night for my birthday. Loved it!
- friendly and attentive server
- sashimi special - albacore tuna belly - SO GOOD! Very tender, fresh and flavorful!
- menu is great with all the color pictures of every roll! prices for rolls are $8-11, and all of them were really great. I recommend a few of the crazy special rolls and a few of the fresh fish ones. yum.
- my favorites were the fresh fish rolls.
- will definitely go back again and tell all my friends to go as well.
- wasn't THAT hard to find. just turn into the back side of the panera parking lot, and you'll see it!
koi koi will definitely be a great new find. there aren't that many great sushi places around this area, but this is one i'll be recommending to friends. -
Review from Dian C.
Arlington, VA
2/10/2009
I was struck by how exceedingly happy all the employees were. Like SUPER-smiley-high happy.
The rolls were smaller than at most other places but the prices were consistent with a normal sushi joint. I looked for a salmon roll but I couldn't find one that didn't come with cream cheese or mayo (sushi is supposed to be healthy right?).
The menu was pretty extensive, but nothing blew me away. I wouldn't go out of my way for this place, like I would for Sushi-Ko. -
Review from elizabeth N.
Arlington, VA
12/18/2010
We eat a lot of sushi and this was one of the worst sushi places I have been. The rolls were small and the fish did not taste great. We orderd the combination tempura and the shrimp that came out was the frozen kind that you would buy at costco. The veg was done on site but tasted only so so. We should have known this was not going to be a good experience when we opened the menu and saw pictures.
The only upside of the meal was the service. Very friendly and attentive.
Even though we live close by we will never go back again! -
Review from Juliet K.
1/3/2008
They have soooo many speciality rolls here and for a decent price. the rolls are HUGE and stuffed with lots of fish and ingredients so definitely order as you go. that way the hot rolls will still be hot too.
my one compliant is that it was HARD to find. you can either walk through Panera and go towards the bathrooms or walk around the building on the side where all the construction is and there is a door there. very confusing. -
Review from Nat W.
Falls Church, VA
2/23/2008
I am always searching for great sushi place in DC area and I was surprised to see a Japanese restaurant in Falls Church having 5 -star rating from all yelpers so I decided to check it out today!
The good thing about this restaurant is that there are really a lot of variety of specialty rolls (baked rolls, special rolls, tempura rolls) and there is a picture menu. Unfortunately, I really have to give it 3 stars -- the quality of fish was decent but the rice doesn't taste right.
In this area, you had better go to Tachibana or Kotobuki (Sushi Sono and Sushi King in Columbia, MD are also great) for better sushi for around the same price range or pay higher and get really good food at Sushi Taro or Makoto. -
Review from Larry M.
11/15/2008
I had a sushi craving and my corporate amex burning a hole in my pocket so a quick search on Yelp brought me here.
It is not too hard to find, look for the Panera Bread and you will have found them. It was 8:30pm and there was only 1 other person in here. The inside is nice and modern.
I had the spicy tuna stuffed jalapenos. I have had these at other places before and knew what to expect. I was disappointed. The tuna had a texture and taste of ground beef. Not what I wanted.
I had a variety of sushi, toro, yellow tail and albacore. It was odd that they did not serve the albacore with sauce on it. The fish was OK. Just OK. I had a roll as well and it was just OK. I had a cucumber salad and it was excellent.
They have a premium sake list which is great. In the end, it was all just OK but it did take care of my craving.Listed in: Yelp Finds!
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Review from Krystal B.
Hyattsville, MD
6/12/2011
Initially, I found this on Urbanspoon and then I checked out Yelp. Great place! This is my new favorite spot. Kinda hard to find, but it's right next to Panera, on the inside of the courtyard. Great variety and great prices, not to mention the food is good. Highly recommended.
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Review from Shawn H.
Germantown, MD
12/18/2008 1 photo
So this place is fantastic, nothing less. A large party will not all get food at once. We were a group of 12 and, although I ordered first, my food was last (which was fine with me), so be ready for a more casual meal if you are with a large group.
The atmosphere is very nice. They've taken great care to give an authentic, traditional Japanese look and feel to the place. I would take a date here.
We only had sushi, which was fantastic, but the rest of the menu looks very good as well. I plan to go back for dinner soon.
I don't love the location, but I believe the building is being renovated because there are new apartments upstairs. It's kind of an odd spot for such a nice place, but once you're inside none of that matters!
Oh, and they have Toro... and it's really good! This is a rarity here on the east coast. Go get some Toro!Listed in: Just outside the beltway
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Review from Armenoush A.
Bronx, NY
1/27/2009
I was pretty disappointed in Koi Koi. Many of their rolls were made with imitation crab, and it was a $2 substitution per roll for real crab. The waitress said it would be $1 to $1.50 extra. There was such a tiny amount of crab in the two rolls I ordered that I felt like a fool when I discovered I was paying $4 for it. Was I going to fight for the difference between the $3 quote and the $4 reality? I didn't really feel like it.
The eel and avocado tasted pretty fresh, but I was weirded out by their spicy tuna, which seemed to have the wrong type of spice in it. I have had many a spicy tuna roll in my day and the one here was sort of painful, as if somebody put in jalapenos in the place of chili powder. It just didn't taste right. The tuna inside the roll was in a sort of puree. If you want to know what a real pureed spicy tuna roll should taste like, go to Sushi Taro in Dupont.
I went here because I wanted to try a new place, but the next time I go out to sushi in Falls Church, I would rather go back to Hoang's. In comparison to Koi Koi, Hoang's has a more elegant feel, including upholstered furniture and dimmer lighting. As I recall, Hoang's had a really nice bathroom, but at Koi Koi the bathroom is actually a public building bathroom, and the experience is less than pleasant.
Finally, even before the crab substitution, this meal was not a bargain. I have gotten a lot more for my money at Hoang's and Tachibana in McLean. -
Review from Candace C.
Palo Alto, CA
1/26/2009
3.5
I was surprised by this restaurant. When I looked at the menu, I thought, "oh, just another sushi joint, out to make a buck by serving mediocre sushi under really flashy/catchy names-but it deserves a bit more credit than that. So this place isn't really for traditionalists--save that for Tachibana or Sushi Taro downtown, but there are some fun, good rolls here.
Honestly the names are hard to keep track of, but one of our favorites is the roll with shrimp tempura and tuna on the inside, and eel and avocado on the outside. The spicy tuna roll wrapped with avocado is pretty good too--all about the creamy texture with the avocado to temper the spice. Service has always been extremely nice and for chefs that have to make everything to order by hand, they're pretty quick too. So if you're in the mood sushi, but want to try something other than the same old...this is a good bet :)
