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Reviewing as I eat....
1. DUCK SLICES with SHREDDED SCALLION
Pretty decent. The combination of the tangy sauce, duck slices, and scallion is quite strange, but it's AITE. I wouldn't order this again though.
2. SOBORO RICE
S' good, but I've had better. They use ground chicken instead of pork. Yume's Sabboro Rice is more fine-tuned.
3. GIZZARD SKEWER
Fun to eat! Yummy too.
4. LIVER SKEWER
Took one bite... and couldn't continue... end of liver story.
5. OKRA SKEWER
A little plain for my taste. It's good though! I like the crunch 'n slime. Okra is definitely an acquired vegetable.
6. EGGPLANT SKEWER
Similar review to the okra - minus the crunch.
7. 'SPECIAL' HEART SKEWER
Fun to eat (part two)! This is worth trying... so yummy.
8. NECK SKEWER
The meat was very soft and tender. I would order this again.
9. SOFT BONE SKEWER
Yes, chicken knees are fun to eat, but I prefer them deep fried.
10. SKIN SKEWER
Cool... but skin is just not my thing.
11. CHICKEN MEATBALL SKEWER
Eh. It's AITE - will not order again.
12. CHICKEN WING SKEWER
Chicken wings do not belong on a skewer.
13. CHICKEN BROTH RAMEN
So good! Worth trying. I prefer beef broth or pork broth, but Kokekokko has really perfected their ramen.
Service is ok. VIPs seem to get the better end of the stick..... um.. literally?
Plus:
- Good taste yakitori
Cons:
- Terrible service
- Discrimination
- Discrimination
- Have I mentioned Discrimination?
Yes, they do make good Yakitori, for those give low scores and complained about chicken only menu, scewer too small, or one scewer at the time service, you simply do not understand what yakitori is. So go back to your KFC and enjoy your big pieces fried chicken.
This place is terrible due to its service and discrimination (food is good). First, the waiter and waitress always try to bring you to bad location even there are some good spot open. When asked for sit in good spot, the waiter and waitress would shows difficult face and would look at the main chef as if the main chef needs to "allow" us to sit where we want to sit.
When order something from hidden menu, the waiter and waitress need to look at chef, and the chef needs to grand my wish so that I can order "duck", "special heart", "special special heart". If the main chef disagree, I do not get to order it even if they have it.
When ask for midium. Same thing. The waiter and waitress needs to look at main chef, and the main chef need to agree our wish. We also been asked if we are the friend of the main chef, if we are friend of the main chef, we can order what we want, if we are not, we can not order what we want even they have it.
There are 2 color of plate they give you. If you are the friend of the chef, they give you the BLACK plate. If you are not, they give you the white plate. When you wave for service, waiter and waitress will look at your plate color. If it is white, they will ignore you and continue to do whatever they are doing, they take thier sweet time before they feels like to response your call. If it is BLACK, you will see 3 to 5 waiter and waitress rush to that specific customer and asking for assistance at once no matter how busy they were. It is very obvious.
I have asked for water from 3 different waiter and waitress, and I do not get my water at all (till I almost fisished all courses). One lady with BLACK plate just wave her hand lightly, at least 5 waiters and waitress rush to her at the same time as if she is the queen!
I have been told they are out of chicken skin, about an hour later, that BLACK plate lady near us got the chicken skin when she asked if they have chicken skin. I know you can call to reserve for certain kind of scewer before you arrive. But it is obvious that the Black plate lady did not reserve it as well, otherwise she doesn't need to ask if they have it. If she reserved chicken skin, she could just sit there without asking the avaliability, and they would server her chicken skin. So, my White plate shows that I am not important, so there is no chicken skin for me. Her Black plate shows she is important, and get can get whatever she want. For God sake, I asked if they have chicken skin at least an hour ago before she asked! This is totally discrimination!
Oh, I went there many times, BLACK plate is something I discovered after several visits, and I am sure BLACK plate means for VIP because I also been there with someone who knows chef, the service was totally different because we were served with BLACK plate. I call this Discrimination because I think every customer deserve the right to be serve the same way. Don't you think?
Minimum 5 skewers per person.
The skewers weren't bad, but It seemed a bit pricey for the amount. I scraped off all of the wasabi from my breast skewers.
We were banished to a far corner of the restaurant with uncomfortable seats, and the service was excruciatingly slow. I'm sure that the place is more suited for a place for long, leisurely conversation, but that's basically the opposite of what it's like to have dinner with my parents (we're a little more of the eat-and-go variety).
Watch out for the tea. Maybe we should have known better (?), but our table of four ordered hot tea, and then asked for more once we emptied our cups. Turns out that it's $2 per cup, no refills, = $16 total just for tea.
Everything was below average from the service to the food.
As we first come into the door, instead of seating us they show us the menu. Crazy awkward, we're standing in front of the door and looking at the menu and the waitress waiting for us to give her some answer. She tells us that the minimum order is 5 skewers/person at the door.
So, after that awkwardness, we finally get seated. We're looking at the menu and ordered the One course + Half course. The courses come with all parts of a chicken- breasts, thighs, skin, gizzards, hearts, wings, and liver.
The skewers come to the table sporadically as it gets done. After getting 11 skewers, they stop coming with the rest of our skewers. We had to remind 3 waitresses and correct them on our order. After were were finished, we also had to continuously ask for the check.
The flavor was not too spectacular, the thighs were my favorite but other than that, nothing too off the charts. If you want to try some gizzards - liver- heart, come to this place, if not, i suggest to go somewhere else. Oh! and it only opens for dinner!
Only place I go for yakitori. Liver is a favorite, will always get a second skewer. The ground chicken with rice (soboro) is good also. Break up all that chicken with the pickled vegetables.
Well, the Soboro was gooooood, but The food took so long, sometimes 40 mins for our last 2 orders. The servers were attentive, but they have short attention span. Also, too many of them were in training. At the end of our dinner, we ended up short of one order (where's the chicken skin???)
Although dissapointed, we still gave them 10% tips. 2 stars for the food 1 star for the service
The attitude & service has definitely improved! Also, I noticed they have a few new trainees. The trainess were friendly and attentive.
The wait on a Wednesday evening (around 7:30pm) was only about 5 minutes. Perhaps we just got lucky this time. I recommend sitting at the bar. You get to sit next to each other as oppose to across (if a party of 2). Also, you get to see the chefs in action.
If you are okay with chicken heart, gizzard, and liver, I would suggest getting either the full or half course meal. The full course comes with 10 yakatori skewers, soup, salad, meatball, wings, and vegetable skewers. It's a lot of food and you may end up wasting or giving away some of it. I would recommend starting off with the half course and add on as you go. Also, a must get is the Soboro. It's one of the tastiest Soboros in LA.
The price is pretty reasonable for the quality of food: $28 for the full course and $17 for the half course. Credit card accepted for bills over $20.
Parking: meter or structure ($4)
Closed on Sunday.
"Many Americans love to "experience" other cultures and foods, but solely on their terms, and that usually ends up meaning a lowest common dominator result, such as the ever popular happy meal. Or in the Japanese culinary universe - the California roll and all his incarnations. Having eaten exceptionally good food in Japan, I feel truly sorry for everyone that thinks that the mostly pretend Japanese-style restaurants in LA are even close in concept, quality and taste to what you can get in Nippon. If only someone would open a Japanese pizza spot here, and no, they don't put sushi on pizza there (fish yes, sushi, no).
Well, Kokekokko is not a compromised "east-meets-west" restaurant. It is in fact one of the few authentic Japanese spots in Los Angeles (and North America). By authentic, I don't mean "taste" or "preparation". I mean the style, purpose and quality of the entire dining experience.
From the management style to the often samurai-like demeanor of the master chef and owner, Tomo-San, the focus here is on amazing food and a family atmosphere (Japanese Cheers?) that you need to invest it to truly appreciate. The food is truly exceptional and no, it is not all Chicken. A vegetarian could have a field day here if they know what to order or rather, how to order. But this establishment quickly filters out those who don't care to understand the nuances of Japanese etiquette in somewhat subtle ways.
If you show respect to the staff, the chefs and the owner, and you don't make any silly comments regarding salmonella, etc. that I had the unfortunate experience to witness on the part of one of my guests, Kokekokko will be a wonderful experience for you.
For your first time, make a reservation which they accept between 6-7 PM. Come early. Ask questions and more importantly, ask for recommendations from the chefs. The Japanese word for excuse me is "sumi-masen". Say this and ask a question as to what they suggest you eat. There are many items not on the menu and once you are in, you're in. Bow a lot. Smile. Be friendly even if they don't seem to be. It will work out and you will have a cool spot to hang out at, by yourself or with friends. And never take a table. Only the bar (that's rule no.1 after bowing when you walk in).
As to the "yakitori nazi" comment made by another reviewer regarding that infamous Seinfeld episode, while I enjoyed the show, I always felt that comparing someone who took excessive pride in their work to nazism to be quite a low point in Jerry Seinfeld's comedy. Kokekokko chef Tomo-San is great chef and a very charismatic individual. Hang out here and you shall see.
Prices: For their 5 stick min, you can easily have a good dinner for 20 bucks or under. 12-15 if you like tea and water."
One of the best Yakitori house in little Tokyo. It's a bit pricey... so only 3 stars for you! But they do prepare their food with precision and pride! They use "A" grade charcoal! Chicken heart and liver glazed with sweet sauce, chicken wings perfectly seasoned with sea salt, and their very limited perfectly skewered crispy chicken skin are the bomb! Although, the chicken skin is now only available for full course dinner! WHY!!!!! OH, WHY!!!!!!!! CHICKEN NAZIS!!!
They have a minimum, 5 skewer per person! Expect to go over $30 off the bat!
A few advice: for Yakitori virgins...
Use hot mustard when eating anything that are glazed with sweet sauce.
Ask for yuzu koshu (citrus puree) and use it when eating anything that are only sea salted. This has intense flavor and it's salty so don't use too much. Just a tad will do.
And lastly, eat your skewers with Soboro rice... it's so good and it will help you fill up... unless you have tons of $$$ to give to the chefs so they can send their kids to private schools... ;0)
Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken breast, chicken thigh, chicken leg, chicken wing, chicken gizzard, chicken heart, chicken meatball, chicken liver, chicken cartilage, and everyone's all time favorite... DRUM ROLL, PLEASE... chicken skin!!! All on skewers...
I am sooooo chickened out, I'm not eating chicken for... oh, I don't know... a whole month? (I'm not psychic!) But one thing's for sure... I'm never coming back here.
Then why the five stars??? The skewers were good, and yakitori is SUPPOSED to be all chicken. I don't penalize Japanese restaurants for staying pure, BUUUUUTTTTT... I can't eat that much chicken, so I'll leave this place to the chicken lovers. I know there are a lot of you out there!
Last night was one of those nights where I'm a bit bored.. definitely hungry, but I end up putzing around the studio till most places are closing. By the time I leave, I figure that I'll end up at Koraku and call it a night. At the last minute, I decided to take a detour to Kokekokko.
No complaints on service or decor. The eavesdropping was pure gold. So points for that. I didn't mind the 5 skewer minimum so much, as I could easily put down more.
They are kind of pricey for what you get. The Japanese pickles were a let down. The daikon (4 small slices) was the only thing actually pickled. pair that with half of a raw cucumber, a couple of raw radish slices, and a couple of raw carrot slices.....not worth $4. I had the hearts, livers, and thighs. Not bad...just....meh. I left thinking that I should have just gone to the roof, and grilled the chicken that is in my fridge. Perhaps I'll do that tonight.
This place has good authentic Japanese food that's a little on the expensive side. It's best to go there early if you don't have reservations because the place is small. The yakitori can take awhile because they use a small grill that's situated in the center of the restaurant. The ambiance is like most Japanese restaurants which means the staff greets you when you arrive and when you leave. For some people they would find it annoying, but I like it because it makes me feel as though they value each customer.
Unfortunately, it's not all that great for large groups (unless you get their private room) because there are a few long tables but the staff usually has small groups share a table. So either get there early or make a reservations if you have more than four in a party. If you have two or three in a group, the bar is a nice place to sit.
AND the most important thing to know if you're trying this place out for the first time is that 95% of their menu is chicken. There's also a five skewere minimum per person. Each order comes with two skewers. I highly recommend the chicken wings, thigh, chicken wrapped eggplant, and their rice bowls.
I will chime in and say that I agree on the bad service. I don't think they mean for it to be bad, but they seem very understaffed for the amount of traffic that comes through this place.
We were seated at a table with two other sets of people and everyones order got messed up somehow. We got our salads before the people next to us who were almost finished with their meals. It took almost an hour for them to take our order, which only ended up happening because we hounded them to finally come over.
The minimum order is 5 skewers per person, which I was confused about because if you order a rice bowl and salad...well, I would assume you don't need to order 5 skewers. Everything is chicken-based and the food was good. We got a pitcher of beer to share, which made the waiting seem not as bad.
Good for drinking and Chatting..
So I was just at Honda Ya a few days ago where I delighted in their yakitori. Accordingly, this review will naturally be a comparison of two highly rated yakitori joints in J-Town.
The Good:
- Quality of the food is first rate.
- Great flavoring and perfectly cooked
- Thoroughly enjoyed the spicy chicken wings and meatballs
The Bad:
- First of all, they ONLY CARRY CHICKEN PRODUCTS. Granted some of my favorite Yakitori dishes (wings, hearts, gizzards) are chicken products. I was really craving some prime cuts of beef and beef tongue.
- Horribly uncomfortable seats made out of logs of wood. Their ventilation system is inadequate, so the whole place is smokey.
- SERVICE was horrible, but both of our waiters were wearing "Training" name tags, so they really didn't know what the hell they were doing. Food took a while, but not sure if they were intentionally trying to pace the output of food.
- We ordered a $55 bottle of Soju (not Sake, but Soju), but they WOULD NOT bring out the bottle to show us what we were drinking. They made up some BS excuse that its a super secret bottle of Soju, and they didn't want anyone to know what kind of Soju they serve. OK... except for the fact that we chose a bottle of Soju that was advertised on a placard located on everyone's table. In fact, we all thought our Soju tasted like a bad vodka.
- As many have vented before, minimum order of 5 food items per a person is STRICTLY enforced, so its naturally more of a meal than a tasty snack. With their food being moderate to high priced, its not much of a snack joint.
Overall, it wasn't bad. I'll go back, but not before I visit Honda Ya and indulge in some delectable beef tongue.
I came here with a group of six one night and experienced some of the slowest service imaginable. Putting aside their skewer rule, cheapskate cooling devices in their pitchers of beer, the time from ordering to receiving the first skewer was in excess of a half hour. The last skewer did not come out until almost 2 hours later. Our waiter kept coming over smiling which was actually aggravating because at that point we didn't care about how courteous he was, we simply wanted our food. The only thing that was keeping us from rioting was the fact that the booze kept flowing throughout the dinner. Bad, bad service. How bad? Really bad, almost like the baddest of the bad.
this place blows.... and not in the good way.
my friends and i were looking for a casual eating/drinking spot in j-town last night and thought this yakitori place would be the perfect place to fill our hungry bellies and have some drinks. oh were we ever so wrong.
we ordered 2 pitchers of kirin to start. there are these huge white cylindrical things inside each pitcher that my friends told me were to help keep the beer chilled, but i'm still convinced that it's so they can pour less beer into the pitchers. those white things took up about 1/3 of the space the beer would....
their stupid skewer rule - apparently each person has to order a minimum of 5 skewers. we wanted to mix it up with some other items too, so we asked if we can order fewer skewers if we ordered other things. as long as we spend the $, they shouldn't care how we order, right? WRONG!!! no matter what you order, the 5 skewer per person minimum STILL APPLIES! how stupid is that!! we were all starting to feel annoyed by this point.
after what felt like forever, our first skewer came out. 1 skewer to be exact. they don't give you all your food at once. they bring it out one at a time, piecemeal. wtf is that? i understand that they want to give us our food as soon as it's ready, but we're starving and one skewer with 3 little quail eggs ain't cuttin it.
the service - excruciatingly slow. my friends had to the remind the staff multiple times that we waited nearly an hour before our food actually started coming out.
the food - hit or miss. chicken breast was totally bland and flavorless. thigh and wing were better, but they needed more salt or sauce or something.
oh, and to top it all off, it's not cheap either! we were pretty unhappy with this place, so we decided to tip only 12%. but even then it was $35pp which is not cheap for asian food of this caliber.
there are way too many awesome places to eat in LA or even j-town for a place with this kind of food and service to pass muster.
my friends kept asking me if i could give this place 0 stars or even negative stars. but alas, that is not an available feature.... but it should be!
About once a year I begin to think I should go vegetarian, but last year I had a particularly delicious turkey burger and last night I had yakitori. This is life-changing yakitori, people.
I am by no means an expert when it comes to yakitori, but I think it just means "roasted guts." This place specializes in chicken, so if you can manage to hold the attention of the waitress long enough to order, you get to order a variety of roasted chicken parts. My faves were the gizzard and the veggies wrapped in thin slices of chicken; by the time we got there, around 10 pm, they were already out of a lot of stuff, including hearts and livers, so go early. Also, fyi, there's a 5 skewer minimum purchase per customer. Don't waste your time on the ramen, go straight for the good stuff -- meat!
beware: crazy busy waitresses and busboys who might not have a firm grasp of English (or maybe they do and in the kitchen they are laughing their asses off: "HAHA STUPID TAIWANESE PEOPLE! THEY'LL EAT ANYTHING!") And it's true. You will see a lot of Taiwanese people, many drunk. The best thing to do is beat them back with your chopsticks, or they will eat everything in sight. I am so proud of my people. Oh and don't forget to ask for the ginger and scallion sauce, it is delicious.
Summary: Food poisoned. :(
I tend to think I have a pretty tolerant stomach. I've braved some of the most questionable street vendors from downtown Santa Ana to downtown HK and walked out with nary a scratch (but plenty of greased up satisfaction) on me.
I don't give many 5-stars, nor do I give many 1-stars, but much how if you rear-end a cop during your driving test, food poisoning yields an automatic fail. They failed a basic tenet of food-making, don't get the customer sick.
Outside of porcelain prayer-related topics Kokekokko was your standard-issue yakitori-ya with wooden furnishings, friendly staff, and the smell of good cookin'.
The Food:
A chicken-focused menu probably a bit smaller than those accustomed to Shin-Sen-Gumi or Kappo Honda. On the flipside, their specialty led to several of their items, salt-sprinkled gizzard for example, to taste exceptional.
They have about 10 different yakitori dishes and a combo where you get to enjoy all 10. I'm not exactly a hearty eater, but this will suit most "manly" appetites.
Their sake and beer selection is decent, a particular sake favorite of mine being "Wakatake Onigoroshi", recommended for those that enjoy a smooth sake. If you don't get the sake, beer is a must with yakitori.
The Service:
Overall, decent, though I can see that largely being a factor of how we arrived just as the place was opening. As the night wound on gaps between dishes became longer, culminating in what was at least a 20min gap between yakitori delights 9 and 10. The wait staff was polite and good about refilling our drinks, water or otherwise.
I wouldn't recommend this place for groups larger than 6, they only have a few tables that will seat that many unless you're willing to line everyone up at the bar. The ambiance was cool: loud because the place gets packed, the grill in the middle sizzling away, and the alcohol adding a few more decibels. Good for a date or catching up with an old friend.
So, had I not spent the last day and a half bent double and reviewing the contents of my meal, Kokekokko might have eeked a 3-4star out of me. Now I'm heading back to bed after another round of soup and gatorade...
My girlfriend had her birthday here on Saturday night.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER! LOVE YOU MAMA! :)
We had our own private room which was really nice and it SO reminded me of Japan! I reaaaallllly loved visiting Japan. :)
The room is enclosed, you sit on the ground, and for Americanized Asians like me, there is a huge gap under the table so your legs are comfy. After sitting with your legs crossed for a few hours you tend to hurt or it's just uncomfortable, so this way it's ALLL good.
We had lots of pitchers of beer, sake, sake bombs, and plum wine. You can only get Kirin in the pitchers but it was okay. I don't think anyone really minded. We had HUGE bottles of sake too! Geez! They were humungous!
First came the broth, then the meat to put in the broth, and then the huge pile of veggies. The meatballs, soup, and veggies were all good. I didn't like the stringy mushroom thingys at all, but everything else was yummy. While we were eating the soup, we kept constantly getting more and more yakitori. Chicken, chicken with onions, zucchini, eggplant, liver, chicken, and more chicken. I had some of the chicken and it was good!
After all of the hundred courses of food, the waitress then asks if we want rice or noodles. We had 18 people in the group at a long table so we got 1 rice and 1 noodle. WELLLLLL.... it turned out to be this huge pot again! The rice was like porridge with veggies and stuff (looked like egg drop soup), and the noodles were like udon. My side of the table had the rice, and everyone liked it. It was cold outside so everyone enjoyed coming back in and having their hot soup with rice.
The beer was fine. Plum Wine was YUMMMMMMMMMY! I had never had plum wine before and even all of the girls had said it was one of the best they'd had. It was sweet, sour, sweet, bitter, sour, and sweet. hahaha... I had some of it before I started eating so it gave me a little quick buzz. YUMMMM...
I liked the room, the food, privacy, 18 people fit comfortably, and our freedom to come and go as we pleased. Some of us had parking right in front, and others parked in the structure so parking wasn't a big problem either.
The only thing that lacked was our service which is VERY important! We waited SO long to eat between "courses" that everytime something came out everyone would say "OMG! I thought we were done eating!" My water took forever to come. The rice and noodles took like over half an hour. Sure they were busy, but when they have a large party they need to learn to accomodate their patrons. Our initial order of food took like an hour!
5 stars for the food, environment, room, etc. GOOD TIMES!!!!!!!
2 star for the service and making everyone starve.
Hence 3.5 stars. :) [turned to 4 since we round up right?]
Authentic Yakitori Restaurant in J-Town across from the Honda Plaza.
You sit where you can fit. You can order a set or order one by one or go omakase. They have sasami (breast) with wasabi or yuzu, sunagimo (gizzard), hatsu (heart), tsukune (chicken balls...no i mean like meat balls), skin....
When you get to know the chefs, they have tons more stuff that's not on the menu because they can only get so many of them from a chicken....like neck. Okay, this is all sounding sick, but if you're not adventurous, stick to the normal stuff, if you're adventurous, they have it all too. They raise their own chickens too.
After you're done, you wash it down with ochazuke or soboro gohan. Soboro gohan is flavored ground chicken meet over rice. This is my favorite thing in the restuarant. That and sake selection.
There are no yakitori places like this in SF. nil.
YAKITORI NAZI! The owner likes to whip his employees and whip it out for the pretty and not so pretty girls who come through! But if you like yakitori the way its done in Japan, this place is for you and yours.
This is the bomb shizznit, If u want to eat weird chicken parts and sparrow on a stick! foh rizzy! Its busy and expensive. And don't forget there is a minimum order on the yakitori! So if that bothers you you can give their birds the bird!
If you're wondering why Kokekokko runs out of parts and you're annoyed about it, put these two words in your pipe and toke it:
Chicken. Sashimi.
Geez people, haven't you ever heard the phrase "you wait for the souffle, the souffle doesn't wait for you"? Actually, I don't even know if they still serve chicken sashimi, hah, I tried it once and while it was notably very fresh, it wasn't my jam, so I never ordered it again. But to get to the point: the chicken you're about to eat was alive and clucking that very morning in order to make possible the fact that the juicy breast meat sitting on your plate is grilled MEDIUM. So be forgiving. :) And get there early because they run out of things.
But what about the souffle, you ask? Oh yeah, sorry: it doesn't wait for you.
Items like neck aren't on the regular menu so you have to know to ask for it. Neck is one of my favorite skewers, and is not at all as exotic as it sounds; think of it as a cross between chicken skin and thigh skewers. Tender meat, crispy fatty goodness and sweet sauce. Oh-HO-yeah!
In the midst of all this skewer mania don't forget to try the soboro rice! I can't believe how flavorful the ground chicken is; combine that with shredded nori and rich quail egg yolk and I'll gladly have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
They have pitchers of draft Kirin, though it never seems to be cold enough.
The waiters (and oddly enough, never the waitresses) are impatient and snooty on occasion, but whatever.
You'll also leave reeking of bincho charcoal and it's not very sexy. Just keep that in mind.
HORRIBLE!!
worst service ever!!!
they are rude.. and even asked us to change tables in middle of meal..
then gave us even worse service!!!
too bad there is no NEGATIVE star.. otherwise i would give it...
If u want good yakitori GO to shin shen gumi!! best yakitori in LA..
Do yourself a favor don't goto Kokekokko!!!!
NEVER again!!
I've been coming here on and off for years, especially when I hung out with friends who were not married yet. On a recent trip a short while back the food was fantastic. It almost seems like they've rejuvenated themselves, gotten it's act together, kicked themselves to do better and the place is jumping with inferno practically (No ownership change, same folks).
Expect long waits both outside and inside on the weekends.
The food is just great as I said. The sauce on the skewers is very good, its after taste is addictive, really nice. The chicken parts taste fresh, no complaints. The portions are smaller than I remember but so are most of the Yakitori places now.
I do wish that the food kept coming but there are pauses, and the reorders can be a pain and may take extra long to arrive (As your uncooked skewer must go to the end of the line and wait. Order plenty up front, then just wait, avoid the reorder hassle, worry about the credit card bill when you recover couple of days later).
Service is ok, I had no issues so far, but it can be really slow on busy days. And if you make special requests but you don't know the owner, you'll probably get glared at; don't tell me I didn't warn you.
Parking:
-Parking can be found across the street at Honda Plaza (not validated though). -If you don't mind walking there's street parking on Third St around the block (Make sure you have front plates or you'll get a ticket like I did).
-If you really don't mind walking a block, there's always the Weller Court parking and they usually always have space sans festivals and carnival season.
This is one hardcore Yakitori place with no sign of side menu's that include sushi or combo plates and that's how I like it.
Let's cut to the chase, Kokekokko is the best yakitori (skewered grilled chicken) you will find in the area, probably the best in SoCal.
It's packed, and basically you won't be seated very comfortably, and you won't be served with a server completely fluent in English to assist you with all your needs. But the bottom line is, their food is simply incredible.
If you haven't tried yakitori before, I suggest going to Shinsengumi yaiktori to get used to the atmosphere, and understand what it's all about. If you're not adventerous enough to try some delicacy like hearts, liver, gizzard, then just move along and find yourself some terriyaki chicken instead.
Still reading? Good, then let me tell you that they use extremely fresh ingredients and season lightly only to enhance the natural flavor of their food. You will be able to taste what chicken is supposed to taste like, like you've never had chicken before. Be brave, order yourself some hearts, gizzards, liver, chicken meat ball, chicken wings, and forget about diet and try the thighs, and forget about your atkins diet and try their Soboro Gohan (minced chicken over rice). Get yourself a Sake or Japanese beer, and you'll find yourself wanting to go back once in a while to satisfy your cravings.
Now this place is good. If I could afford to eat here every day, I would... I mean... it's delicious chicken. Paired with their house ginger and a cold beer, it's a dinner well spent.
I'd recommend getting skewers over anything else on the menu here. At first, I thought the skewer minimum was annoying, but you soon find out you'll be ordering much more. Especially of those that you like. They also have a "secret" skewer list that you have to ask to get. Items such as "special skin" and the like. If I told you anymore, they would have to kill me.
I fear I've said too much already.
Skewer heaven! Wings, thighs, gizzards, organs, eggs...this place leaves no chicken part to waste. If you're not into chicken, then this is NOT the place for you. But otherwise, it's fantastic and fun. Cool open setting means you can watch the yakitori-master at work as your mouth waters in anticipation.
Supplement your skewers with some Soboro (savory ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice) and the simple but delicious chicken soup (just a clear broth). Oh, and don't forget the beer and sake!
Come here at or after 9:30 and all the good skewer food will be gone.
I made that mistake once. At least it got me hooked on the rice bowls. Yummy!
The yummiest yakitori I've had!!! The chicken breast and liver is my fav. You should also try their "Wagamame" (I can't spell it) rice it's delish. Nice Saki list. Great plum wine! Everything is great, just try it!
The normal spiel when you arrive (no matter how many times you've been there and tell them you've been here before) is they tell you NO Beef...NO Sushi....NO Pork... We only serve chicken, OK.
Never been to Tokyo, but I imagine that the scene at Kokekoko on a Friday or Saturday night could easily be mistaken for a yakitori dive from Tokyo, There's two prerequisites to enjoy Kokekokko, or any yakitori joint for that matter, you need to not be starving. Don't expect a yakitori meal to fill you up cheaply. Second, you need to enjoy beer. A nice cold glass of Asahi compliments this snack food perfrectly.
We stumbled into Kokekkko on a Saturday night and it was steaming and bustling. The servers speak little English but get by. We were seated at the bar where we were able to watch the grill master (who was also the owner) in action. It was interesting to see an old (and by old I mean 50's) Japanese guy in skinny jeans wear sandals w/ socks on flipping skewers of chicken meat with billows of smoke constantly barraging his face. His regular customers often buy him drinks throughout the night and he has no problem downing each glass of beer or shot of sake sent his way.
I tried the 10 skewer chicken combo that consisted of hearts, gizzards, cartilage, thigh, etc and enjoyed every bite. Can't say the same for my dining partner. Although Kokekokko does not have the wide range of selection as other yakitori places like Nanbankan, it does a fine job in perfecting its specialty of the chicken.
A good place to socialize and drink with friends.
I've always seen a huge crowd waiting by the door everytime I pass this restaurant. Curious of their food, I decided to give it a try.
This place serve yakitori. Different parts of chicken from breast, gizzard, heard, skin, meat balls, etc. If you don't eat chicken, then tough luck for you. However, their yakitori was good. I especially love their chicken skin since it's very succulent, and crispy on the outside.
The last time I was there, they ran out almost everything and the only option to order was heart and gizzard. Having said that, make sure you go there early so you can get the food that you want.
Interesting place, indeed. Went with a friend who is very chummy with the "owner". I've never been to a place where you can eat all of the chicken - poor little guy.... =[
Anyway, the greet you when you walk in the small establishment with some Japanese greeting...Very loudly, too. So, everyone turns around and looks at you - very entertaining, actually.
This place is really interesting but I found that the food all tasted the same since it's cook all in the same matter - over an open brick wood-cookery-thingy....
The night I was there, we sat at the "bar" next to a celebrity - David Keith, with his wife and child. What a nice couple they are!!
Back to the food, I suggest getting the hearts (sound gross but they were soooo good), soft bones (that big cartilage piece), breast. I had the gizzards and it was way too gross...the texture was too rubbery and it just simply grossed me out.....All of the food come prepared on wooden sticks.....again, most of the meat does taste the same (to me, anyway) due to the wood/briquettes they use.
They do have a separate traditional room with a private sliding door, where you take your shoes off, and kneel down to eat. You could prob reserve it for a private party....
The staff is very friendly and nice but lack in the English department....well, after reading Jane's review, I wonder if it's just a front??? LOL.....
Lovely place - I would return!! Can't wait for my welcoming scream!!
I enjoyed the chicken eggplant and wings. My boyfriend loved the chicken yakitori here. One of my friends is a vegetarian so her choices were very limited. We were parked in front, so when orders were slow, I popped into the American Apparel next door to buy a couple of skirts. You can reserve a table for a group.
"This place no sushi," is what I've heard every time I walk in the joint.
If you want chicken, and you want yakitori, and maybe a side dish or two and some sake or beer and the best food on the planet (exaggeration), then come here.
After ordering a five skewer minimum, which is a good amount actually, you get to sit at the bar or at the table and once every few minutes a skewer will show up. Eat, drink, chat some more with your friends or family, repeat. It is a fantastic and fun way to enjoy a meal and never feel rushed.
Anytime someone from out of town comes to LA, I take them here.
My husband and I ate here once; we were sick of all the usual spots we ate at in Little Tokyo and so we wandered in here. They sat us at the bar all the way in the back; we felt ignored for a bit. But the chicken and quail eggs were good, it just seemed like they took long to bring each plate of skewers to us. It also felt like we were there for a really long time, only to eat 5-10 skewers. It was interesting to watch them cook the chicken parts; it helps to see what other people were ordering.
Been here a few times a few years back. what they serve here is chicken, chicken, chicken this, and chicken that. All of them taste pretty decent. Going to this place you probably won't come back for awhile since all you eat there is chicken and will probably be sick of chicken for awhile.
Wow, so yummy this premier YakiTori restaurant in LA! Highly recommended!
yes their yakitori is extremely delicious but it's their soboro gohan + frozen sake that nudges them from a 3 star category to a 4!
edit- you'll have to wait in line for dinner or on the weekends and they run out of skewers every day. there's this one waitor with spikey hair and black plastic frames that gives the shittiest service. he's just not cut for the service industry. he obsessively hovered over our table and kept removing our dishes before we had even received our full order. our party of 4 openly aired our grievances. initially we thought we were getting mean glares from the grill masters but upon leaving got a huge apology. we really appreciated that. will probably go back but not for a while...
The food here is pretty good but the little boss is always pissed off at his employees. Also, for some reason, they're always sold out of the good stuff really early. You have to be there early to eat what you want otherwise its gone.
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