Koi
Evanston, IL 60201-4419
Phone: (847) 866-6969
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- Chicago Avenue
- Directions:
- El: Purple Line to Davis
- Hours:
- Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-11pm, Sun 4:30pm-10pm
Editorial Review for Koi – by J.P. Anderson
The Scene
Set among the casual cafes along Davis Street, Koi is a refreshingly sophisticated alternative. A small, sleek lounge with a wood-burning fireplace welcomes customers into the minimalist, candlelit dining room, whose hardwood floors, white tablecloths and mostly bare white walls are accented by a few contemporary art pieces. Club music thumps softly; a spacious bar area beckons with a flat-screen TV and lengthy specialty cocktail list.
The Food
The menu runs the gamut from standard Chinese fare like Szechuan chicken and fried rice to platters of fresh, ornately presented maki and nigiri sushi. Edamame is a popular starter, served cold and barely salted; a better appetizer option is crab rangoon or chicken or beef satay, lightly fried and served with peanut and chili sauces. Sushi standouts include tasty spider, dragon and spicy tuna rolls, plus a couple dozen fresh sashimi options, from yellowtail and scallop to mackerel and snapper.
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Insider Tips
What to DrinkCheck out the extensive martini list, with popular selections like lychee and frozen mango. Asian beers available include Sapporo, Tsing Tao and Kirin. There's also a short sake list, as well as several Chinese and Japanese teas.
The ExtrasDaily specials may include yellowtail and tuna maki rolled in cucumber instead of nori, studded with ruby-red tobiko caviar.
ParkingValet is available Thursday to Saturday.
User Reviews for Koi
02/16/2008 Posted by japfood
The sushi was okay, but not so good. The service was awful. It seems to me that the staff were not well-trained. Most of them did not have service-minded. Well, I would say they were not so friendly as I expected to see in a "Japanese restaurant." Will not go again.
Pros: nice atmosphere
Cons: bad service and awful staff
11/12/2007 Posted by mfocker24
I LOVE sushi. As such, I had high hopes for Koi. Silly me. While the ambiance and location are great, (walking distance to El and Metra), the food is only mediacore and the service is a joke. Twice in the past we have attempted delivery and then carry-out. Both times the soups and sauces were spilled in the bag. While we were compensated with gift certificates ($25 the first time and $50 the next), I should have known that this was a great fore-shadowing of what would happen if I decided to have my birthday dinner there. I called Wednesday to reserve an 8:00 table for 11 people on Saturday night. Saturday morning Koi called to confirm. We arrived at 7:55 and waited AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN mintues for a table. Thats right. 95 grueling minutes for a reservation that was made 4 days in advance. So we sat at the bar, where NONE of our drinks were compted. Yes, the manager gave us 2 bottles of their second-to-cheapest wine, but that was it. We got a slew of excuses until they finally decided to squeeze some tables in for us. And I really mean squeeze. It was VERY tight. Once we were seated, the service did not get much better. The waitress failed to ask if anyone wanted a drink other than the cheap red wine. Which, many of us did. A few of us had to ask repeatedly for water. Some people ordered appetizers as a main dish, and they were brought out long before the rest of us recieved our meals. They were also out of my favorite sushi. :-( There are a few other great suchi spots in Evanston. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to them instead! Koi is WAAAY too expensive for the quality of both food and service that they have to offer. We should have just walked over to Potbellys . . .
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