Talk about a place going downhill. Â Koji was exciting when it first opened, and quickly became a favorite happy hour spot and dinner locale. Â I loved the friendly service, strong drinks, the yakitori, and the weird music videos set to the 80s station. Â I've been less and less impressed to the point of not wanting to go anymore. Â The menu has changed for the worse; the yakitori a la carte no longer exists and their apps taste like they came right from the freezer and into the fry vat. Â The 80s music has been replaced by whatever douche music that is now, and the saketinis are straight up gross. Â Recently, a fellow at the bar who was so inebriated he could barely sit up straight was so annoyed that my friends an I didn't want to engage with him, he resorted to using words towards us that just aren't cool to say to African Americans and women. Â Even more recently, we had a server who seemed like she'd never waited tables a day in her life, but tried to compensate by dressing super trashy? Â She was overwhelmed and unable to remember orders, but dealt with it by acting exasperated and annoyed. Â So sad when one of your favorite spots goes on the decline in every possible way.
Review Source:Koji's  with me is always a hit or miss. On the hit nights the drinks and service are on point. The music is great and everyone in the place is really having a good time. On the miss nights its completelyyyyy a MISS. The music is completely weird and the only one rocking out seems to be the Dj. The drinks are watered down and  the service lacks.
I haven't been able to pin down which nights are the misses because they always scatter. :/ I can't personally comment on the food because its never called my attention to order something to eat while I'm there. Â my friends and I use the location more as a night stater ..
Excellent 5-7 happy hour with decent service once we figured out who our waitress was. The interior struck me as a bit odd and worn down (with the WEIRDEST music videos playing - solidly entertaining).
We ordered a few happy hour offerings, $1 salad with ginger-avocado dressing, the "KFC" Koji fried chicken, and the Koji Roll which should have been spicy tuna and crab on the inside, tuna and salmon on the outside. (I got something covered with avocado and spicy mayo instead, hmm.)
Overall, the dining experience was fairly good but nothing to absolutely rave about. The cocktails and sake-tinis looked particularly interesting but I've given up alcohol for the month (wahhhh) so I'll have to try 'em again some other time.
I decided to take a star away because the condition of the place has clearly deteriorated in the past year. Â
I was there on a weekend night recently and there only about 10 people in the entire restaurant. Â
The chairs and washrooms have become extremely worn down. Â Most of the seating is torn, and the men's room had no paper towels or soap.
I think this place exhibits a common problem in Hartford: Â businesspeople are very successful and rake in cash during their first 2-3 years, but they neglect to main the surroundings in response to normal wear-and-tear, and then people stop going.
I hope they don't believe past success is a sign they will continue to be successful in the future. Â Good businesspeople should realise they need to adapt to changing conditions if they want to survive.
Yummy happy hour! They have really good a la carte items and happy hour specials. Martinis were $5 and most of the app options were $1-5. We also had the best waitresses we had in Hartford who were attentive without being too pushy and got the orders right. I got the bamboo roll, edamame, crab rangoon, and a garden salad with avocado dressing. They were all good. The cheesecake was gross/frozen BJ's variety but that was the only miss. It is a very small dark bar but it was still good.
Review Source:5 of us headed down for a quick dinner before going to the gay film festival at 6:30pm. Â I'm giving this sushi bar 3 stars for the simple facts that the service was good, and the food was amazing. Â I did find the atmosphere to be drab, run down, outdated music videos and the seats were taped up. Â I get it. Â Its in downtown Hartford, but with a little revamping it can be an amazing place again. Â It is a shadow of its former self. Â Their website does not list hours of operation and calling to make a reservation was painful since their voicemail was not functioning. Â Ultimately, reservations were not needed since it was completely deserted.
Review Source:I love Koji! Â It's definitely one of my favorite places to go in Hartford. Â I'm not much for the club atmosphere, so I definitely prefer the lounge-vibe that Koji has got going on. Â The bartenders are awesome (Michelle and Cais are my faves!) Â The atmosphere is cool and it's not unusual to strike up a conversation with multiple people at the bar.
I've eaten there a few times, and the food is good but it definitely doesn't stack up to some of the other places in Hartford. Â The Bento boxes at lunchtime are good; we used to get them at our office all the time. Â I'm not a very adventurous eater when I'm there because I'm usually just there to hang, but what I've had there is pretty good. Â
If you are looking for top-notch, gourmet Japanese food, you'll probably be disappointed. Â More often than not the atmosphere doesn't suit that anyway. Â But if you are looking for an awesome place to hang out with cool people and drink delicious libations, look no further than Koji.
Also, the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month is open mic comedy starting at 10pm. Â If you are into drinking on Tuesdays and supporting local comics, come on down and say hello. Â I'll be the one with the microphone.
When this place first opened it was great.  It had a huge selection of sake available by the glass and/or bottle.  The yakitori was varied and great and came with three yummy dipping sauces.  Good martinis as well.  The sushi was decent if uninspired.  The staff knew their stuff.  What happened.? The staff is ok but the food has gone down hill ...way down hill. A single sauce for the yakitori.  Often they are out of one or more of the yakitori.  The sushi has become pedestrian  (Feng down the other end of the block is excellent).  I think what remains of the sake is the left overs from its by gone hey day.  I guess Hartford wasn't ready for a sake bar.  Too bad.
Review Source:Holy god. I have never been to a worse Japanese restaurant... if not ANY restaurant in my life. I really feel the need to steer people away from here, lest they end up paying exorbitant prices for terrible cooked food, and sushi that I actually returned for not being fresh.
My friends who got Miso? Said it tasted like dirty dishwater, and it obviously had like 1 piece of tofu in it, and no seaweed or green of any kind.
The "Sake Bar" part of the place was actually what drew me in -- I worked with a Japanese firm for a year and like to think I've developed some kind of pallet for sake. Well, there were cold 3 sakes available and 1 hot sake.
THAT is a "Sake Bar"?
No, that's a bar that happens to have a little sake. Moreover, the bartender had absolutely no clue was the terms "Nigori" and "Ginjo" meant, and explained the 3 to me as "clean, medium, and milky".... greeeeaaaaat.
Add to that the small portions and the high prices, and I can't believe this place is still in business. I guess they get away with the nightlife crowd who avoid sake and go for American cocktails. Why not just turn it into a cocktail bar and end the charade?
FOOD: Â is below average and did not come out fully hot. Â Also, they did not have any sushi when we were there. Â The excuse? Â The sushi chef's car was not working!
SERVICE: Â was horrible, slow, sloppy, and amateurish. Â The place was barely a third full and we could still not get competent service.
AMBIANCE: Â is decent with House music and a full bar. Â It's dark, but appropriate for a nighttime crowd.
VALUE: Â is average.
Lovely place. Â Waitress kind and food presented in a genteel manner. Appetizers and drinks are featured specials from 5-7. I had a nice small green salad [2], meatballs sweet and sour, and an unbelievablly fresh and delicious plate of gyozas which I ordered again before long. Â Pleasant experience all in all. Cordial atmosphere. Not crowded while I was there but people at sushi bar were cordial. One suggestion, a waitress ought NEVER take a cell phone to with her and place it on the counter directly in front of the customer. A phone does not belong in the line of her service while she is performing a service. Other than that small etiquette glitch ALL was good.
Review Source:I had been to Koji about a year ago for cocktails and bar snacks and it was fantastic. Â I was so pleased that it was included on our CT Forum membership discount card. Â I told my husband to prepare himself for a lovely meal.
Sadly, the meal we had was earnestly offered by the lovely bartender/waitress, but sorely lacking. The restaurant was virtually empty on a Saturday night. Â We ordered Sake and starters---the Sake was standard (should have chosen a cocktail) but the Gyoza and Spring Rolls were tasty, if unexceptional. Â We had been warned that no Yakitori was available but when we tried to order sushi---from a sushi restaurant---we were told that something was wrong with the rice and sushi was not available. Â Super disappointing.
Sorry to say, the chicken slider and stir fry were okay---pretty unexceptional. Â On the upside, the meal was very reasonable and the server was truly trying hard to please against considerable odds.
Koji is the best Sake Bar I've been to in Hartford. Grabbed a Scorpion bowl with Red Bull, and had some fantastic noodles with beef. The music was pleasing, and - even though it was packed - our food came quickly and relatively cheaply. Please try them out... and if you order the Scorpion bowl, clear out your schedule for the next 30 hours or so. It's going to be a fun day.
Review Source:Service was extremely slow on more than one occasion, to the point where we ended up leaving and going to Feng instead. Â Â There really isn't much of a reason to go here, since it's inferior to Feng in just about every way (food, ambiance, size, service, etc). Â They're trying really hard to be hip, but it just comes off as desperate (didn't anyone tell them this is Hartford, not NYC?). Â Â Last time I was here was a happy hour on a Friday in March, and we had the place to ourselves. Â You would think that that might mean more attention from the bartender, but sadly that wasn't the case.
Review Source:UPDATE 2: Seems Koji has undergone a bit of a renovation. There's new seating and the food seemed as if it's fumbling back towards being on track. The decor and TV screens seem to be a mainstay, as those elements were the same when I went some weeks ago. Stay tuned...
UPDATE 3 6/5/11: Koji seems to've redeemed itself. Great and personable bartenders, eclectic mix of patrons, great 1/2-priced Happy Hour menu (from 4pm-7pm), and tasty sake-based cocktails. Try their Scorpion Bowl!
Four of us split a scorpion bowl for $20. Â I'm pretty sure we got the strawberry flavor, but I'm not sure. Â You can get it with either Red Bull or Sugar-Free Red Bull, which is nice, since I usually opt for sugar free or diet with my beverages. It was pretty tasty and we got our buzz on before heading to dinner.
I liked the music they were playing here. Â I was expecting top 40's pop, but they featured EDM (on the electro/house side, from what I recall), which I'm a personal fan of. Â This seems like a nice chill place to relax and kick back a few drinks with friends. Â Definitely try the scorpion bowl. Â It's good and it's always fun to share!
Yum!
Came here to get drinks before a late dinner. Four of us shared a scorpion bowl, which was yummy. Didn't have anything else, so can't offer an extensive review.
Ambience was okay - there's a lot of seating and an open area, I guess so people could dance, but no one was. There was a live DJ, which was a nice touch. I didn't quite understand the televisions with photo slideshows of previous patrons. I guess it's fun if you're a local and you come often and submit photos of you and your crew, but to me it was unnecessary to have to look at lots and lots of vain dudes and chicks that think they're hot... but that's just me.
Escaping from the blistering wind of late fall in Hartford, I slipped into a seat at the bar. Â The bartenders were quick and polite, if not terse, but the happy hour deals (half off apps and cheap booze!) had me into two bottles of hot sake before long.
The menu is very limited, but what they do, they do well. Â Eventually.
I ordered the shrimp dumplings - they were small and bland, just like the ones I used to buy frozen at the store. Â Nothing worth repeating.
Then I decided upon the chef's choice of sashimi. Â It must have been over 20 min - it was at least another bottle of hot sake - and a beautiful plate with large cuts of delicious sashimi arrived. Â Almost too big (I'm used to thinner cuts in CA, I suppose.) Â But all was delicious and I left happy.
Atmosphere-wise, it was just light enough for me to read my Kindle at the bar. Â Barely. Â The small tv screens around the room show a slideshow of previous parties (I think... lots of happy people drinking) which is a bit strange, since they are strangers.
Upon realizing I felt like a nuisance rather than a customer, I paid my bill and left.
Had lunch here on several occasions. Lunch specials are offered including a good deal of 3 rolls of sushi for $15. Cali-Spicy Tuna-Salmon.
Coming back for dinner the atmosphere changes to more of a urban niteclub, loud music, dim lighting, and weird videos playing on multiple screens.
Sundays is the unofficial gay night.
This place was cutting-edge when it opened a few years ago. I recall having a shellfish appetizer in a sauce that I thought was the best cold shellfish sauce I'd ever tasted. The decor was light, modern and techno-savvy, with thumping trance music and bright colored pictures and designs on multiple flat-screen TVs thrgoughout the place.
Back in 2006, they had too many people working there. I remember the fact that three servers were hovering around to be claustrophobia-inducing in such a small restaurant.
More recently, staff is over-worked. When the place is packed, to have a single server, a weird helper, and a single bartender is not enough, even in a place this tiny.
So, they wanna be a bar/lounge: well, a nicely-poured glass of Scotch for about $12. A martini was shaken (we requested it stirred) and filled with watery ice chips. The glass of cold sake that I had with my meal was spoiled and the manager argued with me about it. They proclaim themselves sake experts! There're plenty of Tiki drinks and the like for those who insist on giving themselves sugar diabetes.
The posing and the looking and the shuffling at the bar is really amazing. It's free entertainment for as long as you care to look. I guess because I was old enough to be "dad" to 80% of the people in this restaurant, they considered my presence an interesting novelty. Someone actually bought me a drink. I blushed when, as I was speaking to a very lovely young lady, a picture of another young lady -- exposing her bare breasts -- flashed up on one of the television screens.
The physical layout of the place is such that there are just a very precious few seats that are at all comfortable. They're in the center of the room. Too close to the door, at table or at bar, and the icy New England wind comes barreling right through the dining room. Too close to the other side of the building, and you're getting a whiff of the kitchen, or worse, the bathrooms (which are painfully small).
Very disappointing were skewers of beef, chicken and pork. None had been marinated very long. The pork was tough; one whole skewer was inedible. We did have some dumplings which were rather good. They were small, however.
If you must go, this is a place to drink, plain and simple. Forget about the food, and don't go on a very cold night or you'll get blasted by the wind from the door. Youngsters will be either encouraged or mildly disturbed by the sea of tattooed-pierced-black-clad "mod" crowd.
Oh, and the manager who argued with me about the spoiled sake... he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He decided to re-visit my complaint when we were on the way out. He suggested that if I start the evening with a martini perhaps it's not the best night to taste a delicate, expensive sake (!) Â I didn't bother to do the dance with him again. I've been drinking martinis -- and sake -- for longer than he's been alive.
This bar is, I'm sure, considered fabulous by most of those who frequent it. We, however, will not darken Koji's doorstep any time soon.
After Feng's for dinner we stopped by Koji. I won't return because it was in every way uncomfortable in there. First, I noticed the smell of bleach and cleaner, then I wasn't relieved of the cold weather once I was seated at a table, even in the back of the room.
The room is very small and although there was a blower at the door the draft from people coming in was intolerable. When we weren't caught in a draft we had hot air blowing harshly down on us. Service was painfully slow for a modestly filled bar and their novelty drink was just that.
I did enjoy the DJ, the TVs with videos and the pictures were fun and entertaining.
Very cute little Japanese inspired restaurant in the middle of downtown Hartford. Dropped by for a late dinner on a Friday night and got carded at the door by some jerk that looked like he just turned 21. It appears that they are attempt at having a lounge type atmosphere. There was a DJ, but I was unsure as to what he was actually doing because there was 80s music videos were pumping throughout and photo slide shows of past guests and parties appeared on other screens. From what I can tell there is a awful lot of boob flashing and groping that goes on there (very classy). The crowd is as mixed as Hartford can get.
The food and drinks were good, but a little on the expensive side. $9 for a sake-tini that barely gave me a buzz. The calamari appetizer was good, just beware that its only tentacles and the portion is very small. Their fried rice was delicious, but also expensive.
Although I wasn't that impressed, it was worth a try and I'll probably go back in the future.
i have to confess, i was there for sushi only (probably a bad intent) and my review is not really representative for its services, which i think rests on the bar stuff...
it was late afternoon and i was just walking around town starving, found this place... the decoration was interesting and i wanted a sushi combo. Â it's barely okay, small thin slices of fish with rice that's a bit falling apart. Â but for a $10 sushi combo, you get some variety of rolls and sashimi, plus miso soup and a small salad. not bad for that price...
I'm a big fan of sushi and when I arrived in Hartford I was having a serious craving. Â I found Koji on Yelp and thought I'd give it a shot. Â The food was great but this place isn't really a sushi restaurant but rather a Japanese establishment. Â While I didn't get my sushi fix I did have a great lunch....
The Koji Roll is bomb...
Beef w/Enoki mushrooms on a stick
Bacon wrapped enoki mushrooms on a stick
Miso Pork on a stick
Any spot that serves purple drinks in 80 ounce glasses is automatically in my good book. Â Not that I'd step near one of those insanely sweet hangover recipes, but they make 90 pound girls act retarded, which is ALWAYS good for a few laughs. Â
Holly and I plunked down at the bar and she introduced me to all of her Hartford girlfriends. Â Hello, hi, what's up, not gonna remember any of your names ;) Â I ordered a dirty Martini w/ Ketel and before I was even finished, that dude from Feng with the blinding sweatshirt sent me over another. Â When in Rome...
We kept on ordering drinks, moved back to the dance floor, busted silly moves and sloppy grinds. Â The music was what you'd expect: Â a mix of hip-hop, 80s, house, and top 40. Â Everyone in the bar was super-nice, guys included, which was refreshing after dealing with So-Cal meatheads for the past four years.
I left the bar for a pack of smokes at around 1:00 am, and couldn't believe it when Koji's doors were locked when I got back. Â I'm so used to a 2 o'clock cutoff. Â Anyway, I tried calling Holly for ten minutes, said fuck it and walked towards the bright red Hilton sign. Â Half an hour later I was cajoled back to her crib, where I was greeted with a joint and all-female strip-fest, but that really has NOTHING to do with Koji, so I guess I'll stop now and just savor the memory.
Went here with a buddy today. Â Not bad, but not great either. Â The fish wasn't the freshest, but the service, atmosphere and price were solid. Â I'm new to the area, and this is my second time eating Japanese in Connecticut, so not too much to compare it to yet, but I can see myself coming back sometime.
Review Source:"There should be more things cooked on a stick, and it can be found here."
It was refreshing to see a izakaya-like bar/restaurant in the Hartford area. Â We happened to stumble in on the Happy Hour, which I would recommend taking advantage. Â 1/2 off all apps, 2 dolla Sapporo drafts, and $5 saketinis. Â Good deal if you ask me.
As for the food, well there are a lot of skewered meat on a stick (the reason for the title "yakitori" in the name). Â The things that stood out were the pork ribs (they were tender and huge), the duck and lychee was interestingly good. Â The apps I would recommend would be the gyoza, KFC chicken (kara age), and the fried tofu was nice. Â But as the prices were just right, keep ordering until you find what you like.
I will be there may times now, especially for the $2 drafts.
every once in a while, for some reason, i find myself strangely spending a whole lot of time in Hartford (say, a few solid weeks a month for work), i go to Koji to remind myself what good food taste like. specifically, good yakitori and sashimi. I'm pretty lucky that this restaurant is actually quality, because i think it is one of the only japanese restaurants in the entire 4 blocks of the city of Hartford.
Try their sashimi lunch specials. well, if you can actually get yourself a reservation there during lunch hours.
My wife and I drove into Hartford last night to see the Hartford Wolfpack with a friend of ours and we stopped at Koji for dinner before the game.
I have to say I was impressed all around. Â The atmosphere in this sushi bar is great. Â There are two or three TVs hanging above the bar. Â One was showing a football game, and the other was showing some crazy Japanese kung-fu movie with subtitles on the other. Â I sat there fascinated by the movie while we ate. Â It was awesome to see guys getting kicked across the room while eating.
There are also some plasma screens rotating pictures of what looks like people who have partied in the bar before. Â The bar has every type of booze you could want and it looks cool with some dark neon lighting scheme. Â It also looked like that had a decent sake selection, though not being a sake drinker myself, I can't testify to the quality. Â It seemed like they had a big selection of martinis of different types as well.
The food was excellent. Â We tried a bunch of different appetizers and really it was like a "create your own meal" experience. Â Pork fried rice, gyoza, meatballs, and a few kinds of fried chicken and beef yakitori were all very well presented in a very modern American-Japanese style on square white plates. Â Chopsticks were the only utensils on the bar, which was great.
The bartender that served us dinner was very attentive, got our massive order right on the first try, and made sure we didn't hurt for local CT microbrew beer refills.
The only slightly negative aspect were the single-person bathrooms. Â If the place is crowded you might be waiting in line for a while to get into the head.
And the price was right. Â We got away at $25 a person for about two beers each and a whole bunch of food that left us feeling stuffed.
What a great place to hang out on a weekend evening. Â I'll be going back. Â Go Pack, but bring the Whale back to Hartford.
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