KOKO! Share Bar

the bulgogi bibimbap is very delicious,but
white rice is too little。

Their Roasted Miso Black Cod was great, maybe the best fish I've ever had. Their house rolls were great too, highly recommend.

And in a very unlike me manner, we also didn't share at the Share Bar. It didn't stop me from ordering the salmon aburi sushi ($20) to start, the rice adorned with thick cuts of salmon topped with lime aioli. At KOKO, there was just enough of the mayo to take on a hint of smokiness and to add a splash of creaminess without making the sushi greasy. I would have liked some stronger finishing ingredients to create more interest - like the customary jalapeno slice, a dab of chopped olives, or even a sprinkling of green onions. The aburi was good but lacked pizazz.

Based on my friend's recommendation (and plenty of other reviewers), I had to try KOKO's roasted miso black cod ($36). It's a solid dish but with a few changes could be even better: including some of the miso sauce on the side for those who want a more flavourful fish or to pour over the steamed rice, removing some of the cod's bones to make it easier to cut into (even the large shards were left behind), and roasting the skin longer so that it becomes crispier.

Still, I appreciated the decent sized piece of black cod, which was fresh and flaky and there was a nice variety of vegetables included to create a balanced and healthy meal. If only there was more seasoning on the vegetables that seemed to be merely steamed.

I had the tempura u-don noodle soup. The tempura was served separately. Yet there were bits and chunks of tempura soaked in the noodle soup that you just couldn't eat. Staff was attentive. But payment machine had issues. First time the tap didn't go through. Second time it ran out of receipt paper. It's not a bad option for food at that price in that neighbourhood but I will try something else next time.

Food was authentic, fresh, & delicious!
Service was quick & friendly.
Definitely a hidden gem in the city- can't wait to return :)

Service was terribly slow at Monday lunch hour. Took almost 10 min just to order drink, and then after ordering food, more waiting. Restaurant was about 1/2 full, only 1 server. Not impressed with this Japanese/Korean fusion mess.

The food comes in perfect size. Tempura breading shows the expertise of the chef. I recommend their sushi platter and seafood pancake.

Service is cozy and welcoming.

I love the green tea utensils. They are just beautiful.

A friend of mine suggested we meet for dinner after work at KOKO! Share Bar, a modern Korean Japanese restaurant in Yorkville, halfway between our offices. I wasn't familiar with Koko so I looked up their web site. The menu had a lot of choices but I was more interested in their Korean offerings. Prices were a little high but on par for Yorkville. We made reservations online.

It's a very small and cozy space below street level. Our table was at the back of the restaurant, right in front of the bar. Coat hangers were on the wall next to the bar. The table settings were simple and elegant, with the chopsticks in bamboo pencil-case type of box. Nice touch.

After looking over the menu, we started with Edamame (steamed soy beans - $6), Galbi Grilled Beef Short Ribs (marinated in garlic, soy, ginger, red wine, with steamed rice - $25), and Bulgogi (thinly sliced strips of marinated ribeye steak, assorted vegetables - $21). My companion had mentioned to our server that she doesn't care for peppers and I don't care for zucchini and our server acknowledged that.

The edamame arrived shortly after ordering. It could have used a few more grains of salt but it was okay.

The galbi was served on a bed of onions on a sizzling platter. The ribs had grill marks on them also. Looks good.

The bulgogi was served in a bowl and, although we mentioned our preference to not have peppers or zucchini, the only vegetable in there was carrots (and a ton of onions). Hmmm, surely they must have had some other kind of vegetables in the pantry, if not just for colour and presentation. Other dishes on their menu include mushrooms, okra, and leeks. It was a little disappointing but not a major issue. We didn't order this dish for the veggies.

So, how did everything taste? Good, but neither authentic Korean nor Japanese. I like onions (and we ate most of them) but I've never seen onions used so much in Korean or Japanese cuisine, especially in these dishes. Neither dish had the flavour profile that we expected. Maybe a sprinkle of sesame seeds or a few drops of sesame seed oil might have changed that. This is also the first Korean restaurant I've been to that didn't include any side dishes (kimchi, pickled radishes, bean sprouts, etc.). I missed that. There is, however, an item on the menu called Kimchi Trio (assorted Korean sides - $8).

Overall, the food tasted good, just not authentic. The service was good but it seems like everybody finished at the same time and it took a while to get our bill. For the value, I'd probably go somewhere else.

Mediocre food at expensive prices. The korean fried cauliflower (1.5/5) was undercooked and the sauce was cheap tasting and simply drizzled on. The bulgogi (4/5) was decent but too salty.

My husband picked this place for my birthday dinner and our experience was amazing. The restaurant was super accommodating by letting us dine in a bit earlier than our 8pm reservation time. The servers were amazing and always ensuring our water were filled and checking in to see how our food was. They didn't make us feel rushed and we were able to enjoy our meal, the torched salmon was amazing and my husband loved the calamari so much that he wouldn't share them with me! We also ordered the lobster bibimbap and beef bibimbap, which we both enjoyed and you can add as much or as little of the gochujang (which we added a lot!) thank you for making my birthday such a great experience and ending our night with such good food!

Oh this is a funny little spot.
I went here for lunch a couple times for work. It was good for me to spread my wings and try the offerings of this asian fusion house.

It's a lovely space which I would expect in Yorkville. Love the choice of art and boxed chopsticks found at each table.

The food was good but not spectacular. I would say as a lunch experience in the area it is one of the better places to go. Fast, fresh and not as generic as what is around you.

Having tried the sushi, bibimbap, bulgogi bowls, gyoza and edamame I would say like many - a 3 to 3.5. The food compared to what you'd find in even small mom and pop places in little korea is not as good. The depth of flavour just not there but it's satisfying on a quick lunch.

Make no mistake, eating in yorkville will mean you will pay much more than any other area of the city. Take advantage of the lunch special where you get salad, miso soup and your entree for under 20.

It's a lovely respite from all the other spaces in the area. It's a little hard to find so keep google maps hand and remember to look down as this place is at ground level.