The food is quality and consistent, owner and staff are warm and welcoming, if you’re looking for your new favorite sushi place Koya may be the place for you!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Todd Hegener
Favorite Sushi in the area. Been going there since it opened.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Red Dragon, Black Dragon, Golden Dragon, Green Dragon, Gyoza, Nigiri, Miso Soup and Sapporo, Sushi, California Roll
Nick K.
Let's get the positives out of the way: the sushi is very fresh and the staff hustles. Now, for the rest: the sushi/sashimi entree was only adequately sized for the price ($26). The sashimi appetizer is tiny for the price ($15). The gyoza appetizer was dry, and the tempura appetizer was small. The beef teriyaki was way too salty and the service alternated between non-existent and gruff (yanking menus out of our hands). Disappointing.
Karyn M.
Many years ago we visited Koyasan in Japan and it was a village that was the center of Shingon Buddhism with 117 temples scattered around a cedar forest. We stayed overnight in one of the monasteries and dined on shojin ryori meals, made without meat, fish or animal products (and without onions or garlic). What does this have to do with Koya, the Japanese restaurant in Highland Park? Nothing, I'm afraid--the restaurant's name simply evokes memories of a very meaningful travel experience and I found myself reminiscing. This visit my Saba sashimi was cut a little thicker and did not seem to have the usual marinade. The Rainbow roll was ok but bland. The wait staff was a little argumentative when my companion checked if he was given the Dynamite roll. It was spicy but kind of meagre. We usually love dining here although this visit did not seem up to the usual standard. They do provide free miso soup if you want and complimentary mochi ice cream and Couque D'asse cookies. Though this visit was not our usual, we do love the food generally and will be back.
Petar Doko
Love the place. This is our go to place for sushi in HP/
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gyoza, Nigiri, Sushi
AJ Romero
I came here this week to try as I’d read very positive things online. We arrived around 6:40 on Friday, the restaurant was moderately busy. We were seated quickly and given water and offered drinks.Ordered cold house sake, hot sake was brought out - not a huge issue. We ordered appetizers, the golden shrimp and gyoza, as well as our main items, nigiri and a roll.About 10 minutes later our waitress brought out edamame and shrimp instead - again, not a huge deal, I chalked it up to another simple mistake.At this exact time, several other people entered the restaurant, a group of 3 people who were seated right next to us. They ordered drinks and food, and were fully served in 15 minutes. I waited another 10 or so minutes until my +1 pointed out how much time had passed, and to get the attention of our waitress.After attempting a couple times to flag our waitress, we were told she would check with the kitchen to see what the hold was. It was pretty evident our order ticket had been lost, and we received our food another 15 minutes later. Our total wait from order to food was about 60 minutes. They offered us mochi ice cream on the house after our $100 tab was delivered.The food itself was good, but nothing groundbreaking. As an aside we were really put off by the fact that salmon was placed on a large piece of cardboard and cut barehanded on one of the dining room tables (some pieces actually touched the tabletop).All things considered it wasn’t worth the time spent. The service was friendly, but we were never checked on from the time we ordered our food, and the overall experience was lackluster. I’d like to say we’d love to try it again, but we likely won’t be back any time soon for another try.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Lindsay Weisskopf
Great sushi and nice, comfortable
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Miso Soup and Sapporo, Sushi
Suzanne S.
Excellent excellent excellent. I just wish they had good sound and played my Music. Best fish in the entire Midwest. Service is excellent. Sake and whiskey excellent. I could eat here everyday. Go here everyone has to eat here and know what the real deal is.
Went there tonight with a party of 9. It was excellent service!! Food was out quick and and fresh. Servers were very nice and made the experience worth while! Will definitely be back!
Tim
Great place to dine in or take out sushi. Very delicious philadelphia rolls.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
John L.
Would not go again. Chicken in bento box and beef strips in udon soup were both tough as leather. Waitress was surly, too. Also, there was a worker standing right next to our table most of the time as if waiting to help(?) but it's poor management that is responsible for training them to make customers feel welcome and well taken care of. I personally don't need much but almost standing on top of guests is very strange so that's a no for me. Bottom line, if the food was really good I would care less about the demeanor of the wait staff but in the absence of that it was a miss all the way around.
Sarah Miller
I cannot say enough good things about Koya. I was so happy to find this restaurant. Everything we ordered, tempura, tempura udon soup, kids bento boxes, and sushi was incredibly good. Can't wait to go back!Kid-friendliness: The bento box options for the kids were great! My 2 and 5 year olds loved it.
It was so delicious! the service was
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food is quality and consistent, owner and staff are warm and welcoming, if you’re looking for your new favorite sushi place Koya may be the place for you!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Favorite Sushi in the area. Been going there since it opened.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Red Dragon, Black Dragon, Golden Dragon, Green Dragon, Gyoza, Nigiri, Miso Soup and Sapporo, Sushi, California Roll
Let's get the positives out of the way: the sushi is very fresh and the staff hustles. Now, for the rest: the sushi/sashimi entree was only adequately sized for the price ($26). The sashimi appetizer is tiny for the price ($15). The gyoza appetizer was dry, and the tempura appetizer was small. The beef teriyaki was way too salty and the service alternated between non-existent and gruff (yanking menus out of our hands). Disappointing.
Many years ago we visited Koyasan in Japan and it was a village that was the center of Shingon Buddhism with 117 temples scattered around a cedar forest. We stayed overnight in one of the monasteries and dined on shojin ryori meals, made without meat, fish or animal products (and without onions or garlic). What does this have to do with Koya, the Japanese restaurant in Highland Park? Nothing, I'm afraid--the restaurant's name simply evokes memories of a very meaningful travel experience and I found myself reminiscing. This visit my Saba sashimi was cut a little thicker and did not seem to have the usual marinade. The Rainbow roll was ok but bland. The wait staff was a little argumentative when my companion checked if he was given the Dynamite roll. It was spicy but kind of meagre. We usually love dining here although this visit did not seem up to the usual standard. They do provide free miso soup if you want and complimentary mochi ice cream and Couque D'asse cookies. Though this visit was not our usual, we do love the food generally and will be back.
Love the place. This is our go to place for sushi in HP/
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gyoza, Nigiri, Sushi
I came here this week to try as I’d read very positive things online. We arrived around 6:40 on Friday, the restaurant was moderately busy. We were seated quickly and given water and offered drinks.Ordered cold house sake, hot sake was brought out - not a huge issue. We ordered appetizers, the golden shrimp and gyoza, as well as our main items, nigiri and a roll.About 10 minutes later our waitress brought out edamame and shrimp instead - again, not a huge deal, I chalked it up to another simple mistake.At this exact time, several other people entered the restaurant, a group of 3 people who were seated right next to us. They ordered drinks and food, and were fully served in 15 minutes. I waited another 10 or so minutes until my +1 pointed out how much time had passed, and to get the attention of our waitress.After attempting a couple times to flag our waitress, we were told she would check with the kitchen to see what the hold was. It was pretty evident our order ticket had been lost, and we received our food another 15 minutes later. Our total wait from order to food was about 60 minutes. They offered us mochi ice cream on the house after our $100 tab was delivered.The food itself was good, but nothing groundbreaking. As an aside we were really put off by the fact that salmon was placed on a large piece of cardboard and cut barehanded on one of the dining room tables (some pieces actually touched the tabletop).All things considered it wasn’t worth the time spent. The service was friendly, but we were never checked on from the time we ordered our food, and the overall experience was lackluster. I’d like to say we’d love to try it again, but we likely won’t be back any time soon for another try.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Great sushi and nice, comfortable
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Miso Soup and Sapporo, Sushi
Excellent excellent excellent. I just wish they had good sound and played my Music. Best fish in the entire Midwest. Service is excellent. Sake and whiskey excellent. I could eat here everyday. Go here everyone has to eat here and know what the real deal is.
Very consistent, a solid staple.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sushi
Restaurantji Recommends
Basic sushi house, a lot of salt. Could have been
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Went there tonight with a party of 9. It was excellent service!! Food was out quick and and fresh. Servers were very nice and made the experience worth while! Will definitely be back!
Great place to dine in or take out sushi. Very delicious philadelphia rolls.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Would not go again. Chicken in bento box and beef strips in udon soup were both tough as leather. Waitress was surly, too. Also, there was a worker standing right next to our table most of the time as if waiting to help(?) but it's poor management that is responsible for training them to make customers feel welcome and well taken care of. I personally don't need much but almost standing on top of guests is very strange so that's a no for me. Bottom line, if the food was really good I would care less about the demeanor of the wait staff but in the absence of that it was a miss all the way around.
I cannot say enough good things about Koya. I was so happy to find this restaurant. Everything we ordered, tempura, tempura udon soup, kids bento boxes, and sushi was incredibly good. Can't wait to go back!Kid-friendliness: The bento box options for the kids were great! My 2 and 5 year olds loved it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bento, Sushi