I decided to try Koo Izakaya after seeing its 4.7-star rating, hoping it might become my new go-to sushi spot. Unfortunately, my experience fell far short of expectations.
I ordered the Boss Sushi, Fire Sushi, soup, and salad to go. The salad, which I opened first, was mostly spinach and green leaves but riddled with wilted, blackened pieces—reminiscent of the ones I just threw out at home. The sushi combos were drenched in an unpleasant mayo-smoky sauce combination that overpowered everything. The salmon on top was cooked and tasted like smoked salmon, which was unexpected and unappealing for sushi. I found myself using paper towels to wipe off the sauce and eventually removed the salmon entirely.
The soup was lukewarm, though it tasted fine after microwaving—standard miso flavor. The menu was also disappointing, with no real crab rolls, uni, or other staples I enjoy.
All in all, I had high hopes but left let down on my first visit. Sadly, I won’t be back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Brigitha Thillai
This place does not serve Ramen. It’s a sushi place and they have udon noodles, which is not ramen. The place is great, food is awesome.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Animesh Das
Loved their fresh food and friendly service. We tried their butter squid, torched salmon, fire & white dragon rolls, and loved all of them. Highly recommended if you are looking for a sushi place near Ajax.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fire Dragon Roll, White Dragon Roll, Butter Squid, Torched Sushi
Mike V
Hands down one of the best Japanese food experiences of my life, up there with a trip to Japan and a fantastic Izakya restaurant I visited in Vegas. Will definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Spicy Salmon Roll 6 Pieces
Jennifer Packeer
My spouse and I takeout food here very frequently because their sushi and sashimi are of great quality. However, last Wednesday nights takeout platter was awful - the rice was undercooked and dry, the fish was of poor quality, dry and thin, shrimp was slimy, even the sweet ginger was dry. Overall the platter was not fresh and dinner was awful. We immediately provided them feedback and expressed disappointment, the hostess promised to make her manager aware and call us back, but to date nothing. We are very disappointed by the entire experience, the fear that we could have taken ill from raw fish that may not have been fresh enough for consumption and the fact that they didn't care enough to want to improve. You've definitely lost a loyal customer.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
daniel drever
Very good food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
farheen fatima abbas
Absolutely fantastic fresh food. My favourite sushi place. The staff, chefs and owners are amazing . We have a few food restrictions and they were able to come up with a platter that worked for us. I’m so impressed. Can’t wait to come again
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alexandra van Asperen
We ordered the Fire Dragon Roll, Spicy Crab Roll and the Takoyaki. While not a unique item available in other Japanese places in Ajax these items are so much more elevated and most importantly tasty.
The crab roll was wonderful, well priced and had just a lovely crunch added on top.
The star of the show was 100% the Dragon Roll. Holy tasty 🤤 SO MUCH FLAVOUR. I loved it and it was filling.
Takoyaki was crispy, creamy, lovely overall. A lovely local izakaya.
I hope they start doing community nights or something on Wednesdays haha
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fire Dragon Roll, Salmon Poke Bowl, Torched Sushi
Sheena Chen
We decided to try Zoo Izakaya on a Friday evening and it was busy for only one server working. There were long waits between getting us seated, taking our order, bringing water etc. Service was not what we were expecting. Not sure if this is the norm or an off day. The quality of the sushi/ food was really good.
Hidden in a courtyard pub and cute 8ce cream shop. The sushi rice was fresh, as other dishes like bulgogi,torched sushi and the thinly sliced tuna tataki were great. Simple Japanese dishes.
I love the sushi and sashimi. It was very fresh. The staff is very friendly and sweet. Definitely gonna visit again to try the torched sushi!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Steve Johnston
A quaint little spot in the Pickering Village courtyard with some very clever tapas spins on Korean and other delicious Asian-inspired foods. Great sushi (pressed and otherwise), excellent spring rolls - and don’t sleep on the kimchi & bulgogi poutine - so good!
Been going here since they first opened and always ordered the chirashi plus other items on a weekly basis. Over time the fish was not consistently sliced and the portions started to get smaller and smaller to the point where there was not enough sushi rice to go with the fish. Asking for a normal portion of sushi rice that many other restaurants provide with their chirashi resulted in a $1 fee one day from one order I made whereas before there was no charge for asking for more rice to go with the fish. This is absurd since rice is pennies. I ended up cancelling my order and the bottom line is they rather lose a $90 order to charge you $1 for rice instead of giving you enough rice that they used to provide before.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Philip S.
I used to think there wasn't good sushi in Durham until I tried Koo Izakaya, fantastic sushi that reminds me of Toronto or Vancouver sushi!!
I decided to try Koo Izakaya after seeing its 4.7-star rating, hoping it might become my new go-to sushi spot. Unfortunately, my experience fell far short of expectations.
I ordered the Boss Sushi, Fire Sushi, soup, and salad to go. The salad, which I opened first, was mostly spinach and green leaves but riddled with wilted, blackened pieces—reminiscent of the ones I just threw out at home. The sushi combos were drenched in an unpleasant mayo-smoky sauce combination that overpowered everything. The salmon on top was cooked and tasted like smoked salmon, which was unexpected and unappealing for sushi. I found myself using paper towels to wipe off the sauce and eventually removed the salmon entirely.
The soup was lukewarm, though it tasted fine after microwaving—standard miso flavor. The menu was also disappointing, with no real crab rolls, uni, or other staples I enjoy.
All in all, I had high hopes but left let down on my first visit. Sadly, I won’t be back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
This place does not serve Ramen. It’s a sushi place and they have udon noodles, which is not ramen.
The place is great, food is awesome.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Loved their fresh food and friendly service. We tried their butter squid, torched salmon, fire & white dragon rolls, and loved all of them. Highly recommended if you are looking for a sushi place near Ajax.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fire Dragon Roll, White Dragon Roll, Butter Squid, Torched Sushi
Hands down one of the best Japanese food experiences of my life, up there with a trip to Japan and a fantastic Izakya restaurant I visited in Vegas. Will definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Spicy Salmon Roll 6 Pieces
My spouse and I takeout food here very frequently because their sushi and sashimi are of great quality. However, last Wednesday nights takeout platter was awful - the rice was undercooked and dry, the fish was of poor quality, dry and thin, shrimp was slimy, even the sweet ginger was dry. Overall the platter was not fresh and dinner was awful. We immediately provided them feedback and expressed disappointment, the hostess promised to make her manager aware and call us back, but to date nothing. We are very disappointed by the entire experience, the fear that we could have taken ill from raw fish that may not have been fresh enough for consumption and the fact that they didn't care enough to want to improve. You've definitely lost a loyal customer.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Very good food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Absolutely fantastic fresh food. My favourite sushi place. The staff, chefs and owners are amazing . We have a few food restrictions and they were able to come up with a platter that worked for us. I’m so impressed. Can’t wait to come again
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We ordered the Fire Dragon Roll, Spicy Crab Roll and the Takoyaki. While not a unique item available in other Japanese places in Ajax these items are so much more elevated and most importantly tasty.
The crab roll was wonderful, well priced and had just a lovely crunch added on top.
The star of the show was 100% the Dragon Roll. Holy tasty 🤤 SO MUCH FLAVOUR. I loved it and it was filling.
Takoyaki was crispy, creamy, lovely overall. A lovely local izakaya.
I hope they start doing community nights or something on Wednesdays haha
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fire Dragon Roll, Salmon Poke Bowl, Torched Sushi
We decided to try Zoo Izakaya on a Friday evening and it was busy for only one server working. There were long waits between getting us seated, taking our order, bringing water etc. Service was not what we were expecting. Not sure if this is the norm or an off day. The quality of the sushi/ food was really good.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Maki, Small Sashimi Sushi Maki Set, Torched Sushi
We tried Koo Boss rolls. They were really good and the chef was great to talk to. Would recommend highly
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Hidden in a courtyard pub and cute 8ce cream shop. The sushi rice was fresh, as other dishes like bulgogi,torched sushi and the thinly sliced tuna tataki were great. Simple Japanese dishes.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi, Tuna Tataki, Maki, Torched Sushi
I love the sushi and sashimi. It was very fresh. The staff is very friendly and sweet. Definitely gonna visit again to try the torched sushi!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
A quaint little spot in the Pickering Village courtyard with some very clever tapas spins on Korean and other delicious Asian-inspired foods. Great sushi (pressed and otherwise), excellent spring rolls - and don’t sleep on the kimchi & bulgogi poutine - so good!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Tuna Tataki, Fire Dragon Roll, Bulgogi Kimch Poutine
Been going here since they first opened and always ordered the chirashi plus other items on a weekly basis. Over time the fish was not consistently sliced and the portions started to get smaller and smaller to the point where there was not enough sushi rice to go with the fish. Asking for a normal portion of sushi rice that many other restaurants provide with their chirashi resulted in a $1 fee one day from one order I made whereas before there was no charge for asking for more rice to go with the fish. This is absurd since rice is pennies. I ended up cancelling my order and the bottom line is they rather lose a $90 order to charge you $1 for rice instead of giving you enough rice that they used to provide before.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
I used to think there wasn't good sushi in Durham until I tried Koo Izakaya, fantastic sushi that reminds me of Toronto or Vancouver sushi!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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