KOTO Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

Tl;dr: Dont recommend due to overly expensive, salty food served in a rather nice location.

Recently dined at Koto for our anniversary dinner and found it fairly average for the cost. We had the 160 tasting menu with a couple of drinks and can honestly say that it's not really worth the money. First up the positives:

The location and atmosphere of the restaurant are great. You walk in via a well lit path, and the overall entrance feels grand and special. Once inside, the overall vibe is high class, and the lighting, surround windows, and split dining room definitely give off a big wow factor. It was fairly busy when I attended, and I was still able to have a reasonable level of conversation with my partner without feeling like I had to shout.

The service overall was good, with all staff being friendly and receptive throughout the dinner (however, i did forget the names, apologies to the owners on this part). I did take a star off in the service part due to a couple of oddities, we had 3 different servers, and one we had for most of the meal felt like he leaned over me every time the water glasses were refilled. The server we had bringing us the dishes was really nice, though, and I feel he did a good job explaining each dish. Noted as well that the courses were weirdly timed with all dishes coming out together, which made it feel rushed with a weird tempo. Did, however, love the time taken to write happy anniversary on the dessert plates, certainly adding a special touch to the meal.

And for the negatives:

The food was below average for the most part and not worth the money, in my opinion, especially when compared to the offerings of similarly priced restaurants such as Raku and Inka. As mentioned at the beginning, we had the $160pp tasting menu and as a summary, the main thing that can be tasted across the menu is salt, with the dishes feeling unpolished and dull from a visual perspective. For the first course, the edamame, beef tacos, and kingfish sashimi/ceviche were salty to the point that where you couldnt really taste anything else outside a hint of truffle or mustard, and the oysters were fairly flavourless. The miso soup we had was nice but wasn't anything special.

Mains of beef steak, salad, and prawns again weren't anything special with the pickles being near flavourless and the sauce for the beef being underwhelming in flavour, prawns having too heavy a batter for the soy based dipping sauce, and the salad being so salty and oily that it drowned out any other flavour that was supposed to be present outside the bitter flavour of the spinach. The fried eggplant was marginally better, but the paired sauce made it taste cheap, and it drowned out the flavour of the eggplant. The sashimi/sushi platter was average, and while fresh, it could have probably been done better by the local sushi chain store. The dessert selection was a highlight in contrast to the rest of the menu, but even then, it felt it was missing touches/polish that would have elevated it. Also noted that the drinks we had were actually quite nice, and the unique flavours were allowed to shine.

For the cost, I would have loved to see dishes that had better flavour pairings and were balanced in such a way as to let the core ingredient shine. Would also like to see more visually vibrant plating to add that missing wow factor. As a note to the owner, would highly recommend having the kitchen taste more as they went becuase alot of the dishes are severely unbalanced flavour wise and the ingredients aren't allowed to shine midst the high level of salt and oil used.

As a summary, I would not recommend this place until the menu is fleshed...

After trying different Omakase in Canberra, I would say Koto is the best place to enjoy real Japanese Omakase here in Canberra!

First this restaurant just opened for about a year, the decoration, the design, and the facility is very new and top of the edge! Koto omakase starts at 7pm and we got there around 6:45pm, the service by their warm welcome manager and staffs, they were very friendly and very thoughtful the whole time, for that I give them 5 stars.

About the food, it's one of the best I have ever had in my life. There are 18 courses plus a miso soup omakase, each dish uses decent material and cooked in front of us. The beautiful lady chief hand-made all 9 different sushi and finished the last step of the other courses in front of us, very entertained. Most importantly, there is no cheap green beans nor salad served in the omakase menu in Koto (I think the other omakase restaurants really need to learn from them). Each of us loved all 18 courses, they tasted very good, decent potion, fresh material, and served very quickly. For the food, I will totally give them 5 stars.

The only 3 stars I gave is the omakase atmosphere, it was a very noisy 3-hours dining experience I ever have. I understand the restaurant made decent profit by serving alcohol, however, few drunk customers totally ruined our omakase dining experience yesterday. In my understanding, omakase dining should be quiet and good communication with the chef, all eight omakase customers yesterday were super quiet and friendly during the process, the problem was from drunk regular customers. Somehow Koto doesn’t put omakase customers in a private room , instead they put us in the centre of the restaurant, where is right next to the bar. All other regular customers were sitting around us, they were very noisy chatting, laughing, and some of them got too hyper after getting drunk. I sat right next to the bar yesterday, and I was distracted by the movement and noisy from the bartender while he making cocktails. It was very hard to hear the chef introducing the dish under this noisy environment, we have to pretend we heard and understand it in order to show our respect to the chef’s hard work. I would highly recommend the restaurant manager/owner to rethink or redesign how to serve their omakase customers, and how to separate them with regular customers; it's better to put omakase customers in a more quiet place, or have some noisy control policy when dinning inside. For this part, you could learn from Mu Omakase, they have a special room for their omakase customers, while keep their regular customers and bar customers far away.

Overall, I would recommend Koto to my friends and others. I will definitely try their omakase after they update their menu...

Nestled just opposite the old Parliament House, Koto provides an alluring blend of tradition and modernity. As I approached, the exterior was adorned with captivating lights that illuminated a serene Japanese garden. While the entrance door had its charm, it felt slightly less inviting.

Upon entering, I was immediately seated by an incredibly courteous hostess who ensured I was comfortable, arranging for water almost instantly. The culinary journey began with Pacific oysters, served two ways. The fusion of onion salsa and yuzu jam with dried miso rendered a truly unique and delightful flavour. The accompanying yaki edamame, with leek oil and sansho pepper, was a treat in itself.

My drink, the Sakura Kouji mocktail, not only looked visually stunning but tasted equally impeccable. A blend of purple cabbage, jasmine, pink pepper, and CO2 – an exquisite choice for non-alcoholic aficionados.

The Hiramasa Usukuri, a pristine kingfish sashimi with black truffle soy, was introduced and explained by a chef, adding a personal touch to the dining experience. This was followed by the tantalizing wagyu taco, which provided a sublime blend of creamy wasabi and jalapeño salsa. However, the highlight for me was the Miso Shiru - quite possibly the best miso soup I've ever tasted.

Sitting at the bar, I had the privilege of witnessing the artistry behind the Moraiwase Platter - a premium assortment of sashimi, sushi, and maki.

Each subsequent dish, from the Edi Tempura to the Angus Guy Steak, showcased Koto's culinary prowess. The steak, with its rich flavours and perfect cooking, was a standout, and the Daikon To Tofu Salad provided a refreshing balance.

I wrapped up my meal with the ichigo shoto cake - a harmonious blend of strawberry shortcake, chocolate soil, and strawberry sorbet, serving as a sweet conclusion to my dining adventure.

Throughout the evening, the service was impeccable. Plates were cleared swiftly, cutlery replaced as needed, and the bill was presented and settled with ease right at the table.

Koto's interior exudes a modern Japanese aesthetic, with intimate, low-level lighting that sets the mood for a memorable dining experience. For those looking to indulge in an authentic yet contemporary Japanese culinary journey, Koto in Parkes comes highly recommended. I'm eagerly anticipating my return when they formally open to explore the full breadth...