Kochu — Restaurant in Ottawa

What a great find...bright flavours, delicious, and good price!

Our family of 4 (2A2C) were looking for something else to eat rather than the norm. We were so lucky to have stumbled upon this place! It was an afternoon on our anniversary and we like to explore foods and new eats and Kochu was a brilliant find. This meld of Korean and Japanese is not so much fusion as it is 2 different eats in one place. There is a few dishes that are fusion but that's not the star. Simple rail/countertop seating with QR code for ordering should you choose or the traditional tell them at the cash. The place smelled awesome walking in the door, was clean especially the bathrooms which as we all know is a good indicator of the kitchen's cleanliness. Speaking of the kitchen it's open so you can see exactly what's going on. The staff is super friendly, willing to explain things and really seemed to love the work as that passion showed in the taste and presentation of the food. We ate about 8 or 9 different dishes from gyoza/dumplings to maki rolls to octopus balls and tempura squid but the gochujang chicken was out of this world! Let's something clear right off the top...the food was FRESH!!! I'm talking REALLY FRESH! Seafood does not age well, seaweed salad does not age well, vegetables and raw fish needs to be fresh to be the best and the food here was all that and more. The tempura was light and crispy, the sauces deep and flavourful, the veg was crisp and delicious, and the seafood tasted super! The gochujang chicken was on another level with its blend of flavours, heat, veg, and plentiful succulent chicken. Best of all it was not drowning in the delicious sauce so each of the ingredients could really shine. I'm actually drooling right now thinking about that dish! A sparse beverage line up was sufficient as it was complimented with a self serve barley tea. We will be back and with our appetites ready as we will work our way through other yet-unexplored menu delights!

Try this place...you won't be...

We’ve been loyal customers of this restaurant for over 8 years, since their Elgin Street location. We’ve always enjoyed their food and usually order takeout, but today we decided to dine in with our two young kids.

The dining experience was extremely disappointing. About halfway through our meal, the waitress asked us to “please have the kids be a little quieter.” I was shocked, our kids were not being disruptive at all, just being kids. Maybe once or twice they raised their voices, but nothing unusual for children (a 20 Month old and 4 year old) enjoying dinner.

It’s a small, casual restaurant, not a fine dining establishment, yet we were made to feel unwelcome and embarrassed simply for bringing our family. I couldn’t even finish my meal because I felt so uncomfortable, and we ended up leaving early.

After all these years of being regular customers, I will not be returning. It’s upsetting to think this is how they treat families. Do they also ask groups of adults enjoying themselves to keep quiet? Very disappointing. There are no high chairs for children either which makes sense that they don’t expect kids to partake at...

We have ordered from this restaurant for years. The food has been very good and we have been very happy in the past. Over the past year, the quality and service has dropped. Every time that we order over the phone for pick up, we arrive to the wrong order. Also when we open it at work, the portions are extremely small, especially for the Vegetarian Sushi. Every time that we mention that there is an error or complain about the size, we are more or less told that we are wrong. The last time we ordered, not only were the portions small on the Veggie Combo #1, there was black mold on the avocado!!! We called immediately and were told that the manager would call us back asap....this never happened. The pictures attached will show the spoiled avocado and also the size. This is a Veggie Combo...why are they so stingy on the items that are not expensive? We have never returned and have never heard a word in response to our complaint. This is so disappointing as we would order at least 5...