Izakaya Kotaro / Kotaro bistro — Restaurant in Easter Island

The restaurant is highly publicized on the LATAM airline website when you visit the section promoting this eye watering destination. I didn't go here for that purpose though. It just happened to be 1 block from the guesthouse I was staying and given I am a sucker for Japanese food, the building from the outside looks really interesting and well, Easter Island is pretty much surrounded by the Pacific Ocean with all the fresh seafood that entails, I just had to give the place a try.

The restaurant has a very simple policy. You have to request a reservation beforehand (if you show up before opening time, you might be able to snag a timeslot later that day, but I ended up asking for a berth the following day). No pets allowed. No noisy kids allowed. Kids are okay if they aren't the type that runs around and make noise. I think the rules are reasonable enough.

I showed up very early and so I was pretty much the only person around. They offer complimentary wifi (which is awesome because that's a rare luxury in this island). Speeds were actually faster than average, sufficient to upload a photo of my eye watering food to my friends.

The chef asked me if he could prepare whatever dish he felt like. I said, hey, why not? As long as it wasn't something I was allergic to, I'm open for the surprise.

He prepared several courses with raw varieties of fish with soup and rice. Most of the ingredients are the same thing as sushi, but split up. It was a rather interesting experience and now that everytime I eat something similar, I always remember the great food I ate here.

I loved the ambience of the place, so... well... Japanese in the inside, hehehe. The chef is super nice and it was a lot of fun talking to him as he cooked for me (I sat in a stool given I was pretty much alone and had nobody to talk to). You can see the passion he has for his job and the results show.

Loved the quirky cat doors for the bathrooms BTW.

It's a rather unique looking restaurant in a magical island that few people will ever have the chance to visit in their lifetimes. If I am ever back here someday, I'd love to see if the restaurant is still around to eat here again!

I ate here in...

I booked a month in advance even after reading the negative reviews and the insane chef’s blog ... I wanted to believe in and try this restaurant. We arrived in an half-finished building. Funny. The chef starting to talk to us nicely. After waiting some time, we got our beers, not the big or small Japanese beers mentioned in the blog but the basic Chilean one. The Japanese beers will arrive in ... March (today is Christmas Day)... He presented his menu of the night with a lot of bla-bla-bla. The chef talks a lot, saying the same thing to each table ( thanks God there are only two plus a bar space): his résumé ( sous-chef at the chain restaurant Hyatt in several countries), his life principles and goals. He talks and talks about himself. You start to worry about his mental health. Comes the food: 6 sushis, 1 sashimi, one miso soup and then the main dish: we picked the beef cooked in two different ways. We were unable to make a difference between the two ... and THAT’S IT. Thank you, here is the bill, titled Lunch set !!??!! (It was dinner of course). 78,000 Chilean pesos in cash. I dared to ask for a dessert, something to end the experience. I was told that he does not like dessert🙄, followed by a long dissertation on perfection and the lack of a proper fridge considering the specificities of the island ... again an insipid bla bla-bla, an auto-justification of his mediocrity. Ten minutes after leaving the restaurant, I received an insulting email, telling me I had ruined HIS night. Him again. Everything is about himself. He does not care at all about his customers. He is full speed into his narcissistic schizophrenia. This guy is sick. Stay away from this place: you will save a lot of money, your time and an...

My partner and I visited Kotaro tonight and had a great time.

The food was delicious, especially our appetizer, which was vinegar- soaked sashimi including mackerel, octopus, and one other fish. There was also a nigiri and sushi dish which we liked. For the main dish, the chef gave us an option of beef, pork, chicken, or shrimp. We went with beef and shrimp, and particularly enjoyed the latter which was cooked in curry on a plate of vegetables. I usually don’t order Japanese curry since it tends to be with fried pork or chicken which I find to be a bit too heavy but the chef recommended this over the shrimp tempura so we tried it. The dish turned out to be great and the veggies created a nice balance (picture only has 2 pieces of shrimp since we forgot to take photos initially). We were so full that we actually looked forward to the 40-ish minute walk back into town, though he did offer to order us a car.

We were lucky to be the only guests at the time since the chef was able to spend more time to explain the dishes, how he built his Izakaya from scratch, and the stray cats and dog that have become permanent residents. However, Kotaro is reservation-only. Be sure to read the website before booking. We just sent a WhatsApp message to reserve.

Can’t recommend this family-run...