Koya — Restaurant in La Rochelle

Be Wary Of Your Reservations! Make your own opinions on if the following behavior is acceptable or not, from any restaurant. We think you’ll agree not. We made a reservation end of October for 4 persons for dinner on December 24th Christmas. We received quickly a confirmation of our reservation. All good up to the afternoon of the 19th December when we suddenly received an email cancelling our reservation. No reason given, just cancelled. We went into the google reservation system and it indicated the restaurant was open that evening but now full. We checked the restaurant‘s own reservation system. It said the same thing. We immediately sent a chat and called the restaurant when it opened, asking to know why our reservation from October had suddenly without reason been cancelled by them. First reply (first verbally and then in writing) was that they were closed that day / evening. There had been an error with the reservation systems. We replied that surely if there had been a system error they would have know this far in advance and would have reached out to customers like us long before a few days before our reservation and given this reason. We also pointed out that even on the 19th December both their own and the google reservation system indicated they were open but full. That as we were in the area we would easily see if they were closed or not. We then got the response that they were sorry but they had a group on the 24th. Seriously! So the first reply of being closed was false and as they got caught out they come with the excuse of a group. A „group“ would not have made their request suddenly on the 19th December but also much further in advance. So basically customers who come after prior reservations are given preference! When we said this was unacceptable, especially as we had reserved far in advance and for an 80th birthday actually on that dated, and expected our reservation to be upheld and they should reach out to the „group“ and cancel their reservation, which they took after ours, we received a half-hearted apology and were asked if a manager could be in contact with us the next morning, the 20th. We agreed. Unfortunately we heard nothing so we called the restaurant again the evening of the 20th December. We repeated all of the above and pointed out that we were now left 4 days before the 24th with no birthday dinner table as most of the good places were full. We would be writing appropriate social reviews, like this one informing others of their preferential „customer service“. We again received a half-heated apology and after a few minutes discussion between themselves, they offered to see if they could booked us in another of their restaurants and offered us a champagne bottle. Luckily this was possible but only due to our persistent complaining of their actions. It was at least something but… a big BUT…Irrespective, the primary principle of upholding customer reservations seems unfortunately not to be of interest to this restaurant. So this is a warning to all that even if you do receive a reservation confirmation from this restaurant it unfortunately may not be upheld and you are given a false excuse why. Also unfortunately the alternative restaurant experience turned out to be very average and the offered free bottle of champagne never appeared. In any case, we wish everyone a...

Sur le papier, sur la devanture et en se référant aux avis sur les réseaux sociaux, l'expérience est prometteuse : une cuisine "fusion" aux inspirations variées orientées d'Asie, bref une table exotique, simple et efficace. C'est là que l'expérience dérape dans le fossé.

Bien au-delà de l'impression positive préalable, on comprend rapidement, hélas, où l'on a mis les pieds. Certains plats, notamment les suggestions du jour, ne sont pas disponibles. Etonnant. Les entrées sont extrêmement ordinaires, autant les sushis (parait-il que les "chefs" sont de véritables maîtres sushis - pardon d'en rire, surtout quand on a eu la chance d'aller au Japon) que les gyozas dont l'aspect et la texture n'indiquent en rien un produit frais (très probablement surgelé). Pour les plats, on passera également son chemin. Je ne savais pas que le magret de canard laqué se servait surcuit. Apparemment, en Chine, ils l'ignorent également puisque partout on le sert rosé. A tout le moins, la question de la cuisson pourrait être posée au moment de la commande. Quant au dessert, une sorte de tiramisu au matcha, sec, sans aucun intérêt. Bref, une qualité de produits extrêmement discutable pour ne pas dire très médiocre.

Je ne m'étendrai pas sur le service qui est tout simplement catastrophique. Tantôt pressant, dès l'arrivée, à vous redemander incessamment si vous voulez boire quelque chose... puis qui disparait complètement dès le plat principal sur table (moment où, en général, on a envie de boire quelque chose, justement). Le staff n'a, de toute évidence, aucune connaissance en matière de vin. Mieux vaut en rire en écoutant leurs prétendus "conseils"...

Il n'est jamais agréable de rédiger un avis négatif mais il est encore moins agréable de vivre une pareille expérience. Avec un prix total en décalage complet avec le niveau de la prestation. Il y a bien mieux sur La Rochelle, et sans se ruiner. Passez...

This place was so expensive and so aggressively bad! I was seriously looking for the hidden camera. I really cannot understand where the good reviews come from. First, they got my order wrong because I have picked potatoes, but got rice. Then and most importantly the meat was ultra hard - it was impossible to cut let alone chew, and the rice some parts were cooked and some were not and it was ultra spicy. I couldn’t. I left almost all the food. When the lady asked I mentioned the problem and she said “OK I’m sorry, that will be 34 euros”!! For that price, I would have expected at least acceptable, food,...