KOKO Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Florence

The tuna belly was NOT tuna belly, and if it was it was the most disappointing tuna belly I’ve ever been presented with considering it was 20 euro. It did not melt as I ate it, it was dry and cut way too thick (I love tuna belly and have had it many times before, even at restaurants like Nobu so I know the difference). Also, I never said it was tuna tataki, I’m not stupid. I was referring to the SASHIMI. The salmon and avocado roll was missing 90% of the avocado… The sea bass teppanyaki was a ridiculously small portion, they were more vegetables than sea bass (the flavor was very good though). Overall I spent about 60 euro (without wine) for a very average dinner. The seafood was definitely fresh but the bad tuna belly and small portions and not to mention they didn’t even give me chop sticks really...

The location and ambience of the locale suggest a much higher level restaurant. Food is definitely good quality and the on-display kitchen with raw material is a show of strength from the management. This however is contrasted quite strongly by the polite but ultimately subpar staff, which was distracted, a bit slow and generally lacking the refined details I'd expect from such a place. To be fair, we were not the easiest clients as it took us a while to decide on middle ground raw fish for a neophyte of this cuisine, but our order got messed up (Nigiri and Hosomaki instead of Sashimi and Urumaki, quite a big difference) and the staff didn't really acknowledge the discrepancy. Also based on this, pricing is above the expected, despite the city...

The food was refined, tasty and creative, it deserved 5 stars. (We didn't try desserts) On the other hand, the service was way too long...! What a pity and definitively not on the level of the quality of the food. As for the drinks, Pinot rouge is from a good Winnery (San Michele Appiano) but was served too warm (ambiant temperature in August around 28°). I'm sommelier in a Parisian palace and it's hard to be told it has 2 ways to be served (which can be true for some wines, not all though...) and more seriously not during summertime. Red wines of terroirs like pinots & gamay (light and young) are ideal around 14-16°c, otherwise it becomes a basic heavy fat taste. Such a shame and sacrilege for a good wine like this and with such...