Kong Izakaya — Restaurant in Utrecht

I was really looking forward to eating here because of the nice reviews and it looked like an authentic Japanese restaurant.

Honestly, I was quite disappointed… I had shared a ricebowl with Ebi Tempura and Fried Chicken + Ramen. The moment the ramen was served, I immediatly saw that it was not a classic marinated egg with ‘soft’ inside. At that moment I was already quite disappointed, but was still curious for the rest. The ramen noodles had a really nice texture and the broth was fine. The fried shrimp and chicken were both really tender and tasteful, but were served with just ‘bland rice’ and some slaw.

The staff was very friendly and I sincerely hope this place is going to grow into one of the best Japanese dining places in Utrecht. I haven’t tried their sushi, it looked great. Just really missed some overall flavour/interesting spices, that I expected from the...

Update 23.00 2/8/25 The owner reports my review and accuses us of theft. I'm happy to comply with the authorities to review security footage as I'm confident they'll have a laugh, but this reveals perfectly their business practice and their response to valuable customer feedback. 1 star.

We read the reviews and thought we've found a hidden gem in the quiet corners of Utrecht. Atmosphere is brilliant, cute little setup for a family owned business with a touch of local dutch influence! We ordered sake, miso ramen and shrimp rice. Utterly bland ramen and no amount of chili oil and soy sauce made up for its lack of taste. Got recommended warm sake and given piping hot. And then the service staff hounded us for a 5-star review until we got up and left. 3 stars is a coup de grace, you don't ask the customers to give you 5 stars if you haven't asked how their...

My thoroughly positive experience with the establishment already started prior to actually dining there. The accommodating and friendly staff called me back when I tried to make a reservation by phone a few days ahead.

This set me up for high expectations which were exceeded throughout! We chose to dine at Kong's as two friends wanting to share a few dishes from the menu.

Not only that every dish was of high quality & superb taste - anything we had tasted super fresh and was ready in a short period of time. We were raving about the food from start to finish!

On top of that the value for money was top notch. The menu is very extensive and we are sure that when we will be back there will be enough additional/new dishes to...