Kozy Ramen & Bar — Restaurant in Annandale

I came in at around 8:30pm on a Monday night and I was just about the only person there. They were very attentive and my food came out very fast. I ordered the Original Ramen Combo, which came with a meat bun (pictured below). It also came with a little salad. Salad came out first, then meat bun, then ramen. The waiter refilled my water from a pitcher about as soon as it got below half full, but I didn't feel like they were watching me or staring at me or anything.

I got my ramen with extra bean sprouts, and a good amount of bean sprouts came with my ramen. They didn't skimp, it definitely felt like I ordered the extra. The meat bun is a little spicy! The original ramen I ordered was not spicy at all (just what I wanted).

I also got the mochi, there are 3 flavors: Vanilla bean, green tea, and strawberry. They came in cute cherry blossom themed bowls (pictured below). The vanilla and strawberry were sweet, and the green tea one was less sweet. All were good.

Their tables only have chopsticks but you could probably request a fork if you wanted.

The vibes/atmosphere was also really good. The music was not too loud, and I'd describe it as the kind of music you'd hear in a regular restaurant, but sung in Japanese. It was not anime music or hyperpop or anything. The dishes they served everything on were well themed and coordinated. The decor was nice, coordinated but also varied.

Total cost including tip was $30, and that's the ramen, meat bun, and mochi.

Really can't think of anything to take even half a star off for. Nice experience on one of their...

I saw Bulgogi on the menu and knew right away this place wasn't run by the Japanese! However, the place is very much decorated like a Japanese restaurant. There are a bunch of Japanese-themed small posters all over the restaurants. They also have hot sake on the menu!

We ordered pork baos, tonkatsu rice, spicy tonkatsu ramen, spicy chicken ramen, and spicy miso ramen. We tried to share a sip of the broth. It seemed like they used the same kind of spice for all. Even though we ordered three different broths, they tasted very similar because we ordered the spicy versions. The base of the broth tasted good. Tonkatsu surprised us. It was crisp in all the right way and very delicious. The pork baos, however, were something I wouldn't order again. It was meh. Ramen-wise, this place put up serious competition in the area but it's not my top pick. Their spiciness needs some work. It wasn't quite there for me.

Another minor downside to this place is that the staff works really slowly. I counted 3 staff in the front. There were 3 to 5 max full tables the entire time we were there. It took an unreasonably long time for us to get our ramen. Our drinks and appetizer came like 10 minutes after we sat down. We were hungry so ordered everything at once. Our ramen came out like 40 to 50 minutes later. Why? Do they only have a single chef doing everything in the back? Even though I'd come back, I'd have to think about it...

Overall: Highly recommend, especially their ramen combo (for as long as it’s available). This place is a little tucked away but has a very cute vibe, so we’ll be coming back.

Happened to come across this place which just opened a day ago (on September 13, 2024). We got the ramen combos which come with bao buns. I got the spicy tonkotsu ramen with a bulgogi bao bun, and my partner got the shoyu ramen with cha shu bao bun. For the combo, the value is really good and overall we are very pleased to have found this place as we love ramen. For the spicy tonkotsu, they offer a ‘fiery’ level of spice, which if you love very spicy food… this is still not super spicy—I haven’t found a place that makes super spicy ramen. But the flavor of the broth is good regardless, and while the cha shu meat is not fall apart tender, it has pretty good flavor on its own so we still think it’s quite good. The two bao buns we tried were also good, nice and tender and juicy.

Service was a little slow being just opened with only one waitress at the time, but she was very lovely and did her best to make sure our needs were met. Freebie appetizers include Japanese-style salad and couple dishes of kimchi and pickled veggies. For being early customers, the waitress also gave us complimentary mochi ice creams which were delicious. We picked a matcha one and a tiramisu one, both great though the tiramisu one is...