Koto Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi — Restaurant in City of Syracuse

A friend and I ate here last night, and I wasn't extremely impressed. We were given the option of ordering from the "snack hour" menu that actually lasts for 2 & 1/2 hours and is significantly less expensive than the main dinner menu that we were also offered. We chose items from both. Before we were even sat down, we asked about military discount and were told by the hostess, our waitress, and the manager that they do give a military discount of 10%. Our sushi was slightly above average - although since it was ordered off of the snack hour menu, there was no room for customization. We also ordered the fried duck entrée as well as the Cajun steak entrée, medium rare. Both came with a side of dipping sauce - which immediately made me skeptical. Personally, if seasoned and cooked correctly, I feel that the meat itself should speak to your tastebuds itself without the crutch of a slathering of dipping sauce to compensate. That being said, the duck tasted like Chinese sweet and sour chicken; the steak was, much to my disappointment, cooked to medium well, and was much too sweet for the heat that accompanied it. There was also several garnishes that were either inedible, or did not pair whatsoever with each other. I certainly tried - just shy of what I can only describe as a a leaf reminiscent of what you would pull off of an ear of corn whilst shucking it. As for the atmosphere, it was confusing and trying too hard. I actually only took one picture while we were there because I felt like the manager - whose constant dour presence and all-seeing, overbearing stance at the center of the restaurant - would be the type to passive-aggressively state me down for doing so, or worse, approach the table to chastise me for taking pictures. I suppose if I were in his position I would also be embarrassed by their seemingly garage sale-like décor, complete with a literal box of sake on top of the bar to be poured from, next to a promotional plastic liquor company ice basket, a corded telephone, a vertical file/plate organizer, another box of sake, and for a reason I cannot comprehend, an NHL game playing on every flat screen in the place. In a Japanese restaurant! Fast forward to the end of our meal. Out waitress was good, not exceptional, but I gathered that her hands were tied on many customer service elements. The food was mediocre and when cost was factored in, was even less than mediocre. The manager had the chef mopping the bar and hostess areas during service - yuck! When our bill came, there was no military discount applied. When we inquired, we were told that they don't discount snack hour items; and since we ordered from both the snack hour menu and the full priced menu, no discount was available. So not only did they insult our meat choice by over-cooking it and serving it with sauce to dip it in, they also deliberately mislead a 2x war veteran and current active duty military service member about a well-deserved and well-earned military discount in the wake of veteran's day. I will not be returning. I have too much respect for the men and women who put their lives on the line for $23k/year to probably get shot to justify...

Service was great. My server was Evan. He was clear cut and to the point. Allowed me plenty of time to browse the menu and kept my drink full. (Which is my biggest peave while dining) the ambiance of Koto is nice. Airy and plenty of room. There is refinement in the ceramic table setting and acrylic chopsticks. There will always be a special place in my heart for Asian establishments that offer finer quality chopsticks over the cheap wooden counterparts- the thought of a splinter in my mouth makes me cringe. As for the food (this is where I had to shave a star back), the miso soup was exceptional, the ginger salad was nice- the greens may be a bit bitter for my taste but hey- it's salad. Now, down to the nitty gritty: I ordered Mussel Moto Yaki as an appetizer. Mussels should not be treated as a typical seafood. They are bottom dwellers that consume sand and smaller oceanic particles. Unlike their fishy cohabitants, they should have more of an "earthy" flavor and distinguished texture. The sauce on the dish overwhelms the savory quality of the mussels that they would inherently carry. I also ordered the Thai Tilapia. It was exceptional. The vegetables were cooked to a standard degree- that which would be expected from a hibachi style restaurant. The tilapia was prepared well. Flaky meat with a lite, crisp crust. Well executed. The plate is garnished with cherries. It would be fantastic if they incorporated the sweet quality of the cherry with the spicy elements of the chili sauce on the tilapia. I'm not generally a fan of rice, so I can't really offer any input on the fried rice that came...

BE CAREFUL. We went there for lunch a few weeks ago. We had a group of 6: two adults and 4 children. We were seated at the hibachi table. My sister's 7 year old son wanted sushi instead of hibachi, but the waitress said he MUST order hibachi (we'd been at the restaurant in the past and they always allowed to order a non-hibachi meal). We asked her to allow him to order sushi, because he is a small child and simply can't eat all of the hibachi lunch, but she refused. He started crying. We ended up ordering a hibachi lunch for him (which we took home) AND sushi that he wanted. Our problems didn't stop here. Three persons in our group ordered white rice with their lunch order; it is included in the price. They never brought the white rice, despite us reminding them 3 times! When they brought us the bill, I crossed out the "gratuity included" and wrote my own gratuity amount which was smaller, of course, and I added a note below. A few weeks later I saw on my credit card bill that they charged their original amount which is outrageous. I went there today to talk to them, but not only they didn't apologize, they started coming up with lies such as rice was not included in the bill and that they can only refund $8! I asked that they refund the entire gratuity amount to compensate for the trouble, but they refused. I then disputed the entire transaction with my credit card company. I understand that many restaurants are struggling to survive, but stealing money from their customers is unacceptable. So, be careful when you...