Kokai Sushi & Lounge — Restaurant in Doral

Have always been curious about Kokai since I frequent the small Taiwanese restaurant, Red Shallot, next door and decided to give them a try for lunch with my boyfriend. The ambiance of the restaurant is really unexpected and cozy, perfect for an intimate date night or a special occasion with family. Their menu offers plenty of traditional Japanese options and latin fusion dishes that were really unique to what other places are doing.

We started with the Aderzo de Ajonjoli $16.50 as an appetizer which was PHENOMENAL and my favorite dish I ate there. Thin seared slices of tuna were served tataki style in their house sauce with black pepper in a stunning display with seaweed salad as the center of the plate. Alternating pieces of tuna had tiny droplets of sriracha and their house mustard (this is where the fusion comes in) which I was skeptical about tasting at first but once I did, I fell in love with the flavor profile! So unsuspecting! This dish is definitely big enough to have as a large meal in itself and was even a big appetizer for my boyfriend and I.

The next roll we got to try was the Kioto $13.50: tuna, krabstick, and cream cheese topped with tuna, krabstick, white fish, shrimp and avocado. We loved this dish especially since it was alike to a rainbow roll which is a usual favorite for me! I don’t usually order rolls with cream cheese but they do it perfectly here but using very small limited amounts that don’t over power the fish you’re eating which I really appreciated!

The last roll we tried was actually part of their lunch specials which is everyday during lunch hours for $10.99 and the choice of the chef daily. The day I went the lunch roll of the day was their Miami Chef (usually $16.25): shrimp tempura, chopped krabstick, scallions, and masago topped with krabstick and eel. It looked a little messy and essentially like a seafood salad on top but it was surely delicious and well worth the price for lunch!

For dessert we had their leche condensado (condensed milk) cake that was so good that I still think about it sometimes and how I need to come back here just for that cake! Also, the fresh green tea they have is quality and definitely the ultimate hangover cure! I would definitely come back here; especially for a...

Was in the area, and as I often do, search G.Maps to see what's good in this "hood". Kokai had the most positive reviews so without hesitation I hit start on the directions. Actually got there just as they were opening. So got a great look at the place before anyone was seated.

By the time my first appetizer arrived and the Iced Green Tea, the place was already showing signs of a lunch buzz (and it was only 12:15 pm). Shrimp shumai was good as expected, with a twist of hot mustard on the plate. The edamame came out steaming hot with the right amount of sea salt. And my 🍣 sushi was above expectation on presentation, flavors and portion. Overall great experience.

Just a note... a lot, and I mean 95% of the sushi rolls have cream cheese in the ingredients. I asked them to swap that out for avocado 🥑 in my roll. No problem for a $1 fee (which I don't even think they charged me). It was just a bit surprising that I had to search for the 2 or 3 rolls that didn't have it and just ended up substituting it. Was very happy that it was an easy thing to ask for. Will go back to try some of their unique fusion sushi with madura, as well as the latin-esque flavors. You will do a double-take as you hear a steady flow of beautiful Español in an Asian restaurant. But so goes the wonderful spectrum of our human experience. I stopped looking for "Authentic" Japanese, or anything ethnic with an original "face" in the kitchen decades ago. Just happy to have wonderful cuisine with with a broad spectrum of flavors brought to us by imaginative people from all over the world. #LocalGem #AsianFusion #GoodEats...

I used to love this place when I first started going a couple of years ago, the food is amazing..I used to tell everybody about this place, BUT as time went on..the service kept getting worse and worse, staff is very friendly but lacking infrastructure and management, which leads to constantly having 45 min (sometimes even longer) ticket time (that means the time from ordering to getting the food on your table) Owner is usually sitting in the back with her laptop open, not engaged in her restaurant and not moving a finger to help her staff expedite the already late plates. To make matters worse, just the other day, I went by with a friend of mine for lunch, the place was really hot inside..it felt like there was no AC…expressed that to our server, in which she agreed as she was also profusely sweating, she said that she would pass that complaint to the owner that was sitting 3 tables away from us. Server relayed the message, but owner never even bothered coming to our table to address our complaint, she just simply walked right by us a few times and went right back to her laptop. After many years in the food industry, you start seeing the places that are successful versus the ones that are not. The ones that are successful are the ones where the owners are in the frontlines along side their staff during lunch rush, greeting customers, expediting dishes etc etc.

I have given this place many many chances but they always seem to disappoint sooner or later. I feel bad because the staff is really nice and their main chef is a super star, too bad they’re lacking...