Clever Koi — Restaurant in Gilbert

Overall The Clever Koi deserves at least a visit, they have a solid front of the house staff. They are very amiable and caring. The food and drinks are decent, and it has a nice vibe.

However, the long if it is complicated. While the pork ramen was good. It was not great, or something at least memorable. The taste itself was a myriad of contrasting flavors combating against each other. There was no sense of balance amid the flavor, and there was nothing to hold it all together. I believe the lack of understanding in the flavors that were used made it too overcomplicated, with nothing to show for it. Instead of following a more simple recipe and where the ramen broth can complement the noodles, and the condiments that go into the ramen. It ended up coming with things such as kimchi, which can go well with it, if it is put on the side in order to mix it to the customer’s flavor palate. In addition to a ginger flavor that at times overpowered the broth which in itself did not have a great amount of flavor to begin with.I do not mean to say it was bad, not at all. But, with the great amount of competition in the Phoenix Metro area, is not really something that would make your return.

Also, the drink itself was interesting, Humo de Fresa ( Strawberry Smoke), the drink derives its name from mezcal (at least that's what I believe). At least, that is what I believe. Although mezcal is a simple liqueur, it can be a very difficult liquor to mix in a good cocktail drink. The main reason being that overpowering smokiness that many mezcals have. Where tequila has a certain level of balance and character that can acclimate to a diverse menagerie of ingredients. Mezcal is a completely different beast, and its smoky flavor limits the range of ingredients that mix well with this liqueur. That is where we come into understanding the cocktail Humo de Fresa, which has the ingredients to make it an amazing drink. The ingredients from what I saw were: lemon/lime, with strawberries, mezcal, simple syrup,and habanero liqueur. Nevertheless, it turned out to just be decent. Yet, delving into the drink more, this could have been great, or even amazing. So what went wrong? The ways the ingredients were mixed were not correctly proportional to what it needed. The habanero itself took away from the rest of the flavors, in fact for the most part the habanero flavor made it hard to differentiate the citrus, and strawberries that went into the cocktail itself. One way that this could’ve been solved is to add a bit more agave honey or simple syrup in order to balance the habanero flavor while placating the smokiness of the mezcal. Overall, the cocktail was decent, but it just did not hit the mark.

In conclusion, I believe this restaurant has the potential to be great. There are a few things that can always...

We were here earlier today at 3:00 pm the time they opened. Our server Lorielle was courteous and professional. She had a trainee that also helped out. They both did their jobs and made us feel welcomed. Lorielle's banter with us showed she liked food and liked what she did and we found her to be educated in the menu.

She did state the restaurant as being fusion. Also this is stated on their website. We had the bun chicken and waffles, the bun soft shell crab, the calamari fries, the beef galbi, and the House chicken pad thai.

All proteins were cooked properly. Nothing chewy or undercooked. Spices were good nothing too hot nor mild, but then again you could always adjust that to taste.

Being born and raised on the East Coast in Northern New Jersey and frequenting restaurants in NYC and Jersey City and Hoboken and New Brunswick I can attest that if this restaurant is fusion, it's only as "mental insurance" such that if they take liberties to try new things that may stray from what is deemed ethnically authentic, no one can shoot them down for it. Lorielle did inform us that the menu may change soon and tends to change every six months. So there go their artistic liberties.

I found the House Pad Thai's taste on point and on par with everything and anything I grew up on in NJ and can rival tastes on the east coast. Don't know if the noodles are homemade but it wasn't chewy at all and melted in my mouth. The Asian chicken and waffle bun is good together and the two were blended nicely. The kimchi waffles and maple syrup were a moist and tasty combination. The chicken reminded me of the way chicken is fried for general Tso's chicken and the texture is on par with that.

The soft shell crab was cooked properly and I would say the spiciness was just right and the fish sauce aioli had a vinegary and fruity taste and somewhat pickley taste. The soft shell crab was pangko fried and it was not overbearing in taste at all. The bun was moist and tender...

Overall this is a solid restaurant, the chefs are disciplined in how to do things and that's shown by the quality of the food. The tastes, if fusion, as they say, are authentic with the Ethnicity they represent and are not far from the truth at all. Lorielle let us know that their original location is in Phoenix along with a sushi place and an Italian joint, which we plan to visit now that we are definitely curious what this brand is all about. Competition seems fierce in Downtown Gilbert and if restaurants are of the quality of clever Koi then we will be back in downtown...

This place used to be my spouse's and my favorite place to go to for food and service. But after revisiting them sometime last weekend for a date night, that changed everything. The place looked the same, great ambience, good music and seating.

We got greeted well and seated proper at a booth. Very much later came our server who looked quite mean in my opinion at first to get our drinks. Then later was switched over to another server which we are glad that happened.

Prior to ordering we had informed our server about peanut and mushroom allergies and asked questions how their foods were cooked and to make sure nothing was cross contaminated. Our server went and did her diligence of finding out for us. She came back and assured that nothing would be cross contamimated but with the look on her face of uncertainty. So we placed our orders for their calamari, their Pork Ramen, Trio steamed buns knowing that it would be peanut and mushroom free.

Once we recieved our food on our tables. Apparently they cook everything else in the same deep frying oil and grill. It was worded "General or community oil". The fried pork belly that was in our ramen was fried in the same "community or general oil" and so were the fried calamari and pork in the steamed buns. Our server even had the audacity to tell us " eat it at your own discression". Our reactions were Like, what!? Did she really just say that? Why even place our orders in to be made? It could've saved both parties the trouble, time and money spent.

Here it is, all this didn't sit right knowing the fact my spouse couldn't eat any of it while Im dining with her. And the fact I got charged for all that food that we couldn't get to eat and enjoy as a dine- in experience . The only thing that was a great experience was our drinks and the gentleman that came over and served them and the cool menu presentation.

Won't be visiting this location in the future nor recommending it for others who may have allergens and who dont like walking out smelling like they been sitting in the kitchen dining. Lol. Satisfaction and pleasant experience left unfulfilled. We wefe pretty bummed...