Kodori Restaurant Japanese & Korean — Restaurant in Maryland

Sushi. Sushi. Sushi. Superb. Superb. Superb.

But I digress.

Swung by for a late lunch on a Saturday. Doesn't look like much from the outside; seedy, frankly. However, nearly two o'clock and the place is still doing a very brisk trade. That's a good sign.

We didn't start off on a decent foot, however. I was looking for gluten free soy sauce; they didn't have any, but I decided to give the place I try anyway. I went to Food Lion to buy GF soy sauce after we ordered. And order, we did.

Garden salad with ginger dressing. Seaweed salad. Shrimp spring rolls. Banchans. Yaki udon. Chicken teriyaki. And, we had maki rolls: Cucumber. California. Tuna. Salmon. Spicy Tuna. Spicy Salmon. And the Pain in the Butt special roll.

A feast. And spectacular.

I think you can tell a lot about a place by the basic sushi rolls. Let's see a cucumber roll. How about a plain tuna roll. The basic rolls tell a great deal about the care and quality put into every roll. I would hope the elaborate special rolls, creations from the mind of the chef, are great. In some restaurants, I've seen the "simple" rolls delegated down to the most junior member of the team; the master infrequently preparing the basics. Anyway, simple rolls: and Kodori has nailed it. And the one "special" roll we had which was, frankly, perhaps the best sushi roll I've eaten in at least a year.

One other comment about the sushi. I'm not a fan of using scrape (but I understand the economies of it). At Kodori, it appears that they do use scrape, but mix it with freshly chopped meat. The spicy tuna and the spicy salmon were both very good. They'd fare well in a competition; I could have used a bit more kick, but I say that about nearly every roll. I would almost say it about the Pain the Butt special roll, but I shall not.

In terms of GF eating. You can eat GF, but I'd worry about cross contamination. They didn't seem to be all that "up" on GF. I did, however, leave them the bottle of LaChoi soy sauce I purchased, so they'll have GF soy sauce the next time I stop in.

And I will stop in again.

Oh, and a note about my score. They've earned a solid four in my book. Now, frankly, the sushi was a five, easily, but the service was, as another Yelper mentions, er, choppy. Had the service been a little more attentive, had they perhaps been more accommodating with the GF, certainly they would have rated five stars.

But, I'm tell you, that one roll was the best I've had in at least a year.

((Cross posted...

OMG, this place has the WORST customer service! If you try calling here to place a carryout order between 11am to 3pm Monday through Friday, they will either: 1. Put you on hold for a very long time(20 minutes one time), or 2. Not answer the phone at all.

One time I walked in there to pick up an order I placed after being on hold for fifteen minutes, I noticed that they had taken their phone off the hook so it does not ring. On top of that, I stood at the counter and waited for twelve minutes just for them to take my payment. Now mind you, my order was ready and sitting on the counter the whole time. All the time I was waiting at the counter, not once did any of their staff acknowledge me. Not even a 'Hello.'

Their food is sub-par also. Everything is on the too sweet side. The selections are not that authentic. The ONLY reason one would patronize this establishment is for the fact that there aren't many Korean places in the area. If you can, you should head ten more minutes south and look up SPOONS in Laplata. You will get better service AND better food there.

As I'm writing this review, I am still waiting for someone to come back to the phone and take my order. Some picked up and told me to hold. The timer is showing 31 minutes. They have the phone off the hook so I can hear people talking in the...

Kodori is the best sushi bar in Maryland imo, it's friendly homely and offers flavors which other sushi bars or restaurants around here rather can't even begin to compete with. I worked with the owner when I was a kid at another franchise wanna be type japanese hibachi concept which also had a sushi bar one of the first in my area. Kim the owner was treated and paid rather poorly for his skill level and expertise so being dissatisfied which his job he opened his own restaurant close by but only specializing in sushi and Korean cuisine which I believe he is of Korean descent. Kim only owns one store, the proprietor of the other restaurant owns many some of which are good some of which are not. Kim wholly participates in his operation and every day business from what I can see.... He stays true to his culture and doesn't try to be what he is not. The other guys are sellouts and it shows in the taste of their products when they compete against each other in business. Kodori wins every time... That's for dam sure both in product quality and overall experience as well as price. The food is excellent the prices are the best and you get to support a real human being who values the American dream. Ill be back next week handing them my money is a pleasure and be sure to...