Koi Myrtle Beach- Japanese and Sushi — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

My party of 8 visited Koi for an evening dinner on 11/10/24 to celebrate the 249th Marine Corps Birthday. The experience was not what we were expecting or hoping for. I’ll begin with the negative and try and end with a positive note.

The biggest issue with this establishment is the sushi and the price it is set at. When you arrive to your table and open up your glowing menu you expect a pretty impressive meal. More specifically you expect a place that markets as an upscale sushi restaurant and with every signature roll placed at above twenty dollars, you would think it has sushi that tastes phenomenal. You would be mistaken. The taste of the sushi isn’t authentic at all and worst of all the sushi falls apart upon being even gently touched it with your chopsticks. We had their specialty roll of the day which was exactly identical to their signature rainbow roll except it came with cream cheese inside and a panko topping. Even the spicy mayo it was drizzled in had no flavor. It needed a soy sauce bath to taste anything. Then the most expensive roll being the Gold roll is a gimmick roll just put at that price for having gold leaf flakes on it. The lobster and waygu with it didn’t enhance the flavor at all. Speaking of gimmick food, putting truffle into miso soup just to raise the price on it doesn’t make it better. The miso soup just tasted very granular and was not hot enough. The mount Fuji roll is also a mess and even though the other rolls were flavorless, this sushi “roll” is packed with so many spices and heat that it doesn’t mesh well at all. Everyone had a bite and we still didn’t finish it. Also do not buy the desserts. None of it is made in house and it’s just mushy sugar. We tried the Oreo mouse cake and the lemon raspberry shortcake. Didn’t finish them. Very boring and nothing more to talk about there. My favorite dish was the duck fried rice. Nice and hot with a great portion if you wanna share with anyone. Very tasty.

Next is the cost. I’m accustom to gratuity being automatically applied to groups of 8 or more but to provide an upcharge on credit cards vs cash is just robbery. If there is any reasoning for it then it wasn’t explained to us or even told to us ahead of time. However, this can most likely be attributed to separate payments made at the table for our party. Even so they should tell us in advance.

The positives. The manager seemed very friendly and greeted us upon our arrival to our table. There seemed to be only one bartender, one very overwhelmed server, one cook and a “sushi master” working. So our party may have been too much for them to handle on a Sunday and maybe we caught them on an off day.

The cocktails were amazing. No complaints what so ever there. I would never come back there for a meal but would certainly recommend this place for a night cap. Very fancy drinks with gorgeous presentation and flavor. The sake flights were also very delicious and expanded all of our liquor pallets. They have a great variety. Also we had one dessert cocktail that was made by our waiter because the bar was so busy. Absolutely delicious. Only good thing we had from the dessert menu.

Our group looked at many different locations for our “fancy dinner celebration” and this place online looked extremely aesthetically pleasing with a promising menu. It was our one expensive dinner we had committed too for our weekend trip visit from out of state but the place simply turned out to be an optical illusion. It’s very small and dark inside with only a handful of tables and one bar with the same type of kitchen window you’d see at an Applebees. Koi tries to create an intimate, upscale and modern atmosphere but I had better sushi at the airport.

In short. Don’t eat the sushi, everything is overpriced and just...

We selected Koi for a nice date night dining at the bar as we like to do. The interior is very dark appointed with black and gold giving a classy vibe. Do be aware as you approach the door you might think they are not open it's just very dark is all. We found two seats we liked at the bar in front of this 4 screen TV situation playing a medley of old school kung fu movie fight scenes and Kung Fu Panda. Here things took a turn. There are no prices on the cocktail menu. We ordered the Suntori (might be wrong on the spelling) which was 16 dollars and a pour of the sake 4 oz for 8 dollars. Those sake prices are steep especially for Junmai and nigori. The menu is heavy on sparkling sake as well. So the bartender brought my sake pour then advised the trainee would make the cocktail. No problem but it took so long by the time it came out so I could cheers and drink with my date the sake had warmed. Just bring them out at the same time. When we ordered we asked for a selection of sashimi and Maki, then soup then seabass. The bartender suggested for us that the sashimi and Maki come out first then soup then seabass which we agreed. However after a long wait the soup and seabass arrived. The trainee checked on us ( we never saw the main bartender again) and I think at this point realized our sashimi and Maki had just been sitting on the sushi counter for a very long time. This was all dropped off with a shrug and a "sorry bout that " I mean I get it; it's not like we are going to send the seabass back, but some sort of effort to fix things might be nice. I think some regulars might have been at the other end of the bar as everyone seemed to be hanging out there. The trainee cashed us out with a mention that next time they'll try to get the food right. I will say that the seabass was fantastic that miso butter sauce situation was delightful and the fish was perfectly flaky but firm. I also really enjoyed the garlic soup it almost reminded me of a tonkatsu or perhaps a thick Czech garlic soup. Very savory. The rest was about on par with what I've had around everywhere else. Our final bill was around $130 bucks before tip which really stung given they could not course the food, took a good while on a cocktail, and barely interacted or checked with us the entire time. We had planned on trying additional cocktails but we just got tired of trying to catch someone's attention and by the time we did just wanted to go. Overall if this had been a typical sushi joint I think I'd just brushed it all off and be talking about how good that seabass was, but the experience at Koi is advertised as premium and the price point matches that. This visit didn't meet the price point, if someone had seemed to care when we were there we would...

I hate writing reviews like this but the restaurant needs feedback if they’re going to make it. Where to begin? Upon entering the restaurant you are bombarded with LOUD music. I get they’re trying to create a hip and modern atmosphere but you can’t even hear the hostess. Secondly, this place is small. I do not recommend going with a group. It’s more for a date or double date and that’s it. We had a party of 8 and you couldn’t even hear the person sitting across from you. Next, the service or lack there of. Upon sitting down we were greeted promptly, we ordered our drinks and this is where the experience goes downhill fast. Our soup and wagyu beef tacos came out and still no drinks. Couple across from us had wine and had to send back because lipstick was on the glasses. They asked for a new glass and it never returned. Now let’s circle back, we have now eaten our appetizers and still no drinks. We asked our server several times and we kept getting the same response “they’re coming”. At this point it’s been 45 min! I asked to speak to a manager 3 times and no one ever presented themselves. Had one guy come out after 45 min (no exaggeration) and said he tried to clear the lines for the Sapporo but no success. After the first 5 min of not getting them cleared then just tell us and we’d gladly order something different. After waiting a hour we got up and left. Went down to Lombardo’s Italian Restaurant and had an amazing dinner (check this place out for sure). When opening a new restaurant of course there are going to be hiccups, but one thing I know, keep the customers well “hydrated” and they won’t care how long the food takes. One or two working the bar customers and one or two working the well. Secondly, have an obnoxious amount of staff. You’re going to lose money in the beginning but you want people to have a positive first impression so they will return. Unfortunately, we did not have that. After being sat for an hour and never getting our drinks or any explanation as to what was happening, we will not be returning (unfortunate too because...