Kokomo Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in New York

I've been following the restaurant on Instagram for some time but after seeing some BTS videos of Sous Chef AJ, General Manager Tasia & CoOwner Kev -- I jumped out of bed, made a last minute resy and commuted two hours from Montclair to Brooklyn to try Kokomo for the first time!

I was greeted with a huge smile by the host who checked me in, made me aware that my table was ready, and offered me a seat at the bar until the other 2 people in my party arrived. The smell of Caribbean food filled the air, the music was booming and vibes were great -- this Haitian kid felt at home.

Once my siblings checked in about 10 minutes later, our host directed us to our table. As we were taking our coats off to sit, Tasia (I recognized her from Instagram) approached our table and made us aware that the kitchen was closing within 30 minutes. We thanked her and took our seats. No less than 60 seconds later, a gentleman sporting a wrinkled black polo came over, introduced himself as our waiter and echoed the general manager's message.

I asked the waiter for his name and he shared that it was Sinque (forgive the spelling). He went on to share what items they were out of for the day. We asked for his recommendations and requested two minutes for us to review the menu. Sinque obliged. Feeling extremely rushed, we skimmed the menu, identified a few things to eat and waited for our waiter to return. When he did, we ordered:

Appetizer: Oxtail flatbread

Entree: Pikliz Fish sandwich Jerkmi burger Koko's Chicken & waffles

Sides: Sweet plantains

Dessert: Rum raisin banana bread pudding

Drinks Pear & Ginger Mimosa Ginger Ale Ginger Beer

The oxtail flatbread was delicious! We really enjoyed the tender oxtails contrasted with the crispy onion on top. We sipped our drinks and made light conversation until our entrées arrived.

My brother devoured his pikliz fish sandwich in a heartbeat but my sister was underwhelmed by her chicken and waffle dish. Her chicken looked amazing but tasted burnt (old oil?) but even worse - the waffle was literally inedible. My burger however was the freshest burger I've had in my life. The bread pudding was a bit small but packed with flavor. Given how dense the dessert was, the plastic spoons made it really challenging to dig in with ease. Food overall: 7/10.

Having worked in hospitality for over 15 years (fast casual, fine dining & high volume hotels) I was really impressed by Kokomo's social media presence. The training videos and the standard of excellence clearly articulated by Kev, Tasia and others set the bar really high. That standard made me jump out of bed and take four trains for a two hour commute from NJ to Williamsburg. This is why I was extremely disappointed we didn't experience this level of excellence yesterday. Overall experience was sadly a 4/10. I will give it some time but will certainly be back and hope to have a...

The experience I had at Kokomo yesterday was such a disappointment. Me and my wife went to Kokomo yesterday because it was highly recommended by a family member. So we decided to try it before going to an event later in the night. But it was such a disappointment because it took about an hour and a half to get all of our food.

We had a 5:30pm appointment but showed up at 5pm. We got seated around 5:15pm which was expected since we got to the restaurant early. The waiter (who I forgot his name) was kind, helpful and gave us suggestions. Me and my wife ordered drinks, appetizers (one of the two being a shareable) and then a main course. But then I decided to order the Wah Gwaan flatbread as takeout. We got the drinks which I ordered the "Painkiller" and my wife the "Blouse n Skirt". We both enjoyed our drinks but the "Painkiller" was amazing. My wife was actually a little jealous of how amazing it was compared to her drink.The takeout arrived shortly after the drinks, which was before any of our food dine in food. Around 5:45pm my wife gets her appetizer but the shareable appetizer didn't come with it. Around 6:15pm my wife gets her main course and we get our shareable appetizer. But I didn't get my main course which was the Koko Pasta Flatbread. I ask the waiter if it is still on its way and he tells me he will check on it. Shortly after he tells me that they're making it a priority and it's on its way. Around 6:40pm I get my main course but I only ate a slice of it. Since at that point, time was against us because of the event we were going to. So I couldn't sit down and enjoy my meal and my wife was also sort of turned off as well because I wasn't eating and she saw the displeasure on my face.

And I don't think it was on the waiter because he did repeat what appetizers we wanted and then the main course. But the only feedback I would give the waiter is to check in with the guest more often. Because if he did he would have given us more of a sense of ensurance. But he was great otherwise.

It's a nice looking restaurant and a really good ambience. I'm just really disappointed especially when spending around $340. I'm disappointed on how long the food took to get to us especially when time is important. I tried to have a good time with my wife but it was spoiled especially since it is not often we have time together because of our work schedules. And I couldn't even really sit down and enjoy our food along with the ambience because of the time frame it took to get our food especially since the order of it was odd where an appetizer and a main course arrived together but another main course...

We came to Kokomo with the intention of celebrating a special birthday and having a great time. Our group was diverse, with individuals from Caribbean and Hispanic backgrounds who were excited to dine at a restaurant that served what we hoped would be authentic Caribbean food. Unfortunately, the experience fell short of expectations.

Since we were a large group, we opted for the prix fixe menu at $90 per person. Upon arrival, we were seated quickly, and the ambiance was beautiful. The restaurant also offered professional photos and a designated area for pictures with a swing, which was a nice touch.

We started with drinks, which were excellent. The appetizers were a mix—while the Koko pasta flatbread and shrimp tempura were delicious, the curry crab gyoza was not enjoyable. The owner even approached us when he noticed none of us ate it, and after we shared our feedback, he had it remade for one guest. However, even the second attempt did not meet our expectations.

The biggest disappointment was the entrees. Although they all arrived at the same time, which we appreciated, the food itself was not appetizing. Multiple people in our group tasted each entrée, and we all agreed—none of them were enjoyable. The rice and peas, salt fish, ackee, and oxtail were overwhelmingly salty. The French toast was overly crunchy, with only some soft parts, and the chicken served with it was chewy. The pasta was bland and had an unpleasant texture.

We addressed our concerns with the owner, who saw firsthand that almost all of the entrees remained untouched. After personally tasting the food, he admitted that the kitchen had not followed the proper recipes. He offered to have the meals remade, but at that point, we had lost our appetite. As compensation, he reduced the prix fixe price to $65 per person, but with tax, gratuity, and drinks, the bill still totaled $1,100. Given that the majority of the food was left uneaten, we felt this was an inadequate resolution, but we chose to pay and move on rather than argue.

It’s disappointing because we genuinely wanted to enjoy the experience and were excited for a meal that reminded us of Caribbean flavors. In the end, we basically paid $1,100 for drinks and ambiance, only to leave hungry. While the setting and drinks (virgin and alcoholic) were nice, the food was a complete letdown. Maybe it was an off night in the kitchen, but based on our experience, we wouldn’t recommend this restaurant for...