Koji — Restaurant in Omaha

I recently took a trip to Omaha with my grandsons, and they are constantly telling me how much they enjoy having grocery store sushi with their mom. So I thought I'd level them up a notch.

I did a local search on Google Maps, and I found Koji, so we decided to give it a shot. We went for a late lunch, and we found rockstar parking right out front.

The decor was very clean, contemporary Japanese. The host met us right inside the door and asked if we had a reservation; I had failed to do that. However, he did accommodate the three of us at the sushi bar, which was great for the boys so they could see how it's made.

Our server, Renee, was pleasant all the way around and was very attentive to our needs. I recommend being seated in her section if you can.

We started off with some edamame and the Koji Q smoked cucumber salad with soy sauce and chilies. My youngest grandson, who's only six, amazingly picked up on the chopsticks right away!

I started with the Hamapon plate, Hamachi (yellowtail) served on orange slices, topped with slices of serrano pepper and surrounded by a crab butter ponzu sauce. I'm a huge fan of Hamachi and ponzu both, so this was a great new way to have it for me. My oldest grandson is 11, and he wasn't shy to try it and thought it was delicious. I'll be ordering him some more sashimi in the future.

Next up was some nigiri unagi. The cooked eel and eel sauce is always pleasant to the palate of sushi beginners, and the boys loved it.

Next, we had the Rodeo Roll, with seared wagyu, panko, pickle, onion, Japanese mayo wrapped in a BBQ paper. The kids totally love this one. It tasted almost like a cheeseburger.

Our next choice of roll was the Omaha crunch, spicy crab with cilantro, rolled in panko, toasted lightly, and covered with some sesame seeds and some eel sauce, another great choice.

We still had a little room for more, so for the last roll of the afternoon, we tried something a little more advanced: the Osaka roll. Shrimp tempura, crab, with Japanese mayo, lightly torched, drizzled with tonkatsu sauce, and topped with shaved smoked bonito. The bonito adds a very strong fishy flavor, and the boys were not as big a fan of that as I was.

A great experience and meal overall. Highly recommended So if you're ever in Omaha... be sure to check out Koji sushi just off...

Koji is located inside a strip mall. It shares parking with all the other buildings. It is easy to spot since you can see it from the main road (Pacific) . It is the sister restaurant to yoshitomo. There are a few similarities in the menu, especially on the back side. Koji specializes in yakitori. The first time I tried them all.

Came back to see how things were going as they have been open for awhile longer now.

It was a good night. I recommend the korn. We give that a 5 stars. Would prefer if it was served with rice. It was very strong in flavor and packs a flavor punch.

The wagyu nigiri was very chewy tonight. The flavor profile is great , but if it continues being tough like that I would not want to order that in the future.

We ordered a scallop dish that I felt was muted in flavor compared to the other dishes. Not a favorite for me. Presentation wise it was beautiful.

Everything else was at the level I expected. Tonight my friend did the ordering so I didn't get a copy of my bill to fill out the detailed review.

Previous review. We tried all the skewers

Mune 4.5 stars With the burst of yuzu it elevates it out of 4. The portion size is small though

Kare 5 stars Moist and thick, this was delicious with the green curry

Negina 4 stars Pretty standard chicken thigh.

Teba 4 stars Good chicken wings, for 8.5 you get 4 pieces

Tsukune 5 stars A great meatball

Kiwa 4.5 stars I would recommend this for something different. Don't often see chicken skin

Tako 5 stars Very cute and full of flavor.

Shisito 4.25 stars Solid offering.

Hamapon 5 stars It hit all the right notes for me

Abura sake 4 stars It was a bit over cooked, surprising since everything else was perfect.

Nigiri

Iwashi 4...

I’m from Seattle and am well accustomed to good fresh sushi, so it was with no small amount of intrepidation that I swung into Koji on a Friday night. It’s always a good sign for any restaurant, and any would-be diner, when the place is full, and such was the case. And with good reason. This isn’t your typical izakaya bar - the menu offers both traditional and innovative contemporary choices and, as far as I could tell, they were all stellar (with one exception that I’ll get to). Presley, my server, assured me that I would be impressed and she was not wrong. Uni is an acid test for me, but to expect good uni in a place as landlocked as Omaha is somewhere between ultimate optimism and suicide. But I trusted Presley and I was amazed at how good the uni was. Buoyed by that I ventured forward, following her recommendations but for my desire for ikura. One of my favorites, good ikura is bright orange and appears to be almost bursting; what I was served was maroon, with the eggs indicating “tired” with their collapsed outer membrane. Other than that one exception everything was fabulous - the maguro so good that I ordered a second one to accompany my second order of uni. This place is special, and west Omaha is lucky to have it. If you haven’t been here yet, what are you waiting for? And if you have been here,...