Koyote — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

I don’t do reviews almost ever. I wasn’t ready to believe the hype about this place. I was sure it was good, but, as good as the ramen places in Japan?? Yeah right. Well, I was silenced. The gyoza remind me of a specific shop I frequented in Nagasaki. They’re a perfect 10 in my book. The skin is thin and the flavor is just indescribable. I also ordered the chashu-don. The pork itself tasted similar to bacon for me, but I’m used to melt in your mouth chashu in Nagasaki so I would give the pork itself a 9? But the rice itself was a 10 for sure. You might think, it’s just rice, doesn’t it taste the same everywhere? And you’d be wrong. Good rice is GOOD. And this was good rice. As for the ramen, I’m a tonkotsu lover, so honestly I’m a bit disappointed that the only available option for tonkotsu is tsukemen. My noodles were stuck together quite a bit making it hard for me to pull them apart in nice chunks and dip them, however the flavor was great! 8/10 for me. They also had purin, but I’d say it’s basically a flan compared to purin in Japan. There’s a difference but not enough to complain about at all.

In the future I’d love to try the classic ramen. I’m not a huge shoyuu fan, especially if tonkotsu is an option (my personal favorite is kakuni ramen).

The pricing isn’t bad especially compared to other, lesser, ramen shops in SLC. As always it will be more expensive than most shops in Japan, but I’m not complaining about how full I was for $35. 2 appetizers, ramen, and dessert. With the quality of food, it’s worth it.

I want to also mention, I was so so impressed by the service. It’s one of those things where when it’s okay it’s okay. If it’s bad it’s bad. When it’s good, I didn’t care for a thing the whole time. My water was refilled before I had a chance to ask, my empty plates were cleared before I had to ask, my food was brought out quickly, and everyone was kind to me.

This is the best ramen in SLC hands down. I can’t wait to...

Koyote has an okay atmosphere, but the overall experience felt rushed and frustrating. When we arrived, there were several open tables, but since we were a party of two, they made us wait 15 minutes instead of seating us at a four-top. It wasn’t the biggest issue, but with that many empty tables, it felt unnecessary.

Once we finally sat down, we ran into another problem—ordering is done entirely through your phone. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but there’s no cell service inside, and the WiFi password is only visible inside the ordering system. Unless you already have it or can flag down someone who knows, you’re stuck in a pointless cycle just trying to place an order.

Seating was another issue. If you don’t get a table, you’re stuck at the bar facing the kitchen, which means you either stare at the wall or watch the kitchen staff work. Not exactly the most inviting setup. To make things worse, some of the appliances and blenders on the racks looked greasy and not properly washed—definitely not something you want to notice while eating.

The food itself was a mix. Most of it was good, but the wontons were fried in oil that tasted burnt and rancid, completely overpowering the dish. Everything else was solid, but that one issue stood out.

The service, however, is where things really fell apart. Before we were even done eating, the staff started pushing us to close out our tab, telling us how to settle the bill as if we needed to leave. It felt like we were being rushed out the door, which made the experience even less enjoyable.

To top it off, they don’t have a soda fountain, and instead, they charge $3 per can. For a sit-down restaurant, that feels overpriced, especially...

So came to this place because of an Instagram post. The claim was this place revived Ramen as a food and yeah it was overall a lukewarm experience. The atmosphere is the nicest thing about the restaurant, it was calm a good (place for a date).

The food overpriced, and small portioned. 9$ for 5 wings, 16$ for a meal. So if you’re looking for a dinner I think there are better filling and honestly better quality in South Salt Lake’s China market.

The flavor is good… but it’s not your traditional ramen place. Coming from someone who’s been to Japan, Lived in NYC, and have gone to several places here in Utah, this has the most unique spin on ramen. That also lies the problem, there isn’t just a pork broth, just a miso broth, etc… everything was mostly these fusions (which were not bad, but not desired). Also the Chashu was the thinnest piece of meat, the people should go advertise those sharp knives on tv. Only 2 pieces is a bit cheap. Also additional inclusions like green onion or even red pepper flakes is extra. Like a $1.50 for extra green onions 😂. Most places charge $0.50 cents MAX. So the owner of the establishment is reallllly stingy.

Service is non existent it’s 95% self serve (can’t seat yourself). Water is ready in a bottle for you at the table and it’s warm because it sits there all day. Can’t request ice since despite having 16 people in the very visible kitchen nobody wants to actually wait a table.

Overall was it a good experience yes. However I would never go back or reccomend anybody to go. It’s plain and just...