KoJa Kitchen — Restaurant in San Jose

Came here for lunch on a busy Saturday evening because most other restaurants were closed and Koja had one of the most interesting menus!

I ordered the Ahi Tuna Salad (Ahi tuna, wasabi mayo, seasoned edamame, seaweed salad, imitation crab salad, green onions, masago, wonton crisps, soy ginger dressing) and fell in love! It was such a perfect balance of sweet and spicy and crunchy and just everything! The tuna was really fresh and everything went amazing together. I didn't have the soy ginger dressing because there was enough flavoring in the salad itself. I had also asked for extra greens on the side and they gave me so so much! Most restaurants only add a tiny amount but Koja did a very good job. I was very happy with this meal.

I also got the Teriyaki Zen Koja (Soy and portobello mushroom patty, sesame vinaigrette lettuce, pineapple, teriyaki sauce, sesame seeds), and oh my gosh! Another beautiful one! The crispy rice buns were really so crispy and the overall texture and flavor and everything was just perfect That pineapple added such a good touch and this soy amount was just perfect and I just have no more words. Definitely definitely recommend this one!

My boyfriend got the Chicken Bowl(Korean BBQ chicken, spicy gochujang sauce, kimchi, green onions, masago, sesame seeds, lemon wedge, fried onions) and he really did like this one. The chicken was good and ingredients or went well together as well. He had half rice and half salad and was happy with the meal as well. I tasted some of the chicken and it was quite good - cooked just right and flavored well as well.

He also had the Chicken Koja (Korean BBQ chicken, sesame vinaigrette lettuce, tomato, cilantro, spicy gochujang sauce, sesame seeds, lemon wedge). It looked quite massive and had the same chicken as the bowl. He liked it, but as far as flavor goes though, that Teriyaki Zen one was a lot better! I couldn't...

The food was good, but I was humiliated by the cashier. I went to pick up an order I had placed online and grabbed it when I saw it on the counter. It usually takes them well over 5 minutes to acknowledge me when I’ve picked up food from them in the past. Today I was on a time crunch so I grabbed my order, which was already waiting on the handoff plane. Mind you, the order was well within reach to grab.

As I walk away with my order, the cashier runs over, practically yelling at me to return. As I head back to show him my order confirmation, he looked at me in a demeaning manner with a smirk on his face. He took my food out of my hands and was rude throughout the entire interaction. Everyone in the surrounding area stared at me as he lectured me about how to pickup food at their location.

May I suggest keeping the food BEHIND the counter? If you don’t want customers to pick up their own orders, why not keep it out of their reach? Picking up orders doesn’t always require a check-in (take Starbucks or chipotle for example). Instead of kindly asking for a confirmation number, I was met with by...

I am in San Jose on a business trip and a friend recommended I eat at some other restaurant in the mall here. It was so busy, that they weren't accepting waits any more and would take your number to put you on a text list if something opened up. Anything more than a 20 minute wait is a one star experience for me. I don't think people realize that life is too short to spend it waiting in line to experience great things when the next great thing to experience probably has no line. That's how I found koja.. Long lines for everything so I went here.. Still some people in line but very short. The food was great. The wings were nice but in comparison with the pork koja I had, were not worth getting. I learned that this place started out as a food truck and when you try the food, you can totally see that. I just hope as it becomes a chain, it doesn't ruin what made it big in the first place and I'm glad I got to experience it because people aren't waiting for 2 hours in line...