Koto — Restaurant in Town of Colonie

The first time I went to Koto I absolutely loved it. Every time I have gone there since it has gotten worse and worse and I leave disappointed. We often go here to celebrate birthdays but with how the last time turned out, we will never go again. I ordered chicken hibachi which at Koto is a much smaller portion than any other hibachi place I have ever been to. They give you soup OR salad and rice OR noodles... Every other hibachi place gives you both for the same price- $18. A combination meal at Koto (chicken and steak/ steak and shrimp/ etc) is $25, where at other places it is only $20. It is extremely pricey for a small amount with average food.

Aside from the food... the service is absolutely terrible. When I received my salad there was a large piece of plastic wrap hidden in the dressing. When I approached the hostess and showed her the plastic wrap she apologized and went into the kitchen with my salad... she never returned to me, no one ever came with another salad, and nothing was ever said of it again. I also ordered a scorpion bowl which we always do on birthdays (an $18 dollar drink). When the waiter brought it over, he brought a small one. I kindly told him that I wanted the large one and he immediately accused me saying "Well you didn't tell me!" with which I replied "You did not ask me the size, usually when I order I receive the large," I have never had to specify the size.

After this very unpleasant dinner I spoke with the manager. He was aware of the salad incident and when I told him that I was upset because no one brought me another salad or offered me anything, he responded by saying "She asked you if you wanted another one and you said no," which was obviously untrue. When I brought up the waiter being rude about the scorpion bowl, he defended him saying "Oh no, he did not say that." After everything, he offered me a dessert which I did not want. He was able to take $5 off of my check. $5 off of a $50 dollar check for average food, poor portion sizes, and terrible service. I brought 21 people in with me.... We spent well over $500 dollars on food and alcohol and he offered me $5 off.... a 1% discount. This place is a joke.

Do yourself a favor and go to Yang's on Route 9. They don't have hibachi tables but much better food and service than Koto. Any place would be better than Koto. Don't waste your...

I’ll get this out of the way: Koto is one of my favorite restaurants in the Capital Region. The food is consistent, the servers are attentive to the table and go above and beyond, and the decor is aging, but still beautiful. It’s expensive but worth it.

I had: $33 Filet Minton and a $7ish mojito (I can’t find it on their menu currently). The drinks range from $5-$9). The steak was cooked a perfect medium rare, the vegetables had a nice snap but were still well cooked. The fried rice and miso were both great. The mojito wasn’t the best I have had. It tasted like it was made with sprite? It was odd, but not bad. I think for the price point they could’ve added some more quality into the mojito (maybe that’s why I can’t find it on their menu). The portions are generous and we had leftovers for a few days.

Koto was well staffed and our waitress was in sight for the majority of our meal. She was kind and attentive. She answered my questions and directed me to some items on the menu. She also put our leftovers in the boxes for us.

The menu is confusing. Not only was I inundated with options but the options available were named oddly and/or the descriptions aren’t all-inclusive. For example, I expected the usual generous helping of meat with a side of fried rice, a side of vegetables, soup, and salad. What I received was some cut up meat tossed with vegetables, soup, salad and no rice. It was difficult to determine how much steak I received. I found myself searching for more of it.

Overall, I recommend Koto. I suggest taking your time to read the menu and understand what you’re ordering. Bring...

My first time here was just this last week. My fiance' was suggested to check out this place since we absolutely love sushi. I gave them four stars and I will explain why. First they were extremely busy and we understand that. We were happen when our waiter forgot us and another staff member came to take our order. I thought we were going to get up and walk out. What was frustrating was seeing our waiter help the table next to us but rarely said a word to us. It would have been nice to know he wouldn't be our waiter anymore. However, we understand it was crowded busy so that is NOT the reason for the four stars. Just know not to come on a Friday or Saturday night between 5pm-8pm unless you have a reservation. Obviously it is like that anywhere in the Albany area. The miso soup was kind of bland, I would suggest it needed more salt or flavor. The shrimp shumai was delicious but was not warm when it came to the table. It had to be sitting wherever it was for awhile so that was a bummer. Every time we go anywhere the Boston rolls have mayo and theres do not. It didn't have enough flavor but when we go back we would ask for it in it.The four stars were for the lack of flavor in the miso soup, the cold shrimp shumai and the price of the green salad. I would recommend buying the Mango Tango & sweet potato roll with eel sauce on top. We will be back but it will never be a Friday or Saturday evening as the sound was way too loud and overwhelming but we...