Koi - Woolwich

The moment we stepped in, I felt as though I had entered a different realm.

Tranquil. Calm. Serenity. Soft music playing in a slightly darkened, cooled room. Zen.

Now this is life. I felt as though all my tension, all my stress, everything that worried me was no longer an issue whilst I was here. So for all those stressed out, tensed out, busy Sydney-siders who complain of being anxious and depressed - get your weekly dose of Koi and you'd probably be fine (for atleast the period of time that you're here).

Small Jap garden in the restaurant

We were quickly and quietly escorted to our table in the corner. Undisturbed tranquility. He efficiently handed us the menus, was open to questions, and allowed us ample of time to figure out what we wanted. Whilst the menu was not super duper huge, it was adequate and ample enough to make us feel stumped for a few minutes.

I remember seeing seared scallop carpaccio ($19) when I google imaged "Koi" and hence, that's one option that I picked. A nice plateful of thinly sliced scallops, lightly torched and almost swimming in a pool of soy butter, it looked and smelt quite fantastic. The only problem is, the buttery emulsion slightly overpowered the subtle sweetness of the scallops and yeh... kind of all we tasted was the butter... but it was on pretty awesome scallop texture :P

seared scallop carpaccio - $19

One of my partner's awesome picks was the sashimi (medium sized - $39). 15 pieces in all, there was beautifully cut and arranged salmon (raw and lightly seared varieties), tuna, kingfish (lightly seared on top), dory, and cod. This looked soooo pretty. It came with a slight smudge of lightly wasabied mayo. The sashimi was super super fresh. All the fish was perfectly sized and led to taste sensation. It was OMGosh. *drools*

mixed sashimi medium (15 pieces) - $39

We had also decided to order 2 types of sushi rolls. The soft shell crab roll ($16) and the california roll ($16). To be honest, I didn't expect the two sushis to come combined on one plate, much less arranged like a work of art. The soft shell crab roll comprised of crunchy tasty soft shell crab, fresh cucumber, avocado, tobiko, and just the right amount of mayo. One word - YUM. The california roll was different to what I expected. I had my mind set on that imitation crab stuff (seafood extenders) but what I got was sweet creamy crab meat with mushy tasty avocado, crunchy cucumber and tobiko. Pretty much - melt in your mouth sweetness (if that's even possible for a savoury piece of sushi).

soft shell crab roll - $16 and california roll - $16

Upon getting the bill, we were served with some Koi chocolates. Served on a chilled wooden plate, the Koi chocolates were gold coated, bitter-sweet dark chocolate, cold yet still melts in your mouth and a good amount of cocoa solids. Smooth and appetising, I could definately eat multiple fishes.

Koi Chocolate

Service here was pretty impeccable. The waiter didn't write ANYTHING down, remembered it all and could recite it back to us. So I guess next time, maybe we should trick him a bit and order really random stuff with random requirements and see what happens. Whilst we were at the restaurant, a patron on another table revealed that they were an employee from Sake (at the Rocks). Why would an employee from another well known popular Jap restaurnat come dine at a Jap restaurant in their break? (possibly says something awesome about this restaurant). In all honesty - this restaurnat is definately worthy of the 1-hat.

The door of this restaurant looks pretty amazing. Slightly hidden and zen-like already. Make sure you don't miss it! :)

Koi

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 10/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 35.5/40

Koi
102 Woolwich Road
Woolwich
NSW2110
Tel: (02) 9817 6030