Cocoro - Menu

Love this place! The lady was super nice and had great recommendation for the drinks, the portions are generous. We spent around $60 each person. I love that th... read more Love this place! The lady was super nice and had great recommendation for the drinks, the portions are generous. We spent around $60 each person. I love that they’re not fusion

For traditional authentic Japanese restaurants in the area, this place is not bad. We have been patrons to this restaurant on and off for over 10 years, we don’... read more For traditional authentic Japanese restaurants in the area, this place is not bad. We have been patrons to this restaurant on and off for over 10 years, we don’t go very often but this is really the only place in town that serves authentic Japanese with a full menu, and not one of those fusion sushi wannabe ramen places around town. The reason we don’t go very often is because the service is very unpredictable, I would say 50/50 you will get prompt service and the other half, you could wait 15 to 20 minutes just standing there with a reservation and the restaurant only at 80% occupancy. You could also wait at least 30-40 minutes for your appetizer and another 30 for on trays. In other words, easily a two hour meal where 80% of that is just waiting. There are 2 servers, 1 sushi chef, 1 busboy, and this guy who answers the phone sometimes and spends a long time chatting with patrons but does nothing else. This is on a weekend. So what we figured out after all of these years, is don’t go during the weekend if you don’t have the time to waste, if the restaurant is busy, look at the number of order tickets at the sushi bar and how many tables have been served, you need to order the right combination of dishes in order to get them faster. Sushi is fast, but not when there are 10-15 tickets ahead of you. The price is downtown price, more than the burbs for sure. The quality of the food is Ok, compare to the same type of restaurant in Japan, they will get about 3 stars only but for the US, 4 star is good. Most of the dishes to me are a little under flavored, especially the nagasaki champon and Curry, the Sukiyaki is one pot style, so you cannot really choose what to eat when and how well to cook each item. But at least it is better than the pre-cooked style over rice. I still prefer the traditional way better, not many places in the US has that now. I would recommend this place if you are downtown since this is it anyway and you have not spent any extensive amount of time in Japan, because if you have, it would make you miss visiting Japanese even more.