Review Izakaya Koikoi - Northcote

Authentic flavors of Kyoto elegantly presented with exceptional service, and at reasonable prices. We had no idea we were in for such a treat.

The best Japanese in the whole of Melbourne. The freshest sushi it literally just melts in your mouth. The staff are so lovely and the food is so authentic you can just taste it. I've had my birthday here a couple of times and have dined here a few times, I also order off uber ways maybe 3 times a month I just live it so much. I highly recommend this place.

Lovely, friendly, efficient service; We had fresh, beautiful melt-in-your-mouth sashimi, perfectly cooked tempura prawns and fresh, perky gyoza. This place is a refreshing new post-isolation discovery for us and we'll be back.

Great traditional Japanese at good prices. Went there last night and I noticed the Salmon in a roll I ordered was a bit "thin", mentioned it to the staff and I received a better complimentary roll with a much "healthier" serving of sashimi salmon. The chef was apologetic and everybody was happy! Now that is service!

Incredibly delicious, reasonable prices and an excellent range of vegan/vego dishes. Highly recommend the Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba and the Nasu Dengaku - they'll all melt in your mouth.

Excellent place have visited a few times. And for those earlier negative reviews about portion size remember guys these are standard portion sizes in Japan for anyone that actually has eaten in a Izakaya in Japan you too would know the servings are completely adequate and more than enough. Do not compare to inferior food court meals that are oversized with no flavour and often made by Chinese. This place is run by Japanese people and that's how I want my Japanese food authentic and made by Japanese. This is a true authentic Japanese pub (izakaya). If you don't like real Japanese food then I suggest you go to a food court or a Chinese restaurant.

This is a local gem. Having travelled to japan and tried many of the great Japanese restaurants in Australia, KoiKoi has delicious food, sake, great value and great service. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to try something interesting and great value. Guaranteed to be your new local Japanese ! COVID 19 lockdown would not be the same without KoiKoi

A friend and I looked for a place to eat and chose this restaurant randomly. We ordered a selection of food. They were all cooked to perfection and delicious. The female staff who looked after us was super friendly. The price was reasonable too. Highly recommended.

This is a local gem. Having travelled to japan and tried many of the great Japanese restaurants in Australia, KoiKoi has delicious food, sake, great value and great service. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to try something interesting and great value. Guaranteed to be your new local Japanese !

Excellent food and service Highly recommended

went out with couple of friends tonight. Took ages for us to get our food. Definitely will not come back

really friendly service as soon as we walked in, asked about some gluten free options and the lovely waitress was so kind and understood what i was asking plus she always double checked that it was gluten free, the food was delicious once received, the service was quick and the food had beautiful authentic japanese flavours! loved my experience here

I love this restaurant, has the best Japanese food I have tasted. The flavour is beautiful and fresh and good value for money. I especially love the Anura salmon salad.

Fantastic Japanese food, highly recommend the Nasu Dengaku, the teriyaki chicken and the soba noodle salad. All wonderful. Every menu item is great, you won’t go wrong. Reasonably priced and the owner is very nice too!!

The best agadashi tofu around. Highly recommend the tuna tataki as well. Service is super friendly. Sake selection is pretty good too. Check out the specials. Love this place.

Lovely food lovely staff ! Highly recommended this real Japanese owned Japanese staff restaurant <br/>So fresh sashimi so tasty chicken karaage salmon Abiru salad is amazing! Also Aburi salmon sushi is amazing too! <br/>Very happy to had dinner tonight and very kindness for my Wallet。<br/><br/>

firstly, waitress got my name wrong when we arrive. and little hesitant when asked about wheather food we ordet were enough or not. on other hand owner/chef is confiendent, friendly. some dishes can only try here which is bonus. salmon sushi is fresh and it slip off chop stick. good amount of fresh fish oil. "doteni" which you only can try here is traditional hotpot dish from Aichi prefecture. over all food is very good. agedashi tofu is perfectly fried, kushikatsu is good accompany for beer and sake, but over all little small in portion, but hey, there is difinitely quality here than quanitity. corkage of $3.5 per glass of wine is bit dear i thought. I don't mind to go back again to try other dishes next time.

Good local Japanese, but not amazing. It is a pity when it changed owners/names a number of years back they 'renovated' but rather a backwards renovation. Its a cold setting but okay for a quick feed.

Authentic and delicious Japanese. The kushi katsu took us straight back to our time in Osaka, and after being told the chef is from there, it’s no surprise. Other dishes were also ‘oishi’ including tuna tataki, chicken karaage, and a daily special; beef stew with bundles of sweet potato noodles. Generous serves. Good service. Great value for money.

We have been here before and it has really improved. The food was awesome, service is great and ambiance has improved ten fold. We had a great night and we were not disappointed about any dish. We will be back.

A real hidden gem in Northcote. I thought they didn’t exist any more the here I sit. Fantastic food. Polite and attentive staff. Real Japanese beer on tap.

Super norm, nothing so much to wow except for the price and the reasonable portion(which is probably most ratings are effected). Overall the dishes are neat, premise can be seen its cleaned, friendly staff and chefs over the counter. Taste can be a hit and miss but some dishes are never found else where.<br/><br/>Prawn tempura mayo, was very rich but its how i like it. Might not be for some. <br/><br/>Aburi salmon, the torched salmon belly topped with mayo.<br/><br/>A classic teriyaki chicken on a little sweet side with caramelized teriyaki sauce.<br/><br/>For the price your paying wins a few extra rating as often hard to find cheap eats with this quality.<br/>We will be back just a shame we need to cross the other side of town.

The food is good. Not amazing. Pretty standard menu and servings are small for the price. Food came out in bits and pieces and there was a pretty long wait between some dishes, even though the place was mostly empty. The restaurant itself is clean and has a nice vibe. The people are also nice. Don't think I'll be making KoiKoi a regular though.

Ordered some sushi and dumplings to take away, dumplings were delicious, and sushi was nice but didn’t taste totally fresh. Ordering over the phone was a hassle so I had to re-order in the store. Would return.

Procured tonight via Uber Eats. It’s very nice food but the servings are a tiny bit small. All dishes were good. The tempura prawns were the highlight. The nigiri were also extremely good. The gyoza on the other hand wasn’t brilliant. All in all a pretty sound take out option.

The front of the restaurant was quite busy. Although there was a table at the front we were taken to an open room behind the kitchen and given a large table which I guess is usually for bigger parties. For the two of us it was a bit big, but at least the food fit! The finishings in the space weren't as great as the front of house, I think its a bit of an after thought which is a shame. <br/><br/>We ordered the hot sake special which was yummy. We had the chips with spicy sauce (yummy), okonmiyaki (DELICIOUS), mushrooms and octopus balls to start. My husband had the tempura prawns and I had the mixed panic crumbed dish for main. Must say that the mains were on the small side, but we didn't roll out of there in an uncomfortable fashion. <br/><br/>Service was a little slow - for a Friday night at 7.45 I'd have hoped for a bit more assistance.<br/><br/>My husband loved the food  - jury is still out for me.

Japanese is one of my favourite cuisines and surprisingly hard to come by in the north. But I wouldn't recommend going here. Unfortunately it was overpriced and not very nice

My 11 yo's review: the flavour was superb and the quality was off the scale and it didn't cost me a cent because mum and dad paid. Dad's note : you will pay eventually son !

The derive was friendly, however moving around the restaurant was very difficult and the food was very hit (miso) and miss (gyoza). Shame since there are so many other places to eat.

Yeah... Not 100% on this one. On entering Koikoi you're immediately struck by the minimalist interior, all dark roughish wood and brick, heavy shared table sets and smaller positions around the walls. The menu is very much izakaya fare, lots of small dishes and tasty morsels, but it also feels quite limited in a way. Sure, all the western style Japanese favourites are there, Gyoza, Nasu Dengaku, Karaage etc, but there are few dishes that expand from this easily found fare.<br/><br/>I had the Dote Ni, and a few extras, quinoa Gyoza (plain weird, but very 'beardy'). Generally the food was very tasty, though the Dote Ni special (beef in miso) was a little bland and needed seasoning, not something you'd expect from the dish.<br/><br/>Vegetarian okonomiyaki was good, and the miso blend on the Nasu was excellent, if sweet. 'You could pair it with a Nashi pear as a caramel' sweet. Even so, delicious.<br/><br/>Service was polite and friendly, drinks were well priced and we left feeling by happy, if not blown away.<br/><br/>Definitely worth a second run.

Attention to detail. Wonderful staff. I had the vege bento. But even that was Elegantly presented and Meticulously thought out. I'd come again if I lived closer!!

This was previously another Japanese restaurant, Otsumami, which was pretty poor. So we were pleasantly surprised that this is so great. Top food. You definitely get the impression that authentic and passionate Japanese chefs are in the kitchen. Service and prices good too. <br/><br/>If I had one gripe I'd say the tap beer (Orion) is too expensive. It was (from memory) $10 for not even a pint (was about schooner size). <br/><br/>Overall a great place, and we've been back several times.

Great feed last night before we were brutally pummelled senseless by Neurosis at the Croxton.<br/><br/>Sushi/Sashimi boat offered good value with a fresh assortment of sashimi, nigiri and rolls of the salmon, tuna, whitefish & prawn variety. As we were seated at the bar, Chef asked whether we would like our wasabi incorporated into the rolls and sushi. A nice touch which we happily accepted.<br/><br/>Also ordered a side of Karaage, which was excellent. All washed down with a few Cliff Burton tapped Orions!<br/><br/>Good eats and tasty beer with a side of super friendly staff.<br/><br/>Recommended.

Delicious and beautifully presented food made of fantastic fresh ingredients. Great service. The food is always impressive and very reasonably priced.

First visit here since the change. Lovely warm friendly service nice menu especially the smaller tapas style dishes. Enjoyable tasty plates delivered quickly, using good produce. Very reasonably priced.

I love this place! I have spent a lot of time in Japan and this place is authentic modern, it particularly reminds me of the Meguro area. The sashimi is so fresh and precision cut, which was always such a disappointment with the previous owners. The soba salad is my go to with one of the best sesame dressings I've ever had, great selection vegetarian with agedashi tofu so crispy and piquant and nasu dengaku the best. Katsu kushi is a favourite with a selection of crumbed fish and vegetables. Tataki dishes are also a stand out, as is the home made green tea and black sesame ice cream. Sake selection is great and very well priced. Kanpai!

The menu is pretty standard Japanese fare, but the food is tasty and the service is good. With so many Japanese restaurants on the strip these days, my personal choice would be for something with a twist.<br/>

We have been to Koi Koi a number of times now and are so happy to have such a great Japanese restaurant close by. The sashimi/sushi is always melt in the mouth and the soba noodle salad is a definite favourite. It's great to have a chef who is creating traditional Japanese dishes and doing them well.  The staff are always friendly and helpful. Definitely Recommend.

We went there for take away and were surprised that the new owners have lost much of the charm of the old place. We ordered some classics and were very disappointed. There was a plastic shard in the agedashi tofu. The tofu itself was badly cooked, slimey and covered in something that might have been very dry slivers of daikon radish. Or something else entirely. The Gyoza were not good and some were broken. It was the smallest Teriyaki chicken serve we've ever seen. The 'prawns' were so sad for a moment I thought they might be in a Hank Williams cover band. The restaurant wouldn't give a refund over the phone. But the nice man helpfully offered to give us a discount when we go back!

Best Japanese restaurant in Northcote, staffs are so friendly and nice foods as authentic Japabese style. We enjoyed and are coming back soon!！<br/>

Amazing food and great service, enjoyed the sushimi boat...one of the best Japanese in northcote...we will be back...well done on taking over from previous concept

Went for dinner on a Saturday night. The place had only been open 3 weeks, having replaced Otsumami (big shoes to fill). For some reason there are much fewer tables lending it a slightly strange empty feeling. The staff were certainly very friendly though a bit nervous. The food was a bit of mixed bag (see pics) - our favourite was the sesame spinach salad which was delicious and well presented. The sushi and kushi katsu were good enough, on the other hand the agedashi tofu was nothing special and the salmon tataki missed the mark a bit. I think they need some time to settle so we'll probably try them again in a couple of months. It was $90 for the 5 (small) dishes and 3 beers