Kotatsu Restaurant

Tried to go to dinner here today around 7 and the lights were out :(If they’re closed for good or renovating, a sign on the door would be helpful…

Very nice place, with attentive, friendly service and a very nice, simple décor. The sushi was well-​made and very tasty. We had the White River Roll, Small Mountain Roll, and Dragon Roll– all very good. The fried bananas with ice cream were absolutely delicious. The televisions were distracting, as were the sirens from the firehouse across the street. But on the whole, a very nice place.

They have greatly downsized their menu.
The maki was still delicious, but the Chinese dish that once was my favorite here is now awful.

I decided to try this place again, as the last time I was there, I walked out before I even sat down as the sushi menu looked weak.
The sushi here was ok, nothing special. The cooked food, however, was insanely disappointing. The avocado salad was bland. The shrimp fried rice was also bland, and I felt like I made it better at home. The miso soup was ok, but the seaweed in it was very cardboard like. Not really sure how this place has so many good reviews.
I’d recommend Harasume over this place (a few minutes away in Wynewood).

I know this is going to sound weird, but this place has the best miso soup I’ve ever had. Everything else was OK.
I thought the dumplings tasted very much like the grill they were seared/​fried on, and I didn’t like that their Philly roll was made with crab instead of salmon. The rest of the sushi was decent, but nothing awe-​inspiring.
Overall, my lunch left me sated and the price was reasonable.

I have yet to meet an Asian «fusion» restaurant that does anything other then wreck havoc on both cuisines it fuses. Kotatsu does neither Japanese well nor Chinese, and I am kind of amazed that this place has four stars. Yes the service was good, stellar in fact, but the food? Not even average, just plain terrible. The first time I went here I got sushi with a friend, and I didn’t even finish it. But the second time? I avoided the sushi and went for the Udon soup. BIG mistake! It was not Udon soup at all, because Udon soup is made with mushroom broth, and this was made with chicken broth, which tasted like it came straight out of a can! To make it even worse, all that was in the soup was noodles and a bunch of uncooked vegetables!!! Who on earth would want to eat that??? Let alone pay $ 15 for it?
No one else at the table I was with enjoyed their food either, and we all got something different. I genuinely have no clue why anyone would find the food to be good here, except that maybe they have not had ANY kind of good Asian cuisine before. In that case, I would recommend Auspicious or Sang Kee right up in the street in Wynnewood for Chinese, or Fuji Mountain in Bryn Mawr for Japanese. Just don’t go here.
I will say that the service was very good, and the waiter, and I presume the owner, went WAY out of their way to make sure our meal was enjoyable. However, as good as the service was, it’s still a restaurant and the food is still terrible.
Pros
–VERY good service, waiters are dedicated to making sure the customer is happy
Cons
–the food is REALLY not that good

This is a great hibachi place. Things were a little shaky when they first opened, but every time we have gone subsequently it has been fantastic. Not cheap, but delicious. Great sushi, great hibachi, great service. Love this place!

Honest owners! Here’s my story:
I ordered take out. When I picked up the food, one of the food containers was not closed properly and the sauce leaked out into the paper bag holding all the food. When I got home, I found the sauce all over my car and clothes. When I went to carry the paper bag, it broke and all the food dropped to the ground. I called the restaurant and the owners said they’d keep my receipt until I returned.
I wasn’t able to return until 1 month later, but true to their word they still had the receipt! They appologized again, and let me order whatever I wanted.
The food is good, the owners are honest, and I would definitely order their again!
⁵⁄₅ Stars!

I always order simple vegetable maki, which nearly any restaurant can do well; the ones I got here were as good as any, with a slightly wider selection than average, and decently priced. The only downside is the atmosphere. They were actually playing FM radio, and a pretty bad station at that — Whitney Houston and the like. It was grating enough to make me want to get out as quickly as possible, even though the food was good. What about a CD of Japanese music? That would seem appropriate.

I have gone to Kotatsu for Hibachi with my family and it was great but I never even knew the left side of the restaurant was there. The sushi is great and my fav locally. The people who own it are very nice and it is a great Friday night spot (BYOB).
They have a sushi bar in the back that you can sit at if you want that type of atmosphere where you can watch the chef make the rolls.
I got take out there last night and love their Rock N’ Roll. Obviously the spicy tuna is great but I really don’t think you can mess that up. This family owned and operated restaurant is awesome and they people who work there are really nice.
They only thing I would recommend is that they fork out a few bucks that they are raking in and buy some red wine glasses. It’s not that enjoyable drinking a bottle of Artesa or Acacia Pinot Noir out of a small wine glass that my grandmother drinks her Chablis out of. Great food, great staff, and a great time. Highly recommended.

«Meh» would be the best way to describe. I went to Kotatsu for some sushi, and had gyoza, vegetable tempura, a spicy tuna roll, a «red head» roll, and a shrimp tempura roll.
The gyoza did absolutely nothing for me, as I’ve had frozen ones from the grocery that were just as good. The tempura, which was the best thing ordered, was alright, but only had one onion and piece of broccoli, and several unidentifiable vegetables. The sushi, sad to say, wasn’t even as good as what I pick up at Wegman’s. The spicy tuna had the consistency of tuna salad, the «red head» also used the same spicy tuna salad, and the shrimp tempura roll was average at best.
Sushi is definitely not the strong point, and if you’re going for it exclusively, you may be better suited elsewhere.

The first thing that I noticed as I entered the restaurant was its authentic japanese décor! The first waiter who came in was pleasant enough to guide us to the hibachi tables. There were four of us, two interested in Hibachi, and the other two interested in sushi.
The shock came next. The waitress on the hibachi end was the rudest I have come across! She was not even ready to explain us the unlimited sushi offer, barked at us for every question we asked, thumped down the salad bowl on our tables. She literally «warned» us that we should not over-​order in our unlimited sushi choice, only to come back within 30 minutes to bark again that we should order whatever we want immediately since the sushi bar was closing!
The sushi was good, but we left with a terrible disappointment! If you are in the restaurant business taking orders, learn to be polite, or at the minimum stop being rude!

Last night went for my son’s annual hibachi birthday dinner here, his favorite. As he was just diagnosed with celiac disease, I worried that we would not be able to keep our tradition, but the manager assured me they had prepared gluten free meals in the past and could do so for us. When I arrived early, I asked to see the products they would use, and they pleasantly complied.
The food was good and plentiful as usual. I do the salmon. Tried the scallops once, but didn’t care for them. Others at the table had steak, chicken and shrimp and all were pleased.

For a dinner with entertainment, Kotatsu’s tableside hibachi cooking can’t be beat. The chefs are entertaining and the food is good. If you have a diner who is not interested in the hibachi, you can order standard Chinese fare or sushi.
On this visit we ordered the Filet Mignon, NY Strip, Salmon, Chicken and Shrimp Hibachis. Of them, the Salmon and the Filet came out best (strip was rubbery-​chewy), and I’d recommend if you’re thinking ‘steak’ to pay the couple-​bucks more for that cut over the NY Strip. Salmon was tender and flavorful. Shrimpies were fine, chicken was… well, chicken. A bit meh.
They also have a really delicious ginger dressing for their salad, and bonus! you can buy the dressing to take home in a plastic tub. I don’t know what they do differently but it’s addictive, it’s so yummy.
Service is attentive and of course the chefs doing your cooking are very entertaining while going through all the tricks of Hibachi style cooking (egg roll, volcano, tossing knives, tossing food into diners mouths, etc.).

Kotatsu is a great place to do sake bombs.
That being said, most generally don’t come to do such things. I actually only went to do sake bombs once and it was a bit awkward to indulge in such activities with high school girls eating at the table not too far from us, but the staff at Kotatsu seem to understand this, as they have partitions that separate tables for privacy. That was nice and it made our party feel like we weren’t going to disturb others.
The food here is good. I really enjoy the hibachi every time I’ve gone. The filet mignon and lobster tail/​shrimp are my favorite to order when I get hibachi. They make it perfectly. And the chefs are always a crowd please. They are fantastic cooks and fantastic entertainers. I really enjoy this place and definitely hope to be back soon.

Kotatsu is a very good quality Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi restaurant conveniently right off of Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore with parking right in front. It is popular with local college students, so if you are allergic, be forewarned. Otherwise, I could not find any major fault with this place, though on this visit I only tried the sushi side of the restaurant. More dessert choices is my only real gripe.
Note: Those of you who have gone here for the all-​you-​can-​eat sushi on Monday and Wednesday — as of today, February 1^st, 2011, it is no more! I asked the manager about this and his exact words were, «No more free lunch for you, Yankee! You pay big money now!» Sheesh. In their defense, I can see how it would hardly be very profitable.
For appetizers me and my bro ordered the seafood skewers and gyoza. The latter was nothing too exciting, just small shrimp dumplings in dipping sauce. The skewers, on the other hand, were shrimp and big, meaty scallops with teriyaki sauce, which I must say I enjoyed a lot. I think you get 4 scallops and 6 shrimp, which isn’t too bad, especially since my brother isn’t into scallops and I had them all to myself.
For sushi I had the Boston roll, BBQ chicken roll, and Philly roll. The Philly roll was tasty, with plenty of cream cheese. The Boston roll was a slightly oversized roll with lettuce, crab, shrimp, avocado, and mayo — it was good, but I can’t say I got much of a sense of the avocado or mayo particularly. The BBQ chicken roll — I was expecting maybe some BBQ sauce on this? No such luck. Just chicken tempura, a little lettuce — not much sense of mayo either. Bo-​ring. Maybe a good choice for a first timer who wants something really tame.
My brother had the sunset Miami roll, sweet potato roll, and banana roll. The first to me was good but not exceptional. The second must have been pretty tasty because I did not get to try it. The banana roll we both thought was a very cool idea and tasty at that. Overall all the sushi tasted fairly fresh and I had no complaints. It was all served quickly.
Overall this was a fine sushi experience and I will return to try some different choices. The people in the steakhouse section (well separated from the sushi section) seemed to be having a good time. The décor was very tastefully done, traditional Japanese, and there was of course the obligatory sushi bar to sit at for those wishing to chat with the chefs. Open until 11pm on Friday and Saturday, which is a plus.
As others have noted there is a highly rated state store (see Unilocal — «Ardmore Wine & Spirits Shop») right next door that is open until 10pm Mon-​Sat, so while this is a BYOB you have a lot of choices.

This place has the best spicy tuna I’ve had in a long time. I’ve gone here many times but only done the Sushi side– they also have Hibachi which is supposed to be very good, however I can only attest to the sushi.
My favorite roll by far is the Volcano– Spicy tuna on top of Tempura– the tempura is hot and the spicy tuna is very cold and creates a really interesting flavor. The have all the usual stuff and It’s all very good, the chef’s are great and will remember you if you’re a regular. The only downside with Kotasu that I have is that they’re a bit on the pricey side, luckily if you come here on a Wednesday they have all you can eat sushi! its $ 25 for all the rolls you can eat and Miso soup. Normally you might stray away from an all you can eat sushi but this is a higher end restaurant so you wont be getting crappy fish/​rolls. It’s is a great deal with the only downside that if you don’t plan ahead and are not super hungry you’ll end up over doing it to make sure you eat at least $ 25 worth of sushi.
The restaurant is pretty cool inside, with private rooms as well as a hibachi section and sushi bar/​seating section. The restaurant itself is situated in a kind of weird area off of Lancaster ave though– very strip mall looking, but this has not stopped me from coming here.
Definitely check it out!

If you are in the neighborhood, and craving some Japanese food — this would be the place to go. I don’t know that I would go out of my way to come here when there are other awesome Japanese restaurants all over the area.
I had the Salmon teriyaki with vegetables. The fish was thin and dry, but the sauce was tasty and the vegetables consisted of zuchinni and carrots. Neither of which are my favorites.
We also had the crab salad, house salad, volcano roll, and tiger roll.
All of which were just kind of meh.
So if a quick spicy tuna roll is what you’re after, look no further. Otherwise, drive half an hour down to Izumi on Passyunk.

Mission: sushi
Verdict: Very delicious. I had the vegetable roll and the sweet potato roll. Both very very tasty but I loooved the sweet potato roll. They had a good selection of vegetarian sushi options.
He had the tiger roll and the asparagus roll (and i had a bite of it). It was agreed: tasty.
We showed up at 5:30p on a friday evening and the place was fairly empty. We were sat quickly, our water was filled regularly, and the waiter was friendly. All in all a good experience.
Total damage: $ 29

This is our second favorite sushi restaurant on the Main Line. Everyone is friendly and the staff always has a smile for you. There’s plenty of room for a group sushi dinner or a spot around a hibachi table.
The décor is your usual Japanese restaurant style (which I like).
For special occasions we would get the sushi boat — which not only looks fun but fills you right up!
If you’re in the area, this place is well worth a visit.