Kouzan Japanese Restaurant

I used to like this place a real lot. It was big enough so that you never had to wait for a table, the sushi and sashimi were reliably good, and the service quite nice. Recently, however, the place has become impossibly noisy. Filled with young couples and kids who scream at the top of their lungs, making it an extremely unpleasant atmosphere. Too bad, because it was a nice place. Last night as we left, my friend and I said almost simultaneously, «last time we go there.»

Pleasant dinner spot. Fast service, clean décor, though without much personality. We went around 6:30pm on a Sunday, and the restaurant was full — I think every table was occupied — without being unpleasantly noisy or crowded-​felling.
The sushi was… mediocre. Not terrible, but the quality of the fish just wasn’t quite there — the texture was off, slightly mushy, and it was all a bit flavorless. I ordered some sort of sashimi tasting plate (my go-​to when I’m feeling overwhelmed by a menu at a Japanese restaurant). The standard salmon/​tuna/​whitefish/​yellowtail variety, plus eel, which I had requested.
I think the bill came to around $ 60, for my sashimi plate & companion’s salmon teriyaki. (He ordered better than I did, though the salmon wasn’t outstanding either. It was accompanied by bland boiled vegetables.)
All in all, a pretty forgettable dinner spot. Nothing too egregious, but also not worth a return visit with so many better restaurants in the area.

Got stomachache after eating here. Can’t deny, the price is good. But the quality sucks.

I am not that type of person who always goes around and gossip and complain. But for this one, I really need to say something. The food is okay, but the service sucks. In 21 century, sometimes we come in a restaurant for service, not for food. If the food is okay, but the service is outstanding, we will definitely come back. But when it comes to bad service, PEOPLE, WE NEED TO SAY BYEBYE TO THIS RESTAURANT AND NEVER COME BACK.
The manager in Kouzan really has an unbearable attitude. Who does he think he is!!! He is rude. You are working in a service industry, you don’t get to shout at your customers. Dude, I hope you learn something.
Disgusting person, disappointment to have someone like that in this restaurant.

Now I have tried Sushi all over the world also in Tokyo but this little pearl is simply the best I have ever tried. The surroundings are cosy, small and authentic even the entrance is hard to find. We had the menu which comes at a very fair price especially taken the quality of the food into consideration. There is not much to say other than if you like Japanese food yo have to go here.

Cozy place to dine out. Attentive staff, nice décor and the food is great! Bento box has sushi, tempura shrimps, seaweed salad and misou soup, udong noodles with chicken and sushi delux all turned out great. Definitely would come back here again. Great ambience and great service.

The sushi here is amazing. The restaurant was closed and they still let us sit down and eat our sushi. What great service. i definitely will be goig there again.

Kouzan, and it’s prior incarnation, Yuki Sushi, has been our go to sushi place for 15 + years. It earned even more merit points tonight when a Seamless Snafu meant our delivery order was never placed. I called Kouzan 1 hr + after ordering. Food arrived withing 15 minutes of my call. it was fresh and exactly as ordered. Pretty darn impressive. Thank you Kouzan. Love that your are in our neighborhood

Food poisoning from the salmon bento box… not sure if it was the fish, the seaweed, the California roll? Whatever it was, this is our first and last order from Kouzan.

I ordered their Philadelphia Roll, Salmon Avocado Hand Roll and Beef Pan Fried Udon. I was impressed that they managed to delivery timely during the Arctic Blast and the delivery guy was even still friendly at that. But, food-​wise I think this restaurant is average. I’ve had better sushi rolls. The Beef Pan Fried Udon is tasty but portion is small; they provide enough beef, more vegetables than one needs and surprisingly scarce on the udon itself. I’d not be ordering sushi from them, perhaps would for the udon (but probably not).

I ordered a Sashimi lunch to be delivered, and I got a few measly pieces of sashimi instead of a meal. I tried calling, asked how many pieces there normally are, and then the woman changed the answer once I explained how small my lunch was. This is ridiculous. I was expecting an actual meal, and I got a little appetizer. She also attempted to explain that with a sushi lunch, they only put in four pieces. Which is ludicrous, since a sushi roll has 6 pieces, which means they would be taking away 2 pieces. Will not eat here again, there are many MUCH better sushi places on the UWS will actually serve you a meal when you order one.

I had a pretty average lunch at this place. I ordered the salmon ceviche and it was meh. There was too much going on so it was hard to taste the fish. Salmon was fresh though.
I had the chicken katsu over rice with a miso soup. The soup was good but the chicken had a bunch of gloopy vegetables on top and it made the chicken less crispy and a bit soggy.
I used to come here when I went to high school up the block. In the 90’s in Amsterdam you are t going to find anything better. I would give this place another chance

Sushi was sub-​par. Tempura was not too good. Some pieces tasted like cardboard. Sorry, will not repeat. Besides, it appeared to be run by Chinese. No thanks, I want Japanese when I crave sushi.

Pan-​fried yaki vegetable udon with added tofu was REALLY REALLY GOOD! perfect consistency of udon noodles and a very flavorful sauce in the noodles, that was not just some sweet teriyaki sauce. it had notes of bonito in the udon sauce. Many restos get this dish so wrong so its really great that this resto makes a nice one. I’d caution any true vegetarians/​vegans in case there is bonito in the sauce, but it was so good… !
Atmosphere is really nice inside.
The not so good: the Tables/​menu smelled funny that day, like an old towel it was strange. we moved to another table but it still smelled funny, so we just stayed at that table. service was just ok.
yellowtail and jalapeño tartare. not so flavorful and would not order it again. I liked the little purple pickles on the side but other than that there was not much flavor… as it just looked like minced raw yellowtail shashimi. no oil or flavor added… there was nothing added to flavor it. when i think of the word «tartare» in a japanese restaurant i would imagine some fusion taken from the french «tartare». I would not call the dish a «tartare». because its misleading.

Christmas is always a nice time to dine out in the city… It’s so quiet out and restaurants are either really empty or really packed but thankfully Kouzan was empty so the boo and I were able to receive very attentive service and enjoy our Christmas evening out. Didn’t even need to mention our OpenTable reservation.
The ambience here is great! Dim lights, candlelit tables, clean & fancy décor. This place is great for date nights! We were probably one of four groups dining and they seemed to have more staff than necessary so we had a few different servers check in on us; one even telling us stories on the history behind sake! I thought it was cool.
I ordered the Ichiban roll (shrimp tempura and spicy king crab) and a Lychee Martini and babe had Chicken Teriyaki (which of course I had a taste of) and a cold sake. Honestly both dishes were great! The shrimp tempura had a slight greasy taste to it but I loved the king crab. I give the sushi a 3.5÷5 overall. My bf cleaned the chicken teriyaki plate that had veggies and white rice as sides and I must say that the chicken tasted so fresh! I also stole his miso soup, which was also good.
My Lychee martini was niiiice and smooth. We both didn’t care for the sake too much but we were explained to that its an acquired taste but didn’t stress about changing the drink.
We both enjoyed our meals and I thought my drink was great so I’d recommend this place for a nice night out.

I must say the staff here was very welcoming but the sushi was subpar. I’ve had way better sushi.

The staff and chief are all Chinese. If you cannot tell the difference between Chinese food and Japanese food, I guess it is a proper place to go. But for me I think it’s very important that the owner knows the authentic taste of his or her food. I wanted to order a Japanese soda (very well-​known in Japan) but the waitress said she had never heard of it…

Excellent sushi, attractive atmosphere, great service. I couldn’t ask for more.

I don’t always leave bad reviews for restaurants. I gave three stars for the food, which was okay there, just like normal Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood. But, the service was not pleasant.

3.5 stars**
Pretty much avoided this place since its on the pricier side but with closings & failing sanitation grades of past favorites I finally given them a try.
Ordered takeout, online gives you a discount. Score.
Got 3 rolls, Boston eel avocado & crunchy spicy salmon.
Salmon was pretty good, eel was more Avocado with a hint of eel & Boston was delicious!
The sushi did start to kind of fall apart but I just over looked this.
Miso soup was average.
Will probably make this my go to until a fallen Starbucks open up a new sushi palace.