I’ve been visiting Kotobuki since 1988. The place is definitely dated now and could use a really good renovation, but the food is still consistently good. This last visit, the Yakiniko don was disappointing for my husband because it came with mushrooms and mushrooms weren’t on the menu. He hates them so nearly half of the protein went to waste. My sushi was good and the rest of the meal was good. A great place to visit for big dinner parties.
Melina Doan
New owner - very disappointed. This place will not survive. Fish was not cut right - had tendons/fat that made the pieces stringy, rice does not hold the rolls together, presentation was horrible - you can lose your appetite looking at it, gyoza hard as a hockey puck. Lemon in the water was perfect and service was friendly.
Carleton J.
I ordered $75 of sushi to go. I asked for several "yum yum" sauces to go with it and they said it's 75 cents per sauce. I said it's free if I dine in but to go you're going to charge? After I spent $75 (it's not like I got something small and wanted excess sauce). I said fine, cancel my order and I'll order at Tonys which is down the road. I told Tonys my order and I asked for the same request of "yum yum" sauce to go and they said sure without a problem. I'll never go back to kotobuki out of principle.
Mar C71
Great experience, good food. First time going to a place where they cook right there at your table. Awesome!!
Dezarae H
The place was nice, the staff was friendly, our cook was awesome. All of their food tasted off to me. The yum yum sauce didn’t taste like other hibachi spots that I love. Also, they didn’t have lo mein noodles, it was their traditional kind that I’ve never even had before and I thought they were gross. Really fat and mushy. I could complain about other things but what’s the point. It was just different than any other hibachi spot we’ve been too. Prices seemed a bit high too.
Jeff Goertz
Awesome as usual first went there in 1989
Frank Atwood
Great atmosphere for family great food and service great chefs
DarielDD
The positive-I gave this restaurant a 2 because the waitress tried very hard and the manager comped both my sister and my meals. The negative- Both my sister and I ordered a Shrimp Tempura Bento Box. I ordered steamed gyoza as the side and my sister ordered fried gyoza. First bite of gyoza and we were both shocked at how spicy it was. It turned out to be the gyoza sauce. They had chili oil. Why? I love Japanese food and am always trying new restaurants. Never have I had spicy Japanese food. On a scale of 1-10, I can usually handle a 3-4. I thought this was at least a 5 and my sister thought it was a 6. The tempura was very greasy. I save the shrimp for last because it's my favorite. You guessed it, the shrimp was raw! I'm guessing the oil that they cook in was not hot enough. Very disappointing meal.
Kristin Lopez
My daughter had her 12th birthday there...we were aiming for Yamoto but with an hour and a 1/2 wait we went to Kotobuki..we had never been but I heard good things....we were treated like family. An excellent experience that is rarely seen in restaurants now a days!!!!
Tawitcha Mullen Washington
Years ago in Ocala kotobuki was one of my most favorite hibachi restaurant to go to. But now it's not as good; it definitely was quite a bit warm inside the building and also not being able to have a glass of wine or a cocktail was a bit of a bummer. Our cook was wonderful and are server was wonderful but there are a lot of things that the restaurant in general can improve on.
It was sub par at best. Tried to get into two other hibachi but they were an hour wait so we went here . Everything tasted off the only good thing was the shrimp because how can you mess up shrimp . Threw away my left over when we got home . The only think good thing was our chef. He was very very interactive and nice and did an extra big fire because my kids were so excited ! I wish I knew his name.
Betsy Wooters
Great experience! We took our 4 teens and the loved it. EJ made it fun for everyone!
Kimberly Tyson Beck
Always a good time and good food.
Vanessa Dickens
Edwardo was our waiter tonight and he was excellent. It can be hard to find good service so we really appreciate it when we do. He was very attentive to us and knowledge about the menu to help us with a allergy. Thanks Edwardo.
Ryan Zopfi
Been eating at this location for 30+ years. New owner, used to be an employee/ chef, has kept the same delicious menu, updated some decor and cleaned the place up. I love the food when cooked in the garlic butter you have to request for. Oh yeah put shrimp sauce on everything!
I’ve been visiting Kotobuki since 1988. The place is definitely dated now and could use a really good renovation, but the food is still consistently good. This last visit, the Yakiniko don was disappointing for my husband because it came with mushrooms and mushrooms weren’t on the menu. He hates them so nearly half of the protein went to waste. My sushi was good and the rest of the meal was good. A great place to visit for big dinner parties.
New owner - very disappointed. This place will not survive. Fish was not cut right - had tendons/fat that made the pieces stringy, rice does not hold the rolls together, presentation was horrible - you can lose your appetite looking at it, gyoza hard as a hockey puck. Lemon in the water was perfect and service was friendly.
I ordered $75 of sushi to go. I asked for several "yum yum" sauces to go with it and they said it's 75 cents per sauce. I said it's free if I dine in but to go you're going to charge? After I spent $75 (it's not like I got something small and wanted excess sauce). I said fine, cancel my order and I'll order at Tonys which is down the road. I told Tonys my order and I asked for the same request of "yum yum" sauce to go and they said sure without a problem. I'll never go back to kotobuki out of principle.
Great experience, good food. First time going to a place where they cook right there at your table. Awesome!!
The place was nice, the staff was friendly, our cook was awesome. All of their food tasted off to me. The yum yum sauce didn’t taste like other hibachi spots that I love. Also, they didn’t have lo mein noodles, it was their traditional kind that I’ve never even had before and I thought they were gross. Really fat and mushy. I could complain about other things but what’s the point. It was just different than any other hibachi spot we’ve been too. Prices seemed a bit high too.
Awesome as usual first went there in 1989
Great atmosphere for family great food and service great chefs
The positive-I gave this restaurant a 2 because the waitress tried very hard and the manager comped both my sister and my meals. The negative- Both my sister and I ordered a Shrimp Tempura Bento Box. I ordered steamed gyoza as the side and my sister ordered fried gyoza. First bite of gyoza and we were both shocked at how spicy it was. It turned out to be the gyoza sauce. They had chili oil. Why? I love Japanese food and am always trying new restaurants. Never have I had spicy Japanese food. On a scale of 1-10, I can usually handle a 3-4. I thought this was at least a 5 and my sister thought it was a 6. The tempura was very greasy. I save the shrimp for last because it's my favorite. You guessed it, the shrimp was raw! I'm guessing the oil that they cook in was not hot enough. Very disappointing meal.
My daughter had her 12th birthday there...we were aiming for Yamoto but with an hour and a 1/2 wait we went to Kotobuki..we had never been but I heard good things....we were treated like family. An excellent experience that is rarely seen in restaurants now a days!!!!
Years ago in Ocala kotobuki was one of my most favorite hibachi restaurant to go to. But now it's not as good; it definitely was quite a bit warm inside the building and also not being able to have a glass of wine or a cocktail was a bit of a bummer. Our cook was wonderful and are server was wonderful but there are a lot of things that the restaurant in general can improve on.
Restaurantji Recommends
It was sub par at best. Tried to get into two other hibachi but they were an hour wait so we went here . Everything tasted off the only good thing was the shrimp because how can you mess up shrimp . Threw away my left over when we got home . The only think good thing was our chef. He was very very interactive and nice and did an extra big fire because my kids were so excited ! I wish I knew his name.
Great experience! We took our 4 teens and the loved it. EJ made it fun for everyone!
Always a good time and good food.
Edwardo was our waiter tonight and he was excellent. It can be hard to find good service so we really appreciate it when we do. He was very attentive to us and knowledge about the menu to help us with a allergy. Thanks Edwardo.
Been eating at this location for 30+ years. New owner, used to be an employee/ chef, has kept the same delicious menu, updated some decor and cleaned the place up. I love the food when cooked in the garlic butter you have to request for. Oh yeah put shrimp sauce on everything!