KOKO! Share Bar

This is a great lunch place in Yorkville. My co-​workers and I frequently come here for bibimbap (veg, kimchi, avocado, bulgogi, chicken) because the bowls are delicious, the right size (for lunch), come quickly, and are not super expensive. The best part: they always manage to get the crispy rice just perfect!
It’s also rare to have to wait for a table.

Nice little joint. They serve your traditional korean fare, but with better ingredients.

This place serves both Japanese and Korean food which isn’t properly advertising. My friend and I kept it light after a heavy breakfast and lunch with Japanese: spinach gomae, avocado salad, miso soups and spicy tuna roll. All the food was amazing and fresh, particularly the fish. And the «citrus soju infusions» is such a tasty, fresh cocktail recommended by our lovely server Jasmine:)

the bulgogi bibimbap is very delicious, but
white rice is too little。

I loved that Black Cod. So soft and delicious i wish i could have this everyday! Highly recommended and the prices are more than fair for the area. Check them out

I expected higher prices because of location, but with that I also hope for something a bit better. The food was just okay. Our table ordered Chirashi, an assortment of rolls and the Bossam dish. Portions were rather small and in particular, I’d advise against ordering the Hotate roll — considering the price and it being listed under the «Signature Modern Roll» section, I thought it’d look less like a maki.
On the bright side of things, the servers were very, very nice especially considering we had a large group of 10+. And its a comfortable place to eat unlike some of the other restaurants in the area that are a bit stuffy. Perhaps, the other korean dishes are better than the sushi/​sashimi options.

Came to KOKO for lunch service on a late Friday afternoon.
Ordered two lunch dishes (miso soup and salad with ginger dressing included):
15 PIECE SASHIMI AND RICE (⁵⁄₁₀) — Sashimi platter was an assortment of salmon, white tuna and red tuna. Pieces were unevenly cut and didn’t taste fresh. The fish tasted like it has been sitting in the fridge for a while.
SPICY CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES WITH RICE (⁵⁄₁₀) — Chicken slivers stir fried in sweet and spicy sauce. The sauce reminded me of the Korean hot sauce you put into a bimbimbap. The dish should really be called Spicy chicken and rice since two pieces of carrot and onion strips wouldn’t be classified as «and vegetable» in my books.
Rating Summary:
Food: ⁵⁄₁₀ — Food was mediocre and sashimi wasn’t the most fresh
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀ –Nestled in the heart of Yorkville, clean, modern décor, moderate amount of seating, no background music
Service: ⁵⁄₁₀ — Water service needs improvement, slow service for a lunch hour, and hot food arrived cold.
I wouldn’t recommend coming here for lunch if you expect to be serviced quickly. Took 45 minutes from time of ordering to when our first dish came out. Several tables around us noted orders were not correct and food came out cold.
There seemed to have been only two people working, one server and one cook. The cozy restaurant was fairly busy and knowing that this restaurant has been in existence for few years I’d think management would be able to staff accordingly for the anticipated lunch traffic.
Likely will go to elsewhere for Korean/​Japanese food in the future.

Cozy and someone romantic ambience, friendly staff and amazing food. I’ve been going there for a few years and never been dissapointed. Love their homemade soju cocktail, ginger citrus is must try as well as Black god and Bibimbab dishes. Oh and seafood hotpot too. Price is reasonable for the quality of food they deliver. Never tried japanese dishes since I really enjoy korean dishes there but i’m sure they are all great as well.

My boyfriend took me here for Valentine’s day. I’m not sure if I’m giving it 5 stars because it was legitimately a good dining experience, or if it was the reason behind the dinner. Anyway, I ordered sushi and salmon assortment ($ 22). My boyfriend ordered the lobster bibimbap ($ 22). As a strong believer of quality over quantity, I don’t think this restaurant is overpriced. The food was definitely fresh (the sashimi was mindblowingly delicious) and had a pleasant presentation, and the servers always had a smile on their face.

Went for lunch with my cousin today and I ordered the lobster bibimbap and she had the beef bulgogi.
The food was very bland and incredibly over priced. Atmosphere was good and service good. Food sucked. Definitely not like a traditional Korean restaurant, where the food is much better and tastier and the prices are way less expensive.
My cousin’s order wasn’t so great either. «This doesn’t taste so great, but at least I’m eating healthy» was her comment to the very low low sodium levels in both our dishes.
Overall, my experience was ok. I wouldn’t go back.
Cheers.

Koko! Share Bar is aesthetically pleasing, clean and service is spot on :) My friend and I ordered the seafood hot pot, spider roll and pork belly ssam– all super fresh and delicious. Would definitely come back! :)

Sorry. I’ve been exposed to amazing Korean foods since I was young but this is a joke. Appetizers are basically banchans you get free at Korean restaurants but I wouldn’t mind paying if they are amazing, which wasn’t the case. We shared galbi, lobster bibimbop and seafood hot pot. They were not terrible but I didn’t enjoy them either. I felt so bad for my friend whom I dragged since I wanted to check out the restaurant. And how did we spend $ 150 here??? We didn’t eat much but we ended up paying too much.

We were huge fans of the Japanese restaurant that was formerly in this location, so decided to continue the tradition of stopping midday for an asian lunch between boutique hopping (Sprezzy is a dedicated Holt’s shopper, after all) and try KOKO .We love sushi and I have a fondness for Korean, so we had hope that this might become a favorite.
Our last lunch left us most unimpressed. We ordered a roll with tuna in it and had to send it back because the tuna was — ewww — brown. After said roll was returned to be remade we were informed that the chef sears the tuna first always. Heh? Who the hell makes a tuna roll with cooked fish?! Also, the boyf hated an orange colored sauce (mayo? french dressing?) they liberally applied. By that time my mediocre beef bulgogi had been sitting out to cool, and had become cold, tough bulgogi. Not good.
It’s a shame because the interior is quite nice — I love the gorgeous varnished wood tables, the authentic chopsticks in wooden boxes and the small, Tokyo-​like interior.
Who knows, maybe one day it’ll revert back to a cute, little Japanese mom & pop place that makes their own soy sauce like the former residents.

Small but nice setting, and some original, tasty and well presented meals. Nice staff and service in addition. You may still be hungry at the end of your dinner, for sure, but it may worth it to try and go there once in a while and to change from the regular sushi’s places. I agree it is a little over priced however.

Very expensive for the type and quality of food served here. Our group of 3 had drinks and apps before dinner and it came up to $ 60++ (we each had 1 drink and only had a couple of appetizers to share between us).
I love tapas and i love korean food… you’re better off in Koreatown or a real tapas bar. I can’t justify paying entrée prices and getting tapa sizes

This was a nice find down the street from my hotel. It is very casual and was pretty empty when we got there. I thought it was Korean but it was also fairly Japanese. I had a great glass of unfiltered saki so all was good.
The sushi was fresh and good but I’ve had much better. Some of the sauces on the sashimi were way too heavy. I guess they can learn from Sugarfish in LA, which is my favorite! The kimchi was good and the service was attentive.
I will come back to try the Korean BBQ menu.

I was scared to ask for more rice.
I’m surprised by how positive the reviews are for KOKO! Share Bar. I wasn’t overwhelmed by either the service or food. What I did enjoy was the live band, which happens every Wednesday night.
Food:
At first glance, you think, wow what a great price for such innovative, delicious sounding dishes. Then you order a bunch of dishes off the menu expecting it to be plenty for your group. The food arrives, much smaller than anticipated and you’re thinking, oh shit, how do I ration this amongst my group of hungry friends.
I get the whole share bar/​tapas restaurant. It’s not best with big groups, or if you’re incredibly hungry. We knew this, but didn’t expect such little portions. We were a group of six and we ordered about 8 dishes between all of us including the Bossam: A Platter of Spicy Chicken (or pork) with a side of rice (and I mean ‘side’ in its most literal term), a few shreds of lettuce leaves (and by few I mean 2.5) and some sauces (enough for one dip) $ 50
I know it serves only two but for $ 50 I’d expect enough rice and lettuce to actually experience the dish as it’s supposed to be eaten. We asked for some more lettuce and rice a couple times and the waitress had to check with the manager who scowled at us. Why are they stinging on their cheapest ingredients. (Oh and they charged us for the extra lettuce and rice)
However, I was impressed by the Roasted Miso Black Cod $ 22. Again this was a bit smaller than a normal entrée size, but enough for everyone to have a small bite. Also, I love the design of the place, great space for hanging out with friends for a drink and a few bites.
Overall, I don’t think the Asian tapas menu is for me. I rather enjoy being satisfied by my meal and not worrying if I’ll have enough to eat for the night.
KOKO, is for someone who likes to eat in Yorkville and is looking for some interesting small tapas eats.
I apologize for sounding harsh. At least my group of friends and I have a great story out of our night there.

This restaurant is really quite a gem hidden in the Yorkville area.
Things I liked:
a) Service. I think this has been mentioned numerous times already, but the service was truly exceptional, especially for Canada, which I found to be lacking in most restaurants. Our waitress was attentive and helpful throughout our meal.
b) Seafood Hot Pot. The soup was very rich and packed with signature Korean flavours. There were plenty of seafood and the scallops were cooked perfectly… shrimps were definitely overcooked, but we can overlook that ;)
c) Décor. The restaurant is small and cozy, combined with the décor, it created a very welcoming atmosphere; not too dark, not too bright.
Things I did not like:
a) Appetizers. The appetizers were somewhat lacking in my opinion, and we ended up not ordering anything from it.
b) Coffee. The coffee was disappointingly bland. I would not order this again.
Overall, a very pleasant experience, and I would definitely go back!

This is a 3.5 star review.
The 2 standouts for KOKO! Share Bar — the amazingly friendly and engaging service, and the warm, cozy décor (the wood on the ceiling and some of the walls is refurbished from a barn in Peterborough, so I hear…). We were pretty much the first people at the restaurant that evening, and we were given the same spiel that all diners were when they entered about this being a share bar, so sit anywhere and share! By the time we left, the restaurant wasn’t yet full and of all the groups we saw, no one group had chosen to sit with another. I would say that while the idea of a share bar experience is an interesting one, it’s probably still going to take some time to get use to in this area of town.
Besides drinks, on our menu were the L.A. style ribs, Beef Tenderloin ‘Tosa-​Style’ signature modern rolls with seaweed and rice on the side. I have a bias for kalbi as I simply love them, and more often then not, I have intense cravings for them especially at bbqs in the summer. As such, while the L. A, style ribs were delicious, I felt that that it was over priced for what it was and nothing really special that I couldn’t get at any other Korean bbq place. The rolls were pretty and innovative. The seaweed was a disappointment — too sweet, too warm, not crunchy enough. I’ve had better at sushi buffets.
In sum with a miscellaneous thought:
I’ve got to say it again, the service is very good at this restaurant. I think there’s room for improvement for the menu quality. The washrooms seem like they were leftover from whichever establishment occupied the space before and doesn’t match the rest of the place, which is trendy, modern, and hopefully, not over-​hyped.

KOKO! Share Bar is the newest effort by restaurateur and hospitality consultant Sang Kim (Blowfish, etc), and master chef, Shin Aoyama. The two worked together on Ki Modern Japanese, where Shin was the executive chef.
I was lucky enough to be invited to the grand-​opening where I could sample several of the dishes. I cannot explain how lucky we are as Torontonians to have access to a talent like Aoyama. And even though the space is small, it’s designed beautifully to be warm, inviting, and intimate, which is the key to making the «Share Bar» concept work. Apparently, sharing food is a major part of Korean cuisine culture, and at KOKO! you’re encouraged to dip right into the plates of your dinner companions. Being able to share the experience of every single morsel that arrives at your table is one of the most extraordinary things I have had the chance to be a part of. The bar could perhaps use a bit more variety, even keeping within the theme, but as it’s only the first week, I’m sure this will come with time.
The service is really what makes this place special. In a city where so many of us have had some of the worst service imaginable, Sang Kim has spent an immense amount of time hand-​picking only those individuals who are the most committed to GREAT service. In an article by Daniel Alexandre Portoraro, of
, he explains «Kim put out an open call to applicants; 192 answered, and each were sent the question of ‘how to make the world a better place’. 57 answered, and each of them went on a 15-​minute walking interview with Kim, talking about similar questions.»
This will no doubt be one of Toronto’s top restaurants in a very short time. I highly recommend the tuna and the butterfish. I also highly recommend making a reservation before there’s a waiting list. ;)