Our meal was filled with highs and lows, but overall it was a privilege to dine at Koan…read more
The restaurant location is a little out of the way, but easily accessible via car from the city center. When we arrived a few minutes before opening, the door was locked so we stood outside in the freezing wind. It would be great if they installed a sheltered area near the front door so early guests can escape the elements while waiting.
The interior space is a relatively small room with about 8 tables. It's open, with high ceilings and warm lighting, including a kitchen area near the entrance for finishing of the dishes.
We started off with small bites, including a wonderfully done mandoo, a kimchi pear, and a beautifully plated scallop. Then a refreshing kimchi dish, and a uniquely prepared ball of caviar around tofu.
What impressed me was the langoustine, which was nicely fried on one side and soft on the other. The sauces were delicious, and it almost reminded me of Korean fried chicken in its consistency and juiciness.
After that, the Korean donut was a delightful bread dish.
This is where things started to fall flat.
The next dish was a ribeye, while nicely cooked, it didn't taste that unique.
The next two were rice dishes, though it felt a little odd that our waiter brought out a stone pot of white rice to the table next to us, explained the dish to that table, then brought the stone pot to the kitchen counter next to us, then immediately picked it back up and brought it to our table to explain the same thing that we just overheard. I feel that could've been orchestrated better.
The first rice dish was a lobster + rice with truffles, and the mushrooms in the rice dish tasted a bit too strong and took away from the dish. Also I'm not sure if it's just me but I didn't prefer truffles and lobsters in the same dish, it didn't seem to mesh well.
The second rice dish was too heavy; it was a thick stew, with lobster and rice underneath, but the flavors were a bit too rich for me. I couldn't finish it.
I want to note that at this point in the meal it started to get uncomfortable because the kitchen in front of us continued to fry langoustine (I think) for the other tables, and the smell & oiliness from the fryer permeated our table area.
So you can imagine that we're trying to enjoy the different flavors from new dishes, but the whole time we're smelling the fryer oil, even as we went into the desserts.
The first cold dessert was a much-needed relief from the heavy dish prior, but the second soufflé dish was again too heavy, too sweet. It came with an ice cream with caviar on top, which I felt didn't really mesh well and was unnecessary.
The last pieces of dessert came in a beautiful set up of pentagonal boxes, and were good and light. The yuzu meringue was lovely.
However as I mentioned above, at this point I just wanted to leave the room because it became stuffy from the kitchen frying next to our table. The oil smell stayed with me, and when we got back to our hotel, was still in my suit jacket and shirt.
This issue should be an easy fix: fry food in the back kitchen, not the front.
Service overall was strong, though at one point when pouring the juice that paired with the ribeye, it splashed drops on our table, and these drops were not cleaned through the rest of the meal.
I understand that Koan is a newer restaurant so they may still be finding their bearings, but I was underwhelmed by the experience. For the price that they charged, roughly $440 USD/person which is the price of something like the French Laundry or Eleven Madison Park (both 3 stars), I was expecting a better experience.
My total score might be between 3.5 and 4, but all things considered as my concerns are likely easily fixable, I'll round up to a 4.
