Don't let the exterior (or interior) fool you. We almost turned around when we saw the building but decided to check it out. I'm glad we did. The food and service was excellent. Fresh and flavorful. They had an A rating too. Give them a try! read more

THE BEST I MEAN THE BEST when it comes to hibachi sushi anything plus they have a $10 drink menu! The service is sweet and if you become a regular there, they will remember your order and ask you as soon as you walk in if you want the exact same thing or if you would like to shake it up The ambience is beautiful. They have statues and artifacts from their culture all over. And you can tell they spared no expense to make sure that you dine how they intended you to eat hibachi! I love their booth seating But they also have a very cute bar and additional seating for more of an club atmosphere to the left of the business when you walk in and go to the right, it is very family friendly I've been coming here for the past 10 years now AND THEIR PORTIONS ARE AMAZING I HAVE NEVER FINISHED THEIR PLATE WITHOUT HAVING A TO GO PLATE!!! read more

Our favorite Chinese restaurant is closed for a month - they are on vacation. So...we figured we'd try some place new. We ate at this little Asian place in Durham near Costco. My husband ordered Pad Thai w/ shrimp 2 stars heat....it was VERY hot and spicy. I had a Spider Roll and clear soup. Both delicious The clear soup had such deep delicious amazing umami flavors...wonderfully delicious and soothing The staff were pleasant and helpful. They offer alcoholic beverages. We had green tea with our meals. The ambiance was nice a d quiet considering it has a very open dining area with clear views of the kitchen. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked. There are handicapped accessible stalls. The entrance is also handicapped accessible. We're looking forward to trying other items on the menu...but I can't wait to have that amazingly delicious clear soup again! read more

I saw some reviews that I did not necessarily agree with and wanted to share my opinion. To start off, when you pull up to this restaurant, it is relatively unassuming. Looks like a several times converted restaurant. It's nice and clean, and the staff is very friendly. We got here at lunch time on a Friday and there was a steady stream of people the whole time we were here. We got 4 rolls of sushi. All of them were good (albeit some better than others). 6-8 medium-to-large pieces per roll. Boyfriend finished his, and I did not. In all was exactly was I was looking for! A small business in my area and some pretty good sushi around the corner. I may not recommend anyone drive out to find this restaurant, but I will definitely be returning! read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Restaurant main area - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Always great service. Always great food! This place is never packed so service is always quick feels like a hidden gem! read more

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The exterior and interior of this place belies the quality of the food. It's a re-purposed chain or steakhouse from the 80'snor 90's. They have added some Asian pictures and painted all the woodwork red, but it's still a Shoney's or Bob's Steakhouse look. You order at the counter, and they bring your food out to you. Be warned, if you're like me and think Bojangles is spicy enough - the hotness scale is a trap. I got a #2 level Pad Thai and could just barely eat it, it was so hot. There are a lot of shrimp, and the food was out in just a few minutes (I was the only customer inside on a quiet Wednesday late afternoon.) When I first moved to this area, I found their sushi to be fast, cheap, and of acceptable quality to make the drive out from my house across the river. Now there are a lot of new places that offer it closer to home. But I happened to be here and wanted to get Pad Thai. But wow, is it hot!! read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Interior is kind plain. - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Got this order from Door Dash and the Hibachi was delicious, and the Spring Rolls were pretty good and you can't go wrong with Bubble Tea to cool you down..I have ordered from here a few times and I have yet to be disappointed....Would definitely recommend this restaurant if you are hungry and the prices aren't too bad either... read more

This place was awful from the moment we walked in. My husband asked if I wanted to leave and I said I don't know, feeling unsure, and he said "let's just look at the menu". The lady at the counter was blunt, rude and pressuring to get an order going. When I asked for a menu option she cut me off halfway through and said they don't have it. So we opted for two sushi rolls and two Thai teas. The teas were so sweet I couldn't even finish a quarter of mine- it was like drinking pure syrup. The rolls took maybe 20-25 minutes to come out. The one my husband ordered was plain, no flavor and tasted awful to me. The one I ordered had tons of sauces and was so clumped you couldn't tell where the individual rolls were and it also lacked any real flavor. It was very disappointing but we just chalked it up to a disappointing experience and moved on. Or that's what we would have been if we didn't stay getting an uncomfortable rumbling in our stomachs about an hour down the toll that led to an extended stop at a Loves Truck Stop, and I'll leave the details to the imagination. I am so glad we did not order more than two rolls, but I am so sorry that I didn't follow my instincts to leave as soon as got there, or after the lady was rude, or after they didn't have the food I wanted. Lessons were learned!!! For everyone else, learn from mine and save yourselves! read more

Food was good, service excellent, and the ambiance the inside of restaurant area very nice. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Lazy restaurant. Order at the counter. No beer. Might as well go to subway. For the price of the panang I could have 4 sandwiches there. 12.50/4 read more

Got food poisoning here yesterday. Also ordered my food 40 minutes in advance and still waited another 35 minutes after it was ready. Safe to say I will not be back. read more

Please check your order before you leave because they dont listen at all waited all week to go get a cheat meal just for them to mess my order up i called them back they hung up repeat your order 5 times cause the 4 time i repeated wasnt enough i wont be back ‍ read more

Don't let it's appearance fool you. This place is real-deal Asian food. I got the chicken & beef hibachi meal with some chicken pho; they were both BANGIN! And of course, you have to get some fried dumplings while you're there. A solid place to go any day. read more

My new favorite place to get Hibachi! Great food and customer service, portions are large and prices are on point. I can't wait to try the sushi next time. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Hibachi Chicken and Steak Combination. Came with soup or salad also. - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

The food took forever, place was not very clean, and food wasn't very good. The staff was pretty nice though.

Food and service is always great. Highly recommend this restaurant for anyone seeking to enjoy a good meal.

I have always liked Koumi. They recently changed ownership and I will have to say the food has improved if that was even possible. The spring rolls are crispy and fresh. And the Thai pineapple fried rice is perfection. Even the dipping sauce for the eggs rolls has improved. It has all been so fresh and yummy!!!! I will be coming back for more!! PS. The sushi was really good too!! read more

If you're looking for a sushi restaurant with a good buy one get one deal Koumi definitely is the place in Durham for that. I usually get the $8.99 sushi deal with the crunchy crab roll and dynamite roll. The fillings are generous and the rolls are tight. I've also had the hibachi but it's not my first option for this restaurant because they serve so much more. The veggie lo mein also has many types of vegetables in it, the portion size is also amazing for the price. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - 6 Pieces Crunchy Crab Roll 8 Pieces Dynamite Roll - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

A-OK takeaway sushi from Koumi tonight. I got two rolls that were nicely assembled and the fish was good. It was unremarkable. Koumi has sushi, chinese, thai and even vietnamese. Jack of all trades, master of none. As I said, the sushi was good. It's not quite "I'm a fan." read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Two rolls from Koumi - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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The lady at the register told me my total was $44. I had $60 in twenties in my wallet. I handed her $60. My daughter even said, it's not usually that expensive. She handed me back $6. I said wait you told me it was $44. You owe me $14. She said no I told you $34. I said that's even worse, I gave you $60 Clear as day because I counted it as I handed it to you. She said no you didnt you have me $40. I asked the manager to look at the cameras and she did nothing except argue back and repeating what the other lady said. They wouldn't even give me a receipt. I came super close to calling the cops. Just for the fact that she bluntly took money from me and didn't even offer to look. I will not be back to this place anymore. It's a shame to because the food is good. Too bad their integrity isn't. read more

I only come for three items on the menu, sushi, bang mi and the bubble tea. The noodles tend to be over cooked which is a bummer because they have a good variety of choices! Also, the drive thru does not mean you will get your food faster, if you order over the phone and pick up you may get lucky. It's more about convenience if you don't want to wait inside! read more

"Good Japanese-American 'fast-food' and basic sushi" Let me start by saying what this place is "not"-- this is not a fancy date-night or impress-the-guest restaurant. If you want that setting, or higher-end Japanese cuisine/ sushi, then go to Kurama or someplace like that. This is a place to go with the kids to get a decent dinner at a lower price. Along the side of Roxboro St stands this restaurant that looks much more like a renovated fast food joint than a Japanese restaurant, complete with drive-thru on the backside. The setting is somewhat dark inside-- almost like the lights weren't turned all the way on rather than mood lighting. You walk up to a cash register in the front, order what you want, sit down, and they bring your order in a few minutes. Positives: + Price/ portion-size/ value. I got a hibachi chicken/ sushi combo for roughly $9 before tax and tip. Came with a rather large plate of hibachi chicken and vegetables (carrots, broccoli, onions, zucchini) over fried rice, one sushi roll (I picked the salmon roll), and a fountain drink. It was a quite satisfying quantity of food, and that price was excellent. Two kids split a two-sushi-roll combo (also ~$9), and it was pretty big (see picture). Both were full by the end. + Service. All the staff were clearly trying very hard to make us happy and comfortable-- we were checked on several times (with drink refills) while we awaited our dish, and several people came to ask if it was our first time and if we were happy with the food. Presentation of the food was also surprisingly good. Neutral: +/- Quality. Solid-- better than Japan Express by a lot, and they clearly made the sushi fresh. None of the dishes were quite as amazing as what I'd get someplace higher-end like Kurama, but they were below half the price here compared to Kurama, so again, value was high for good quality. Hibachi and rice were quite tasty. The dragon roll was pretty good, philly and salmon rolls were serviceable (though I'd probably not order them again next time). Negatives: - Setting. Again, dark (not in an "intimate" way), and slightly distracting with TV playing football. Synopsis: Good place if you're craving some good Japanese-American food or basic sushi and don't want to break the bank. Definitely a better option than fast-food or places like Japan Express. Likely a good option for take-out, too. Solid 3-stars (maybe 3.5): A-OK. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Dragon roll and philly roll - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

We got 4 sushi rolls, among them was the Caramount and Black Spider rolls. All the food was delicious but those were really exceptional. Recommend Koumi for sure. read more

Koumi is a very interesting restaurant. As mentioned in some previous reviews, the restaurant definitely from the outside appears to be a bit sketchy. It's not in the greatest of neighborhoods and it kind of looks a chain fast food restaurant including drive in. There's no servers, you order from the front register and then they bring the food out to you. Once you get over the initial sketchiness, the place has some really good food! We started off with the Fish Sauce Wings based on so many good recommendations here and they lived up to the hype. Really crispy and the fish sauce gave it a great taste. I would definitely recommend. One thing, in the Yelp app, they have a wing special you can use. They don't accept it when we were there. We also enjoyed several rolls including spicy tuna, spider, spicy salmon and some individual pieces of nigiri. The fish was fresh and really tasty. Finally, the place is really, really inexpensive! Great deal for the cost compared to most sushi restaurants. I would say add long as your comfortable going in, Koumi offers some great sushi! read more

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Ordered dinner online shortly before 4:00 in the afternoon with a pick up time of 6:00. Arrived to be told they didn't have our order and could they see the confirmation. My husband showed them the confirmation three times over the next few minutes. After reading it three times, they still managed to get the order wrong, substituting chicken for the more expensive beef hibachi that was ordered. Th3 plastic bag was so tightly tied we couldn't get into it to check the rider until we got home, and they didn't check it with us. Bottom line, the food was okay, but the service was less than stellar and getting the wrong order is annoying. since they waited until we arrived to start cooking it, it would seem they might at least have gotten the order right. read more

Pretty good food. My son loves the bagel roll. It's always been a good value which makes it super busy. They've raised prices a few times and now everything is one dollar more. They explain they can't change drive through sign but have this notice on the window. Why no note at the drive through speaker to add $1. Seems sus. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Menu notice - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I came in with pretty high expectations because of the previous reviews, but I'm not sure what the hype is anymore. PROS: * they have a drive through?? thought it was because of the old building, but they're still using it * food comes out extremely quickly * cheap prices for decent sizes * the people there are incredibly nice and there is great service! CONS: * pad thai was soooo heavy and way too sweet. More cabbage than noodles and the sauce was a little too overbearing for pad thai * i got the salmon nigiri.... but... this just DID NOT look or taste like salmon. probably against my better judgment, I ate it (i was fine after), but it literally tasted like nothing. A true waste of $, I'm not sure why they put nigiri on the menu OVERALL: I won't be back. The place was somewhat full when I was there, but maybe I just chose the wrong menu items, but I was pretty disappointed in the food. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Salmon Nigiri?? did not look or taste like salmon. - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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I placed an order to this restaurant thinking I would get some good food. This suppose to be Vietnamese Chicken Wings per the description "Fresh chicken wings, deep fried, tossed in caramelized fish sauce, garlic and served with pickle" and this what I got. This is far from what it described. I started smelling a weird unpleasant odor as I picked up the first chicken wing and started to inspect the box and came across this. This is highly unacceptable and I understand this may have been the last order but still you don't serve anyone this mess. I will never eat from this establishment again, I will be asking for a refund when they open in the am and I suggest to anyone else not to eat here either. They obviously don't care about the quality of food they put out to their customers. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - "Vietnamese Chicken Wings" - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Food: 5 Service: 5 Ambience: 5 Price: 5 Date/Time: 8/22/2015 7:30pm This place was a surprise in that it seemed to be your basic sit down fast food Asian restaurant (the ones that serve hibachi and teriyaki chicken from pre-cooked containers). The menu has quite a bit of variety with Vietnamese, Thai, sushi bar and yes even hibachi :-) You order then sit down in a booth in the nicely decorated dining room and the server brings out your food when ready. Service was fast and everyone was friendly! The Chicken Pad Thai was very tasty and although only level 2 spicy was requested it was definitely hotter than expected (would hate to have put level 5 in my mouth!). The yellow curry chicken rice was also very good! Prices were very reasonable especially with all the food they serve to you! Highly recommended! read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Chicken Pad Thai - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Over the years since my original review, there's been a little up and down, but this last time, bad experience; either the rainbow roll or the spider roll had me sick the entire next day. read more

I've been here before and the food is pretty decent. We got the hibachi meal for two- I went to have the salad and found a hair in it. Today I took some of the leftovers for lunch and found ANOTHER hair in my hibachi... somewhat grossed out. read more

Koumi Japanese Restaurant - Iceberg Salad - Japanese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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You can't beat the value. Good quality food, huge portions, great prices. I've only ever had their sushi and their hibachi but I've never been disappointed and the drive-through is a huge plus. read more

Food was Awesome!! Fresh and staff so Friendly ... Please Come and check out new management with Nick.

I just ate there and it was really good. I found out it is under new ownership and I see many improvements. It was cleaner and had added plants and the food was better. I had a chat with the owner and he was really nice and friendly. He said he has done some improvements is planning a lot more improvements. I can't wait. read more

I've passed by it a million times and never tried. It looks like one of those Japanese Express places. Tonight I needed food and I needed it fast and needed it close by. Long story, but my choices were Kuomi, Chipotle, Zaxbies, Freddie's and Chick-fil-A. I don't care for any of the chains available so I took a chance. OMG I was so pleasantly surprised! Not just Japanese, but Thai curries, Pho and... I had the Thai green curry with beef and spring rolls. The spring rolls were good. They had a different flavor from what I am accustomed to but very good. They ask you to choose your heat level with certain dishes, 1-5. I chose 3 for my curry. The broth was perfect. And I mean perfect. Just the right amount of sweet and curry. Spicy enough to make my throat tingle but not to hot on the tongue. It was served piping hot and such a fresh flavor. Yep, I'll be going back read more

I really love this place. It gets pretty busy, though, so go before 1130, or after 1, if you are in a hurry, otherwise it doesn't matter too much, as they turn tables relatively fast. I love the Pho, and the curry, which are my fallbacks. I have got to branch out some more, and will upon my next visit. The sushi always looks fresh, although I have never had it, and the stir fry is delicious (I get mine without rice, and just extra vegetables). If you like spicy food, I would try one of the dishes that you can spice up from 1-5. 5 is a chile breathing fire, but never tried it, the 4 usually makes me sweat pretty good, and if in the curry, it builds... read more

My favorite hibachi takeout in Durham. Affordable quality food and a great price. I eat here maybe once a week!

It's always better to order through Grubhub with them because you will get more food. The drive-thru service is not as fast as you would think. They will take your payment then ask you to pull around to the front door and bring your food out to you. read more

Had sushi and banh mi. Their sushi wasn't bad, but I thought their banh mi was pretty good. The only downside of it was the bread was very average. The fillings, however, were well portioned and flavorful. read more

I LOVED THE FOOD!! Great staff as well. I look forward to going back here when I am back in Durham.