so I came in here the other day, I think it was a saturday? either way, this place is amazing. the staff are cool, the cooks are good. the atmosphere is astonishing. I had their signature burger and I damn near shit my pants. it was THAT good. check them out. you won't regret coming here! read more

Clever Koi was recommended by my hotel conceirge and it was a great suggestion. I had the pork Ramen and my dinner partner had the Pork Bah Mi sandwich, both were outstanding. The Ramen has chunks of pork and pieces of pork belly and the broth was rich and tasty, it was decadent to say the least. The sandwich was good as well and comes with a fresh fruity salad that would be great on a home summer day. You can get the fries with It if that is more to your liking. The only negative with the sandwich is there wasn't enough dikan, carrots and cucumber to our liking. I tried a draft of the Strawberry Blonde on tap and it was phenomenal, they have a wide variety of cocktails. The next time I visit I will be sure to find time to visit Clever Koi again! read more

The dishes here all have a great spice profile and i am an absolute fan. I like the ratio of veg to meat and it really sets off!

I loved my dinner here. I ate the Korean fried rice, and my dinner mate had ramen. We both enjoyed ourselves, the service was fantastic, and the food lived up to the hype. I would definitely go back and try the ramen, as well as more of the appetizers. read more

Visited for the first time last night, and while it's clear that they're still working out some kinks, I really like the direction this place is heading. We really enjoyed the duck steamed buns (although the pork belly could have been a bit more tender) and the pig face dumplings. The ramen was tasty and the broth was unique (although the pork shoulder requires a bit of work) and my gf liked her kimchi fried rice. The cocktails were stellar, particularly for folks like me who enjoy actually tasting the spirits. Needs a bit of work: Service is still a bit rough (if eager), and they should refine some of the dishes. Overall, I plan on becoming a regular here, and with a little bit more finesse and experience this becomes a five star spot. read more

This was my first trip to the restaurant several of my friends raved about. They were right to rave. I loved the layout; it was open and inviting. Every dish we had was a true reflection of the chef's excellent reputation. I'm really looking forward to going back to explore more of the menu and the awesome drinks. It's a great place to go with a group of friends or for a nice date night out. The prices were reasonable and the food was fresh. We will be back soon. read more

Excellent food, very reasonable prices, super great staff from door to table and a fun comfortable atmosphere. I love this place and happily recommend it to anyone I meet. A great place to dine alone at the wok bar ( lots of fun to watch them prepare the food) or with friends at a table. It's even fast at lunch... Check it out I do believe you will find many delicious choices . One of my favorites is a Kung Pao Brisket. Second favorite is perhaps the Massamon Udon Curry although I have not tried anything I have not liked. The menu offers quite a wide variety of well thought out dishes and tastes. Clever koi gets my favorite new restaurant vote for sure. read more

I can not explain to anyone exactly in words why this place is so good. All I can say is I've worked in 50 plus restaurants and bars and have 13 plus years in the industry (not just in Arizona). This place has something between simplicity and charm within hitting the bull's eye while still having just the right complexity. These guys are pros with passion. You can see it from their golden jiggers to their innovative drinks. I recommend this place for a unique business lunch, a well elaborate deep thought at the bar while discussing cocktails travels and the food you're eating, or dates for multiple courses with extreme value. Then if you want to get more tipsy ( as this not that place) you can venture next door once you're full. Then catch the light rail, valet , or catch a cab home. prime location for dates as there is a pond near by, hair salon, and wine bar. Cocktails Kick ass! read more

Amazing food! Just went in for first time and had a sampler of just about everything. Pork belly ramen was the best ramen soup I've ever had. Broth was nice and salty yet palatable. Also enjoyed the wings, meat just fell right off the bone. Will definitely return for some more ramen and other items I didn't get to try. 5 stars! read more

Food is good but way over priced for the level of flavor. definitely a "meh" rating. I could take it or leave it.

fantastic place. Had the pig face that Josh recommend (i think I had a mouth orgasm) and the duck steamed bun. Talked to a couple other staff and they were great as well. I highly recommend. There are a dozen other things on the menus I wanted to try. read more

Been wanting to try this place for a long time now and I'm glad I finally did! They have a great happy hour and the pork belly ramen is a winner, also I had a few ginger ciders they were oh so yummy! Will definitely be back! read more

They Murdered it Saturday night. Nick one of the owners was flying around making sure everything was amazing... and it was. My cocktail horizons have changed as their mixed drinks were made exactly to order. The plank grilled octopus, dumplings, and ahi/guac appetizer were all unique and tasty. But the whole fish special stuffed with calamari and ox tail was unique, fun to eat and one of the best things I've had to eat in AZ. Thanks for a memorable evening, will see you again soon. Yum! read more

Just recently discovered this restaurant and can not get enough of it! The atmosphere, service, and food is on point. Try the pork belly steam buns to start they are my favorite. read more

Really cool trendy space, tons of interesting drink options with a friendly staff. Thought the food was mediocre at best. Nothing knocked me off my feet as I was expecting. Tried the shrimp dumplings, tuna chips (actually very delicious with the guac) duck croquettes were over cooked and rocky. pork bun and chicken and waffle bun were decent. The restaurant has a cool vibe however I would return for that reason read more

The artistic presentation is one thing but the flavors you experience are stupendous!!

I finally found the best pork belly in Clever Koi's Pork Ramen. It is just amazing. Went back 2 days after because my daughter and I could not get over how good the food was. Also ordered the Teriyaki Short Ribs and had the most tender, buttery, melt in the mouth meat, ever! Clever Koi has an L.A. vibe that we liked and we will definitely be going back. Can't wait to try the other menu offerings. read more

Food is okay. They offer a variety of bowls. I don't find it interesting. You can get a bowl at Kyoto Bowl or Yoshi bowl for less and tastier. Great ambiance and nice restaurant. read more

Great steamed buns! The pork belly is so fresh and seasoned to perfection! Goes great with many of the great craft beers to choose from!

The patio is perfection. The chopped salad was very very very good. The steamed buns are 100% worth it. We only tried one I suggest all 3 in fact i would try all 3 and pass on the dumplings unless you have a huge appetite in which case do both but if you have to pick I'd do buns over dumplings. The ramen is very popular. It's not my cup of tea so I can't say it was to die for but the pork belly one is their most popular so we got it and it was fine but again not something I'm that in to so it tasted good but I wish we would have gotten the pad Thai with shrimp personally. Another thing I didn't get to try and wish I would have is the kimchi fried rice. Definitely will do that next time. And then their dessert menu only has 2 items there is a butter cake which wasn't worth it and then beignets which I didn't have but would try next time as well. read more

So I have only recently started posting to Yelp. I was actually here a couple of weeks ago, and if I may borrow from Mel B, this place is "Off The Chain". OMG, the total experience was amazing. The wait staff were knowledgeable, super friendly, and extremely helpful. The food, I had the XO noodles and Bulgogi chicken wings. I must say, some of the best food EVER!! I tend to be more of a beer and tequila kinda guy, but I told the Mixologist what I like and don't, and he came up some seriously tasty concoctions. Wish I could remember the names (lol). Anyway, great ambience, fantastic serve staff, and awesome food!! read more

I ordered the pork belly bun and crispy duck with rice. The pork belly bun is yummy, not too greasy. The crispy duck though is a bit too hard and dry. But I really like the sticky rice that is mixed with mushroom. read more

One of my go to spots! The food is always amazingly flavorful and consistent. It has a very upbeat atmosphere and always good vibes. The people are always awesome and go above and beyond to make sure your experience is great. For the food, it's hard for me to try new things once I've found something that I love, I usually have the lemon pepper chicken ramen and it's so delicious. I also recommend the steamed buns...let me just say these buns are incredible. I order the pork belly buns but I substitute the pork for chicken, and they are so good. My husband likes to adventure out and order new things, this last time he tried the forbidden black rice bowl with chicken instead of shrimp...he said it's his new favorite. I almost forgot...Drinks! The drinks are impressive, I had the French 95 and my husband had an old fashion. He's very critical on his drinks, and says the old fashions are one of the best in town. Definitely recommend! read more

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Excellent cocktails! Best in the area. Great service, delicious food. Right amount of portions. Amazing flavours. Clean well styled restaurant. I would highly recommend it read more

Where do I begin with The Clever Koi? Well, let's start from the time we arrived on site. Myself and my husband walked in at approximately 9 pm. The restaurant was steady but not crazy. We waited for about 10 mins before we were even greeted and then another 10 minutes before being sat at a table when we could clearly see two clean tables and about 3 dirty tables just sitting there. After we were sat the service was acceptable but by no means nothing to write about. The biggest reason I wanted to get on here and review was to notify people about the issue we had with the management team. When we received our less than impressive food items, we were taken back by one of if not the biggest issues I personally have ever had at any restaurant. While my husbands "Spicy Seafood Hot Pot" was o.k. (we have certainly had better around town) This is not the issue we had however. When my plate arrived (the Massaman Curry) I failed to notice on the menu when ordering that it came with a side of DEAD COCKROACH!!! Yes, that's right. I almost fainted when I saw this. Being as polite as possible and not screaming at the top of my lungs trying to respect the business and other customers, I immediately asked for the manager. The server came back and told us that he would be right over. We waited about 15 mins and the server came back over and said he was busy and wouldn't be able to come by. This to myself and my husband might actually be worse than the cockroach itself. We understand, we live in a desert and the area this business is located is somewhat older part of town. We expect these accidents can happen, no one is perfect. But the lack of concern and care by the staff and management is what got to us the most. Finally, after my very irate husband demanded to see the manager, he came over and apologized for the incident and presented us with a voucher/gift card as a way to apologize. However, regardless of the issue the fact that we were originally told we couldn't talk to the manager was appalling. We will NOT be returning to the Clever Koi and will not be recommending it to any of our family, friends, or acquaintances. read more

Friday night was our first trip to The Clever Koi. So glad we did as we discovered that the woodfire entrée s were incredible! For appetizers you couldn't beat the calamari fries. The vegetable chow mein with pork belly was amazing. We finished off with one of the dessert specials. Our server was top notch and very attentive, not once did we have to try and flag him down. Go for the service, return for the food! read more

Modern trendy atmosphere. Service was impeccable (thank you Brian). Went for happy hour but ate off regular menu as well. Inspired offerings. We had Kimchi Poutine which I think is pork belly with shitake mushroom gravy and french fries (husband loved it), Shrimp Toasts was great as were the fabulous steamed buns. Chicken & Waffles, Duck Confit, Soft Shell Crab, Roasted Pork Belly. Next time we'll try the Ramen dishes. I'm not a big drinker but loved the Pimms. Owner Nick came over to introduce himself and was friendly, charming and on top of his game. Will absolutely come back again! read more

Food is excellent and service is good. Always busy when we go. Patio is protected from the street noise.

Last night my fiancé and I went in to try something new. We cannot brag enough about the atmosphere and kindness we experienced. Our server was Christina and she was so eager to give us advice and direction through the menu. We love food and we love to eat. We cannot wait to go back for some more amazing hospitality. As a fellow bartender and service industry person I am in love with their cocktail menu. So much art is put into the small touches. If you haven't been GO GO GO! Adventures menu with lots to try. Thanks Clever Koi for a memorable experience. read more

Get whatever comes with noodles or rice and you are in business! Great mushroom noodle dish. Shrimp is tasty - didn't used to be the best shrimp, but it has improved. Creative cocktails, but I am not into the fishy house martini. Go with the classic French version. Fun to sit at counter and watch the cooks. read more

Clever Koi has a great atmosphere and amazing food. What I love about it is how different their menu is and how friendly the staff is. I would definitely recommend this place! read more

I have to say, it really hurts to give 3 stars because the food here is amazing. But I have been many times and always receive oddly poor service! I use that description because it's strange...the front of house staff is always super nice but also either I always seem to get forgotten or they forget to ring in my drink ...or my food. Every time I have been one of these three things has happened, which is a shame! As a server for many years, service really does make or break a place for me. Unfortunately last night I went straight to the Clever Koi after my workout so I was super hungry. Right when I was thinking our food hadn't been rung in, the bartender walked over and asked me what my order had been and I watched him ring it in. This was almost an hour after ordering! I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt since it was busy but - damn! Luckily I had good company with my friend and all was well, I just wish he had owned the mistake. I'll definitely be back for the amazing food but I'll also wait awhile until the memory of the friendly but slow service fades. read more

Super excited to have this type of restaurant in Phoenix! the menu consists of dumplings, steam buns, noodle dishes, hot pots and several yummy appetizers. They also have a great drink menu with some awesome cocktails. We ended up getting there before 6 for an AWESOME happy hour! The HH menu has probably 5 or 6 food items and discounted drinks. We started with the salt and pepper shrimp, that were awesome! They even do it right and serve the crispy shrimp head! We also got the house wings that were in this sweet vinegar type sauce. Pretty good, I like my wings crispier but they were solid.. I had a lamb pastrami steam bun with mustard greens that was out of this world! Super flavorful, great texture. Just killer. I also got my meal frm the HH menu, a huge steaming awesome bowl of Ramen for $5!!! it had grilled bbq pork, sprouts, musrhooms, greens and a healthy potion of noodles topped off with an over easy egg. Great bowl of ramen. I wll say the noodles were a tad underdone and I found the broth a bit heavy, but still a mega legit bowl of ramen. My wife ordered the seafood hot pot. She wasn't a huge fan due to the spice factor, but it was a well put together dish. My fave part of her dish was this awesome fish cake! I had this deink called teh enabler, easily one of my fave drink in Phoenix right now. It had house smoked whiskey, maple honey and some bitters. Just a great smokey whiskey drink. Wifey had a glass of wine. the atmosphere is great, the food is great and they have a solid happy hour. to top it off, the service was perfect. I'll for sure be back to try the dumplings, more noodle dishes and several glasses of whiskey! read more

Clever in charging a lot of underwhelming flavors is what I got from my visit. The crowd is downtown hippsters, who want to be seen. The bar and the drinks were probably the best part of my dining experience. Staff friendly and helpful. I watched one of the owners on 3TV mentioned it's not an Asian fusion place..however, the decor is very Asian not the cooks! Very confusing. Regardless Clever Koi is Asian "inspired" however the dishes are not very flavorful, over priced and need salt and other spices. The ramen was $13 for a little bowl. The broth is the key. It tasted like beef broth with a little bit of soy, very tasteless and I would not go again for it. Kimchi Fried Rice...didn't taste like Kimchi. The turkey leg..meh. The buns were the only thing that was "good" I would only go for the buns and the drinks. Keep working on your flavors and regardless if it's something new and out of the box, it needs to be tasty and Clever Koi isn't there yet. read more

Not great. 1st time was amazing. Short staffed, food was average and overall very disappointed. Wouldn't come back.

The Clever Koi is cute and feels very trendy. They have a full bar so this would be a nice dinner or date spot. They usually have some upbeat music playing loudly to help drown out the sounds of the open kitchen.The bar is decently priced for the area, however, this is a very expensive lunch venue now. I do not recommend it for lunch time. That aside they have a great ramen broth and excellent pork buns. They recently got rid of their lunch "Build Your Own" option and so now the same order costs $6-11 more than it used to making a lunch cost about $20-25 on average. The rest of their menu is interesting and their take of Asian fare is usually good but lacks a certain zest. The menu items are quite varied with a decent flavor, but nothing really unique you can't find elsewhere. They have a posted menu on Google, but all the prices are half of what they actually charge so be careful in your planning. read more

Tried Clever Koi for a drink & some appetizers. We have been waiting for it to open since we loved the chefs who are the owners/chefs here. We ordered a drink & a couple of the steamed buns. The "steamed buns" came out at room temperature with very little flavoring & there were no dipping sauces for the buns (we asked & were told they had a chili sauce & that was all). We then decided that they weren't ready for prime time yet & asked for our bill & paid it. As we were getting ready to leave the ?manager came over. He didn't introduce himself & basically told us that they do things "different" here. His attitude was very surprising- basically very arrogant & not what we expected from this restaurant team. Basically, if you don't want the feedback, then don't ask. It's a shame, we had great hopes for this restaurant & this restaurant team. read more

I heard great things about Clever Koi from two friends so I decided to try it out with my boyfriend. We went around 6:30pm on a Friday and sat at the bar as we were told there was about a 20 min. wait for the table. Although, I have to say there were multiple tables available and I don't believe they were for reservations as they were empty the whole time we were there. Anyway... we ordered the duck steamed buns, sweet potato dumplings, duck chow mein, and their special of the night which was yellowtail over rice with black kale and persimmons. The duck steamed buns were really good, but pricey. The sweet potato dumplings reminded me of empanadas as the shell was fried, like a taco kind of way, not a fried dumpling kind of way. However, I really enjoyed them. However, I was very disappointed in my entree. It was super salty. The fish was salty, the kale was salty, even the rice was salty. I tried a bite of the duck chow mein and it was ok, not a huge fan of chow mein anyway so I'm no judge there. For all that, the bill came to about $60. Super disappointed but at least that's another restaurant I can check off of my list. But if you're looking for an asian fusion place, I'd check out SumoMaya, also a little pricey but at least the food's really good! read more

Nice ambient, but don't recall the food as being spectacular. The drinks were delicious, special creations. Nice outdoor patio area.

I never leave reviews but after going to Clever Koi this weekend I just had too. I will start by saying that the drinks and ambiance were very good. The vibe there is really cool. The FOOD on the other hand.... Was terrible. I wanted to like this place so badly. Growing up in Hawaii I have spent most of my life eating Japanese food. I have had Japanese food all over the country and in japan. Out of the 7 dishes we ordered only one person liked their meal. My ramen was so bad I couldn't finish it....and considering that the portion was very small that says a lot. I left hungry. I told the waitress that I did not enjoy the meal and that most of us at the table were very disappointed...she said "oh I'm sorry. That's too bad." And that was it. I've been working in service for over 15 years. I was very surprised at that response and that no one came over to ask about our experience or even to offer a drink or dessert. I didn't want or expect a comp of my meal but considering the reviews and that this place is newer I would think they would have tried to turn around a table of 7s opinion. If you want good drinks and ambiance...go. If you want great Japanese food I wouldn't recommend it. read more