Ku-o At The Gabba

Best Japanese Restaurant in Gabba. I was my fist visit there but I would definably go again when I will be craving. All the dishes were so delicious and looking same as the transitional Japanese dishes. My favorites thing there was the delicious and beautifully served sushi's. The staff was so polite, welcoming and helpful Highly Recommended Restaurant. 🙌❤🤗

FOOD & DRINK We stumbled upon this fab little Japanese restaurant while trawling around looking for somewhere to eat, after our first choice bombed out. It was a quiet Thursday night in late October, and what a find it was. Only afterwards, did I look at the reviews, to see that Ku has an average score of 4.5. That’s no surprise, and it's well deserved, given the high quality of the food and the overall positive restaurant experience. Being just my wife and I dining, we stuck to a fairly simple ordering protocol: a bottle of my fav Sapporo ale, a seaweed salad, a salmon teriyaki for my wife and a chicken katsu “set” for me. And what excellent meals these were. Serving sizes were generous, and everything was fresh and tasty. Clearly only the best premium grade ingredients are used. The seaweed salad was beautiful and crunchy, served on a stylish oval shaped bowl topped with lettuce to temper the flavour. My chicken katsu was succulent and tender, wrapped in a crispy batter with a white sauce sprinkled over each piece to spice it up. Included in the “set” was a serve of fluffy rice, and a selection of different vegetables and rounded off with a bowl of miso soup. A delicious all round meal. My wife’s salmon was similarly outstanding with a large piece of plumb salmon cooked to perfection and served with rice, salad and vegetables. We couldn’t have been happier with our meals. Chefs deserve a pat on the back. AMBIENCE The place has been tastefully decked out in a traditional Japanese style: Elegant yet unpretentious, with attractive timber features and a colourful display of Japanese style umbrellas hanging upside down from the ceiling. It was about half full, which meant that it was easy to get a table at around 7.00pm. The ambience was super casual, laid back and relaxed with good acoustics, strong lighting and comfortable furniture. It’s a homely, calm and welcoming space that you’ll feel happy to be in, the moment you walk through the door. SERVICE As one would expect from a place that excels in every department, the service was first class too. We were warmly welcomed by the friendly and polite maître d and even though we didn't have a booking, he found a nice table for us, near the middle of the room. Our orders were promptly taken and the drinks and food came out quickly. This place hums like a well oiled machine and it all runs smoothly. That’s just the way we like it. COST We paid a reasonable 63 pesos for a single beer, a seaweed salad and two main courses, the chicken katsu and the salmon teriyaki. That’s right on point for what we had, and given the high quality of the food and service and the perfect ambience we felt that was a fair price to pay, considering that a humble cup of coffee these days costs upwards of 5 pesos. TOILETS There are a few restaurants in this little arcade and they seem to share the same toilets, so one needs to grab a fob first. But the fob is prominently displayed at the entrance to the restaurant, next to the front desk. It’s on a hook and attached to a large spoon so it’s easy to spot. I’m not a great fan of shared toilets in public spaces, but these were well signposted, clean and adequately provisioned with a few unisex cubicles which meant that there was no waiting for one to become available. PARKING Easy street parking nearby. SUMMARY We had a satisfying evening here and I’d happily visit Ku-O again. The food was superb and served in generous portions. Service was fast, efficient and polite. The classic Japanese décor creates the perfect calm and laid back ambience to enjoy a relaxing meal with family or friends. Prices are reasonable, there are clean toilets and easy street parking.

Your food is always good, but your service needs a lot of work. Please train your staff on how to run a restaurant. We were quite disappointed at a number of things. To help you, this is a start: Don’t ask us if we have a booking when you’re completely empty, don’t leave us to wait so long to order food that we have to come and get you despite you sitting us down for table service, try to deliver food at the same time, not one plate first and then the other 10 mins later when we can see it ready on the counter getting cold/dry, don’t bring glasses for water but not bring any table water, also staff should be more aware of each table and clear plates and glasses as much as possible. These are not my high standards, just restaurant basics. Your staff are friendly but we literally had to ask for everything.