Kono Review

Last week I went to Kono for dinner! Overall I would rate my experience 7/10.

Venue/Ambiance: Wow! With just 12 seats, the restaurant looks like a film set for an intimate meeting. Even with a huge extractor, it does get smokey in there – but it didn’t affect my experience. If you’re not dining solo I’d recommend to ask to be seated in a row. We were in a group on a corner (2 on each side) and it was hard to talk/ hear everything as a group. There’s a booth as well but I wouldn’t bother with it.

Service: Really good, our waiter (forgot his name sorry) was one of the best I’ve had in NYC. He knew every detail of each dish/drink and had a clear passion/respect for the cuisine. I would’ve liked some more engagement with the head chef similar to Sushi Omakase experiences, just a hello or thank you felt like it was missing.

Food: You’re taken through a ‘chicken experience’ trying various parts of the bird from gizzard to chicken thigh, it’s not just the popular cuts. I’m not a fussy eater and ate every dish in full. Apart from 1 course which I really didn’t like, the rest were all good but nothing special. Maybe my expectations were wrong but I was thinking that I would be eating the best version of a cut of chicken at one point, but none were in the top 3 for each cut respectively. They were all solid but I don’t know, when a restaurant focuses on one product mainly I was expecting to have one dish to blow me away, which none really did. I’ve had a French style roast chicken at a top restaurant in NYC that blew me away more (and they don’t specialise in chicken). Also just like to add that they offer extra skewers of cuts not offered on the night as well as Wagyu Beef and vegetables.