Kikoo Sushi Review

I was returning from my trip to Boston. My bus ride was extremely long. What should have been four hours became five hours. I don't know what the hell the driver was doing. Battery on my phone was running low and I was running out of TVB drama episodes to watch. My friend then messaged me that today was the last day to claim a Groupon deal.
"Say what?!"
"$11 for all you can eat sushi at Kikoo's!"
"Groupon deal it is!"
A few minutes later ...
"Groupon app why you know work when I want you to work?! I only got a few hours to claim this!"
"Shit ... I forgot I can send it to you as a gift so you can just print it out."
"Yo thanks man."
"That's what friends are for."
In all honesty, I am not the biggest fan of sushi. I don't eat sashimi so why bother come to Kikoo's? I originally thought so too and pretty much vowed never to step into a sushi place for the rest of my life. But the Groupon deal was just too good to pass up. There's other interesting stuff on the menu and it's all you can eat. I'm only here for the $2 beer. Let's give Kikoo's a try.

It's located on 1st Ave near St. Mark's Place. I couldn't believe that Manhattan would house such a deal considering the location. The restaurant is spacious and they just opened shop. The decor is very bright and fresh. Their bathroom, holy shit, was cold. They kept that well ventilated for sure. My friend and I were seated close to the window area. You can order up to ten items at a single time using an iPad-like POS system. It's very simple and very efficient. All our orders came in correctly and fairly on time. When you take a look at the menu, it has less items than a more sophisticated sushi menu. Don't expect to see uni or fugu sashimi on it. You will however see kani salad, California roll, and stuff like that. If you aren't into the fish, you may want a fried rice or a seafood udon.

We ordered a total of roughly 25 items, but I think we ordered a bit more than that. The soy sauce I feel is more excessive since most of the rolls we ordered already came with a sweet sauce. Honestly I feel like it's more than enough sauce. If you order nigiri sushi, expect to get more rice and less of the fish. You, of course, have the option of just ordering sashimi which is restricted to 2 pieces at a time. I ordered their vegetable soup just to try it. It is basically measly slices of carrot, mushroom, cabbage, and snow peas floating in a soy sauce base. Nothing special. I ordered the taro tempura with hopes that it tastes like fried taro I make at home. To my disappointment, it had a raw crunch than a soft potato texture on the inside. My friend thought the inari suhi was way too sweet and the crab meat in one of the crab rolls was loaded with sodium.

On the good side, you do get very full from an AYCE place. The basic California rolls and shrimp tempura rolls were done properly. Everything was fresh. I didn't get any weird tasting ingredients. You have to pay extra for alcohol, but soft drinks are unlimited. Kikoo has a lot of options for appetizers. I don't suggest that you come here looking for an entree. It is a very good place to come to for lunch and have a good time with friends.

View of Manhattan Bridge

To walk off our lunch, we decided to make our way to the South Street Seaport. The waters are mucky and floating with garbage. They also had a nasty smell to them. It has become a very tourist-y area with stands and ice cream trucks opened up. Some people were fishing by the East River, but none of the hooks had fish in the end. Waiting for the hot sun to set and rush hour to die down, we sat under the bridge and chatted our late afternoon away.