Koyo - Japanese restaurant in Knoxville - 416 Clinch Ave, USA

This place is not just dinner it is an experience, and we enjoyed every plate! We are already talking about what we will order next time we go! We recommend the Omakase with the sake and wine tasting to pair with it!

Perfection except transparency :( The food was absolutely fantastic and the wine pairings were amazing. My husband and I went to celebrate our anniversary. We got the 5 course chef meal that included A5 wygu, and the server advised the selection was $150/person that was offered with a wine or sake pairing. We got the bill and the drink pairings were $65/person separately. We were not informed of this. Once in a lifetime experience if you are doing the chef courses, but you could definitely pick 3-4 a la carte options and spend half the amount :(

Koyo Knoxville was absolutely fantastic! The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. The food was LITERALLY out of this this world good! We had the tangy and rich crispy pork belly, sweet and fatty king salmon, and buttery Chilean sea bass! Paired with a top notch wine selection and cocktail menu. Even got to try an new sake. A great experience overall!

We had the pleasure of visiting Koyo for the first time. I think the sampling menu is the best route if you are hungry. We ended up doing individual dishes + drinks. I would give the atmosphere a 5- quaint, romantic, warm. Drinks also get a 5- tasty, reasonably priced, creative. Food is a 4 star- a few dishes lacked high flavor profiles but were still tasteful. Felt like the dishes were not 100% complete as far as seasoning. I highly recommend the sea bass dish with the butter sauce. Will definitely be back for drinks!

The autumn rolls and tempura were an amazing start. The tempura batter was light and crispy, the sauces were even better. The tteokbokki was extremely one dimensional with too much sauce and the same texture throughout the whole dish. For $100, I expected more from this place. Top notch on the tempura and vegan aioli, but very underwhelming on the main. Will return for the tempura, but that’s it.

We had an absolutely amazing experience at Koyo. Do yourself a favor & check them out as soon as possible. The only thing better than the food, was our extremely knowledgeable & attentive server, Brian. Upon his recommendation, we tried the Omakase (basically the chef's sampler dinner) which was an 8 course seasonlly inspired tasting menu. Everything was fresh, with intriguing & delicious flavors that allowed us to try some things we may not have normally ordered. The wagyu, venison & duck eggrolls were our 3 favorites dishes from the 8 courses (which was a hard decison to even narrow it down to 3 choices). My husband & I were initially concerned about splitting this meal as each course is a small tasting, however this was the right amount of each dish to get us sufficiently full. If you have a big appetite, then this definitely could be a meal for one. For a pair concerned about tasting size portions, I suggest pairing this with some additional small plates. Overall, we were SO glad we found KOYO & were able to get a last minute table. The only debate we have for our next trip is whether to try the Omakase again or order several other a la carte dishes. Thanks for a great night of impeccable service & an unforgettable meal. This was a great way to celebrate our anniversary & we will be back!!

My Wife and I have been here four or five times and we always order the same thing - the Omakase. It’s so good we won’t get anything else there. Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means I’ll leave it up to you. All of the courses have been different every time but one thing is constant and that’s the A5 Waygu which is always one of the courses Each course is like having a food present brought to the table. The Waygu is always plated/paired different each time. It’s on the higher end of the price scale at over $100 per person throw in a couple of cocktails the bill can get pretty high. It’s a great lace to go eat and just relax.

Our party of four was really looking forward to this meal but we were very disappointed in the food and service at Koyo. The food was so salty it irritated the back of my throat and overpowered any other flavors. The soup tasted like a salty brown gravy and I couldn’t eat more than a few bites. The standout dish was the spring rolls: good flavor but they fall apart as you eat them. Server was snarky. I wouldn’t recommend, especially for the price. I don’t mind paying a lot for a good meal but this just missed the mark.