By Abby Carella, Social Media Editor
Squeezing in on a tight Saturday night reservation, the doors of Kooma in the King of Prussia Town Center open to reveal one of Conestoga’s own juniors, greeting guests and walking them to their tables. By 5 p.m., every seat is nearly filled in the stylishly furnished restaurant. The overflow tables outside still provide ample space to enjoy some mixed Asian cuisine, including sushi, noodles and stir fry, teriyaki dishes, and Korean rice bowls known as Bibimbap.
The edamame, a Japanese staple, is plated in a simple white bowl garnished in salt flakes and cooked to perfection. While nothing overtly stands out about them, the flaked salt adds a nice crunch in comparison to the simple table salt typically used. In addition to edamame, the green salad served as a light and refreshing starter to an overall satisfactory meal. There was a perfect ratio of crunchy to soft lettuce in the greens mixture, and the house made ginger dressing hit all the right taste buds.
Kooma has an extensive sushi menu, offering everything from simple yellowtail and sashimi to vegetarian rolls. While many of these dishes can be found at other establishments, Kooma adds a special touch with its unique signature rolls.
Their Firecracker Roll, spicy tuna with crunch topped with more tuna, is generously garnished in potato sticks resembling in flavor to the salty snack chip. While the roll itself was not bad, the unique topper made it a standout dish both on the plate, and in the mouth. The Kooma Special Roll, shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado topped with mixed tobiko, spicy yellowtail, scallion and micro greens was plated beautifully alongside the other rolls creating an eye-catching rainbow-like display. While deliciously fresh much like the Firecracker, nothing clearly stood out that made it better than sushi from other restaurants. The vegetarian avocado roll, a delicious basic, was cleanly-plated separately, a nice touch by Kooma in an effort to keep it apart from the non-vegetarian rolls. In contrast to other local Asian fusion restaurants, Kooma offers a plentiful variety of vegetarian options, such as the Sweet Potato Roll.
The diverse menu features several noodle options as well. The Udon Noodles with Chicken came recommended by the hostess and did not disappoint. The sauce perfectly complemented the other dishes ordered and served as a delightful divider between a sushi heavy meal. The chicken was well cooked-not too chewy and not too soft;-, every piece mixed nicely with the thick cut noodles.
Kooma, open from 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (sometimes 9 or 10 p.m. on quieter days), offers a respectable Asian-infused dining experience with options for everyone. Prices ring in very high, with the Firecracker and Kooma Rolls totalling over $40 together. Their miso soup comes to $5 and basic salmon rolls to $7, which is considerably more expensive than other local establishments offering the same. While it was a worthwhile experience, the biggest enticers were very minor garnishings on top of fresh, yet average and expensive sushi.
Abby Carella can be reached at [email protected].
