Kokoya

This restaurant specializes in Korean fried chicken. My fiancé and I shared a basket of regular fried chicken and a basket of yangnyum chicken. I ordered a bowl of egg soup. The regular fried chicken was just average and a little bit dry. The yangnyum chicken was good, but not something that left us wanting to come back and eat it again. However, the egg soup was DELICIOUS! I really, really enjoyed it.
The interior of the restaurant is rather dim, as previous reviewers have mentioned. Service was good.
I would eat here again– but I won’t order the chicken. I will order the egg soup!

One of my favourite place for Korean style fried chicken. My favourite would be the soy sauce one. Definitely worth a try.

Got the basic whole fried chicken to go. It was okay, but needed more seasoning. portion was not very large for $ 25. Would have been more okay paying that price if it was seasoned well.

Food is just so so. We came here just because someone recommend it on Weibo. Apparently you can’t always trust words from Internet…

This is our go to place for fried chicken. We usually get the Soon Saar chicken, which is boneless, sweet and spicy. Not only is it crispy on the outside but also soft and juicy on the inside. It is full of favour and will leave you craving for more. The staff is really friendly which is a bonus. Price is reasonable and you get what you pay for. I have also tired other Korean fried chicken places in the nearby area but Kokoyaa tops all. I will happily keep going back!

Love this restaurant. Fried chicken with soy sauce is bae. Service is fast and nice. Will be back soon!

Their fried chicken is good with variety of flavours. I would recommend here if you want to get a little taste of Korean style fried chicken.

This is probably the worst Korean restaurant I’ve tried in Toronto. It’s too pricy but the food ingredients were of the lowest quality. The cheese corn was just out of a can. The fried chicken were not seasoned properly. We ordered 4 dishes and the bill came out to be almost 80 bucks. I can’t fathom how the other reviews were good. Sorry, but not recommended at all.

Good news everybody! This not a gangster bar. It’s perfectly safe. And the chicken is great. For sure top 2 in the area. Might I dare say, it’s 4.5 out 5 stars? Will definitely come back here again.
Bad news is, the service isn’t that great, but it’s not that bad. The staff is friendly enough, but their English is really not that good and they seem to be absent a lot from the customer area.
When we came in, we were greeted by the guy behind the bar which is set beside the entrance. Place is quite narrow. 2 rows of tables divided by an aisle. I keep getting bumped into, even though there are not many customers. Menus are in Korean and English. The older guy is maybe the chef and owner? This might explain the rave reviews about the chicken. I’ve been to the Fry and Dakgogi, and the guys at the back seem to be way younger. So I guess Kokoya’s secret is experience?
We asked about the flavours available for the half and half. It’s obvious English is not the older guy’s first language. But we got through it. A waitress bought us utensils and water. Chicken came in at a reasonable time. I’m not a foodie but my companion raved about how tasty the chicken is. Based on the other reviews, I think it’s the service that’s pulling down this place rating. Only other customers were Chinese students and couples. Didn’t seem very gangster like. :)
I saw more people ordering take-​out then coming in to sit-​down. Makes sense. Lots of students in the area and chicken is reasonable priced. The bar guy never seems to leave his area so I guess he is taking telephone orders.
Place is clean enough but we were early customers so I don’t know how that will go later in the evening. It’s not that dimly lit that we can’t see each other. I think other Korean chicken places are just as dimly lit if not dimmer. Not sure there is a customer washroom somewhere. Are those mandatory? I didn’t pay at the front. I hunted down the waitress at the front and she waved me back to my table. Came back with the bill and a credit card machine within a minute.
So overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Will definitely come back. Maybe order take-​out next time.
Thank you!

Tried the corn cheese and fried chicken. Love the corn but remember to finish it when it’s still hot or the cheese will taste not as good. The chicken is crispy and juicy, but kind of oily so I can’t really have more than 3 drumsticks.
Limited seating space but good for take out. The lady is really nice.

Very dimly lit place, which was a bit intimidating because it looked like a place where drug deals go down and korean mainlanders come out to play. Regardless, I wanted to try it.
I am not kidding when I tell you, kokoya has the absolute best korean fried chicken that I have ever tried in Toronto. The skin is fried to perfection and the taste is JUST right, the inside is hot and juicy and the entire thing is just deliciousness. I also like the fried mandu and the spicy rice cake platter. The food is very good. However, they’ve only got 1 person manning the back kitchen and it’s really slow some days. Once I’ve had to wait 30 minutes for the food, and other times it comes out in 10 minutes or so. The fryer and all that jazz is in the back, and the owner in the front will use the front kitchen to cook and boil.
One major thing is, they might have a thing against cleaning tables as soon as a party leaves. I came in, and only one table was clean. We sat down there, and we were surrounded by dirty tables and plates. Not a nice sight. By the time we left, the dirty tables were STILL not clean. It seems as if they only clean a table when a new customer comes in, which is not a good habit to have. The owner and workers are usually very nice, but yesterday when I came in, they just stared at me and when I smiled and said ‘for two’, the owner did not have any reaction and did not smile back at the slightest. The worker then just told me to go sit at the only table that wasn’t dirty– he simply pointed me in that direction. Customer service is a bit lacking, but they are sincerely sweet though. Perhaps just a bad mood.

I went here on a thursday evening and was packed. The place is tiny so during peak hrs you have to wait. I place the order for take out and came back after twenty minutes. By the time our order was ready, people start to leave so we got a table. We had the half fried and half with sauce and corn cheese. It was fresh and delicious. It wasn’t the best fried Korean chicken i had but one of the best and i would go back if im the area. The sauce wasn’t what i used to eat in Korea but still tasty.

This place was good. I came here with friends and ordered the whole chicken. The chicken was tasty but the pieces were huge which made them hard to eat I would really prefer if the pieces were smaller. They got a TV screen there so if your out with a boarding chick you can always refer to watching the Korean TV full of k-​pop music.
Over all the place is good but I pref home of hot taste to get fried Korean chicken.
All the best,
K

Chicken and soju. The perfect combination.
The chicken was crispy and juicy. Not drenched in sauce but definitely didn’t skimp out either. Just the way I like it. It wasn’t spicy but still tasty. Also ordered the corn and cheese. Can’t go wrong with that. Radishes and beets as our sides. Also got the dumplings. They were nicely seasoned and pan fried. Everyone keeps talking about the squash but they took it off the menu so sadly I never got the chance to try it. Such a satisfying night. Good food and company. Didn’t have any problems with the service. Our server worked out the bill so that the price was cheaper for us as a combo than individual orders. She was fluent in English so we didn’t have any communication problems as previous reviewers mentioned. Very chill place but does get packed quickly!

I have been bingeing on KFC for few weeks (thanks Lambert!).
I was walking on Yonge street when I saw their menu on on the door. Fried chicken. Walked in without hesitation.
You make your order on a scantron sheet AYCE style. We ordered a small soy fried chicken. Fried chicken comes with a side of coleslaw and popcorn. Chicken was fresh and delicious.
I’m in love with the KoKo. Cute name, tasty fried chicken. Check it out if you are near Willowdale.

Kokoyaaaaaa. My gf and I came here the other day because we love trying Korean bars. Oh man this place is quite something! Some things right off the bat! Free wifi, cheap beer and good rice cakes!
We ordered the fried dumplings, spicy rice cakes and fried chicken of course. The fried dumplings tasted so nice and crunchy. The rice cakes was amazing. To me those rice cakes were more sweet then spicy and I love it. The chicken tasted like back in the day KFC chicken the nice fried style. It was so juicy and crunchy oh my god. Definitely coming back here!
I’d rate this place a 3.5 stars!

Came here two times and had a nice experience. It was at times hard to flag down the staff but otherwise a great place if you’re in the area.
The korean seafood pancake was absolutely delicious & even better w/​the soya sauce. It was so filling I had to take it home. We also got two sides (free) w/​the order (salad & white carrots?).
The wings were good but definitely needed the hot sauce for a little kick.
If you want to pay, you must go to the front.
Would probably visit again.

Cute little Korean bar run by Ma & Pa! Came by here, close by, sick of regular Korean restaurant. Was utterly surprised since the reviews I saw weren’t that great. Wanted a quick bite and try their fried chicken all the rave these days.
My friend and I tried the bulgogi with squash and cheese, a good choice for those of you limiting carbs, and the Korean seafood pancake. I’ve never had the Korean dish w squash and cheese and I thought it was an interesting mix of food. The seafood pancake was also very delicious especially if you add the soya sauce it comes with. Also had a taste of their fried chicken, seemed a lil plain to me, must eat with sauce.
The restaurant is pretty small and I felt our seats were a bit dingy and cramped. It’s run by an old couple so don’t expect super fast service. Overall I thought it was a cute location and I probably come back for their squash and cheese!

Wife and I have passed by this place numerous times, and figured we would finally try it. Being located in the heart of mini-​Korea town (Yonge/​Finch), I had high expectations for the dishes we were about to partake in.
FOOD: The «Cheese squash with chicken» met expectations, and came with ample cheese/​onions to compliment the tender chicken. The «Korean fried chicken» was more bland then I had expected (no apparent seasoning/​spices at all), but still had a nice crispy batter. A sweet and tangy red sauce accompanied the chicken however, and helped compensate for the lack of taste.
Kokoya offers a few different combo options ($ 29.99) where you can combine certain food items with alcohol (mostly soju or beer).
SERVICE: The waitress was not as attentive as she could have been (disappeared for stretches of the meal and needed to be flagged down), but was quite friendly. The food actually arrived much quicker than I was expecting, which of course was a pleasant surprise.
SUMMARY: If you’re looking to have a few drinks and some grub in a typical Korean bar atmosphere (complete with K-​Pop on the TV), give this place a try.

I’ve passed by this place time and time again thinking to myself that it does not look like a good place to eat. Yet, I had this nagging voice in my head that urged me to try it just to be certain.
Well, I am now quite certain I will never come back. If you want Korean fried chicken or any fried chicken you are better off finding the dirty bird of all dirty birds. KFC.
I walked in and sat down while the two servers were at the counter eating their supper with cheeks packed full like chipmunks. This is how she came to my table to serve me. WHAT THE FRAK?
The girl could barely speak english, never mind the fact that she did not know how many pieces of chicken are included in the small serving of fried chicken. There were nine (9) in my serving. She never told me a salad came with it (if iceberg lettuce and unknown gelatinous dressing counts as a salad). Otherwise I would not have ordered the corn/​cheese.
That is right… corn /​cheese. How is that a dish? Waste of $ 5.00.
Initially she tried to sell me on a combo plate for $ 30. I am one person and she tried to get me to order a combo fit for two — three people.
Never again. Stay away unless you think overpriced KFC is a good idea.
Stay away… really it is not worth it.
BAD: No wet naps available.
BAD: Horrible service
BAD: Overpriced for no reason
BAD: Corn /​Cheese
GOOD: I will never go back, and will never listen to that voice in my head urging me to try a place I know to be terrible.
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