A Japanese restaurant has closed six months after launching at a well-known spot in Cardiff city centre. Koi No Yokan opened last July on the ground floor of the Windsor Place building which had previously been home to the popular music venue Buffalo Bar.
Alexander Taylor, the owner of Koi, reopened Buffalo on the site's first floor in September. The venue and bar continues to trade after Koi's recent closure.
Koi took inspiration from Japan's izakaya bars which offer small plates and alcohol. The business aimed to serve "delicious, modern, naughty Japanese-inspired" food and had an average rating of 4.4 stars out of five after 26 Google reviews.
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Popular Cardiff food blogger The Plate Licked Clean wrote in a review last November: "There’s potential here. That’s not in doubt. The idea here at Koi (No Yokan) is certainly an attractive one but the reality needs some diligent groundwork to get those essential basics right. If they can nail that, this will be a city centre highlight."
Koi's dishes included Japanese fried chicken and waffles with pickled slaw, nori mayonnaise and Filipino-inspired barbecue sauce. Vegan equivalents were available for the majority of the menu.
Buffalo reopened upstairs in September with several nods to its previous incarnation, which shut in 2019 under previous ownership. In its five years of trading the original venue had earned a fond place in locals' hearts but cited business rates and rent among the reasons for its closure. At the time of the relaunch we wrote: "While Buffalo Bar has the same nostalgic feel as the old Buffalo Bar, the new look is updated, modern, and sleek."
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