Kiko
The Dungeness crab arrives as a shell packed with warm sushi rice, crab meat, crab fat and a fermented fresno mayo, with nori alongside so you roll the handrolls yourself. Bryan Kim says they taste like ultra-concentrated crustacean.
Why go
Kiko runs the pasta-and-little-gem format through Korea: the pasta takes after jjajangmyeon and the little gem is dressed with natto.1 Kim is qualified about it, and the qualification is worth having straight: Even if its only a modest success, the novelty's enough to keep you tuned in.
The room helps. A foyer with a working fireplace opens into a narrow glowing dining room lined with burnt orange booths, and the bar pours a miso old-fashioned. A slab of pork comes marinated in coconut and worked with basil and pineapple.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Dungeness crab, which Kim calls the signature and says eats like a main. Then the dry-aged bone-in striploin,
with well-rendered fat and a tare-egg dipping sauce that mixes to a silky buerre blanc texture.
1 - Avoid: the thrice fried chicken wings,
slightly sweet, slightly damp, and not quite as crunchy as they should be.
Skip the flanken short rib too, which he says tries to channel LA galbi and does not manage it.1
What locals & experts say
- Bryan Kim, The Infatuation, 17 July 2025, rated 7.7:
as far as we know, it's the only one where the pasta is inspired by jjajangmyeon and the little gem salad is dressed with natto.
And on when to come:for a last-minute date night that isn't a snooze, Kiko is still worth a visit.
1 - The same review, on the Ora King salmon:
It might not be the most interesting dish, but the salmon is juicy and bursting with fat.
1
Good to know
- Timing: dinner only.
- Booking: worth reserving, though this is a room Kim recommends for a last-minute plan.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "New in Nov 2024"
Verdict
could-visit — Bryan Kim rated Kiko 7.7 and named two things to skip: the thrice fried chicken wings, and the flanken short rib. The Dungeness crab is the signature. He wrote it up in July 2025, so the menu may have moved.