Stan Y.
Yelp
I visited Kozue because my wife read its ad in local Japanese newspaper and it seemed attempting. So when we were in the Wallingford neighbor hood for lunch, it seems a natural choice.
After the lunch, my wife told me that she probably won't visit here again. And I agree with her.
The service is good. The waitress was nice and friendly, and they have this kids meal on a lovely tray for the kids. However the food quality, at least the ones for Saturday lunch, needs improvement.
We ordered kids meal for our son. I got to admit it was nicely balanced with chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, salad, soy beans and white rice. It probably is the highlight of the lunch.
My wife ordered tuna bibimbap. For a Japanese restaurant, this dish is a nice twist of classical Korean dish bibimbap, by replacing the beef with diced raw tuna...like a simpler and cheaper version of chirashi (sashimi rice bowl). The idea is good an original, but the execution is disappointed because the tuna portion is way too little. And the egg boiled too hard. If they give more portion of tuna, and make the egg soft so the yolk is still liquid, then it's a perfect dish.
As to me, I was in the mood for something deep fried, so I ordered combo with deep fried chicken and breaded burger meat. Another disappointment because it was fried way too dry. The chicken was hot and juicy at first, which was OK but once it cools down, it became quite dry. As to the fried breaded burger meat, it was quite dry from the very beginning and definitely not my taste.
So from what I can see, Kozue has some good ideas on dishes, with good service, but really need to work on their executions.
I noticed that they have some interesting appetizers for dinner, but we didn't have chance to try them.
Pictures of three dishes we ordered posted on yelp for reference.