Sidetrip: KoFusion

I wanted to provide a separate post for a nice find we discovered while in Champaign, Illinois a few weeks ago.

The KoFusion storefront had interested me for several years now, but something about the name made me pass it by. I also thought it would be a hard sell to get anyone to go to it with me.

This visit to town I went on OpenTable and it had reservations available. So, we gave it a try. There were 4 of us that went that evening. When we got there, the waiting area was full. We walked to the hostess stand and gave our name. We were escorted to our table immediately….love OpenTable!

The restaurant was not at all what I expected - unique lighting, blue walls, aquariums. It seemed like it should have been in a large metropolitan downtown.

The restaurant was packed the night we went and we were told immediately by the waiter that if we wanted sushi they were running a bit behind. We were fine with that as none of us were sushi eaters. I did see a number of tables around us getting sushi and it looked like people were enjoying it.

Two members of my party ordered sake for their beverage of choice and at least one of them really enjoyed it. The other one tolerated it, but I think a margarita would have been more up his alley. I had a glass of the Cote du Rhone which was quite nice. My mom had hot tea which she enjoyed.

We started out with a starter of Edamame. They were nicely salted and proved to be a nice start to the meal. My parents tried two different stir-fry dishes and enjoyed them both. The portions were generous and made for tasty leftovers. I had a steak special that was very well done with awesome mashed potatoes. The hubby tried the Bul Go Gee (Korean-Style Char-Grilled Sliced Strip Steak). He really enjoyed his dish.

For dessert, my parents split the Crème Brulee and the hubby had the trio of gelatos. Note I didn’t say we split the dessert. He thoughtfully let me try the gelato which was very good, but it was not “split.”

The experience was great and we all walked away satisfied. I would highly recommend this restaurant for a romantic dinner, a special occasion or any other reason you want a little fine dining in downtown Champaign.

Happy Eating!