In the way that a needle rips your senses from their lazy slumber, the first below-zero day of the winter brought with it a piercing chill. It had been put off for too long, pushed back by a warm December. It was a revenge of a season suppressed. So too had I delayed my trip to the Blackstone district, where I had been intending to review the restaurant, “Koen: Japanese BBQ and Izakaya.” The inaction came from the mountain which I knew I would have to surmount – writing a clear and deserving article. When the planned day came the temperature in Omaha was that of a frozen peak. 

Parking is usually a bit iffy in the Blackstone area, but not untenable. On that particular day I was just about the only person out and about, so I turned off my car right in front of the restaurant and dressed in a parka, fought against the gnawing chill before heading inside. 

Sleek white bars of light hanging from a dark, vaulted ceiling lends Koen to a very modern feeling, while the blackwood tables with inset brass-grills elevates the atmosphere to something richer, the same way that gold lends itself to art-deco. 

While the look of the restaurant is sharp and the atmosphere expensive, it is the food which separates Koen from competitors. The inside is separated into two sides: the sushi/ramen side, and the grills. While I can speak to the fine quality of the sushi (and I even spoke of their ramen in a different article) I am only allotted so much space. Thus it was an easy choice to focus in on the spectacular cuts of meat which they bring to you, for you to grill in a fun Japanese/Korean tradition. 

Ordering the Kirin platter, the first dish brought out was miso soup. When it was set before me on the table, under the flat surface of the broth the soup seemed to roll and tumble like an avalanche, or like a mountain spring. Usually most restaurant’s miso is a tad too bitter for my liking, but that particular soup hit just right; the warmth drew away the chill that I had carried with me from the outside. Made from fermented soybeans, kelp, and often with bits of tofu, the soup is considered very healthy due to (often) the probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals involved. I, however, cared not about health effects in the moment as I raised the bowl, finishing off the warm brew with the impatience of the greedy. 

Then sweet potatoes and fishcakes came and went – devoured quickly, they were a good counter to the soup. The real gem of the appetizers were the three pieces of the lightly fried beef gyoza; they were the salt on an ocean breeze, or the summer wind blowing through hair. 

For their excellence, the gyoza and the fishcakes however were not why I had come – they had no power to summon me through the cold from my winter hibernation, but the Yaki-Shabu Bibimbap did. Brought  out in a ‘dolsot’, or a heavy and heated stoneware bowl, the rice-and-thin beef cuts reveal a mastery of what rice dishes can taste like. Crispy rice closer to the bottom and spiced gently throughout, there was a rich and smooth flavor that spoke to clouds or something. Honestly my notes were too sparse here because I realized after I was done eating it that I should have written down what I was tasting. Ha! It’s why I went back for more another time (for you, dear reader! I swear!) The Bibimbap makes all other rice seem too plain, like a comparison of granola bars to angel-food cake. Each thinly sliced cut of beef found inside the stoneware was like finding the last egg in an easter-egg hunt each time I ate it. 

Finally the main platter was laid before me, and the splayed out cuts of yaki-shabu (beef), spicy pork belly and chicken bulgogi were rich in their many colors. The top-sirloin had particularly exquisite marbling. To the side of the platter was a chunk of animal fat which a patron should use to rub and coat the brass grill in the center of the table before laying on the choice meats. 

The spicy pork-belly went on first and quickly turned into the color of a bright sunset. As if my head were to the ground and I were a bored and creative child working for hours on a sandcastle – I took the cut to its limit. When I brought it out and ate it (nearly immediately after the grill, I know, I know, it was hot – but it looked so good, and smelled better!), the meat brought out feelings of a life I hadn’t lived, like I had just hunted and cooked a golden boar from ancient myth. Ah, how blessed was I there, with the chicken next? 

So blessed. 

The chicken wasn’t dry at all, the sirloin was beautiful and hearty, the yaki-shabu cut of beef and the white veins of gorgeous fat on the top-sirloin brought out visions of mythical bulls, enjoyed in the company of mighty hunters on a mountain far away. Honestly, I don’t know if I've ever enjoyed meat-focused dishes before, at least not in the way that I did at Koen. I think in part I certainly attribute the fantastic flavors and textures from the wonderful and choice cuts of meat and the excellent spicing from the cooks. 

As a novel experience for business associates, a fun memory to be enjoyed with the family, or most especially an incredible location for a date, I heartedly recommend Koen: Japanese BBQ and Izakaya, particularly – especially the grill-side. The friendliness of the wonderful staff convinced me to make the decision to review the restaurant, but the fabulous meat (and Yaki-Shabu Bibimbap!) has it truly stand out in Omaha’s competitive restaurant scene.