Kokoro in West Berkshire

On a flying visit to Newbury I, and a friend of mine, met for lunch at Kokoro - and Asian fusion restaurant on Northbrook Street, right on the bridge over the River Kennet. 'Restaurant' might be a slightly misleading term - as Kokoro is more of a takeaway style, with some shabby seating downstairs in a shabby room. It is shabby. There is no avoiding it. The seating area downstairs is more akin to a long-abandoned waiting room. There is little to no charm to it whatsoever, save for the fact that you can see the river flowing swiftly passed the window. I get the impression however that the sort of people who frequent here (the sort of people that say "let me get" instead of "can I have") are not particularly fussed about the ambience. The food, it has to be said, is very good. I really enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken and noodle bowl that I had. Unimaginative I know but it looked the most appealing, and it tasted great. I would score this place higher were it not for the fact that I felt as though I was dining in a Prisoner of War camp. On a final note, this place is Halal certified, meaning that the people that want their food to have suffered a slow, tormenting, medieval death can pat themselves on the back.

Very nice salmon teriyaki + sweet 'n' sour chicken, both tasty, hot & generous portions. Very friendly counter staff, well worth a visit.

Fabulous tasty food!!! Really accommodating when my son found his meal too spicy. They didn’t make us feel bad but happily swapped. Thank you for great customer service!!!

The food is ok, it seems different from the ones in Camberley, Farnborough or Basingstoke, at least is no queue… My son served All salmon sushi pack and surprisingly was no lemon inside (he usually eat the fish with lemon juice), I’ve ask at the counter but they said that they do not use lemon….yeah…next time, sorry, it will not be a next time.

Absolutely brilliant, fresh food loved by the whole family. Very good value and large portions. We had sushi and chicken katsu, which was all very tasty

Cold tasteless food.It made me feel a bit sick. Possibly the worst take away I’ve ever had. It’s not expensive but really you’d be better with a packet of super noodles. The staff were very pleasant and it’s not their fault the quality food was very poor.

Not sure if I have a smaller appetite than most, but I find most places I go for lunch fill me until way past dinner. The smaller portion here was massive (though you'd hope it was for 9 quid) and nearly half of it went in the bin. It tasted nice and was served quickly and simply, but I'd have rather had a couple of smaller portions of different things to add some variety. This was mostly noodles and even if I was hungry enough for what was given I think I'd have stopped halfway through boredom. Next time I'd share with another person, but not sure there's a great deal to make me want to return here over any other place in town.

The range of food you can get is great; cuisine from all around the world and the seating is cosy, since you can sit upfront facing the street or down below beside the canal!

An unplanned visit here gave us a hearty and healthy late lunch. The downstairs seating has windows out to the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the swans and ducks float slowly past the window. This seems to be more a place for takeaways and deliveries, but eating in is absolutely fine. Pleasant staff and reasonable prices

Visiting Newbury for the first time in a while, came across the newly opened Kokoro Japanese Sushi & Bento restaurant & takeaway in the old bookstore on the bridge of Northbrook Street. Fresh & clean new establishment. Helpful friendly staff. Good quality & good tasting food for a reasonable price - Mini Maki Delight box & bottle of water for £8.40 - good value. One of the best Japanese food places around.