Makoto
I first read about this place on a forum thread on Jatbar.com called “Longest distance travelled for a meal?” Someone claimed to have flown from San Jose to DC without much reason beyond going to this restaurant. I did a bit of research and it has gotten some good reviews, so Justine and I decided to check it out. It’s located in a tiny underground room on the outskirts of Georgetown. I counted seven two-person tables and ten seats at the sushi bar for 24 seats total, but they were very tightly packed. Attire was business casual and you had to put on slippers to go inside. The menu consists of only small dishes, and there’s a $50 fixed-price meal consisting of 8-10 small courses that vary each day. The place is known for the latter so that’s what we went for. Here’s what they served us:
- mussel soup (mussels-in-shells in a garlicky broth) - pretty good
- slice of cooked yellow tail in ponzu sauce (soy sauce and vinegar) with snow pea leaves - also pretty good, nothing special though
- tuna and flounder sashimi - excellent but tiny pieces
- shrimp wrapped with what looked like bread and deep fried - crispy and delicious
- a plate with shrimp topped with chives, raw oyster in ponzu sauce, and persimmon pieces covered with a sweet tofu paste - raw oysters are dubious in my book but the shrimp/chives was good and the persimmon/tofu was dynamite
- three pieces of nigiri: tuna, mackerel(?), and some other white fish - again delicious, but so small!
- items grilled in front of us: shrimp, scallop, mushroom, beef; served with ponzu sauce, scallion slices, and radish - tiny and tasty
- choice of grilled meat: Justine had yellow tail, I had filet mignon - outstanding
- soba - barely a mouthful but good
- grape sorbet with Grand Marnier - tasked like a snow cone with alcohol but was pretty good
Despite the tiny portions, it was pretty satisfying. I ended up ordering an assorted sushi tray to top it off :] The waitresses were extremely polite and attentive - service doesn’t get much better than that. I probably wouldn’t go a second time because it’s so expensive (for my budget anyway), but it’s nice to try new things and I was pleased with the experience.
Address: 4822 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington, 20007
Xiao Hui wrote:
Had I known you’d be in town I’d try to finagle some Phil time! However, I was home from Wed-Sat, so perhaps it wouldn’t have worked out. Anyhoo, I’m glad you had a great Thanksgiving. With reference to Makoto, my boss recommended that restaurant to me and I’ve been meaning to try it out. Thanks for reminding me of it!
Posted on 28-Nov-06 at 4:34 am | Permalink