MOTOMOTO Sushi & Izakaya — Restaurant in Phoenix

Definitely should have read reviews before coming here. I booked a reservation for four as an inside table but they told me I booked an outside. I asked if we could wait for an inside table as it was nighttime in winter (aka cold) and they agreed. I told them I had no problem waiting. They then tried to seat me outside, which I asked again if I could please have an inside table. The server acted really confused and almost every interaction I had with her and the host was like they were annoyed that I was there and making a small request (even though this is what I asked for in the reservation). Anyway-

We finally were seated inside about 15min later (no problem on our end) and our friends came to join us and we ordered. We set the reservation for 8pm so that we could get to a show that was a 5min walk away by 945pm.

They gave the first two meals 20min+ before everyone else's food and forgot to put in two of the sushi rolls. It's like 920pm at this point and we were rushing to eat to make it to the show on time. The staff did offer us two complimentary sushi rolls that had already been sitting in the back (for their error of not ringing in all of our food), that was nice- but not what we ordered and we didn't have time to order something new. It also took about 20min just to get drinks, and nothing we ordered was complicated.

We sat directly behind the kitchen and one of the hosts/runners screamed at the top of his lungs at the cooks and it was really uncomfortable. A lot of people cheered but I didn't know if he was pumping them up or actually yelling at them. Either way, unprofessional and awkward.

All in all the food was great. Great taste and presentation. But the staff has really poor communication and is a bit snobby and clearly forgetful even though she wrote down our order. I would definitely not return here, even though the food was good the service was...

Just to be clear, this review is only about the food and prices, the staff and vibe of the restaurant were great.

I ordered the onigiri and the miso ramen for lunch. The onigiri, while small, were of good quality overall, however the chef used too much (or too strongly flavored) vinegar and it had a sharp vinegar taste (relative to all the sushi/nigiri/chirashi I’ve had… anywhere else). The ginger was thick and long, and while this isn’t a bad thing, it should have been cut a little smaller to be easier to eat in between bites. The chashu was phenomenal and a standout of the restaurant and the ramen. The ramen overall was not very good at all for two reasons: first, it was very very salty, most likely because they used too much miso paste or other flavor extract. The second reason was it was boring! I had to sub out mushrooms and was left with pork, corn, and scallions. Way too basic. The noodles were very good and well made, however. With just a few tweaks and additions, this could have been fantastic.

Last, regarding the price: this restaurant is competing with many high quality restaurants within a two block radius that are cheaper, and considering what I experienced, has no right to charge what they do if these are the results for staple foods. I’m sure there are great things they do here, but you can’t mess up the basics and expect people to come back unless they have no taste or have never had Japanese...

So I took my boyfriend here for his birthday, looking for a place that did an omakase sushi experience. What I didn't expect was to find a literal diamond in the rough!! The wait was about half an hour, which was weird on a Wednesday night, but it's downtown Phoenix. It's like that sometimes. Once we got in though, the service was friendly and attentive!! We had Paul, and he was just a super nice dude with really chill vibes!! And the FOOD!!! All the sushi was really elegantly prepared (we were too hungry and forgot to get pics of that), and my favorite of the night was the seared otoro, just this melt in your mouth, delectable cut of fish that made me mad we only had two pieces. And then I was mad again once I ate it, cause it was gone. Now, I know what you're thinking, just order more -- we got the last two pieces!! Definitely worth trying, and if you want to try the otoro, which I would recommend, get there early. We finished the day with a honey toast, which is now my second favorite dessert. For the price, I would definitely love to come back again. So that, Motomoto, for the...