Moontree Sushi And Tapas — Restaurant in Seattle

Moontree was a favorite for my partner and I for years - we’ve probably spent a total of $2000 here. Unfortunately, tonight was our last time here.

We were a walk in table of 4 and sat down just after 6pm. We ordered our drinks/food promptly and were finished eating but still talking around 6:50pm. At this point, we were simply asked how we would like our check split, instead of asking if we wanted anything additional. Within 5 minutes of us being given our checks, our waiter came back to our table and said “I’m sorry, I am going to take these cups (our water)”, we assume it’s to indicate that they wanted us to leave. We were all very taken aback by this, as we have never had this type of interaction before, especially when we order over $100 worth of food.

I decided to speak with the front of house/manager about the situation. When they brought over our waiter to talk with them, the waiter tried to state that the never asked us to leave, they just took our water away. Clearly, taking a guests water away without asking permission is telling them they are no longer welcome (or were out of water cups and had to take ours?). I said this to the waiter, at which point they gave a “I’m sorry if you felt this way” apology. After stating that this is extremely rude, and that we haven’t experienced anything like this at a restaurant, they said “they are just trying to do their job” several times. That was it. No apology stating that they shouldn’t have taken away our water without asking, no thought of making the situation right.

There are several ways that the situation could have been handled better. 1. If you need the table within an hour, inform the guest ahead of time so they know what the expectation is. If you don’t do this, standard time for a table is 1.5-2 hours. 2. If you really need the table and we have been sitting for a while without ordering anything else (we weren’t, we were there for less than 5 minutes after paying), kindly apologize and say you need the table for another party. 3. If your wait staff is rude and does what was described above, you make sure a clear apology is made, ensure that this behavior will not repeat, and offer something to make up for it. Sadly, none of these scenarios took place, and we really do not see ourselves coming back in the future with so many other good sushi options near by and elsewhere in the city.

It is worth noting that this interaction also caused us to question if there was any thing about the physical demographics (races, body size, etc) of our group that made the staff feel like they could treat us rudely. We had chosen to go here to show our BIPOC friends a nice dinner.

As additional feedback, the fish quality has steadily decreased over the last 2 years here. The last couple times including this time, we had fish that was so chewy/off tasting we had to spit it out.

We understand it gets busy and maybe the staff was instructed by someone else to behave a certain way, we’ve been in the service industry ourselves. But this was a serious mistake on their part that they didn’t really make up for, and it has cost them any future business/word of mouth business from...

This restaurant never ceases to amaze me. I returned to this unassuming sushi restaurant for my fourth time and once again they blew me away with their quality, presentation, and service. Their high-quality ingredients mixed with spectacular presentation is only upgraded by their A+ customer service and this cannot be overstated. I have been exposed to sushi since I was 10 years old and have had the pleasure and luxury of dining at countless sushi restaurants over the past 30 years, I must say this ranks near the highest on the list when considering all factors. To be clear, this is Japanese fusion and sushi restaurant, so it does not land in the same category of comparison to specialized high-end Omakase style restaurants. With that said, their attention to detail and flavor profiles make the non-sushi menu items, as well as the sushi, a must try. From the poke bowl and chirashi to the custom bento box this place truly outdoes themselves with every unique version of their menu items. I cannot stress enough how their non-sushi menu items present a taste out of this world. The menu is small, and you will only find a few of the traditional American rolls that people come to expect at American sushi restaurants however, I believe this allows them the freedom and focus to perfect what they have chosen to create. If you have not yet eaten at Moon Tree you are doing yourself a disservice and I highly recommend anyone who loves Japanese fusion to give this place a try, you will not regret it. Thank you again for the great food and even better service (in an era where this seems to be falling by the waistside). You truly are a grade A restaurant and I hope the people provide you with business for years to come....

My husband took me and my baby daughter here for a very early dinner (so to avoid crowds and tantrums!) I ordered a glass of sake and the pork belly, my husband ordered the calamari and we shared an order of vegetable tempura.

This is a rather small venue, but its right on the water and feels quite classy. I can imagine it would be very "cosy" during the busy hours. The staff was quite attentive- though I would expect that, since we were the only ones in the place. They were very welcoming of my baby, even though its clearly not a kid-friendly place. Again, it helped that we were the only ones there, it was early, and she was well- behaved.

Can I tell you about the food? Because it was good. Really good. Scrumptious. The tempura was delightfully crisp, and the breading did not slide off (like you sometimes find at places that take shortcuts). I would say the dipping sauce provided was a bit bland. But it was delicate and fragrant. I usually expect some sort of vinegar-soy concoction, and I'm not sure what this was. Probably my only "complaint". It was good, just too delicate for fried food.

I didn't have any calamari, but I understand it was good- cooked perfectly (not overdone, which is a minor culinary sin). My pork belly stole the show, though! Oh, gosh, it was delicious. So rich and fatty, it just melted in the mouth. The flavor of the broth was out of this world. I wish I had something to sop it up with, I hated leaving so much behind in the bowl at the end of the meal!

If you like fruity drinks, I would recommend trying the "icing" sake. Sounds gross, but it tasted like very mildly alcoholic grapefruit juice. Quite refreshing. I wonder where I can find more....

Overall, a...