Love, Makoto — Restaurant in Washington

This is another spot where a 5 star review is an insult. I discovered it through the Michelin restaurant review. It didn't have a star as far as I could tell on the app but, let me tell you, everything was heaven, from the experience to the drinks to the snacks to the sushi. Absolute heaven.

First some notes: this establishment has separate eating venues within. Reservations are recommended but not required.

We went early in the evening on a Saturday so the sunlight coming into the Dear Sushi room was fairly prominent. I expect a twilight meal in that room could be gorgeous. The BBQ and bar rooms had darker atmospheres.

Decor: Modern minimalism with Japanese notes. It was the first time I had seen a sushi place where the sushi bar was not in main room. It is possible to reserve a seat at the sushi counter so it's not hidden in the kitchen.

Food and drinks: The Jasmine green tea was so aromatic that it smelled like smelling a real jasmine blossom. If you've ever smelled Pasadena California when the Jasmine is in bloom, you'll know what this smelled like. You can also imagine when I spend this mich time on the tea, what the food was like. . .

Food: the sushi is Omikaze which is a 4-course tasting menu of seasonal snacks, hand rolls, two courses of nigiri, and then an option to super-size the meal with additional rolls before bringing a dessert.

Our seasonal snacks were an elegant cold salad that had very subtle flavors of ham and greens wit shallots, micro blossoms, and a lovely citrus. With that was a red miso soup served in a lidded cup. The server provided the chef's recommended order throughout.

The two sushi plates had an old school and new school preparation of 5 types of fish. For us, it was red snapper, salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and fatty tuna. My partner and I had differing reactions to each. We both loved the red snapper. She loved the new school preparation of the salmon which was lightly seared. We both left our bodies with the hamachi (yellowtail) old school preparation and I particularly loved the smoky flavor of the new school fatty tuna.

Dessert was a matcha cheesecake that did not overwhelmingly taste like grass. The real star of dessert was the strawberry ice cream. It comes shaped like a strawberry inside a delicate shell that's hard to describe. Within the ice cream is a little dollop of strawberry compote.

All in all, it was amazing and we will tell everyone about this experience. I hope you enjoy it as...

Review is for Dear Sushi at Love Makoto.

TLDR: Traditional and modern preparation omakase at a great price point ($85 at dinner). Cocktails are a must and service is great.

We had a reservation for 4 at the bar. We all decided on omakase. They were running behind so we had a drink at the bar down the hall at first. Since we were seated late the manager came by and comped a few appetizers for us and a dessert. We didn’t mind being seated late but always appreciate good service.

For omakase, to start we had a miso soup and an amuse-bouche of seaweed/ginger (?). All the sushi courses come with an old school/new school theme of each fish. They had snapper, salmon, tuna, hamachi, and o-toro. Old school = traditional style preparation. New school = modern preparation. I’ve never seen this genre of omakase before and it was quite fun. Highlights for me were the old school hand roll, new school salmon with truffle, and the old school hamachi. I’m not a huge fan of truffle on sushi (sometimes overdone) but this was perfect. Loved it. Also the fish cuts were HUGE and we were so full (in a good way).

For dessert, we had the green yuzu dessert - which was like a coated ice cream with a little jam/jelly filling. Very light and refreshing. We also got the matcha opera cake, which came with a sorbet that complimented it perfectly. The opera cake had a crunchy bottom layer that was reminiscent of a KitKat. Although I don’t think the matcha flavor was very apparent, it was still tasty.

The drinks- what a treat if you’re a cocktail lover like me. Usually omakase just has sake drinks but Love Makoto has great cocktail options. I had the Sakura Sour drink with champagne foam on top and the Snow Monkey which is a yuzu gin-based drink. Both were perfectly light and sweet. My only regret is not trying the hot buttered sake - I’m so curious!

For the price point ($85 omakase), this place is worth it. I would definitely come back.

We love sitting at the bar at omakase- the vibes here are not traditional omakase style with the chef preparing in front of you, but more like a cocktail bar. Still, service at the bar was so friendly, thank you to the manager, our server Eugene, and the rest of the staff for a wonderful evening...

Love, Makoto is a multi-concept space, comprised of a Hiya Izakaya bar, an omakase sushi restaurant, a Japanese grill/steakhouse, and a fast casual restaurant open for lunch. During our visit, we dined at the sushi restaurant. Food: With each course, you get an "old school" preparation of a dish as well as a "new school" preparation. This is a fun way to honor the classics while trying out something new and unique. We loved the simplicity of the old school nigiri which highlighted the freshness of the fish. With the $75 omakase, you receive: 2 starters, 2 handrolls, 10 nigiri, and a dessert. In addition to the base omakase, we decided to "super-size it" for an additional 4 nigiri. Now that we've had a chance to taste all the preparations, I wish there was an option to pick and choose or just order the old/new school preparations. Even without this option, we still plan to return because at this price point, for this quality, you are hard pressed to find better nigiri in DC. Drinks: We sat at the counter and ordered a couple of drinks during our visit. All of our drinks were very well-made and paired nicely with the food options without detracting from the flavors of the nigiri. Service: The service here is great. We were warmly greeted upon arrival, and the host checked in on how everything was going multiple times to make sure we were enjoying our meal. Servers were attentive and descriptive as they delivered each course. Brandon at the bar was not only helpful when it came to choosing drinks to order but also helped us figure out which nigiri to eat first. Ambiance: There is a lot of natural light in this space compared to some of the other concepts which are darker. This paired nicely with the lightness of the meal (not to be misinterpreted as non-filling). My only critique is that the seats at the bar are very far from the bar itself. This is by design because we could not move any closer to the bar due to an installed railing. However, this caused the servers to have to reach way around us when dropping off courses and clearing. Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant, and we cannot wait to return for more nigiri and to try out the...