Sushi Taro — Restaurant in Washington

I went during restaurant week and I felt like I was getting the restaurant week treatment. Definitely not up to snuff with the dining experience I was expecting.

Firstly and most importantly, not suitable for those with allergies. I indicated an allergy on my reservation. In my experience, at restaurants at this price point (and a previous Michelin star holder) the reservation note is sufficient and it wasn't an ingredient I expected to encounter/have difficulty simply ordering around. I'm always diligent with my allergies. But the waiter was awkward, didn't do much to explain the menu or ask us anything and I didn't have the opportunity to bring it up. I ordered a dish where the allergen was not listed in the description despite being a large part of the dish. The item arrived, I took one bite, noticed the allergen and had my partner run to the car for my allergy medication. I advised the server that the allergy was severe and asked if they had any medication (just in case my partner came back empty handed) and he got the manager. My partner had time to go to the car several blocks away and come back before the manager made it to our table with some Claritin and Zyrtec (bad options.) Every restaurant should have benadryl in their first aid bc it is fast acting, and they are nextdoor to a CVS ffs. Luckily I didn't actually have a bite of the allergen itself but it is quite severe so I spent the rest of my evening with a tingly tongue and a mildly scratchy throat. Not ideal conditions for enjoying my meal. When the manager came to my table she immediately blamed and scolded me for not informing them of the allergy even though I did in my reservation and many fine dining restaurants will not bring your allergens up as not to disturb your dining experience unless they will have to make a modification. I would not go here if you have allergies. They were ill prepared for an emergency with their very slow response time and lack of adequate basic first aid medication. I'm not a person who makes a scene, but I was whispering (bc my throat) and they didn't even seem to register that there was an emergency or care. My bill was partially discounted but I really don't care about that, I would have prefered a well executed plan for handling allergies both to prevent them and to respond when accidents do happen

Non allergy related, the service still lacked. The menus were cut crooked and poorly printed. Cheap disposable wooden chopsticks were provided with nowhere to place them between courses. We waited a long time to be greeted after we were seated and then waters took a while too. After the allergy incident, the manager followed our poor server around and nipped at him everytime he was near our table. I couldn't help but think I'd have a hard time doing my job too if that was the management environment.

The food however was amazing. It is a shame that the service level does not match the quality and skill of the kitchen. I had the best salmon I've ever had. The rice served with each bite was expertly flavored. The egg salad served with the soft shell crab was delightful. And the sesame creme brulee will live in my head rent free. The timing between courses from the kitchen was also noticably well done.

If you don't have allergies and aren't particular about service, this is the place for you. Probably one of the best sushi spots in the city based on the food alone.

Also a note for my fellow disabled folks, this location is not accessible. There is a steep flight of stairs as soon as you enter, no ground level dining. Handrails are on both sides though. You must have the ability to climb at least...

Sushi Taro focuses on Kaiseki meals that combine hot appetizers, sashimi & sushi appetizers and main sushi and cooked dishes. I was really looking forward to this dinner because of the Michelin star rating the restaurant received.

The price of regular Kaiseki dinner is reasonable, especially compared to Manhattan Kaiseki places. The men’s restroom was also clean.

Unfortunately, these are the only two favorable comments I can make about this restaurant. I am not sure if this was the worst dinner I have ever had because I have had my share of bad dining experiences in my life. But I am certain that this was the most disappointing dining experience of my life because of the high hopes I had based on the Michelin star rating.

To start, many of the dishes, especially the first few appetizers, did not taste freshly prepared. They tasted like they were made in the morning and served for dinner after sitting on a lonely counter for hours. The tamago, for instance, tasted like egg-flavored styrofoam.

Although the sushi and sashimi offerings included some unique and adventurous pieces (like baby eels), unfortunately, they all smelled terrible (think of seafood purchased weeks in advance and served just before the expiration date and you will get the picture) and tasted even worse (whoever was the cook, he or she couldn’t have been proud of these dishes).

The most unforgivable part of the sushi experience was the rice. As many sushi chefs will tell you, rice is even more important to good sushi than the fish. Not only was the texture of the rice bad (too wet and too many broken grains) but the rice smelled fishy. At first, I thought that the chef had prepared one of the sushi dishes that way on purpose but it quickly became obvious that all sushi rice smelled fishy. This tells me that the chef does not seem to clean his or her hands sufficiently between cleaning, preparation and handling of the fish and the preparation of the sushi. This also makes me suspect that knives and cutting boards used to clean and prepare seafood are also used to make sushi without adequate cleaning. Whatever the culprit, the result is disastrous. The rice, which should be clean tasting, taste like it has been contaminated by day old fish.

Even the cooked dishes (other than the lobster spring roll, which was ok even though it smelled greasy) were mostly terrible. “Wagyu” sukiyaki, for example, was the equivalent of a frozen teriyaki dinner sauce boiling sad looking pieces of defrosted-by-microwave low quality smelly old beef purchased at a Costco sale. The only good thing about the dish was the soft cooked egg accompanying the sukiyaki.

I left most of my dishes half finished. Unlike servers at good Japanese restaurants, our server didn’t care enough to report this to the manager and offer ways to remedy the terrible experience. She was friendly enough but didn’t seem to care about the fact that I left more than half of my food uneaten.

After the first 30 minutes, I couldn’t wait for the meal to end. I ended up getting a grilled cheese sandwich to top off a sad culinary experience.

I am not a Washington DC resident but I recommend that the fine residents of our nation’s capitol go elsewhere for their...

First off the bar service for lunch was terrible. Waitress hardly paid us any attention and our food came after some new people that came in 10-15 minutes after us. All I ordered was 2 orders of sushi and my friend ordered a bento box yet it was a 1 hour wait for our food. The manager does not know how to talk to customers that are upset about having their card charged multiple times. This is an email I got from one of the managers after I emailed them letting them know they charged my card for multiple meals. If you would like to read the earlier emails I sent him I'll gladly forward it to u if u msg me your email.

"Dear Umit,

Now you are telling me slightly better story. Okay if that what happens (miss charged and delete), then it might say on 3 business days (depending on what type of card, some doesn't even show) and then it will disappear.

If you know how to speak to other people, I could explained to you at first reply.

At last, let me tell you this for your education, with your emotional speculation and dog barking sentence doesn't get you anything. If you think "taking legal action" makes other's to kiss your ass. Then you are far WRONG. Those are frequently used words by non-sense people.

If I want to I can say more about you, but it will just get ugly and I will not come down to your level to ague.

So this is final suggestion to you. It was simple miss charge that even not actual charge. Just got bigger problem in one man's head. (happens to crazy people) Could all have been avoid if you have leaned how to ask a problem with our speculation and fabricate over one tiny things.

No further contact is necessary. Your email will be straight to junk mail.

Have a nice life with your attitude. Sushi Taro Jin Yamazaki"

Definitely one of the worst experiences I have ever had at a restaurant and I will not recommend this place to anyone. I never insulted them once and yet he insults my intelligence multiple times and says he wont stoop down to my level. Not only did he called me crazy but he also continues to talk down to me and let me know hes trying to educate me. I threatened to take legal action if the issue was unresolved because he told me its not in his hands and that there was nothing he could do. I wish we could give 0 stars. Lastly about the food, the seafood was fresh however my sushi was bland and tasteless, I ordered the shrimp tempura rolls and cali rolls. Honestly with this many ratings i expected much better treatment, and from the owner on top...