Address: 4822 Macarthur Blvd NW
Phone: (202) 298-6866


Traveler Reviews

Genuine
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 25, 2008


This restaurant represents a good part of Japanese culture. They show the way how Japanese enjoy the food as an art. Tray, plates, food on it, all together create a piece of art. You taste it in your mouth. Flavor, texture, color, season, and the soup of "Life". You see your dish is cooked and prepared through counter but never noisy. This uniqueness, I do not want to compare with any other places in DC area. The odd is the location, far from the center of DC. I am a visitor, however, I do not dare to take bus to reach their food. Bus stops in front of them(D1, 3, 5, 6 from Dupont Cir or Farragut), Safway store is the mark. Or off course taxi if you want. This is not a cheap place but it is very reasonable and worth to experience at least once.

Sorry, I just think someone who mistakes Makoto for sushi place
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Jul 23, 2008


Sorry, I just think someone how mistakes Makoto for sushi place is just showing their ignorance about Japanese food and DC. Makoto serves sushi as part of its 8 course pre fix dinner, but if you are coming just for the sushi your narrow minded ideas about Japanese cuisine will be disappointed. And why exactly is DC a non-starter for sushi? Where do you think the diplomats from the embassy go? Does the cherry blossoms festival ring a bell? There are is a significant Japanese born population in DC. I have been to Makoto a number of time over the years and am always surprised by the chef's offerings on that given night. The pre fixed menu is always changing. Makoto is overpriced and there is an arrogance to the management. But the food is excellent and unique.

Extremely Rude!!
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Apr 11, 2008


I spoke with a Japanese guy at Makoto over the phone. I politely asked about the menu. He had no idea about their own menu and he was EXTREMELY RUDE!! He does not have any sense of "custemer services". I would not even think about going there even if they serve decent foods. I could easily imagine what kind of service we can get from this phone conversation.

Pricey but worth it to go at least once!
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Apr 25, 2007


This place is really small and, as stated before, you need to give a credit card number to make a reservation. The dress code (business casual) is strictly enforced as indicated by the sign before entering the restaurant. The entire place holds about 30 people max, which includes service at the sushi bar. Upon entering the foyer area, you are asked to remove your shoes and put on slippers they provide. They have a pretty small menu because they're known for their tasting menu (omakase). It's pricey but it worth it! I believe the menu changes daily so I'll just write about what I ate that night. First cours - one shittake mushroom, two scallops, and a shrimp in what tasted like a pineapple relish? It was savory and very tasty!!!! I should have eaten the shrimp first and the mushroom last because the mushroom had soaked up all the flavors of the seafood. Definitely a favorite of the night. Second course - mountain vegetable, sauteed snowpea leaves, and salmon pate with miso dressing. This was not really one of my favorites because of the pate. The pate had a strange texture that I didn't really like. The taste was great but the texture was.... interesting. The sauteed snowpea leaves had a nice crunch and a mustard sauce. The mountain vegetable was some kind of root and had a nice crunch to it. Third course - sashimi. I went with someone who got the regular sashimi platter: maguro (tuna), flounder, and uni sashimi. Everything was very fresh tasting. My sashimi platter was five fat pieces of some of the best toro I remember having. I could definitely have eaten more of this! Normally, I don't really like wasabi, but this was FRESH wasabi. If you've never had fresh wasabi, you're missing out! Fresh wasabi has a sweet taste and then a bite at the end. It tastes spicy on your tongue without making your nose burn. Fourth dish - tempura softshell crab with vegetables. This was one of my favorites!!!! The crab was so soft and so tasty! The dressing was a yuzu (citrus) and ginger dressing. I could have eaten many more of these! The yuzu sauce was a great compliment to the crab. Fifth dish - pork rolled up in cabbage. The broth was very good but I didn't think the dish was that special. Cabbage roll itself... eh..it was good but not that impressive. Sixth course - clam two ways. One was a clam with garlic sauce. It was nice and subtle. Those round things were pickled radishes - very good! Second was clams wrapped up in a radish shell. It was very fresh tasting. Seventh course - sushi. Maguro, flounder, and spanish mackerel. Eighth course - pan fried yellow tail. The fish was SOOOO good! It had a lot of flavor and the skin was nice and crispy. Ninth course - soba. You choose what you want in it from a set list. I think the choices were natto, vegetable, and mushroom. I choose natto. The broth was very tasty and light. Dessert -red grape sorbet with grand marnier. It was light and fresh tasting. There were small pieces of red grape in it as well. Surprisingly, I was not super full when I was done eating. I was wonderfully satisfied. Everything was fresh tasting. The dish came right after another so I wasn't stuck waiting. It was a great meal and I would definitely go again....but not for awhile. I need to savor the flavors of this visit. This was definitely not a fast meal, but it was fun. Definitely a place to try, especially if you want to try something different.... at least once if not more! Make sure to bring a lot of money or a card with a high limit though!

Top Japanese in the area
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Feb 4, 2006


Well washington dc is not the epi-center of fine japanese dining. So if you want top of the notch japanese food dining experience in this area, Makoto is the ONLY choice. Beware. This is not a place where you go to feed a hungery stomach. It's more a place to feed your curioisity, sense of play, and theater. This is not even the place to go for sushi--you can have fine sushi else where that will fill you up better. But if you want art in food, a place to chat with your companion, and suspense in presentation, go here. First of all, Makoto takes reservation. They will take your credit card. You show up on time. If you don't show up, they will atuomatically deduct $70 from your credit card account. Once you get there, you have 1.5 hours to dine. If you go for the set dinner, it will take about 1.25-1.50 hour. The reason for such exact reseveration program is that they serve food in exact timing, amount, and sequence. The entrance is obscure. You are to enter a difference world. You will pass curtains and stone lined entrance way, where you take off your shoes and put on house slippers. Outside, the night is dark. Inside the light is warm and glowing. The restaurant is really spartan. It could use a little more decoration in my humble opinion. Yakuta dressed waitresses come in and usher you into a REALLY small space, that sits no more than about 25 patrons. You are to sit exactly where they sit you. You are to put your belongings in the wooden box that is also your chair. You notice that there are about 7 waitresses who make sure that you cup is never empty, that your plates are cleared properly, that your food is grilled, etc. There are three very stern looking chefs at the counter. Go for the set menu, which for our dinner cost $49 a person. It serves a 10 course of little dishes starting from a very garlicky and nurturing mussels soup. A good start of good things to come. It went to salmon poached with little seeds (wow salmon was really good), garlic and scallop wrapped in buttery toasts, duck with melon with sprigs of seaweed, fatty tuna and mackeral sashimi, 3 wonderful fish sashimi, grilled mushroom/scallops/shrimps, noodles in dipping sauce, orange roughy, etc. Each dish you can finish in 2 bites. And then, the finale is a wonderfully zesty and citrusy black berry sorbet. The seafood is super, super fresh. The fish melt in your mouth. Again, you won't feel stuffed, but will feel full afterwards maybe partly due to all the tea/sake you would have taken. The best part of this type of eating is that afterwards, two hours later, you still have room in your stomach to go for a nice heavy dessert western style. I found the service a little bit lacking in terms of warmth. The waitresses were quite dictator-like but I never got the sense that they were sincere, rather they were simply there serve to make a living. The quantity could be a little more. The plates were not COMPLETELY smudge free. The woman's bathroom was "common." But all in all, this was a really unique dining experience. I believe that it is a lower-grade inmitation of the great keiseiki style dining of Tokyo. But given that Washington DC has no other place that serves Keiseiki meals, this is the only choice. I think you will enjoy it if you like Japanese food and hospitality. It think this is a good place for dates.