We came for birthday celebration, however staff was unwelcoming and condescending, the service was rushed. The server even took menu out of my hand out of the blue. The whole experience was not very pleasant or relaxing. They also completely forgot about the occasion and didn’t do anything special.Food was good but not amazing considering the price.Just listen to the bad reviews and skip this place
Rachel Kaye
Such authentic Japanese food. Delightful.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Ben Crowther
Food was good. Had a reservation at 7:00. Told at 8:22 we had to leave because there was a reservation at 8:30. Apparently it’s all about table turnover.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 2
Harshit Mahajan
Greeted with a very rude and unfriendly welcome by the host. We ordered Shashimi, chicken thigh skewer, udon with warm dashi and fried rice. Nothing great to write home about. The udon bowl with warm dashi was probably the best of the lot but have had better at other joints. The chicken skewer was raw and charred - looks like the chef forgot to rotate it while cooking. Overall, a bad experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Tuna Sashimi
Gennady Pilch
Unfriendly bordering on being belligerent host, who barked at us as soon as we entered "DO YOU HAVE RESERVATIONS." Unsmiling and clearly overworked waiter who immediately informed us we had 90 minutes to get out (I only saw one waiter for the entire restaurant). Very overpriced food especially considering extremely small (appetizer size) main course portions. Lack of care in preparation. Questionable, to put it mildly, fish freshness - toro tuna that was not only not real toro but had a fishy smell, and the tuna slices could have been cut by a 10 year old, thick and veiny. The wasabi portion was miniscule and it was not real wasabi, although I was explicitly told it was real. Cooked food was too salty and overcooked, probably to hide its lack of freshness. The self identified owner did not care to hear any comments about the food and clearly thinks people will eat and pay for anything dished out to them. The restaurant clearly has done a good PR job or maybe things were different in the past, since people seem to pour in, but I've eaten it dozens of Japanese restaurants in US and abroad, and prepare Japanese food myself. This restaurant was by far one of worst restaurant experiences I have had.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Mali Skotheim
Really neat, cozy spot for homestyle Japanese food + interesting wine and a large sake menu. We enjoyed sitting at the bar upstairs, and particularly loved the special black cod with miso, the snap peas, and the fried rice. Everything was made with care and presented in an elegant yet approachable fashion. Looking forward to returning the next time I am in DC.Vegetarian options: There is a section of the menu devoted to vegetable dishes, as well as tofu, vegetable tempura, and vegetarian fried rice or noodles.
Favorite izakaya in DC. Tempura, karage, sashimi platter were fantastic. Sake was great. Really homy ambiance-- perfect for a cute, casual date. Service was great. Overall, definitely the place to go if you are craving great Japanese food and sake!
KingTRoss
Best spot for Japanese food I’ve ever been to, truly authentic food. Quality is superior and the atmosphere feels private and the service was top notch!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Onigiri, Japanese Omelet
William M.
Really excellent traditional Japanese cuisine. Excellent sashimi, very fresh and reasonably priced for the quality/quantity. I also got the cold udon dipping noodles and the pickled plum onigiri, which I really enjoyed. The setting is nice too and service is friendly. I'll definitely be back.
Clare H.
As it's our first time in DC, based on the reviews, decided to give this place a try. First off, it's situated in like a house, which was fine. Made reservations for 5:30pm, n was promptly seated. Then came the menu. Provided one physical menu for 3 of us + also d option to scan for the menu, which we did. First impression, for an Izakaya restaurant, d yakitori selections were v limited + d flavor of food is basically, soya sauce based. Do not taste a variety or even balance of flavors. Had sake sashimi & onigiri (plain + ume) too but missed taking pics. Thought our order was pretty simple but staff seemed confused about us ordering 2 x ume onigiri & 1 x plain (ie, just rice & nori) for our son. Kept coming back to check on it n d best part was, when it was served, no mention of whether it's plain or with ume?? Just there u go.. onigiri. A lady came back to check n seemed irritated with us?? that they were confused. Regardless, total check came up to $146 (tips included). Was kinda bumped with d lack of choices for yakitori that we didn't even order drinks. Zoomed out of there in 30mins!
Very authentic Japanese food. We had an excellent dinner, our service was attentive and gave us great recommendations. I did not grab pics of the beef shortrib but was definitely the star of the show. Truly a great experience.
Sam N.
Small space with excellent Japanese food. Sashimi was fresh, good variety, and with real fresh chopped wasabi. Nasu (eggplant) was delicious. Agedashi tofu done perfectly, with a nice dashi. Server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Really enjoyed the evening! Only improvement- the Japanese decor and small space would have pointed me to more peaceful music, maybe Japanese, but not the aggressive rap they had on. It was odd.
孙云祥
Very good food, slightly above average for Tokyo, but totally Tier 1 for America. The sea urchin was very fresh and sweet, and the yakitori was also very good. A bit overpriced (especially when you convert it into Japanese yen and find it is 10-15k yen).While, the service was a little unpleasant...I ordered soba noodles after being seated (7:30pm) and asked for the check at 8:20pm and was told that I would leave at 8:30pm, they just served my soba at 8:32, and even served the noodle of the table that arrived later than me BEFORE THAT.They insisted that since I ordered too much (is that a discrimination?) at once and didn't finish my uni (actually I wanted to eat with soba), they thought intervals should be set between different courses. They refused to provide a packaging cup for my soba (they claimed they didn't have one but they actually did) and refused to refund me.And they often kept me waiting while having this unpleasant communication with me, which directly resulted in me changing my next trip and paying for it.I would say that, if I had time, I would choose some Michelin one-star restaurants in DC at this price. If I have time and want to eat at an izakaya INDEED, I will order multiple times and only order 1-2 items each time. I don't need them to set a meal interval for me PASSIONATELY.Hope they consider cultural adaptation in the future while trying to serve authentic food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Tyler Huckaby
Cozy Japanese spot serving great small bites, with a nice selection of Japanese beers. The omakase was wonderful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gordan Ramsey
The food was spectacular and was a perfect dinner for New Year’s Eve. I was thankful that they had soba since it’s Japanese tradition to eat soba on the 31st.Anyways, the point is that yes the food was delicious, the entire group that I went with all became sick. We are not sure if it is from the oseki set, the dinner, or both.It was such a delicious dinner, just disappointed that ever since the 31st, we all have not been feeling well.
We came for birthday celebration, however staff was unwelcoming and condescending, the service was rushed. The server even took menu out of my hand out of the blue. The whole experience was not very pleasant or relaxing. They also completely forgot about the occasion and didn’t do anything special.Food was good but not amazing considering the price.Just listen to the bad reviews and skip this place
Such authentic Japanese food. Delightful.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Food was good. Had a reservation at 7:00. Told at 8:22 we had to leave because there was a reservation at 8:30. Apparently it’s all about table turnover.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 2
Greeted with a very rude and unfriendly welcome by the host. We ordered Shashimi, chicken thigh skewer, udon with warm dashi and fried rice. Nothing great to write home about. The udon bowl with warm dashi was probably the best of the lot but have had better at other joints. The chicken skewer was raw and charred - looks like the chef forgot to rotate it while cooking. Overall, a bad experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Tuna Sashimi
Unfriendly bordering on being belligerent host, who barked at us as soon as we entered "DO YOU HAVE RESERVATIONS." Unsmiling and clearly overworked waiter who immediately informed us we had 90 minutes to get out (I only saw one waiter for the entire restaurant). Very overpriced food especially considering extremely small (appetizer size) main course portions. Lack of care in preparation. Questionable, to put it mildly, fish freshness - toro tuna that was not only not real toro but had a fishy smell, and the tuna slices could have been cut by a 10 year old, thick and veiny. The wasabi portion was miniscule and it was not real wasabi, although I was explicitly told it was real. Cooked food was too salty and overcooked, probably to hide its lack of freshness. The self identified owner did not care to hear any comments about the food and clearly thinks people will eat and pay for anything dished out to them. The restaurant clearly has done a good PR job or maybe things were different in the past, since people seem to pour in, but I've eaten it dozens of Japanese restaurants in US and abroad, and prepare Japanese food myself. This restaurant was by far one of worst restaurant experiences I have had.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Really neat, cozy spot for homestyle Japanese food + interesting wine and a large sake menu. We enjoyed sitting at the bar upstairs, and particularly loved the special black cod with miso, the snap peas, and the fried rice. Everything was made with care and presented in an elegant yet approachable fashion. Looking forward to returning the next time I am in DC.Vegetarian options: There is a section of the menu devoted to vegetable dishes, as well as tofu, vegetable tempura, and vegetarian fried rice or noodles.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Grilled Squid, Tempura, Tuna Sashimi
Favorite izakaya in DC. Tempura, karage, sashimi platter were fantastic. Sake was great. Really homy ambiance-- perfect for a cute, casual date. Service was great. Overall, definitely the place to go if you are craving great Japanese food and sake!
Best spot for Japanese food I’ve ever been to, truly authentic food. Quality is superior and the atmosphere feels private and the service was top notch!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Onigiri, Japanese Omelet
Really excellent traditional Japanese cuisine. Excellent sashimi, very fresh and reasonably priced for the quality/quantity. I also got the cold udon dipping noodles and the pickled plum onigiri, which I really enjoyed. The setting is nice too and service is friendly. I'll definitely be back.
As it's our first time in DC, based on the reviews, decided to give this place a try. First off, it's situated in like a house, which was fine. Made reservations for 5:30pm, n was promptly seated. Then came the menu. Provided one physical menu for 3 of us + also d option to scan for the menu, which we did. First impression, for an Izakaya restaurant, d yakitori selections were v limited + d flavor of food is basically, soya sauce based. Do not taste a variety or even balance of flavors. Had sake sashimi & onigiri (plain + ume) too but missed taking pics. Thought our order was pretty simple but staff seemed confused about us ordering 2 x ume onigiri & 1 x plain (ie, just rice & nori) for our son. Kept coming back to check on it n d best part was, when it was served, no mention of whether it's plain or with ume?? Just there u go.. onigiri. A lady came back to check n seemed irritated with us?? that they were confused. Regardless, total check came up to $146 (tips included). Was kinda bumped with d lack of choices for yakitori that we didn't even order drinks. Zoomed out of there in 30mins!
Restaurantji Recommends
Very authentic Japanese food. We had an excellent dinner, our service was attentive and gave us great recommendations. I did not grab pics of the beef shortrib but was definitely the star of the show. Truly a great experience.
Small space with excellent Japanese food. Sashimi was fresh, good variety, and with real fresh chopped wasabi. Nasu (eggplant) was delicious. Agedashi tofu done perfectly, with a nice dashi. Server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Really enjoyed the evening! Only improvement- the Japanese decor and small space would have pointed me to more peaceful music, maybe Japanese, but not the aggressive rap they had on. It was odd.
Very good food, slightly above average for Tokyo, but totally Tier 1 for America. The sea urchin was very fresh and sweet, and the yakitori was also very good. A bit overpriced (especially when you convert it into Japanese yen and find it is 10-15k yen).While, the service was a little unpleasant...I ordered soba noodles after being seated (7:30pm) and asked for the check at 8:20pm and was told that I would leave at 8:30pm, they just served my soba at 8:32, and even served the noodle of the table that arrived later than me BEFORE THAT.They insisted that since I ordered too much (is that a discrimination?) at once and didn't finish my uni (actually I wanted to eat with soba), they thought intervals should be set between different courses. They refused to provide a packaging cup for my soba (they claimed they didn't have one but they actually did) and refused to refund me.And they often kept me waiting while having this unpleasant communication with me, which directly resulted in me changing my next trip and paying for it.I would say that, if I had time, I would choose some Michelin one-star restaurants in DC at this price. If I have time and want to eat at an izakaya INDEED, I will order multiple times and only order 1-2 items each time. I don't need them to set a meal interval for me PASSIONATELY.Hope they consider cultural adaptation in the future while trying to serve authentic food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Cozy Japanese spot serving great small bites, with a nice selection of Japanese beers. The omakase was wonderful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food was spectacular and was a perfect dinner for New Year’s Eve. I was thankful that they had soba since it’s Japanese tradition to eat soba on the 31st.Anyways, the point is that yes the food was delicious, the entire group that I went with all became sick. We are not sure if it is from the oseki set, the dinner, or both.It was such a delicious dinner, just disappointed that ever since the 31st, we all have not been feeling well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5