Mashiko Japanese Restaurant

Amazing food and service

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Delicous! Excellent quality and provided by attentive and friendly wait staff. Definitely will come back for more! 😋
Ordered and enjoyed: JASMINE GREEN TEA, 4oz SEIKYO JUNMAI, NIJI BRITE, SALMON SKIN, NAMAZU, HOUSE MADE SODA, Miso Soup

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Had a lovely dinner here with my partner. The server was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their craft. Everything was prepared SO exquisitely. I'm going to have a hard time eating rolls elsewhere now that I know what they could be like. Unique flavors that left me wanting more despite being full.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Famous and disappointing place.
Excited to try out this place after our first visit 12 years ago. End up this could be our last visit based on the service and price point they set.

First off, let’s start talking about the pros of the restaurant.
- no wait
- nice fruit/vege infused water for everyone
- sushi 🍣 taste maintain average

Nows let’s talk about the rationale we decide not to come back.
We have been the regular in some popular and higher end sushi place in Seattle such as kashiba in pike place, Shiro’s in belltown, I love sushi, and thekoi in Bellevue. We would take guests and our special occasional to the omakase in kashiba and shiros and they charged around. 130-170 per person.

This evening we had an ad hoc dinner and without booking and with the Seahawks game on a Saturday night, I just tried my luck to find somewhere with good reputation for sushi instead of going to our regular as I know they are pretty busy.

End up I spent a good 15-20 mins for picking our dinner from the menu. It was eye opening for me to see a sushi place charge $18 for California roll without the actual real crab. $24 for a roll I would expect something big and a little more dramatic such as baked lobster roll instead of a regular trout +cucumber and top with ikura. $7 for a bowl of miso soup, $60 for chirashi that doesn’t even have uni or more expensive fish (take a look of review and photos, their chirashi looks pretty standard). By the way, why I even pull out my phone to look at picture to start with, the server with mask on tell us he has no idea what kind of fish the sushi chef would put on it and it depends on what’s ’left over” for the night. They charged $14 for vege tempura and with option to add seafood for additional $7 so for a $21 tempura starter, I asked what kind of seafood and many pieces of seafood it comes with, the server again respond as he doesn’t know and depends on the size of the seafood. I was speechless, and I had the need to order some sake to calm myself down at that moment. It sounds almost funny but it was true!!!
End up I order one role $24 for something I thought it worth $14 in other neighborhood sushi place, a tonkatsu $21 that was not fluffy at all and looks pretty sad and dense. The seared cod nigiri and saba turned out to be not seared but completely cooked under their torch.

Food was OK but price is 50% higher. I know my places to get good food if I am paying $24+ for a roll, a regular tamago sushi $11. With this price, you can get the iconic tamago cake sushi from kashiba. Their sushi (2 pieces) are range from $11-$17 and something as ikura (fish roe) they are charging $14 normally other higher end place maybe around $9-11.
I love high quality sushi and I would be happily to pay for what it worth. This place is over charged and I felt like they may have change of management and owner along the years. Otherwise, they can’t accumulate this good review rating with today’s customer knowledge when they eat in many other competitive sushi place.
Look at my photo and compare their menu with others and you would know what I am referring.

For sushi, try shiros, kashiba you end up paying similar price but top notch sushi experience. For tonkatsu, try KOBUTA AND ODEAMI.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

An omakase experience that highlights local ingredients and takes their own innovative spin on traditional Japanese dishes.

I’m local to Vegas where the city is known for great food but this restaurant was well worth the experience and visit. This place is definitely worth a second visit trip to Seattle

Our server and the chef were friendly too.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

As a Japanese, I was surprised by how good it was. The quality of the fishes/seafood were great, super fresh. We didn’t do Omakase but definetely recommend à la carte. Super fair price. One of the best cost benefit/quality fish in Seattle.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The front of the restaurant smelled like rotting fish and everything tasted like ponzo. I wasnt given soy or wasabi to use for the sushi and it seemed the staff was just trying their hardest to get me to buy expensive alcoholic drinks. I will never be back. Sushi lovers avoid this place - dont be fooled!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 2

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perfect Birthday Dinner! 🎂🍣
I came here to celebrate my birthday, and I am so glad I did. Everything in the meal was impressive, and I’d definitely recommend this spot to anyone who likes sushi.

Here are the highlights from the night:

The Starters: We kicked things off with scallops served with pickled winter melon and apples. It was a perfect start—the scallops were incredibly tender (not chewy at all!). The pickled monkfish liver with beets and ponzu was also amazing; honestly, the beets were the real highlight of that dish for me.

The Sushi: For the sashimi, the snail was my absolute favorite. For the nigiri, the combo of the Uni (sea urchin) with the Tuna was the winner—the flavors complimented each other perfectly. The grilled cod was a nice way to end the raw portion, and I even really enjoyed the fried rib cage!
(Side note: I wish I could remember the names of every single fish on the platter—a little cheat sheet or plaque would be super helpful for memory! 😅)

The Soup (Heads-up!): The Matsutake mushroom soup is served in a cute teapot and is very refreshing. However, be careful pouring it! The broth tends to hug the spout, so I spilled it every time I tried to pour. I eventually just poured it over the saucer plate and transferred it to the cup. A bit messy, but delicious.

The Sweet Finish: I was skeptical about the Squash Crème Brûlée at first because I’m not usually a crème brûlée fan, but this was surprisingly good. It tasted just like pumpkin pie filling (which I love). I would definitely order that by itself.

Service:
The service was wonderful. Our server explained every dish as it came out, and his eyes literally lit up when we talked about the food. You can tell they are passionate about what they serve here.
I also drank so many pots of jasmine tea—it was the perfect compliment to the meal. Can't wait to come back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Definitely Not Going Back
We visited Mashiko Japanese Restaurant in Seattle for Omakase with a group of 5. For the price, the experience was extremely disappointing.
• Service was the worst part. There was over a 1-hour gap between the 2nd and 3rd course and we had a long pause. We were so excited in the beginning and taking photos but everyone was starving and frustrated the whole time.

• Sushi taste was ok. The sushi rice had an overpowering vinegar taste. Especially, homemade tsukemono (vinegared vegetable) Is literally anyone can make it at home. The overall balance and execution were just off for an omakase.

• Value for Money? Not at all. For the amount we paid, the quality, service, and attention to detail were far from acceptable. It felt more disappointing than satisfying. Please don’t overbook if you can’t manage it.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Miso Soup

The fish is not very fresh. Everything else tastes fine. But definitely not worth $150 pp

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 3

Had one of the best meals ever last night! If you can get an omakase i recommend!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The fish was so fresh and high quality and the rolls were really imaginative and delicious. Not a mayo drizzle in sight!

Done skip the NW temptation roll, that was our favorite.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

I LOVE THIS PLACE. So happy we stumbled upon this place during our evening stroll. Everything we had was chef’s choice and the chef did not disappoint. The rolls with the squash was delightful! Everything here truly brought me back to Japan.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Underwhelming and overpriced. We won't be back.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 3

Food that warms you inside and out.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5