Stunning food, service, ambiance, loved every second and can’t wait to go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Diane Lansinger
Loved it. I used to live in Japan, and the food, atmosphere, and service all reminded me of “kaiseki (high-end, many small courses all beautifully plated) meets izakaya (savory pub food, upbeat atmosphere, always go with a friend or three). The brilliance of TOMO is the mashup of the two, something you normally wouldn’t find in Japan.Went with my husband and we ordered the set menu plus the rolls. Everything was tasty, beautifully prepared, and served at a nice pace - not too fast, not too slow. By the end, we were perfectly full. In Japan they say “hara hachi bu” which basically means “eat until you’re 80% full.” TOMO courses felt a bit more generous than that, maybe 90%, but by the time we were done with our digestifs after dessert, we were pleasantly full-but-not-overfed.We had cocktails before dinner (mine was NA), a bottle of wine with dinner (took half home), and digestifs with dessert. Part of the genius of TOMO is their delightful and knowledgeable sommelier, who made excellent off-menu recommendations for wine and shared nice little stories around each winemaker.Another fun surprise was the extensive list of all kinds of liquors, including some rare, vintage, and hard-to-find selections. There’s a particular bourbon maker we love and it’s rare to find even one of their bourbons at a restaurant - but TOMO had three.We ended up paying just north of $400 for two, including wine, drinks, and tip (included in the bill the way we like it, and well-deserved). It would have been south of $300 without the alcohol. So yes, it’s a special treat, but it’s what you’d spend at any higher-end restaurant in Seattle.All the tables were in 2- and 4-top arrangements and the atmosphere works well for couples and groups as large as four. We actually started at the bar, which is lovely, and there were some solo diners seated there.Parking was a bit challenging, the main drag of White Center was full, but we found a perfect lot in front of the Domino’s, which is one block behind the main drag and two blocks away from TOMO.My two suggestions for the restaurant: first, the bar stools are very uncomfortable, my husband and I are not large people but our legs were falling asleep halfway through our meal. We requested a move to a table halfway through the meal. The banquette was fine but the individual chairs at the tables aren’t much better. The bar stools and chairs should all be upholstered, which will probably run less than replacing them. Second, both of our steak knives were laughably dull, we couldn’t cut the steak or even the green onion without a ridiculous amount of sawing. I told our server the knives need sharpening and she said they have them sharpened every two months. This is simply not enough, even for good knives. Have them professionally sharpened every two months, yes, but knives should be touched up before every service, even if you’re just using an inexpensive Chef’s Choice and giving the blade 5-10 quick draws. The custom TOMO knives are beautiful but they are not the crown jewels.We’ll definitely be back again, next time with another couple. Our plan for our larger group is to skip the set menu and just order one of the entire regular menu, which will be about right for four people (and it includes their fried chicken, a measure of a great izakaya).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dee Chapleau
Tomo was an incredible culinary and visual experience. Every cocktail and dish was perfection, and the staff was patient and informative when we’d ask about some of the delicious ingredients that were new to us. The wine sommelier was so knowledgable and passionate about their selection, it was a treat just to hear what he had to say. We did the a la carte menu to be able to try as many things as possible and am so glad we did. I can’t wait to go back and try the set menu with their recommended pairings!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Laura Axline
Amazing place- can’t wait to go back! We did the tasting menu with wine pairings and each dish was better than the last. The wine pairings were excellent and I loved our pre-dinner cocktails. The service was also top notch and I love that they have a super casual, yet refined atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sean Gordon
TOMO’s set menu is delightful - packed and filled with various flavors. Loved not knowing what was coming next and seeing what creative way they interpret each dish. So fun and tasty - highly recommend getting a Ressie and wait until you number is called for this great treat!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tracie Hiemstra
An exquisite meal in a lovely environment with exceptional service. For once a high price was worth it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Monica Abeles
Enjoyed last night dinner with my son and daughter-in-law.Loved the set menu! 5 small dishes- filling and definitely enough food for us- one more luscious the next one.Added the rolls to the set menu. Very tasty.Superb service- Jasmine was wonderful.This is a special occasion place.Will hopefully to return to try the regular menu.My only comment is the 22% service charge. A little steep.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sean Lucey
We had the Vegan set menu and wine pairing. Unbelievably good. Great service, cool atmosphere, and very accommodating. I feel like a lot of these bad reviews are Bellevue folks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Danny L
Delicious food, albeit very small portions and terribly over priced, even on the a la carte menu. But what really ruined the end of an otherwise great evening was the SURPRISE 22% automatic "Service Charge" they added to an already outrageously high bill. But wait, there's more! Because TOMO, in their infinite business wisdom, decided to call this 22% add-on a "Service Charge" to help support their employees (they said it's not a tip, but also said no tip is necessary after their fee, so maybe it is a tip???), it's considered additional revenue and not a gratuity after the total amount of the bill. According to TOMO this fee is not a "Gratuity", so they needed to add sales tax to the service charge, so in essence the "service charge / fee / gratuity" or whatever you want to call it is now 24.2%. Sure feels wrong to me. When I mentioned all of this to the the Manager all she said was that's the way it is, and I should take it up with WA State. Wow! What a condescending response from management to pass the buck and not take responsibility for their own poor business decisions. While the chef may be a brilliant artist at cooking, his business acumen, or whomever he has running his business is unfortunately misguided, and the customer pays for it. Bottom line is this... come prepared to not only pay a lot for dinner, but get ready to pay much much more than what you think the bill's going to be. Oh, one more thing... somehow they must have forgotten to mention their automatic service charge to mention anywhere on their website. So much for transparency!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Herakles Li
Finally had a chance to eat here. Some of my favorites from the menu:The rolls - so light and fluffy!The crab rice- probably my favorite bite of the whole night. Just lots of flavor packed into the broth and the rice really complimented it.The chicken katsu - a huge piece of boneless chicken deep fried and smothered in curry, whats not to love?The menu changes constantly so these may not be around but if you see some set of seafood, fried chicken, or bread, I doubt you will be disappointed!
Overall the food was pleasant and enjoyable. Several items had great flavor, while others left lacking. The service was definitely on the slower side. And the amount of food was lacking as well. But as a whole it's worth experiencing at least once.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Jordan White
Big shout out to Madison for their incredible customer service! They were friendly and accommodating after I thought I was not going to be able to make my reservation due to an emergency. I ended up being able to make it and boy am I glad I did! Our party had an incredible meal complete with wine, cocktails and dessert. Cannot recommend this place enough!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shelby Lee Keefer
Excellent - Parker rolls, crab rice, fried chicken were standouts!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jim R.
A unique experience - recommend the "set menu" for the table. Wide range of items to enjoy including albacore and duck on the night we were there. Service was attentive. However, with a couple of drinks ($20! each) for our table of two and mandatory 22% gratuity our tab was nearly $375. Decent experience, but completely overpriced - in the neighborhood of a Bay Area Michelin star restaurant, and this is not in that realm.
Mojgan Alavi
My husband and I went there with two other couples. We all decided to use the set menu (5 course dinner) which was a big mistake! Each course was one or the most two small bites. The main course was duck which tasted so bad that despite my hunger I only took one bite and left it behind. To make the story short they made a little short than $1000 from our table with only two drinks and we all left the restaurant still hungry. Tomo is highly overpriced for what they offer and I don’t recommend it!!
Stunning food, service, ambiance, loved every second and can’t wait to go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loved it. I used to live in Japan, and the food, atmosphere, and service all reminded me of “kaiseki (high-end, many small courses all beautifully plated) meets izakaya (savory pub food, upbeat atmosphere, always go with a friend or three). The brilliance of TOMO is the mashup of the two, something you normally wouldn’t find in Japan.Went with my husband and we ordered the set menu plus the rolls. Everything was tasty, beautifully prepared, and served at a nice pace - not too fast, not too slow. By the end, we were perfectly full. In Japan they say “hara hachi bu” which basically means “eat until you’re 80% full.” TOMO courses felt a bit more generous than that, maybe 90%, but by the time we were done with our digestifs after dessert, we were pleasantly full-but-not-overfed.We had cocktails before dinner (mine was NA), a bottle of wine with dinner (took half home), and digestifs with dessert. Part of the genius of TOMO is their delightful and knowledgeable sommelier, who made excellent off-menu recommendations for wine and shared nice little stories around each winemaker.Another fun surprise was the extensive list of all kinds of liquors, including some rare, vintage, and hard-to-find selections. There’s a particular bourbon maker we love and it’s rare to find even one of their bourbons at a restaurant - but TOMO had three.We ended up paying just north of $400 for two, including wine, drinks, and tip (included in the bill the way we like it, and well-deserved). It would have been south of $300 without the alcohol. So yes, it’s a special treat, but it’s what you’d spend at any higher-end restaurant in Seattle.All the tables were in 2- and 4-top arrangements and the atmosphere works well for couples and groups as large as four. We actually started at the bar, which is lovely, and there were some solo diners seated there.Parking was a bit challenging, the main drag of White Center was full, but we found a perfect lot in front of the Domino’s, which is one block behind the main drag and two blocks away from TOMO.My two suggestions for the restaurant: first, the bar stools are very uncomfortable, my husband and I are not large people but our legs were falling asleep halfway through our meal. We requested a move to a table halfway through the meal. The banquette was fine but the individual chairs at the tables aren’t much better. The bar stools and chairs should all be upholstered, which will probably run less than replacing them. Second, both of our steak knives were laughably dull, we couldn’t cut the steak or even the green onion without a ridiculous amount of sawing. I told our server the knives need sharpening and she said they have them sharpened every two months. This is simply not enough, even for good knives. Have them professionally sharpened every two months, yes, but knives should be touched up before every service, even if you’re just using an inexpensive Chef’s Choice and giving the blade 5-10 quick draws. The custom TOMO knives are beautiful but they are not the crown jewels.We’ll definitely be back again, next time with another couple. Our plan for our larger group is to skip the set menu and just order one of the entire regular menu, which will be about right for four people (and it includes their fried chicken, a measure of a great izakaya).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tomo was an incredible culinary and visual experience. Every cocktail and dish was perfection, and the staff was patient and informative when we’d ask about some of the delicious ingredients that were new to us. The wine sommelier was so knowledgable and passionate about their selection, it was a treat just to hear what he had to say. We did the a la carte menu to be able to try as many things as possible and am so glad we did. I can’t wait to go back and try the set menu with their recommended pairings!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing place- can’t wait to go back! We did the tasting menu with wine pairings and each dish was better than the last. The wine pairings were excellent and I loved our pre-dinner cocktails. The service was also top notch and I love that they have a super casual, yet refined atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
TOMO’s set menu is delightful - packed and filled with various flavors. Loved not knowing what was coming next and seeing what creative way they interpret each dish. So fun and tasty - highly recommend getting a Ressie and wait until you number is called for this great treat!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
An exquisite meal in a lovely environment with exceptional service. For once a high price was worth it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Enjoyed last night dinner with my son and daughter-in-law.Loved the set menu! 5 small dishes- filling and definitely enough food for us- one more luscious the next one.Added the rolls to the set menu. Very tasty.Superb service- Jasmine was wonderful.This is a special occasion place.Will hopefully to return to try the regular menu.My only comment is the 22% service charge. A little steep.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had the Vegan set menu and wine pairing. Unbelievably good. Great service, cool atmosphere, and very accommodating. I feel like a lot of these bad reviews are Bellevue folks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious food, albeit very small portions and terribly over priced, even on the a la carte menu. But what really ruined the end of an otherwise great evening was the SURPRISE 22% automatic "Service Charge" they added to an already outrageously high bill. But wait, there's more! Because TOMO, in their infinite business wisdom, decided to call this 22% add-on a "Service Charge" to help support their employees (they said it's not a tip, but also said no tip is necessary after their fee, so maybe it is a tip???), it's considered additional revenue and not a gratuity after the total amount of the bill. According to TOMO this fee is not a "Gratuity", so they needed to add sales tax to the service charge, so in essence the "service charge / fee / gratuity" or whatever you want to call it is now 24.2%. Sure feels wrong to me. When I mentioned all of this to the the Manager all she said was that's the way it is, and I should take it up with WA State. Wow! What a condescending response from management to pass the buck and not take responsibility for their own poor business decisions. While the chef may be a brilliant artist at cooking, his business acumen, or whomever he has running his business is unfortunately misguided, and the customer pays for it. Bottom line is this... come prepared to not only pay a lot for dinner, but get ready to pay much much more than what you think the bill's going to be. Oh, one more thing... somehow they must have forgotten to mention their automatic service charge to mention anywhere on their website. So much for transparency!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Finally had a chance to eat here. Some of my favorites from the menu:The rolls - so light and fluffy!The crab rice- probably my favorite bite of the whole night. Just lots of flavor packed into the broth and the rice really complimented it.The chicken katsu - a huge piece of boneless chicken deep fried and smothered in curry, whats not to love?The menu changes constantly so these may not be around but if you see some set of seafood, fried chicken, or bread, I doubt you will be disappointed!
Restaurantji Recommends
Overall the food was pleasant and enjoyable. Several items had great flavor, while others left lacking. The service was definitely on the slower side. And the amount of food was lacking as well. But as a whole it's worth experiencing at least once.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Big shout out to Madison for their incredible customer service! They were friendly and accommodating after I thought I was not going to be able to make my reservation due to an emergency. I ended up being able to make it and boy am I glad I did! Our party had an incredible meal complete with wine, cocktails and dessert. Cannot recommend this place enough!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent - Parker rolls, crab rice, fried chicken were standouts!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A unique experience - recommend the "set menu" for the table. Wide range of items to enjoy including albacore and duck on the night we were there. Service was attentive. However, with a couple of drinks ($20! each) for our table of two and mandatory 22% gratuity our tab was nearly $375. Decent experience, but completely overpriced - in the neighborhood of a Bay Area Michelin star restaurant, and this is not in that realm.
My husband and I went there with two other couples. We all decided to use the set menu (5 course dinner) which was a big mistake! Each course was one or the most two small bites. The main course was duck which tasted so bad that despite my hunger I only took one bite and left it behind. To make the story short they made a little short than $1000 from our table with only two drinks and we all left the restaurant still hungry. Tomo is highly overpriced for what they offer and I don’t recommend it!!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3