Mashiko Japanese Restaurant

Walked by here for months thinking, “eventually.” I wish it had been sooner. The fish is excellent. Very fresh and flavorful. The rice and greens are also very fresh. The skylight makes for a beautiful lunch lighting.

Edit IF YOUR ALLERGIC TO MSGs, CONSIDER DINING ELSEWHERE. If you have any other allergies, please talk with them first because they're incredibly accommodating and communicative. So this is the first time we've been there for at least two years now. We still love it here, and the people who work there are as amazing as ever, but (and it pains me to say this), we won't be able to come back again. My partner is allergic to msg and one of the people who worked in the kitchen warned us that they use msg in a lot of things. It never gave him issues before so we thought it would be okay. It seems they changed how they cook though. The food still tasted amazing, especially the sashimi and the Tuna on Snowshoe? I think that's what it's called. But there was also so much msg in the food that couldn't be separated from everything else that my partner got a nasty migraine. And this was with them aware of his allergy and changing what they could. This really does hurt because this was *our* place. It was one of our first dates and where I proposed to him. But I just can't put him through the migraines anymore. - - - Original As amazing as ever! We had the Sushi-Ya and asked for sake to be paired with each dish. There's the option of more common dishes like tuna and salmon or more exotic dishes, and we chose a mix. They managed to have a great balance, though I don't recommend the exotic options unless you're feeling truly adventurous. Amongst seered cod and King Salmon sashimi, we had shrimp heads that had the exoskeleton removed (incredibly tasty) and Firefly Shrimp sushi (also delicious, pictured below towards the top with the seared cod towards the bottom.). If you can get Steve as your server, he's a true Sake Sommelier. Absolutely incredible pairings that complimented each dish to the utmost degree. If you're not interested in pairings for each dish, I recommend at least getting his advice on what would be good for the evening. I would blindly trust his taste in all things sake, easily. Another amazing evening at Mashiko's. I can't recommend it enough!

Mashiko is excellent. I died and went to heaven. The fish is beautiful and masterfully cut. Every preparation is done with intent and precision. To the curing of the salmon roe to the pickling of the fiddlehead ferns. I'm in love!

Overrated. and Dirty. I was really excited to bring my out of town guests to try Mashiko, but was greatly disappointed. This restaurant seemed to have a fruit fly/bug problem when we dined on a Friday night in March, as we had multiple bugs in both our drinks and sushi throughout the meal. The staff didn't seem surprised that there were bugs - and also comp'd only half the sushi dish after it was sent back. Horrific to still have to pay $25 for food with buggo's. Sushi itself was fine at best - but there are FAR better options in the Seattle area that are more fresh and authentic with better service and vibe for the same price point. Furthermore, I sent a note on my experience to the restaurant first via their contact form on their website and then through social media as we never got a response on our experience, and never got a response. It's been 1.5 weeks. Not impressed and will not be coming back. *EDIT to provide additional context to the response* - We were a table of 4, not a table of 6. You must have our table confused with another. - Plural/multiple dishes were not comp'd. You may have us confused with another table. Only 50% of of the roll dish got comp'd on our bill. and it was definitely not 90% eaten. - And no, we were not looking to have our entire bill comp'd. That's silly. Having the roll comp'd would have been the right thing. And just being heard from the feedback sent is all my guests and I were looking for.

Some of the best food in Seattle. Take your time and enjoy.

After an incredibly difficult month and a half following the unexpected passing of my father, and going through this grief while in graduate school, my husband and I needed a nice evening out. We had been to Mashiko before, but it had been several years. We love Japanese food, and Mashiko in general, so we happily sprung for the sushi-ya omakase dinner with sake pairing. If I had video of the happy chair dance I did whenever Mat, our server, brought out our food, I would include it here. Everything was delicious, the sake pairings were excellent, and I was able to relax and have some quality time with my husband for the first time in a while. The restaurant is intimate but still private and not overly-loud. The food is fairly priced given the focus on sustainability. I have never had a bad experience here, but this one made me so happy I wanted to share. Eating good food can be a healing experience, and tonight it certainly was. Thank you Mat and the wonderful chefs!