Makoto

This restaurant bring an excellent experience, starting from the hostess Carolina, she was nice and helpful, server excellent knowledge, fresh, lychee martini amazing DELICIOUS!!!

One of my favorite Asian inspired restaurants in Miami. It’s in a great location with a delectable menu. Try their house salad, prepared in their signature stone bowl with ginger dressing. You’re bound to have quick service and a pleasant staff welcoming you. The Kobe beef is also a great choice.
Next time you’re in Bal Harbour or you’re considering to do so, then don’t leave without eating here. Ignore the other choices, you will only feel like you made a bad choice not knowing!

Lunch is very so so.
We just ordered Edamame (was not fresh) and 2 Bento Boxes. The California Roll one with Miso Soup was horrendous; BUT the Salmon with salad one was to die for (and therefore the 2 stars)

Planned our afternoon at Bal Harbour around our dinner plans at Makoto. For starters, reservations are a must here because even on a Tuesday night, the place was packed.
Perhaps it was because it was so busy that the service here was lacking. It took forever for someone to take our order. It took forever for our food to come out and we actually had to flag someone down twice in order to get our check at the end of the meal.
So, why the four star rating? Because the food was worth the inattentive and slow service. We started with:
SPICY TUNA CRISPY RICE serrano chili. This was cubes of deep fried rice topped with a dollop of crispy rice and a sliver of serrano chili. It was deep friend deliciousness! I do wish it packed a little more heat! Why call it spicy anything, unless it’s spicy?
CALIFORNIA fresh crab, cucumber, avocado. I only order California rolls when I know they’re prepared with fresh crab instead of imitation, and this roll did not disappoint.
VEGAN STEPHEN tempura zucchini, avocado, kanpyo squash, roasted red pepper, eggplant. Though this was a veggie roll, it did not disappoint. This is how a veggie roll should be done. There was thought and beautiful execution behind this roll and it blew me away.

SPICY YELLOWTAIL wasabi, scallion, avocado, sliced jalapeño. This roll was good. Wish it had a little more heat.
I enjoyed my meal at Makoto and would go back, even if it was just for the Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice (next time I would ask for extra spice) and the Vegan Stephen!

Makoto reminds me a lot of a few sushi restaurants in the Chicago area. They have their local specialties but also some classic staples that are delicious.
After a long day of high end shopping this is the best place to sit back relax and reflect on all your purchases.
We sat at the bar and ordered the SPICY TUNA CRISPY RICE serrano chili, CALIFORNIA fresh crab, cucumber, avocado, VEGAN STEPHEN tempura zucchini, avocado, kanpyo squash, roasted red pepper, eggplant and the SPICY YELLOWTAIL wasabi, scallion, avocado, sliced jalapeño.
I would have to say the best veggie roll I’ve had! The Vegan Stephen was unique and very flavorful. I always love spicy tuna crispy rice and this was a great go to on the menu.
I would say the california lacked any character and the spicy yellowtail had no heat.
Overall, the service was super slow and hard to find. With our server changing between our meal and no notice and the hostess trying to get our bill it was a little frustrating that we couldn’t get smooth service on a tuesday night. They almost forgot the vegan stephen and that would have been ashame.
I would go back since it is good food in a great location. Who would miss an opportunity for shopping and sushi!

Love coming to Steven Starr restaurants for the exceptional service and delicious dishes, and Makoto definitely didn’t disappoint on either front. Among our favorites were the spicy edamame, tapleside kobe beef, stir fried noodles and rock shrimp tempura (especially the green Wasabi one… so unique!) Drinks were great as well. Our waiter was eager to give his recommendations in terms of quality and quantity… we left full and happy :) Overall our entire dining experience at Makoto was superb, and definitely helped top off an amazing weekend getaway in Miami.

I’ve been meaning to try Makoto for a few years now. Being that it’s further away from Brickell and that I have Zuma next door to me, I had never made my way up to Makoto until last night…
The hostesses were very nice and helpful and guided us to our table. Once seated we decided to order a few apps and then our entrees. We went with the toro tartare, dynamite hand roll, and the otoro sushi. All apps were decent but not mind blowing. If you want an awesome toro tartare, go to NaiYaRa. This one was very weak in comparison. You’re given a smaller portion of fatty tuna and the wasabi, ponzu, sour cream, chives, and crispy rice were all on the side. They also serve their «freshly grated» wasabi with the tartare but with the sushi you’re given the Americanized pre bottled wasabi. For a high end restaurant, I would expect to get the fresh wasabi served with everything.
As we were digging in, we noticed the table next to us eating a sushi roll with a fork, just stabbing away. Pretty hilarious. Also as we dined on our apps, we kept getting served dishes from other tables by accident which was a little annoying. So the apps were decent and I would rate 3 stars if it was the apps alone but then came the entrée…
We ordered the miso sea bass and the maki eel sushi roll. The eel didn’t taste as fresh and honestly I can get a better roll at Siam sushi in Brickell for takeout. And just to let you know, my favorite food in the world is sea bass. If I could eat sea bass everyday, I would. I had never eaten a sea bass I didn’t like until now. The sea bass was over cooked and tough and also extremely salty. This had to be the worst prepared sea bass and waste of a good fish I’ve ever had. I was so disappointed that I was scrambling on my phone to find something to redeem the night afterward. The service was so slow too so even though the waiter offered to make it again, I didn’t want to wait another 30 minutes for another one to come out and most likely be disappointed again. Makoto, I wish I had gone somewhere else to spend my Saturday evening!

It was my friend’s birthday, so he picked the place. We share the same warped sense of humor, and the love for good food — We meet once a month at a good restaurant, and we eat like orphaned children in a Dicken’s novel.
Service: With the exception of the socially awkward girl at the very front of the house (hostess), who was completely timid, and unpolished; the service was good. The hostess in the back of the house was excellent, on top of her game. As soon as I approached her desk, and gave my friends name, she walked me to the table, and even remembered my name, which my friend had given her.
Our server was knowledgeable of the menu, and she knew her Sake rather well. I’m not a Sake expert connoisseur, but I am enough of an spectator to be dangerous.
Have you ever watched Oliver Twist, particularly that scene, where Oliver has to eat his food fast, and has to fight the other kids at the table for the food on his own plate? Well, that’s exactly how my friend and I were because that is how good the appetizers were.
We ordered three rounds of Hamachi Ponzu with Serrano Chilies — The fish just melted in my mouth, and the ponzu and chilie, was not overwhelming, yet brought the flavor of the raw fish to a whole delicate flavor level.
Roasted Chichito Peppers — they’re like crack! Perfectly oiled, not too crispy, and just addicting. We had two servings of those.
Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice — This is where we questioned our friendship, and which one of us was going to have the last piece. The rice was crisped well enough that it held the role when you bit into it, and the Salmon was so fresh and cut to perfection that there was no dangly pieces still attached to the other half of the rice. It was excellent — I let him have the last piece because it was his birthday.
Wagyu Short Ribs — I’m not a big red meat eater, but my friend let me have a taste — and it was amazing. Melted in my mouth, but still not into red meat.
Roasted Corn, marinated in citrus butter and togarashi sauce — The unpolished food monger in me thought that they were going to bring out the corn on the cob with some dipping sauces. Nope, they skinned the corn off of the cob, but kept the layer of the cob wherein the kernels were attached. Delicate presentation and delicate taste for such an unassuming food, such as corn.
For our main dishes we ordered the Whole Roasted Branzino and the Seven Day Dry Aged Duck Breast. I had the Branzino, and it was spectacular, Branzino is kind of hard to cook in order to achieve the correct consistency — it can either turn out flaky and dry to the bite, or sticky and gooey; this particular Branzino was cooked to perfection.
I can’t really comment on the duck because I have a policy of not eating animals that at one point or the other I’ve had as pets, but I can tell it was excellent because my dining companion was quiet throughout the consumption of his duck, and he kept rolling and squinting his eyes in pleasure.
Yes, we still had room for dessert, but Makoto is NOT a dessert place. Nothing on the dessert menu, made our hearts sing with joy, and our palates tingle with anticipation — We took our gluttonous selves elsewhere for dessert.

The restaurant is ok. Well located in the beautiful Bal Harbour Shops, has all the glamour of its location with a beautiful, well dressed audience.
The food and services however have a lot of room for improvement.
Waiters come and go and don’t stop. Last night twice we were served something we did not order.
I had to ask for water two times. Just not the service you expect at this level of restaurant.
The food is also OK, not bad but not what I expect when I pay premium. I eat much better at Sushi Republic cross the street, and for much less.

Maybe the sitting down experience is better but ordering for take out is definitely not. They screw up my order twice, thankfully one of the staff members was very helpful. And was able to explain to me what happened and gave me a solution. I order their bento box which comes off to around $ 17 for mall employees. The sushi was was good, the rice was amazing and instead of soup I had salad that was really not my favorite. I gave one of my leftover salads to one of my coworkers and unfortunately she found a green bug in it, when she called the restaurant to complain they hung up, gave her attitude and would not transfer her to a manager. I guess is safe to say that their customer service is definitely not their strongest…

Best Japanese restaurant in Miami hands down. I have been to Nobu, Zuma etc. Makoto beats them all. Must start with spicy edamae, crispy tuna rice, noodle salad!!! Everything is amazing especially the whole snapper that comes with a chimichurri like tasting sauce. Do not miss one of my favorite desserts-​the fruit taboika!

Located in a well-​to-​do neighborhood, I expected little more from this restaurant. The food was ok. I tried their crispy rice tuna roll, which was good but nothing extraordinary. I’ve had better elsewhere. The fried rice was just ok as well, nothing fancy. When I first got here, no one really acknowledged me for like 10 minutes or so. Later, the manager approached me and asked, «are you here for an interview?» I replied, «No, I’m here to eat.» The manager apologized and told me that she thought I was here for the interview, but I was literally in vacation clothes, so I am not sure why she thought that. I guess some people actually come in vacation clothes for their interviews.
Anyhow, my rating says it all. A SOLID 3 out of 5.

Best restaurant to devour sushi. Oh, and their Makoto House Salad is also pretty dang good.
I feel like each time my wife and I come back, the service and food are equally good, if not better. When you have reservations for dinner on Valentine’s, but decide to do a last-​minute change to lunch, and then end up sitting at the sushi bar (instead of a table)… that becomes the best decision ever.
Not only was the sushi chef (Tony) awesome to chat with, he was a great host and served up some delicious items. Definitely consider sitting at the bar! If the sushi chef likes you, you’ll know, haha.
Top items we come here to devour:
* * * * * Sake Sushi (a la carte): This is like melt-​in-​your-​mouth (not-​on-​your-​chopsticks) smoooooth salmon. I could easily eat my weight (and my wife’s!) in Makoto’s salmon.
* * * * * Unagi Sushi (a la carte): Come to papa. The flavor and tenderness? Perfect. The cut? Generous! Definitely a must-​try.
* * * * * Makoto House Salad: This has been our favorite salad for a while now. Never have anything negative to say. Dressing is perfect; greens are always fresh (never wilty, never «mushy»). Only salad you’ll see me wanting to order.
* * * * * Frosty Kobe Fried Rice: My wife prefers the shortrib yaki noodles, but this is much tastier to me. Has the ideal balance of savoriness and isn’t so heavy that you get filled off it alone.
Thanks, Makoto!

Where to start…
We were early. At first I thought I had picked a loser restaurant. Most of the tables up front were empty, we weren’t greeted particularly well… I had an ill feeling…
This quickly dissipated when we were warmly greeted by our wait staff, quickly brought house still water.
WARNING:
If you want omakase you need to prearrange in advance when you make your reservation.
So we didn’t get the omakase, but we did get phenomenal service from our waiter and Serena. She gave wonderful saké recommendations and was a real treasure. She even sent over a gorgeous order of the edamame nameraka. –A delightful hummus of eggplant and tofu topped with edamame served with gorgeous nori wonton chips. I highly recommend this dish!
The sushi was perfect. My other half got the Kobe beef cooked table side on a hot rock. We also got from the Robata: the corn, asparagus, eggplant. We also got watermelon ceviche (not the best we’ve ever had, but the other dishes made up for this.)
For dessert we had a selection of mochi, the perfect way to end the meal! A gorgeous meal!

I recently visited Makoto for the first time with excitement and very high expectations. I read some great things online about this restaurant offering excellent sushi comparable to some of the top spots in NYC.
We reserved seats at the sushi bar to insure that we had the best sushi experience. Working behind the counter in front of me was an angry young man who spent most the my dinner complaining about everything to his coworker. The sushi was slightly above average but definitely not worth the incredibly high prices. We also ordered two mains and an appetizer of the menu neither of which we even good.
Aside from the poor service at the sushi bar, our waitress also was rarely available. We sat for 45 minutes before giving our order and when we tried to order with the sushi chef he told us to wait for the waitress as he was too busy.
Needless to say, we will not be visiting again.

Best sushi restaurant I’ve ever been to! Everything is absolutely amazing and fresh. It’s pricey but so worth it. To start off, the Kobe beef carpaccio and the watermelon ceviche are a must try.
The sushi and sashimi samplers are exquisite! It comes with a variation of fresh and delicious fish and other seafood. For a sushi roll I recommend the caterpillar roll.
The dessert fruit toban yaki dessert is out of this world delicious! It comes with seasonal fruit, passionfruit sauce, mango sorbet and homemade marshmallows. One of my favorite desserts!

PROS: We loved our servers. Two lovely women who worked insanely hard to make the experience unforgettable. Both had worked 3 straight days double shift without a break. Environment is warm and intimate.
CONS: No bar. Very small space. Overworked staff. Food gets a C, drinks get a C-​, dessert was not worth it at all. Sashimi was warm and a bit mealy. Makoto is not worth the wait, the hype or the cost. We booked reservations on open table a month in advance thinking it was amazing but it was just sort of «ehh.»

I can’t recall why I gave this 4 stars earlier this year, but I’m upping it now. :)
Came back for my birthday and absolutely love-​love-​loved this restaurant the most out of my entire food-​filled-​gut-​bursting-​oh-​so-​satisfying birthday bash weekend. The boy and I have back-​to-​back birthdays, so you can imagine how much celebrating occurs with both family and friends. Hold onto those fat-​day pants. You’ll need it! lol (Or at least I will… :’()
Anyway, service is always wonderful at this restaurant. You barely notice when they refill water; they’re diligent about clearing plates; everyone is super polite from when they ask if you need something cleared, topped off, or even if you need a picture taken.
Here are our menu favorites!
FOOD
+ Makoto House Salad: This still hasn’t changed. This has been a fav from Day 1. It is light and refreshing. The dressing is soooo deliciously extraordinary simply because it’s not standard fare.
+ Short rib yaki noodles: We ordered this again, but it was 1 of 2 carb dishes. Soooo… note to self: Stephen and I agreed! Get only 1 or we get stuffed. I prefer this dish because of its sweetness, but the boy prefers the…
+ Frosty Kobe (Beef) Fried Rice: I’ll admit. This is definitely delicious. If you’re more of a rice fan than a noodles fan, you’ll like this better. There’s a fried egg on top, but don’t forget to mix up the frosty beef with the rice to heat things up.
+ Sake Sashimi (or king salmon sashimi): This. This is like buttah, babe. Order it if you like sashimi. It’s gently crooning your name as you move your chopsticks closer, and then as it goes down, it’s like a sigh of delight. LOOK OKAY. I’m practically writing a song here.
+ Rainbow roll: I honestly was stuffed at this point. I think I had one piece, and it was of the yum.
DRINKS
Ok ok… I’ve had a couple cocktails here before, but this last time I went, I had a Passionfruit Pisco Sour. This note is more for me than for you (lol).
Liane, don’t forget to reorder this.
If you are like me, and like sweet sweet candied alcoholic beverages that are better suited for 12 year olds, get this. It’s delicious. Can definitely taste the kick of the alcohol, but it’s a luscious kick. :)
DESSERT
I’m not much for mochi (not a fan of the texture). But, I ordered a scoop of green tea ice cream, and it was mmmmm. Definitely more matcha, which is exactly my preference. (Not a fan of the «floral» green tea ice creams that abound in some locations.)
So oui. :) Enjoy!
Note to self: Try another roll, one of the crispy rice things, AND get the unagi next time we come back.

Makoto has been on my must-​try list of restaurants for quite some time now. I feel that, ever since it opened its doors at Bal Harbour Shops four years ago, this Stephen Starr sushi resto has been eluding me… Every time I made plans to try it, somehow they fell through! This past weekend I decided to finally try it with one of my best friends, who happens to have lived in Tokyo and is both a sushi connoisseur, and an extremely picky foodie.
One thing you must know about my approach to trying new restaurants is that I always make it a point to find their «signature dish». You know, the one that will stand out from the rest and will make me want to come back for more over and over again. If you’ve ever had Yardbird’s Fried Green Tomato BLT or Hillstone’s Thai Steak and Noodle Salad, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Let me tell you, this one-​hit approach of mine does NOT apply to Makoto. You see, at this place, every single dish that I had was worth coming back for! Though I was just there last night, I’m still savoring each and every single bite. It is that special.
We started off with some cocktails and tried the very recommended roasted pineapple margarita. The spicy rim and roasted-​pineapple-​infused tequila gave it a distinct taste that paired perfectly well with our first appetizer, the incredibly popular Crispy Rice Tuna. Let me tell you, this dish was BRILLIANT. The rice was crunchy and chewy at the same time, the perfect texture to combine with the tuna, and topped with a thin slice of poblano chili, which just tickled your tongue without quite kicking it. A total hit! This was followed by the beautifully presented Kobe Beef and Truffle Carpaccio, which, from the name, you can probably already guess that it was nothing short of fantastic. A very elegant dish topped with tiny chopped garlic and a thin slice of ginger that balanced it nicely and gave it some texture.
Lets talk about the main dish, shall we? The Makoto Ramen was heavenly. Despite the fact that ramen is usually considered a comfort food in Japan and often found at fast food joints, Makoto puts a nice twist on it, making it gourmet by adding perfectly tender short rib to it. This, plus the noodles and the pickled cabbage on top made it an incredibly savory dish. If you order it, make sure to separate a few pieces of the short rib to appreciate it on its own. It was so soft and fatty that it just melted in my mouth. I want more already!
I have a feeling that, just like me, once you go to Makoto you’ll want to try every single dish that passes by in front of your table, but I urge you: as difficult as it might be, leave some space for dessert. And not just any dessert. THE dessert: Fruit Toban Yaki. 100% homemade, this beauty consists of fresh fruit, served in a bowl full of white chocolate passion fruit sauce, ginger graham cracker crumble, marshmallows and a scoop of mango sorbet. I know it sounds like a lot of flavors, but trust me, they blend in perfectly together. This dish has officially entered my top 3 best desserts in Miami.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, let me conclude by saying that Makoto is most definitely one of the top restaurants in Miami, and one of my new faves. The food has a level of sophistication and creativity that you would expect from a Stephen Starr restaurant, and the price is very reasonable for the quality and the amazing experience and service. Needless to say… I will be back for more soon!

Oh my, what can I say about Makoto. It is simply amazing! And when I say amazing, I mean amazing. For those that like Japanese, and especially sashimi and sushi, will definitely enjoy this restaurant. Now it’s not the cheapest place, but I can guarantee that you will enjoy it.
My review will basically be explaining how delicious there raw fish and seafood is, and I will be extremely biased because of how much I enjoyed it.
I had the $ 50 sashimi sampler and it did not disappoint. I had rare cuts of fish that I’ve never had before and probably will not find anywhere else. The UNI was like butter, delicious butter from the sea. Even my wife, who does not normally do sashimi, liked it also.
The Toro Tartare was also amazing. The crème fraîche and the rice crisp give the toro a nice flavor, especially with the wasabi.
Although I said the review would be mainly about the sashimi and raw items, I would like to mention several other delicious items we enjoyed of. The roast corn had an amazing flavor, somewhat smoky and spicy. The molten chocolate cake dessert was also very good. The ice cream that it was served with was wrapped in these rice crisps which gave it a wonderful texture.
All in all, this restaurant is something I dream of. The food was just delicious and the service was even better.
Happy eating!

Chef Makoto assina o menu do restaurante japonês de mesmo nome localizado no Bal Harbour Shops. Experimentamos o menu de almoço durante o Spice Week que oferecia 4 opções de entrada e de prato principal, e uma sobremesa. Em uma mesa de três pessoas, pedimos 2 entradas diferentes: o spice tuna rice e o hamachi ponzu (minha escolha, uma mínima porção de pescado branco cru especialmente temperado), ambas muito boas. De prato principal, escolhemos a crispy short rib com kale salad e o Rainbow maki. Pedimos, a conselho do garçon e observando as mesas vizinhas, um prato extra, fora do cardápio e escolhemos o noodles, este realmente delicioso. A sobremesa foi uma interessante reconstrução do clássico tiramisu, feito com green tea.
Nāo sei se devido a grandes expectativas pessoais, ou porque as outras opções de menu testadas por mim durante o Miami Spice foram melhores, fiquei um pouco decepcionada com o resultado final. Em geral, gostei da experiência, mas com o numero de boas opções orientais em Miami a explorar, e considerando que em geral estou na cidade por pouco tempo, creio que prefiro testar novas experiências antes de voltar ao Makoto. Se voltar, pedirei seguramente o noodle. No final, minha avaliação justa seria de 3,5 estrelas: 3 para o menu do Miami Spice, 4 para o noodle, que estava fora do menu e foi a estrela do dia, na minha opinião.