Kintaro

We ordered Ramen and dessert, which were fantastic! A very small restaurant, appropriate for two people going together. But there is not much noodle for each, so you may have to order more.

I could have sworn I had already reviewed Kintaro considering my love for it. Very small, quaint Japanese restaurant near the waterfront in Georgetown — probably my favorite sushi place in Georgetown. Their fresh scallop, white tuna, eel nigiri sushi is good and some great work by the chef. For lunch, the bento box is wonderful with you choice of either fried oysters or fried codfish, either chicken or beef with rice and tuna and salmon sashimi. Stepping inside almost transforms me to Japan (not that I’ve been but how I might imagine it). Miso soup and hot green tea are perfect too. The ramen is decent, though I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite.
My only complaint is how small it is and I have wish there was a bento box option for dinner as well. But otherwise, lovely place. Will continue to come here.

The worst restaurant I’ve ever met! Normally, Japanese are very polite, but, the waitresses here are very rude and extremely impatient for our baby, she said to a 1.5 year old baby that you made this table so dirty! (actually they act same way for the other clients as well) No communication during our whole lunch except order food and pay the bill. I paid 10% tip for our lunch, to my surprise, they asked for more, literally, for such a «fantastic» service quality… I’ve been in DC for days with my families. This restaurant really stained our experience in this beautiful city. The one star is for the taste of the food.

I gave one star，because the rice the sushi tasted good! Raman was common and almost the same taste, even though they have three different types. For the tonkatsu ramen, the pork should be stir fired I think.
The worst thing is rude attitude. Soooooo impolite, especially for the waitress with short hair. I dined there with my friend. when I went to the bathroom, she urged my friend to come to tell me they would close in the afternoon and let us leave quickly.
The second time, we were charged wrong number. They charged us 5 more dollars and we told them and they did not say anything, even for a «sorry»!!! If you guys dine there, please calculate the number and don’t be cheated.
The third time I went there, guess what? We four planned to dine there and one of my friend arrived early and the restaurant was empty. My friend was asked when other people would arrive, and she said 5mins. However the waitress said if other customers come, my friend would be out if we three people did not come immediately. Fortunately, we arrived. After the dinner, we were sitting there and chatting, and she came and asked for more tips. Then I gave 83 more cents to satisfy 15% tips.
So rude! I would not go there any longer. That is the «best“experience I had so far in Georgetown area! If you care about the service, don’t spend money there and buy anger!!!

I probably shouldn’t have gone here, but my friend said the place was good. We had the ramen, and I never order Ramen in this area since after having Ramen in NYC and San Francisco, it’s hard to get the same quality anywhere else. Anyways, the ramen wasn’t very good, and I think it had to do with the quality of the noodles and water. The water didn’t seem fresh, and the noodles tasted like they were frozen not long ago. I probably would skip this place next time.

My favorite place for sushi in DC. Tiny, cute, fresh, great quality, awesome lunch specials, great service.

What I didn’t like was the servers attitude. She was cold and rush to take our played while me and my friend were still working on it. When I paid my check and go out, only one women said thank you, and the other (long-​hair waitress) had no face expression at all.
Last year I didn’t feel the service was that awful (probably we had five people and we didn’t think so much). This time, I felt uncomfortable for the servers’ attitude. I also heard the people sitting at my back table asked the server what were their best sashimi today, and the server gave them a cold face and said she didn’t know! (She can go ask the chef!)
I won’t be back again despite the food was delicious. For me, service also count in my dining experience.

Honestly I used to really like this place but the quality of everything has generally deteriorated. To start off, I speak only about the ramen, but it used to be fabulous. Now it’s subpar at best and extremely salty. Additionally, I always tip 20% for dinner, regardless of the service I’ve received. First off, their service was cold and definitely did not warrant 20%. Regardless, I went with a friend and she paid card and I paid cash. When factoring my share of the bill, I factored in my tip of 20% and my friend would supplement the rest in tip on her card. When we stood up to leave the service had the AUDACITY to stop me and ask me for more tip. I calculated in front of her the price of my meal + tax + her 20% tip and left the woman SPEECHLESS. I didn’t get a «sorry» or a «thank you.» Hard pass on this place!

Walked in off the street with two friends when we were craving sushi and saw the sign. We went in with pretty low expectations; Kintaro doesn’t look like much from the outside. We mostly got nigiri, and were pleasantly surprised with the quality. It was very affordable and pretty fresh (by DC standards). One of my friends got the Miso which was strange, seemed to be separating and was possibly some kind of instant miso made with powder.
We went for a late lunch, so the place was pretty empty, but service was still very slow and inattentive. The sushi chef across the room seemed much more interested in us than our waitress/​hostess did.
If you’re in Georgetown anyway and craving some fairly fast, cheap sushi, Kintaro is fine. But I wouldn’t recommend that you go out of your way for a visit.

Share some annoying points 1. Service is so cold and barely deserve the service fee (not at all!!!) 2. When checking account balance, it charged me twice and that force me to argue with customer service 3. Food does not deserve the price. We ordered Tuna Don and it was so tiny amount and we do be blinded by its high price (I remember
Is more than 20 dollars)
To sum up, definitely does not recommend this place for food.

This is an update to the previous glowing reviews. I usually get the Tonkatsu Ramen and I am usually satisfied with it. I invited my friend who hasn’t check out this place, but my friend mentioned afterwards that the noodles seemed that they were frozen. I had to agree with my friend since they did taste different than what is to be expected. I had to take one star off my previous ratings.
No change in service, it’s still ⁵⁄₅. The one star deduction is due to the ramen tasting frozen.

I came here with a girlfriend for our annual Christmas get together. This restaurant is just down from Georgetown Cupcake on the way to the C&O Canal. It’s a very small restaurant with maybe a dozen seats and a narrow entry. Note, no public restrooms.
Given the chilly weather outside, we both decided to order ramen and I also ordered the spicy salmon rolls as an accompaniment. I had the tonkotsu ramen and I have to say, it’s the most mediocre ramen I’ve had in DC. The soup base is not that flavorful and I couldn’t really taste the pork-​based bone broth that is the defining base ingredient of tonkotsu ramen. My bowl came with nitamago, pork belly, seaweed, ginger, and bean sprouts. Nothing was under or overcooked, but it was a very average ramen bowl to me. Having tried all the ramen shops in the DMV area, I have to say this is one of my least favorites.
The spicy salmon rolls were also… interesting. They added some spicy mayo dressing in the roll, a mayo/​Sriracha combo I wasn’t digging too much. It was a little too mayo-​y and overpowered the roll.
Service was average too. Our server was half-​present throughout our meal but expected us to leave a hefty tip. My friend and I were both trying to pay with cash. Our server came back with large bills most likely hoping that we would leave one even though that would have been over 20% for less than average service. She pursed her lips and looked annoyed when we asked if she could give us some smaller bills. It seems like a lot of other reviewers have had/​experienced awkward tip encounters too.
Save your money for Sushi Taro or Kotobuki.

too salty for me. And the service didn’t deserve the tips I gave. Too weird. The taste is not bad though is plain I should say.
And the servers there always draw a long face. Don’t know why. Don’t like the style and atmosphere.
The price is affordable.

I have yet to try the sushi here, and my review is based on what I’ve tried thus far/​what most of the people I know have paid a visit to Kintaro to eat, and that would be the ramen.
I’ve been here on 4 different occasions for the Ramen. I have also tried the salmon carpaccio. It seems like with each visit, the ramen depreciates in quality. The first time I visited, the ramen was good, however the last few times I have visited, the ramen has become less and less flavorful. The tonkotsu broth here is probably one of the lightest pork based broths I’ve ever had. Usually, adding some chili powder to the broth would do the trick, but during my last visit, it seemed as though no matter how much chili powder I added, the flavor didn’t budge and stayed the same. Nonetheless, the ramen here is decent, and a steal as it is priced at $ 10 and comes with all the fixins (soft boiled egg, pork, seaweed, ginger, bean sprouts).
The salmon carpaccio however, is divine.

A very small and relatively inexpensive but cute and nicely decorated restaurant off of M Street in Georgetown. friendly Japanese owners and a simple sushi menu. the sushi was good. Not amazing but definitely good. The atmosphere was very cool. The line was Sutter Home and served in mini wine bottles. Not impressed with that aspect haha

Perfect place to go if you’re craving for some mediocre fish, overpriced generic teriyaki plated haphazardly, bland noodles, and zomgwtf service. I wish wish wiiiiished I had read the Unilocal reviews before I took my family to this place.
The place itself looked great from the outside across the street. The yellow, with their restaurant name and decoration nicely painted, easily spotted. The inside does have that homey feel, and it’s impossible to get in and out of that place not in a single file. The first words a person there said to me was, «you can’t have that drink in here.» My nearly empty starbucks cup that was full of iced espresso shots? Very well then. I chugged the rest of it and tossed the cup in their trash can.
Their lunch closes at 2:30, and we got there around 40 minutes before they closed. They seemed uninterested in seating the 6 of us– 4 adults and 2 children. They did not offer a high chair for my little one.
We got our menus, and it was basic… Nothing fancy, which should make deciding much simpler. No bento boxes either… A little above average priced appetizers (actually very overpriced after you see the size of those), ramen for around $ 10 (small portion compared to other ramen places I’ve been, but prob one of the better «deals» at this place), $ 17-​$ 18 chicken teriyaki and salmon teriyaki that looks like a microwaved plate, pricy/​small portioned fish dishes…
We got the following —
Chicken karaage– it was around $ 7, and there were so few pieces. Taste was ok. The kids enjoyed it, so it’s a pass.
Salmon teriyaki– $ 18, and I was like wtffffff when I saw the plating of it. I’m sure my dad thought the same. There were 2 little pieces of salmon with sauce slopped on a generic plate with a spoon full of potato salad, a few cherry tomatoes, and a thingy of broccoli, and oh… a side of rice. Presentation was unappealing, especially since it was so pricy. Other Japanese restaurants would have it in a bento box so it would come with a variety of sides, or even just salad and miso soup. Not that there.
Chicken teriyaki– pretty much same as above, but $ 17, more chunks of chicken.
Chirashi– $ 20. I paid $ 20 for chirashi at another place and got twice the amount of fish. Each piece of fish in the bowl equalled over $ 2/​piece, and each piece was thin and small. The sashimi in there wasn’t that great either… And that piece of shrimp smelled like a dirty aged washcloth. That definitely ruined it for me. The pieces were chewy-​ish, except for the tamago and the imitation crab sticks. My favorite is usually salmon, and the one piece in there was ok. I did not crave more, which is very unusual of me. It came with a piece of eel, and the sauce got to a piece of white fish. The rice was surprisingly tasty/​well seasoned. So at least they have that going for them. It also had some strips of seaweed and pickled veggies– mushrooms and bamboo shoots.
Tonkotsu ramen– $ 10. Definitely the «most worth it» dish to get here. It was the most beautiful thing that we ordered, and for the price, a real winner compared to the rest of their menu. Tonkotsu broth is usually fatty, but this one was more on the thinner side. The noodles had ok texture, but taste was very bland. My daughter loves noodles, but she didn’t eat more than one bite, saying it was gross. That says quite a bit. The pork was fine… Maybe 1.5 stars if I were rating it if this was in LA. The chili and other seasonings came in the side, which is great if you want to customize some flavors. The egg was beautiful, not quite seasoned, but not plainly hard boiled either.
Oh, after we ordered, the lady told us it was last call because they were closing at 2:30, making us feel like we shouldn’t have came into the restaurant to give them business.
All the dishes came out at different times. Awkward. All. Of. Them. Different. Times. ALL.
They added 18% tip on top of our check, after tax. For real??? I’m guessing it was because we were a party of 6, counting the kids, but after tax? Greedy people. So the bill was over $ 90 after all the jfqofjoakciksj they added to it.
Never again… But yet again, it’s Georgetown where even a simple bowl of phở can be $ 16.

Went here tonight for a dinner date with my husband before going to see a movie at Lowe’s 14. I have to admit this place is a strong 3 nearly 4, but I can’t give it the 4 for a few reasons that keep it leveled at a 3.
First and foremost the place is small, quaint, but small. You’re likely going to have a strong wait at this place on any given Friday or Saturday night. Sunday we got lucky and waited only 10 minutes for a table to become vacant. They do not take reservations, so if you have an hour and a half wait; you better wait around or else the table will go to other patrons who are in the area at the time something becomes available.
There are a few 4 tops, but mainly 2 tops. Don’t plan a large party for this place because it simply won’t happen without them making some special circumstances. I am not sure if they take large parties since I didn’t inquire, but based on what I saw I am making the assumption.
For dinner we got:
— 2 miso soups
— shrimp tempura roll
— California roll (his request…)
— Philly roll
*All of which comes with 6 rolls a piece*
&… –Ramen bowl
The maki rolls were good. The salmon was fresh… like melt in your mouth fresh. The others were good too. You can’t really mess up fried shrimp and fake crab, typically.
They have a weird take on spicy mayo. I am not sure if I would order it again, but it might be suitable to someone’s taste who truly does enjoy the extra kick of spice they put in it. Plus it is not mixed up like traditional spicy mayo usually is.
Service was okay. Hit and miss. They were quick to remove empty places out of our way since we were sitting in the only spot where we watched the sushi chef create his creations. It was as small space where you are sitting next to one another versus across from one another with a seating of 2. They were not so quick at refilling water. I drinks lots of water and requires lots of refills. They kept up for the most part.
I think this is a place I would return to. The prices are reasonable for Georgetown and we escaped with a $ 41 check with taxes with all the above mentioned food. We were full. The ramen bowl was a solid ending after 3 sushi rolls.
Being that my husband is a lean Persian 6’2 nearly 6’3 and me being a plus size chick — we gotsta eat! We cleared the table and it was just enough food for the both of us. It’s fair to say this is a much better option to the other sushi bar around the corner that is more of a club than a real sushi establishment.

How did I not write a review for this place? It’s right by my work and I come here for dinner all the time! That being said, I felt like the restaurant quality kind of went down over time. I still remember the first time I visited after a long run with friends in the area. The old lady who served us was super nice and attentive, and the food was better than I’ve had recently.
The place has very limited menu items, which is kind of disappointing. They have only three ramen options — miso, shoyu (soysauce), and tonkatsu. The broth were all pretty good with their distinct taste, but the noodle is so soggy (it wasn’t soggy only the first time I visited)! Also, they only give you a small slice of chashu, which I did not like at all. Their soft boiled eggs can sometimes be a bit overcooked, but sometimes it comes out perfect. Not marinated, however. The service also wasn’t very on point lately, but I understand because it’s been busy.
Oh, they also have a no-​outside-​food policy. Last time I got georgetown cupcakes and brought them into the restaurant, and the lady told me that I can’t eat the cupcakes inside.

I’ve been here a few times since the initial visit that left my mother and I raving about the food throughout the meal as well as for a long time after. It is SURPRISINGLY cheap and 100% worth it. I indulged myself tonight with 4 pieces of assorted nigiri (salmon, sea urchin, yellowtail), an appetizer (fried horse mackerel), and a miso ramen, and it was $ 30. SUCH a steal.
It is Japanese owned which is great, so the waitresses are usually gracious and polite and not pushy. They also tag team since it’s such a tiny place, which is pleasant and more convenient for the customer. One of the motherly waitresses today saw me not touching the raw cabbage that I thought was decoration and she told me I should eat it with my fried mackerel, so I did and it was great. Thank you for broadening my horizons! The raw fish always seems fresh and, though the ramen isn’t the best (like Daikaya or Toki), it is still really great and comforting and not overly salty while still being exquisitely flavorful.
Only downside is that it is ridiculously tiny and doesn’t take reservations. Also, the OTHER waitress I had today has RBF but she was efficient I guess soo I think she just needs to work on that. Other than that, great!

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum.
I feel like not having known this place was in Georgetown, that I have robbed myself of the pleasures of their food until now. First of all, $ 10 ramen and gyudon is an amazing price compared to any other ramen joint in the metro DC area. My husband and I got a tonkotsu ramen and gyudon bowl and had a bite of each others. The ramen broth is amazing (I’m wierd and I taste the broth before the noodles). My gyudon had great flavor and was thinly and deliciously sliced. I haven’t found satisfying gyudon at a decent price since returning from Japan, so this made my night. We both had a couple pieces of reasonably priced sushi, which were also excellent.
I had read reviews before coming here and had noticed that a lot of the negative reviews were more about service than the food quality. Maybe because I read on it before coming, I can see why people may find service rude, but personally I chalked it up to the server’s personality and mannerisms being on the rough side.
It’s tucked away on 33^rd street and not as obvious as Hashi Sushi, but go search! It will be hard not to come here every week when the weather gets super cold.