Grayson has been wanting Japanese lately hence the sudden surplus of Japanese restaurant reviews. Today we decided to go to Makoto because we were going to be in the Royal Oak area running errands.
Zaru soba
I wanted an entree but Grayson thought that it wouldn’t be variable enough for me because it didn’t have any meat or veggies so we decided to share our meal instead. Of course, I got zaru soba ($8.95) because 1) I love the stuff and 2) it doesn’t show up very often on menus. The zaru soba here was alright, the soba was al dente. I do think that it was a little pricy because there isn’t much to this dish since it’s just noodles.
Sushi rolls
Now then, time for some suuuushiii! We decided to get 3 rolls from Makoto. Well Grayson decided to get 3 rolls. The spicy tuna roll ($3.75), smoked salmon roll ($4.00) and caterpillar roll ($7.25). The smoked salmon roll was filled with avocado and cucumber and topped with smoked salmon. Grayson chose the roll as a bit of an experiment because he didn’t feel like getting an alaska roll. Although he questioned his choice, he ended up being glad he chose it because it ended up being quite delectable.
I didn’t end up trying the spicy tuna roll because (for once) I wasn’t feeling like having anything spicy but Grayson said that it was perfect for him. As a matter of fact, he actually put wasabi on his sushi. He never does that…not even when the roll isn’t supposed to be spicy!
Caterpillar roll
Grayson was excited to finally try the caterpillar roll because he’s been wanting to try it for a while now but didn’t know what it was called until now so he never got around to trying it. He thought the roll was absolutely delightful because the yam was perfectly battered and fried tempera style and the creamy avocado on top gave the roll a nice balance between the two textures. I thought it was a little odd though because I’m not used to having warm sushi but other than that the roll was indeed quite well done.
All in all our visit to Makoto was quite enjoyable because the service was quite attentive and there was a good amount of street side parking available for us to choose from. I wouldn’t come by if you’re looking for cheap eats though because the dishes were pricier than other Japanese restaurants in the area and had smaller portioning as well. I don’t mean just with my zaru soba but each roll only came with 6 pieces instead of the usual 8 and the food was only standard.