Maneki Restaurant

07/31/2008 Posted by MontlakeMan

I have gone to Maneki countless times and it continues to be the best Japanese restaurant I have ever visited. Excellent food, great service and a incredibly friendly atmosphere is what you can expect from this place. I have never been to Japan, but I do have many close friends who are from Japan, some of them sushi restaurant owners. They say that Maneki's sushi quality is at least as good and often better than any found in Japan. Until I visit Japan and try for myself I will have to believe what they say. As with any incredibly good restaurant, make sure you make a reservation first.

Pros: The food, the service, the price, everything ..

Cons: none

05/05/2008 Posted by berg9201

I got to try this place that my friend was raving about. We didn't make reservation but was able to be seated within 10 minutes of opening. The service was prompt and friendly. I had the Sakana dinner set which came with salted broiled mackeral, tempura, sashimi, cucumber & shrimp salad. It was tasty and very good portion. My husband had the sushi which was also fresh and big. They also have a bar for those who need to wait and drink. I would recommend this place if you like the more traditional japanese cuisine!

Pros: good traditional cuisine, prompt service even when it was packed.

Cons: can be long wait if you don't make reservations

04/09/2008 Posted by hyzenthlay

Maneki is not a place for people looking for an Americanized experience - it's not a Belltown restaurant. It's an ID place with ID prices, and, yes, ID service. You will likely need to flag a server down (which is simple as they are all very sweet young ladies). Additionally, your food will come out in the order it's prepared and ready, rather than all at once on a giant serving tray. Like most Japanese meals, you plan for a longer meal of small bites (a bowl of rice with tuna bata yaki, or a small salad with rice vinegar, or a bite of a jojo roll...) rather than a giant single portion. It's a small restaurant, which means a reservation is a necessity (I'm not sure what the other reviewer below me meant by saying that it doesn't take reservations; I have a reservation there for tonight, in fact). Maneki's sushi is some of the best in Seattle. The regular Japanese fare is equally amazing. I've fallen in love with the generous portions, the unbelievable freshness, and the artful presentations. Every time I go there I stuff myself silly, and I've never in my life managed to make it cost more than about $40 a head. Maneki is unbeatable value, and overall the best Japanese restaurant in Seattle, hands down.

Pros: Best food for the price in Seattle

Cons: ID service

03/24/2008 Posted by SeattleBubbles

Attended a lovely dinner in one of their private rooms a few weeks back. The service was impeccable, the sushi was spot on and the sake was priced affordably. The only negative was the tempura. Yes, I know it is fried, but it was overly greasy. If you haven’t been, go!

Cons: Can't get a taxi at 1:30AM

02/23/2008 Posted by oonaoneal

It is a traditional place with personality in the heart of the ID. The owner is an old-world lady who is kind but at times a bit gruff with the line of customers who are often late. She tries to accomodate everyone. The food at Maneki is wonderful. The blue fin tuna sashimi is out of this world. It melts in your mouth and for $12, I almost don't want to mention it in case it becomes too discovered and changes. This place is not the best to have a million adventuroues rolls. it is more traditional Japanese. Both cooked food and Sushi are outstanding and the quality of the fish has always been super-fresh.

09/21/2007 Posted by iluv2snooze

Hmmm reading the review below makes me very angry because this restaurant doesnt deserve a review like that. First of all the person below is wrong beause this place does take reservations!!! You actually need reservations to eat here because they are booked around the clock. All you do is call ahead because they dont open until 5:30, leave a message and they call you back to confirm your reservations. They even will call you at the time of your reservations if you are not there on time! The front desk lady was actually before nice to me also. She can be very strict about people not coming on time for reservations but she is not as bad as the review mentioned below(from my experiences). The food is awesome and there is plenty to eat. If you are use to Claim Jumper portions then of course this place is not yours but come on now.... who needs that much food? Everytime i've been here i would order one sushi plate plus one hot noodle plate and that would make me feel bloated and satisfied! The spider rolls here are $4!!! Where else can you find that kind of value? my favorite dish is the stirfry udon plate served on a hotplate. It's very delish. This place is more traditional than other sushi places so you wont get as much variety in the fancy roll sushis but what they have is really good. So if you are a first timer here make sure to call for reservations otherwise you might have to wait long hours for an opening. This is my new favorite place!!

Pros: cheap food

Cons: have to make reservations to get in.

06/29/2007 Posted by cutebirdie

This was my first time back to this family restaurant after 8 years. First of all, they don't take reservations--understandable, since people tend NOT to show up. Second, their hostess (older woman) was rude to walk in customers--her tone, her demeanor. Good grief, these ARE customers, so she should've been more friendly and tactful vs. grouchy and pious. Third, the food, although reasonably priced, was just okay. The evening turned for the worse when the waitress went to remove our dishes. As she was removing our dishes at the end of our meal, she was bumping the dirty plates against our clean clothes--we tried to move aside and just as she took the last dish, she spilled the leftover sauce all over my clothes! There was no apology from the owners, no mention of a complimentary meal because of it. So, the idea of good business sense, has seemed to have left this restaurant's senses all together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND LET US NOT FORGET.....that this is a Japanese cuisine style restaurant, which means, lots of small dishes per person. Guess what? We had to keep asking where the rest of our meal was; if you're a person who doesn't frequent this style of cuisine, you may not even know you are missing your soup, your rice, your cucumber salad, because EVERYTHING IS ON A SMALL SEPARATE DISH. Enough said. If you go here, wear a bib, apron, and be wise to know you must check what's in front of you so you won't get cheated.

Pros: Price

Cons: Service, Parking, Etiquette, Average tasting food

02/14/2007 Posted by chris_d

I love Maneki, as do many of my friends who come over from Japan. It has traditional Japanese food, but also has several dishes that fuse the Pacific Northwest seafood and flavors with traditional Japanese. The only two downsides I can say about the place is that in the last 2 or 3 years it is getting way too popular: the wait list has grown to making it impractical to go to unless you made reservations. The other downside is that I used to go in and see that the majority of customers were Japanese, and the server spoke very little English. Because of its increased popularity outside of the Japanese community, we are seeing less Japanese patrons and the waitresses are nissei and sansei (very Americanized Japanese). It may have lost some of the Japanese ambiance in the past few years, but the food is still very good!

Pros: Great food, feels like an izakaya

Cons: it is becoming too popular

01/23/2007 Posted by m_w_t

This is a place I used to go about once every month or two while I was still in school. I liked it a lot because the price was reasonable. Even though the place is pretty beat up, it has a warm atmosphere because of their long history. Value-wise, I would say it is one of the better places to go for low-end Japanese food in Seattle. Highly recommended for students and people on a tight budget!

Pros: Cheap and decent food

Cons: Don't expect to get great service

09/30/2006 Posted by sixdollamakeuholla

service: holla! food: holla! cuts: holla! beer: holla! locale: holla! owner: holla! full six hollas! maneki is best in west.

Pros: six hollas

Cons: none