Address: | 2940 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408, USA |
Phone: | +1 612-821-6262 |
Site: | moto-i.com |
Rating: | 4.2 |
Working: | 12PM–2AM 12PM–2AM 12PM–2AM 12PM–2AM 12PM–2AM 11AM–2AM 11AM–2AM |
CA
Casie A
Totally chill spot. Great food; awesome, friendly, helpful staff. Theres a kewl upstairs with local open mic artists and such on certain nights. My fav is that they always show sumo wrestling and the food network on the TVs; and if you come on the right night, they play old kung fu movies with tha sound up, and other fun movies. Must visit!! The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5, was that I am still mad that they took away their sweet potato fries like a year ago. They were amazing!!!! Now they have Idaho fries. No thank you. The sweet potato fries were the best in uptown! Bring em back!!!! UPDATE: The recipe for the chicken steambuns changed?! Gross. I sent them back. I never send food back. There is no sauce or flavoring on them. It is a plain rotisserie chicken inside a plain steam bun. Dots of sauce inside, thats it. Huge disappointment... N the drinks were ridiculously weak tonight, even with my favorite bartender! No one seems to care tonight. Ive purchased four top shelf cocktails n tipped $4/ round just to be still left craving the taste or feeling of my alcohol at the end of it all... All this after a bad night of service at the sister company, Herkimer. What a bad day in this company. At least $75 down the drain in bad service, food, n value in one company tonight. I wont be back for a while. You guys are better than this. -So disappointed
BE
Ben Overmyer
moto-i is my go-to pub when Im looking for a decent sake or eclectic Japanese/Korean/American-fusion food. The sake, brewed by moto-i itself, is a unique selection of namazake varieties. moto-i proudly showcases these, and though they dont carry sake other than their own, theres something for everyone. The beer selection is small but good, featuring a number of local breweries as well as national favorites. Bud Light fans need not apply. The food is all unique. The "JFC" - Japan Fried Chicken - is a clever and tasty riff on an American classic. The steamed buns are wonderful. In particular, the "Benny Buns" (a cross between steamed buns and eggs Benedict) that you can get on a weekend brunch are one of the best brunch/breakfast foods Ive ever had. The atmosphere is dark but inviting, and the way the three floors are laid out makes for a very cozy drinking or dining experience. There are several TVs above the bar, and all are playing different things, ranging from Japanese and Korean TV to the Food Network. Definitely not your usual bar TV. Theres also a Fantasy Sumo league, though I havent checked that out myself. If youre up for something new, or youre a fan of sake, I highly recommend giving moto-i a visit.
A
A Private User
Stopped in with a couple friends to check it out. Place was pretty empty on election night. I showed up shortly after my friends and the waitress didnt bother asking me if I needed anything to drink when she stopped by. Ended up having to ask her when she stopped back with my friends sake order. Sake was decent but not great. People that dont havent had sake before wont likely find a problem with it but more experienced sake drinkers may not think much of it. Beer list is nice. Mixed drinks are decent as well. Menu is decent but lacks the sushi you would expect at a place like this. Food was decent at best. Both orders of chicken wings we go were VERY undercooked and had to be sent back where they proceeded to blacken them to a bit of a crisp. Thai rice was decent but not great. Amount of chicken you get for an additional $2 was almost unnoticeable.
NI
Niyah Muhammad
I dont know how this place gets 5 stars... or even 2! I went here for a friends birthday and ordered some Ramen. Now, Im not an expert on what Ramen should taste like, but I know for a FACT that it should NOT taste like whatever the hell that was that they served me and the group I was with. The water was lukewarm and slimy, there was cold egg yolk floating around in the "broth", and the noodles were soggy and bland. I have had AMAZING Ramen in the past, full of flavor and vibrant with spices and a variety of vegetables and proteins. The broth was to die for. Unfortunately, the place that I ate that life changing Ramen is not in the state of MN (theres also a pretty decent place on Nicollet that is worth trying out). I will never go to this place again, even if its the last place on Earth serving Ramen.
IS
Isaac Mullin
I love their drunk noodles. If youre sitting on the ground floor or at the actual bar, service is very quick. However, the last couple times Ive sat on their rooftop (which is beautiful), and the service took far too long. Most recently, we ordered a drink downstairs while waiting to be called for an open table. The server noticed our drinks so he didnt ask if we needed one, but he also never asked again the whole dinner -- which included waiting 15 minutes to order and another 40 for two entrees. All that before even beginning to eat. To their credit, I think its just a challenge to run a rooftop restaurant when your kitchen is two floors down and the elevator is super slow. Again, I will definitely be going back -- just dont go to the rooftop if youre expecting prompt service.
A
A Private User
The sake isnt bad, but the waitstaff is stuck-up and bad. My boyfriend and I went for happy hour on a Friday night (after a very long, crazy week at work). Neither of us had felt like dressing up much, so we didnt look like the rest of Moto-is trendy crowd. Several servers walked by or looked at us for the first 15 minutes we were there, but would not stop to take a drink order. Finally the bartender had to cajole one of the servers to come to our table. We ordered a sake flight and an appetizer. Got the flight, but not the appetizer. Sorry we werent trendy enough for you, Moto-i. Youll be happy to know that after such a terrible experience at your place that night, we went over to Tiger Sushi and spent quite a bit of our money there.
CA
Caitlin Percy
The food was good when I received it, I had a pork bun and the avocado rice special for that night. About 10 mins after finishing though I began having an upset stomach so I excused myself early from our dinner party. Halfway through the ride home I started getting shooting pains in my stomach. This persisted throughout the night and through most of the day. Its now a dull ache but without going into too much detail, I havent gone 10 feet from the bathroom. The food I had here was the only thing I had eaten 5 hours previously. I have no food allergies, so it is quite unsettling to think this was due to poor food/kitchen hygiene
A
A Private User
The worst food ive had in Minneapolis and probably the worst service ive had in a while. I eat a ton of Asian food and this restaurant is not a "Japanese" restaurant - they cant make ramen! How can you mess up ramen? The broth tasted like smokey fat and the noodles were raw and cold. Beef skewers were cold and the steamed dumplings had a hard coating on the edges (stale). I had a little bit of everything off the menu, and it was absolutely disgusting. The service was very slow. Thankfully there was sake, so that i could drink the pain and disgust of the food away.