My friend, Margaret, is easily one of my favorite dining pals. Like me, she’s a pretty adventurous eater, so when we go out for a meal, we like to get a good taste of a menu and try a lot of things. We also always make a point of getting together for a good meal every mid-November to celebrate our birthdays that are only three days apart.
[Fun sidebit: Margaret and I were friendly in college (go, Terps!), but hadn’t seen each other for years until we randomly re-met at a playgroup on Capitol Hill when our now almost 18-year-olds were tiny babies! We’ve been hanging out on the regular since.]
It’s these two things that brought us to Love, Makoto, the Japanese food hall that opened last spring just blocks away from Union Station. We were deciding where to go for our “Turning 51” meal, and when sushi came up, she suggested the spot for lunch. We could get sushi… and more. Neither of us had been, and we were both very curious about the spot.
A look at the ramen before I get into it
Love, Makoto is located in a development called Capitol Crossing at 200 Mass Ave NW in what they call “Capitol Hill’s business district,” which is interesting because I always think of Capitol Hill as they neighborhood where I live, east of the U.S. Capitol. Anyway, the food hall is a short walk from Union Station or Judiciary Square Metro stations, and it’s also not too hard to find street parking in that area.
So many options
Onto the experience… Walking into Love, Makoto is when I learned it’s actually more than a food hall. Immediately when we stepped inside, there was a restaurant to our left, a large roomful of tables with grills at the center. Someone came to greet us and explained that area was Beloved BBQ and Dear Sushi, which are only open in the evenings 5-10pm. As the names imply, they are a Japanese steakhouse where you grill your own meat and a sushi restaurant that offers an omasake experience for $85. (A friend actually just dined there, and said it was great).
Hiya Izakaya has a daily happy hour 4-6pm
Margaret and I continued down a long hallway, at the end to our left was another empty restaurant/bar, Hiya Izakaya, with a menu of snacky and skewered dishes that is open 4-10pm (happy hour 4-6pm). Across from there, when you turn a corner to the right, the fast casual Love on the Run section comes into sight. In the center of it all is a digital kiosk where you order, to the right is a counter and kitchen behind it, and the rest of the space has tables for self-seating.
The Love on the Run space
We made our way to the kiosk and started exploring. The menu includes everything from sushi to ramen to dumplings to sandwiches and salads to soba and udon noodles to desserts. We ordered something from almost every section to share (except the dessert, so we could see what we had room for): The spicy hamachi sushi roll, wasabi Caesar salad, spicy miso ramen, steamed pork and ginger dumplings, and spicy wagyu bread.
Which to dig into first?
Everything was delicious… the ramen flavors rich and satisfying, the sushi so fresh and interesting, the pork dumplings had a perfect gingery bite. We both loved the salad that has bonito flakes in place of anchovies, a yummy kick from wasabi peas instead of croutons, and grilled chicken to make it a heartier dish. My only slight complaint would be the spicy wagyu bread was very spicy — next time, I’ll get the mild — but it was still very tasty. Portion sizes were ample — we easily could have eaten just one dish each — but, like I said, we like to try a lot of things! And I feel the need to note that we sampled them all, and made a decent dent, but a good portion came home, too. 🙂
Needless to say, we were too full to go for the dessert, but we will definitely be going back for it — following a meal at Beloved BBQ, Dear Sushi, or Hiya Izakaya. After the sampling we got, we’re very excited to try the rest!
Love, Makoto (Love on the Run)
Where: 200 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC
When: Daily, 11am – 10pm
Follow: See more @lovemakotodc on Instagram
*As noted above, parts of Love, Makoto — Beloved BBQ and Dear Sushi are open 5-10pm and Hiya Izakaya is open 4-10pm.
Have you been to Love, Makoto? Let us know what you thought, if so!