I got a recommendation to try this place from a friend at work. I've only been to one other Omakase place in Austin, but the friend who went here told me it was so good that if she only had one one meal left to have in Austin, she would come here. I made a reservation for the first Thursday of the month because that is the day that they do a discounted and shorter version of their traditional omakase so basically you get a 15 course meal,Including a "toast," or glass of wine or sake before the dinner starts for $200 (including tax and service charge). if you come on this Thursday. Otherwise I think it's a $200 before the tax and tip with a service charge for the regular 20 course menu. Overall, the vibes of this place are truly immaculate. I did go to the free toast before dinner which started at watertrade, the bar just outside of the restaurant itself. The low light vibes are very sultry and inviting, they also have some nice seating areas within the restaurant in addition to seating at the bar. The menu is fairly long, it also has a really cool seasonal theme to each of the cocktails, but you can order any cocktail at any time of year, regardless of whatever the seasonal theme was that inspired the cocktail. As for the service - it's really immaculate. I put in my reservation that I was celebrating the end of my second year residency, and literally every person on the staff went out of their way to wish me congratulations when I came for dinner, which I thought was such a nice touch. They also had personalized the menu to include a congratulations note on the back of it with my name and everything. The food itself was really phenomenal, there was a great variety and I certainly still left full even though it was a shorter course menu than the regular one. I also had a cocktail I ordered separately for $17, it was called the tongue cut sparrow, and it was always recommended to me by the bartender when I asked him for a drink that was a little bit sweet, but not too sweet. When we were back in the main area where the food is, there's only one single bathroom for use, but it's very clean and spacious. Overall, they do an excellent job with ambience here, you get exchange of your cutlery and plates in between courses, and you also get a warm damp towel to wipe your hands with in between some of the courses. I really appreciate the effort they made to provide a variety of different dishes, and of course, the effort that both the chef and the servers made to describe all the dishes and answer questions about it. I ended up meeting a guy at the bar who was really friendly and happened to order the sake flight add on, and he let me try his sake since I didn't buy it. The sake actually was really good despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of hard liquor - the third of three tastes a lot like Makgoli (Korean rice wine).
Something to be aware of is that the parking is a little bit confusing; you should try to get into the hotel garage from Monroe Street as opposed to Milton Street. I had to circle after turning on to Milton and I was confused about it. You get validation on the ticket that you get from the garage entrance once you get inside in the restaurant. Basically they'll put a sticker on your receipt and when you're leaving, you scan the barcode on your original ticket and then scan the barcode sticker they give you to get out. In addition - the spots in the garage are pretty small. I parked in the farthest corner I could find and there was some old furniture there that was VERY difficult not to hit while getting into the spot... so that's not great but it's kinda the only option.
One other thing is that the first Thursday of the month the other restaurant inside the South Congress hotel (Maie Day) hosts an event where people can come basically to drink and party with live music. Otoko had reached out to me by text telling me there was going to be an event, but I didn't realize it was going to be an event like that (it was QUITE crowded outside the restaurant). When I came out of Otoko from dinner, there were a lot of people dancing and partying kind of like in a club except it's outside in the courtyard of the hotel; it was quite loud throughout the whole time I was going in and out of the restaurant, but while you're inside the restaurant you actually don't notice it. They did have drinks outside at that event, but they were not for free so I didn't stick around. That said, the live did seem kind of nice. Overall, i had a really fantastic experience despite parking confusion and I would absolutely come here again if anybody invited me; however, I'll I won't be coming frequently just because of the price which is a little bit expensive. That said, for omakase it's really not that bad. Give it a try if you're in or around Austin! read more