Seduce Your Palate at... 

moto-i

moto-i is the first sake brewery restaurant outside of Japan. Located in Uptown, Minneapolis, moto-i is a full service restaurant with liquor, beer, wine and, of course, sake! moto-i makes draft sake or namazake. Nama is unpasteurized, and needs plenty of care as it can never get warm.

Our menu is reminiscent of an Izakaya, a Japanese Pub. With small plates as well as noodles and rice dishes, we incorporate many Asian ethnicities and keep the focus on street food of the best Asian Hawker

Meet chef Jason Engelhart (*see below), experience the highly acclaimed sake - brewed right on sight!  And there's always the gourmet goodie bags....

*excerpt from Rick Nelson's "Small Plates, Big Impact at Moto-i"

Star Tribune

"The menu's small-plate section really shines, and not just for the aforementioned dumplings. I'm crazy about the steamed buns, slider-size sandwiches filled with crispy caramelized pork belly glazed in a thick hoisin sauce or pulled roast chicken splashed with a fiery chile sauce. Because they start with first-rate beef, pork and chicken from Minnesota family farms, the juicy grilled skewers require little or no embellishment. Engelhart does a more-than decent bulgogi -- the traditional Korean grilled beef -- and has a nice touch with kimchee (Korean fermented vegetables), steering clear of using brined shellfish but obviously not timid with the sweat-inducing seasonings. Salads, including a refreshing crab-avocado blend and a pretty toss of spicy mezuna and paper-thin shears of cool Asian pear, clearly embody Engelhart's keep-it-simple ethos.

There's no sushi -- praise the heavens -- but Engelhart, a total rising star, offers a daily sashimi special, showcasing beautifully cut fish so clean-tasting that you wonder if the restaurant keeps a standing first-class reservation on Northwest. Tempura is restricted to a single (and, frankly, so-so) sweet potato effort. Less expected are the thin slices of a rich, distinctively pungent terrine made using monkfish livers, the so-called "foie gras of the sea." Even the chicken wings, a throwaway at bars from Stillwater to Shorewood, are worth ordering.

For larger appetites, Engelhart produces a handful of rice and noodle dishes, with mixed results. I find the noodle dishes a little oddly one-dimensional, but the rice dishes -- save a dull Thai fried rice -- are something else. A bowl of rice topped with smoky chicken, mushrooms and a meticulously prepared coconut milk-green curry ranks near the top of my favorite dishes to eat right now. A fried tofu/red pepper/Thai basil combination, finished with a slow-burn red curry, isn't far behind."

Take note:

Must be 21 to attend