In 2005, just below M St. on 33rd, the charming Chez Mama San restaurant opened. It offered a Japanese spin on European dishes (hence the bilingual name). Despite receiving mostly good reviews, the owners of the restaurant, Izumi and Miki Yoshimoto, decided to close a few years later. Keeping the upstairs space as a gallery for Miki’s art, the first floor was converted to J. Chocolatier.
Sadly J. Chocolatier decided to close up shop several months ago. The upshot is that we get a nice Japanese restaurant back. Early this month, Kintaro quietly opened up. GM hasn’t had a chance to try it out yet, but Yelp reviews look pretty good so far.
The menu looks like it offers pretty straight Japanese fare. Besides Chez Mama San, the Yoshimoto’s also were behind the late great Japan Inn, which once stood at R and Wisconsin (seeing the restaurant’s old cherry trees die off one after another is a sad sight). So Kintaro has a good pedigree.
Anyone try it out yet?
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
This is great news. But like you, I miss the old Japan Inn. Just what we needed – another Bank du Jour.