Awright dammit...let me preface this thread by saying that I had a very light lunch yesterday and skipped dinner after working out at the gym for an hour and a half...went out for cocktails yesterday evening, went straight to bed, and now the next morning I'm HUNGRY as HELL and reading the food threads on this BBS has made me even hungrier! Since lunch is a full 4 hours from now, what am I going to do??? Start another food thread!! This one deals with my favorite....SUSHI. Where do you like to go get sushi in Houston? When I first moved back here in 1998, I couldn't find a decent sushi bar to save my life. Living in LA for 12 years, I got sushi spoiled. I tried Miyako on irby, and hated it. Rather than eating at Mi-yuck-o or any other place, I just passed on sushi in Houston. Now, 4 years later, there are two great sushi bars in Houston that I know of, and they are both close to each other in the Village. The one I like best is Azuma, on Kirby, directly across the street from the Big Easy blues club. This place makes great sushi. Killer saki selection. And a very cool vibe going on with lots of fine-looking honeys. A great hang spot. My close next favorite is Kubo, just down the row from Two Rows in the structure at Morningside & University. Almost as good as Azuma, IMHO. Although I prefer Azuma, I will eat at Kubo's anytime, and it is damn good. I even broke down one time and ate at Yan Sushi, the drive through place at Holcombe & Greenbriar. I was scared as hell, but the sushi, although not the best in the west, was pretty damn OK, about a 7 out of 10. For the price, it was damn good. Where do you H-town sushi freakz like to get your fix at?
The first and only time I ever tried sushi was at this all you can eat Chinese buffet in League City (Grand Buffet), and I didn't enjoy it very much. I didn't know that sushi quality varied so greatly....I mean, fish is fish, right? I guess the locale wasn't the best, but it's hard to get sushi if you don't live in a big city...
Sushi quality varies greatly. It's all in the freshness of the fish and the talent of the sushi chef.
The best place is in midtown, next to the bar named Seven. It used to be called Blowfish, but I forgot what they changed it to. Badass Sushi. Cafe Japon also has decent Sushi. The only one i know of is off of Fountain View and Westheimer.
It's now called "The Fish". It's on Gray near Bagby. They had to change their name from Blowfish because the Blowfish in San Francisco objected. I actually ate at the Blowfish in San Francisco two weeks ago, and it was great. Both places have great sushi.
My favorite is Kaneyama (Westheimer towards Richmond). Handrolls are amazing. Fish is buttery fresh. Another good one, in an odd place, is Matsu on 1960.
Go to Coco's on the corner of Richmond and Fountainview. Ken, the owner and sushi chef, is a really good guy. My brother went to high school with him. The place rocks on the weekends, Ken starts pumping out the good tunes and the sake starts flowing like water. Good times.
Kirins by Willowbrook Mall is oh so good. There is only 2 Kirins I believe but don't try the one at westhiemer because that one sucks, but the one by Willowbrook mall, right beside Sams Boat is the best. And if you are a big balla and you feel like spending more cash then Todai is the place to be. Nice sushi, great seafood with lobster tails, crawfish, fresh shrimps and many other crap that taste pretty damn good. The buffet is great as well and the dessert is good too! The sushi here is just making me hungry now! Look what you did.
Miyako's at Bay Area is good. Go around 11-2 and get the buffet, all you can eat sushi. I saw Richard Hidalgo there last week.
Dude, I love Miyako downtown...The Clear Lake one is ok, but the buffet cheapen's the quality... Kiran One (???) off of Richmond is pretty good and it is a buffet... Backdoor Sushi in River Oaks is ok, but too pricey... I love Salmon and the Philly roll...I could eat that all day long...
I like Mikado on Woodway just outside the loop. Nothing too fancy, but the sushi is always fresh, very very tasty, and cheap. I've been to Azuma twice - saki selection is top notch. My issues are that the waitstaff really doesn't speak English that great and was slow and unattentive. And it is relly pricey. But the Hot Rock Beef is fantastic. Ozuma on Westheimer just east of Montrose has the best wasabi dumplings. Ginza on San Felipe outside the loop is decent. Cafe Japon was okay...nothing that great. I really hated Todai (if that is the buffet place). Sushi wasn't that great, imho, it felt like a Japanese Luby's, yet it was $25 bucks a person. And it made me sick. But I know other people who really like it.
Ichibon in Kemah has really good rolls....as well as good Udon. Same thing with Kubo. I like Kubo enough, I've never ventured into Azuma...I guess I'll have to change that. As far as regular sushi (not rolls), I've never had the best luck in Houston. The best sushi I've had in Texas has all been in Dallas (and I deplore saying good things about Dallas). The best sushi I've had ever has been in Vancouver, and the best I've had in the US....well, that was in Dallas too....but outside of Texas would be Connecticut.
RMT now tries out his newfound hypnosis technique on Pole: Go to Azuma Go to Azuma Go to Azuma Go to Azuma Go to Azuma
I agree with everyone else that liked Kubo's, Miyako's, and Ichiban's. I've tried Tokyo Bowl in CL: the sushi was good but the place has no atmosphere. If you are in a hurry for sushi there is a company (not sure the name) thant makes sushi at the newer HEBs and Super Targets that is good.
Ken Takagi, right? That's wild, I used to run with that guy back in the day...always under the influence of one illicit substance or another. Haven't been to Coco's in ages, I'll have to stop by & say what's up. For the non-sushi lovers, they've got some awesome, from what I remember, yakatori-style chicken & whatnot. I second the Kubo's nomination, now thanks to RMT I've got to hit Azuma...maybe today.
