The Vibe:

I have been to Uchi in Austin and I’ve been to the one in Houston a few times now, heck I even have a bday gift certificate waiting for me, but for whatever reason I remember the interior of the one in Houston being decidedly different from the one in Austin, and it’s not. For some reason I thought it was darker and cooler colored tones, but the walls are red on the far wall just like in Austin. Additionally, I thought there were more walls in the one in Houston, and they’re aren’t. The dining room is pretty open for the most part. But the atmosphere is good enough. Because once the food starts flowing, the background really just fades away.

Our waiter was a charmer to say the least. He was very attentive and also knew how to treat the ladies right, recognizing our girls night out and playing masterfully into the conversation. He was a doll. At the end of the night, my cousin left my number for him, which was a little funny but alsopainfully awkward after the fact, and he knew. Ha, whatever, you miss 100% of the chances you never take.

The Food & Beverage:

First I have to note that the wine we ordered was phenomenal! My cousin has this wine recommendation app that she’d been using, and the best suggestion that came up was for theDonkey & Goat Stone Crusher Roussane. It is this funky, dry, weird punch to the mouth, but you can’t help but love the absurdity of its color and unconventional flavor. I highly recommend it if you’re into experimenting go to Uchi any time soon. The bottle retails around $60 something and the price at Uchi was $80 something, so you’re also getting a pretty decent value.

I honestly couldn’t tell you everything we ate… Of course our servers told us, but we didn’t pick a single thing that was delivered to the table. We specified that we wanted a mostly raw menu and then let the magic of Uchi be unleashed on our tastebuds. The only things I remember are the Japanese sea bream, salmon belly maybe, compressed watermelon and tuna, the king crab, and the dessert, which was the Peanut Butter frozen gelato thing (it’s really good), but we probably had about three other pieces of sushi. Back to the sea bream, I really loved it. The texture of it was seriously like butter. It was so silky and smooth, not even really like fish. I’m just never let down by what they can do there.

The Verdict:

Nothing really to say here, folks. It’s Uchi, of course I’ll be back as often as my wallet will allow, and if ever people suggest it for a meal. The food is described as “sublime” by some. That’s strong. What I really need to do is start making a point to go to happy hour more often even though it’s something absurd like 5:02 - 6:41. You know, some impossible, mythical time, that makes it super difficult for people to actually get there in time and enjoy the food at a discounted price.