Ichijiku, which until now has had only one location on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, is opening its second one in Houston on Tuesday, April 29. It will be located in the Bellaire Food Street center in the former Pepper Lunch space at 9393 Bellaire. Bellaire Food Street also houses coffee shop Tom N Toms, Taiwanese dessert shop Tiger Sugar and noodle bowl house Migo Saigon Food Street, just to name a few.

Ichijiku, the name of which translates to “fig” in Japanese, focuses most on the type of sushi called nigiri — seasoned, formed rice topped with fish or other ingredients — served in the Edo-mae tradition named for Edo, Japan. The tradition was developed before refrigeration was widely available and involves preserving and showcasing fish at its best using techniques such as marination. Ichijiku also serves maki, or sushi rolls. 

The new Houston Japanese restaurant comes from the same owners as Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge in Montrose, and they also opened the original Ichijiku in L.A.. They are Russell Malixi, a native Houstonian, Wade McElroy — both of whom spent time in the mid-2000s opening additional L.A. restaurants and bars such as Ma’am Sir LA and Horse Thief BBQ — and new partner Ross Leedy, an oil and gas executive. 

Ichijiku’s chef is Masa Osawa, a native of Japan who has 30 years of experience both in his native land and the United States. His past work includes Shimbashi Izakaya in Del Mar, California (a coastal town just outside of San Diego) as well as at chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s high-end and ever-expanding Japanese restaurant chain, Nobu. Osawa specifically moved to Houston to work at Ichijiku. 

While the sushi offerings are intended to be of high-quality, the atmosphere is relaxed. “We are excited to introduce Ichijiku to Houston and share our love for Japanese cuisine with the community,” said Malixi. “Our menu is designed to showcase traditional dishes without the fuss of swanky, modern sushi establishments.”

Guests order à la carte or can guide their own omakase experiences and opt for one type of dish or sushi at a time or order a box of the chef’s creations to arrive at the table at one time. The à la carte menu includes not only the aforementioned selection of nigiri and rolls, but also specialties such as Japanese omelet, spicy tuna crispy rice, Spicy Scallop with House Hot Sauce, Lobster Miso and salmon skin hand roll with gobo root, bonito and cucumber. Hand rolls start at $7 each. 

Ichijiku is open daily for dinner only starting at 4 p.m. and also accommodates take-out orders. Reservations can be made on OpenTable.  A representative for the company says the OpenTable reservation page is being set up and will be available soon. We’ll add it to this article when it is. 

Phaedra Cook

Phaedra Cook has written about Houston’s restaurant and bar scene since 2010. She was a regular contributor to My Table magazine (now closed) and was the lead restaurant critic for the Houston Press for two years, eventually being promoted to food editor. Cook founded Houston Food Finder in November 2016 and has been its editor and publisher ever since.