Take a Look at This Six-Seat Houston Omakase Restaurant from Chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi
At new Houston restaurant Sushi Horiuchi, Amadai Uroko-age, Japanese tilefish, is fried so that the scales become delightfully crunchy. Here, it's served with konbu dashi foam and an edible violet. Photo by Chuck Cook Photography.
Longtime Houston chef Manabu Horiuchi aka “Chef Hori” just opened his most-ambitious project to date: a six-seat omakase restaurant, Sushi Horiuchi. Located next to Katami at 2701 West Dallas, the $300-per-person experience features rare fish, seafood and meat imported directly from Japan, and the menu changes based on what the restaurant can acquire that is prized and seasonal.
Some of the dishes available on the initial tasting menu are an innovative Pecan Tofu accented with trout roe, hirame (olive flounder) with caviar, Wagyu Sukiyaki & White Truffle, Uni Two Ways, ehime o-toro (a premium cut of bluefin tuna from the belly) and kamasu oshizushi, a pressed sushi featuring Japanese red barracuda.
The sake pairings also can include some surprises. One example we saw was a 2016 Daishichi Minowamon Junmai Daiginjo from Daishichi Sake Brewery, which was established in 1732. It’s made with the Kimono method, which involves laboriously mixing steamed rice, koji, and water with long paddles and relying only on natural fermentation. Guests also sampled Katsuyama Akatsuki, normally only available by the bottle at the restaurant for $600. Sake pairings are available for $100 per person or $200 for premium options.
Last week, Horiuchi was named a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, a national-level award. (This is actually Horiuchi’s fifth time to be a James Beard Award semifinalist, as he was up for Best Chef Southwest and later Best Chef Texas in 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2020.) Unsurprisingly, available reservations for Sushi Horiuchi filled up immediately. However, new reservations open 30 days in advance at 10 a.m. daily Tuesday through Saturday at Resy.
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.
overprice….people are so wasterful