Uchi

12/03/08

Best restaurant I've ever been to... REALLY!

by ankurbhai at Citysearch

Amazing restaurant with amazing food every time. Try everything when you go (not just the stuff that doesn't scare you). The people watching is fun when you have to wait outside and the servers and cocktail waiters are awesome.

I highly recommend going before you get hungry as you'll probably have to wait a long time for a table. If you are with a significant other, SIT AT THE SUSHI BAR. It's a great experience. Let them put together the meal for you. The goat cheese and apple sashimi is amazing.

• Pros: The food is amazing. The servers are very nice. Fun atmostphere.
• Cons: Bar and sushi bar are both too small. Long wait.

10/26/08

Best place to eat in Austin

by dlsomers at Citysearch

The food here is simply spectacular! The atmosphere is quite, yet modern and elegant. However, the food is unique and bold, offering parings and combinations that are surprising and delicious! Try the brie sencha, it was one of the best plates I have ever eaten. All the other plates also we tried offer a delight for the diner. Highly recommended!

• Pros: Great food, service, ambience
• Cons: a little pricey

05/16/08

My favorite sushi splurge!

by lizlovestoeat at Citysearch

Sushi is my favorite type of food, so I enjoy Uchi once or twice a year to treat myself. Be prepared to savor your food - don't rush the kitchen or the sushi chefs, and you won't be disappointed. Take advantage of the attentive waitstaff to order just one dish per person at a time. The sushi (both nigiri and rolls) is lovely, always just what I'm after. I don't usually order sashimi, but this would be a great place to do so - the fish is impeccably fresh and expertly prepared. I order the buttery-rich maguro with goat cheese every time I visit, though I also make a point of enjoying a couple of the daily specials as well. The grilled mackerel is also always particularly succulent and satisfying. I hope they never take the Valrhona wasabi fondant off the menu - it's an indulgent finish for a chocoholic. Uchi gets a bad rap for being pricey, but everything needs perspective. Frankly, it's not expensive on the same scale as, say, New York or San Francisco sushi; and Austin IS a landlocked city, after all. A leisurely hour-plus dinner for two (with 3-4 cocktails) usually comes to about $100 before tip.

• Pros: Perfect for intimate dinners and small (3-4) groups, excellent food, consistently good service, quality cocktails and great wine/sake list, hip ambience but still relaxed
• Cons: Parking is limited, reservations available only before 7 pm, impractical for groups larger than four

03/23/08

great date spot, hip austin restaurant

by danedanetx at Citysearch

This place is NOT overrated. We were completely satisfied with our evening spent there and it is one of the best restaurants in Austin, both my date and I work at fine dining Austin restaurants and know what to expect when we go out............We expected to take our time dining and ordering as well as to spend a good amount of money......We ordered three different kinds of sake and seven different dishes.. all spectacular.. it was a great experience. The restaurant is sleek, dark, and modern and each server and food runner was knowledgable with our choices brought to the table............. I have been craving Uchi ever since and recommend it to anyone!!

• Pros: Above par service, exceptional dishes, perfect pacing of orders, awesome date
• Cons: Did not have one thing to complain about here.

03/23/08

Excellent Japanese Fusion

by suelpen at Citysearch

Uchi definitely has some of the best and freshest ingredients in Austin.

At some times there are a few too many posers hanging out there, but most

of the time, the atmosphere is great and those who go there to show off to

a date seem to have gradually diminished. Those who go there expecting standard

sushi fare may be a bit disappointed, even though the sushi rolls are very good.

What really distinguishes Uchi are the innovative small plates such as Hama Chili,

Fried Brie Tempura and many others. Uchi also serves some more or less traditional

Japanese dishes, for example, their Saba Shio (grilled mackerel) is fantastic.

The prices at Uchi are actually very reasonable, considering the quality of their

ingredients, for example, many of the small dishes (such as Saba Shio) cost less

than a plate of fried mozzarella sticks at a crappy chain restaurants. The daily

special dishes can be a bit more pricy, especially if they involve high end ingredients

but those are well worth it. Make sure you try dessert as well, their Cracked

Peppercorn sorbet, Wasabi fondant and peanut butter semifreddo are outstanding!

For more traditional Japanese food, I would recommend Mushashino but for a great

taste of Japanese-inspired food, Uchi is definitely one of the best places.

• Pros: Fantastic food at very reasonable prices
• Cons: Some times, too many posers and wannabees...

09/04/07

A Dining Adventure

by sixx82 at Citysearch

Uchi is like no other sushi restaurant I have ever been to. The server started off by saying, "If you want to order off the menu, you can do so. Otherwise, I can make some suggestions or just bring dishes I think you'll enjoy." Now, in the past I may have asked servers for some ideas, but I have never trusted my entire meal to someone. In short, I'm glad I did.

I was there on Friday night with four other people. We had to wait a bit for a table, but no more than thirty or fort-five minutes. We decided to share everything that came, and through a combination of what we chose and what our server brought to us, I had one of the most amazing dinners I can remember. Everything was fresh, flavorful, artfully presented, and just downright tasty.

Uchi gets to be expensive very quickly, so I don't go here often, but it's wonderful. Make sure you have the Shag Roll.

• Pros: Amazing food, trendy atmosphere
• Cons: Expensive, though you get what you pay for

08/17/07

Amazing fusion Japanese cuisine

by worldtaste at Citysearch

I've read many of the reviews. The biggest complaints are from people who order items they expect from the typical boring Japanese place. Don't do that at Uchi! You don't come here for pieces of sushi on a plate or a rainbow roll. You come here for a taste extravaganza. I've seen macadamia nuts, blueberries, and crispy thin sweet potato sticks incorporated into delicious raw and cooked fish dishes. The taste explosion is immense. You pay a lot, because you can't stop ordering all of those tiny plates of delight. Some are not so expensive, some are. One of my favorites is the seared fois gras which came with a tiny globe of sorbet and a mint leaf (I think) plus something else amazing I can't remember. That was very pricey but amazing. I've tasted sushi in Tokyo, L.A., New York, Philly, Barcelona, Miami,... Uchi is extremely difficult to beat, impossible by a "fish on a plate" place.

• Pros: Taste, creativity, impeccable service
• Cons: Wicker decor, odd wallpaper

07/25/07

All around wonderful!

by kace32 at Citysearch

I thought this place was EXCELLENT! The food was very good and fun to eat. Our waitress did a wonderful job. She explained every dish that came out including how to eat it and what to expect. She did a great job on her recommendations too. I can't wait to go back! And, even if you do have to wait for a table, they have a bar and a great outside patio thats wonderful to relax in and wait for a table.

• Pros: Great service, great food, great ambience
• Cons: It's busy so be prepared to wait

05/19/07

Crowded, but worth the WAIT! LOVE IT!!

by astro09 at Citysearch

This restaurant is GREAT! It's not like your traditional Japanese restaurant. Instead the restaurant offers more of an American fusion twist on Japanese food. The ambience is great, the service is excellent, and the restaurant reminds me of the excellent and fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas. I got the tasting menu "omakase", so I got a little taste of everything the restaurant had to offer me. The lobsterettes with truffle risotto "isse ebi sotto" , the carpaccio appetizer, and the hamachi cure are to DIE FOR! Everything else I had was also excellent, but those three stood out to me. Everything was brought out quickly despite the volume of other people eating there (the place was PACKED!! recommendations recommended, for sure!). Mmm, I love this place and I will definitely be going back again and again..

• Pros: Excellent food, Great ambience, Good value - definitely worth the price!
• Cons: Crowded, loud inside

05/09/07

Oh Uchi

by uptowngirl_vs at Citysearch

Coming from washington state, I'm kind of a sushi snob, but this place lives up to the hype. Everything was fresh and all the dishes were creative - had Omakasa style dinner with all chef's selections. My favorite was tuna appetizer with goat cheese, toro nuta, mustang roll and peanut butter semifredddo.

It's expensive but worth it!

• Pros: Creativity, ambiance, service