Kyōten Sushiko
Sushi restaurant
4600 Mueller Blvd #1035, Austin, TX 78723
Highlights
Elegant destination offering high-quality sushi & reservations-only omakase menus, plus beer & sake.
Elegant destination offering high-quality sushi & reservations-only omakase menus, plus beer & sake.
"One Austin chef, Otto Phan of the now-closed Kyoten Sushiko, was so frustrated that Michelin didn’t exist in Texas that he left the state in 2018 for Chicago, reopening his restaurant with the very specific goal of earning a Michelin star (which, as of this writing, has not happened yet)." - Nadia Chaudhury
"It will take over the former space of Kyōten Sushiko at 4600 Mueller Boulevard in March 2021, with the blessing of Kyōten’s founder and chef Otto Pham." - Erin Russell
"Kyoten Sushiko has closed permanently. Under chef Sarah Cook, it served omakase and bento boxes to-go since March. Founding chef and owner Otto Phan noted that the restaurant's lease was ending and cited personal leadership failures as the reason for closure. Pham originally opened Kyoten Sushiko as a food truck in 2014, moved it to Mueller in 2016, and relocated to Chicago in 2018, where he opened a new restaurant of the same name." - Erin Russell
"The spartan high-end omakase restaurant is offering to-go orders Wednesday through Sunday with individual rolls, poke bowls, and sake and wine available to go, as well as an omakase box with dessert on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for $90 per person." - Erin Russell
"Japanese sushi restaurant Kyoten Sushiko is now reopened in Mueller at 4600 Mueller Boulevard as of Wednesday, May 1, although open reservations are available starting tomorrow, Friday, May 3. Now the restaurant is under the guidance of chef Sarah Cook, who had been training under Kyoten owner and founder Otto Phan up in his Chicago restaurant of the same time since earlier this year. “The breadth of this training experience has given me an intimate understanding of a restaurant of this high caliber and character at every level,” Cook told Eater, “and has allowed me to focus on expanding my voice and vision.” With Cook’s leadership, the restaurant will only offer omakase dinners. It’s to “focus even more on harnessing the energy of the ‘now’ and delivering that immediacy to guests,” she explained, “as well as working to unite guests not only with the perfect end results but with the process of growth and creation, eliminating the moments in-between.” She promised that “it will be a revolutionary dining experience.” The multi-course omakase will feature items like nigiri made with mostly Japanese fish, as well as wagyu beef and avocado, plus other non-sushi dishes like congee. The reservations-only meal is $150 per person. Concentrating on only omakase means that Kyoten won’t serve its previous daytime casual lunch menu anymore. As part of the rebirth of the restaurant, the space underwent a change as well. To answer those calls of its decidedly stark space and lack of ambiance, as noted by Austin critics, there are now homey details in the omakase room (artwork, plants, flowers, and even a curtain). There’s also a new lounge that looks like a living room with couches, chairs, pillows, and even books. Kyoten’s omakase seatings are held on Wednesday through Sunday at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Phan opened Kyoten as a sushi trailer in 2014, and followed with the restaurant in 2016. He left Austin last summer to open a new restaurant in Chicago because it’s “a Michelin-starred marketplace” (the Chicago spot made GQ’s best new restaurants list this year)." - Nadia Chaudhury
