Brian T.
Yelp
Wow. Just wow. Absolutely stunning. I have to say this has to be one of the top dining experiences I've had in Houston...and I'm a native Houstonian. Big thanks to Zain R. for giving me this recommendation for a date night.
Our reservation was for 7:30pm on a Saturday night. While other sushi restaurants inside the loop were completely booked weeks in advance, Soto surprisingly had an open schedule and this makes me think they fly under the radar, because this was surely a gem.
I'm generally not a fan of valet parking but this place has complimentary valet that was quick and seamless. Given that it's right off Westheimer near the Montrose area, this is to be expected.
I ordered us the regular omakase experience, which is 18 courses for $150 per person. They also have a premium omakase for $250 per person, but the regular was excellent for us omakase first-timers.
Upon Zain's recommendation, we sat at the sushi bar, which was totally the right call. The chefs interacted with us and chatted it up as they prepared our courses. As we watched them prepare some of the dishes, we'd nosily ask what they were making and the chefs happily explained the dishes and even some background too. Shoutout to the head chef, Chef Moto, for being so cool and making our experience so great! And the chef di-rectly in front of us, Chef Ben, was really fun and being in his early 20's, mastered the art of sushi.
The regular omakase featured a wide variety of dishes, from sushi to wagyu steak to tempura. Some of their signature dishes were included on this, like the salmon over fire, lobster tempura pops, and chocolate foie gras. My favorite of the omakase was the salmon over fire - basically raw salmon filets placed over a mini spit for cooking atop a plated fire! Super unique and a fabulous presentation, definitely went on my Instagram.
In addition to the omakase, we ordered a few extra dishes off the menu - because it was a popular daily special, chef's recommendation, or we were tempted seeing it at a nearby table. Among these were the nodoguro nigiri, ikura guncan, and toro yukke. The ikura guncan is salmon roe topped with salmon - the salmon roe reminded me of popping boba. The toro yukke was a salmon tartare - very similar to French beef tartare, but salmon, and topped with an egg yolk. This one was the true winner of the night out of all the dishes I tried. The flavors were so complex and took my tastebuds through so many profiles - salty, savory, and hint of sweetness. Just wow.
Our server Cindy was excellent from start to finish. She attended to us from the time we sat down, bringing us hot hand towels, to the time we left, constantly coming by and checking on us, refilling our wine and making sure we were content. She thoroughly explained every dish she brought out to us, and was knowledgeable about some of the dishes we saw at other tables and were curious to know more about. While refilling my water at one point, Cindy accidentally over poured, but was super apologetic for the mess and made it up to us with Japanese whiskey shots. With this kind of treat, I almost wished she spilled more water!
For drinks, we ordered a bottle of Loveblock sauvignon blanc. While looking through the wine menu, we were conflicted between the Loveblock or the Duckhorn sauv blancs. Cindy offered to bring us a sample of each, which I totally did not expect. But it definitely helped us decide on the Loveblock, which was the lighter of the two and we thought would pair better with the sushi, which it totally did.
Additional extra touches we totally did not expect. I indicated on the OpenTable reservation that we were here for a date night. After all of our courses? They brought out a cake birthday dessert for us - not sure if it had anything to do with the reservation, or if they were just being totally nice. The owner, Chef Andy, also came out to the counter later and chatted it up with us. He was super knowledgeable but humble - I never would've guessed he was the el jefe around here! After talking to us, he offered us another Japanese whiskey shot, which he took with us too. And upon my partner mentioning he likes gin, Chef Andy brought around a Japanese gin that he poured a sample of. Free shots - what a vibe!
Again, just wow. This was over a week ago and we are both still left awestruck from this experience. I'm hooked on omakase now - knowing how great of an experience we had here at Soto, I just want to keep coming back since I know the menu changes, but also know that Houston has so much more to offer in the omakase world. It will be a tough call for next time whether we want to come back or branch out. But one thing I know for sure is that we'll be back sooner than later because their happy hour menu looks awesome. Thank you to Chefs Moto, Ben, and Andy for an unbeatable date night experience we are still talking about today!