Uchi Austin
Sushi restaurant · Bouldin ·
Creative Japanese fusion with fresh seafood and unique dishes
Creative Japanese fusion with fresh seafood and unique dishes
"Between places like Sushi Fumi and Jinpachi, the best sushi in West Hollywood is typically found in small, bar-like settings. But that’s not Uchi. This upscale Japanese restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd. looks like a high-end airport lounge with multiple dining rooms, a separate bar area, and a large street-facing patio. The menu is equally large, so stick mostly to the unique-sounding hot and cold dishes that catch your eye, then pepper in a few rounds of nigiri for the table. The daikon salad with crispy rice, smoked yellowtail on a yuca tostada, and the sakana mushi, flaky white fish braised in a sweet tom kha broth, are all standouts." - brant cox
"Despite being just a short walk from Zilker Park, Uchi isn’t a place you should show up for after an afternoon of disc golf and sand volleyball. There’s a casual elegance to the restaurant—it’s the type of place you can dress up a little, order some excellent sushi and Japanese fusion plates, and feel all of your worries instantly slip away. The service is hard to match, and every plate feels more special than the last. If that’s not the recipe for a perfect, intimate birthday dinner, then apparently we have a lot more dining out to do. Reservations at Uchi open up one month in advance, and they tend to go fast. If you want to secure a prime time seat, you’ll want to be there right when reservations get released, but even the off-hour tables get snapped up about three weeks out. You can also show up right when Uchi opens and usually snag a seat at the bar (or sometimes even a table). The plus side to an early dinner is you’ll also have access to the excellent Happy Hour. Uchi also has two sister concepts—Uchiko in Rosedale, and Uchiba Downtown—both with very similar menus, and tables that go about half as fast." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
"An Uchi reservation is like a golden ticket to a great date. Sure, it’s pricey—too bad that golden ticket isn’t made of precious metal—but this is the kind of place you come to celebrate. The dining room is in an old remodeled house, giving it an atmosphere that feels both cozy and cool, with a dimly lit interior that will hide the fact that you forgot to iron your shirt before heading out. And if you don’t have a reservation (bold move for an Uchi date night), they reserve a handful of spots at the sushi bar for walk-ins, so you might just get lucky after all. Reservations at Uchi open up one month in advance, and they tend to go fast. If you want to secure a prime time seat, you’ll want to be there right when reservations get released, but even the off-hour tables get snapped up about three weeks out. You can also show up right when Uchi opens and usually snag a seat at the bar (or sometimes even a table). The plus side to an early dinner is you’ll also have access to the excellent Happy Hour. Uchi also has two sister concepts—Uchiko in Rosedale, and Uchiba Downtown—both with very similar menus, and tables that go about half as fast." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
"The Deal: $6-29 dishes; $6-10 sake, $6-$20 wine and beer, $9 cocktails Uchi is best known for their sushi, but what they should actually be best known for is their “sake social,” the daily happy hour during which you can sample excellent rolls and classic Uchi bites for a fraction of the price. If you haven’t been, you’re doing things all wrong. We like to get their tasting menu, which costs around $60 a person. (P.S. this happens at their sister restaurants Uchiko and Uchiba, too.) Reservations at Uchi open up one month in advance, and they tend to go fast. If you want to secure a prime time seat, you’ll want to be there right when reservations get released, but even the off-hour tables get snapped up about three weeks out. You can also show up right when Uchi opens and usually snag a seat at the bar (or sometimes even a table). The plus side to an early dinner is you’ll also have access to the excellent Happy Hour. Uchi also has two sister concepts—Uchiko in Rosedale, and Uchiba Downtown—both with very similar menus, and tables that go about half as fast." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
"You can’t talk about sushi in Austin without Uchi’s name entering the conversation. The team behind this sushi and Japanese fusion restaurant have built a mini-empire spanning multiple states and concepts, but it all started right here in a cozy renovated house on South Lamar. Uchi has a core sushi menu with classic pieces like salmon or yellowtail, but the really good stuff is on their toyosu section—named after the famous fish market in Tokyo where the fish gets flown in daily. The sushi here tends to be on the smaller side, like well-proportioned nigiri that hasn’t fully grown yet. They also have two other spots in town, Uchiko and Uchiba, with similar menus. Reservations at Uchi open up one month in advance, and they tend to go fast. If you want to secure a prime time seat, you’ll want to be there right when reservations get released, but even the off-hour tables get snapped up about three weeks out. You can also show up right when Uchi opens and usually snag a seat at the bar (or sometimes even a table). The plus side to an early dinner is you’ll also have access to the excellent Happy Hour. Uchi also has two sister concepts—Uchiko in Rosedale, and Uchiba Downtown—both with very similar menus, and tables that go about half as fast." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
