Uchiko Austin — Restaurant in Austin

So I'll admit this review might be biased because my friends hyped this place up, saying it was a nationally renowned Japanese restaurant, and I'm a bit more critical of Japanese restaurants. As a restaurant itself, the food is ok, with some definite gems, but the service felt incredibly pretentious but also lack luster and lazy. Our main waitress in the beginning I thought was nice, energetic, and attentive, but my friends thought she was a bit over the top and weirdly defensive. By the end of the meal I saw what they meant, when she came over to snap at us that our receipt was INDEED itemized... despite none of us saying it wasn't or asking for an itemized receipt. When we told her none of us said anything about an itemized receipt she apologized for ease dropping. Also apparently this place cant split bills, but you can calculate what everyone owes and tell them what price to put on each card... but isnt that splitting? The other staff that waited on us (we had various staff bring out the different parts of our course meal) ranged from standard service to "here's your food. What is it? Who cares" kind of attitude. The first guy put our food on the table and mumbled what it was as he was walking away. Maybe once or twice they also took our plates we weren't finished with. The food was OK, but for the price and prestige I expected a little more and although this place describes itself as a "non-traditional Japanese concept" they should just call it what it is, a Japanese southwest fusion,  a fusion I have yet to see be done amazingly. All but one of our party of 5 got the happy hour omakase (8 Course meal $108 for 2) which is as follows

Hot sake This was more like "kind of warm sake" at best. The sake became lukewarm pretty quickly after pouring. Had to drink pretty quickly so it didn't go completely cold

Course 1: Half an endive with toasted rice seasoning Was OK for a starting dish, flavor didn't really standout, not very Japanese besides the toasted rice seasoning (not furikake, literally rice puffs with seasoning)

Course 2: Avacado nigiri The sushi was actually really refreshing and the southwest lime flavor was good, but was just 1 small sushi, literally a bite

Course 3: pumpkin tempura with Sansho mayo I like pumpkin tempura, but this was a Lil odd. Served with jalapeños on top and what I believe was sansho mayo (a green sauce that was on the heavy side). The flavor was OK, maybe a little heavy, but the tempura texture was odd, like a cross between tempura and panko. Wasn't terrible though, one of my friends said it was their favorite.

Course 4: Otoro maki with pickled daikon This was my favorite dish! I love otoro!... but putting it in a roll, that's like putting putting hamburger halves in a hotdog bun or hotdogs in a hamburger bun. Sure, everything's there but the experience isn't quite right. We also wondered if it was really otoro at first, but upon unwrapping it, it did look like otoro.

Course 5: Akami nigiri Basic tuna sushi, just 1 sushi, 1 bite

Course 6: Scallop crudo I love the sweet and creamy flavor of scallops, however in this dish the sauce completely hides the scallops flavor. The sauce was OK, a spicy citrus cream sauce, but because I couldn't taste the scallops, they could have traded the scallops for Tofu, and besides texture, the flavor would have been the same.

Course 7: Wagyu and fries served with greens in a vinaigrette The beef had a strong char on it that gave it a charcoal kind of flavor, which sadly was the only flavor the beef had. With the tallow sauce the beef was good, but good beef doesn't need a sauce. The fries were really good! The salt on them was no normal salt! The greens were also good. My couple friends said this was their favorite course

Hamachili Before getting dessert we got the hamachili because it was still happy hour and apparently this dish put uchi on the map, and it didn't disappoint! The Hamachi with chili sauce and mandarin slices was a really good combo!

Course 8: matcha cheese cake with berries and crumble Ok dessert, not...

TL;DR Stellar service (ask for our waiter! Name below), punches at its price point, have to get lucky on seating and Austin's pest problem.

We had a reservation at 4 and were seated within 5 minutes. Initially, we found it strange that some walk-ins were seated before us, but there was no big wait and so no worries. There are two bars for about 25 total bar seating spots, and many tables.

Allergies: Uchiko's stellar service is reflected in their attention to dietary restrictions. I had zero problems here and my waiter confirmed every time.

Service: Make a reservation, ask for Nate Crockett. He was amazing and really made our special meal even more special with a celebratory course.

We did the Happy Hour Omakase. At this time, I may actually recommend discussing with your waiter what the somakase looks like, since they can customize around your taste and budget. The omakase is only half fish dishes:

Course #1: Avocado Roll (2pc each) with yuzu and tamari salt. Nothing too special (3/5).

Course #2: Ko Salad (Baby Romaine with daikon, topped with miso rice and with a jalapeno edamame sauce), they took off the Thai pesto for nuts. I loved how they wrapped this to all stay together. (4.5/5)

Course #3: Scottish Salmon hand roll with their own Crying Tiger (nuoc mam) fish sauce. This could be better wrapped to stay together, but was tasty (4/5).

Course #4: Hama chili - Yellowtail in Ponzu sauce with Thai chili and oranges. I thought the Ponzu and citrus were overpowering here, but it was good. (3.5/5)

Course #5: Bluefin Otoro Gunkan Fatty Tuna Belly. One piece each. Star of the show. (5/5)

Course #6: A5 fat washed fries with Denver dry aged sirloin steak, seared 4 times, with bok choy: Mixed opinions here. Fries were okay. Searing the meat doesn't hide it from being a sirloin - not the most tender, though a very interesting texture. Some of our pieces were drier than others. The bok choy was a unique spin with the char. (Me 4/5, partner 2/5)

Course #7: Milk and Cereal (Fried milk, chocolate mousse, ice cream, cereal): Awesome palette cleanser. (4.5/5)

A la carte / off-Omakase:

Crispy potatoes: Delicious aioli and the shallots really tie it together. Wish the portions were larger. (4/5)

Sea bream madai: Little chewy. Lovely lemon zest to hide it though. (4.5/5)

Bluefin tuna zuke: Deliciously marinated while retaining the tuna texture. (4.5/5)

Gyudon with short rib and egg (sous vide for three days): We liked this more than the seared meat. The short rib really melts in your mouth. Great small bite. (5/5)

Bluefin Otoro sashimi with wasabi: 5/5 no comments needed, stellar.

Jasmine Cream: The granola mixed with cream and pineapple just somehow worked. Not too sweet. Great end of the meal. If you prefer less sweet desserts I'd get this over the milk and cereal. (4.5/5)

Criticism: We got seated by a window and seemed to be the center of attention for a number of blowflies. Really annoying for a nice meal. It's hard to avoid in Austin, but I hope they do something about it.

Overall, amazing experience led by Nate C. and the staff that are very knowledgeable about each course.

Overall: Service: 6/5 Value:...

Overall experience was fantastic and I’d recommend Uchiko to anyone looking for creative flavour pairings and a subtle spin on Japanese cuisine, but since it’s going for a high-end fine dining experience, I’m nitpicking the details with the 4 ⭐️ rating.

Went on a Friday for happy hour (4-6pm). Booked a table a month in advance so had no issues securing a reso.

Food: Seafood quality is superb. Wasn’t expecting much coming from the PNW, but it was delightful. Tuna didn’t have any of the sinew in it. Rice quality is also top notch. Wasn’t mushy and had structure.

Must try: gyutoro nigiri, hama chili, milk & cereal

Gyutoro is a house staple for a reason. Probably one of the top 5 things I’ve eaten. The light crisp from the sear and buttery chew as it mixes with the rice is a lingering sensation I will think about for a long time.

Hama chili is fun and refreshing. The citrus and chili pair so well with hamachi. It seems so obvious after tasting it, but never thought to combine them together like that.

Milk & cereal is like a top 5 dessert for me. First bite made my eyes light up like fireworks. They use Captain Crunch which was so nostalgic. No notes.

Plates & Utensils: Given how much thought goes into the unique flavours for each dish, it warrants having a fresh plate after each round. I don’t want sauce from the toro taku temaki mixing with the hama chili. Small detail, but important when the experience is all about tasting the creative flavour profiles of each dish.

I don’t mind that they use disposable chopsticks, but a holder for it or paper sleeve so I can origami my own would’ve been a thoughtful touch. Don’t want my utensils touching the table and having it perched on my personal plate was fine, but would’ve been cumbersome with getting a fresh plate. Again, small detail, but deterred from the overall elegance of the plating.

Gyudon was exquisite, but the spoon given was awkward to use with the shallow dish. Made it somewhat hard to scoop out the rice. A soup spoon would’ve been better.

Service: Staff was attentive and kind. They took away plates promptly when we finished with it and refilled our water regularly. Can tell Uchiko has a great team in the kitchen and out front.

Bathrooms: Needed more care and attention. Garbage was overfilling in the women’s and the men’s had urine on the floor.

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I’m impressed with the dishes Tyson Cole has created and would definitely considering coming back for the gyutoro and milk & cereal alone.

Worth checking out during happy hour to try more of...