Uchibā Dallas — Restaurant in Dallas

Odd/bad experience - First time visit, last time. I’ll stick to facts. I will say that for our dishes we did actually receive they were mostly good.

We came and ordered upfront over $500 of food (normal for this restaurant). The restaurant when we arrived was max 70% full and dropped to 40%. Lots of 10+ person tables which for a waiter, can’t blame, is the big fish.

They took 45 min to get our second drink and the waiter came by once and apologized, very nicely, and the second time said they actually gave it to another table (odd but we were ok because we had received 2x dishes of the 15+ we ordered and were happy to space out the only two drinks we were having).

Then after we received 1/3 our meal it took an hour to receive anything else. Our booking was at 7:15 and it was 9:00pm when I flagged down our waiter and said “we just want to pay for what we had and leave. I am sorry if y’all take a long time and we didn’t know or if you’re a chef short / someone didn’t show up.” The waiter then disclosed he served our remains 2/3 of dishes to other tables and apologized.

The manager then came over and was nice but said “Sorry if you weren’t aware of the experience”. They “comped” the dishes we didn’t receive. And she had to confirm what we ordered and what we received as she didn’t know and disclosed a lot of dishes had been showing as “fired” but we did not receive. And saying how they would charge what we ate so the waiter could still be tipped.

The waiter came by again. And said how sorry he was and please come by again to let them him do a do over. (I didn’t say we’re not coming back again). He said again how our dishes went to wrong tables? We paid for what we ate, they said they “comped” the most expensive dish for us, otoro, but we actually never got it (was not going to say anything)… we tipped, left, and went by Chipotle on the way home.

It was my birthday and I guess what I get for trying to do something fancy. I justhoped if you pay more you get good service but that’s not that case.

Save the money, the prétention, and go to Oishii for 1/10th the price and out of the 30x we’ve been there, never bad service.

Just my experience - very odd, made me feel guilty for trying to do something nice I had planned for 1+...

I was eating solo at around 9pm, so I opted to sit at the sushi bar. The view of the kitchen was nice. I noticed that while everyone seemed to be busting their tails, the staff seemed to all interact positively with each other and seemed to enjoy working there. Good, mellow vibes. David and Chef Sonny (sp?) took great care of me. They assisted with food and drink recommendations and were very attentive of my dining needs. I chose mid-priced drinks and dishes. All in all, I spent around $100. I enjoyed the yuki no bosha and hakkaisan sake drinks. Both were light and refreshing. No lingering flavors. Cool. Crisp. For my meal, I had the east coast oysters (kumquat ferment and cilantro oil), zero sen makimono (yellowtail), madai crudo (sea bream), and the a5 wagyu beef (Thanks Chef!). Everything was so delicate in texture and full of flavor. I wished the oysters had a little kick of spice. Chili or something. I’m not sure what. But being from Florida, oysters border on being a staple and we eat them with some horseradish or hot sauce - so spice is what I’m familiar with. Also, in the kitchen’s defense, I was determined to try them, despite being inconspicuously advised against. The yellowtail sushi was phenomenal, but it was not as mild of a fish as I was expecting. (Not a complaint, just an observation) I definitely recommend this roll. The wagyu was so tender, it literally melted in my mouth. But my favorite (veerrryy close call with the wagyu) was the madai crudo. The flavors within the dish were perfectly complementary. The sprinkle of coarse salt on top brought out the different sweets and savories. This was one of the best dishes I’ve ever had!! To complete my meal, I ordered the infamous fried milk. So glad I did! While I was plenty full at this point, my tastebuds took charge and I found room for the treat. Definitely recommend! From ambience to service to food, this was a fantastic solo dining experience. I can’t wait to come back and try some of the more daring dishes - the loins, livers, bellies,...

We arrived at 5pm when Uchiba opened and the venue was already rather full. We booked a seat at the bar thinking there would be omakase service. Seating was at the very end of the bar by the kitchen entrance (ask for a seat away from the kitchen. Not very romantic and kept getting my seat hit by passing servers). The rest of the restaurant looked beautiful. It was too bad we couldn't see most of it. The food came out pretty fast, but the sushi portions on the happy hour menu are more like amuse bouches. I'd stick with the other menu items. Items ordered off the happy hour menu & rated 1-5:

Yellowtail 3 (tiny portion) Salmon 1 (3 poke pieces) Pork skewers 5 (lame name, but by far the best bite) Wagyu dumplings 2 (barely any filling) Chicken meatball 3 (not bad, not the best) Tempura cod 1 (tasted like cheap fried fish from long john silvers) Pork jowl sushi roll 4 (nice crispy bite) Nashville hot chicken 3 (large portion but lacking flavor) Mini burger 4 (not that mini, double patty, but lacking salt) Black sesame short bread semifreddo 4 (tasted like a fancy Twix bar) Fried milk 6 (always delicious) Complimentary yuca chips with edamame jalapeño hummus 5 (without this we probably wouldn't be full. Delicious and the spread works on the burgers lol)

All together with 2 cocktails, the total came out to be $140 before tip.

Servers were friendly so we tipped $28

If I were to go again, I'd order more pork skewers, the burgers, Yuka chips, cocktails, desserts, and called it a night for half the price. Although our neighbors got the wagyu beef tartar sushi rolls that sounded rather tasty.

Remember to book away from the kitchen and bring a jacket in the winter time, even in the restaurant. Worth a try for business meetings or a after work bite and drinks with co-workers on a Friday night for the ambiance ans quick service. Overall the price is fairly reasonable for the service, taste,...