Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar — Restaurant in Fort Worth

i had been looking forward to trying hatsuyuki for a long time, and unfortunately the service completely ruined the experience.

for context, i used to live in dfw and now live in houston. i've recommended hatsuyuki to numerous amounts of friends over the years based on its reputation alone, even before trying it myself. after this visit, i can no longer do that and will not be recommending it anymore.

when my friend and i arrived, no one greeted us, even though a staff member saw us walk in together. i went to the restroom while my friend asked about the wait for one person (for me) and was told 1-1.5 hours. he then asked about two people, in case it would be faster somehow so then he would take up a seat and watch me eat, and the host repeated the same estimate in a snarky tone. since my friend doesn't eat sushi, he clarified we only really needed one seat, but the host responded with visible attitude, mentioning there was two of us - which confirms that he saw us walk in and didn't greet us. regardless, he put down for one seat.

despite being quoted a long wait, we received a text just 20 minutes later saying that one seat was ready. when i checked in, the host kept repeating "one seat" sharply multiple times. he handed a staff member a menu, so i assumed i should follow her - but when i did, he actually YELLED at me, saying i had to wait. this could have been communicated calmly at check-in instead of resorting to repeated, petty reminders of "one seat." i probably should have just left at that point, but i was visiting from out of town and wanted to try the food out.

while i was waiting after being yelled at, two other guests who checked in after me were greeted warmly, seated immediately, and even made conversation with the host. the inconsistency - and the fact that I was yelled at while they were treated nicely - was frustrating and completely unnecessary.

once i finally sat down, things didn't improve. my food wasn't coursed properly and came out in the wrong order. i waited 20 minutes just for two pieces of nigiri, while hand rolls and crudo trickled out slowly afterward. what could've been a 30-minute meal stretched to over an hour. i still ordered more than the two guests who checked in after me and were seated ahead of me, which made the repeated "one seat" comments feel extremely petty and again unnecessary.

the food itself was fantastic - fresh, flavorful, and easily some of the best sushi i've had in dfw. it's just a shame the service didn't match. only at the end of my meal did entire staff suddenly become friendly, which felt forced and too little, too late.

if hatsuyuki ran their business this way in houston, where competition for quality sushi and attentive service is much higher, they wouldn't last long... AT ALL. they're extremely lucky (and seemingly ungrateful) that this omakase concept hasn't popped off in the dfw area yet. the food here is incredible, but until they learn to treat guests consistently and respectfully, i cannot recommend it.

despite being treated undeservingly, i still left the...

Absolutely world-class. You can eat here on a budget sticking to their lunch specials or a few handrolls. But, I encourage you to go all-out and ask for omakase where the chef personally selects multiple items for you.

Things that make Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar standout: small but well appointed space has a great "vibe" best sushi rice I've ever had extremely high quality fish/meat - very fresh deep selection (not just the same sushi you find at every other sushi place in DFW) excellent fresh wasabi attentive, skilled staff

If you don't go for omakase or handrolls, go to the back left and take a picture of the chalkboard of specials so you can study it at your leisure when seated (it's hard to read from a distance).

I'm including photos from our omakase experience. It was absolutely stunning in presentation. Watching the chef carefully focus on our dining experience as he handcrafted each piece right in front of us was visually exquisite and indicated to our mouths the delights we were about to taste. You'll notice on some of these pictures some microcuts in the fish which were purposefully placed to heighten certain aspects of the sushi or add a light oil or ... whatever the chef felt was needed.

We had oysters, tuna, snapper, scallops, uni and even true Japanese A5 wagyu!

Let me also talk about the rice. I don't know the magic involved, but their rice is the BEST sushi rice I've ever experienced. And I eat a lot of sushi. I did not know you could elevate rice, but Hatsuyuki elevates rice. Soak that in for a moment. They actually care so much about every part of your experience, they figured out how to make rice part of the show in a meaningful way. Delicate, yet firm with a pleasant taste and perfect texture. Rice. Unbelieveable!

The dining room is small so there is usually a wait. It's worth it. Go now. Seriously.

3/29/22 Update: I'm not changing the score, yet, but I had my first bad experience at Hatsuyuki and it was completely based on very poor service that left me feeling unwelcome - in fact, I left rather than eat there. I'm hoping it was just one rogue employee and not reflective of a shift in their overall service. What happened? I received bad customer service and walked out. Unfortunate. I finished up a job down the street and went over for lunch - walked in at 1:40pm and the place was full but there were two dirty spots at the corner by the register. After 3-4 minutes someone came to greet me and I asked about those spots and he said, "bro, that'll take like 10 minutes to clean." I couldn't believe it! Even if you don't want to have a paying customer eat today, why would you leave dirty dishes sitting in front of your customers already seated? So I left and I'm disappointed. Lowering from 5 stars to 4 based on this experience and, they lost me...

This was my second time there and first time eating. My first time there it was a 90 minute wait. I wouldn’t mind waiting, but there’s not really any place to sit/stand out of the way. I wish they had like a waiting area where you could get drinks and stay in the AC. They have less than 30 seats (no tables, all bar stool seats) and it’s always crowded. Even on a Tuesday at 9 the wait was about 45 minutes for a single. I doubt they could seat more than 4 unless you get there right when they open.

The host, server, and chef were all very nice and anticipated your needs. They were very efficient and I was in and out inside of an hour. However, that can be a bad thing if you’re trying to enjoy the experience. Nigiri is best eaten immediately after it’s served so that the rice is still warm from the chef’s hands and the fish doesn’t dry out. But if they’re serving them left and right, you don’t really get a chance to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. I get it, they’re busy and trying to run a business, but I would have liked to enjoy the experience a little longer. Also, with the loud atmosphere and masks, it was extremely difficult to hear the chef tell me what he was serving.

The food was pretty good. This is personal preference, but they use a lot of oils/sauces/spices and such, which kind of overpowers the delicate flavor of fish. It also makes it extremely difficult to eat the nigiri. Nigiri is meant to be eaten with your hands, fish side down so it hits your tongue first, but that’s difficult when they put sauce and things on top. A lot of the nigiri was also hit with a blow torch, which to me kind of defeats the purpose of sushi, unless it’s necessary for the fish. I believe they did that for the tiger shrimp, gintara, and the salmon belly. I know gintara (cod) is susceptible to parasites, and this may just be supposition, but they probably blow touch it as part of the teate just to be safe (even though the deep freezing should make it safe).

Anyways, enough nit picking. All in all the food and service were both very good. My top picks for the night were the red crab, the blue fin ootoro (which melts in your mouth, but see the note below), and the salmon with truffle ponzu. The rice really made the nigiri and the wasabi balance was pretty good.

HOWEVER: Atlantic bluefin tuna is endangered and Pacific bluefin tuna is vulnerable. I don’t know the distributor they get their fish from, but there is no fishery where bluefin is not on Monterey Bay SeaFood Watch’s “Avoid” list. I didn’t realize it was bluefin until after I ate.

TLDR: Go, but be prepared to wait. It’ll be worth it, but avoid...