Aiko — Restaurant in Houston

Review of their Valentines Omakase:

It was my first time here, and I gotta say, the sushi quality eclipses what I’ve eaten around Houston. Very fresh and flavorful fish. What a gem.

Kaki: Clean taste with fresh zest of the yuzu with a nice Chile flavor with ya slight bitterness. The oyster had a relatively neutral but clammy taste to it. The Yuzu infused granita provides an interesting textural variation that melts in the mouth immediately with hardly any grittiness to it. Weirdly lacking much salt to it.

BGP: Fresh smell of yuzu. A nice high quality fatty salmon that works well with the slightly sweet orange in the mango. The pickled kumquat adds a nice sourness to the dish that pairs well with the sweeter components. Mango zu is an intense mix of citrus and mango that gives the dish its aromatic pungency.

Nigiri set Suzuki, very sweet and tender, has slight yuzu notes to it. Kanpachi, slightly smokey and the chives pair well with the delicate fish. Shima aji: Heavy mushroom notes that is very nice and not overpowering. Fuji masu: Very tasty mayo combined with the trout nigiri is very good.

Handroll Seaweed quality is good mixed with the salmon. Sushi rice is a little mushy however. Chopped up salmon mixed with garlic is a nice combo.

Yawagarani Crab is concentrated shrimpy flavor and has a nice combination with the creamy buttery sweet potato and fennel puree.

Hamachili: Umami-Garlic bomb, cilantro cuts the intensity and the heat from the thai chili adds a nice texture.

Akami: Nice lean tuna with oniony notes Chutoro: Reminds me of hainanese chicken with ginger scallion sauce Toro: Melts in your mouth, simple pickled wasabi adds a nice little acidity.

Maki: Melts in your mouth fried scallop with refreshing cucumber avocado.

Wagyu: Melts in your mouth with a solid beefy flavor. Chives and garlic go well with it.

Foie Gras: Tastes like a sweet roast duck with crunchy rice cracker

Matcha semifreddo: Strawberry reduction is kinda not sweet. Matcha semifreddo is good combo of bitter and sweet but hard to scoop apart. Cookie crumble is a typical salty vanilla crumble. Overall not great, not terrible.

Add on: Muskmelon: Is stupidly juicy with a strong sweet melony flavor. Very good. Still the best dessert item

Update: Their $95 omakase is also really impressive for the price. However, I find their scallops a little on the bland side and their other desserts don’t taste...

update 11/8/25

came in for an early dinner and sat at the sushi bar. i was too hungry so i didnt really take photos. their hh has great prices, hh from 5-6:30pm.

i appreciated the chef hiroshi getting the hint that i didnt want to wait in between dishes, i just wanted to eat and that's exactly what happened which i appreciated. he was friendly.

honestly everything was so delicious. it left me feeling happily full. my fav was the negitoro maki. each piece literally melted in my mouth, i almost ordered another but was more eager to try new dishes. got the kombu kelp salad which was a great starter. the unagi nigiri was perfectly warm. the musk melon was amazing for dessert. it was refreshing and sweet, it only comes with 4 small chunks but I could prob eat 10+.

i guess the only thing that left me feeling meh was that they were too prompt with taking away the dishes and refilling the water; i felt rushed.

saturday dinner, place got crowded pretty fast even before 6pm. i like how they did with the place. def a major upgrade since their first opening years ago. and the colorful ducks were adorable.

and while they do offer valet, you can self-park too and i self-parked. way easier.

decided to give this place a try. wasn't too busy on a weekday dinner time which was good. the restaurant looked very empty, no decoration whatsoever, maybe they should put some stuff because it felt like i was eating at school lunch table lol.

our server lisa was friendly, and all the food we got were good. cant choose a favorite honestly because all of them were palatable and delicious. the handrolls were def awesome.

the drink menu wasn't appealing and the guy (didnt catch his name) recommend a soda cocktail (not on the menu). i tried it and it was so good! i recommend it. we tried mochi for a dessert but i wouldnt get it again.

overall it was great but nothing too special. and i wasnt too thrilled with the price lol $150 each? id go somewhere els. but oh well, i was hungry! idk if i would go back because it didnt struck me a wow or anything.

oh and the parking is weird, it's on the side, a bit weird and dangerous looking. with the price i was expecting a valet service...

Another Restaurant Week first try, Aiko. While it was good, I was informed that it was compared to Katami. I'd say it compares more to Kata Robata.

The hostess, however was rude to our guest on his arrival. Not sure if it was racial or common practice. But I was ready to leave, if it wasn't for my other guests wanting to stay.

We arrived for our reservation of 3. Promptly seated before our 3rds arrival, noting they were close by.

On their arrival, speaking with the hostess, he noted we were inside seated. Hostess told him, "all parties are full and seated." Wouldn't allow him to go back. Luckily I texted him, where to find us and that we've been seated. Once he showed her the text, she finally allowed him to go behind the curtain to join us.

Now that that's out the way, the starter menu. Get the Oysters!! It's a must. We order 2 more sets after the first, that's how good they are.

Unfortunately on our visit they were out of a variety of items we were there to try. Such as the A5 Wagyu Toast, Otoro, Hamachi Hara, Engawa, among others. Per the server: this was in due to being slammed that weekend due to restaurant week. #restaurantweek

We started off with the Omakase Special as our beginning courses. As it had 3-4 of the choices we were wanting to try. Then ordered other dishes from there.

Not one item was bad, the freshness and flavors always came through. Definitely worth a visit and try if you enjoy Omakase style establishments.

The Muskmelon - sweet lemon at the end was also a nice finishing touch. I'd suggest people to try if they have never had it.

Just to be clear - Our server was Excellent - she was prompt, made suggestions on our preferences, and a delight to be served by. I rated the establishment low on service solely on how the Hostess poorly handled my guest.

Average price per person here will easily reach 100+

Apologies for the darker photos & videos, lighting is harder in a dark lit room.

We would love to try the items we went for on our next visit, but hard to know when they would be available...