Hokkaido — Restaurant in Houston

We came here on a Saturday evening for dinner, and the place was pretty packed. It's not hard to miss and is pretty easy to find. When we got in, there were a few tables in the back that were free, so seating for us wasn't really a problem. The interior was cozy and had a few decorations around, but it was a tad run down like what you'd expect at asian restaurants.

The line was pretty short and the cashier was quick and helpful. The menu layout was easy to read, detailed, and pretty organized. They offer a lot of rice, sashimi, and noodle dishes, but I decided to order the nabeyaki udon, which was basically thick soup noodles with 2 thinly sliced fish cakes, chicken, spinach, egg, and 1 fried shrimp.

In addition to the regular menu, they give you a separate list of sushi to order from. There were a lot of choices, but I ended up getting the Shaggy Dog roll based on my friend's recommendations.

The food came out really fast despite the good amount of customers there. While you wait for your food, they have complimentary black bean soup and miso soup for you to down. I didn't try the black bean soup, but the miso soup was really refreshing. It had wakame seaweed and tofu inside, with a complimentary bowl of fresh scallions for you to add.

The udon was what you'd typically expect. (I kind of regret getting it since they have complimentary soup). It was piping hot when it arrived, and the soup was flavorful and the noodles were nice and soft. I had to take out the fried shrimp because I don't like soggy fried foods, but that's just my preference. I spent a long time trying to look for my egg (haha), which ended up stuck to the bottom of the bowl. The tabeyaki udon's great if you're an anime/manga fan like me, since this is the typical udon you'd see in a lot of shows/series. It has a bit of everything so it's good to try and see what you like/don't like. Overall every element works together really well and I recommend this dish if you've just started diving into Japanese cuisine like me. Except don't eat it during the summer haha.

The Shaggy Dog roll was...interesting. If you go to a lot of sushi restaurants, you probably know what it is, but I rarely go to Japanese restaurants haha. It's basically fried shrimp on the inside, with avocado slices and Japanese mayo drizzled over the top. I'm pretty sure there's more to it, but it was hard to tell. The roll was pretty messy and oily, but worked really well with wasabi and soy sauce. I guess it was kind of bland, compared to other few sushi restaurants I've eaten at.

Overall, it's a nice Japanese restaurant if you happen to stop by the Chinatown area and want something different other than Chinese food. I recommend getting a dish from the menu and ordering a roll of sushi for the side or to take home if you can't finish. I'm defintely going to try out the other menu items to satisfy my...

A quick word of warning - The line at this counter service sushi joint moves pretty quickly. Grab a lunch/dinner menu and sushi check list before you line up to avoid the inevitable awkward moment you will have with the person behind you if you aren't ready with your order.

As for the food, the sushi is OK at best. The fish I tried (salmon, red snapper, and yellow tail) had no fishy odor, but the way the fish was cut should be a crime. Somehow, my salmon was chewy, quickly becoming my least favorite of the bunch. Each sushi was also room temperature, making me question their knowledge of time-temperature abuse. The sushi rice fell apart and lacked in flavor.

Oh, you think I'm being a self-righteous sushi snob? They are really cheap, you say? There are several other great sushi bars around Houston at the same prices that I prefer, with well cut fish, tasty rice that sticks to itself, and without the weird Panera Bread-meets Chinese buffet style service.

The damn spider hand roll left me disappointed as well. The room temperature soft shell crab was cradled by more of that tasteless rice, sloppy cucumber peels, regular mayo, and lots of tobiko. With my first bite, I discovered that the seaweed was tough as a tire. I tugged ungracefully at the hand roll until the seaweed gave in, leaving me looking like a Jackson Pollock painting. I love tobiko as much as the next guy, but I'd prefer for it not to splatter all over my chest. Is that why they call it "flying fish roe"?

The grilled mackerel was juicy and flavorful, decorated with those glorious blackened grill marks I love so much. Bits of crispy charred skin hugged the oily mackerel meat perched upon a... lettuce leaf? Anyway... this was the best part of my meal and ran me about $5 or $6. Not bad Hokkaido.

Yes, they have free miso soup and red bean dessert. Free food alone cannot coax a 4/5 star rating out of me. The tasty grilled mackerel was nice, but I must say that raw fish at room temperature makes me a little queasy. You can keep your stale seaweed and questionable fish Hokkaido... I'll keep my money...

I am quite appalled at how many great reviews this place has. Although the sushi is cheap, there is typically an inverse correlation between sushi and price; the cheaper it is, the worse the quality of the sushi.

First, I've never really experienced a "fast food" style sushi restaurant before, you order and pay, then you sit down. How embarrassing for me to realize this when I come in because earlier I called to see if I could make reservations, thinking that this was a nicer restaurant. Also, they don't really give you a number or anything, you just point to them which table you're at, which this could make room for so many mistakes. For example, towards the end of our meal, they almost gave us someone else's rolls!!

There is free hot tea, water, miso soup, and sweet red bean soup that you serve yourself, which is nice. The miso soup tastes kind of like dirty water to me, so I'm not a fan, but my boyfriend seems to like it. We ordered the Dragon Roll, the Texas roll, unagi nigiri, and salmon nigiri. Both the Dragon and Texas roll contained soft shell crab, which I'm not really a fan of. It was good for the first few pieces but after awhile, it just tasted dirty or somewhat fishy. The rolls were also cut unevenly, sign of a poorly skilled sushi chef. However, the nigiri were fine for me.

This place is known for the "cheap" sushi prices, though my boyfriend noted that it was not really that cheap. We are both willing to pay a few more dollars for better sushi though. It's not that I would never go back, but there are other places I'd rather go than Hokkaido.

Pros: Free, unlimited hot tea, miso, and red bean soup

Cons: Sushi quality Unorganized...