Izakaya Wa — Restaurant in Houston

update 9/27/25 I’ve been to this place many times before and usually enjoy it, but today’s visit was really disappointing. The service was extremely slow and inconsistent, even though the restaurant wasn’t busy at all. I sat at the sushi bar with no assigned server, and it was difficult to flag anyone down. The host was friendly, but the servers seemed distracted, spending more time chatting and joking with each other than checking on customers.

I noticed other tables getting better attention while I felt overlooked. Felt many staffs were unprofessional and unorganized. No one checked on my meal or asked how things were, which was frustrating. I came in with a good mood but left feeling unsatisfied.

-- Upon arrival I asked for table for 1, and the host suggested either sushi bar or the drinking bar. It was cool that they had separate area at the back for drinking vibe while the dining area is more of a cozy vibe. I asked how the situation was at the drinking bar side and she told me to go check, which i thought it was weird? I decided to sit at the sushi bar.

overall my experience here was pleasant. every dish i ordered were so delicious. def recommend the ika ring fry with the cucumber/kimchi side. the squid rings are good and better with the sauce it comes with. the cucumber/kimchi side was a great addition because it really helped me balance the taste all together if that makes sense. the caterpillar roll was tasty, but i really loved the curry chicken katsu. ive def tried couple diff spots in houston that had this dish and most of them were always covered with way too much top coat, whereas theirs literally was like what you can get in asian countries. and the best part is with all these quality food, it's affordable which i think that's why this place is so packed!

that being said, the restaurant itself and the staff shouting can be loud, especially sitting at the sushi bar i was scared every single time while eating.

id def come back to this place though, want to try out new dishes for sure. it's sad that they dont do deliveries but thankfully it's not too too far from my place so...

The confusing thing about this place is that there are multiple places called Izakaya Wa (not sure if affilitated with each other) and also some places called Izakaya. This one is Izakaya Wa on W. Gray street. It's in that shopping area with no less than 4 starbucks, barnes & noble, various expensive clothing lines, and sur la table.

Parking is a bit of a challenge here if you come at peak times. It's a busy area with a lot of shops - you might find a spot but it might be far away or on the street. Personally I haven't had to park outside their immediate vicinity yet but I could definitely see it happening frequently during rush hours.

Something notable here is that they have daily specials and lunch menu on Saturday - they're not open for lunch time on Sunday. The prices are average for sushi but much better than similarly priced competitors especially in the area.

Rock 'n Roll - I ordered with less rice since I had been before and there was wayyyy too much rice. There was less I agree, but it was still a bit much. They do sushi rice well here! A surprise.

Tempura - both in the tempura udon and the prawn and vege tempura the batter is too thick and not flavorful at all. The shrimp also doesn't taste very fresh - it has that mushy taste that shrimp gets when it's not great quality. Similar to shrimp at a chinese buffet.

House salad w/ creamy miso - fresh, fresh salad! Excellent dressing - one of the best I've tried in town. Not too watery like asahi and not too creamy. I really like how they give you the sauce on the side instead of drenching the salad in dressing.

Tempura Udon - Kata Robata is better. /much/ better and cheaper too! (well they only serve it at lunch on weekdays but I believe it's

We'd been to the other Izakaya Wa location before, but it had been a couple years. We found this new location opened up and decided to give it a try. It's closer and more convenient, so that's already points. When I talked to the host (happened to be the owner), he said they'd only been open 10 days.

The layout of the restaurant is not conducive to big groups. We sat comfortably in a booth for two. Lots of tables for 2-4 people. Parties of up to six (maybe 7, but stretching it) can use the private rooms. And there are one or two spaces that can accommodate a party of maybe a dozen people, if you put tables together.

The service was good-- the people were polite and happy, but busy! Given that it was the soft opening, it looked like there was one waitress for all the tables and a couple other people she was training, so we were a bit more lenient with them about the speed of service. She kept speeding by saying she'd be right back, so at least we knew she didn't forget about us. Overall, nice environment to sit and relax.

We got two types of nigiri sushi-- the bluefin tuna and the yellowtail. I liked both with a slight preference for the yellowtail. We focused mostly on the skewers. We got the fried quail egg, which tbh was a little disappointing. The grilled stuff was all delicious, though. My favorites were the pork belly and the beef tenderloin. The beef tenderloin was so soft and flavorful and just melts in your mouth. The Japanese sausage was more juicy than Taiwanese sausage I'm used to. The king oyster mushroom was also really good, if you're not looking for meat, and the eggplant was also not bad. I think the grilled tuna and the stingray fin were the least exciting. The grilled tuna because of the super-fishy flavor, and the stingray fin because it was so hard.

We also got the parfait for dessert. Really enjoyed it, but it just had so much going on. Chocolate syrup, red bean, corn flakes (went surprisingly well!), ice cream, cake, and other delicious things I can't name because I don't know what they are.

We'll...