Soto — Restaurant in Houston

Had dinner at Soto with my wife last night. We are both huge foodies, and frequent most of the high-end sushi joints in the area several times a month. So, we were excited to try Soto!

Upon arrival for our 8:15 reservation, we were told by the valet that we had to park elsewhere. We told them that we were here for a reservation, and the gentleman eventually took our vehicle. Irked at first, but hit the reset button.

Once inside, we had a 5 minute wait to get a table, so no issue there. Front staff was cordial.

Once seated, the place was beautifully decorated, but the noise was insanely loud. I had to yell across the the table to talk. Again, annoyed, but let's give the service and food a try.

Our waitress was polite, but about as dry as a cracker. Several attempts at humor with her or to start conversation were met with a blank stare. Maybe she was having a rough day? We both enjoy good service and personable wait staff.

We ordered several "featured" and normal menu sashimi and nigiri dishes along with their Uni pasta. Also decided to have a few rolls from their Maki selection.

Presentation was great, but the inconsistency in delivery to the table was pretty bad. We would get 2 pieces of nigiri, and then wait 15 minutes for 2 more. Then, maybe 6 pieces would come out in 30 seconds. Again, more of an annoyance, but they were busy.

The portions were tiny for the price (and I'm not one for giant slabs of fish and rice.. these were pretty tiny) and while the dishes were all very fresh, the nigiri lacked depth in terms of flavor. The rice consistency was a bit off as well.. I would say a bit on the dry side for sticky/sushi rice. Let me be clear on this. The nigiri was "good", but it wasn't excellent. It lacks depth, and layers of flavor/pairings that we're used to from other high end places in the same category (MF Sushi, Kokoro, Handies Douzo, Uchi, Kuu). Lots of salt, but very little creativity with flavor.

The rolls were much the same. Salt, bland, lack of flavor, and strange pairings. Their torched Toro and Truffle roll is 23 bucks, and unfortunately, the subtle buttery flavor of the Toro is lost behind the fried shrimp in the center and green onion on top. The roll is hot, which makes it worse for the Toro. You could have replaced that with any other fish and it would have been hard to tell that you weren't eating Toro.

The shining star here was the Uni Pasta. We got it last, although we ordered it first. But, it was definitely worth the wait. Buttery, creamy, bits of Uni, and just yummy! A bit pricey, but pretty good.

Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars (if Google allowed half stars). I'd like to maybe give them another try. Maybe it was a bad night. But there were a lot of inconsistencies with what is advertised (and priced) to be a high end sushi joint. A 300+ dollar meal at a sushi restaurant should be pretty amazing. This was slightly above average, at best. Sorry, Soto.. you guys have a beautiful restaurant, but the food and service needs work to be considered top...

Soto is a new, modern sushi restaurant that first opened its doors in Houston in the summer of 2021. It's an export from Austin (2 locations) and helmed by chef/owner, Andy Chen. Yoshi Katsuyama, former head sushi chef at Uchi Houston, also joined Andy's permanent team. Soto is known for their luxe 18-course omakase menus that feature fish flown in directly from Japan's Toyosu Fish Market.

My wife and I reserved a spot at Soto a week in advance on a Saturday evening. When we arrived, we saw that they only offered valet parking, so be prepared with cash for that. The restaurant itself is contemporary with sleek lines and seats 97-people. They have a main dining room, sushi bar, a separate cocktail bar, and a back room which could be used as a private dining area.

The restaurant was packed when we got there. We ordered some cocktails to start the night:

+Shiso Lychee Margarita (shiso infused tequila, lychee liqueur, and yuzu citrus blend) for $14 - 4/5

+Earth + Honey (reposado tequila, mezcal, shiso honey, yuzu, honeysuckle liqueur, egg white, and bitters) for $15 - 4/5

For the appetizer, we ordered:

+Truffle Edamame for $7 - This edamame was good, but I'd avoid ordering this. 3/5

We wanted to try the 18-course omakase for $150. *If you're not familiar with omakase, this is commonly used at high-end Japanese restaurants where the customer leaves it up to the chef to select and serve seasonal specialties. Although I loved many of the items, the main highlights for me included:

+Chu Toro (medium fatty bluefin tuna) - 5/5

+Housemade Potato Chip (salmon belly, truffle, lemon aioli, micro cilantro) - 5/5

+A5 Wagyu on the hot cooking stone - 5/5

+Chocolate Foie Gras (with 8-years-aged sake, dark chocolate, kabayaki, and almond) - 5/5

We ended the night with dessert:

+Green Tea Tiramisu (chocolate, berries, and matcha reduction) for $8 - 4/5

Overall, Soto was a fun experience. Our dinner ended up being 4-hours long! They are currently understaffed, so the courses do come out kind of slow. I was with good company, so time flew by pretty fast for us. The restaurant is a bit loud with so many people packed together, but it wasn't unbearable. The drinks were nice and boozy, and most of items from the omakase menu were amazing. I would definitely recommend...

Heard some good reviews and not so good review for this spot. So I made a reservation for 2 people it was my boyfriend's day . We were craving for sushi. I thought it will be a much bigger big . But it's not that big . It was pretty modera spot . (Here are some of the things that were my favorite )

We did one omasksa and order a few things :

Salmon over fire - it was my first time trying it the present ions was fabulous . the dipping sauce is amazing .(omasksa)

Boton ebi Sweet shrimp : I have to say their sweet shrimp was amazing it is tender and delicious

Sea urchin( blew my mind absolutely amazing it's so sweet and so so fresh so it's like sweet and creamy and it slowly melts in your mouth )

O-toro - that one is my all time favorite gets it was amazing. Very tender.

Hotatate sushi - so this one I was a little disappointed it was not that good . It was just to much rice

Shima aji samashi. - it was not good . The fish was cut small and rice was just to much.

Kama toro was ok

Scootshi salmon samashi - I feel like you can never go wrong with this one it was very fresh . It was not that fatty

Uni pasta ( love love this one wow it's butter and creamy with uni amazing ! It's was so flavorful !)

The fried lobester -( omasksa was nice !! Amazingly done it look all that much the sauce they put on their is bomb!)

Uni caviar is amazing love it . It was melting

Brussels sport - I was suprised so flavorful just right and it had hit the spot . I would definitely get it again lol but not the goat cheese)

Chili hamachi ( it is not good . I was not a big fan of it it was like chili pasta with hamachi.

On the house -( was the mandi crudo , lol they had really save this for the last one it saved me to come back next time it was amazing I love the fruit and the fish is maxing and tender .

My favorite the A-wayu beef is really good to

Omasksa desert - chocolate with the shooters it was amazing an something different that I had

Their desert passion fruit tart is amazing it was definitely my type of dessert I will get

Side note -The servers was amazing . It's more like everyone serving the table . (personal experience) I think the fishes are so small and the rice is pretty much I would get samashi if you like fish) the...