Top Sushi — Restaurant in Houston

The Top Sushi place is definitely the place to be. From the outside, on a Friday night, the exterior was quiet and empty making any newcomer think that the influx of customers is slow on any normal day. NOT THE CASE. You are first greeted with a cute aquatic tank that hides the real dining area. Though small in size, the interior decoration has a luxurious feel perfect for any party out for an Instagramable night out and the food matches the looks to boot. However the acoustics of the place were terrible as everything seemed to echo everywhere making it hard to hear when having a conversation unless you were right next to the person you are talking too. Besides the point though: The Unaju bowl was wonderful, with the strong flavor of the unagi sauce balancing perfectly with the creamy texture of the avocado and the perfectly cooked slices of eel. Thank goodness the rice underneath was a sushi rice as it is still highly possible to hold with chopsticks comfortably as opposed to any other kinds of rice 😅. The super crunchy roll had a lovely crunch with the shrimp tempura but it does not overpower the flavors of the crab mix but allows the flavor of the spicy mayo to shine through. My personal favorite was the bare beauty as the cucumber allowed a fresh feeling to the roll and brought out the flavors of the white tuna, tuna and salmon to dance in the light drizzle of the chili ponzu. For the following two I have to add a disclosure: This was my first experience tasting truffle in anyway due to its exclusivity and high price point. For both the kamille and the dolce, the flavors of the salmon and yellowtail (kamille) and the spicy tuna and salmon (dolce) had wonderful flavorings together at first but were then overpowered by, what I can only pin point as, the truffle flavorings in both rolls. The kamille had a very light feel to the texture this being due to the micro greens and the lack of a sauce overtop. Had the truffle aioli been left out, this might have been a wonderfully light roll. The dolce was a fresh and saucy roll, the colors could not have reflected the flavors of the spicy tuna and salmon any better, but unfortunately could not be fully enjoyed due to the strong flavor of the truffle oil and salt.

Over all, should I return to the restaurant, I would steer clear of the rolls containing truffle.

PS: customer service alone was a full 5 stars. Very quick to deliver and...

Wanh Wanh Wanh. It was ok, I guess. My girlfriend and I visited on a weeknight at 9 pm for reverse happy hour. The happy hour menu is fantastic with great deals on everything including specialty rolls at 30% off. However, there was a hiccup. The drink menu indicates that "you call its" are $5 as are "cocktails" and "martinis". Turns out that "cocktails" are the specialty drinks on the drink menu and "martinis" are the specialty martinis on the drink menu. No one really knows what a "you call it" is as my friend certainly wasn't able to order what she thought would have been a you call it for $5. She ended up getting a flavored martini and I went with hot sake. This was frustrating, but I've seen it happen at other restaurants.

Things didn't get much better though. We ordered 2 miso soups, a seaweed salad and crab puffs to start. We also ordered our entrees - tiger eye roll, tuna frenzy roll, spicy tuna roll, 2 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of tuna and 2 pieces spicy salmon. After about 20 minutes, we still had not received our starters, nor had anyone stopped by. So, we looked around to realize there were only 2 people in the restaurant working - a bartender, and a server in training. We flagged down the bartender and she proceeded to tell us the delayed starters was due to the kitchen having to make a new batch of soup. That's fine...odd, but fine...just tell us so we don't think we've been forgotten. A few minutes later, out come the starters. The miso soup had mushrooms which was awesome. Oh, and the crab puffs rocked! Possibly the best crab puffs I have ever had.

The rolls came and I have to say, the tuna frenzy roll is fantastic! They really hit a home run with this one. However, the tiger eye was a bit lacking, actually a lot lacking. It really didn't have much fish at all. Bummer. Oh, and to make matters worse, the tiger eye cost $13! That's insane considering most of their specialty rolls are under $10.

All in all, the food was really good for the price. However, the service was lacking. Since all the other reviews rave about the service at Top Sushi, I will definitely go back and give them a second go. Perhaps it was just...

Settings seems like it's still a little under construction. Sushi was good but in comparison to kata robata it was average. Rice tasted old. Not sushi quality. The filets are cut too big which makes eating it a little messy. Our server was very inexperienced. My husband and I sat at the sushi bar and the server didn't really keep our section clean. We had to ask him for refills and there weren't many tables. The real straw that broke the camels back was the mochi. The sesame and vanilla mochi were stale. We informed the server and told him he should check the flavors bc the rice gluten was hardened and the texture was granular. I spat it out onto the plate. It was that bad The server returned to the kitchen and "checked" (supposedly) and came out seconds later saying "Oh it's just frozen extra hard". Oook then. So why was the gluten warm to the touch and why did it taste bad and crumble like a cookie? Gross. It left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. The check still had 2 orders of mochi on it and I didn't feel like arguing with a stubborn server or making a scene so I paid for it. I tipped the server 5 dollars bc I was very upset. I was tempted to stiff him. Really tempted. The beef rolls were dry, chewy and overcooked and when I asked for miso soup for our appetizer the server brought out one bowl while my husband had nothing. No beverage, no food, nothing. The sushi chefs were nice and the server seemed like a decent person, I just don't think he takes his craft very seriously. Then again I'm a server and I just wouldn't treat my guests like anything less than a top priority. Anticipating needs is the hallmark of the trade. Not going back. I paid $75 for overrated food and felt embarassed bc I was taking my husband out on a date. I rolled the dice and came up short...