Nineteen Hyaku — Restaurant in San Antonio

Got the opportunity and visited Nineteen Hyaku for the first time today. Upon walking in. You are greeted, and asked if you have a reservation. (In my case. Of course NOT) Upon first glance. Warm lighting, the bar had three separate orchid plants for decoration, and hanging chandeliers...warm lighting decends into the dining room as well. Dining room have a soft, fabric dome, lighting. For lack of a better word. You'll be hearing some DOPE LEMON, Arc De Soleil, among others as you dine. Perfect for a date night, or a hipsters paradise. Needless to say, my kind of vibe. The bar had plenty of room. Greeted with water. No beers available on tap this time unfortunately. But got taken care of with a good sake shot. Ordered one of their signature cocktails (Tank!) Very visually appealing. Served with crushed ice and with a flower on top. Easy. To. Drink. Very nice, with hints of lemon and basil. You barely get a kick from the alcohol. This is what we drinkers call... Dangerous.

The menu is very simple. One side, drinks. With the other their food offerings. 7 separate sections. The Dressed Oysters called my name, started off with those. Tried the Akami nigiri as well. The Akami tuna was the first to arrive. Upon first bite...you get a rich tuna essence. The caviar on top providing a nice briney flavor, and a slight sweetness. Soy sauce is almost not necessary...the only thing I'm missing is some wasabi and ginger. But you get that signature, almost metallic tuna flavor, and the rice gives a nice texture in the mouth. A slight dip of the soy sauce giving a nice and salty body to the next bite.

Now for the Oysters. The micro cilantro adding a nice color contrast to the pearl white shell. Taste wise... delicious. MUST ENJOY RAW OYSTERS. perfect appetizer size (4). As far as the size go. They are on the smaller side of the spectrum. But very easy to enjoy. A mild oyster flavor, but the oils providing a welcoming tanginess and sweetness to the tongue. The micro cilantro giving a refreshing taste to the pallate. Very very nice.

I was on a time crunch so I just had time for one entree. The Hinobe, I read the description. Salmon, and Akami...it called my name. Ok upon first bite. Wow...both fish compliment eachother. But overall a mind flavor. You get a freshness from a celery, or it is a raw jalapeno? But NO spice level. Just a very welcome, natural crunch. A slight tanginess. Very easy to eat. No soy sauce necessary. Just the right amount of a SLIGHT saltiness from the caviar inside.

Overall a great experience. For a Monday night. My guess was that they made some cuts early during the shift. The appetizers took a while to reach me, but quality was absolutely worth it. The entree arrived within 10ish minutes. A great experience for sushi lovers like myself. This one has been on my list for a while. Glad I was able to experience it.

It is a little pricey, if you'd have a better time at Umiya or Izumi definitely head there. But if the bank account permits it. Definitely worth an experience. I'm definitely returning. Preferably on a date night or a busy weekend to see...

Update: 12/2024.

Time hasn't improved this product.

The kitchen is still WILDLY uneven. There's very little authentic Japanese food or Asian technique being featured here. It's just flash for the sake of flash with no real understanding of the aesthetic or culture.

Lots of empty tables the night I went back. I fear some of that has.to do with the recent harassment allegations made against the owner by current and former staff members.

As I said when I first dined here, it's a design forward eating space (for San Antonio, at least) and the rest of the experience just falls apart. I'm not a kid who's impressed with a 'vibe' over a genuinely good kitchen and trained servers. Nineteen Hyaku should really take the time to explore why they opened and who their target audience is.

Honestly, if they were wanting longevity, they would bring in a more capable kitchen team and (somewhat) copy the menu from Nobu as best they could.

That would at least feel somewhat Japanese.

Opening month shakedown is in process, so it's to be expected that things aren't going to be super smooth. Once they have the menu down and have been serving a couple of months, I'll go back and see how things have settled in.

For now, it's an extremely symmetrical dining room, but not something that's besting design restaurants in Dallas or Houston, and a vaguely Asian menu that takes zero risk. I would have expected the ever-present, Nobu-inspired Miso Black Cod, but even that is left off the menu here. It honestly would have helped.

The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable. You have a massive opportunity to explore higher-end Japanese cuisine and this was what they came up with. It felt like the design of the dining room was more important than what comes out of the kitchen.... Basically, an eatery opened to take advantage of people posting to their social media feeds.

Form over function rarely works for long.

The prices are surprisingly low. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. Time will tell.

I hope as they find their customer base, they also find a greater identity in true...

My husband and I decided to do the omakase experience for Valentine’s Day after being happy with our first dining experience in November. I read many online reviews, and was expecting ~18 or so courses for $90 per person. When we arrived, it seemed as though the price increased to $150 per person and was now only 12 courses. Not a problem, we are accustomed to paying for good food along with the experience. This was not my first omakase experience, and I was excited to introduce it to my husband. I set my expectations with him based on my experiences in NYC, Seattle, and San Francisco…I explained it would be several courses chosen by the chef with a mixture of cold and hot dishes, and would span a couple of hours typically. Our reservation was for 6:30 PM, and we were seated at the sushi bar promptly. Our server came by and introduced herself, we explained we were interested in doing the omakase experience. We asked about the sake pairing, she didn’t know how it worked so had to go ask at the bar. She came back and explained it, and said one of them was specifically for the nigiri portion of the omakase… which implies there is more than just nigiri (as I would have expected). Our experience started at about 7:10, when we were given the ginger plate and hot towel. According to the pictures I took on my phone, our first actual dish was served at 7:10 and our last at 7:38. A whopping 28 minutes for a $300 + $50 sake omakase experience, and to top it all off only included nigiri. To say the look on my husbands face was underwhelming would be an understatement. I took a picture of him looking at the menu at 7:44 because he was still clearly hungry. Our final bill was $490 + tip…. and I still can’t get over how disappointed we both were. The nigiri was mostly good, fish was fresh, but not worth the price point in my opinion. After this experience, I unfortunately would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, and do not plan on returning. I hope in the future management focuses on knowledgeable service, and more importantly the pace and value of the omakase experience.

Stick to Uchi,...