Another Sign the Pandemic Is Ending: 'Omakase' Is Back on the Menu at Kata Robata

Julie Soefer
Another Sign the Pandemic Is Ending: 'Omakase' Is Back on the Menu at Kata Robata

Uni at Kata Robata, which this week has relaunched its celebrated tasting menu for the first time since Covid.

TO THE DELIGHT of sushi-starved Houstonians across the city, omakase is back on the menu at Kata Robata. Chef Manabu Horiuchi chose not to offer the omakase treatment during the pandemic due to the demands for takeout the Upper Kirby sushi staple was experiencing.


And even after reopening the dining room during the pandemic, Chef Hori didn't feel like he had the bandwidth to create the special tasting menus every night, which have historically featured some of the freshest and choicest cuts of fish that Chef Hori sources each day from Japan.

Now that dine-in service is humming again, and takeout service is in decline, Kata Robata will be offering the special experience, which often includes a mix of cold and hot dishes served alongside the restaurant's special Yuasa brand soy sauce sourced from Japan's oldest soy sauce brewery. The experience will be available every day of the week except for Sundays and Wednesdays — Chef Hori's day off.

Space is limited, however, since Chef Hori will only be offering eight omakase experiences a night, with prices ranging from $150-$200 depending on the products he's received for that day. Reservations for the bespoke sushi experience can be made by either putting a note in your reservation, or by calling the restaurant directly.

Kata Robata's Chef Hori

A nibble of Wagyu, which might make the newly reinstated 'omakase' menu

Food

Beef carpaccio atop La Griglia’s chic marble tables

IT'S 5 O’CLOCK on a Tuesday night and the newly imagined two-story La Griglia restaurant is already packed with cars at the valet, a line of guests at the door, and cocktail revelers filling the bar. The cognoscenti has reserved their favorite tables in the sophisticated dining room and in the dreamy Courtyard. It’s an outdoor space rivaling sunbaked patios in Tuscany — but this one sports heaters, a retractable roof, and its own bar, courtesy of owner Tilman Fertitta.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

Life’s a beach in Santa Monica

DOGS WITH PONYTAILS. Someone dressed like Jimmy Buffet on psychedelics blaring music from a speaker hanging from his neck. Another gent taking a conference call on a ’90s-era headset at the skate park. These are all scenes from a leisurely hour in Venice Beach, where eclecticism and luxury intersect in true Los Angeles fashion.

Keep Reading Show less
People + Places