No one compares with Kata Robata when it comes to nigiri and sashimi, especially when the Upper Kirby spot offers a $28, eight-piece chirashi bowl at lunch. The Japanese sushi and grill restaurant serves each chirashi bowl with eight types of expertly sliced fish—two pieces each kind—sushi rice, and all the pickled, spicy, and savory toppings you could want. And at $1.75 per piece, the bowl, along with other sashimi bentos and sushi rolls, is the ultimate lunch bargain, whether you grab a solo bar spot or want a quick meal to break up the work day.

Upper KirbyDespite what we’ve been led to believe, sushi is less about the fish and more about the rice. Proper attention to detail concerning temperature, acidity, and structure are vital components for ensuring the best sushi experience possible, and, luckily, chef Manaubu Horiuchi—AJA Hori-san—hones in on these elements with expert precision. Every week, the restaurant receives shipments of fresh fish from Japan, allowing chef Hori to revamp their already superb lunch and dinner menus with new, seasonally driven dishes on the regular.

Kata Robata prides itself on being Houston’s premier sushi and Japanese tapas restaurant featuring an exclusive menu from Executive Chef Manabu ‘Hori’ Horiuchi. When it opened in 2010, Kata Robata changed the face of sushi dining in Houston: blending both traditional and modern Japanese cuisine, the grilled meats, vegetables, and sushi ae prepared with great care and guaranteed to be the freshest they can be. For a signature meal try the chawan mushi, ramen, or donburri, unless you feel like attempting the lobster mac and cheese.

Guests can expect nothing less than excellence from four-time James Beard Award-nominated chef Manabu Horiuchi, who curates an unmatched Japanese food experience at Kata Robata. “Chef Hori” specializes in defying traditional rolls and plates, allowing his diners to indulge in decadent dishes like the Texas hamachi with yellowtale, spicy tuna, freshwater eel, fried shrimp, yuzu juice, jalapenos and sea salt. Trust the chef’s highly esteemed culinary taste and surprise your taste buds with his sashimi for two or the chef’s premium omakase—you won’t regret it.

Kata Robata is a popular sushi fusion restaurant in Houston, with three-time James Beard Award nominee, Chef Manabu Horiuchi (Chef Hori) at the helm. Another chef who was inspired by his mother at an early age to make cooking his profession, Chef Hori graduated from the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Japan with top honors and completed the certification to prepare fugu (blowfish), a rare delicacy. Kata Robata opened in 2009 and serves everything from whole grilled squid and yellowtail collar to 72-hour slow-cooked Texas Kobe Beef Skewers.

This sushi + grill spot has a wide selection of Japanese cuisines, but if you’re ever in the mood for ramen (which when wouldn’t you be?), we recommend you check out Kata Robata!. With different variations to try – including Spicy Soy Ramen which has braised ground pork, chilli oil, soy milk, soft boiled egg, wakame, green onions and micro cilantro – it’s almost impossible to leave this place unsatisfied. Kata Robata not only serves quality noodles, but also has some of the freshest fish flown in directly from Japan!

The four-time James Beard Award semifinalist was seemingly born to cook, taking inspiration from his mother at an early age and transforming that passion into a prestigious culinary career. As for his sushi, it is consistently that damn good. Sourcing the majority of Kata's fish directly from Japan, Horiuchi's skillful hand is best showcased during a blissful chef's tasting at the sushi bar, one that gets its start with things like cloud-like sea bream nigiri and ends with you leaving entirely satisfied.

Most know Kata Robata to be among the city’s top destinations for sushi, but the Upper Kirby restaurant also happens to serve some of the best ramen. The lobster ramen ($26) features a combination of egg noodles with lobster, crab, and pork, making it well worth its hefty price tag, while the Nagasaki champon ($17) is limited to clams and shrimp. For tongue-tingling flavor, opt for the spicy soy ramen ($16), which pairs braised ground pork with chili oil, soy milk, soft-boiled egg, and wakame.

Meanwhile, the city’s best sushi can be found at Kata Robata and the 16-course Omakase Neo HTX. And on the South Asian front, there’s Anita Jaisinghani’s modern-meets-traditional Pondicheri, dosa-slinging mainstay Shri Balaji Bhavan, and Goan-inspired natural wine bar da Gama Canteen. Perhaps best known is Himalaya Restaurant, an Indian-Pakistani spot in the Mahatma Gandhi District with a showstopping house chicken marinated in Indian spices and fried crispy, Southern-style.

First, Kata Robata is so clearly above its peers in terms of quality, consistency and overall experience that every other restaurant is competing for second place. Still, the range of price points and locations means that, while Houston lacks a super-expensive sushi destination like Masa in New York or Urasawa in Beverley Hills where diners might pay $400 or more per person for dinner, restaurants around the city offer plenty of options for most diners.

Chef Manabu Horiuchi’s omakase changes daily in price and number of courses (depending on what choice morsels are available) but most likely will include a hand roll that he considers his menu standout: toro with uni and caviar. $120-$150 at 3600 Kirby; katarobata.com. Le Jardinier, the fine dining restaurant at the Museum of Fine Art, Houston offers The Butterfly dessert, a confection of chocolate, yuzu mousse and raspberry set on a pistachio cookie.

Since 2009, chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi has sent out Houston’s most consistent and immaculate Japanese food. Nowadays there are more competitors (many with, it must be said, less dated environs), but the skill behind the sushi bar and in the kitchen at this Upper Kirby mainstay remains. Omakase, or chef’s choice, is really the way to go, though as Hori prepares to open a second restaurant this fall (Katami, in Montrose), one must call ahead to book.

Sushi bar and izakaya Kata Robata not only holds it down as one of the best restaurants in the city, it also serves up some decadent and delicious bowls of ramen. For those into the classics, try the spicy soy ramen, with a light but savory pork and soy milk broth, great for slurping after a chirashi bowl or alongside a whiskey highball. Or get fancy with Kata’s lobster and crab ramen topped with thick hunks of claw meat, lump crab, and egg noodles.

This is, quite simply, the best sushi restaurant in Houston. Sitting at chef Manabu Horiuchi’s counter and ordering the omakase—Japanese for “I’ll leave it to you”—is an experience that every serious food-lover should have at least once. Chef Hori-san will dazzle you with whatever is freshest that day and create a personalized menu that will make buying grocery-store sushi rolls an incredibly tough proposition in the future.

In addition to the standard, high-quality traditional sushi options available in many restaurants, Kata Robata also has some tasty fusion options. The Spicy Tropical Tuna roll with its mango and wasabi vinaigrette is a must-try, as is the Salmon and Soft Shell Crab roll, which comes with Korean BBQ powder. The atmosphere is nice but not overly stuffy, making it a perfect place for happy hour or to cap a fun date night.

Nagasaki Chanpon Ramen – Image Credit: Kata Robata Sushi + Grill Facebook Page. Chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi’s approach to both traditional and contemporary Japanese cuisine incorporates some of Houston’s freshest, highest-quality seafood, brought in multiple times a week from Japan. The hot foods complement the sushi and sashimi, particularly the excellent grilled meats prepared on the restaurant’s famous robata.

Kata Robata, 3600 Kirby: Chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi has led his acclaimed sushi restaurant, Kata Robata, for over a decade now and, more than any other Japanese chef in Houston, is the one most likely to someday win a James Beard Award. He’s been a semifinalist for Best Chef Southwest three times and is known as a veteran whose penchant for pushing boundaries sets the bar for quality and innovation.

3600 Kirby Dr suite h, Houston, TX 77098Phone: (713) 526-8858 Visit Website. A post shared by ThirdCoast_Eats (@thirdcoast_eats). Located right on Kirby Drive, a street famous for its eclectic and decades-old restaurant favorites, Kata Robata is a high-end sushi bistro spearheaded by one of the most renowned and decorated Japanese Chefs in Houston, four-time James Beard Award nominee Manabu Horiuchi.

Chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi and his team at Kata Robata serve the best of traditional Japanese food, but with a seamless Texas twist. The fresh sushi and sashimi is flown in from Japan, and there’s also robata-grilled Texas Kobe beef, plus lobster and crab ramen. Don’t forget about the cocktails—the vast array of Japanese whisky and sake might just be one of the most impressive collections in Texas.

This charming restaurant is a breath of fresh air all bundled into a small and welcoming little spot in Houston. Kata Robata has a lot to offer, attracting attention on all fronts for its beautiful interior and award-winning chefs behind the wheel of the kitchen. With excellent food, service, quality, and a warm and comfortable environment to entice the senses, this is definitely a place to try!

Kata Robata is a Contemporary Japanese restaurant in Houston Texas, opened by the world-renowned award-winning chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi. The Kata Robata specializes in both traditional and modern Japanese cuisines, the restaurant offers the best fresh fish of high quality in Houston. The fish flew from Japan several times every week to maintain the freshness and quality of the food.

Kata Robata will be offering an extremely limited (30 orders only) Valentine’s Day To Go Dinner for two. The $200 dinner includes premium chirashi for two, kobe beef skewers (two), Iberico shumai (four pieces), brussels sprouts and dessert. Purchase by emailing email protected(/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection) for pick up on February 14 between 3 and 5 p.m.

When you arrive at Kata Robata, there’s lots of parking available because it’s located in a plaza. If you’re not parked at a plaza, then you’re in the wrong place. Like the restaurant that has been previously mentioned, this restaurant has also been set up in an elegant setting and you can watch the chefs prepare your food from where you’re sitting.

A number of you recommended MF Sushi, and our friends agreed it was in their top 5 Houston spots!. We’ll have to make it back post-pregnancy so I can indulge in their omakase. For this trip, we grabbed lunch at Kata Rabata which had beautiful chirashi and sushi, and also pretty good ramen (not too salty) and bento boxes for non-raw fish eaters.

Last fall, while dining at laidback Kata Robata in Houston, chef Manabu Horiuchi handed me a few pieces of his signature sushi: soft, lightly torched hamachi topped with a sunny side up quail egg and truffles followed by a hand roll layered with shiso, toro, a fat lobe of uni, and caviar. He’ll never take the bites off Kata’s menu.

The spicy soy Ramen serves as an excellent Ramen option in Houston, providing a delicious and satisfying experience. The yakitori dishes are equally impressive, standing out as a must-try selection. The grilled hamachi kama, specifically, is a highlight, featuring buttery soft meat and a subtle char that adds depth to its flavor.

Trust is what you want when you dive into the world of eating raw fish. And in Manabu Horiuchi at Upper Kirby’s Kata Robata, Houstonians trust. The acclaimed chef is not only James Beard-nominated but also part of an exclusive list of U.S. chefs who are certified to handle blowfish (which is poisonous if not prepared correctly).

Cuisine: Japanese / SushiLocation: 3600 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77098 (Upper Kirby). One of the city’s top sushi destinations, Kata Robata specializes in high-quality sashimi, creative omakase, and Japanese small plates. Signature dishes include the Wagyu Hot Rock, Foie Gras Chawanmushi, and Bluefin Tuna Tasting.

Expert precision, high quality, and seasonal that’s what Kata Robata offers in their menu. The restaurants receive fresh fish from Japan which has intrigued celebrities and locals with their service. Not to mention, their food is prepared by the renowned chef Manabu Horiuchi.

– Rating: 4.5 / 5 (325 reviews)– Detailed ratings: Food (4.5/5), Service (4.5/5), Value (4.0/5), Atmosphere (4.0/5)– Type of cuisine: Japanese, Sushi– Price: $$ – $$$– Address: 3600 Kirby Dr Ste H, Houston, TX 77098-3941– Read more on Tripadvisor

- Rating: 4.5 / 5 (325 reviews)- Detailed ratings: Food (4.5/5), Service (4.5/5), Value (4.0/5), Atmosphere (4.0/5)- Type of cuisine: Japanese, Sushi- Price: $$ - $$$- Address: 3600 Kirby Dr Ste H, Houston, TX 77098-3941- Read more on Tripadvisor

– Rating: 4.5 / 5 (325 reviews)– Detailed ratings: Food (4.5/5), Service (4.5/5), Value (4.0/5), Atmosphere (4.0/5)– Type of cuisine: Japanese, Sushi– Price: $$ – $$$– Address: 3600 Kirby Dr Ste H, Houston, TX 77098-3941– Read more on Tripadvisor

3600 Kirby Dr suite hHouston, TX 77098(713) 526-8858 Visit Website See Menu Open in Google Maps. Kata Robata is a sleek, contemporary space for innovative sushi and small Japanese plates like Kobe beef skewers.

K – Karbach Brewing and Restaurant, Karne, Kasra (all locations), Katami, Kata Robata, Katz's (all locations), Kenny & Ziggy's, Killen's STQ, Kim Son (all locations), Kokoro (Bravery Chef Hall), Kuu

I enjoy their nigiri because the quality of the fish is so delicious. I also love anything here with Yellowtail - light, refreshing and beautiful. The Lobster Mac & Cheese is also a great choice.

Kata Robata is a premier Japanese restaurant in Houston, Texas, offering a blend of traditional and modern Japanese cuisine. Try out their Nagasaki Chanpon Ramen or their Spicy Soy Ramen.

While Texas may not be known for its sushi, this Japanese restaurant in Houston gives other cities a run for their money by offering a selection of fresh fish imported weekly from Japan.