Crepes And Corks: Uchi Houston

So excited to have my sister post on the blog. I hope you guys enjoy:

Having lived in Houston for a few months now, I get most excited when I meet new people mainly because it means more friends to go out to eat with (slightly sad I know). So I was especially excited to have my sister and mom visiting me to take them to all the new restaurants that I've been dying to try in Houston! Doesn't hurt that mom was footing the bill too....!

Houston is a surprise foodie city, rated by the New York Times and Food & Wine (and I'm sure many others) as one of the top 5 foodie cities in the country. One of my most unexpected surprised moving here was how many different types of food are offered here and how many great and unique restaurants there are. Whether it's the 10+ Vietnamese places within a few blocks of my apartment to the many Latin-influenced restaurants stemming from the proximity to South America. To my surprise, Houston also has one of the largest Arab populations in the nation, leading to many Lebanese restaurants with food that I love in the area!

One of these restaurants I kept hearing about after I moved here was Uchi, a new take on Japanese dining and unlike any other Japanese restaurant I have been to. Chef Tyson Cole won the James Beard award for Best Chef in the Southwest for his unique concept. Lots of uncommon flavors melding together and especially interesting displays. Also, as a person who doesn't love sake, their unfiltered sake was a drink I would have any day, tasted like juice (in a good way)! The fried milk dessert was insane and so not what I expected. Thoroughly enjoyed the crispy brussel sprouts as well, a vegetable I am not usually too fond of. The flavors were all unexpected choices to put together but really made me question re-visiting what foods I thought I liked and didn't like. To any of my foodie friends reading this, I would love to have some more visitors to try some new restaurants!