HOUReview
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Kata Robata
Included In
If there were a perfect restaurant venn diagram, Kata Robata would be at the center. This sushi bar and izakaya in an Upper Kirby strip mall suits a bunch of different needs, whether you’re here for an omakase, date night, or potentially raucous group dinner. Kata Robata is always busy, because it should be.
Dinner here runs like clockwork, if that clock were made of CBD gummies. No matter how packed Kata Robata gets, there is a remarkable calm. Regulars swing by the sushi bar and receive warm hellos and dreamy sunken booths teem with bachelorette and birthday parties. But the staff remains unfazed, methodically maneuvering through the amber-toned dining room. Before you know it, you’re lulled into a state of temporary bliss, where your every need as a diner is anticipated before you even think of it.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Regardless of whether you order 20 dishes with your server all at once or take things dish by dish, the food somehow shows up at a steady, even pace. Lighter things arrive first, like the lemon-spiked octopus sashimi dotted with earthy enoki mushroom caps. Soon plates of nigiri arrive. The vinegar-sweet sushi rice is always slightly warm, and the expertly cut fish is always slightly cool. The yakitori dishes are as exceptional as the sushi. We would absolutely fight someone over the last few bites of the grilled hamachi kama with its buttery soft meat and subtle char. While we enjoy ordering a little bit of everything, the extensive menu at Kata Robata allows you to choose your own adventure. You can order nothing but sashimi, order nothing but yakitori, or just get what your server tells you to get.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
photo credit: Richard Casteel
photo credit: Richard Casteel
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Whatever you’ve come here for, Kata Robata will deliver with cool, seasoned confidence. Whether it’s the sought-after omakase, a sake-fueled night out with friends, or a quick bite at the bar, you’ll be well cared for, because Kata Robata pulls off the center of that venn diagram of service, atmosphere, and food.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Octopus Crudo
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Uni Chawanmushi
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Nigiri
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Hamachi Kama
photo credit: Richard Casteel