Uchi continues to draw crowds with its unique and delicious sushi offerings

For Shannon’s birthday, I took her to one of her favorite restaurants, Uchi.  Because it was a Tuesday night, I didn’t think there’d be a wait, but all the tables were full when we arrived at around 6:30.  It wasn’t jam-packed in the waiting area like it is on Thursdays through Saturdays, but the fact that there was even a slight wait on an off night is a testament to the popularity of the unique, creative sushi that chef/owner Tyson Cole prepares on a nightly basis.

While we waited, we each enjoyed a glass of the Bouvet, a rosé champagne that’s dry and crisp at the front end, with notes of cherry at the mid-palate, followed by a clean finish.  It was both a refreshing and celebratory way to start the evening.

Within 15 minutes, our hostess reported that our table was ready (despite an initial estimate of a half-hour wait).  We were led to a table for two within Uchi’s chic, bustling dining room, where the walls are decorated with a Japanese-inspired red-and-black pattern, and the subdued lighting creates a romantic atmosphere.

We decided to order glasses of sake, choosing one that’s translated as “Bride of the Fox.” It was described as having notes of cashew, and although I didn’t detect a nutty flavor, the sake was strong and crisp.  The glass was served in a pinewood box, as diners have the choice of pouring the sake into the box, which imparts a piney flavor to the beverage.  As Shannon cleverly said, if you’re an “out of the box” thinker, you might enjoy savoring your sake from within the box.  But we found that we created a bit of a mess during the transfer, so we chose to stay in our figurative box by drinking it straight from the glass.

Our friendly and knowledgeable waiter, Ryan, suggested several of the “Tastings,” and we took his advice with our first two selections.  The maguro sashimi and goat cheese was brought out first, and it turned out to be our favorite dish of the night.  The big-eye tuna is accompanied by apple slices, goat cheese, and pumpkin seed oil.  The combination of these flavors was out of this world.

The next “tasting” was the machi cure, which consists of maplewood-smoked baby yellowtail tuna, accompanied by yucca chips, asian pear, almonds, garlic brittle, and yellow caviar.  Ryan suggested that for each bite, we top all the ingredients on a yucca chip so that the full assortment of flavors could be enjoyed at once.  The result was a tasty treat, although it didn’t blow us away like the first dish.  The yucca chips resembled potato chips in taste and texture, although they’re not quite as greasy.  While they’re quite good in their own right, I thought that the salty chips overwhelmed the other elements in the dish.

Next, we selected one of the night’s specials, the Chesapeake Bay soft-shell crab.  My Mom’s from Maryland, the home of the Chesapeake, and she was actually visiting her family there on this night, so this choice was a bit of a salute to her, as she’s a huge fan of soft-shell crabs.  And it didn’t disappoint.  The exterior of the crab was slightly crunchy with moist and tender meat on the inside.  Complemented by an African curry sauce, the dish was finger-licking good.

By this point, we’d run out of our sake, so we ordered glasses of the Girard chardonnay, which is from the Russian River Valley.  In terms of price, it’s comparable to the Patz and Hall (from Napa) that we’d enjoyed at Wink, and Shannon found herself contrasting the two.  The Girard has more of a sweet, melon flavor at the front end, while the Patz and Hall features crisp, apple tones.  Shannon definitely preferred the crisper flavor of the Patz and Hall compared to the sweetness of the Girard, which was almost overwhelming on her palate.  The Girard also has more of a buttery finish, while the Patz and Hall ended more cleanly.

Still, it’s worth noting that Uchi has made great leaps in terms of its wine list in the last few years.  I remember the days when they only had about ten wines to choose from; now, they offer about 25 white wines and 15 reds, with almost half of their bottles being available by the glass.

You can’t leave Uchi without sampling some of their excellent rolls.  Our first selection was the biendo, which consists of tempura-battered tiger shrimp wrapped in rice paper, topped with frozen grapes and a Vietnamese vinaigrette.  Accompanied by a spicy Thai chili oil, we enjoyed this rice-less roll.  It wasn’t my favorite, but I definitely appreciate the creative twist on a spring roll, especially the unique use of frozen grapes.

For our next roll, we enjoyed my personal favorite, the Shag, which is a tempura-fried roll of avocado, sundried tomato, and salmon.  It’s served warm and accompanied by an excellent squid ink sauce that’s artistically decorated along a rectangular, wooden serving board.  The cool, slightly tangy ink sauce perfectly complements the flavors of the warm roll.

We didn’t sample desserts on this evening because we had birthday cake waiting back at Shannon’s house (although Ryan generously offered a free dessert when he found out it was her birthday).  That’ll be an excuse to head back to Uchi sometime soon, as it’s definitely ranked right next to Wink in terms of my favorite restaurants in Austin.