Tonight was the first night I was able to finally try Austin’s premier sushi restaurant: Uchi

I made reservations about two weeks ahead and the only open time they had for two people was at 6pm. Thanks to it’s outside of downtown location, Uchi actually has free parking. Although during the week they have to share their lot with a doggy daycare.

The waiting and bar areas were jam-packed and the couple in front of us was told that the wait would be an hour and a half. That’s when I love to shimmy my way around the denied couple to inform the hostess that I made a reservation. Fortunately, since our reservation was so early, there were no campers and we were seated immediately.

We ordered a pretty impressive array of dishes ranging from salmon belly to raw scallop. All of the sushi was melt-in-your-mouth amazing with the perfect amount of wasabi and good quality rice (which a lot of other fancy sushi restaurants overlook).

The atmosphere wasn’t pretentious, and despite the mob around the front door the dining area is quiet. The wait was very helpful and friendly; our waitress made a few great recommendations that I wouldn’t have ordered on my own. My dad and I also noticed that the number of employees working in the kitchen, I’d never seen so many sushi chefs and cooks in one place at one time…which meant that our dishes came out amazingly fast but still with care. Our food came out at such a rapid speed and were so small that we had to eat as slow as possible so that we’d avoid getting out of there in 10 minutes.

The restaurant looks like a cozy neighborhood house instead of a nightclub with tables in the middle where you feel like you have to dress to the nines to fit in. I felt like the owner was more focused on the quality of food than appearances… although the presentation of the food was very impressive.

Uchi is a welcome relief from the standard ostentatious American sushi restaurant that is overwhelming cities across the country and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone. Just expect small portions and high prices, and you’ll be happy with some of the freshest sushi around. Oh and for those of you who prefer the Longhorn roll at Kyoto, there are heavy Americanized rolls as well.