Looking for a new, hip and modern sushi spot? Well, you’re in luck, for Kanau Sushi is here to help us out! Nestled north of the Texas Medical Center and by Midtown Park, Kanau is a contemporary Japanese restaurant that offers lots of intriguing and eccentric items.
To start off, they have a beautiful interior that breathes that modern feel, with spots available both at the sushi bar, the drinks bar, and the dining area. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in a beautiful afternoon light that contrasts against the dark blue of the wall, while bright wooden light fixtures hang above head. But onto their menu 😂.
They have a pair of refreshing and creative mocktails — I mean, just look at them! Don’t they look like just what you need in the sweltering Texas summers 😏.
For food, we got the Chef’s Tasting with the Wagyu Upgrade. But they do offer a more traditional Omakase, which you have to order at least 48 hours ahead of a reservation. The Chef’s Tasting, though, is sublime and delightful to say the least. We’ll put their delicious dishes in a list format, because there are just so many good bites 🤤.
- The first that comes to mind is their Truffled Hon Maguro: marinated bluefin tuna, truffle oil, truffle salt, chives, and shaved egg yolk. Isn’t that sensational? And you know what, it was 😮💨.
- Uni toast with fried brioche, sea urchin and wagyu soy butter. A wonderful contract between the supple uni and the firm brioche; all coming together in the good soy butter.
- Truffled Hon Maguro
- Uni toast with fried brioche
- Foie Gras that is seared and comes with pomegranate chip, strawberry reduction, and lemon balm. Fatty and oh so delectable, this was a staight-up savory and melt-in-your-mouth experience. Annie’s fave by far.
- The Duck Fat Wagyu was simply tremendous. Miyazaki wagyu (some of the best) in duck fat with fried nori chips, dehydrated egg yold and nasturtium. An avalanche of delish; it was 👌.
- Pan Seared Scallop — probably my favorite hot dish — it was just so good in combination with edamame puree. On top of that, it came with duck fat, chive oil and caviar; all on top of some U10 scallop that is simply too good to describe.
- Ooh, and the Venus, a dish with uni, ikura, yuzu aioli, and chive oil served on a pillow of scrumptious scallop. This may be the ultimate cool and savory bite; needless to say, it rocked Annie’s socks off.
- Their Sashimi course was probably the most bountiful sashimi I’ve ever had. Look at all those pieces — plump and ready to be eaten. Each piece was so good and unique. You can’t go wrong with any of these pieces. If you come here (which you should), it might be better to ask your server what these pieces are 😅; Annie and I (mainly Annie) ate them so fast 😂.
- The Wagyu upgrade came with 3 oz of the Miyazaki Wagyu and a salt flight, with three different types of salt (a black volcano salt, a ghost pepper salt that came at you exactly how you’d expect but only very fleetingly, and a truffled salt).
- Likewise, their sushi flight was topnotch. Each piece just added to the next and were exemplary of what you want in some amazeballs sushi. The Kanau roll (their signature roll) was made of a fried soy paper roll with salmon, asparagus, avocado and topped with ikura, microgreens, yuzu chili vinaigrette and unagi sauce. ‘Twas some superb sushi.
- Last but not least — dessert. We got the Lemon Raspberry, and it was the cherry on top of our Kanau experience. White chocolate curls, lemon mousse, strawberry jam, sponge cake and raspberry mousse. You cannot go wrong with this for dessert. It was the nicest sweet twist on a deliciously savory dinner.
As you can see, Kanau could be a game-changer for sushi in Houston. It rivals another of our favorites Uchi, the more established sushi restaurant, with its creativity and selection. Each bite was fun, unique and full of flavor, with interesting combinations of texture that overall provided such an amazing experience for us! Our waiter was so kind and helpful as we were navigating through the menu. We recommend you give it more than a shot, and please let us know what you think :).
Hungry Mind, Hungry Stomach 