Houston Restaurant Week - Crave Sushi Review

One thing I love about Houston is that new restaurants pop up in places where you least expect them. Take for example Crave Sushi. This trendy new eatery wasn't easy to find, mainly because it's located in a Midtown shopping center where you'd least expect to find a nice restaurant. But don't judge a book by its cover. Crave Sushi might not look like much from the outside, but inside, it's a place to see and be seen. This is the place where according to my friend, players from the Houston Dynamo hang out. (BTW, Dynamo's Brian Ching was there that night).

I didn't choose to come to Crave. I had no idea it even existed. My friend picked it out of the Houston Restaurant Week restaurant list and thought it would be a good place to try. We had made reservations, but ended up getting there an hour late (that's another story). Anyhow, we didn't receive the gracious welcoming we thought we would, and that's because they wouldn't sit us down. The empty tables we were angrily staring at were reserved, and we had lost our reservation spot.

We wanted to leave, but realizing it was our fault we decided to stick it out for a half hour. Once seated, we evidently went for the Houston Restaurant Week special: four courses for $35. That was a steal considering an average sushi roll there costs about $16. The good thing about these courses is that we had great options off menu plates we wouldn't normally choose because of the price.

This is what I chose:

• Appetizer: Tempura Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms.
• Sushi Roll: Crave's Cheetah Roll (**This is their signature item).
• Entree: Macadamia Nut Crusted Red Snapper.
• Dessert: Fried Coconut Ice Cream.

What can I say? The Tempura Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms (normally $6) were great, but I don't know if it was because I was starving. The bad thing: there were only two pieces!

The sushi took a while to get there, but it was worth the wait. Crave's Cheetah Roll (normally $15) is a peculiar-must because of its creativity and great flavor. Take crab meat, avocado, cucumber, spicy mayo, Sriracha sauce and combine it with flaming hot Cheetos! As weird and strange as it sounds, the roll was off the chart.

My friends also tried different rolls. Theirs were excellent as well, especially the 4 a.m. Roll (normally $13), which had strange ingredients, like kiwi, strawberry and a pomegranate glaze.

It is fair to say, however, that Crave Sushi has a especialty and that is, of course, sushi. The Macadamia Nut Crusted Red Snapper (normally $23) was OK. I wasn't wowed by the taste. Something was missing and I was not too fond of the sweet rice which had pineapple chunks and tasted coconutty. I ate almost the whole thing, nonetheless (I put the rice to the side of my plate).

The best did not come at last. The ice cream in the Fried Coconut Ice Cream (normally $7) had melted and soaked in the Tempura batter. Boo! I ate the whole thing.

If it wasn't for Houston Restaurant Week, I would have spent a total of $51. With this great deal (which benefits the Houston Food Bank) I saved about $16.

Using my rating system of BURP=delish!, GULP=pretty good, and BARF=yuk, Crave Sushi gets a GULP!


Crave Sushi
2900 Travis Street, Suite F
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 527-8744