Cafe Japon
Houston, TX 77098
Phone: (713) 529-1668
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- Norfolk Street
- Hours:
- Mon-Thu 11am-11pm , Fri-Sat 11am-2am , Sun 12pm-11pm
Editorial Review for Cafe Japon – by Citysearch Editors
In Short
Before the proliferation of sushi spots throughout Houston, Cafe Japon was considered one of the best. Happy hour and lunchtime specials are appealing and the menu is chock-full of interesting options like negima (grilled rib eye rolls), steamed king crab legs with seaweed sunomona salad, and lobster dumplings. For dessert, try green-tea ice cream, ginger-infused creme brulee, or seasonal Asian sorbet.
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Insider Tips
Know Before You GoThe restaurant's lobby fills quickly during the dinner hour, leaving few places to sit and wait.
User Reviews for Cafe Japon
04/15/2008 Posted by cougaboutown
For some reason, the concierge at Hotel Zsa Zsa recommended this place. I'm somewhat new to Houston and mostly know the handful of places downtown. I took a friend of mine from San Francisco. We both know good sushi. We've eaten good sushi. Good sushi is a friend of our stomachs. This was really pretty marginal and definitely overpriced. There were plenty of empty tables and it was only 7:00 pm, albeit a Thursday. The service was incredibly slow. My friend and I both travel a lot. I think we are pretty reasonable when it comes to understanding a place that is busy. But Japon was not. The wait staff acted annoyed at our presence. They got his drink order wrong. How hard is it to make a gin and tonic? Despite asking everybody in sight that we were ready to order, it took them 35 minutes to finally get around to us, and, like I said, you would have thought we were asking for the moon. To top everything off, we couldn't get another drink for asking or money. Incredible. I wonder if the owner knows what is going on there. Anyway, it took us another 45 minutes after eating to get our check. Horrible, couldn't-care-less service. If you have wheels, I recommend Ra Sushi on Westheimer or Azuma downtown. Ra has way, way better atmosphere especially in the evening and better sushi by far, although more expensive. Azuma is better sushi and ok atmosphere. Either has much better service.
Pros: Well, it is sushi, I guess.
Cons: Bad service, so-so sushi.
02/22/2008 Posted by imlazy
food was alright, toook ALONG DAMN TIME. we first entered and said "12" when the manager asked for a number, he made an ugly face as we walked to go set up the tables. after that was unbelievable. about 10-15 min a waiter came to ask for drinks. it took about 30 minutes before someone returned to take the order. and it took another hour for food to come out (this is a SUSHI place) come on now. and when the food came out only half of us got our food. took another 15 minutes for couple of more plates, but still couple of us didnt' even get out food. by now it was about 2-2.5 hrs and we had to get back to work. when we got there it was NOT busy. and yet when thsoe that never received food asked what happened, the manager had the nerve to say "the host didn't tell you we were backed up?".. we respond with "no".. and manager's response "they should have". HELLO YOU SAT US DOWN!" yes that manager, who had made the face, was the one to seat us. then when it was time to pay we asked for an itemized bill (containing details of what was ordered) instead the manager gave us an attitude "you were laughing at me"... first off no we weren't laughing at you (him), we were there laughing and talking the entire time cause it was a co-worker's birthday. then responding to the "itemized bill" the manager says "you want free meal for everyone" - our response , no we didn't say "free" we said "itemized bill-with all the orders on it" instead he kept talking saying that we wanted a free meal.. no we all had our money out ready to pay. that manager is an idiot, he should be fired. i dont recommend this place, there are three other sushi restaurants right in the area: Azumi Sushi, Rickshaw Bambu (definitely recommend), Bambu Lounge, Sushi King, Tokyohana Grill & Sushi Bar,. take your pick.
Pros: variety of food to choose from.
Cons: service was slow, manager was horrible (extremely rude and at the same time acted like a baby-"you were laughing at me" in a whining tone, no joke)
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