Sushi by Hidden calls itself an ultra-exclusive, intimate dining experience, but only thing…read moreintimate about this place seems to be some of the staff. As for the exclusivity portion of things, well I certainly felt hidden and would've done better at a place with a table, as this was the first omakase in my life where the chef(s) couldn't bother to explain what was being served (at least to my half of the counter) because they were half drunk on wine. They had a lot of people behind the counter as well and only one cared to bother to at least refilling my water. If I could only tip her, I would. Sheesh, if a restaurant is going to be act cool and pretentious, at least make more of an effort.
As for the restaurant, I stopped by for dinner to celebrate what seems like a successful project release, and who doesn't like getting paid for their long hours of work. There isn't any parking provided by this place, but there's a public garage next door. Was fun figuring out how to use it right after work and driving through rush hour, yk being fairly new to Houston and all.
As for the food, the oyster with cherry sauce was fine and bright, endive bite was nice, crudo was mid and hated the cilantro (the fast fashion blight of the foodie world) that made it hard to taste the scallop, and trout was okay. I think I stopped getting even a half-hearted mumbling description around here so can't say what the toppings were, but we had sea bream, jackfish, akami, barrelfish, ora king salmon, and a little hand roll at the end. I also splurged on the otoro, uni & scallop.
The real crime here was that although they really did have a fine selection that night, I'm guessing some of these were sliced wrong because I recall 3 pieces being a bit tough a stringy and tough to chew. Like bro, I could've done a better job if I really had to, and I guess I'd have looked the part of a sushi chef, ah ha? Lastly, if you have a tray of nigiri, you're supposed to just distribute them in order. Twice I saw one of the chefs cherry pick them, and of course I got the smaller pieces near the end of the counter, so yeah, not cool.
To be fair, this little hole in the wall did make good use of their tiny space with the trendy speakeasy concept. But I'd definitely have preferred some more attention to the food and service/omakase experience at this price. And no, this isn't "cheap", like I've had cheaper omakase in the more expensive city of New York with pricier ingredients, although people there would've also done a great job of convincing you to order extras and drinks I suppose, so there's that. More importantly, if you set people up with expectations as stated right on your website and reservation platform, you need to show some good will attempt at meeting them.
But no matter, at least I enjoyed the walk around this area and ended my night on a sweet note elsewhere.