Jonathan V.

This was our first time here and we were intrigued to try the fusion of Peruvian and Japanese food. We came here on a Friday night with a large group of friends to try the Houston Restaurant menu that they had. We had a great time learning and googling all of the different items in the dishes especially the items no one at the table had encountered before. Unfortunately, some of the dishes came out cold and the service was very slow but some of the food was delicious! Parking: Pacha Nikkei is located in a strip mall off of Westheimer and there is plenty of free parking around the restaurant so no need to stress about finding parking here. Ambiance: the Ambiance here was very unique. They had two different bars. One bar served alcohol and the other bar was a sushi bar with bar side seating. In the 3 hours we were there, there was no one seated at the sushi bar. The place was well decorated and it had a lively environment! Service: service here was unfortunately very slow. While we didn't have to ask for our waters to be refilled, it did take a while for the wait staff to notice our waters needed refilling. They also forgot some of our drinks orders but quickly corrected it after we reminded them of our order. The food also came out very slow. We were a table of 12 but we spent 3 hours here to complete the 3 course Houston Restaurant Week menu. Drink: I got the watermelon Pisco Sour which was very good but came in a super small glass almost the size of a small candle holder. The drink was delicious but I finished it in 3 sips and it was $16 which was pricey for a drink that small. My girlfriend had their Chardonnay and she said that was very good. Drinks here are a go but keep in mind they are not cheap. Food: we did the Houston Restaurant Week menu which was $39 for 3 courses. Below are the items we got. Ceviche Clasico: this ceviche had mahi mahi and a nice sweet potato puree which paired perfectly with the mahi mahi. I couldn't tell you what the other ingredients were in this dish but it was delicious! Nikkei Ceviche: this was our favorite appetizer from the group. This ceviche had tuna with Nikkei leche de Tigre and an avocado puree. The sauce that the tuna was in was amazing and the puree with the sauce and tuna was to die for. I would highly recommend getting this dish! Lomo Saltado: this was a beef tenderloin dish tossed with steak cut fries, onions and a soy based sauce. This came with a side of white rice. Unfortunately this dish was a miss. The fries were so cold and soggy when the dish came out and the rice was overcooked. One person at our table said "I can make rice in my rice cooker better than this". I wanted to like this dish so much because I've had some good Lomo Saltado but this wasn't doing it for us for the main course. Skip this is coming here. Momo's Chicken Dumpling Noodle Soup: my girlfriend got the noodle soup and it was decent. The dumplings had a think skin and the egg was cooked well with a slightly runny yolk. This reminded me a lot of ramen which makes sense for the Japanese fusion part. The broth didn't taste like a normal ramen broth. It had some Peruvian spices which were a fun twist to the dish. The ramen was good but not great. Shrimp Mac and cheese: our friends got the shrimp Mac and cheese and this dish is pretty straight forward. The Shrimp looked like frozen shrimp from a bag and the cheese sauce was heavy so it was hard to eat the whole dish. I took a bite of the Mac and cheese because it's one of my favorite dishes but this wasn't the greatest Mac and cheese I've tried. I would recommend another entree other than thing going for HRW. Churros: for dessert, I got the churros which were filled with Dulce de Leche and came with a side of guanabana white chocolate sauce. The churros came out hot and were very good. The white chocolate sauce was interesting but not my favorite. It had a very fruity taste because of the guanabana so that was fun to try with the churros. It just wasn't my cup of tea but once again the churros themselves were very good. Panettone bread pudding with Lucuma ice cream: this was a bread pudding with fruit pieces and lucuma ice cream. Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit and it tased a little like pumpkin but not as dense of a flavor as pumpkin. This dessert also came with a side of basil chocolate sauce and this sauce was more floral than sweet. It was an interesting dessert and showcased the flavors of Peru. This was good and would recommend trying this to get the full experience. Overall Pacha Nikkei was good but not great. I think I would've given them 4 stars if the service was better and some of the food didn't come out cold. This place has good potential. If you do come here, come for the Nikkei ceviche. That was our favorite dish of the night! We also loved the Ceviche Clasico so anything ceviche, this place has it down.

Jennifer V.

Absolutely loved my birthday dinner here! We got the HRW $39 dinner Appetizers: Ceviche Clasico - 3/5: really wish I liked this more but the sauce had an odd smoky flavor that wasn't as refreshing as I expect with classic Peruvian ceviche Nikkei Ceviche - 4/5: good quality tuna, slightly drowning in the very creamy slightly tart sauce, nothing too stand out Entree: Lomo Saltado - 4/5: the medium steak was perfectly tender and the savory sauce was perfect! I wish there was more steak to rice/fries ratio but I understand it was HRW portion. The fries got a bit soggy with the sauce. Dessert: Ice Cream Trio - 5/5: controversially maybe my favorite course of the night? i loved trying the unique lucuma, guanabana/soursop, and mango flavors Panettone Bread Pudding - 4/5: generous portion, very dense and sweet, the lucuma ice cream paired well Service: 3/5 - our waters were refilled but it took a very long time for our server to get our order and also to hand us the check. The chef often brought out our dishes and was seen manning the front desk at times so I'm not sure if they were short on wait staff. None of us were in a hurry to go anywhere so it wasn't a big deal, but it ended up being a 2-3 hour meal. Overall, definitely would come again to try their happy hour menu and other dishes.

Edna C.

I did not know what to expect from this place. It was in this massive plaza where I hadn't been in years. I was greeted nicely and taken to the table even though the whole party hadn't arrived. They kept refilling my water so I might've used up their hand towel allotment in the restroom. The ceviche was everything I needed to start the night. The sauce was citrusy and creamy. My mouth is watering as I'm thinking about it. The tuna was so fresh and bright. The octopus was grilled so tenderly and I don't know what the purple sauce was but I wanted to lick it all up. The shrimp Mac and cheese was so decadent with cheesy goodness. I finished my whole plate. The lomo saltodo reminded me of a Bo luc lac. The beef was so nicely pink in the middle. The fries should have been mashed potatoes instead. The churros were hot and had a sweet dipping sauce that I wanted to drink up. The bread pudding used an Italian Christmas fruit cake as the bread. It was another good choice. The food was spaced out a little longer than I anticipated. The server was very attentive. It was causal and comfortable for us to be loud and rowdy when we broke into laughter. Cool place. I'd like to return with my family.

Tiffany J.

A West Chase restaurant that is full of flavor and pizzazz. The flavors in their ceviche was incredible, and I really liked the Mac n cheese variant they made! The ambience was also nice- apparently there is dancing on some nights? Nice mix of Japanese and Peruvian foods. Also had the sushi, which was delicious. Overall, very solid restaurant. Waiters were relatively good at coming over

Jay F.

I'll update this at a later date with more history on the Nikkei (Japanese living outside of Japan and Peru. Pacha Nikkei is pretty cool. The saltado de lomo with macaroni and cheese is fun. Tasty. I have a lower tolerance for salt than most. And it is salty. Still, I wolfed it down. The videos are mine. The other photos are because of a failed cellular and are from others.

Michelle T.

HRW - amount and quality of food was great for the price. Very satisfied, neither me nor my friend finished all 3 of our plates (and we can eat a lot!!!!) Waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. They were also playing Hunter x Hunter in the background???

AJ H.

Came in during lunchtime, plenty of parking spaces and was seated right away. I ordered the short rib bento box and the foie gras shu mai. The rib bento was a bit of a splurge but I think it was definitely worth it. The meat was cooked to absolute perfection. Loved the different sides (California roll, seaweed salad, two gyozas-my favorite, and miso soup) The shu mai was good, nice plump and juicy, but I will mention that I didn't taste the foie gras in there Service overall was fine. Had my water cup empty during my meal without it being refilled. Will come back and try more dishes in the future

This place is magic. I had the fisherman's stew. Fish. Shell fish. A rich hearty broth. Damn it was delicious. Its gonna make it hard for me to decide what I should order next time. It's all delicious

Jason Z.

Came to try Pacha Nikkei after a long time of being on my radar. It's located in a large shopping center on Westheimer and the Beltway. Parking is readily available and when we walked in, it was quite empty on a weekday during lunchtime. The interior was clean and quite colorful. Their menu is a bit odd and I'm not quite sure how well a Japanese and Peruvian fusion works so I was very curious to try everything. We ordered the crab California roll, ceviche (with octopus), fried yucca sticks, beef heart skewers, and pork shumai for apps. The sushi roll was good, the ceviche had a very odd flavor profile/ sauce, the pork shumai was a bit bland, and our waiter got our order mixed up and got us short rib skewers instead. We almost didn't notice except that the short rib has quite a different texture than beef heart so that was a bit of a bummer. Those skewers were quite good but we ended up ordering additional beef heart skewers separately afterwards to try it out; they came with a good marinade and were tasty if you're into offal. I got the quintessential Peruvian dish, the lomo saltado for my main. It's stir fried beef chunks, onions, bell peppers, over potato strips, served with rice and sauce. The sauce was very salty and the beef was slightly on the tough side. I wasn't a big fan of their sauce and compared to other Peruvian spots I've tried in the past, this look saltado doesn't rank very high. We got churros and cheesecake for dessert; they were really tasty and probably the best part of the meal. The churros were fried fresh and extremely hot but tasty. The cheesecake had a very dense texture and a very odd but delicious taste which was new to me. The gooseberry on top was a nice touch. Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the flavor profiles and sauces in most of the appetizers and for a Peruvian / Japanese fusion spot, your lomo saltado needs to be the MVP. It missed the mark for me a little. The desserts were really tasty but ultimately we came here for the food and there were a lot of misses.

Brett N.

Why 4 stars? Because I really appreciate the concept of Peruvian/Japanese fusion. --- --- --- As we sat there eating, I wondered how many Peruvian/Japanese restaurants exist in the world. There are probably some in both Peru and Japan, but in third party countries? I assume Pacha Nikkei is in rare company. I've had it bookmarked for a while, but when perusing the menu for a place to eat in Houston recently, I took a deeper dive and couldn't believe how amazing the menu looked. I actually planned on going with my 5 year old son recently while my wife was out of town, but thought better of it when realizing that I wouldn't be able to try as many things with a kindergartener for a dining partner. So I waited for a weekend with wifey and we made a feast of it. I know I married the right person, by the way. We were looking over the menu, and I hit her with everything I wanted to try. She put her menu down and said, "I don't care, you order whatever you want and I'm along for the ride." The truest form of love. Pacha Maki: 4-stars. When I think of Japanese and Peruvian fusion, this is exactly what comes to mind. Sushi with spanish sauce on it. I'd probably just rather eat amazing Japanese sushi, but I appreciated how unique this was. Pulpo: 4.5-stars. I thought the octopus itself was as perfectly cooked as it could be. I didn't love the green or purple sauce that came with it, but the potatoes were a nice treat, especially the black ones. Lobster Mac-N-Cheese: 4-stars. The mac was quite tasty, but the lobster portion left a lot to be desired. Lomo Saltado: 4-stars. I've been on a streak where every time I order lomo saltado, it's been absolutely phenomenal. This was a slight step down from that, but certainly not bad by any means. A somewhat unique dining experience that didn't quite match the crazy hype I had in my mind, but still an enjoyable meal!

Kristin J.

I came here recently with a friend to celebrate some new life events! The food was incredible. It was very unique and everything we had had such great flavor. I particularly really loved the sushi roll. I got. I totally forgot the name of it, but it was so fresh and flavorful. I also loved the ceviche And the Gyoza. The sangria was amazing as well. It was such a cute atmosphere and the staff was good as well. I can't wait to come back and try other items.

Karen D.

Came here on a Sunday for brunch and was pleasantly surprised that it was happy hour! They have a great deal on east coast oysters, and they come with a delectable leche de tigre sauce. Other highlights from HH menu include beef heart skewers and pan chicharron. The ceviche chalaco from the regular menu was a highlight as well. Overall, an excellent meal in a colorful space with friendly service. Will definitely be back!

Hayley F.

I love the casual ambience of the restaurant. They have some cool Japanese artwork on the walls. This is restaurant is a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisines. Other than the regular menu, lunch specials are also available. I had the Arroz Negro con Mariscos which was various seafood on a bed of rice in squid ink. The rice was seasoned which was nice. But the texture of the rice resembled risotto. I was expecting the cod to be small pieces/slices but they came out in fried balls. That was disappointing. The seafood quality was just ok. They were not super fresh to my liking as there was no sweet taste from the shrimp nor the mussels. However, the seafood was cooked right. I received good service during my visit. My server was courteous and patient.