The quaint house tucked away on the side of the road seems so discreet and humble — a hidden gem of a restaurant. In the sky above, its reputation looms as a large cloud, invisible yet tangible.
Driving there, I even feel a little nervous. While I chat with my family and boyfriend and weave in and out of South Lamar traffic, many thoughts are going through my mind and my stomach. Am I about to have the most delicious culinary experience of my entire 22 years? Am I even prepared for this? Will my white blouse and long linen shorts be appropriate attire to wear when dining at the best of all Austin’s restaurants?
As I pull my annoyingly nice rental car into the parking spot, we make a quick joke about the valet parking option when a large parking lot sits 20 feet from the restaurant. Shutting the doors to the brand new red Jetta, we begin our Uchi journey as we walk up a sidewalk path surrounded by gravel and rugged shrubbery.
The interior is nice, fancy yet casual, and we are seated right away. On the way to the table, the boyfriend scopes out the food on the other diners’ plates.
First positive: A family of five sits near our table, laughing and having a great time. I think, ‘Well, if the kids like the food then it should be a great place.’ We all know that children have the most honest of taste buds.
My parents, boyfriend and I look over our menus. I see some intriguing sushi rolls and also some cooked dishes my father, a 60-year-old cowboy, should enjoy as well. He says the swordfish sounds good.
Our friendly and pretty server arrives at our table and proceeds to speak to us for a full 10 minutes after we inform her that this is our first time ever to dine at the number one restaurant in Austin. She explains that their dishes consist of small portions so that everyone can share and experience a variety of tastes. My mother was a little confused with whether there were appetizers and entrees and became increasingly perplexed when the waitress answered, with something along the lines of, “We don’t like the world appetizer.”
Because I assumed the small portions would be more like what I wish every restaurant would serve thus lessening the U.S. obesity epidemic, the idea of smaller portions was not a negative point.
Then our lovely server brought out the first dish, a shiromi nabe, and we all experienced the first negative of Uchi.
The portion-size of our shiromi nabe was not small, as our server had implied. No. It was minuscule. About two inches wide, two inches long and two inches high. And there were four of us that were to share that tiny little piece of seared…amberjack, was it? I can’t really recall because I only had one bite.
After the waitress sat the dish on the table, we all exchanged looks that were part sarcastic smile and part surprised eyebrows. After I tried to cut the tiny piece of fish into even smaller individual portions with my wooden chopstick and failed, I just took a bit of what I could get. It was good.
Basically, all the food was good and interesting. And very expensive. The sushi was okay — not as good as other sushi I’ve had in Austin. (I.E. Kyoto) The only thing I really thought tasted great was the tempura Japanese pumpkin, which I had a 3 inch piece of, and no more. The last dish of the evening, the swordfish, cost about $18 and was enough for every body to have a bite. My dad had two.
The best part of this Uchi experience would definitely be the reactions of the persons sitting with me at the table. My mother and father had quite some trouble getting their chopsticks to work well enough and both ended up stabbing the food with the slender end of the stick. I finally got them to agree to eating the sushi with their hands. It was also quite an interesting experience to figure out a way to divvy up the small portions into even smaller ones
After my mother paid the $105 tab and the 20 percent tip, we all got back in the car so I could drop Mom and Dad off at the empty parking lot where they parked their truck and horse trailer. During the drive, we reflected on the dinner. I think we all felt the same about Austin’s number one restaurant.
I suppose what really bothers me about Uchi is not the food or the portions or the prices. It is its pretentious reputation as the best restaurant in Austin, with an Iron Chef-winning owner and food that is simply divine. I suppose that for me, Uchi represents the Austin of the future — one of high rises, expensive boutiques, BMWs and newcomers whom people call “yuppies.” This is not the Austin I live in and is not the Austin I want to become apart of. But just as another building gets torn down and Enchanted Forest is closed, places like Uchi thrive in the negative change which some call progress.
So, as I write this “review” of sorts on Uchi, the most prestigious of all Austin eateries, which I just left about three hours ago, please keep one thing in mind. I sit here in my dusty green chair with a belly full of half of a Freebirds veggie burrito, guac, no cheese. It cost about three bucks.
1 Comment
July 28, 2008 at 4:43 am
I can picture your parent’s expressions. Great images.
I love freebirds as well..