Metro Meals: Azuma

By Sasha Schoch and Allie Schaich     1/25/12 6:00pm

Houston contains a wide variety of restaurants, providing both local specialties and a plethora of foods from all over the world. Although we'd been to plenty of Tex-Mex and Thai restaurants, we still had yet to find a quality, reasonably priced Japanese restaurant. Azuma, downtown on Kirby, solved this problem.

Azuma has a huge menu and, although it prides itself on being a "Sushi and Robata Bar," it offers a wide-ranging selection. The sushi menu varies from simple rolls like cucumber and avocado to complex sushi creations like the Crazy Irishman, which contains salmon, tuna, avocado flash fried in soy paper, masago, spicy mayo and unagi sauce. They also offer robata, rice, noodle dishes, salads, tempura and many ?daily specialties.

Our table started out with a steaming bowl of edamame. Although the basic template of edamame doesn't vary much from restaurant to restaurant, it was especially delicious at Azuma. It was steamed to perfection, with the appropriate amount of salt on the outside. Dipping the edamame in soy sauce made it taste even better.

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Vegetable tempura (yasai tempura) is a great starter to share with friends.  The vegetables — mainly sweet potatoes, onion, zucchini and mushrooms — came prepared in a light batter. The sauce it came with was not particularly great, but the batter for the vegetables made up for it.  This dish is filling and makes a perfect shared appetizer, whether on a date or with friends.

The next dish to arrive on the table was a platter of California rolls. These included cucumber, avocado and king crab meat and were wrapped in seaweed and covered in rice. The sushi was served with a large amount of wasabi and ginger and was delicious. The avocado, cucumber and king crab were fresh and perfectly proportioned, and the sushi did not fall apart as it was picked up. The flavors all came melded to make for a delicious roll. We added wasabi and soy sauce for a bit of extra flavor, which made the rolls even better. We would definitely order the California rolls again.

We also ordered yaki udon, which is stir-fried udon noodles with chicken and vegetables. Udon noodles are thick wheat noodles, and their texture and flavor went well with the dish. The chicken was relatively thinly sliced and well-cooked. The vegetables — mainly cabbage and carrots — were also quite tasty, and the flavor of the sauce made the meal perfect. The portion was relatively large, so we brought some home to eat the next day. This meal was very flavorful and filling; both of us would certainly order it next time we went ?to Azuma.

The chicken fried rice was a major hit. This dish is clearly designed for sharing, since it arrived at our table in a wooden bucket. The chicken was flavorful, and we didn't even need to add soy sauce. With alternate options of shrimp and beef, this dish can suit many people's food preferences.  As usual, the rice was full of carrots and peas.  The fried rice is a safe and extremely yummy choice for those who aren't keen on fish or seafood, and it's still part of traditional Japanese ?restaurant cuisine.

Azuma is a wonderful choice if you are up for Japanese cuisine and have a little extra money to spend.  The setting is business casual, making it a great spot for dates or a nice night out with friends. If it's your birthday, they will bring you a delicious free piece of chocolate cake with ice cream. The prices vary, generally staying in the $4-$20 range, and we would advise ordering a few dishes, simply because there are too many options available to just pick one. Meals cost an average of around $15 per person, but what you pay is well worth the quality and variety in the food.

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