Azuma Sushi & Robata Grill

This is one of those places that does not respect their own ethnicity. All the Asians are seated in the corners of the restaurant and all the Caucasians are in the middle.
Have some latin workers who could not understand «can we have more menus». One guy left our sight and never returned. Looks illegal.

Trying to find new sushi place since Miyako closed. I like the ambience, design but somewhat marred by all the smoke from sizzling Kobe beef on hot rocks! Sushi was good but I’m not an expert. Shrimp tempura was good, but plain white rice to accompany for entrée was uninspired.

The service is always efficient. Helen is one of our favorite servers. The atmosphere is lively and energetic. Some of the freshest sushi I have ever eaten.

I have never felt the need to write a Unilocal review, but this was ridiculous. I came into Houston for one night, and went here because my friend swore it was fantastic.
It was not, to say the least.
Frankly, our waiter barely spoke any English and seemed to purposefully avoid our table at all costs. It took us 30 minutes to order drinks, and another 20 to receive the drinks. I had the Lechee Martini and absolutely hated it. I had to force it down because I knew ordering another drink would take so long.
My friend and I split the edamame, which was perfectly mediocre. A friend at the table did order the spicy edamame and enjoyed it, however.
For dinner, I split the Tokyo roll and Irishman, both of which were also extremely meh. At this point however, an hour and a half into the meal, I was too hungry and irritated by poor service to probably really enjoy anything.
As I said, I’m really not the type to ever write a poor review or complain about service, but by all means this had to be the worst restaurant experience I have ever had. I will not be returning, and neither will the rest of my party. Absolutely ridiculous.

This is a great sushi spot! It has a great atmosphere and the food the excellent. The staff is always friendly and welcoming. Parking can be tight but it is worth your time to park across the street! They never disappoint!

My friends and I went here for dinner before a nice event, and I was extremely disappointed. When the waiter came over, he spoke very quietly so that most of the people at our table could not hear him. Then, when our food finally did come out, they had given my friend the wrong dish. When I alerted the waiter of this issue, he read back what he had written down on the ticket, which was not what my friend had ordered. He made no moves to amend the problem. The yaki soba was some of the worst I’ve ever had — there was too much sauce, and it was extremely salty. I prefer the kind you buy from the grocery store or even Costco. The waiter also did not come over to ask how the food was. I was disappointed that we had the required 18% gratuity because of our party size, as I do not think it was deserved. Overall, not the best experience, and I do not intend to come back here again.

Stopped by here for lunch… to justify having dessert at Crave Cupcakes in the same strip center (see separate review)!! The décor and ambience are chic — snappy casual — and service was friendly, prompt and attentive. We started with a seaweed salad, which was large enough to share. I had the riceless sashimi roll (wonderfully fresh and flavorful) and one of the two skewers on special: bacon-​wrapped crispy duck. It was delicious and I was so, so sorry it only came one skewer to the order. My husband had the beef skewers (tasty, moist and tender) and the Philadelphia Roll (he’s stuck on that one, but it was as good as those rolls get). When I go back, I’ll try the crispy pork belly. Hey… you only live once!

Awesome lunch specials! I got the salmon and egg roe rice bowl with udon soup for lunch. It was the perfect combination to get over my cold.

Amazing! Everything tastes incredible here.
This was my first visit to Azuma and I was not disappointed! The service was awesome, my drink was never empty and all the recommendations made were SPOT ON.
We started off with Edamame & ribs for an appetizer. Fall off the bone, perfectly seasoned and had a great temperature.
We then got a few rolls and the combo fried rice! The fried rice we shared among 4 people. It is a huge serving. It is probably the best fried rice I have ever had!
The desserts are impressive too! I didn’t have any almost all had nuts in them! But my friends said they were decadent, big portions to share and they would order them again!

Was taken their for my bday. Have to admit interior décor is fantastic .
Food was great. Though both of us decided dessert was so average we stopped eating it.
Noise level was quiet loud. Had to speak loudly to be heard

Very underwhelming experience. I remember Azuma being all the rave many years ago. Prom/​homecoming dinners here, anyone? Anyway, not what they use to be and don’t think I’ll be coming back, even with a gift card which was what brought me here in the first place. They don’t have happy hours, prices are high, their menu is limited and service was subpar. We asked our waitress to recommend rolls that did not contain raw fish and was not spicy and low-​and-​behold, she brought one out with raw tuna and spicy mayo. Yum…

The only reason I came back here after my first experience was because of the food. I liked the Tokyo roll and enjoyed the sushi. This last time I went was a completely different experience. The service here is horrible. There is one waiter who is good and she doesn’t work there everyday. All of the other waiters are slow, do not know the menu well and forgetful. This time we ordered the sunshine roll and the Tokyo roll. We came with some friends who ordered the crunchy Irishman and a friend chicken appetizer dish. The food was not good. The Tokyo roll was way too spicy and just did not taste good. Afterwards, all 4 of us got sick and al 4 of us thought it was because of the food. Never going back here nor will I recommend it to anyone in the future. They need to definitely step up on service or at the least, have good food especially for the price.

This is a favorite sushi stop of ours, and we always are sure to stop by when we’re in Houston :) We came a little after 12 noon, so we were seated immediately.
Food: We ordered a lot of different food to eat family style… Udon noodle soup, chicken katsu, Tokyo roll, red devil roll, age dashi tofu, and shrimp and vegetable tempura. Everything was so delicious! I am used to eating udon out of a package bought from a grocery store, so naturally my reaction was «I didn’t know udon tasted like this!» My other favorites were the red devil roll with the crab on top (very high quality sushi), the eggplant tempura (crunchy on the outside, soft inside, and tasty), and the age dashi tofu (tofu in a sweet sauce with an outer crunchy shell). YUM
All in all, the meal was out of this world, and I have a new appreciation for well prepared Japanese food. 5 stars all the way!

This was my first time to this place, and only my second time for sushi.
That being said, this place is amazing. I went with two other people and we each ordered the hand roll. We got the Crazy Irishman, the Nami & Hama rolls… each were good. The Nami (one I picked) was my least favorite, texture wise, flavors were pretty good. The Crazy Irishman & Hama rolls had a warm/​fried element which was great. Then I ordered the chicken thighs, nice lil skewers of chicken bites. Then we ordered some nigiri/​sashimi, unagi (eel) (I ordered this twice), octopus, King crab, ama-​ebi (sweet shrimp) w/​the head fried, chu-​toro (med fatty tuna) & apple pie for dessert (I ordered this and shouldn’t have, way too much food at this point). The service was good, our waitress didn’t write things down and never messed up! We were located in the back corner, nice quiet spot, once we walked out in the main section when leaving the noise rose a bit. I would highly recommend this place.

Disclaimer: my boyfriend thinks this is a 4.
Now that I’ve made that clear, I can explain to you why it’s a 3 for me. We live down the street, so my boyfriend’s parents wanted to try the place. It was solid. I was happy with the meal when I left, but I have no desire to rush back.
First of all, I still have not gotten used to Houston sushi prices. Izakaya Wa spoils me, and I just am so obsessed with their food that I compare every Japanese restaurant in Houston to them. The one thing they lack is something this place doesn’t — interesting rolls. However, all of Azuma Sushi & Robata Grill’s rolls have fried stuff. There was only one roll I wanted (the Koi roll — spicy tuna topped with salmon), so I got that + the tempura udon.
Now, the Koi roll was good! Also, I had some of my boyfriend’s mother’s rolls the Irishman and a Lady Dragon roll maybe? They were both very good, but I would expect rolls with tempura and spicy mayo to be good. It’s not that I don’t ENJOY them — as you can see I ordered the tempura udon, so I do enjoy tempura, it’s that to me, that’s the cheaper stuff. You don’t need good quality fish to deep fry the roll and then make it taste good. I, then, find it hard to spend over $ 10 on such a roll. Maybe I’m spoiled, but that’s just me.
The udon was good. It had an interesting mushroom flavor that grew on me as I ate it, but I don’t think I’d ever crave it. Also, not sure why, but I got 3 shrimp tempura when I swear the menu said it came with some assortment of tempura. I wasn’t upset about this at all, just a note.
So I would definitely check their rolls out before you come. If these rolls appeal to you, they’ll be good, so check this place out. If not, then I’m not convinced the other food is worth coming here for.

I’m pretty much a self-​proclaimed sushi enthusiast. I love trying new sushi places, but this one was a BIG miss for me.
So let’s start with the service. I came here with two other friends to have dinner and were quickly seated to a booth. The first thing our server did was NOT greet us, but instead gave us 3 glasses of water and just walked away. Um??? Okay. Minus plus points for you, buddy.
Then he came back and asked us what we would like to drink. After responding that we were okay with water, he walked away again without even explaining the menu or recommendations. Nothing. This unknown being then came back from Narnia a few minutes later, took our order, yada yada and then we received our food.
Now the food: the sushi was below average. Mediocre. The price you pay for what you get is ridiculous. The portions were small and the sushi wasn’t all that great.
$ 7 for shrimp tempura that was less delicious than Hokkaido’s (which, btw, is cheaper, better, and has more servings)??? No thanks.
Azuma, you have failed me. Good riddance.

Although this location of Azuma doesn’t have a happy hour, I still like the convenience to my house. I came on a weeknight to try it out once again and realized it’s been a couple of years since I came last.
We started out by ordering some sushi: fresh salmon sashimi, white tuna sashimi, mackerel sushi, crazy Irishman roll, Japan Roll. After that round, we were still hungry, so we ordered hot rock beef and the hamachi kama. After eating all of this, finally we were satisfied.
Salmon — fresh, buttery, and I loved it
White Tuna — I don’t order this often, has a unique texture and flavor, not usually a fan of tuna sushi, but this was good
Mackerel — this was just average tasting for me, not the best mackerel I’ve had, not the worst. After having the unpreserved mackerel at a couple places around town, I think I have become spoiled or something.
Irishman roll — most flavorful roll we ordered, but has tempura in it and served warm, so it was not favorite
Japan roll — my favorite with a clean flavor, you can barely taste the tuna chunks on top, since the sriracha overpowers it.
Hot rock beef — this is a fun dish to order at many sushi restaurants, but it does not include much meat and goes quick. The rock starts to lose its heat if you delay any in eating this dish. Therefore, when you cook your last one, the meat will take a while to brown. New York strip is the meat we chose and it was just okay for me.
Hamachi Kama — One dish I like to order at sushi restaurants, fun to eat, flavorful and you usually receive a nice size piece of fish. Some parts were more saltier than others.
Service was excellent as usual at the Azuma restaurants I have been to. I agree with others, it is a little pricy, but the quality is definitely better than your average sushi joint.

My favorite sushi place is Katsuya, so it’s hard to rate other sushi places as good unless they’re on par. We got take out from Azuma for my friend to satisfy her post surgery craving and ordered 5 different rolls. 2 turned out to be unique and delicious (spring rolls and kamikaze roll) and the others were bland. The menu did however have some interesting non sushi items, but lacked sushi staples such as tuna on crispy rice and baked lobster.
The restaurant was busy when we picked up and did have a cute layout, including a private party room upstairs and maybe the experience would’ve been better if we dined there. Because of that, I rate this restaurant 3 stars for mediocre tasting sushi, charging for extra eel sauce, and because I don’t give 1 – 2 star ratings unless I have a particularly bad experience.
For the record, I will not be revisiting this restaurant on my next trip to Houston.

I come here every now and then when I crave sushi and want to spice it up a bit by going to another restaurant. Azuma used to be really good (used to as in 5+ years ago).
However with all the sushi places popping up all over Houston, it has lost its hype.
I usually order sushi rolls here with the Crazy Irishman being one of them. However, when I ordered it today, it was gross. It was mushy and drowned in sauce as if they’re trying to conceal something. I found myself trying to remove all the sauce with my chopsticks before each and every bite. A bit gross, I must say. Definitely do not recommend this roll anymore especially since they have now destroyed it.
I also ordered the Hama Chili roll, and it was decent. No sauce = no drowning/​sogginess.

The owner of Azuma contacted me after I posted my last review and apologized for my terrible experience, offering to make up for it. After some scheduling conflict because of my job, I finally decided on a time and never heard from him again. Apparently this restaurant doesn’t care about the quality of their food nor word either!
Alright, so I had the displeasure of eating here again for someone’s birthday. All I ordered was an asari miso and tuna maki because I remembered how the price of their food wasn’t worth it from my last visit. The server never brought out my soup. She couldn’t handle a two item order. My friend ordered Japanese ribs, tiger prawn robata, and the Crazy Irishman. The ribs were nothing special or anything to complain about. The Crazy Irishman is just a fried mushy rice roll, which was expected. Okay, let’s talk about the prawns — they were severely overcooked to the point that the shrimp were like shriveled rubber? The presentation makes me feel like the chefs are too afraid to undercook seafood and definitely displays an inadequacy in their skill. They were so bad that my friend only ate one of the six shrimp.
The next time I try Azuma again will be when a friend insists we go, and it’ll be reluctantly.