RESTAURANT REVIEW: TINS

I'm continually amazed by the appetite for Japanese cuisine in Houston, especially the higher end side. The amount of omakase restaurants is staggering, considering the often steep price points, and yet new ones seem to sprout up every month. Fun fact, Japanese/Sushi is the only category on my guide that has a top 10 ranking instead of a top 5, because I couldn't narrow it down. So when I heard about one of the more innovative spots in the genre, I had to check it out.

Tins (also known as This Is Not Sushi) actually opened almost two years ago. Very unassuming from the outside, you'd never know that this Heights strip mall eatery near I-10 and Durham houses one of the best omakase experiences in the city if you were passing by. Chef Sky (originally from Malaysia by way of New York) is the mastermind behind the operation, and he was incredible on my Saturday night visit. Apparently his sous chef/assistant just left immediately before service, so he was literally doing everything by himself, from preparing the fish to plating and serving: this was a LeBron in the 2016 Finals-esque performance, a one-man show for the ages.

Dinner includes unlimited cold sake, which needless to say I took full advantage of. The first of the fourteen courses was a Black Magic PEI oyster with fried garlic and a vibrant ponzu broth, which started out the menu on a bold note. Garlic was a persistent theme throughout the evening, which may not be super traditional for Japanese cuisine, but made me very happy.

Several lovely sashimi preparations followed: Japanese sea bream (madai) with a light jalapeño dressing and refreshing cucumbers, hickory smoked salmon with a sweet/sour sauce and crunchy garlic, and raw scallops with truffle sauce. The latter was presented with a bubble-making machine that released a cloud of smoke when popped. I'm not sure this necessarily added any flavor, but we were allowed to make our own bubbles which was delightfully fun. All of these were more complex and unexpected than most sashimi-type dishes you'd get at other similar restaurants.

Next came a parade of nigiri, though interestingly Chef Sky's technique resulted in more cuboidal pieces rather than the usual rectangular bites you see at most other places. A blue fin tuna was topped with tom yum sauce and mango salsa, which brought a nice sweetness to the fish: probably my favorite course of the night. Kampachi with truffle oil and lemon zest, New Zealand king salmon with yuzu miso and ikura (roe), hamachi (yellowtail) with a sweet garlic sauce, and unagi (eel) with "Old Granny spice" all provided a mix of different flavors and textures to keep the meal flowing.

Three other standouts to elaborate on a bit further: South Korean flounder was topped with a fantastic piquant house made pepper sauce, which gave it just the right level of heat... seared escolar aka butterfish was topped with chà bông, or Vietnamese pork floss (my first time trying this textural marvel), which was definitely the most unique preparation of the evening... and of course the undisputed king of sushi, Otoro, whose buttery fatty deliciousness was accentuated by a cilantro lime sauce with wasabi and scallions.

Somewhere in there was a uni shooter with sake, ponzu sauce, and ikura. This was just a fun way to break up the traditional nigiri procession, and the oh-so-creamy uni worked surprisingly well with the sake.

Finally, for dessert was a matcha crepe cake. Normally I don't for the now-ubiquitous green tea powder, but this was actually balanced quite well and made me reconsider my stance.

If you are fortunate enough to attend the late seating (there are two nightly: 6 PM and 8 PM), once the meal is over they bust out the microphones and fire up some karaoke. Perhaps I overindulged on the complimentary sake, but even I, famously a very timid singer, joined in some communal belting out of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.

Overall this was a lovely time, and if you are looking for a creative and interesting alternative to your usual omakase place, I highly recommend checking this out.

Ranking update: #6 in Top Japanese/Sushi

NEXT UP: A cute new Washington-area bar... with possibly the worst name in Houston.