RESTAURANT REVIEW: Toga

**Note: this post is being written under protest after Czechia was erroneously and egregiously denied a win over South Africa in the World Cup after one of the most appalling hand ball penalties I've ever seen awarded. I hereby swear that I will NEVER publish a Peli Peli review in my life.

Yakitori is a type of Japanese cuisine that has been woefully underrepresented in Houston until recently. Literally meaning "grilled bird", this refers to a chicken being broken down into multiple individual components which are then cooked on skewers over a charcoal fire. The diner is given the opportunity to select from numerous different pieces and can compare the subtle (or significant) differences between cuts and anatomical regions. One of my favorite restaurants in the world, Hong Kong's Yardbird is the gold standard when it comes to this delightful style of cooking, but now that the venerated Comma Hospitality opened Toga a few months ago, we finally have a suitable option in Houston.

Located next to their temaki spot, Kira, in the fancy Upper Kirby development formerly known as West Ave (I refuse to call it by its current moniker, the absurdly named Shops at Arrive River Oaks), Toga is significantly less moody and vibey than its sister spot, with a rather austere decor, featuring a just few small art pieces dotting an otherwise white-walled square space. Plastic chairs and green banquettes line the perimeter, fostering a less exclusive and more casual atmosphere, though I wouldn't have minded a bit more to look at.

Let's start with the chicken, even if it wasn't the first thing that was brought to the table. On this evening there were nine different options available, a respectable sampling of the fowl, though far short of the TWENTY FOUR (!) different cuts you can get at Yardbird, including bizarre parts like thyroid, ventricle, and Achilles. Perhaps the most treasured yakitori bite, the oyster, which is a coin-shaped medallion from the back of the chicken just above the thigh, is considered by many to be the juiciest part of the entire animal. And, reader, juicy it was... melt-in-your-mouth tender bites seasoned simply with salt and pepper were presented three-to-a-skewer, with simply a lime wedge as accoutrement. I wish we had saved this one for last, because it was probably the best of all, with only one real competitor.

That challenger was the meatball (aka tsukune), featuring the soft, ground meat held together with egg and breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt and ginger, and threaded onto the bamboo spear which was gently placed atop a small bowl of tare (a sort of sweetened soy sauce) with egg yolk. Bursting with flavor, this succulent morsel was so delicious that I nearly ordered another. It didn't need the accompanying sauce, but you will be proud of your boy for dipping in the egg to try the full experience. If you can for some reason only order two, it should be these.

But why limit yourself? Other excellent choices are the meaty dark meat thigh (negima), which was garnished with hunks of grilled scallion, the lean white mean breast (mune) given a pop of acidity with some yuzu paste, and the slightly esoteric fatty skin (tori kawa), with a crispy exterior that was umami-ed up with some miso. This is such an enjoyable style of cookery that I would have ordered even more of the available varieties if there wasn't so much else I wanted to try on the menu.

To offset the heft of the rest of the meal, we opted for the Toga House Salad (because everyone knows you burn more calories by chewing than there actually are in any salad), which was comprised of frisée, cabbage, and tomato in a creamy ginger dressing with sesame. A relatively new yet popular addition per our waiter, this had a solid bite from the rhizome, and the red, vegetal orbs were a bright, juicy contrast from the crunchy greens. Rabbit food, sure, but pleasant. (By the way, I may have ranted about this before, but I don't care what my Plant Biology 301 professor said, tomatoes are vegetables and not fruits or berries. Though I am a man of science and taxonomy [Kuo Plays Counter-Strike On Fridays...], that is superseded by being a champion of gastronomy, and any reasonable system should see them classified alongside similarly-utilized produce such as bell peppers WHICH ALSO ARE NOT FRUITS. Ugh.)

Moving on, another out-of-order starter was the Tuna Carpaccio, which had crimson, paper-thin slices of the raw saltwater fish draped over an avocado-wasabi mousse, leeks, and a side of toasted milk bread rectangles. A wonderful interpretation of this classic dish, there was a good degree of heat from the pungent green sushi accompaniment we all know and love, and the toasts were brilliantly soft yet crisp, yielding a highly rewarding bite when all put together in proper construction.

There aren't a ton of true "mains" here since it's more of a mix-and-match situation, but of the few items in the "Hot" section of the menu, the most interesting was the Katsu Curry, with a breaded and fried Sakura pork cutlet, sliced over a bed of Koshihikari rice, cabbage, red chile cubes, and drizzled with a dark brown Kanazawa curry. The thick, rich sauce had a deep savory flavor with hints of sweetness, which coated the meat while still preventing it from getting soggy, allowing satisfying crispy bites throughout. Pretty solid.

We nearly didn't order the Wagyu Burger, but after seeing one after another brought out from the kitchen, we couldn't resist getting in on the action ourselves. Between the two parts of a pillowy potato bun was a mouth-dribbling brisket and beef heart patty, a thick slice of melted comté, tomato marmalade, and frisée (presented with an unnecessary pickle spear on top of a whimsical cow-shaped cast iron platter). This burger was unreal... incredibly juicy and flavorful, with the fancy French cheese proving to be the perfect addition thanks to its complex creamy richness, and some sweetness courtesy of the jam. Apparently comté is a favorite of cheesemongers, which I only bring up to clumsily segue to the following: just as "fishwife" (one of my favorite words ever) is the female version of fishmonger, we need to make "cheesewife" a part of the lexicon. Someone alert the OED or Urban Dictionary or whoever. Anyway, this is easily a top ten burger in Houston, and probably even higher than that.

What would an izakaya be without great drinks? The Japanese Slipper was my favorite, a fruity, tropical treat with Midori (a melon spirit from Suntory), honeydew, lemon, and triple sec that poured an electric green color. And the Milk Punch, a concoction of rum, wintermelon, osmanthus (an Asian flower with the scent of apricot), herbal liqueur, and cream was a bit more warming yet still with some of those melony flavors which reminded you that it's summer.

It's definitely a pretty specific type of cuisine, but it's great to have a solid yakitori spot in Houston finally. They're still feeling things out just a few months in, so I expect some changes to the menu, but if I know anything about the Comma Hospitality guys, I can just about guarantee that this will continue to get better and better. Go enjoy tasting different parts of the chicken, and of course, make sure to order the burger.

RANKING UPDATE: Very different from the majority of the spots on my list that lean sushi-heavy, I am awarding this the #9 position in the Best Japanese section of my Houston Restaurant Guide.

NEXT UP: A tropical neighborhood bar in the Heights that has garnered some significant acclaim among niche mixology publications.