PHXfoodnerds

Hi folks, haven't posted much recently because, well, life. I'm curious what to expect from Uchi in Scottsdale.

Has anyone been to the Austin one(s)? Will this one be too "Scottsdale"? Kind of feel like I'm better off spending time and money at places like Hana and Nakano, but I am intrigued by Uchi. In the same-ish vein, been meaning to start a thread on Hai Noon, which I absolutely loved, just haven't gotten around to it.

I hate to see this thread hanging here, because I'd love to know myself. I twice had trips to Austin lined up that ended up being cancelled. Been trying to get to Uchi for years.

Funny, we went to Austin around 10ish years ago and tried to get into Uchi for a meal. But it was 2-3 years old at the time and it was like THE hottest restaurant in town at the time and we couldn't get in. Period. No tables at all. It's always intrigued me so I'm kind of excited to try the Scottsdale outpost.

FTR we wound up at Congress (now closed) and it was good but there are two stories from that dinner that I remember, one is that Chef David Bull came to the table to thank us for trying his tasting menu and I said "Thank you, good luck with the JBF award but I hope that Charleen (@FnB) beats you." He looked at me like "fuck you asshole" and then laughed and we chatted a bit and he wound up being cool about it... The guy from Underbelly in Houston won that year...

And then when you went to the bathroom the most amazing mashup I've ever heard, played only on the speaker in there. They either had it rigged up to the door so it started when you walked in or it was just on a loop, but it made my bathroom trip longer than necessary because I listened to it three or four times. I think I took a video because I needed to hear it again. Mrs. Lunchbox was like "What took you so long? Is everything ok?"

This is what I heard.

Went to the new Scottsdale Uchi last week and really really enjoyed it. Everything we got was absolutely fantastic with flavor and preparation off the charts. The menu was a bit overwhelming so we went with the "curated tasting" option of just letting the server select all of our dishes and providing a price range and general likes/dislikes. It was not cheap, but he worked very well within the budget given (we gave $250 but he actually came in around $200 and we left quite full) and we got a great variety of dishes without feeling like any throwaway type dishes were put in. The wagyu carpaccio and the walu walu were two standouts for us. The kinoko nabe is a dish at all Uchi locations and absolutely worth a try as well. And of course, all the sushi was impecabbly fresh.

It definitely has a Scottsdale vibe but not like you're in a club. The only issue, which other online reviews back up, is that the sushi bar was taking a really long time to get food out. It was not ideal, but certainly one should expect some kinks need to get ironed out the first couple weeks open. Much credit to our server who proactively communicated on the timing and let us decide how to pace the meal - we opted to have the kitchen send out the hot food even if the pacing wasn't quite right as we had a babysitter waiting at home!

I have also been to the Dallas Uchi but it was a business dinner and I wasn't ordering, so hard to draw a true comparison as the two dining experiences were much different.

PHXeater wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2024 9:56 pm It was not cheap, but he worked very well within the budget given (we gave $250 but he actually came in around $200 and we left quite full) and we got a great variety of dishes without feeling like any throwaway type dishes were put in.

Was that per person or for the table?

exit2lef wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 5:12 am

PHXeater wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2024 9:56 pm It was not cheap, but he worked very well within the budget given (we gave $250 but he actually came in around $200 and we left quite full) and we got a great variety of dishes without feeling like any throwaway type dishes were put in.

Was that per person or for the table?

Oops. Total for the table - so for 2 of us.

Sat and did 10 course Omakase at the sushi bar Sunday Night. Was 250$ for two people and was phenomenal. One of the better meals we have had in a while. Sat at 715 and left around 930. Felt timing was not fast but was appropriate. Service was spot on and the two cocktails I had were very good as well.

My wife and I dined at Uchi on Thursday night two weeks ago for our Anniversary and had a good, if uneven, experience. We were planning on opting for the Omakase, but was interested to learn that they also offer a more diner-selected option at any price-point. Our waitress was impressed however with the Omakase menu for the night and said she probably would recommend that. Not sure when the price point changed from the earlier posts, but she was upfront that the Omakase option was $460 for two that evening. Our seating was at 7, and was a bit concerned about the length of an 12 course dinner, but she said they plan on no more than two hours per sitting, so expect it to be relatively quick. And it was - perhaps a bit too quick...

Here was the lineup - a good mix of nightly specials and standard menu items:
Ichiban oysters with gooseberry pickle
Akami Te (bigeye tuna, watermelon, trinity herbs)
Masu crudo (ocean trout, sesame, gooseberry)
Spicy crunchy tuna roll (cucumber, avocado, chili)
Quail (carmelized eggplant, Asian pear, jalapeno)
Nigiri (sea bream and horse mackerel)
Suzuki Yaki (sea bass, English pea, hakurei turnip)
Nigiri (bluefin chutoro and amberjack)
Hama chili (Yellowtail, ponzu, thai chili, orange supreme)
Wagyu loin, maitake mushrooms, radish
“Beef Roll”
Fried milk (vanilla custard, salted fudge, toasted blondie)

Won't bore you with all the pics, but will highlight the crudos -
The seabass with English peas and turnip
The Hama chili Yellowtail
And then after a number of excellent fish courses, all top-notch and supremely flavorful (particularly the Nigiri), we got to this...
That was the first of the beef courses, something that at this point was somewhat superfluous and probably bound to disappoint, but this being Arizona, I assume they feel like they've got to finish off with the red-meat.

I should note that at this point of the evening, probably about 8:45, the restaurant was emptying out rapidly, and the staff looked like they were a foot out the door themselves. The Wagyu loin was dropped with a brief description and we tucked into an insanely salty cream sauce over a piece of beef that was nowhere near Kobe-quality. It wasn't even USDA Prime quality. Mushrooms were great, and while we were sorting out what this mess was, a different server suddenly came by and dropped off what he only described as "beef rolls" on the table. Didn't get a pic of these, but a makimono with shredded beef on top, a fairly sweet sauce and some tender beef in the center. Flagged our original waitress to ask for more info on this, which she somewhat delivered but then asked why we didn't finish the loin course. We told her it was entirely too salty and tough, and her reply was "I've heard that from some others tonight". And then she was gone.

The other server dropped the dessert soon after
This was quite good, but we were still reeling a bit from the 'beef courses' and it was clear that nobody wanted us there at 9:15, so we only ate a bit and got going.

In retrospect, we would have chosen an all-fish tasting, or at least no beef menu (the quail was delicious) and probably would have saved a bit of money. The quality and flavor of the fish was very good, and probably a slight step above our local favorite, Shimogamo. It was a bit worrisome that the place was dead empty by 9:30, but I recognize it is early August in Scottsdale. I think the more concerning aspect was the typical Scottsdale dining couples there, where one may order a decent sized meal, but the other seems to subsist on two pieces of nigiri and a cocktail. One seating a night of customers like that won't pay the bills. And that's probably why our Omakase was almost twice the price of when it opened less than a year ago. We'd definitely go back though for the quality of the sushi, and I hope it does make it.

If I'm paying that much for a meal for two, I don't expect to be rushed. This is becoming a problem not only with early closures, but also time limits on reservations.