Address: | 6516 Westheimer Rd A2, Houston, TX 77057, USA |
Phone: | +1 713-789-4506 |
Rating: | 4.5 |
Working: | 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 6–10:30PM Closed |
ST
Steven Le
Overall, good sushi, OK ramen, very slow service. Right from the start the service was bad. There was no hostess so no one was managing the wait for a table. I stood in the tiny waiting area for 20mins before it was my turn and then the waiter realized she could have sat me much sooner as they had a free seat at the bar. Getting my drink order was quick, but after that the service grinded to a halt. I sat at least 10mins before someone came and took my order. No one was watching to refill the hot tea and I had to flag someone down to get a refill, which then still took another 5 minutes to get. I ordered a simple dish of ramen and 4 pieces of sushi, which should be a very fast meal. I waited about 15mins for the sushi and quickly finished it. After that, the wait for the ramen was over 20mins. That’s right, it took at least 35 minutes for me to get a simple bowl of ramen. I know because I became so bored waiting I started the stopwatch on my smartphone. After I finished and the wait staff took my bowl, which sat empty for a while before they even came to bus my table, no one took the check to me. I had to ask for the check and it took another 12 minutes before I even saw that. I should have been out of that place in under an hour easy, but it took 2 hours before I got out of that place. What a waste of time for me and those that were still waiting for a seat. Now on to the food: the sushi was good and easily the highlight of this experience, very traditional style sushi. Because I sat at the sushi bar and waited so long, I was able to careful watch the sushi chefs prepare the sushi. I could easily tell they had a passion for it. I really enjoyed their saka (salmon) sushi. It was on point and had a melt in your mouth goodness. The maguro (tuna) sushi was good, but nothing to brag about. The main reason I came to Tappay was to try their ramen, which is supposed to be some of the best in town. The ramen was a bit of the let down. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. I ordered the tonkostu ramen, which had a nice cloudy broth with a good balance of flavors. The meat was good, but there wasn’t enough of it. The soft boiled egg was undercooked and needed a bit more time. Not the best ramen I have had but not the worst. I would rank it in the middle of the pack.
YU
Yung Hyun
Looks authentic, feels authentic, and tastes authentic. If there were any place in Houston I would recommend to visitors looking for a great Japanese restaurant; this would be the place. Teppay isnt a hole-in-the-wall but it can appear to be one as its located between a Sketchers and a comic book store. But once you step inside it feels like youve come to a nice, small Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo. Anyways, Ive had several dishes over several visits such as tempura (fried shrimp + veggies), chicken karaage (fried chicken), zaru soba (buckwheat noodles + dipping sauce), udon (soup + noodles), ramen (shoyu & tonkatsu), and lastly their fresh sushi/sashimi. Seriously, this place is one of my Houston favorites but to expedite this review Ill talk about the sushi and ramen. Their sushi/sashimi has to be one of the best Ive had in Houston. The quality and consistency of their sushi is what has me sold as each time it is ordered it comes out fresh (no pungent fishy smell) and delicious (right amount of vinegar rice, wasabi, to fish ratio) no need for soy sauce! My favorite sushi pieces are sake (salmon), saba (mackerel), and ikura (salmon roe). I also consider their ramen to be one of the best in Houston as well. You only have one choice of noodles which are the average wavy ramen noodles, and they have up to three broths but Ive only tried the shoyu and tonkatsu. Their shoyu has a nice brown broth with light briny, soy sauce based flavor with little oil deposits on the surface. The tonkatsu has a very creamy, white broth with heavy flavors of pork accompanied by more oil deposits on the surface. Oily isnt a bad thing! It helps to coat the mouth and enhance to flavors of the broth. The ramen is also topped with various items such as spinach, bamboo shoots, naruto, scallions, soft boiled egg, and slice of pork. Overall, Teppay is the place you want to go if youre craving more authentic Japanese foods other than sushi. I recommend anyone and everyone to go try out their food. Prices vary between $10-15 per plate. Side note: the customer service is polite but can be very slow especially during peak dinning hours on Friday nights and weekends. Its best to go before of after (30 mins to close) rush dining hour times.
JU
Justine Hernandez
You could not justify Teppays average 3.5 star rating to me... I felt as though Id been transported to Japan - a small nook of a restaurant, simply decorated with little maneki-neko and mini-sushi figurines at the sushi bar, a real Japanese staff that gently greets you with a "moshi moshi"... not like Miyakos abrasive "MOSHI MOSHI!!!!", and most notably, the incredibly well-done, authentic food. My experience was pure peace and comfort, and I couldnt have gotten a table-for-one at a better place. Per recommendation of my Teppay addicted friend, I ordered the clam miso soup, the 6 piece omakase, and 2 pieces of torched salmon belly sushi topped with lemon and sea salt... Yes, you just read right. Wipe the drool off your chin and keep reading. The clam miso (not on the lunch menu) came out in a bowl with a bowl shaped lid. Steam floated up upon the unveiling, and fresh clams filled the bowl, swimming in a beautiful miso broth. The bowl-lid was the perfect receptacle for my clam shells, and I made sure there wasnt one drop of soup left. Next came the torched salmon belly - which includes a little fire show if you sit at the sushi bar. The slightly charred taste on the outside, with the raw, cold, buttery inside, and that pop of citrus and salt make this one of my favorite sushi of all time. The omakase was an obvious mix of salmon, mackerel, yellow tail, red snapper (I think), flounder or trout, and amaebi (sweet shrimp). Each sushi was adorned with high quality seafood. The mackeral was unlike any Ive tried - not that crazy, pickled mess you get at every other sushi joint. The amaebi, a perfect finale to my meal, was presented with two halves of a fried sweet shrimp head, making it much easier to eat than when fried whole. Dont pay attention to that 3.5 star nonsense. If youre here complaining about the price and the portion size, then maybe you should be going to Tokyo One or something. This is how Japanese food is supposed to be done, and definitely something to try at least once when your wallet isnt empty. If you find yourself next to a large Skechers shoe store on Voss and Westheimer, know that you are actually moments away from Japan... or at least the most Japenese experience you will have here in the H.
KR
Kristina Do Nguyen
I came here for lunch time since my boyfriend usually frequents this place during work lunch. He warned me that the service is below a typical Japanese restaurant. When we went in, I noticed it was mostly Asian people, which is usually a good sign. We sat by the door but they blast the AC here so I was freezing half the time. I ordered the bento box with chicken, I thought itd be grilled but its an Asian fried chicken (not really breaded) that was fried too long since it was very tough. They also give you tempura, potato salad, rice, a couple of other things Im not sure what it was. I also comes with miso soup as well. The service is okay, not the worse. They dont really attend to you and they dont clear the table of empty dishes (note that this actually helps them more than us by reducing the amount of work they have to do later!!!) Overall, Im not really wowed, the bento box was quite expensive (~$14). Id like to come back for sushi and update my review since thats what my boyfriend says its good for. Pros: - Quiet setting Cons: - Service - Too cold, need to turn down the AC