Sushi Time at Rickshaw in Houston

Despite receiving numerous recommendations, it took us forever to finally check out Rickshaw Far East Bistro in Houston. Located on Westheimer, between Buffalo Speedway and Kirby, a colleague of mine would often tell me it was his third choice after Uptown Sushi and Fish. So, we met up with my cousins and made it out there on a rainy Saturday night.

I'll give my brief impressions. We split lettuce wraps, edamame and summer rolls as appetizers. I really liked the lettuce wraps with excellent chicken and a good range of other toppings like julienne carrots, sprouts and wonton strips. The summer rolls were good but the peanut sauce shone as it had a somewhat Indian flavor I couldn't place.

For dinner, I had three types of sashimi - salmon, tuna and octopus. Very nicely done - good-sized pieces and excellent flavor. My wife had the Tamari Snapper (which she loved and I tasted - excellent!) and my cousins had sashimi and I'm not sure what else... I wasn't that focused on their meals.

Atmosphere is dark and elegant with tables, booths and a sizable lounge area dubbed "Bambu' Lounge". Service was a bit spotty. Despite a relatively slow night due to the rain, our waitress seemed to be pushing us out, as if there was a strong need to turn the table. In one case, rather than getting some low sodium soy sauce, our waitress went to the front and chatted with some coworkers. Still, despite our waitress's less-than-stellar service, we would gladly go back.