Money Cat

Top 5 restaurant of all time for me. Just a delightful spot in Houston about 15 mins from downtown. Staff is super friendly, especially the GM who served us and walked us through the whole menu. The decor is very modern with touches of money cats all over. The food was lights out amazing. They change their menu every season and we got like 15 things so there's no point in highlighting everything because it was ALL good. I mean, look at these pics. Dish after dish and sushi roll after roll were all home runs. Couldn't recommend Money Cat more. Must go if you're in Houston.

I always love the Money Cat's in Asian restaurants; they're adorable with their smiling faces, large bellies, and continually waving arm. The Money Cat is intended to welcome guests in here, but the fortune doesn't just stop with the cat, you will find fortune on the menu with their carefully crafted list of food choices. Hot tastings, cold tastings, traditional, and fusion are all gathered on one page to present the best that the chefs have to offer.Houston CM Jando S. knows my loathe for forced paid parking, so for those who are not into handing your keys over to a stranger, or being forced into paying for parking, Money Cat validates garage parking! Parking is tight inside the loop, but Money Cat makes the choice easy so that your vehicle stays covered from the elements and fairly safe from vandalism. Take the elevator down to the first floor, exit the building and head east around the building, past Ceron Hair Studio, to find the front entrance of Money Cat.The interior is beautiful, and more traditionally Japanese with minimal decorations, lots of 90 degree dark wood angles, and plenty of knick knacks tucked into the shelves around the sushi bar and exterior part of the kitchen. It is always shifting, so from one visit to the next, there may be more or less knick knacks that may or may not have been there from the last visit. The staff are friendly and very engaging with customers. Because I always dine here alone for lunch, I sit at the sushi bar. I get quick and courteous service, as well as quick delivery of my sushi from the sushi chef.While Money Cat does have competition just down the street from one of the most popular sushi restaurants in town, Money Cat is worth the venture to try their versions of both traditional and fusion sushi concepts. I quickly became a fan after my first visit. I stuffed myself attempting to try as many dishes as I could, not knowing if I would return (I'm usually a one and done with restaurants). Every dish I ate, impressed me, except for one. The Chawanmushi, while very traditionally Japanese, lacked the flavor and consistency from other restaurants that serve a similar dish. It's pretty with the fish "cakes" served on the side, but it was just good for pictures. Other than that dish, everything I've tried has been as good or exceeded my expectations.After speaking with another Yelp friend, who was not impressed with what he ordered, I find that depending on your palate, not everything may be to your liking. My choices for those wanting to stay within a safe lane while still feeling a bit adventurous are: the honey vanilla milk buns (ask for fresh buns, if they've been reheated, they're not as good), the katsu sando (a full meal for one person), chutoro toast (served in a pair, perfect for splitting), and the seven set nigiri for those who are adventurous sushi eaters.If you're ok with spending the money, I would highly recommend the Bluefin Flight, the Belly Flight, as well as the O Foie Gras. If money is no object to you, I would order a full flight of the O Foie Gras. Creamy, flavorful, and bursting with an overload of umami flavors that one piece will not entirely satisfy. I would recommend no more than 3 pieces of this one, just because it is incredibly rich in flavor. My favorites are definitely these three options, as well as the Seven Set. The Seven Set is a progressive flight from lightest to most flavorful pieces of sushi that are dressed per the sushi chef's liking. It's like having a mini omakase all served on one plate.

Food: 4/5. The chutoro toast was elegantly plated and truly delightful. The bluefin tuna was thick, buttery, and smooth. It paired amazingly with the squid ink milk bread and burnt honey cream cheese. To be honest, I don't know what burnt honey cream cheese is, but I'd have it again! The katsu sandwiches were also a big hit as the chicken was crunchy and the bread was buttery and crispy. It was a bit on the oily side, but personally, I loved it! Also, you can't skip out on ordering a dessert. I struggled to decide between the s'mores kakigori and the churros. The churros were pretty, light, crisp, and had the best dipping sauces with it- a great fusion!Service: 5/5. The waitstaff was quite friendly and helpful in suggesting menu-items. Ambience: 4/5. The restaurant was a bit dead for a Thursday night. It was beautiful and big, but a bit off-putting to only see 2 other groups seated in the whole restaurant. PS don't forget to get your parking validated if you park in the garage!

The sunomono is a vegetable side dish with sliced cucumber and pear pickled in red wine vinegar. Unfortunately, the vinegar overpowers the dish; the cucumber and pear slices are a satisfying crunch, but the acidity of the vinegar lacks balance. When I taste the vinegar, the acidity hits me so hard in the back of my mouth that I don't want to eat this again.There's an excellent pairing with the Saba Zaru Soba and its citron dipping sauce. Unlike the sunomono, this citron sauce doesn't overwhelm me with acid; there's a savory element (soy sauce?) that tones it down and makes it more palatable. The sauce coats enough of the otherwise bland-tasting soba noodles to transform the whole dish. The grilled mackerel on the side is also great.

I came here last night around 9:50, maybe even 10 pm and they closed at 11. I came alone and sat at the bar , just wanted a quick bite of sushi to scratch my itch , so to speak, and to see what the food and service would be like pretty late before closing. It's a Saturday night.Well service was excellent. I received prompt attention from the bar tender and she was fully engaged as if it were the beginning of the day. And this was good because the place was basically empty except for 4 other customers. Sushi was pretty good, not great , but good enough for me to try them again, perhaps during a happy hour to truly test the quality, but because of the ambience and service, I will be back to give them another try.

Pretty good food! Ambience okay Good service The rolls were meh but everything else was good ! Not sure I would be back for dinner but maybe for drinks and some small bites I would come back

I've been to Money Cat 3 times in the last year and it's always been a fun experience. However, this restaurant's major selling point is that they create fusion dishes as well as novel experimental dishes. As a result, while you'll have dishes that you'll love and think are amazing; you'll also get dishes that are underwhelming or don't fit your palate. However, it's a fun experience because for alot of their hot tastings depending on how you create your bite it'll taste different each time since there are so many components in the dish! They have a seasonal menu that changes every couple months and they also have a 3 course lunch menu that's $35. I was actually hesitant about the lunch menu but it was actually really good and super filling to the point that I had to take some dishes to go! If you're trying to spend less than $100 I would recommend going during lunch. Favorites:Uni Pasta: I loved how the cheese brought out the richness of the Uni! However, make sure to take a lactaid. Currently this is the Uni pasta to beat as I try to find the best Uni Pasta in Houston. Chutoro Toast: I loved this version of the lox bagel. Everything was well balanced and played off each other super well. Kobocha Potato Salad: You know something is good when you want to recreate it at home! I loved how many textures were in this dish and how it was refreshing without being acidic. King Crab Chawanmushi: I loved this dish!! However, this isn't for everyone. I loved how the fish stock was used in the egg custard and how it enhanced the taste of the king crab. The savory taiyaki anchors the dish and you can add some richness by adding some butter. The leek and shallot in the taiyaki weren't strong to me but I love leek so I'm likely biased. However, if you're not fond of fish or need some crunchy texture this isn't the dish for you. Can go either way: Nirgiri: This has been a hit or miss for me. While I loved some pieces I've hated others. I think it depends on the chef preparing the dish because sometimes it feels like it is prepared by an amateur who is trying to imitate a pro while other times I'm in awe by how the chef brought out the flavors of the fish. A lot of their nigiri has a new school spin such as the addition of salt or the use of a special sauce so you are not given soy sauce. Which plays into the inconsistency of what you can expect. Bonsai: The Bonsai changes depending on the season. As a result, there have been times when I really liked all the flavor combos and other times when I thought it was just okService: 5What I really like about this restaurant is that all the servers know how to explain the flavor profile of the dishes so you know what to expect. It shows that they've been trained well and that this restaurant cares about their dishesAmbience: 4This place is really cute. I like going during lunch since it's less crowded. If you go during dinner it'll be a very intimate setting. I am giving this place a 4 since I would come back! However, while I can appreciate the thought process behind many of their dishes I know I won't always be awestruck by them.

Good food with pretty styling, recommend their kitchen food more than the sushi What we got: brussels sprouts: 5/5 delicious! crispy perfect texture and great taste uni pasta: 4.5/5 love the creamy uni into a pasta sauce, it can be a little heavy so i recommend sharing chutoro toast: 4/5 squid ink bread was decent but didn't wow me, chutoro was good sushi combo ni: 4/5 i liked some of the nigiri but not all chu toro flight: 4/5 great portions but even though this was a medium bluefin it wasn't as tender as i've had at other places chicken katsu sando: 3/5 bit of a disappointment, wasn't a fan of the slaw but the chicken was okay wagu yaki: 2/5 not tender at all ended the meal with a really pretty seasonal dessert - presentation was beautiful, taste was okay overall the restaurant is pretty and has good service. we went on a friday for lunch and it was pretty empty. i'd come back to try some more seasonal menu items but i think their kitchen food was more interesting than their sushi

Returned a year later and still up to standard. Come in during social hour to take advantage of the specials- they have a pretty good selection on the menu even if some items are only $1 less than usual. I think we pretty much ate off that menu for the night. The lychee cosmo was delicious. Load me up!The Tayaki that accompanies the chawanmushi...chefs kiss. I wish you could just order another round of those with it! And please close out your meal with that Ube churro. The churros were pillowy on the inside crunchy on the outside and the Ube cream and Calamansi dips were just so good. Update on parking- valet now for a fee it looked like, but garage is validated for 3hrs which is awesome!

We went here for an early dinner and were excited to try this place based on pictures. They did not disappoint! The service was great and they didn't bring all our food out at once which we appreciated!Our favorites were the honey vanilla milk buns, tempura pickles, maitake karaage, katsu sando, and ube churros!I do want to say though that everything we had was great! For the amount of food we got the prices were fair, and we went during happy hour so the price was even better!This restaurant isn't your traditional sushi joint. They like to play with flavors and reinvent classics. So far this is our favorite restaurant we've tried in Houston! Give them a try if you're in town!