Lunch at Kata Robata

A few weeks back my co-worker and I stopped over at Kata Robata for a Friday lunch out of the office. Some fellow food bloggers have described Kata Robata’s lunch specials as some of the best deals in town and I am all about cheap good food! Additionally, Kata Robata just so happens to be on the Houston Chronicle’s “best of Houston” list so all signs pointed to this being a great lunch choice.

The dining room

The Setup: Kata Robata is right in the thick of Upper Kirby. There is a parking lot for the shopping center that seems to fill up fairly quickly even during lunch time. Once inside, Kata Robata has a typical sushi spot set up with a sushi bar and a main dining room. There is also a nice sized patio in the back that you cannot see from the street.

The Food: I ordered the bento box with shrimp tempura which came with a side salad first. I am not quite sure what type of dressing they piled on this simple salad, but it was good! They could bottle it and sell it for sure. Next up was my bento box which is served in a cute stylish lunch tray that is a far cry from what I received at Horne elementary in the 90s! The shrimp tempura was actually pretty good, loved the crunch. I only wish I they had given me a few more pieces of shrimp. I also made the mistake of biting into the other tempura coated items on my plate. One of those items just so happened to be a pepper. I was unprepared, so I must warn you! I know it is a contradiction, but the best way I can describe my lunch was light yet filling. My co-worker stuck with what Kata Robata is known for, the sushi and thoroughly enjoyed it as well as her soup.

The menu

Another view of the bento box.

My delicious salad

Sushi (i’ll get the name and update later)

My co-workers soup

Service: We really had great service from the door to the table. The only thing is, Kata Robata is a popular lunch spot, so the kitchen the kitchen was clearly slammed. My co-workers sushi showed up about ten minutes after my dish. We do not have the luxury of four hour lunches on Fridays so we try to make it snappy. I would recommend allowing a little more than hour so you can really enjoy your lunch.

OH and the best part is that Kata is next to Dessert Gallery! So I was able to grab a slice of cake before heading back to work.