Land of Azúcar

Japaneiro’s Sushi Bistro & Latin Grill in Sugar Land certainly is living up to its name

Comments (0) By Robb Walsh Thursday, Mar 4 2004

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Japaneiro's Sushi Bistro & Latin Grill is a one-of-a-kind eatery owned by Robert White, who also operates the Sasu Sushi restaurant in Sugar Land. White comes by his fusion cuisine honestly. His mother is from Venezuela, and he grew up in South America and New York. His Latin American-Japanese combos are his own originals. At lunch one day, I sampled Japaneiro's Japanese calamari ceviche. The multicolored calamari is finely diced with a sushi knife until it resembles chopped clams. Then it's combined with lime juice, ginger and soy in a pleasant spin on the South American marinated fish dish.

I also sampled a deep-fried creation called a Latino roll, which reminded me of Mexico City sushi. It contained hamachi, fake crab, cream cheese and jalapeños, and it was deep-fried in tempura batter, sliced and then topped with some kind of mayonnaise. It was okay, but I coveted my lunchmate's soft-shell crab sandwich and Japanese-style salad. Judging by the crowd, the restaurant appears to be just as popular at lunch as it is at dinner.

Troy Fields

Slam dunk: Japaneiro's Cabo San Lucas sushi and its churrasco plate are great for dipping.

Location Info

Map

Japaneiro's Sushi Bistro & Latin Grill

2168 Texas Drive
Sugar Land, TX 77479

Category: Restaurant > Nuevo Latino

Region: Outside Houston

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Details

Cabo San Lucas: $18
Calamari ceviche: $6
Churrasco: $21
Grilled seafood platter: $18
Three-course lunch special: $12
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays; 11 a.m. to midnight Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 10 p.m. Sundays.

2168 Texas Drive (in Sugar Land's Town Square), 281-242-1121.

More About

Like the SushiSamba locations, Japaneiro's was designed to be a high-energy scene. The interior is sleekly done with modern furniture, café au lait-colored concrete floors scored with swooping patterns, and hammered-copper sheaths above the sushi bar and the kitchen. On the weekends, the lights go down low after dinner, and Japaneiro's turns into Sugar Land's hippest nightspot. (Not that there's much competition.)

I danced with my daughter and my dining companion for a while, but we weren't in step with the crowd. The best dancer on the floor was a short Latino woman dressed in black, who suddenly grabbed my teenage daughter's hand and started teaching her some merengue steps. Within a few minutes, my daughter had joined a circle of dancers and was gyrating her hips with her arms held high in the air.

"Daddy," my daughter enthused as I dragged her to the car after the song had finished. "Can we come back here again?"

"The Land of Azúcar might be a little too wild for your daddy," my dining companion chuckled.