Maiko Bar & Bistro

Yum! HH all day on Monday! Yaaaaas
The rolls on the hh were simple but yummy. We just ordered from that this time and were super full.
The rest of the menu looked dank. Will be back to try.

Supermarket sushi and a stoned waitress. Sushi was as good as lunch sushi from HEB. Our waitress was so stoned she was practically drooling on herself.

Happy hour indeed made me happy. We have tried a number of food on their happy hour menu and we loved it. I enjoyed the spider roll and rock and roll’s roll.
My husband loved the pork belly slider. It was delicious! A must try!
The guy who attended to us was very nice and took time to explain the which and what on the paper. Would definitely come back next time.

Great sushi! The fish was so fresh that it literally melted in my mouth. Rice was a good consistency that it didn’t break apart on me. The cut of the fish were great portion sizes. Overall, another great experience at Maiko! Oh and it doesn’t hurt that it was happy hour!

If you are looking for a chill sushi place, Maiko is good for that, it’s not Blue Fish level sushi but it isn’t bad either.
They have a bar area and sit down, the bar area has sports going all the time, and nice set up.
Hey have a good size patio, outside, for smoking friendly people !!! And a karaōke machine and room with like 6,000 songs on it !!!
The happy hour is until 10pm week nights of course!!!
A California roll is about $ 6.50 which is a little on the cheaper side, but I would say the taste and quality it was a $ 6.50 tasting roll !
Andy is the best, he will go above and beyond for you !
Ask for him! And have the pomegranate martini! Yum

Overall, food was good but pricey. Lunch specials weren’t great. Ordered 3 specialty rolls: Houston, Bonsai, and Volcano. Everything tasted fresh, even the ginger. Bill was $ 44 and some change for 3 rolls. The service was good and the staff was nice.

Pretty mediocre, expensive sushi. If you look at the specialty roll menu, everything is either spicy or fried and there is no in between. My friend ordered the lunch bento box and received 3 of the sections of the box filled with tempura. The rest of it consisted of dumplings and spring rolls. Literally everything she had been given was fried. I personally ordered the mango blue crab specialty roll because it was the only one that didn’t contain «crab mix» (the crappy fake crab mush) but I received just that anyway. It seems that they either fry their food, make it very spicy, or slather it in mayo to hide its actual taste. Way overpriced for the quality — would not recommend.

This place is never crowded, which probably isn’t a great sign. Still, I think its definitely worth checking out. And after having to stop going to my regular sushi place after I got sick, this has become my go-​to sushi spot.
They have a great selection of rolls, some of which you don’t see everywhere else. I appreciate that there are quite a few spicy rolls to choose from. I rarely get the same thing twice. Recently they added some new things to the menu to keep it interesting. I don’t usually get a drink here, but their cocktails look delicious.
Pro tip: Bring a sweater or jacket, because their a/​c really gets cranking… even when it’s not hot outside.

I have been to this location when it was other sushi restaurants, however, I think that Maiko is the best one here thus far! We sat out on the patio and enjoyed several dishes. The fish was so fresh and the flavors were amazing! We will be returning.

Did takeout here and it was fabulous. Got some kind of dinner roll combo — I asked for the «sushi dinner» that was advertised on the online menu, and the person on the phone said that menu was out of date, and recommended some other thing. «Fine, sure.» Whatever it was, it was delicious, so I needed to check in to Unilocal to post the photos — the caterpillar roll it came with had a little shrimp butterfly on it!
As a transplant from New York, I was hesitant to try sushi in Houston — but I’m happy my doubts were incorrect, and will try sitting down at Maiko soon!

Surprised at how few people were present on a Saturday night (especially for its busy location next to Trader Joe’s), we stepped into Maiko’s dimly lit interior and something was just a little bit off about the ambiance. Our waitress was friendly enough but somehow the over-​smiling and slight pushiness with their dessert options made it slightly… strange.
That being said, the food was fine. Happy hour lasts until 1900, even on Saturday, so we got some munchies off of that menu and were on our happy way. The seaweed/​nori smelled very fresh, plus points, but other than that I honestly don’t have much to say about this place. I got a spider roll and spicy salmon — the spider roll was a bit on the flavorless side but salmon was much better.
Wouldn’t really recommend. Wasn’t bad, wasn’t good, just okay… and a bit weird in terms of service.

The staff was pleasant and greated us upon arrival. We seated ourselves then began reviewing the menu. I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai. It was delish. The only thing was that it had artichoke hearts and onions. It was good even though it wasn’t a peanut based sauce. The dish had plenty of veggies. I also ordered a House Salad that had fresh ginger dressing. The price was kinda high for lunch but I would definitely return.

Given it’s location alone I have high standards for a sushi place such as this. I’ve been seeing it under many different names for years but decided to try it with 3 friends and make an evening out of it.
Right away the place was very dead for a Saturday night. Granted it was a little rainy on a night of all the Bowl games and post New Years; I still would of expected much more activity.
We were promptly seated (obviously) after a walk up a couple steps and back down to a booth. We couldn’t decide if we actually liked the atmosphere or if there was something a little off about it. We ordered hot sake, as we usually do, which came out lukewarm at best. We let our Server know and he brought the next one out at a higher temperature. By the third sake (we did 4 total) they were too hot to touch. But hey, that’s what we asked for. It seemed like our Server had to put a lot of extra effort into bringing it hotter. We also inquired about reverse happy hour prices, after reading online they did that. However our Server said they didn’t do Reverse HH anymore. Disappointing. Despite that he was nice, and did get all our orders correct, he had a vibe like he was a little frustrated about something (he even told us he was supposed to leave at 9 but we kept him til almost 10. He mentioned that conversationally and not as venting).
The food was a lower point. My Shaggy Dog roll and Maiko Crunch were not packed very well and at least 3 of the pieces broke apart in my chopsticks. One of my friends had the same problem. My other friend’s caterpillar roll was presented nicely and he seemed to enjoy it. The friend who had the same problem with the rolls breaking apart, also ordered salmon rolls which she said did not taste right, and her stomach felt less than happy following dinner.
On top of it one of the tables that was occupied had a large party. We couldn’t tell if they were a sorority, or bridal party (plus one random drunk guy… more on him in a second) but they were being loud, obnoxious and were screaming to each other across the restaurant. One older couple behind us actually got up and left! It got so irritating one of my friends asked them to please shut it which got the guy mad to the point his girls had to restrain him. Never a good thing when you start preparing yourself to get kicked out of a restaurant because you think a fight might be coming on with another patron. Fortunately another member of their party apologized profusely and nothing else happened. While this isn’t directly the restaurants fault, no staff member asked them to stop when they were screaming across the room. I also think that when you have a place that is nearly empty, it is more attractive to some people to act however they want to, which is not acceptable.
Bottom line, when you can get grocery store made sushi that is pretty yummy; a big sushi restaurant in the bubble of both River Oaks and Upper Kirby, should blow that away. After this experience I question why this place has 4 stars with many 5 star reviews. If I could of been nice and bumped this up to 2.5 stars, I would of, but based on this experience, I could not justify giving it 3.
Hope your experience is better, if this place survives.

Stopped for happy hour and was actually surprised. We started with the calamari, which my husband loved. I thought it was ‘aight’, but didn’t really care for the hard batter. I had 3 pieces of nigiri, which were all fresh and tasty. We shared the Rock and Roll Roll — my favorite — and also had the Philly Roll, which was basic, but nicely done. The service was quick and efficient and their pricing is very reasonable.

Firstly, try this Szechuan fries. They are addictive and you get a massive platter, they are perfectly spicy. I love that they were accommodating in making a substitution in one of their roll dinners, most places won’t do that, even for an upcharge. The salad had a great fresh dressing on it, it was quite nice. The rolls were good and service was reasonable. I will be back again, especially for those fries.

I came here for dinner one night only because we wanted to try a new sushi place. There’s not much to write about this place décor wise as we were seated in the bar area. The place was pretty dark is the only thing that stood out to me.
We ended up ordering the Shaggy Dog roll, Red Dragon Roll and a bunch of different nigiris. The rolls are pretty solid if small compared to some places. I was however very disappointed with all the nigiris we got. Way to much rice compare to fish ratio, and the rice was also too packed. I ended up leaving half my rice on the plate for each nigiri piece I ate.
Considering the amount I spent for the sushi and a couple of drinks, I don’t see myself coming back. The price for the sushi was pretty comparable to other places I go except for the nigiris. The nigiris are a little cheaper compared to others, but the rice to fish ratio just didn’t do it for me.

Maiko is just okay. The prices were very affordable, but the service was extremely slow. Our waitress was very nice, but they had too few people assembling the sushi, and we waited a half an hour for our rolls even though it was late at night and the restaurant was not very busy. In Houston, we have so many choices for sushi. I have to really love a place to go back. And, unfortunately, our Maiko experience will probably be our only one, because we were not impressed by our food enough to make up for the slow service.

OK, so I was in a Japanese-​lunch-​state-​of-​mind and wanted to try Maiko based upon all these reviews.
Short version: A nice, clean, somewhat trendy bistro that has a diverse menu, polite staff and pretty good food. Check it out if you are in the area.
Long version: Because I wanted to broaden my restaurant cache, I decided to stop by Maiko en route from a business call. The previous reviews and pictures caught my attention, so I thought I’d add my $ 0.02 to the mix.
Atmosphere: Very trendy — kind of reminded me of Southern California-​style Asian bistros. Dark paneling, interesting light fixtures, contemporary American pop music on the stereo and ESPN on the TV complete the ambiance.
Maiko advertises itself as «Third Coast-​inspired Asian fusion cuisine,» which is restaurant slang for «we don’t know what the fcuk we’re doing» — yet in reality, Maiko actually executed the food and service well in my opinion.
Service: Very prompt, discerning and friendly. My particular server — bespectacled millennial male with earring — knew the menu and how things should be cooked. I overheard him discussing his favorite sushi dishes with a group of Austinites behind me, and I was suitably impressed (which, if you know how fussy I can be, is an achievement in itself).
I ordered a hot tea (green), and was pleasantly surprised by it. Let me explain:
For those of you who are not familiar with Japanese-​style tea, it is quite different from other Asian variations. This type of green tea is served «matcha» style, which means that it is thick, frothy and with lots of leaves in the mug. It’s the type of traditional tea served in a «cha-​no-​yu» tea ceremony, and the taste is, well, an acquired one. Nevertheless, it was the best tea I’d had in years.
The «matcha» tea set the tone for the rest of the food, which was quite good and elegantly served. I ordered a chicken teriyaki bento box, which for $ 10 (including soup and salad) is a steal. Check the pic to see how big this thing was!
The soup was your traditional miso soup, and the green salad had a wonderful ginger dressing on it. A little soy sauce in both and we were in business. Soup was piping hot (as was the tea). Salad was chilled and crisp.
So far, so good. Then came the bento box.
The chicken teriyaki was on point: moist, hot and drenched with teriyaki sauce and dotted with sesame seeds. Yum!
It also came with a side of vegetable tempura (also piping hot), chicken gyoza (fried dumplings), rice and a spring roll.
Now, maybe I’m too much of a purist — but come on, a spring roll? Why not a shumai or even a tekka maki or California roll? That was kind of a letdown — especially since the spring roll was nothing to write home about. Kind of bland and uninspiring.
I took a peek at other tables’ orders (yeah, I’m a food voyeur), and the assorted sushi rolls and other meals (tempura, udon, katsu) were pretty tasty-​looking. Might be worth another try.
However, I have a couple of star deductions.
For starters, the menu is all over the place. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by more traditional places like Nippon and Osaka, so it came as a shock to see an item like a Kobe burger on the menu at Maiko.
A burger? At an Asian place? *Eyes glazed over* One question — WHY?
Other dishes seem a bit out of place. Lobster mac and cheese? Filet Mignon? REALLY? Is this considered «Asian fusion?» But I digress.
NOTE: The word «Maiko» in Japanese means «apprentice.» It’s the title given to a young woman (a girl, really) who is training to become a geisha. Once she has mastered her training, she then becomes a «Geiko» (first-​class geisha, not a lizard selling insurance on TV).
In a way, the name is fitting for this place. Maiko has only been open less than six months, so it is still in the «training» phase. Maybe given some time, refinements and a more streamlined menu, it will graduate to the head of its class as a first-​class establishment.
I will be meditating and waiting patiently for that to develop.
If you are in the neighborhood, give Maiko a shot. But don’t make a special trip for it. Yet.

Best bento box in a long while. Started off a little blah with so so miso soup, but everything after that was excellent. Great salad, great tempura vegetables, and the best shumai I’ve had in town. Shrimp tempura was excellent too, I am just biding my time until I can get back here and enjoy another bento box. Seriously, just go check it out, really nice restaurant too.

I’ve been meaning to review this place for a while… Just haven’t got around to it.
I’ve been here twice already, and besides the horrific traffic on Shepard from the construction, I’d highly recommend it. The place has a nice feel, nice long bar with TV and plenty of booths. The service both times we had was great, and both times (although it was kinda slow) the manager Timo came and checked on our table. The food was very good and we FINALLY found a place that has Pickled Wasabi! Yes, it costs extra (just a buck) but TOTALLY worth it, especially if you’re just gettin sushi or sashimi, you might lose the flavor in a roll.
The drinks are also ‘always on happy hour’ with good pricing. They also have a strange, not-​listed happy hour on tues and thurs that hat even cheaper beers AND $ 1 salmon! Strange because it is After 7pm… I’ll take it!
Food: 5
Drinks: 4.5
Atmosphere: 4 (I’m throwing parking and construction here for the –1)
Service: 5
Price: 4.5
I’d say better quality than Aka, maybe a little pricier since Aka has the crazy happy hour and reverse happy hour, but Maiko has better seating and atmosphere.

I ended up at Maiko Bistro and Bar only because I couldn’t find parking at my favorite sushi spot down the street (AKA Sushi House) before their happy hour ended. Luckily for me, Maiko had a «HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY» sign outside so I decided to stop in and try it… and I’m sooooo glad I did!
Their Happy hour prices are right on point ($ 3-​$ 10)…and the food was deeeelllliiiiccciiiooouuusss! I’m so glad I couldn’t find parking at AKA because I never would’ve tried Maiko! This place is pretty new, so I encourage everyone to stop by and give them some business! There’s plenty of parking (front & back), the service is great, and the food is BOMB! I will be back, especially for their amazing spicy fried rice! YUM!

I actually liked when Maiko first opened. The food came out super slow, but the food was tasty and service was good. Idk what has happened, but I’m not about this place anymore.
They have new menus now which seem cheaper than the ones they had before. The hibachi option that left with Zake/​Unaga suddenly reappears. The miso ramen is no longer available, and based off of description, the dish formerly called Tantan Ramen is now Tokyo Ramen. But changes to that ramen goes beyond a simple name change. The broth is different. The egg is cooked differently. It’s not flavorful. I’m not a master of ramen by any means, but whatever they concocted is not something I would to eat again.
The waitress was nice, but she brought out a regular metal spoon that I might eat rice with. So I asked her for a soup spoon. She comes back with a smaller rounder mouth spoon that would be used for soup at a Jason’s Deli. Where the noodle soup spoons at? I wasn’t gonna ask her a second time. The spoon worked just fine after I realized not much of the broth was going to need to be consumed anyway.
I noticed afterwards that the price for the ramen remains the same from the regular menu and lunch menu — $ 8.
Oh welpz. Onto the next.