Mori Ichi

Went there Friday night around 6:30−7pm for dinner with my husband and MIL. We know they can get busy, but never have we been so hustled by every server that worked there to place our order so they could flip the table. They were so interested in serving as many tickets as possible, that they forgot our drinks and were just rude and nagging! They need to just start a waiting list and make people wait outside or by the door — so many people carried conversations practically over our shoulders, including some kids who enjoyed being obnoxious near the diners.
Their importance seems to have shifted to flipping tables than providing quality service and food. Very disappointing.

Pretty good for a small place. I like their shrimp tempura bento, but the portion of rice is way too little. What i dont like about this place is the overly aggressive servers. Like they pretend to be very nice with you.

Always a pleasure eating here, the food is always fresh and sushi taste good. Quiet and small quaint Resturant.

I came here tonight with two of my girl friends, in which one of them suggested this place. After seeing that their rating on Unilocal was only 3.5, I was a bit skeptical.
I ordered the Sake Don which was raw salmon over rice. (The lady corrected me when I said it wrong… lol I am SO sorry). My friend ordered the grilled eel over ice and my other friend ordered a bunch of sashimi pieces (3 $ each it seems). My meal was $ 13.50 but to be honest I am not sure if that is considered average price for this type of dish or not.
Sadly I was too busy chatting it up that I didn’t take a picture of it to show but the presentation was nice and it came with miso soup! The miso soup was average tasting but wasn’t bad. I would eat it again. Our food came out in reasonable time but it didn’t come out all at once for us. It was one by one with the grilled eel over rice being last. Love the presentation with that one because it came in a small bento box (japanese lunch box you see in animé xD)
The salmon tasted fine but I had better at other sushi places. I love that they gave me a lot of pieces. I want to say at least 9 – 11 pieces. (Wish i took a picture to confirm). But I was definitely surprised that it came with that much. The rice was sushi type rice which went well with the salmon. The only thing that lacked was veggies of some sort. I expected some type of veggie in the dish but I guess you can’t expect everything. My friends seem to enjoy theirs since they at it all with no complaints.
The service was mediocre. The waitress was friendly. Even though we finished eating we were still chatting away but they gave us our tickets anyway. After we paid, they didn’t bother to refill our water glasses. (Which is why I took out one star). We were clearly still gonna hang around to talk, you could at least be nice to refill our waters and not abandon us after getting the check.
Most likely only be back if I am in the area and a friend wants to come here.

This little restaurant that barely could is tucked away at the wrong corner of a massive retail strip. It looks like a hole-​in-​the-​wall from the outside, but once you get inside, it looks like a decent Chinese restaurant. Yes, I said Chinese restaurant. With a thatched roof inside. We came in right when they opened for the evening, at 5 PM.
The service from our short-​haired waitress, was lacking. Well to put it more accurately, nonexistent. The RBF on her face indicates that she really couldn’t be arsed. Miso soup was cold. I usually like miso soup, but I didn’t even bother to ask her to microwave it because my server looked like she just wanted to sit down and fold napkins at one of the tables all evening long (which she did).
After she delivered our appetizers, she appeared one more time to make my son cry. She berated my 4-​year-​old for queuing up a show on his iPod. Then when he started sobbing because a total stranger was scolding him, she told him only girls cry and little boys shouldn’t do that. Then she disappeared and never came back. I wanted to order an actual meal but that wish could not be granted. Her coworker, a more affable looking and acting woman, noticed my lack of a waitress and took care of me towards the very end of our meal. She is the reason this review has 2 stars.
The food was okay. To be fair I only ordered appetizers but yeah, I’m gonna hold that against them.
Verdict: I’m never coming back.

I am a regular visitor, and this time I tried something else. I’ve tried the ten cha soba, and it was an average dish with the sauce. It looks great though but taste-​wise is bland for me. My favorite is the gyoza, which were delicious. The philadelphia rolls were also good. The spring rolls were just ok in my opinion. My friend had ordered other sushi rolls which were pretty good.

This place has never disappointed me. It is my go-​to Japanese place. I prefer the nigiri and sashimi, but all their sushi rolls are yummy too. The rice bowls are delicious too, especially the salmon one. The only salad I have tried is the crunch kani salad, but I need no other. The dressing is so good! Staff is nice and quality is consistent. Just beware that they close for a couple of hours everyday (I think at 3) and then reopen (at 5?).

Mori ichi deserves a 5 start for being a fantastic sushi restaurant. If you really love your fresh sashimi, or you’re on delicious cooked food search, give this place a try.
I ordered one of the sashimi combo, which came with 15 pieces of sashimi with 2 amaebi (sweet shrimp), and the sashimi slices were SO GENEROUS, PERFECT CUT (of the fish), and FRESH of course.
Also ordered Toro Sushi and Uni sushi, I was in Heaven because they were so generous with their portion even with delicacies like these.
Also ordered Pork Katsu as appetizer; it was a well seasoned (even without the dipping sauce), juicy and tender, no wonder everyone in the restaurant ordered this.
Cons: the grouper sushi was too chewy for us, but it’s not the restaurants fault.
Dessert: tempura Ice cream, green tea and red bean flavor. The ice cream ball was coated with cake and fried, so flavorful and I love it!!!
I’m coming back with more people Mori Ichi!!! Thumbs up for you and keep it up!!!

The food here is not bad at all, but the service can be a bit slow. I went at a time that wasn’t as busy and we had a party of 4. My friends’ dishes came out 15 minutes before mine came out. My friends ordered a Katsu dish and I think baked salmon. My wife and I ordered two sushi rolls and a Chirashi Bowl. Maybe raw fish takes longer to prepare, who knows. Our friends were half way finished with their food before mine came out.
The sushi rolls were quite tasty and same goes for the Chirashi Bowl. The Chirashi Bowl is not a bad deal at all under $ 14. There were plenty of fish but not a lot of rice.
All in all, this place is not bad but the quality and taste of the food is comparable to Hokkaido except Hokkaido is slightly cheaper with their prices and better value IMO.

The rolls here are really creative and delicious. Sashimi wise, it’s not the best… Rather go to keeper’s for that. Roll wise, I think the ones here are less saucey so you can taste the fish and flavors more. Their fried rice is pretty good too. Service is really attentive here as well.
The cost of the food isn’t a lot so if you want cheap sushi in sugar land, I guess this will be the spot for you. Just keep in mind: what you pay for is what you get!!!

Mori Ichi’s sushi felt a lot more authentic than most sushi I’ve eaten in the States. Mori Ichi has some Americanized rolls, and a pretty good selection of nigiri sushi.
I went at 9:00pm on a Friday, yet the establishment was still fairly busy. The service was pretty good though — our tea and waters were regularly refilled and the waitresses were otherwise relatively hands off.
We ordered assortment of nigiri sushi and one Handsome Roll. The fish was not the freshest I’ve had, but it was still really good quality. I was a big fan of the red snapper and albacore, though the tuna was ‘meh’. The salmon eggs and squid were both pretty good. The preparation of the rice and seaweed throughout the food reminded me of some of the sushi meals I had the pleasure of having in Japan.
All in all one of the better sushi places around. A tad expensive at $ 1.25 /​piece of nigiri sushi, but definitely worth the experience.

We always get Weekday special B and black dragon roll! Delicious! :)
Bring a light jacket though because it’s always freezing inside!

Mori Ichi is probably one of the better, more traditional sushi joints in the Sugar Land area. Although they do have some Americanized rolls such as the Crunchy Roll and the Philadelphia Roll, their style of sushi-​making is a lot more traditional and on-​point in comparison to other places I’ve been to like Miyako’s, Azuma, or Kona Grill.
Why the three stars then, you ask? Well, ever since they opened up shop in Sugar Land, I have been a regular customer of theirs. A couple of years back, I would have given this place five stars. However, I can say that time has unfortunately taken its toll on the place as the quality of their entrees have sort of diminished over the years. For example, their Donburi used to be a bowl of awesomeness. Now, most of their Donburi items have simply become a sweet mess of just onions and rice with hardly any meat or egg to be found. Some of their soups have also fallen flat on flavor and their rolls have more rice now than filling. I remember taking my girlfriend here after not having gone in a long while, and we were both left wondering if there was even any crab in my girlfriend’s California roll.
Don’t get me wrong, their sushi is still fantastic, but it simply isn’t as good as it used to be. If you do plan on checking this place out, be sure to order the Spider Roll and the Handsome Boy. Their Sake is also dirt cheap so be sure to order that as well ;)
tl;dr Mori Ichi is better than most sushi restaurants in Sugar Land, but the quality of their food has gone down over the years.

I’ve been to this place three times and each time has been dissatisfying so it’s time I write a review. The first time was terrible. Second time was slightly better than the first. This time was just as bad as the first time.
This place lacks customer service. The waitress took our drink order. Then, she came back with our drinks and as she was walking away, we had to ask for menus since they were not given to us the first time around. I got the spider roll and tempura roll combo which includes a bowl of miso soup for $ 8.50. The miso soup was cold. I only took 2 sips and pushed it aside. The rolls were just terrible. The rice, soft shell crab, and shrimp tempura were all COLD. Because of this, it really makes me wonder about the cleanliness and freshness of the food. The rice in the rolls were cold during my other two visits too. However, the miso soup was scorching hot the second time which is how I like my food/​soups to be.
No one checked up on us during our entire visit, and again, I had to flag someone down to give us our check. I gave this place too many chances and I have finally given up. I wanted to try some place new rather than always going to Keeper’s but I will not be returning back to Mori Ichi. Please save your time and money and go to Keeper’s (located in the same plaza) instead.

This place is not that big, but it has a nice atmosphere to it. They play Japanese music and they often have a Japanese show playing on the t.v. I go here with my family every once in a while and their food is great!

This is my family’s to go to sushi place since it’s very close to home. We usually come for dinner around 7, right before there’s a big crowd. It’s fairly small inside, and they usually only have a couple of waiters/​waitresses for the whole restaurant. They offer weekday specials Monday through Thursday from 11AM-​730PM, consisting of either rolls, sushi, or sashimi. The different combos have a mixture of each, and come with miso soup. They also offer lunch specials daily from 11AM-​230PM (or 1130AM on Sundays). These include bento boxes and sushi combos served with miso soup as well. Personally, I think their lunch specials & weekday specials are a great deal!
Lunch Special F: 5/​5, you receive 7 pieces of sushi & 1 handroll, either Salmon Skin, Spicy Tuna, or Spicy Salmon.
Weekday Special I: 4/​5, 4 piece sushi & fuji maki. The fuji maki is a baked roll. It consists of smoked salmon, avocado, & cream cheese with spicy mayo on top. It’s pretty much a glorified, baked Philadelphia roll.
Shrimp Tempura Appetizer: ⁵⁄₅. This comes with 3 pieces of shrimp tempura & 3 vegetables, usually zucchini and sweet potato. The shrimp tempura is so light, flaky, and crispy.
Chirashi: 5/​5, assorted fish over rice. Typically each slice is pretty thick. They usually give you one slice of the shrimp, egg, octopus, etc, and two slices of salmon, tuna, and the like.
Sake Don: 5/​5, this is basically a chirashi, but with ALL salmon. This is my personal favorite, since I LOVE salmon. They give you ~10 slices, which are sliced pretty thin, but not TOO thin. It’s still a generous amount. Sometimes the rice can be a little inconsistent, but majority of the time it has been great.
Scallop handroll: ³⁄₅. When I first got it, I was a little saddened to see that the scallop was not filled all the way to the top. However, it comes with bits of tempura flakes inside, which is pretty awesome, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of scallop. The seaweed was also a little… Stiff.
Overall, I really appreciate this restaurant and their quality of food with their price. I have yet to have any complaints about this place, but I tend to order the same things every time. Their fish has been consistently fresh with pretty good sized slices!

Delicious! This is my go-​to place for chirashi bowls and fried rice. (Both are my guilty pleasure/​comfort foods.) Their chirashi bowl is priced at $ 13! It’s cheaper than most other sushi places in the area. The strange thing is that I feel like I haven’t ever gotten the same fish in my bowl each time I order this. It may be the same fish, but the pieces just look different. I don’t mind all that much, it just makes it more exciting to eat!
Their combination seafood fried rice is pretty expensive ($ 12) but pretty worth it. It’s so full of meat!
The Master roll is definitely worth the special roll price ($ 12, too, I think?) It’s got a lot of different fish in it and quite frankly, its just yummy.
Oh! The sushi pizza is… Interesting. They give you a couple of options for multiple fish types or combinations. I got salmon and eel sushi pizzas. ($ 13 ea)
EDIT:
Lost 1 star from me after having come here on a Tuesday lunch (albeit the Tuesday after the massive flooding), and receiving pretty horrible service. I don’t really blame them for it, seeing as how half of Houston was under water, but I still felt like they could have done a better job. Maybe that’s just me being mean, but then again, perhaps their lunch staff is significantly less capable than their regular dinner staff.

I don’t know if I am spoiled by other restaurants or if the quality has simply deteriorated, but I can no longer endorse this restaurant that used be my favorite and helped introduced me to the awesome Japanese cuisine.
Mori Ichi’s most captivating point to me was the cheap lunch special for only $ 9.50 as of February 2015. You can choose from the bento box entrees of fried shrimp tempura, salmon teriyaki, chicken teriyaki, and Japanese fried pork cutlet, and all bento box comes with few pieces of sushi, salad, and rice. You can also get one of three sushi combinations for this lunch special too. All these come in a sizable portion so you can get full from these!
Out of all lunch specials, my favorite is the fried shrimp tempura, which I have yet to find another Houston Japanese restaurant that does a better job than Mori. Always freshly fried when you ordered, these Japanese fried shrimps are generous coated with bread crumbs that both adds a nice touch of crunchiness and preserves the shrimps from drying out. The bento box special gets you three nicely-​sized shrimps for you to enjoy these fried deliciousness.
Unfortunately, I had to withdraw my endorsement when I bit into frozen bits in multiple sashimi pieces. When I raised the issue to the waitress who asked the chef afterward, she matter-​of-​factly told me that it is normal because it was not completely thawed.
I am very serious about my sushi and I understand that restaurants have to use frozen fishes for budgetary considerations. However, what upsets me was the frozen parts of the sashimi were parallel to the cut, which means they were pre-​cut pieces. Delivering half-​frozen sushi is simply unacceptable.
Maybe I will return for the cheap shrimp tempura that I believe is still the best in Houston, but after catching Mori’s low standard for sushi materials in action, I don’t think I will be frequent here as often as I would before.
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tl;dr version:
1) Unbeatable lunch specials
2) Best shrimp tempura in town
3) Disappointingly low-​quality sushi

They are a little bit cheaper than Keeper’s, which is the place we usually go to, right down the street in the same plaza.
We got their sushi combo C, handsome boy sushi and volcano sushi, the latter are all cooked, which is just what I like — I don’t eat raw fish. We liked all of them :) and the combos come with miso soup.
The service was great! All the waitresses speak Mandarin, which made us feel right at home. Our waitress gave us very personalized recommendations and told us what’s good and what’s ok.

My husband loves this place! In Sugarland, this place is one of the better ones for sushi, but not the noodle dishes.
Food: The sushi is fresh! I love the hand rolls, especially the spicy salmon and spicy tuna! I’ve ordered their combo A and B in the past. The combos are good options for the specialty rolls. Favorite sushi rolls — spicy salmon, spicy tuna, scallop roll, rainbow.
The bento boxes during lunch time are extremely filling and you get a good variety as well. It comes with tempura, california roll, rice, salad, soup, and your main dish.
I’m a huge fan of udon, so I tried their nabeyaki udon. I was not impressed. It was the first and last time I’ll ever have that here. It was not authentic and lacking in flavor. For some reason, there were carrots and broccoli in the noodle soup… quite unusual! What they lack in the noodle dishes, they make up for in their sushi dishes.
Price: Excellent price on sushi. The price is better than Keeper’s, which is down the block.
Customer service: The staff are friendly but they seem rather rushed at times.
Tips: Expect a 15 minute wait if you come on a Friday night or weekend during dinner… they get quite busy
OVERALL: Yes to the sushi & Bento boxes, BUT no to the udon soups.