Uchi is opening today in Plaza Midwood. Here are 5 things to know before you go
A long-awaited set of Japanese-inspired sister restaurants offering sushi and cocktails is opening this week at Commonwealth Plaza Midwood.
Today, the doors open at Uchi. At the sleek but simple ground-floor restaurant you can expect omakase tastings, hot and cold bites, and seasonal daily specials.
Just a staircase or elevator ride away, Uchibā will open upstairs from Uchi on Friday, April 3. There, you’ll find a more casual izakaya-style environment, where you can order small bites to pair with your drink while you step out on the patio for a peek at the uptown skyline in the distance and people watching down below.
Ahead of the openings, we got a tour of the spaces — two of them, actually — and a sample of the food. Here’s what we think you’ll want to know before you go.
Plan well in advance
The buzz is big — and few Charlotte restaurant openings have gotten this much attention recently. You’re going to want to plan well ahead to eat at Uchi and make reservations if you want to visit in the next few months.
That is, of course unless if you’re looking to eat right at 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m., the only times available through the end of April. That trend is likely to continue because in Charlotte, when a restaurant is new, it’s white hot for weeks.
Uchibā reservations are even harder to come by, as the indoor and outdoor spaces are both fairly intimate. If you’re looking for a Sunday lunch spot or a late-night reservation after 10 p.m., however, you might get lucky finding an opening a bit sooner.
Uchi is ‘not a fancy restaurant’
Chef Shaun King wants you to know that although you may hear founder and executive chef Tyson Cole’s James Beard Award credentials and envision a fine dining experience, you can relax. There are no white tablecloths in sight at Uchi.
“I think it’s really important to understand that this is not a fancy restaurant — we are not trying to be fine dining,” King recently told CharlotteFive.
You’ll see people sipping cocktails who are dressed up in sequins, but you’ll also see just as many in jeans or shorts holding a Japanese beer.
Children are welcome, too. In fact, when my friend and I visited on a media night, we sat next to a group with a baby resting in a car seat without a blip. There’s even a changing table in the upstairs restroom at Uchibā.
(Please note, however, that there is no kid’s menu, so know your child. As a parent with more than a few years under my belt, I’d look into the edamame and the ham and eggs roll with pork belly katsu and egg yolk, which is $15.50 for six pieces.)
Let your server help you
Unless you’ve got strong sushi preferences already set, or you’re adventurous enough to take all the choices off the table and pick the 10-course chef’s tasting menu, it’s not a bad idea to engage your server to walk you through the options.
You can also take that up a notch with the chef’s tasting somakase on the Uchi menu, which is basically a tasting where your server is in the driver’s seat of the experience, as opposed to a chef-led omakase.
My friend and I went somewhere along that route, asking our server to narrow down the selections to some of the restaurant’s biggest hits — and we weren’t disappointed.
Among the popular items she encouraged us to try were:
- Uchi salad with daikon, cashew pesto, crispy wild rice and baby greens ($15)
- soft shell crab maki with pickled cucumber, cilantro, avocado and soy aioli ($18 for six pieces)
- gyutoro nigiri with Westholme wagyu cooked sous vide for 72 hours ($13.5 for two pieces)
- Australian wagyu with kosho tamari butter and whisky maple ponzu, cooked tableside on a hot rock ($22 for six slices)
All were excellent. I’d eat everything again — and that’s probably going to be many diners’ biggest problem here on return visits. How can you narrow down choices when everything is so good?
Expect the menu to change seasonally, as well.
Forget outdated sushi etiquette
Two big things to note: You won’t see pickled ginger, wasabi or soy sauce come to the table at Uchi for you to add on to your sushi because the sushi comes dressed as it’s intended to be eaten; and your use of chopsticks is completely optional.
“People tend to think sushi has to be eaten with chopsticks,” but that’s not right, King told CharlotteFive.
“If it doesn’t have rice, then you use chopsticks. If it has rice, it should be eaten with your hands, because it’s made by hand,” he said. “Get a fork. Use your hands, whatever. We have all these things available.
“We want the guests to feel comfortable and welcome, and Uchi means home, right? So you should be coming into our house, and we’re gonna make you feel like you’re home by not trying to pressure you into an experience you’re not looking to have.”
Save room for dessert
Uchi isn’t one of those restaurants that has pretty desserts that aren’t as good as they look. They’re the real deal.
After a bit of nudging, my friend and I shared the fried milk, a beautiful creation of vanilla custard, salted fudge and toasted blondie that came out of the kitchen looking like modern art.
Every bite carried a different texture and flavor, begging you to try different combinations of components. And I say this as a person who (gasp!) doesn’t love dessert as deeply as most people do, especially chocolate ones.
Share one, live life, and enjoy. That’s what dining out is all about, right?
Uchi and Uchibā
Location: Commonwealth Plaza Midwood, 1720 Commonwealth Ave., Charlotte NC 28205
Cuisine: Japanese, sushi at Uchi; bar, izakaya at Uchibā
Uchi hours: Sunday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m.; and Friday-Saturday, 4-11 p.m.
Uchibā hours: Monday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Instagram: @uchirestaurants, @uchibarestaurants
