Tatsu Dallas

We had a great time at Tatsu! Very strong attention to detail and the staff made you feel well taken care of.
They had all the chopsticks set up, but when they noticed I was left handed they switched it for me! The food was delicious, and I really enjoyed watching him prepare all the food so up close.

Truly great omokase experience.
Presentation and atmosphere of the dining area and lobby are pristine.
You feel the focus is on the chef as he prepares your food.
The sushi rice is some of the best I've ever had as well as the entire menu selection for the night.
Would highly recommend as a go to sushi spot for a special occasion.

Tucked away in an unassuming building near Deep Ellum in downtown Dallas is a tiny omakase sushi restaurant called “Tatsu”.
Inside you’ll find only 10 seats.
Dinner is served only twice in an evening a few days in a week.
Getting a reservation here has been described by D Magazine as “The hardest reservation in Dallas”.
Once I was inside I could immediately understand why.
What was about to happen exceeded any reasonable expectation I could have had. Eating here was very much an experience rather than just a nice dinner.
Even finding the place was a bit of a challenge, and once you reach the door you have to press a button to gain entry.
Inside, a small reception area welcomes guests and quickly the beverage director Janice offered us some selections.
She’s dedicated her career to becoming an expert of sake and wine, and holds a WSET III certification.
Every detail here from start to finish is of this caliber. The chef’s selections for this meal were printed on a leaflet with the day’s date.
On it, an unbelievable 19 course dinner was mapped out, including 15 individual pieces of nigiri.
The fish used on each course was almost exclusively flown in from specific places in Japan, but a few examples also sourced protein from Barcelona, Alaska and Maine. Many of the fish used here I have never even heard of and didn’t want to even attempt to pronounce.
Buri, Aji, Hotate, Hirame and Menegi to name a few.
Each one of them was cut and assembled right in front of us with masterful precision.
I noticed little details like the chef finely serrating the fish so that when he gently applied a thin layer of soy sauce with a paintbrush, it could be better absorbed into the meat.
He even wiped down his blade between slides. Watching Chef Tatsu prepare 10 pieces of nigiri (one for each seated guest) 15 times in a row was incredible.
You could see the muscle memory at play and I realized that he must have done this so many thousands of times over the years that by now his body moves almost automatically.
It’s not long after you’re sitting that you really grasp just how special seeing and eating this all is. I’m a Texan, so I won’t pretend to have some sort of advanced culinary palette, especially for fish.
Growing up I was quite scared of the idea of eating fish and even now as a much more adventurous eater, I don’t think I could muster up the courage to order almost any of the fish I ended up eating this night.
I’m glad I trusted the chef, because I can definitively say that this was the finest, freshest and most enjoyable sushi I have ever eaten in my life. The dinner is exactly one hour and forty-five minutes long, and almost all of that time I sat in wide eyed amazement at the masterful preparation continually displayed in front of me.
To my right, a louder gentleman droned on and on with his friends about some thing or the other, and it saddened me that he was not completely appreciating the magic happening right in front of his face.
I suppose guests really do come in all shapes and sizes. As the dinner concluded I really felt as if I had eaten one of the best meals of my life.
It was so much more than just food, I really felt as if I was experiencing something special and I was overcome with thankfulness for the opportunity.
The fact that Jessica pulled off the difficult reservation on my actual birthday was the icing on the cake. Seats here are $185 each, plus tax and a mandatory 18% gratuity, all paid upfront at the time of reservation to guarantee your spot.
Drinks are not included.
Availability is added exclusively on Resy on the 1st and 15th of each month at exactly 8am.
If you want to go, you’ll need to set an alarm and be ready, as the seats sell out within seconds. If you actually make it in, you’ll understand why.