During the last two years, the stylish Houston-based restaurant group Comma Hospitality has rather quietly opened four Japanese-inspired restaurants in quick succession. Built by brothers Samee and Saber Ahmed, the menswear designers behind the avant-garde fashion label Glass Cypress, Comma bring a design-driven sensibility to each new restaurant. Including their brand new spot dubbed Toga.
Toga opened next door to Comma’s dark, immersive vinyl listening bar Kira on the first floor of the Arrive at River Oaks high-rise.
The name Toga translates to “error” in Japanese and was chosen to embrace the wabi-sabi design aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection. But good luck finding this imperfection at this new Houston restaurant. Toga is a place where elegantly-styled dishes are presented on rustic Japanese made ceramics and Shou Sugi Ban finished wooden planks inside a minimalist space dressed in quiet soft tones of ivory and white.
Inspired by Samee and Saber Ahmed’s travels through Tokyo and prefectures across Japan, Toga leans into an izakaya dining style akin to an English gastropub where everyone shares Japanese small plates such as yakatori, agemono, noodles and katsu sando, all while sipping beer, sake, wine and cocktails.
Considering starting with the deceivingly simple tuna carpaccio with thin slices of bluefin tuna layered over a whipped avocado and wasabi mousse, sprinkled with sea salt and served with spears of house-made toasted milk bread on which to build each bite. The yakitori program is centered on a trio of organically sourced chicken cuts ($MKT) threaded on wooden skewers such as the sori re su (oyster), seseri (neck) and bonjuri (tail). All are grilled over a traditional binchotan charcoal fire and come with kinoko (vegetable skewers).
Fried selections, otherwise known as agemono, include the delicate agedufo ($7), crisp cubes of perfectly fried tofu accompanied with a sweet and savory garlic tentsuyu dipping sauce made with dashi, soy and mirin. While karaage ($11), the humble fried chicken sandwich that’s all the rage nationwide, is featured with a sauce gribiche, a classic tangy French egg-based sauce accented with Dijon mustard, capers and cornichons.
Leaning into another European dish, this one, an iconic Italian pasta, there is also the cheeky udon Carbonara ($18). Made with thick udon-style wheat noodles, napped in an unctuous, creamy egg and pecorino cheese sauce, this decadent noodle dish is topped with a brunoise of smoked bacon and a flurry of shaved pecorino. Meanwhile, the all-American Toga burger ($25) is a mixture of ground Wagyu brisket and beef heart served on a potato bun with Comté, tomato marmalade and red onion.
And do not miss the vegetable-studded succotash ($16), which pays homage to the American south with miso-braised butter beans seasoned with diced Lady Edison ham.
Desserts are as unexpected and delightful as Toga’s savory counterparts. Options include torrija ($11), a French toast-style dish sweetened with turbinado sugar, floating on a thick “embered” cream infused with the scent and subtle flavor of charcoal smoke, and froyo ($6), Toga’s take on a chilly raspberry semifreddo slice with a dark chocolate glaze accented with crushed pink peppercorns.
Collectively Comma’s restaurant portfolio includes Neo, their first, an intimate omakase destination situated in the brothers’ Montrose store. Then along came Oru in The Heights which broadens Neo’s scope with an à la carte menu that features some of the best-loved dishes seen on Neo’s 16-course tasting menu.
Toga is located at 2800 Kirby Drive in the Arrive high-rise tower. The restaurant is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4 pm to 11 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 4 pm to midnight. It’s closed Sundays and Mondays. For more information or reservations, go here.