It was a beautiful day for a "sushi showdown" Sunday at two Houston RA Sushi locations as contestants pitted their eating skills in an NCAA March Madness-style competition.
As Latin music wafted from the Central Market across the street into the open windows of the sushi restaurant at Highland Village, contestants lined up for two heats. The three contestants in each heat who ate the most uncut Tootsy Maki rolls with rice, Kani Kama crab, shrimp, cucumber and topped with crunchy tempura bits — no soy sauce allowed — in three minutes moved into the final round.
The finale was even more challenging, as the six remaining contestants had five minutes to wolf down the most delicacies to be declared the winner.
The finale was even more challenging, as the six remaining contestants had five minutes to wolf down the most delicacies to be declared the winner of a year's worth of sushi ($600 value).
Teddy Guy was the runaway winner at Highland Village, consuming the equivalent of 80 pieces of sushi within the time limit. His winning strategy involved dipping the sushi roll into water before eating in order to make it go down faster.
At the CityCentre location, Andrew Vo Nguyen downed the equivalent of 75 pieces to be declared the winner.
At Highland Village, judges Urban Swank co-founder Shanna Jones, Yelp Houston critic David Nguyen and Houston magazine writer/editor Nick Esquer kept a close eye on the proceedings while I had the privilege of emceeing the contest — another "to do" item is now crossed off of my bucket list.
The Sushi Showdown was wild and wooly; here a contestant strives to get his sushi sample woofed down.
