One of Houston’s most innovative Japanese restaurants has closed its doors after only two years in business. Money Cat, a restaurant in Upper Kirby, has served its last meal, chef-owner Sherman Yeung tells CultureMap.

Yeung tells CultureMap that the restaurant was no longer financially stable and that he was "hemorrhaging money” trying to keep it afloat. Closing Money Cat allows Yeung to maintain operations at Tobiuo Sushi in Katy, which remains open.

Money Cat earned critical acclaim but never connected with diners, which Yeung attributes to some confusion in the market about the restaurant’s identity.

“[It was] my failure of not defining a clearer vision for Money Cat in the beginning,” Yeung writes in a text message. “I was struggling with avoiding calling it a sushi restaurant for the longest time because I didn’t want to overshadow our kitchen.”

Indeed, the hot dishes from the kitchen are what separated Money Cat from other Japanese restaurants. Partially inspired by his time staging at Michelin-starred restaurants, Money Cat served dishes such as chu toro toast (made with squid ink milk bread), maitake karaage, and honey vanilla milk buns with cultured butter and trout roe.

While Money Cat’s time has come to an end, Yeung thinks that at least some of its most popular dishes could live on. “I would like to start a much simpler concept focusing on the sando side,” he writes.