A Japanese fried chicken restaurant named Darutori opened in Katy, TX recently. The name Darutori stems from the words daruma (traditional Japanese doll) + tori (chicken); combined that’s their mascot, a daruma doll with a chicken face. This is Houston’s first spot dedicated solely to Japanese style fried chicken.
Darutori’s original location is located in New York and their second location is on the border of Fulshear and Katy. Their website states they are inspired by Nagoya’s regional specialty tebasaki. I was intrigued to see how they would bring Nagoya style chicken to Houston.
Menu
The menu consists of four types of fried chicken: wings, tenders, popcorn chicken, and chicken sandwiches. Choose from 11 unique flavors inspired by different regions of Japan to pair with your chicken! Of the 11 flavors, there are both dry rubs and wet rubs. Some of their unique flavors include Shizuoka wasabi, Fuki orange, rising sun, and dragon fire.
They have combo meals available which you can mix the types of chicken. I ordered the largest combo, the tori trio, which includes everything except for a sandwich. This combo has enough food to feed a party of 3-4 people as it includes 12 wings, 4 tenders, popcorn chicken, and fries; we had plenty of leftovers for the 2 of us.
Which flavors I ordered in my trio:
- chicken wings: divine bird & Osaka sweet chili
- chicken tenders: ume plum & golden curry
- popcorn chicken: Darutori original
My favorite 2 flavors ended up being the ume plum dry rub and golden curry sauce. I really loved the panko breading of the tenders, too!
For the last touch, we tried a few of their drinks. The house milk tea and house lemonade were refreshing and not too sweet (a bonus in my eyes). The cashier also recommended the ube taro fresh milk with red beans.
Visit Darutori
Darutori
5102 FM 1463 STE 600, Katy, TX 77494
[open in Google Maps]
About Eating with Stephano
Eating with Stephano is a food photographer in Houston, TX. With a large appetite and passion for good food, she aims to showcase Houston’s diverse and unique food scene to the world through her lens.
