Tucked away on the second floor of La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa, Yoi Sushi Bar is a Japanese sushi restaurant that focuses on creating a visually appealing and flavorful experience for patrons. The restaurant offers hand-crafted sushi plates and a full-service bar as well as a scenic view of Lake Conroe through its window-encased lobby.

Leang Kheng Chea, head sous chef at La Torretta, said many local residents believe only hotel guests are allowed to patron Yoi Sushi Bar and the hotel’s other on-site restaurant, Lakeside Restaurant & Bar.

“The challenge is we don’t have enough locals … We have some regular locals, but for some reason, not a lot of people know that we have a sushi bar here that’s open to the public,” Chea said.

Yoi Sushi Bar serves a variety of fresh menu items, including maki sushi, sashimi, nigiri and specialty sushi rolls, like the Shaggy Dog roll and the La Torretta roll, which is prepared with shrimp tempura, spicy crab, tuna, cream cheese and various garnishes.

Yoi Sushi Bar opened in 2008 as part of the hotel’s $135 million renovation, and Chea came on board in June 2011 as head sous chef of the hotel. Christian Reyes, La Torretta’s executive chef, said Chea is instrumental in developing the menus at the hotel’s two restaurants.

“Chef Kheng brought with him extensive knowledge of Asian cuisine, an attention to detail and vast experience of menu development,” Reyes said. “He has made the plates his own. The artistic value he brings to the plates and with everything he creates is different than anything else around here.”

Chea has been making sushi for more than 17 years, learning the trade from chefs in various sushi and hibachi restaurants across the northeast U.S. When he first moved to Conroe in 2006, Chea worked for five years as the head sushi chef at a north Houston hibachi-style restaurant, Ichibon Japanese Restaurant.

When Chea began working for La Torretta, he focused on crafting sushi items that the community would like, while incorporating an artistic style to all his dishes.

The restaurant’s artisan menu showcases fresh seafood items paired with Japanese spices and ingredients. Many plates are decorated with vegetables carved into ornate creations or swirls of specialty sauces.

But the craftsmanship behind turning celery stocks into leaves and beets into butterflies did not happen overnight. Chea continually studies new techniques and practices making new sushi dishes often; he believes he will continue to learn and get better.

“With sushi, you need to improve just a little, small speck of it—improve the roll, improve the ingredients, improve the appearance—to keep getting better,” Chea said.

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Yoi Sushi Bar
600 La Torretta Blvd., Montgomery
936-448-4400
www.latorrettalakeresort.com
Hours: Wed.-Sun. 5 p.m.-10 p.m., closed Mon.-Tues.