[Houston] Restaurant Experiences

[Morgan_Weber]

This is not a thread to insite vendettas toward restaurants in Houston at which you got burned. No one though, likes going to a restaurant and dropping a decent amount of money for what is supposed to be fine-dining caliber food, all to realize that it is mediocre and uninspired.

I've lived in Houston for two years and my wife and I enjoy trying different places. We do our best to keep up with the new restaurants popping up, and also are willing to try just about anything that we hear about via word-of-mouth (we'll try anything once).

At first I read reviews on B4-U-Eat.com. I thought it was a good concept. After one sifts through the reviews from the types of people that are annoyed about how slammed a restaurant is on a Saturday night, it seemed like there were a few who gave good, honest reviews of places. I kinda lost faith in B4-U-Eat after a I wrote an honest review about a restaurant where my wife and I dropped close to $200.00. It was posted for a few days and the owners apparently read the review and got loud with the people at B4-U-Eat. Next thing I know, the review was gone from their website.

It seems like everyone on eGullet is fairly like-minded when it comes to dining.

My question is, what are some of the fine-dining restaurants in Houston where you love to spend your money and really feel like it is worth it? If you want to add the a few places where it wasn't exactly worth it, please do so as well, but be reasonable and give good details regarding your opinions.

Cheers.

[sng sling]

This is not a thread to incite vendettas toward restaurants in Houston at which you got burned. No one though, likes going to a restaurant and dropping a decent amount of money for what is supposed to be fine-dining caliber food, all to realize that it is mediocre and uninspired.

My wife and I like DaMarco -- we feel that the food and service make it a special place for celebrations, though it is pricey.

We've eaten once at the "new" Tony's and really enjoyed the meal and service. It's not in a great location for us, and we felt like the main room at DaMarco was warmer and the food, service, and cost were comparable.

We especially love Indika. The food and spicing are genius level! Fusion food is hard to do well and more often than not mediocre -- not here. The tandoori quail and the crab samosas are must-have's, though last Sunday we had tandoori monkfish and watermelon (yes, I know it sounds odd, but it was spectacular!)

Another fine dining favorite is Cafe Annie -- like the ambience and the food. The bar is more casual than the main room, so we use this for quick dinners w/o reservations.

The new chef -- Gaetano Ascione -- at the Four Seasons' Quattro has done a great job there with excellent Italian cooking. It's one of the few places downtown that we find consistently good.

Hope this helps. I haven't included any of the new and trendy places -- we are neither new nor trendy...

[FoodMan]

After a long absence, we went to Cafe Rabelais in the village this past Friday. I've said it before in some thread or another, but this place is one of my favorites in town. I have never been dissapointed and I was not this past Friday either. The blackboard bistro menu is always interesting and not a single menu item (not even one) has a 'seared chicken breast'. Instead we have venison, black cod, amberjack, Char, pork tenderloin, duck, pheasant prepared two ways (seared breast and slow cooked leg), clams, veal cheeks, just to name a few. The most pricy item costs 23.99.

i had to get the veal cheeks, cooked till meltingly soft and served with crispy fluffy sweet breads, a small gratin of potatoes, roasted tomato and asparagus. Absolutly delightful. My wife and her sister shared the balck cod with lemon butter and loved it. Their mussles are fantastic as well and the sauce is perfect to sop uo with crusty bread. We drank a nice very affordable bordeaux.

Minor drawback: the desserts are usually never changed. We've tried a few over the past years and all were good. I just wish they apply the same freshness of menu to the desserts.

Some might think the size of the place (10 tables maybe) is a drawback. I think it's very warm and welcoming with the nice French owner (forgot her name) helping to serve and making sure everything is perfect.

Give it a try....especially if you're not into the new and trendy .

Edited June 27, 2007 by FoodMan (log)

[jscarbor]

Could not agree more. I don't eat at CR enough.

After a long absence, we went to Cafe Rabelais in the village this past Friday. I've said it before in some thread or another, but this place is one of my favorites in town. I have never been dissapointed and I was not this past Friday either. The blackboard bistro menu is always interesting and not a single menu item (not even one) has a 'seared chicken breast'. Instead we have venison, black cod, amberjack, Char, pork tenderloin, duck, pheasant prepared two ways (seared breast and slow cooked leg), clams, veal cheeks, just to name a few. The most pricy item costs 23.99.

i had to get the veal cheeks, cooked till meltingly soft and served with crispy fluffy sweet breads, a small gratin of potatoes, roasted tomato and asparagus. Absolutly delightful. My wife and her sister shared the balck cod with lemon butter and loved it. Their mussles are fantastic as well and the sauce is perfect to sop uo with crusty bread. We drank a nice very affordable bordeaux.

Minor drawback: the desserts are usually never changed. We've tried a few over the past years and all were good. I just wish they apply the same freshness of menu to the desserts.

Some might think the size of the place (10 tables maybe) is a drawback. I think it's very warm and welcoming with the nice French owner (forgot her name) helping to serve and making sure everything is perfect.

Give it a try....especially if you're not into the new and trendy  .

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[Morgan_Weber]

After a long absence, we went to Cafe Rabelais in the village this past Friday. I've said it before in some thread or another, but this place is one of my favorites in town. I have never been dissapointed and I was not this past Friday either.

Give it a try....especially if you're not into the new and trendy  .

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My wife and I started eating here a couple of years ago and love it as well. I actually love the fact that it is small. My only complaint is that the frites aren't hand cut...or at least they weren't the last time I was there. I confirmed this with the waitress. I thought with the awesome food that they serve, why not go the extra mile and have awesome frites as well? I mean, it is a bistro.

We've eaten at Bistro Moderne a couple of times and thought that Philip Schmit does a wonderful job with his melding of Texas ingredients with classic French dishes. Would I expect anything less? I mean, he was the sous-chef at Le Bernardin...

As far as other French places... We got burned at Bistro Calais, as have some of our friends.

On another note, I'm really excited about my first trip to Hugo's tomorrow before the Police Concert.

Other places we loved:

Cafe Annie

Ruggles (Great food, but pretty straightforward...which is to be understood. The place is classic for a reason)

Mark's

17 at the Alden

Other places we have gotten burned:

Rainbow Lodge

Ouisie's Table

Bossa

...I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the others in both categories.

We have yet to try, but are really looking forward to visiting Noe and T'afia.

Thanks for the info.

[FoodMan]

My wife and I started eating here a couple of years ago and love it as well. I actually love the fact that it is small. My only complaint is that the frites aren't hand cut...or at least they weren't the last time I was there. I confirmed this with the waitress. I thought with the awesome food that they serve, why not go the extra mile and have awesome frites as well? I mean, it is a bistro.

Hmmmm...I like their fries too. When you say not hand-cut, do you mean frozen? Or that they use a cutter to do the work for them?

We have yet to try, but are really looking forward to visiting Noe and T'afia.

I'd love to see what you think of T'afia. Last time we were there a few weeks ago (before the Seinfeld concert) we went with the market tasting menu. At $45 for 5 courses it is a great bargain and the chef does not mind at all if you substitute a dish from the regular menu for one in the tasting. Our menu included:

flat bread with goat cheese and fig marmalade

carrot ginger soup

corn and shellfish salad

pork tenderloin with polenta

peach crumble and cream

My wife really wanted fish and asked to have the arctic char isntea dof pork. It was no problem at all and she actually got the full size portion of the fish rather than the smaller tasting portions. Good for me cause I got to finish her dish too.

I also tried two of her seasonal homemade ratafias (fortified wines). A Peach one mixed with champagne, and a tomato one on the rocks. Try some of these instead of wine.

Tangent: Michael Chiarello (sp?) from Food Network and a blond was there having dinner with another couple and ordered waht seemed like the whole menu. too bad it was not Alton Brown....that would've been cool.

Edited June 28, 2007 by FoodMan (log)

[Morgan_Weber]

Hmmmm...I like their fries too. When you say not hand-cut, do you mean frozen? Or that they use a cutter to do the work for them?

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Edited June 29, 2007 by Morgan_Weber (log)

[tetsujustin]

We have yet to try, but are really looking forward to visiting Noe and T'afia.

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Just to note. Robert Gadsby left Noe, as did the chef de cuisine so the restaurant may be in a large flux. I'm not sure exactly who's in the kitchen right now or what the state of the restaurant is. I read in the chronicle that they're launching a nationwide search for a new concept chef. (Chef Gadsby left his position as exec at his LA position too, I believe)

I was really underwhelmed by T'afia the one time I went for dinner. I do, however really like their happy hour. If you buy one drink, you get all the free appetizers you want. There's a large selection of them and they're nice and creative and quite tasty.

[Morgan_Weber]

I didn't know that Gadsby left Noe...sad to hear that.

We ate at Hugo's on Friday, before The Police concert. Food was awesome. Between four people, we tried their rabbit, scallops, baby pig, plantain emanadas, flan, flourless chocolate cake, and chipotle cake.

It was all wonderful. We had two drinks, two appetizers, four entrees, and three desserts. Ticket was just under two bills. Roughly $50/person was an incredible price for all of the quality food and libations that we had. We can't wait to go back.

Edited July 3, 2007 by Morgan_Weber (log)

[tatiana]

I also tried the tasting menu at T'afia on a Saturday night and found it to be abysmal (undersalted, sweet, no cohesion between the "peanut butter & pita" amuse bouche, soup, and chicken pot pie). the texan wine sampling was fun, and good however, i'll try going during the week.

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Just to note. Robert Gadsby left Noe, as did the chef de cuisine so the restaurant may be in a large flux. I'm not sure exactly who's in the kitchen right now or what the state of the restaurant is. I read in the chronicle that they're launching a nationwide search for a new concept chef. (Chef Gadsby left his position as exec at his LA position too, I believe)

I was really underwhelmed by T'afia the one time I went for dinner. I do, however really like their happy hour. If you buy one drink, you get all the free appetizers you want. There's a large selection of them and they're nice and creative and quite tasty.

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[Morgan_Weber]

Just ate at Indika a couple of weeks ago. Great food. Some interesting combinations. I'm sure we'll go back, but I would definitely have to be in the mood for Indian food.

Its wortha look-see.

[tetsujustin]

Just ate at Indika a couple of weeks ago.  Great food.  Some interesting combinations.  I'm sure we'll go back, but I would definitely have to be in the mood for Indian food.

Its wortha  look-see.

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didja have the goat brain masala?

[tatiana]

i just went to the t'afia happy hour. i tried a fortified wine and israeli melon cocktail which i thought was tremendously refreshing in the evening humidity. the outdoor patio is pleasant. but just like the up and down food in the restaurant, the bar appetizers were abysmal. they are free, so i guess you get what you pay for, but it's a little embarrassing i think.

tempura sashimi: soggy in a puddle of soy sauce, and you can't taste any of the fish

mini burgers: dry.

tuna mac & cheese: this wasn't too bad, for bowties in a cream sauce with undetectable tuna. but not a good example of mac n cheese.

pulled pork app: this one was tasty, like a pork chili maybe.

enh, i just don't get the food here.

We have yet to try, but are really looking forward to visiting Noe and T'afia.

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I was really underwhelmed by T'afia the one time I went for dinner. I do, however really like their happy hour. If you buy one drink, you get all the free appetizers you want. There's a large selection of them and they're nice and creative and quite tasty.

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[Morgan_Weber]

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[Morgan_Weber]

Ok, so this one is long, but its an honest review about our meal at T'afia on Friday night.

******

Thoughts on T’afia, September 7, 2007

After much hype and anticipation, some friends and I finally had a chance to eat at T’afia. Our group of six was promptly seated and began perusing the drink menu. Since T’afia is known for its infused fortified wines, called Ratafia’s, most at our table ordered flights to sample the three varieties. The general consensus was they were delicious. Moving on, we placed our orders for the evening. Having heard so much about Monica Pope, I ordered her five-course tasting menu with Texas wine pairings. Others at our table ordered off of the a la carte menu—in all, I think we had a good idea by the evening’s end of Pope’s offerings.

The first course of the tasting menu was a Texas bleu cheese with raw honeycomb and cracker. It was paired with a Texas Viognier. Before the course arrived, my wine was brought, and as the server explained to me what it was, I questioned serving an acidic white wine with bleu cheese, but went with it. The combination of bleu cheese and honeycomb was wonderfully stunning. My doubts were confirmed though with the wine pairing, which unfortunately set the evening’s pace for questionable wine pairings.

The second course was red rice with calf’s liver and pecans. This extremely savory dish was very tasty as well, but was served with a very acidic rosé that was made from Grenache. In my humble opinion, a dish such as this needed a very rich and fruity red to stand up with the big flavors.

The third course was a spicy sweet potato/coconut milk soup. The soup was nice. I liked the heat, which I suspected was supplied by chipotle powder. Here again, the problem was the wine served with the dish. It was a Texas pinot noir, which I had never had before because I was skeptical that Texas could produce a good one. I still don’t think we can… The wine was very spicy, which with a spicy soup seems folly. How about a Riesling or Gewürztraminer?

The final course before dessert was a shrimp dish with homemade pasta and a cream sauce with what tasted like an aged Gouda. The dish was mostly good, but seemed fairly light for a fourth course, especially following the liver dish and the spicy soup. Served with this dish was a Becker Vineyards Claret, which is one of my favorite Texas wineries and wines. I think I know what she was going for, serving this wine with the shrimp dish, because theoretically the aged Gouda should have gone well with the claret. In the end though, the dish didn’t hold its own with the wine.

Dessert was a strawberry cobbler with a Texas dessert wine. The cobbler was very tasty, but the wine was definitely not one of the better Texas dessert wines that I’ve had. It was less than memorable.

Now, my thoughts on the overall experience. The ambience was cool and what I expected from seeing the outside of the building. I don’t feel like the food lived up to the hype that surrounds Monica Pope. From the way her name is touted on the restaurant’s phone message, the James Beard nomination, the list of recommendations on the signage outside of the restaurant, etc.—I expected much more. I feel that our group of six had a very broad sampling of the menu and that I do not really need to go back to experience other dishes, in order to see how she cooks. Perhaps one of the most disappointing dishes of the evening was the chicken dish that one of our friends had. It was not much more than flattened chicken breast that had been breaded and fried…and it was overdone.

Regarding wine, I am all about trying new wines with different or non-classical pairings with food, but when something doesn’t work, don’t do it for the sake of being different. I want Texas wine to be wonderful so badly, but often times it is not. At Pope’s level of cooking, my question is, if it is not the best that it can be, why would the chef ever let it leave the kitchen?

Regarding service, the dishes were not entirely explained when they came to the table, which is why some of my thoughts regarding each course seemed like guesses as to what the ingredients actually were (i.e. calf’s liver…I’m pretty sure it was calf’s liver, but not 100%. I know it was liver though). When I asked the server about the wine, the answer was consistently, “I’ll have to ask the kitchen”. I spent at least one of the courses without a fresh knife from the previous and one course I did not have a knife at all. This is a little thing, but it is one of the little things that separates a mediocre dining experience from an extraordinary one. Maybe the problem was that my expectations were too high, based on the reviews I have read or the things I have heard. I have not eaten at many of the restaurants on my “To-eat-at-before-I-die” list, but I was going into the meal with every expectation of having one of the best food experiences of my life—expecting something similar to experiences that I have had at Cyrus in Healdsburg, CA, Bouchon in Napa, Craft in Dallas, Topper’s on Nantucket, or Canlis in Seattle.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Morgan_Weber (log)

[Swicks]

I was on business in Houston last week and stopped in at Pappas Brother's Steakhouse for dinner.

Being a solo diner I decided to dine at the bar. I had a very delicious and perfectly cooked Strip and wonderful Au Gratin Potatos. The Turtle Pie desert was phenomenal though incredibly rich, I only at about 1/4 of it but it made a wonderful breakfast the next morning. Edward, the bartender, was incredibly friendly and gracious with the wine and allowed me to sample a variety of different wines.

At this point, I had been somewhat disenchanted with steakhouse dinners after a few disappointing steaks, but this one really brought me back. A very excellently piece of beef cooked perfectly.

[FoodMan]

I cannot speak to the wine pairings, since I've never had them. Seems like you thought the food was good though. That's how I see Tafia, a local restaurant with good simple local (as much as possible) food and excellent ratafias. It is by no means my favorite or on the same level of the other ones you listed. I do agree, the waitstaff by and large is not very savvy, but usually efficient at their job.

[Morgan_Weber]

On Monday night, my wife and I went to Cafe Annie for the first time in a year and a half or two. I must say, for a restaurant that I have loved in the past, and defended, our trip was so mediocre it was depressing. Del Grande, one of the fathers of Southwestern cuisine, seemed like he was phoning it in. We had cocktails, an appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert. With 7:00 reservations, they had us in and out in 55 minutes.

We started with cocktails. Naively, I figured that a restaurant with the extensive bar that Cafe Annie has, could pull of the father of all cocktails, the Sazerac. The waiter didn't question what it was when I ordered it, so I assumed I was off to a good start. Then, out comes my drink. It was missing that rich brownish-red hue that they usually have from the bitters. It wreaked of anise, and at the bottom was a little treat...a half teaspoon, undissolved sugar. My wife's drink was no better, so we sent them back and had wine. Whatdya do?

Now the food. The menu hasn't seemed to have significantly changed since I ate there the last time, except the price has increased a little bit. Overall the food was ok, but not astonishing, or even memorable for Houston's standards and expectations. I think more than anything, Del Grande is riding on the coat tails of his past awards and not striving to do anything differently. I guess when I step back and honestly assess Cafe Annie's situation, I see that on the evening we were there (Monday), it was absolutely packed. People are paying the prices that he's asking and I assume there isn't much complaining about the food. Having eaten at many nice restaurants around the U.S., Cafe Annie doesn't compare (in a bad way).

Leaving the restaurant, I was reasonably depressed. I want this city and its restaurants to compete with other large cities in our country. After our rushed meal at one of Houston's landmark restaurants, it seemed like this was just one more nail in the coffin of mediocrity.

[jscarbor]

High end creative cousine is dead in this town IMO. Sorry. And, I don't blame restaurant owners...its tough competing against steakhouses for the big ticket business diners. When I hear business people talk, they want to take their clients to Vic and Anthony's, Strip House, Pappas Steakhouse, Flemings, not DeMarco, Indika, Marks, Bistro Moderne...Its a shame that these good steak houses get most of that business.

[neverfull]

went to brasserie max and julie for the second time this week. it's owned by the cafe rabelais folks. service was impeccable on our first visit, but on this visit, we sent the veal chop we ordered medium rare back because it was overcooked. after the server came back to the table to report that the chef would not cook it any less than medium, we asked to speak to the manager. the manager said there was a misunderstanding in the kitchen with the sous chef and said he would take care of everything. it took 50 mins for the replacement chop to arrive at the table. by this time, the others at the table were already drinking coffee. this was a very annoying experience.

as for the food, i've been very impressed with the menu items we've ordered: steak tartare (entree, but we order this as an appetizer), fois gras maison (terrine), the salad with fourme d'ambert, veal chop, duck cassoulet, rais grenobloise (skate wing), cauliflower au gratin, profiteroles. i'd skip the pommes dauphine next time though.

[neverfull]

High end creative cousine is dead in this town IMO. Sorry. And, I don't blame restaurant owners...its tough competing against steakhouses for the big ticket business diners. When I hear business people talk, they want to take their clients to Vic and Anthony's, Strip House, Pappas Steakhouse, Flemings, not DeMarco, Indika, Marks, Bistro Moderne...Its a shame that these good steak houses get most of that business.

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i completely agree and we just seem to be getting more of them. bob's is a disappointment (dined there twice). del frisco's is opening in the galleria on nov 19.

[tetsujustin]

Just as a note, I've heard down the grapevine that Bistro Moderne is closing. Not sure where phillipe schmidt et al is going, but as an ex sous (or chef de cuisine?) at Le Bernadin, I'm doubiting it'll be in houston.

[Morgan_Weber]

Just as a note, I've heard down the grapevine that Bistro Moderne is closing. Not sure where phillipe schmidt et al is going, but as an ex sous (or chef de cuisine?) at Le Bernadin, I'm doubiting it'll be in houston.

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Rumor has it that he plans to stay in Houston. Got that information from Cleverly's blog. We can only hope right?

[Morgan_Weber]

As we could not get reservations at The Grove last night, we decided to go to Brasserie Max & Julie. This was our first trip--my wife and I with her parents. I can't say enough good about this place. Having eating again at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bistro two weeks ago in Napa, I was glad that it was fresh in my mind so as to compare the two.

The space is extremely inviting, even having a coincidentally similar red and sage green color scheme to Bouchon. Obviously the fare is traditional French, and was executed extemely well. My wife and mother-in-law had the roasted salmon in parchment, I had the cassoulet (which included an entire leg of duck confit, two types of sausage, and pork belly), and my father-in-law had the roasted trout. Everyone loved their meal. It was the first time in a long time that we had tried a new restaurant in Houston and pretty much enjoyed every aspect. Of the three desserts that we split (baked apple with creme fraiche & ice cream, chocolate souffle, and the trio of house-made sorbets), the sorbets with fresh fruit and house-made edible bowl, was the clear winner.

Also to note, is the wonderful wine selection with quite a few bottles in the $40-$60 range, but also climbing to the quite expensive level. Obviously, everything is French.

The waitstaff was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable (there was no, "Let me go back to the kitchen and ask Chef what that means"). We are excited about having Brasserie Max and Julie in Houston and easily rank it up there with our experiences at Bouchon.