Reef [Houston]

[Kevin72]

Houston, please stop kicking so much ass.

Broken record at this point: another Houston place I've wanted to get to and managed to try over the holidays and once again it didn't disappoint.

Crab Shooters

Sliders

Snapper Carpaccio

Mussels

Split the main: redfish "on the half shell"

Cheesecake and gelato

The crab shooters were a crab leg with a knob of meat at the end stuck in a shotglass with a spicy, briney cocktail sauce. Perfect way to get the juices going.

The sliders were the showstopper here. How weird that a seafood joint damn near perfects them. These are pretty ample, about fist-sized, with a generous amount of patty, cooked rare. Caramelized onions and a sea salt-crusted bun top it off. Worth the trip for these alone. Telltale sign of awesomeness: a trail of grease that runs down the side of your hand and drips off your wrist after the first bite. Apparently Casswell-backed two standalone slider joints are in the works for Houston.

The snapper tartare was perfectly balanced: a fruity olive oil, grainy sea salt, a dab of mint, and the fish itself practically melted when you tasted it.

The only real misfire of the night was the mussels: they come in a Shiner Bock and Ancho broth that was pretty flat and one note. Needed an acid (lime juice maybe) and an herb to balance things out. But the mussels themselves were huge, fat, and sweet. Pity.

The redfish on the half shell comes by its overly gimmicky name for them leaving the scales on and then grilling the fillet skin side down, crusting it over and then you scoop the flesh out. Stunning use of spices here on the fish: it tasted like a tandoori fish (personally I think it should be even called "Tandoori Redfish"). There was a gob of Chinese broccoli on the side and its bracing bitterness cut through the spices of the fish nicely. Finally a deep fried cube of mac-n-cheese. I guess I can't rationally or logically justify its presence on the plate but damn it was good.

Didn't try much of the dessert but I liked the gelato more than the cheesecake.

Very reasonably priced wine list.

[Bill Miller]

Thank you Kevin--we'll give this place a try.

[Kevin72]

Sure enough, Reef's sliders-only spinoff place, Little Bigs, just opened its first location at Westheimer and Montrose.

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