[Houston] Cova Hand-Selected Wines

[FoodMan]

Alison Cook's review.

I have driven past this place before but always took it for a trendy over-priced wine shop! I was pretty surprised to read Cook's review above. I have never, certainly, not in Hosuton been in a restaurant (it is a restaurant whether Monsterville Horton IV; the proprietor with the cool name , admits to it or not) where wine is the main event. Needless to say I am very intrigued.

Has anybody been yet? If so any comments are appreciated.

What about the future of the place? Do you think it will take off? Will we see a beer-centric restaurant in the near future?

Elie

[greensNbeans]

Alison Cook's review.

I have driven past this place before but always took it for a trendy over-priced wine shop! I was pretty surprised to read Cook's review above. I have never, certainly, not in Hosuton been in a restaurant (it is a restaurant whether Monsterville Horton IV; the proprietor with the cool name , admits to it or not) where wine is the main event. Needless to say I am very intrigued.

Has anybody been yet? If so any comments are appreciated.

What about the future of the place? Do you think it will take off? Will we see a beer-centric restaurant in the near future?

Elie

←

Never been, but I picked up his ex-executive chef

[greensNbeans]

Alison Cook's review.

I have driven past this place before but always took it for a trendy over-priced wine shop! I was pretty surprised to read Cook's review above. I have never, certainly, not in Hosuton been in a restaurant (it is a restaurant whether Monsterville Horton IV; the proprietor with the cool name , admits to it or not) where wine is the main event. Needless to say I am very intrigued.

Has anybody been yet? If so any comments are appreciated.

What about the future of the place? Do you think it will take off? Will we see a beer-centric restaurant in the near future?

Elie

←

Never been, but I picked up his ex-executive chef

←

Houston needs more places like this. Its great for locals and the entire scene.

[Kevin72]

What a neat sounding place. I definitely need to try to get there next time I'm in town.

[Kent Wang]

What a neat sounding place.  I definitely need to try to get there next time I'm in town.

←

Agreed.

I wish Austin had something like this.

[LDLee]

We went last Friday night. The food was excellent. We tried four wine flights and four appetizers/tapas. It has been a couple of days, so I don't remember the wines, but all the tastings were very good. The food was excellent. The first round of tapas included the seared scallops and prawns described by Allison Cook. Truly fantastic. We had the tenderloin during the second round, and it was equally as wonderful.

I got to know Monsterville when he was at Central Market. He is a good person and I wish hiim all the success. He deserves it. We visited with Monsterville a little bit while we were there. He told me he makes sure his wines were priced competitvely with Spec's. I suggested he list the price of the wine by the bottle next to his list by the glass so in case someone wanted to buy the bottle after tasting the glass, they would know how much it cost. He is opening a second shop on Washington across from El Tiempo.

We will go again.

[LDLee]

Went back last night (Friday, January 6). Boy, was I disappointed. Service was abyssmal. It took over 15 minutes to bring our wine order and 45 minutes for food.

Our food order was a (a) smoked salmon and (b) foie gras. Here's the weird thing, we got the foie gras 10 minutes before the smoked salmon. And, when did serving foie gras with a cold center become de rigeur? The first time we tried it, we sent it back. Of course, all they did was throw it back under a broiler for 2 minutes and bring it back. Maybe I am a PITA, but overcooked foie gras is unacceptable. That's when we learned that Cova's cook (he is too incompetent to be called a chef) serves his foie gras with a cold (I mean 32 degrees) center. The smoked salmon was good, but marginal.

If it weren't for the fact that I like Monsterville, I would never go back. I guess our experience shows what happens when a restaurant becomes too popular too quickly without the experienced staff in the back to handle the demand.

[Doug Fordyce]

Went on Saturday - packed. Can't complain about a 20 minute wait with wine glass in hand, perusing an interesting selection in the retail section. Service spotty - it needs some work - but food was great, as was the wine selection. Any place that allows me to order a bunch of food friendly wine and pick out a great bottle of wine from the store to go with it is fantastic. Kinks will get worked out, I am sure - just want to make sure this one survives!

[jscarbor]

Does it bother or give you pause that there are already 2 locations for this place? Is it even a year old?