Masraff’s

We haven’t been to Masraff’s in at least 8 years. It’s one of those places where you have such a great meal you ask yourself why has it been so long since we have been back? I love the feel of their new location, it’s elegant, modern and warm inside.

While we looked over the menu we had 3 different breads to choose from along with some soft butter. I didn’t get a picture because the lighting wasn’t working with me. It is a little dark in there so if you are with someone who has a hard time seeing make sure you have a little flashlight or sit near a window.

We started out with the Crispy Vietnamese Duck Confit Spring Rolls with Szechuan Sauce. This is worth ordering it just melts in your mouth it’s so good. We also got the Garlic Seared Calamari, Oyster Mushrooms with shaved onion, cilantro and soy reduction $16. The attention to detail with this dish is amazing. The flavors work really well together and if we where alone I would have licked the plate to get all that soy reduction. The calamari steaks where nice and meaty and tasted like another type of meat, although we couldn’t put our finger on what it was.

For the main course I ordered the House Cured Berkshire Pork Chop with Mashed Potatoes $24 (ginger braised red cabbage, pineapple confit, char sue glaze) The pork chop with the pineapple confit was amazing. The only problem I had with the dish is you have to taste everything separate to appreciate it. If you eat a bite of the pork by itself you can tell it’s cured and has a little extra attention to it, otherwise you would just think it’s any other pork chop. D ordered the Certified Angus 11 oz NY Strip Steak $34 (truffled restuffed gold potato, and buttered asparagus)  The steak was drizzled with a soy reduction and it just melts in your mouth. The best combo was taking some of the potato and dipping it in the sauce mmmmm.

We barely had room for dessert so it’s good they are smaller portions. The best thing about Masraff’s is how inovated they are when it comes to their dishes. Their crème brulee changes with the season, but we had the Butter Roasted Peach Crème Brulee with whole berry sauce $8. The peach compote is on the bottom and then it’s topped with a scoop of the cream which then has a nice bruleed crust on top. I loved this dish! D ordered the Molten Chocolate Eruption with vanilla bean ice cream $8. It was delicious and I loved the vanilla bean ice cream with it. 

I would go back in a heart beat. The prices are a little high, but worth every penny. If you want to save a little go during Houston Restaurant Week and only pay $35 a person. We saved about $35 by doing this.

III Forks

iii Forks is located downtown which isn’t a place we get to too often. Since we where headed to a friend’s birthday party down there later that night we decided to take advantage of one of the restaurants on Houston Restaurant Weeks list.

The inside was a little dark, but very well done. I expected the other diners to be dressed up a little more, but some people where in shorts while others in suits.Our waiter was great and very personable. We looked over the menu while he brought out a round of bread and super cold butter which is a pet peeve of mine.

For the first course I ordered the III Forks Salad $9.95 (our award winning spring mix of mesclun and red oak leaf lettuce, roasted Texas pecans, thinly sliced granny smith apples, tossed in black walnut molasses vinaigrette and topped with blue cheese crumbles) OMG has to be one of the best salad’s I’ve ever had out! This is a must have if you come here. D ordered the Lobster Bisque $10.95 (classic brandy-based cream soup with chunks of whole maine lobster) which was nice and rich and creamy.

We also ordered Crab Cake St. Francis $15.95. While the sauce was really good and the crab cake was full of crab, I don’t think it’s worth the $15. I would order something different next time.

For the second course we ordered the Chateaubriand with Shitake Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce $24.95 (medallions cut from whole roasted tenderloins, topped with a shiitake mushroom and red wine shallot reduction, served with whipped potatoes) and Flounder with Crawfish Ancho Chili Beurre Blanc (pan seared and sautéed in white wine cream sauce flavored with ancho chilis, topped with crawfish tails, served over wild rice). Both dishes where really good. They did one thing that I thought was strange, but they come by with a huge platter and ask if you want any tomatoes so that’s why you see it on D’s plate.

We also ordered a side of mac and cheese, except they brought out crab mac and cheese which was delicious!

For dessert we got the Chocolate Ganache Cake $8.95 (traditional chocolate cake, layered with rich ganache icing, crusted with toasted coconut and garnished with chocolate shavings and strawberries) and Texas Pecan Cake $8.95 (white cake with shredded sugared pecans and homemade whipped cream frosting, garnished with chopped sugared pecans and caramel sauce). Both where really good, if I was to get another one I would go with the Pecan Cake the Chocolate Cake was good, but a little too rich for me.

I can’t wait to go back. That salad I’ll be having dreams about for a while! Be sure you sign up for their email list, they will send you a free appetizer via email that’s good for 14 days.

024 Grille

Trying to take advantage of Houston Restaurant Weeks we like to try as many new restaurants as we can.  We met up with some friends at the 024 Grille which is located in the Westin Hotel. They also have a lounge area which is really cool with a huge water wall.

While we looked over the menu we snacked on the bread and butter. We all decided the walnut raisin bread was amazing.

In addition to the Restaurant Week Menu I ordered a bowl of the Shrimp Bisque $10 (with lemon crème fresh). Loved the flavor of this bisque and I would recommend ordering it again.

For the first course we each ordered something different which ended up being all 3 items on the menu. Crispy Calamari $10 (Sweet Peppadew’s, Romesco), Grilled Jumbo Gulf Shrimp $14 (Crispy okra, sweet corn, smoked cocktail sauce), Coastal Crab Cakes $14 (blue crabmeat, spicy orange chili sauce, sautéed spinach).

We where not fans of the calamari, it just reminded me of fish sticks. The grilled shrimp and crab cakes where both really good and I would order them again.

Next came an Intermezzo of passion fruit sorbet. Honestly I could have eaten a whole carton of this!

For the second course we all ordered one of the items on the menu. Wasabi Pea Crusted Ahi Tuna $28 (chilled béarnaise, sweet soy), 10 NY Strip $35 (black truffle mac and cheese, 024 green peppercorn sauce béarnaise, sweet soy), Surf and Surf $29 (salmon meuniere, blue crab, creamy stone-ground grits, brown butter Florentine). The 10 oz steak wasn’t that good, but the mac and cheese is really good. The Ahi Tuna was a huge hit as was the surf and surf.

By the time the third course came we where getting pretty full. Praline-Pecan Cheesecake $8 (chili spiked dark chocolate), Lavender Crème Brulee $8 (fresh berries, lemon madeleine cookie). Both desserts where good, however if you want a richer dessert then you’ll want the cheesecake the brulee was done perfectly and satisfied any dessert lover.

I would for sure go back, the main complaint I had was that for being there at 6pm on a Sunday and only having 4 other tables seated it way too long for the service. We didn’t leave till almost 9pm. Our waitress was useless and didn’t fill water glasses, forgot wine orders and any other request we had she seemed to ignore.They also comp parking, but when we tried leaving the ticket she gave us didn’t work. For just D and I we would have spent $103 if we ordered off the regular menu, but with the Restaurant Week price of $35 a person we saved $33. Not too bad!

Christies Seafood & Steaks

Christie’s Seafood & Steaks has been around since 1917 and we had never been so what’s a better time to go then Houston Restaurant Week? Walking in I was a little shocked thinking it would have a little fancier then what it was. We weren't dressed up, but we where in better clothing then most people who where dining. It almost seemed as casual as a Red Lobster.

We started out with the Seafood Gumbo $7.95 and Shrimp Chowder $7.95. D and I differed on what we liked better, but it worked out getting one of each.

For the second course we had the Salmon Royale $20.95 (blackened salmon topped with crawfish tails, peppers and mushrooms in a our special cajun beurre blanc, served with dirty rice) and Stuffed Snapper Fillet $23.95 (fresh gulf snapper stuffed with our signature seafood stuffing topped with a light chardonnay cream sauce, served with fresh vegetable of the day). By far the best dish was the stuffed snapper. The salmon dish just didn’t have any flavor to it.

My mother in law ordered the Gulf Shrimp and Jumbo Lump 15.95 (blackened gulf shrimp topped with sautéed jumbo lump crabmeat with house wine butter, served with dirty rice). The shrimp where cooked perfectly and I was surprised they where seasoned really well and you got a fair amount of them.

We also ordered a side of Onion Rings which where ok, I found it interesting they paired it with some marinara sauce.

For dessert we got one of each to share. Chocolate Mousse Cake $6.25 (layers of the darkest chocolate sponge cake, sweet chocolate amaretto mousse and white chocolate butterscotch mousse enrobed in bittersweet chocolate ganache, surrounded by nuts), Bananas Foster Pie $5.50 (graham cracker pie shell holds our banana rum sauce, moist butter cake layer and banana cream filling studded with banana cake cubes, cinnamon brown sugared whipped cream finishes this louisiana favorite) and the Key Lime Pie $5.50 (refreshingly tart custard in a nutty graham cracker crust, topped with lime juice laced whipped cream).

We thought the chocolate cake would be the one to pass on, it tasted dried out like it had been sliced that morning and kept in the fridge until someone ordered it. The key lime had a nice strong lime flavor to it and I really enjoyed the bananas foster pie.

Honestly I don’t think I would go back. Houston has so many other really good seafood restaurants that I would rather go to instead. As for the savings using the Houston Restaurant Week price of $35 per person you kind of break even so it’s not a huge deal to go, but it’s a nice way to test out a new place.

Bistro Alex

(Photo from www.citycentrehouston.com)

Bistro Alex has a reputation to live up to before you even walk through the door. As part of the Brennan’s Family Restaurants I had high hopes for this place knowing that the food should be good. The atmosphere when you walk in is a little different. Since it’s part of a hotel you walk in on the ground floor which is the bar area. No one is there to direct you where the restaurant is so we decided to go up the stairs to see if there was any sign of a restaurant there. The space is pretty large and really modern. The wait staff seemed to be on things and pretty friendly.

Below you will see me list the prices of the items we ordered, but we only spent $35 per person for the Houston Restaurant Week Menu.

(Photo from www.citycentrehouston.com)

While we looked over the Houston Restaurant Week Menu we served hot rolls topped with rosemary and salt. They hit a pet peeve of mine which is butter that looks nice and fluffy, but it’s rock hard. I loved the rolls.

For starters we ordered the Soup of the Day – Gumbo $9 and Calamari $14 (crispy calamari with charred lemons and spicy marinara). Here’s where our meal turned into the 50/50 meal. One dish from each course was fantastic and the other was ehh. The gumbo really had no flavor at all to it. When the waitress said it’s slow cooked for many hours I expected some flavor but it tasted like nothing. It needed a lot of seasoning. The calamari on the other hand was fantastic. I loved the coating which was seasoned really nicely.

I ordered the Filet $36 (Bone marrow truffled butter, caramelized onions, roasted mushrooms, garlic Yukon mashed potatoes, red wine demi). All I can say is OMG this was good. It melts in your mouth good! I loved the caramelized onions and roasted mushrooms with the sauce it was just fantastic.

D ordered the Market Fish $28 (Smoked corn, tomato concasse, green onions, okra, crab meat). This dish is one of those if you have it separate it’s good, but when you take a bite of the fish with the other toppings it taste like nothing. The corn was really sweet and the fish was seasoned ok for eating it on it’s own. Me being the foodie I am asked the waitress if we could have some extra seasoning. Next thing I know the chef comes out and the manager. While I tried not to insult him I had to explain that there just wasn’t any seasoning and it tasted like nothing. We got seasoning brought to us which tasted like Old Bay, but hey it helped a lot.

Last up was dessert. They didn’t list the prices online so I’m not sure how much the desserts go for.

We ordered the Crème Brulee (hippenmasse tuile and peach compote) and the Dark Chocolate Cake (rosas dark chocolate cake, white and dark chocolate ganache). I could have eaten a whole plate of that peach compote, the dish was really well balanced and I would order it again. The chocolate cake on the other hand while it was good it’s really rich. I think it would have been better as some cake balls or truffles. If you are going to share a dessert get this otherwise if you want to eat it all yourself go with the crème brulee.  

Overall I’m not 100% that I would go back. I expected more with it being a Brennan’s Family Restaurant because I’ve never had a bad meal at the other restaurants. If we where to pay out of pocket we would have spent $87 without counting dessert. Since we did the $35 per person restaurant week menu we only spent $70. So we saved at least $17 not counting the dessert. It’s a great way to try a restaurant out so be sure to check out the others on their list.