Oh, hello. My name is Jessica and I love to eat. Back when I lived in Waco I would occasionally help my friend Ross with his food blog, and now that I'm in Houston, I've been inspired to start my own. For our inaugural entry, I'm going to write about one of my favorite places in Houston, The BRC Gastro Pub.
Let's get one thing out of the way: yes, BRC does stand for Big Red Cock. And there's a fine specimen of one right there in the driveway. The inside of the restaurant is decorated eclectically, with red felt wallpaper and a really cool chandelier made out of wrought-iron baskets. Seating is tight, so you better get comfortable with your neighbors, or at least have a good sense of humor. My husband and I were seated next to a pair of very self-important lawyers who insisted on talking loudly about discovery requests and electronic filing. I'm sure they would be thoroughly disappointed to learn that my husband and I were both trained as attorneys and were therefore quite unimpressed with their conversation; however, they were fun to quietly mock.
The best thing about BRC is the rotating menu. The main categories of food remain the same, but the ingredients change weekly. For example, the menu might say "macaroni and cheese", but one week the mac and cheese might include lobster, and the next week it might include jalapeno. This concept keeps the menu fresh and fun no matter how often you go. It also provides the waiter with a lot to talk about at the beginning of the meal.
The day that we were there the chowder was made with shrimp and bacon jam. All I needed to hear was "bacon jam" -- what it was spread on or in was pretty much irrelevant. The chowder was well-made, with large chunks of shrimp and carrot, but something was off; it was just a little too sweet, and not thick enough. As for the bacon jam, there just wasn't enough of it. Another tablespoon of the stuff would have gone a long way to make this whole dish better.
My husband ordered a Dr. Pepper-glazed quail dish from the appetizer menu. This is not a rotating dish; it's always made the same way. I didn't try it -- quail is not my favorite fowl -- but from what my husband told me, it's a good thing that it's always available, because he wants it again.
It was lunchtime, so we didn't have any desserts or alcoholic drinks. Our waiter told us the frozen Snickers beignets are to die for. And I thought the white-wine mojito sounded lovely.
BRC is a special place with an amazingly creative chef. Service is fast and friendly, and the prices are reasonable. Although the rotating menu means that the dishes can be a little hit-or-miss, the misses are rare and not disastrous, and the hits are absolutely wonderful. I would recommend BRC to anyone -- but if you're bringing your kids or your grandma, maybe decline to explain the name. Or how it's related to that thing in the driveway.
