The Bird and the Bear

The Bird and the Bear is a new establishment from the people behind Oussie's. It's located in a shopping center, and although attempts have been made to create a cozy space, it's hard to forget that this space is supposed to be a store-front. There are just too many windows that let in too much light.

It's also hard to forget that this is a new restaurant. Little notebooks and pencils are on every table (why I don't know), and they're emblazoned with the name "Oussie's." Things like that make you feel like this restaurant is secondary to to the older one. If they're using leftover notepads, will the recipes be afterthoughts too?

Thankfully, the food is good. The menu feels fresh and different from Oussie's, with lots of fun little touches (ie: a dish called "damn eggplant"). They also have a large selection of vegetarian dishes, which, as a former vegetarian, I appreciate. And they aren't all pastas either! I had the creative vegetable paella.



This paella is comprised of mushrooms, a variety of peppers, onions and saffron rice. At first I wasn't sure I liked it -- without meat or seafood, paella is inherently a little bland -- but I gave it a second to linger, and I discovered something. It wasn't bland, it was delicate. It was also warm, filling, and very good.

We also enjoyed an escargot appetizer. This dish was different than other escargot, as it wasn't covered in cream or puff pastry. It was just snails cooked in a savory, garlicky butter sauce, with good bread on the side for dipping. This is not a snail starter dish, since you really get the taste and texture of the snails, but if you like them this is a great way to get an escargot fix.

Dessert is NOT to be missed. We had a chocolate cake with banana filling. It was perfectly done, and worth the extra calories.

Service is good, but green. Our waiter seemed nervous, even though he was doing a great job. He overcompensated by using the same script of quips with every customer. Typical new restaurant stuff, I think. He just needs to find his stride. The whole place does. But once it gets there -- and I think it will -- this place might just outshine its predecessor. It certainly won't be an afterthought.

Dozier's

Dozier's is located in Fulshear, about 40 miles outside of Houston. The drive is totally worth it. The space is classic Texas -- taxidermy on the walls, picnic tables with striped tablecloths, etc. The best part is that there is nothing ironic or intentional about it; it's real Texas, before the hipsters got here. The only strange thing is the grocery section in the front of the store. Some of the items make sense (Texas jellies, jars of homemade BBQ sauce) and some do not (overpriced, seemingly old hygiene and pet care products). It's kind of like the "emergency grocery" section in a gas station, but I can't imagine anyone is really buying this stuff out here in the middle of nowhere.

I had the homemade sausage platter with two sides (mac and cheese and potato salad). The sausage was perfection. Spicy, hearty and served with their amazing homemade sauce. My husband's chop beef sandwich was likewise delicious. It was ready at warp speed too -- we barely had enough time to grab drinks and find a table before our food was done. Clearly the staff knows what they are doing.

As you might imagine, prices were very reasonable. Service was basic -- you order at a counter, get your own drinks and condiments, and bus your own tables -- but it was fast. The only person who made us feel unwelcome the whole time was the man at the checkout counter (you pay as you leave), who stared at us intensely for no apparent reason. I don't think he meant to be rude; maybe they're not used to seeing customers who aren't regulars. I guess the solution to that is to become one. 

Special Out of Town Edition: Moonshine

Friends from Austin have usually raved about Moonshine, so when we had to be in town for a hearing, we decided to check it out. We went in at lunch time and there was quite a crowd. It was too hot to eat outside, so we were seated at a cozy little table next to the window. Right away, we liked the country-chic decor. It felt airy and bright, like eating at my husband's grandma's house. And the food was almost as good.

We started with a plate of homemade potato chips with sour cream dip. The hubs really enjoyed the dip, but I wasn't crazy about the chips. I was expecting something akin to Zapp's, but we we got were more like Baked Lays in both flavor and texture. Pass (at least for me).

I had a small Indigo Spinach Salad. First, I love that Moonshine allows you to buy just half a salad. It was a perfect lunch portion. Second, the ingredients in this one just scream summer: blueberries, peaches, fresh spinach. It was the perfect meal for the space we were in, the season and the time of day: bright, fresh, and not overly filling. The complimentary cheddar muffins on the side were also quite good, and helped to round out the meal nicely.

Service was very good. The place was crowded, but they seemed to have a good ratio of servers-to-guests, and we never wanted for anything. Most surprising was the check. I guess we're getting used to Houston prices on everything, but this was a very good value.

Overall, I'll join the ranks and recommend Moonshine. It was just as good as I expected, based on my friends' reviews. It was much better than many other casual lunch places. And it was damn sure better than rain. 

Hearsay

I enjoyed working with the format I used on my last post, so I think I'm going to do something similar for this review of Hearsay. Cool with you? OK, good.

And away we go .....

Space: Hearsay is located downtown, in what I imagine may have been a townhouse or loft at some point. The decor is cool and polished, all hardwood and brick. Plus there is a low-cost public parking lot located about 15 feet from the front door. You can't really ask for more than that.

Service: there was a healthy crowd on the night we went, so I think our server might have been a little distracted. That said, we didn't want for anything while we were there. He just didn't seem to be around a lot, and we had to flag him down to get our check. Maybe things would have been better if we had chosen to sit at the bar and not a table.

Food: We decided to share some small plates. Below you'll find the salmon crostini and the duck quesadillas. We also had the beer-battered asparagus and seared yellow fin tuna. The stand out dish was probably the yellow fin. The fish was comparable to what you might find in any good sushi restaurant, and we both really loved the piquant little salad that came with it. The quesadillas were very good; the duck was actually in the form of sausage, and the portions were very generous. Small plate does not necessarily mean small food! I didn't really enjoy the crostini, which had a fishy flavor and a too-crisp bread that was tough to bite through. And although I appreciate the shout-out to a local beer, the asparagus were greasy, floppy and not very much fun.

Of course, this is a gastro-pub, so I would be remiss not to mention my cocktail. The one I tried was comprised of jalapeno juice, vodka, sugar and lemon. It sounds like it would be spicy (and the waiter warned me that it could be), but mine wasn't. What it was was refreshing and light, the perfect end to a hot summer day. Totally worth the money!

Overall, I liked Hearsay's atmosphere and it's inventive drink menu. The food was only fair, but in the end, a place like Hearsay probably isn't really about food. Go to drink and be seen; grab dinner somewhere else.

Mark's

It's been so long since we ate at Mark's that I'm compelled to keep this review very short and sweet. Overall, the experience was very pleasant, though a little on the pricey side. Let me break it down for you:

1) Atmosphere: Mark's is housed in an old church. The wine is stored where an organ used to be; the floors are rough-hewn wood; stained glass windows are still apparent on the walls. A very welcoming and calming space, and a beautiful repurposing of an old building.

2) Service: Impeccable. Our waiter offered to take pictures for us (it was my birthday) and gave us plenty of time to enjoy our cocktails before offering dinner menus, and our dinner before offering dessert. He also made lots of suggestions. The only thing I didn't like was that he pretty obviously tried to steer us to more expensive selections, even when they didn't really meet our needs. For example, he told us flat-out not to order the assorted chocolates for dessert, and talked us into a much larger (and pricier) item, even though I told him I really wasn't that hungry. If the chocolates are bad they shouldn't be on the menu. I don't want my choices to become a jumping off point for negotiations.

3) Food: expensive, but worth it for special occasions. The foie gras appetizer was delicious, second only to the foie we had at August. For dinner, I had one of the chef's specials (above), and was treated to a platter of fresh seafood and various vegetables. What's interesting is that this dish was almost identical in ingredients to a meal I had at Capital Grille just a few weeks earlier, but it was much better. The seafood was fresher, the side dishes seemed better seasoned, and the whole plate was just a nicer composition than the one at Capital Grille. Little differences that added up to a much better dinner.