I'm not going to lie to you, I am sick today. Seriously. Every time I look at the picture above, I feel like dying. It's not specific to that picture -- looking at, smelling, or even thinking about virtually any food seems to be enough to push me over the edge right now. With that in mind, I'm going to try to write a thoughtful and honest review of what is a pretty good Houston eatery, Shade.
We decided to try Shade at the tail end of Houston Restaurant Weeks. I did the "noble" thing (it's for the food bank!) and selflessly tried the three course restaurant weeks menu. We started with the carpaccio. I have to be honest, I was not impressed. The beef was fine quality, but something was lacking in the flavor for me. Skip it.
Next I had the scallops. Now those were special! Without going into too much detail (because seriously, my body can't handle that right now), they were sweet, succulent, perfectly cooked and paired delightfully with their sides. What more do you need to know?
For dessert we did the sponge cake with strawberry mousse. The mousse was very good, with a lot of real strawberry flavor. I recommend it.
Shade has a very intimate atmosphere and a great service staff. Our waitress and I happened to be using the ladies room at the same time, and she was accosted by a guest IN THE BATHROOM and asked to change an order. That is something I have honestly never seen before, but she handled it a lot better than I would have. Managing to be pleasant while being bugged on the toilet -- that's a true professional!
