Seriously. The last time we went to Houston’s was the night before Jeannie was induced. We figured it was going to be the last time we’d get to have a nice meal for a long time.
We were hemming and hawing over what to eat one night and decided to go again, so we got there pretty late, maybe an hour before closing. The staff seemed very rushed to get customers finished, even though more were coming in every few minutes. The server we got did a very poor job of answering our questions and didn’t seem all there. Here is an example of our conversation:
Us: Excuse me. We have a question about an item on the menu.
Her: Which one?
Us: What is Osaka style pressed sushi?
Her: It’s sushi, but it’s pressed.
Us: Uh…OK….Is it like a roll or….
Her: It’s not a roll, it’s pressed.
Us: Never mind…we’ll have the Coconut Shrimp Roll.
Houston’s – Irvine
A Rob Roy. Made with scotch. Not a Roy Rogers like most young waiters confuse my order for.
We never saw pictures of this roll before, so we didn’t quite know what to expect. I was thinking that it would be a roll with shrimp in a coconut tempura batter, but that would be pretty obvious. It turned out to be boiled (or steamed?) shrimp, fried coconut shreds (golden stuff in the photo), avocado, rice, and soy paper. I’m not a fan of soy paper. They included good quality wasabi, a mystery mayo based sauce, a mayo based chipotle sauce (I think the same one they use for fries), and pickled ginger. Overall, I give it a meh.
Rotisserie Chicken with a barley salad. Really tasty! The chicken was well cooked. You get one piece of white meat and two dark. The meat is moist and the skin has a nice honey glaze on it. Barley salad was a new experience for me. Has radish, tomatoes, and raisins. I was trying to be good (I usually have the Hawaiian rib eye), but I think this dish will be on the options list in the future.
The Ahi was well cooked. The sauce on top was really good. The salad has mango in it. If you’re looking for a lighter seafood plate, this is it.
Fries. Fresh cut, twice fried, tossed with salt and pepper. Good.
I’ve always received good service here, so I was a little disappointed this trip. The food was consistent but something was amiss. I guess the vibe was just off.
Talk to me, Goose.