My tour of Houston's gastronomic delights continues...my meal at Masraff's was last week (early Oct).
It was a toss up between Masraff's and another place, but after I read the description of the sea bass dish on the Masraff's menu, it was a done deal - I was headed to the Galeria!
Of course I got lost - for those who are directionally challenged like me, take note: Make sure you get off at the correct exit because there are several Post Oak's - Drive, Circle, Court, Place, Blvd, Lane - and finding one does not mean you will eventually find your way to the correct location.
Valet parking in a free shopping center lot? Maybe it's because I'm from Colorado but...seriously? People can't walk 100 ft? As I passed the valet stand (staffed with five or six guys) I felt a twinge of guilt - how uppity (and cheap) I must seem to (*gasp*) park my own car and walk to the entrance?
The hostess was super friendly and offered to seat me in the lounge or the dining room. The lounge was a little too "lounge-y" for me to enjoy a meal by myself, so I sat at a table.
It was a busy Thursday night, but service was reasonably prompt and the course pacing was good. I only had to ask for a water refill once or twice, but I drink a lot of water.
The waiter recited the specials and the tomato basil soup sounded good so I ordered that. For apps, the waiter offered his unsolicited recommendations - tuna tartar and calamari - which I didn't mind, but then when I ordered the mushroom ravioli, he said that I should get the calamari and if I orded the calamari and didn't like it, he would buy me the ravioli. I politely declined and stuck with the ravioli which was super tasty! Would definitely order again. Thought the waiter's insistence that I try the calamari was a little strange, however.
The soup was kind of a bummer - a little too much heat, not sure from what, but it is not something I would order again. I was impressed with the variety on the bread basket - 4 different kinds - my fav was the poppy seed bread. They also served a little complimentary bowl of olives.
On to the big disappointment - I ordered the sea bass, and the waiter tells me that they don't have any sea bass, that the order was short because supplies were short, but that they were substituting grouper in the dish and it would be the same preparation.
In a joking way, I told him how disappointed I was because I had been looking forward to the sea bass all day, big sigh, ok, I'll take the dish with grouper then.
I get the fish and it's nothing like what I pictured, but I can't remember the dish description exactly so I eat it and am underwhelmed. The waiter comes by the table and asks how everything tastes, and I said, well, it's not sea bass, but...it's fine. The waiter gets a confused look on his face and says no, it's grouper, you wanted the john dory, right? And I said um, no, I wanted the sea bass...? He just seems confused and walks away.
Back in my hotel room, I pull up the menu and realize that the waiter had given me the completely wrong dish! Apparently it was grouper subbed for john dory in the john dory dish, not grouper subbed for sea bass. But the check said sea bass on it, and I thought, what the hell?
Not sure where the error was - the kitchen not understanding that I wanted the sea bass dish preparation with the subbed fish or the waiter giving the kitchen the wrong order - but even if the former, it's the waiter's responsibility to make sure that he's serving me what I ordered.
Hence the 3 stars. I will go back to try the sea bass and other items on the menu that looked tasty, though I am planning to call the restaurant beforehand to make sure they have what I'm planning to order and are not at risk of running out. read more