Restaurant: Brennan’s of Houston
Location: 6692, 3300 Smith St, Houston, TX 77006. (713) 522-9711
Date: June 14, 2018
Cuisine: Creol
Rating: Fancy tasty!
One of my son’s math contests brought us to Texas and so I returned to Houston for the first time in 25 years.
The second place my dad recommended was even older school than the first, having been open since the 70s and located in a lovely (by Houston standards) brick and tree neighborhood.
The inside was attractive, formal, and up to date except for the cove lighting.
The menu.
Garlic bread, of course.
They had some real wine on the list: 2014 Francois Carillon Puligny-Montrachet. BH 91. The slightly curious nose mixes reduction and floral aromas. On the plus side there is an excellent sense of underlying tension and detail to the utterly delicious medium-bodied flavors that possess a caressing mouth feel, all wrapped in a sleek, focused, complex and well-balanced finale. Note that this classy villages is well worth your interest and it should also drink well early.
My son didn’t order a first course but they brought him this berries and cream on the house!
House salad.
Fried Green Tomato Ravigote. Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Ravigote, Over a Citrus Reduction, Topped with Fresh Shaved Serrano & Garlic Chips. I don’t even like tomatoes but the waiter recommended this and it turned out to be fabulous. The crispy fried tomatoes, soft perfect crab, and the intriguing crunch/punch of the pickles all meshed perfectly. Great sweet/sour/savory combo.
Gulf Fish Pontchartrain. Jumbo Lump Crab, J&J Shrimp, Crispy Louisiana Oysters, Parmesan Mushroom Rice, and Brennan’s Creole Butter. Here it is again, fish with the “works” on top. Hard to go wrong friend and piled with all that goodness.
Pecan Crusted Speckled Trout. Lemon Scented Crushed Corn, Pickled Onion, and Hericot Vert Salad, Spiced Pecans with a Creole Meuniere Saucer.
The dessert menu.
Vanilla ice cream.
Pecan Pie again. My wife liked Tony Mandola’s slightly better, but this was still good.
Lemon Meringue Pie with blueberry coulis. Classic again, and delicious. Perfectly textured and balanced.
They have grab all you can Pecan Pralines at the door. I took A LOT and developed a rather extreme sugar hangover back at the hotel — so good!
Brennan’s had awesome service. Our waiter was superb. It really had a classy old school charm. Genteel and refined. Food was great too, particularly that crab and fried tomato appetizer.