T'afia
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: (713) 524-6922
- Price:
- $$$$
- Cross Street:
- West Alabama Street
- Hours:
- Tue-Sat 5:30pm-10pm, Bar opens 4pm, Fri 11am-3pm
Editorial Review for T'afia – by Joshua Hinsdale
The Scene
Chef Monica Pope's petite Midtown eatery showcases her flavorful creations. Housed in an intentionally unadorned dining room with brick walls, concrete floor and utilitarian tables, T'afia has an almost Zen-like simplicity, though some may find such minimalism a tad chilly. With a focus on local and regional foods, culinary enthusiasts will find a cornucopia of striking, satisfying dishes. Service, however, slides between helpful to haughty, and when all 16 or so tables are filled, the noise level can zoom from Zen to din.
The Food
Emphasizing a local market approach drawing heavily on regional products, the menu is reinvented regularly and ranges from such esoteric fare as antelope, quinoa and celeriac to standards like macaroni and cheese, salmon and bread pudding. A five-course tasting menu is an opportunity to explore options colored with Pope's unique French and Mediterranean sensibilities.
Hits: Food tastes fresh and perfectly spiced. Beef and fish are tender and buttery.
Misses: You'll need to lean in to hear your dining partner when the crowds raise the noise level.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
The ExtrasOn Saturday mornings, a farmers' market is held in the parking lot, offering many of the same foodstuffs the restaurant prepares.
What to DrinkTry one of the several house-specialty drinks that contain the fortified wine ratafia, from which the restaurant derives its name.
Fun FactChef/owner Monica Pope is a James Beard Award nominee.
User Reviews for T'afia
07/03/2008 Posted by psalber
Zagat rates t'afia highly. Fearless Critic gives it an A-. Unfortunately, I didn't read the full review until after a very mediocre dinner. Then, I discovered that FC got it just right. t'afia is trying to do "California cuisine" in Houston -- a great idea. Local, fresh ingredients make for terrific meals. But t'afia's execution is terrible. The Texas wine I tried (Blanc de Blanc) was billed as full bodied and not sweet, but it tasted like the worst apple cider I have ever had. The eggplant soup was tasteless and the stuffed dates were greasy and had a taste, but it wasn't pleasant. The little biscuits that accompanied the meal were dry, and again, tasteless. My husband and I decided to split the quail dish, knowing it would be a small portion. But we weren't prepared for the tiny, dry, overcooked and flavorless little birds presented to us with a flourish. Chef Monica Pope may be brilliant for opening a fresh food restaurant in Texas, but she had better teach her staff how to cook it so that the "promise" of the restaurant becomes a reality for her customers.
Pros: Nice enough dining room, pretty good service
Cons: Terrible food
06/21/2008 Posted by fwyde
Started out the night’s selection with a Chicken and Farro with Lemon Soup. It was like a home-cooked chicken noodle soup, quite tasty. The Green Vegetable with Basil Soup was much better - Basically tasted like I was eating a light bowl of pesto’d vegetables. Yummy! My second dish was an Endive and Cremini Mushrooms, Bleu Cheese, Spiced Pecans with a White Balsamic - White Truffle Vinaigrette. Very light and tasty. The endives had a nice crunch and the mixture of bleu cheese and vinaigrette gave it a nice salty-creaminess to the dressing that turned out quite well. The Sashimi Avocado was interesting to say the least. A peanut mix contained little bits of red onion and slew of interesting spices. They almost tasted like a curry mixture. It was an interesting texture between the softness of the avocado and the crunchy-spiciness of the peanuts. Not sure if I liked it, but it was indeed interesting! My main course was Texas Quail with Succotash. The quail was grilled to perfection and had again, a curry-like rub on it that made it quite delicious. I thought I detected notes of coriander in that rub which made it taste great. The (suffering) succotash was a quixotic combination of corn, green beans, vine ripened tomatoes and cucumbers. The corn was great, the tomatoes were excellent, the green beans bland and the cucumbers were nothing to write home about (even though I’m writing about them right now…) My meal ended with a traditional vanilla Crème Brûlée. This is where all my hopes and dreams were dashed upon the Sirens rocks’. The creme brulee did NOT cr@ck! Anyone that is a fan of creme brulee knows that the best part of it is cracking that burnt sugar on top. I don’t know if you can even call it creme brulee without that brulee part! Mine, sadly, just stuck to the bottom of the spoon. No cr@ck was had. Even though the creme portion was quite tasty, it was a sad end to a pretty good meal with the lack of cr@ck.
Pros: Tasty Food at times
Cons: Can be loud
Schedule
| 07/12/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 07/19/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 07/26/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 08/02/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 08/09/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 08/16/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 08/23/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 08/30/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 09/06/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm | ||
| 09/13/2008 | Midtown Farmers Market | |
| 8:00 am-12:00 pm |
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