11/05/09

so disappointed

by tallguyhou

Wow, am I bummed. I had been to T'afia before and respect Monica Pope's inventiveness and quest for locally grown produce, but my experience last night was not good. First, upon arrival we went to the hostess who was gabbing with a waitress and we had to wait for her to finish her conversation before she acknowledged us. We said we had a reservation, and asked if we could sit outside. She said "sure, sit where you want" and motioned for us to go find our own seat. Is this Barnaby's or a fine dining restaurant?! Our waiter was pleasant but had a poor grasp of English and didn't know the food. The menu had a few odd things on it and nothing that really jumped out. The food runner sort of threw plates on the table in a hurry and didn't have plates turned the right way (is this Denny's?). Food was medicore to poor. The pistachio crusted flounder was done sloppily and didn't taste good, and was sent back. The beef cubes were fine but $20 was a lot for a small portion that you could get better down the road in Chinatown. The burger ($15) was nothing special and the fries were way crunchy and like potato fragments instead of shoestrings. The salad with goat cheese tasted good but also sloppy - someone put a dollop of goat cheese (about 1 tsp.) on the side of the plate. Considering the goat cheese was featured, why not on top or at least put into a nice ball or patty? Sloppy! Sorry Monica but all the dishes missed the mark and are not worthy of your talent. Upgrade your staff and keep an eye on the kitchen because they're killing you. I am not going back with all the other good choices we have.

• Pros: locally grown produce
• Cons: quality of food, iffy service, price

09/23/09

Disappointing service

by csov

I am writing in regards to a dinner I recently had at your restaurant. I was among 7 ladies dining at your restaurant on September 18th, all of whom were looking forward to trying this restaurant for the first time. I made reservations weeks in advance and stated this was for special occasion. We were well greeted upon our arrival by the hostess and bartender. Our waiter, however, was quite curt and rude with us when we asked questions about the menu. I found this quite odd considering we stated this was our first time at the restaurant. My favorite comment (sarcasm) was when one of us asked him if he would recommend the beef cubes or the buddy chicken. His response was “one is beef, one is chicken” HELLO!! Is that an appropriate response?? We were served our appetizers promptly. However, we waited 45minutes until our entrees arrived, and they were not hot! That in itself was unpleasant but with good company we made the best of our time together. The absolutely RUDE and INAPPROPRIATE part was the clearing of chairs around us and sweeping of the floors!! GROSS! The thought of dust and dirt being swept as we received our food and were eating was out of line! I have visited Monica Pope’s restaurants in the past and have never seen or received such impolite treatment. I am surprised to see this is happening, especially on a Friday night. The restaurant had other patrons sitting both inside and outside, therefore not making us the last customers.

A Very Disappointed Diner.

• Pros: good food (probably great if hot)
• Cons: service

06/29/09

Great food is worth so-so service

by opinion2008

Many people find this dinner menu confusing. There are plenty of ingrediants that require definitions for many. I have never been dissapointed with anything I have eaten here so be brave, throw caution to the wind and try something unique.

The buttermilk panna cotta dessert with blackberries that they had this weekend was outstanding!!!

• Pros: Excellent food, nice decor
• Cons: waitstaff

06/15/09

Ignore the negative reviews

by CSMobileUser3

This restaurant offers what most others won't - true variety, but not a tired array of commonplace fare. Reasonable prices for creative, well-prepared and delicious cuisine. Our service rated an A+. However, if Chili's, Bennigan's, Houston's, etc. is your type of place, don't come here. :)

12/31/08

Eh

by chlewis77008

I've been to t'afia about three times over the past couple of years; twice this year. The first time, I was blown away. The menu didn't impress me, but once I actually tried it, I was amazed. The past two times, not so much.

The second time, we had bad service and the food was okay. The third time, there was apparently a mix up with the tables and we were left in limbo for a while and had to ask for a server. That actually was fine, because the bad waiter we had on the second visit was handling the table next to us. Watching him, he was just as pretentious as he was before.

I remember on our previous visit when we asked questions about items on the menu, he became condescending so we didn't ask anymore questions. We didn't want to bother him while he was working.

The last time, I was looking forward to my flattened chicken and milled potatoes. In the end, I felt I paid quite a bit for chicken-fired chicken and mashed potatoes.

I truly like the concept of t'afia and hope it can survive, BUT it needs to leave a person with that "wow" feeling and I haven't had that on the past two visits (except with the gelato bar... I did like that). The other part that baffles me is how many of the reviews have complained about the service over several months, but nothing has been done to improve it. You would think they would want to know what people are saying about the experience so they can improve where needed. All of us know we have things to improve upon and t'afia is not exempt.

• Pros: concept
• Cons: waitstaff, value

10/20/08

An award for this?

by cinnamonred1

To start with, the only parking available at the restaurant is valet. The tiny street that borders it has minimal parking and there are others venues close by so nothing was available at 6:30pm on a Friday. The ambiance was ok, but was more of a modern street cafe than a four star restaurant. Then there is the utterly confusing menu with no prices. The staff explains the menu but it still is a challenge to navigate. There are very few choices which includes a side, but the way the menu is written it is hard to tell what is what. Most of the menu consisted of ala carte choices that do not explain much about the preparation. A five-course meal is available but the food offered on it was not listed as available on the ala carte side.

After 15 minutes of deciphering, we advised our server upon ordering (at 6:50) that we had a 8PM show to get to and not to hold each platter. To please serve them when they were ready. This did not occur. A tiny plate of small cubes of something that resembled tastless under-cooked bread arrived shortly thereafter but was barely enough to satiate 6 people. When the six meals arrived at 7:20 they were as follows: The Buffalo Ribeye was good with an ample side of potatoes, same for the Beef Filet. The char was light and delicious but the side was tiny. The bacon wrapped shrimp and sausage was more appetizer sized than a meal. The scallops platter came pinkish raw with three scallops and was promptly sent back. It then returned almost ten minutes later with four new scallops, a smidgen of sauce and tastless lemony(?) couscous. The mixed greens salad is more of an appetizer than a meal also.

I have been in the Houston food and beverage business for thirty years and this was a poor excuse for an award winning restaurant at outrageous prices. Someone needs to re-think T'afia's concept on an enjoyable dining experience.

• Pros: The extensive Wine List
• Cons: The confusing menu, Valet-only parking, Bland food

07/25/08

The awards for the food were a loooooong time ago.

by danny kamin

Nothing special really. Too too hard an attempt to be oh so so cool. But it flops, beginning with a menu

that could be for some a challenge just to make sense of. The food ? Nothing memorable really. Good.

But nothing you'd remember the next morning. Service ? Adequate to good. Overall there are far too

too many restaurants in Houston, Texas where the meals are much better at many different price

points to fret over whether you can get a reservation here.

07/03/08

Don't believe the reviews

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

06/21/08

Tasty even without the Cr@ck

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 Creme Brulee. 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

06/20/08

all i can say is wow

by bargal500

I'd been wanting to go here for some time, and I'm sorry I waited so long we went the other night, and it was amazing. I love the fact that the menu only consists of only local food it really gives it that little something extra. The sides were huge I had the squash au gratin which was amazing, and my husband had the mac-n-cheese which was unlike anything I'd ever had. The service was great as well I'm so happy we found this little gem, and I can't wait until we go back.

• Pros: food, service
• Cons: parking