Masraff's

Masraff's

1735 Post Oak Blvd.

Houston, TX 77056

masraffs.com

Yelp

Masraff is a seafood centric eatery in Houston.  It's pretty nice and reminds me of a high end steak house like Mastro's.  Dark walls and furnishings, soft lighting, waiters fully suited up, white linens, heavy leather bound menu, large wine list.  This is not your every day meal but for The Annoyer and I, we made it our Monday night dinner.

Garlic Seared Calamari oyster mushroom, shaved onion, cilantro, soy reduction
The calamari was very tender and the sauce was tasty.  I didn't quite like how the calamari was lightly floured and pan fried and then sauced.  It kinda ended up a mushy exterior.  Overall, a good dish but not quite refined.

Pan Seared Foie Gras bosc pear, toasted brioche, red wine reduction
The foie was seared nicely.  The brioche toast was a bit too thin for that hunk of fat and soaked through pretty quickly.  The pear and red wine reduction were necessary to cut through the richness.  Not the best seared foie gras but not bad.

Risotto ham, 

The risotto here is quite popular and changes on a regular basis.  A successful risotto dish relies heavily on texture.  It can't be too dry, too mushy, too wet, too anything.  There's just a fine balance to be found when making risotto.  Trust me, I've tried.  It's kinda hard.  They did a nice job here with the texture.  The flavors of ham, cheese, and veggies were simple and married well together.  You should order the risotto here.

Halibut charred sweet potato hash, organic mushrooms, shaved red onion, cilantro, green onion, huckleberry reduction 

The Annoyer's friends really liked the fish here.  It was moist and well cooked.  The hash was homey and had a lot going on with the different ingredients.  The sweet potatoes got a little too heavy and filling toward the end.

Masraff's is a restaurant trying to be refined and high end.  I think it hits the mark for Houston, but not for me.  I understood where the food was going, but I think it could have been better.  Everything was tasty and well executed, but it wasn't terribly interesting or impressive.  The risotto was probably my favorite dish here, but I can find good risotto elsewhere.

10 - You NEED to eat here

9 - Awesome!

8 - Very good

7 - Good 

6 - OK 

5 - Average

4 - Not bad

3 - Not good

2 - Terrible

1 - Do NOT eat here