brennans

finally... another review since indika.

brennans - 3300 smith street, 713.522.9711



sunday evening, we joined the family to celebrate my aunts 70th birthday (and my cousins' "29th" birthday). weeks prior my cousin had asked me for list of restuarants to do, to pick from. i had handed off a split list of trendy and traditional, being that it was to celebrate my aunts birthday, the traditional side was favoured. once the list was widdled down to a chosen few, we had found out that most 'fancy' restaurants were closed for dinner on sunday. this actually left us with brennans, but not entirely to my disappointment though a bit to my cousins, since the menu in particular wasn't her first choice.

me and T arrived first, in a quiet part of what i think is still considered as midtown, valeted the car, and entered to a podium full of hosts. the decor was appropriate to the whole classy 'ol new orleans scene. it was a bit antique but not in the tacky grandmother sort of way. we were promptly seated and the rest of our party arrived within minutes.

me and T split a bowl of turtle soup for our appetizer. i had heard good things about it so it was the must have for my first visit. it was a bit tangy, with that creole gumbo-ish feel, and topped with a bit of sherry made it even better. and yes turtle does kind of taste like chicken. but the pieces are so small you can't really tell anyways. for my entree i was having a bit of troulbe deciding between the duck breast with foie gras or the rockfish & crab with black truffle. after asking how the foie gras was prepared (seared is the only way to go) i was 100% duck. T picked the venison. now with foie gras one can almost never ever go wrong, and this was no exception, it was delish as always, but it could have been slightly better. the searing was a bit harsh, almost burnt, but it didn't ruin the rest of the experience. it was still a melt in your mouth dream. the duck breast and the squash alongside was good, but not great, they were more like fillers after the foie gras. T's venison was quite good, but the sauce as he said was a bit too salty for him. my father on the other hand ordered the veal chateaubriand, and oh my was this a delicious piece of meat, tender to the extreme, only kobe steak could be better. we all cleaned our plates and had room for dessert. half the party ordered the banana fosters while the rest selected the creme brulee. their creme brulee is actually served on a plate, it was first time for me, i figured it was so that there was more caramelized topping and topped with fruit. The banana fosters was prepared tableside, and i think it was unanimous that the creme brulee was the better of the two, the bananas weren't quite tender enough, though i've had better creme brulee.

oh but i should mention that the service was exceptional, very attentive but not overly, one of the best since the days of scott's cellar or my first visit to aries..

the evening turned out great, but for the price, there are many more restaurants with more exotic and/or pleasing menus in houston that don't charge $30+ per entree. even though dinner was good, it was not overly exceptional meaning it doesn't quite garner a return trip any time soon. i must say i was extremely glad that it wasn't the disappointment that artista was.