Houston | Joey Uptown

🍐🎼Since I eat Chinese food out every weekend, I suddenly had a rebellious thought on Chinese New Year’s Eve: Why not have "Western-style food" for the New Year’s Eve dinner?🙊🙊 I chose Joey Uptown right by the Galleria, mainly because parking is easy—you can park directly in the Galleria’s underground parking lot. 🌻 I booked a table in advance through the official website linked on Google Maps, only to find the only available slots were for the 5:30 pm happy hour (the latest for happy hour) and the 9:30 pm dinner (the earliest for dinner). I figured "earlier is better," so I reserved the 5:30 pm slot.🌸 🌴I arrived a few minutes before 5:30 on Friday, and the bar area was already almost full. What a nice surprise—they offered a welcome drink, and it was champagne 🥂! Another pleasant find: The 3-6 pm happy hour isn’t just for drinks; many food items are also discounted. Right when you walk in, there’s an open kitchen on the right, so you can see the chefs at work.🌳🌳 My favorite dish was definitely the STEAK & RAVIOLI BIANCO—steak served with lobster cream sauce ravioli (sort of like having "dumplings" for New Year’s Eve!) 🥙🥙 and grilled shrimp. I sprinkled some extra black pepper on top, which made it even better. The TUNA POKE BOWL was a miss, though. It had cucumber, carrot, daikon, and cilantro… the flavor combination was just odd 🤨, and there wasn’t much tuna in it . We also tried the tuna sushi, which had only been on the menu for a week—it was "meh," nothing special.🥭 When we paid the bill, the server complimented me on how well I used chopsticks 🥢. He said he could never pick up rice with chopsticks 🥒🥒 I’ll definitely come back, but not for dinner— the lighting is way too dim… once it gets dark, you have to use your phone’s flashlight to take photos of the food 🍛🍛 Next time, I’ll try lunch or the afternoon happy hour. The patio has lots of greenery, and it’s pretty chill as long as it’s not too hot. #HoustonEats #HoustonLife #HoustonRestaurants