Brasserie 19 — Restaurant in Houston

There's valet parking, but otherwise it's sort of limited since this strip is so popular. Located in that uppity shopping area which includes no less than 4 starbucks, barnes & noble, various expensive clothing lines, izakaya wa, sur la table and more is Brasserie 19.

I believe this is a part of a line of french restaurants named brasserie including brasserie 1895, brasserie du parc and of course brasserie 19. I have previously been to brasserie du parc (near discovery green) and had a lovely time so thought I would check this one out for brunch as well.

On the brunch menu - it is pretty dismal. We ended up ordering from the lunch menu which is served at the same time on weekends. Brunch times on Saturday are 11-3, on sunday are 10-3. Lunch times are 11-3 both days.

P.E.I. Mussels - 1lb sauteed with onion, garlic, fennel, tomato, white wine, herbs, baguette. There's a small trip of baguette which comes on top of this dish. This seems to be a theme w/ brasserie 19 - I've seen it on pictures of the escargot as well. Honestly these mussels left something to be desired and was the worst item on the menu of what we ordered. Some were fresh and some were not and had a distinctly bitter and fishy taste. They were also marinated to different degrees.

Yellowfin Tuna Tartare - cucumber salad, red onion, preserved lemon aioli, espelette, seeded bread. Delectable. Never had tuna tartare before but definitely did not disappoint. Came with a side of bread baked into crisps. Went well with the tartare and didn't overpower but was a little difficult to eat since they were rather large, hard to break apart and fragile. Similar in quality to the texas tartare at Nobie's. Definitely recommend this.

Croque Madame - brioche, french ham, gruyere, bechamel, farm egg and pomme frites Nice, but a little too salty. Not sure if worth $16 as it's just overloaded with pomme frites. The fries were thin and crispy - well seasoned and came with a lovely mayo - I think homemade? The egg on the croque was perfectly cooked with slightly runny yolk. The bread was moist but not falling apart. Ham and bechamel were of excellent quality.

Charred Octopus - romesco, piquillo pepper, fingerling potato, wilted spinach, olive oil The bed of vegetables this came on was absolutely delectable. The octopus was soft and juicy. Not chewy at all and had a lovely flavor - the skin was very well seasoned but not over-salted. One of the best dishes we tried here.

Dunlavy Rose $8 Sweet but not too much so - cheapest rose by the glass. The wine menu came out on an iPad.

Service was rather quick and relatively friendly. Took away the plates without asking if we wanted a to-go box. Wasn't much left but we had some croque, fries, and mussels left and would have liked to take them home - don't like to waste. Total was $97 before tip which seems like a great deal for 4 relatively high-end dishes...

It has been a few years since I've been here, and I must say, I was not impressed. I remembered it as a nice, clean, upscale place for dinner and drinks; that was not what I encountered on a Wednesday night. It was a last-minute decision to go out as my friend called to tell me he was in town for business. I live around the corner, and he really likes this restaurant, so it seemed like the perfect spot. There was a decent crowd for 8pm, so we sat at the bar. We ordered drinks and decided to just order a few appetizers. He ordered gin and I a vodka Martini. While I appreciate a full drink, the martini glasses were so small, that even the steadiest hands spill when trying to lift one's glass. It was then I started looking around me and noticed that everything seemed very dated. With everything in the area getting a facelift, the interior could use some changes; glassware being first and decor being the second. We ordered a dozen gulf oysters; I don't use crackers, but my friend does. The crackers were stale. When we brought this to the attention of our bartender, and asked for new ones, he made it seem as if "opening new boxes of crackers" or "digging around in the closet" were just too much of a hastle. Here's the thing - I worked in the service industry for 15+ years; many of those years were behind a bar that served food. If someone complained about saltines, I told my manager to get back there & taste them as they seem to be stale (I wasn't close to the kitchen). I would never have deterred a customer from something that came w/ their meal. I would only offer recommendations if we ran out of an item (i.e. saltines). I thought this was just flat out lazy. I get it. It's Wednesday night, and everyone wants to get out as soon after closing as possible. However, when you know you're working a closing shift and you have a customer ready to throw down some cash in front of you, you make them as happy as possible. If that's not your way of thinking, you may need to reevaluate your career choice. Overall, I just wasn't impressed. The restaurant itself just looked old, worn out, and dirty. Staff didn't hold the doors open when we arrived or left, nor were we greeted upon our arrival. That is just not the norm for a $$$ restaurant. I understand that there is construction in the area, but none of that impacts the behaviors, food, drink, decor, etc of this restaurant. I was actually looking forward to going back with my friend, but I can say that unless I read about some major changes, I will not return to this restaurant and I'll recommended other places in the area to friends when they...

It was date night without the kids so we decided to try Brasserie 19 since we had a gift certificate. It turned out to be a great night and we walked away very happy with the experience.

We came on a Saturday night and there is plenty of parking not too far away. The shopping center around the restaurant is brightly lit so you don't have to valet if you don't want.

We are not big on wine but I can appreciate the unique approach of bringing out an iPad to help you select your wine or cocktail. It has great detailed descriptions of everything. It's too bad the app they use is very slow on the iPad and it takes you a long time to browse the selection. It would still be much faster to flip through a paper wine list.

We started with the escargot and French onion soup. The escargot came out with a flaky pastry layer on top that made me think it was chicken pot pie. Don't get me wrong, it turned out to be a perfect complement to the escargot. They had a hint of lime and lots of garlic. That gave them better flavor than a lot of other places that just drench them in butter. The onion soup was also good without being too salty. Don't forget to ask them for bread since they don't automatically bring it to the table. It comes out warm, and I love it when restaurants serve soft whipped butter so I can actually spread it on my bread.

For out meals, we ordered the cornish hen and Brasserie 19 steak and frites. The hen was fantastic. The meat was flavorful all the way through. I would highly recommend it for anyone not looking for red meat. As for the steak, it is a dry-aged New York strip that was cooked just right for the medium-rare that I requested. You get a good portion of fries along with it and a side of garlic aioli. I asked for ketchup since the aioli was not really my thing. The steak was fine but I couldn't help myself from going back to my wife's cornish hen dish.

To wrap up the meal, we ordered the apple galette. It's served warm with a small scoop of vanilla bean gelatto. They did a good job with it not being too sweet and served on a thin and flaky crust. I also ordered coffee that comes in a personal French press.

We had a great time and we were seated at a table that was perfect for people watching. There was a good variety that night. We would definitely consider coming back to this place...