Cafe Rabelais — Restaurant in Houston

The quality and service of Cafe Rabelais is not what it used to be.

I recently went to Cafe Rabelais with my mother while visiting from out of town. From 2015-2019, I lived near Rice Village/Med Center and would occasionally go to Cafe Rabelais with my mother as a treat. It used to be that the wait staff had been there long term or was well trained; we would remember the waiters and they would remember us (if not by name, at least by face!) The service was excellent and the tables wer packed.

Of course, I expected the atmosphere to be different post-pandemic... But not like this.

My first impression was confusion after being handed a menu. As I remember being told by a waiter 'back in the day', the menu of appetizers and entrees used to be handcrafted daily based on market availability and what the chef/staff had found was fresh for the day. Sure, there were a handful of items which remained consistent (usually just the sandwiches and a couple of entrees). There used to be the excitement of ordering an item off of the chalkboard and then having the staff erase it off the menu. "Yes! I got the last filet mignon of the day!"

Now, the food tastes not like it was picked with care and an eye for quality, but from the produce section of a Walmart. My tomato was unflavorful and watery, instead of a rich umami. The steak was "meh", where it used to melt in my mouth. And to top it off, they forgot the garlic. However, the fries were great. But so are the fries at Whataburger...

The chicken, to it's credit, was moist and cooked well. However, the flavor was bland, and the sauce tasted too sweet, with no counterbalancing flavor or acidity. It seemed like an idea that may have been well executed well the first few times the permanent menu was introduced, but has declined over time.

The wine seemed like it was being served without care. We weren't offered a tasting glass, and when my mom ordered a refill of a white wine, her glass inexplicably changed from a white wine glass to a red wine glass.

And while we're talking about service, it didn't seem like our wait staff was even familiar with the menu. When we asked about specials of the day, we were told that there were none. Later, after we had been served, a couple next to us were offered the scallops on "special". If you're going to not change your menu at all, at least have your staff know the one special of the day.

I used to, but now would not recommend this restaurant to my friends and family who are looking for a relaxed, but fine dining experience. Go elsewhere...

The service was so bad, it really became kind of comical. Now it's going to turn into "remember that time we celebrated our anniversary at that terrible French restaurant? haha!!"

The wine we ordered from the menu was not available, so the waiter brought us an alternate, which we said was fine. He left it on the table and disappeared. The bottle was still corked, and we had no wine glasses. After several minutes, we had to flag him down to ask him to please open the wine and bring us wine glasses. It seemed he had forgotten!

For the rest of the evening we refilled our own glasses. Both water and wine. No waiter ever stopped to make sure our glasses were full.

Our table was directly under the menu boards which were hung high on the wall. We could not see them without getting up and walking to the other side the restaurant, and they offered no written versions of either the salad or the sandwich menu. My husband got up and walked across the room and took a picture of them so we could look at them at our own table.

When the waiter brought our appetizers, he knocked the bread out of our breadbasket. He just left it on the table, saying he wasn't going to touch it. Okay...

My roasted beets and goat cheese appetizer was actually pretty good. My husband ordered the bone marrow, and it was much less good. Not to mention the portion was HUGE and more appropriate for sharing between several people. When we mentioned that to the server, he said "I'll mention that to the kitchen." He should have mentioned that to us when we ordered it! He knew how big that portion was. My husband probably ate only a third of it, and what he did eat he didn't really enjoy.

Our dinners were mediocre at best. I've had far better duck (and EXCEPTIONAL service) at Etoile.

I guess at least the waiter didn't spill...

Was looking forward to being able to taste some good Ole French dishes and see how they compared to when I used to live in France.

For the most part, they got the atmosphere and some of the dishes right.

To start, we had their Escargot, meat & chese charcuterie board, and their Foie Gras.

The Escargot was a little too salty for our taste. Not too salty to finish, but enough to ruin the flavors.

The charcuterie platter was a nice mix. No complaints.

And the Foie Gras, along with the side of caramelized onions, was awesome. It tasted just like what I remember having for breakfast while in France.

For our main course, we had the stuffed quail and the lamb.

The lamb was nice but was still lacking in flavor. And I would have appreciated more sauce or something else added to the vegetables.

The stuff quail was great! The birds' ribcage and spine were cleared, leaving only the legs and wing bones. The bird was then filled with stuffing. Making cutting into and eating the bird a very pleasurable experience. Would deffentily try again.

Finally, for desert. We had the poached pear with ice cream and one of my favorite deserts from France, profiteroles.

The poached pear was decent. But I feel it could have spent a bit more time simmering to soften it up more.

But the profitarolls... those were the most disappointing part of the whole meal. French profitarolls are supposed to be a fresh puff pastry filled with vanilla creme. Then it's only supposed to be topped with whipped creme and sided with icecreme as a compliment.

What I got was vanilla icecreme, sandwiched between a cut in half & stale puff pastry.

No vanilla creme.

I may as well have been served an icecreme sandwich...

Overall, for the price, I think I'll give this place a pass for future meals.

Granted, your...