Camaraderie — Restaurant in Houston

Camaraderie is truly something special. We snagged a reservation weeks in advance for a Friday night tasting menu ($75 per person).

They have a good-sized, free private parking lot with plenty of spaces, which made arriving stress-free. Walking inside, the atmosphere immediately hits you--it's lively, energetic, and centered around a completely open kitchen. You almost feel like you're part of the action. Chef-owner Shawn Gawle is front and center, carefully assembling dishes while warmly connecting with guests. There's a gorgeous bar area and a charming outdoor patio as well.

Our waitress, Jackie, provided some amazing service--constantly attentive, refreshing utensils, clearing plates, and checking in without ever feeling intrusive. 5/5 service, hands down.

The tasting menu included four shareable dishes, an entrée, and a dessert, with a few surprise bonuses like savory and sweet madeleines, fresh bread, and grilled vegetables.

Here's how everything stacked up:

The meal started with a complimentary snack, a savory madeleine--it was good. - 4/5

[COCKTAILS]

+No Substitute ($16) - Mezcal, apricot brandy, guava, lime + orgeat - Smoky from the mezcal and super smooth going down. - 4/5

[MOCKTAILS]

+Havana Affair ($12) - Cut Above agave, soursop, pineapple + cream fizz - Tasty but overly sweet for my palate. - 3.5/5

[TO SHARE]

+Salt Baked Celery Root - Apple, chili + yuzu - The chili oil was next-level. My favorite shareable of the night. - 4.5/5

+Doppio - Pea + ricotta and corn + fontina - Like two pastas in one: the pea side had a minty, cooling effect; the corn side was sweet and delicious. - 4/5

+Sformato - Asparagus, spring mushroom + parmesan - Good texture, earthy mushrooms, but overall just okay for me. - 3.5/5

+Lettuces - Ricotta salata + fine herbs - A simple salad. - 3/5

[ENTRÉES]

+Veal Osso Buco - Bucatini + mirepoix - The best entrée. Tender, rich, and paired perfectly with pasta to balance it out. - 4.5/5

+Salmon - Crispy potato + shiro dashi beurre blanc - The crispy skin was great, but I wasn't a fan of the sauce. - 3/5

+Vegetables - Served alongside, these were absolutely delicious. - 4.5/5

+Bread - Naan-style pretzel bread: super soft and moist but dried my mouth out quickly (maybe due to the salt). My wife gave it a 5/5; personally, I'd rate it less. - 3.5/5

[DESSERT]

+Milk & Honey - Beeswax gelato, candied almonds + meringue - My favorite dish of the night. Perfect texture and flavor combination. - 5/5

+Raspberry Frozen Marshmallow Sorbet - Lemon - Tart, refreshing, and a great way to end the meal. - 4/5

To close the experience, we received a second round of madeleines--this time raspberry-flavored--and they were fantastic. - 4.5/5

Overall, Camaraderie exceeded expectations. The energy from the open kitchen, the creativity and refinement of the food, and the absolutely impeccable service made this a standout experience. Highly recommend for anyone who appreciates experimentalism and wants a memorable, joyful...

Enjoyable dinner! Went with one other person and we got the prix fixe menu. Collectively, we preferred the celery root and ravioli of the starters. The other two were fantastic, but those were the standouts. Lettuces were fresh and vibrant with noticeable pepper and a well rounded cheese. Celery root had great variety in texture with varying flavors of chili crisp with other flavors providing balance and brightness. Ravioli was savory with dynamic flavors overall. Sformato was excellent though if you don't like asparagus or the texture of custard, it may not be your jam. But the texture was very silky and the asparagus shavings/bits added some good variety in textures with a richly flavored sauce.

We choose Lion's mane mushroom and veal for entrees. Lion's mane dish was good with a mix of baking spice flavors and some brightness added. If you've never had Lion's mane mushrooms, the texture is like other robust mushrooms (can be meat like) but they can also be a bit stringy in some bites. So be prepared for that. Veal was excellent. The reduction it was in was incredibly savory with a lot of umami. My dining partner and I were both glad to be sharing the plates because of the rich flavor.

The raspberry sorbet was delicious--smooth, tart, with the bites of marshmallow providing balance. Chiffon cake was an unfortunate standout disappointment. We both found the cake to be dry and the flavor one-dimensional. One must really like sesame to enjoy this in full. We would have appreciated more strawberries to offer more dynamic flavors, though to be fair the cake was light and spongy, which was in its favor.

Service was great. Drinks were good. No Substitute was similar to a smoky margarita or a bit like a paloma. Honey Bunny was floral and well balanced. 1929 boulevardier heavy on the baking spices.

Overall a good experience, would give a 4.7 if pressed for a more specific number than a 5. Parking is easy in attached lot but lot is small so if the place is full, may have to find street parking. Plenty of food to leave satisfied....

There is no way all these other reviewers ate at the same restaurant that I did. Hands down the worst food I’ve had at a restaurant this year. The chef is clearly so concerned with how food looks in photos at the expense of taste. I gave two stars only because the ambiance is nice and the service was very attentive.

We had the pre fixe menu. The appetizers were all bad. Plainly dressed spring mix for salad, terribly chewy “ravioli” basically just filled with butter, almost inedible. The worst was this weird celery root rectangular cake thing. No idea how this was conceived but it tasted like nothing sprinkled with chili oil. Basically a cold wet chili oil delivery system.

Our entrees were the salmon and the osso buco. The salmon was fine, nothing special, but certainly the best sustenance of the meal. The osso buco, again, focused on a weird presentation rather than taste. It was more super chewy pasta wrapped around a very small pile of braised veal, I guess. I would have ignored the fact that osso buco is typically braised and served with the bone (not spaghetti) had this tasted good. However, the small pile of meat was similar to the carnitas at your local fast casual bowl and burrito place. Which there is fine because you’re paying $10 and you intentionally ordered carnitas. Needless to say the “osso buco” was a huge disappointment.

If there was an attempt at a saving grace for this meal, it was the desserts. Frozen yogurt, gelato, meringue were all solid. I am guessing why some of these reviews are significantly higher than what I would expect - people seem to remember the last thing they ate.

I hate leaving a review like this, but clearly these ratings needed a different perspective. For a $200+ for dinner for two I expected a much different experience. I could have gotten past the small portions and focus on presentation had things tasted good, but they didn’t, and I honestly think most of these reviews...