Eunice — Restaurant in Houston

I'll preface by saying I normally don’t write restaurant reviews (though I should considering how often I’m dining out). I love food and partaking in a meal is one of my favorite past times. That being said, I felt compelled to write one because I (along with my family) were totally unsatisfied with the food there. The service was ok, but nothing exceptional by any means. The ambiance of the restaurant was nice--I made comments that I appreciated how calm the restaurant was on a Mother's Day, because many places would be rather chaotic tending to so many tables during brunch service. However, it should've been an indicator to me of what was to come based on the restaurant not being at full capacity while we were dining (reservation was for 11:30am) for brunch (though when they called to confirm my reservation, they said they were at full capacity).

The food was lacking in taste. I wouldn't go as far as to use the word abysmal, but it was close to it. No one (myself included) left the restaurant particularly pleased with their meal.

Starters ordered: cornbread & roasted oysters - the cornbread was a bit bland. Since this is a creole restaurant, I expected everything to have some flavor that was undeniable. While I enjoy spice, I didn't necessarily need a kick of spice for this meal, but flavor would've been nice (particularly at this price point/portion size, but more on that later). The butter they top the cornbread with was divine and sadly was the best tasting delight of the entire brunch. The roasted oysters w parmesan and lemon butter (I think) were ok, but I've definitely had better in Houston. Those missed the mark.

Entrees: Gulf Fish, Shrimp & Grits, & Herb Roasted Chicken

Let's start with the chicken. One would think you can't go wrong with chicken, but that assumption was wrong. Having tasted the chicken, it had no taste. Not seasoned whatsoever—my dad mentioned I hadn’t tasted it with what they topped it off with, which according to the menu is a medley of carrot puree, peas, asparagus, & turnips, but you shouldn’t have to top off the main in order for it to have flavor to it (particularly at a creole inspired restaurant). I could've easily prepared better chicken at home. I can't speak to the fish as I didn't taste it, but my mom mentioned she liked the taste of my shrimp & grits more. Shrimp & grits is a difficult dish to prepare from what I've gathered, because there are few and far between restaurants (I've found a place in Austin and in ATL) whose I've ever enjoyed. Unfortunately, this restaurant also missed the mark with this. Of everything we ordered, I have to say the shrimp & grits was the most flavorful due to the roasted jalapeños and green onion sausage gravy, but it was still underwhelming.

Dessert: Bread Pudding - my mom enjoyed this. I'm not a fan of bread pudding, so while I did taste it, I don't want to comment given I'm trying to be fair with this review.

I’d hardly consider this restaurant as specializing in creole flavors. The food was incredibly bland and to be honest I haven't been this disappointed by a restaurant in a very long time and as I mentioned, dining out is something I do quite often (in the country and globally when I'm traveling). The prices are quite high for the quality of what is being served as well as the portion size. I'm honestly astonished this restaurant has managed to maintain as long as it has considering the number of restaurants per square mile Houston has. Since it's adjacent to an office building in Greenway Plaza, my best guess is that the business lunch crowd and perhaps business dinner is what keeps them afloat.

To close, I don’t plan on ever returning nor will I encourage people I know to dine there. There are too many options of dining in Houston and at this price point for brunch (we spent just under $300 for four people inclusive of tip), there are so many better options that come to mind. Note: I tried to upload photos to show portion size, but Google won't allow me to for whatever reason. It said...

It was my day off an I was hanging out with friends who live in the Upper Kirby area and after running some errands together, we decided to go grab a bite for a late lunch. I look up the usual places but I felt like trying something new and upscale. Eunice popped up on my Yelp search and I was able to convince them to come try this new place together, despite we may be a bit underdressed, but that's okay because this is Houston. When we got to the restaurant, which was a bit tricky because we did not realize it was in a business building, and the complimentary valet line is long and my friend who drove his manual car, did not really want someone else to touch it. So we opt to park ourselves in the garage that was right next to it.

When we got to the restaurant, it was still pretty busy inside with various socialites there having a great time. The first thing you'll notice is the high ceiling, which makes the restaurant feel grand and majestic. Yet at the same time, the decor, the uniform of the servers, and the fact with big, open windows on one side, makes the restaurant feel comfortable and home-y. I felt like I was having a get together with friends I am visiting in other major metropolitan cities like New York or Vancouver. The hostess greeted us and showed us to our table. The server then came by and introduced herself and brought us water. We let her know that it was our first time so it will take a bit to study the menu.

The first thing it caught our eyes are the oyster selection here. The price is certainly fair for oysters from 3 different areas. Eunice also have a good cocktail menu but we opt out on drinking that afternoon. On the menu they have this Express Lunch which you choose between a salad or gumbo and then entree of the day, since it was Friday, I got the Court-Bouillon Grand Mere and I decided on the gumbo, because we are in a Southern cooking restaurant. My friends decided on getting the fried oyster salad and we got some raw oysters to try.

After the order was taken, the server came back with a plate of bread and butter. I guess I was getting hungry because the bread was really good, or simply the bread was good. Then our server came and drop off the oysters and point out which one is which. One of the oyster breed we ordered was out of stock, but they substitute another one from a different region that was at the same price. The oyster platter did came with all the sauce and toppings for those who would prefer have those on it to not feel the slippery texture. I tried the 3 oysters with each from various region, you can actually taste the difference with the flavor, the saltiness, and even the texture itself.

Then, my gumbo arrived first and it was a nice personal size bowl that's really delicious. A few moments later, all of our entrees arrived and we reach to the point where we stopped talking to each other as we were simply enjoying the food in front of us. I never had this French dish before but man, it was really, really delicious. I love the way they plated the food as well. I asked my friends how the fried oyster salad was, they said it was good and there's definitely good amount of fried oysters given in their food. I really cleaned up my plate and we didn't have room for dessert even though we saw some desserts passed by us and it looked really good. We asked for separate check and I love the way they give us the check here. First, it comes with a postcard of a hand drawn Louisiana map and with their restaurant name and address on it. Then it is also given in an old school style envelope that you can take home and use. Little things like this really makes a restaurant stand out.

I am definitely coming back here in the future as this spot is definitely a great date night spot, a place to take your out of town friends to, and just overall a great restaurant...

So basically this place is a Louisiana, upscale, southern style cooking. Whenever you park, you are able to park inside the garage, complimentary valet too. as soon as you walk in, the hostess asked if you have a reservation. The inside is extremely beautiful. Very classy. Once you sit down, a server immediately brings you some water. I had the following:

Bacon-wrapped duck Chicken sausage gumbo Shrimp etouffee Shrimp and grits Fried chicken with red beans

the bacon-wrapped duck was delicious. I think this was the best thing I had overall. It was perfectly fried, the sauce was very interesting, had a bit of a sweet and sour taste. The duck was chewy but enough to be tender. this is a shareable size but of course you would probably want your own because who doesn't like crispy bacon?. 4/5

The chicken sausage gumbo was probably one of my favorite gumbo's I've had in Texas. I love the broth, it had a nice thick consistency and there was plenty of sausage and chicken. I love the okra, cooked perfectly and not too slimy. The rice was perfectly done too! I would definitely get this again. It came with some potato salad but that was not my favorite. 5/5

The shrimp etouffee what's not too bad. It came with both fried and grilled shrimp. I don't think the shrimp was that fresh, kind of tasted rubbery to me. Instead of rice, it came with noodles. It was definitely a nice change if you like pasta like me! It was good, but needed some freshness. 3/5

The shrimp and grits was a little one-dimensional for me. Although I love the Cajun kick, it just needed something else. I love grits, but the shrimp was again little on the rubbery side. I think it's a good attempt, but I don't think I would order this again. The sauce was okay. 3/5

So our waiter told us that the fried chicken is very popular. It is definitely no joke. I love this Fried Chicken! After I got my wisdom teeth pulled, I was craving this. It was perfectly fried and the flavors were so great. Nice crispy, sweet, salty everything that you enjoy Fried Chicken. The only thing is, I just wish it was a little more. In terms of proportion, it was extremely little and I had too much red beans and rice. The red beans and rice were average but I did not like it very much because it was so heavy. I would probably switch out the sides if I were you because the chicken is actually worth it. 4/5

Overall the service was great and the food was decent. For the pricing point I don't think I would come here again. I came here for lunch with two other people and for three plates and an appetizer I already spent over $100. That's a little heavy for lunch time. If I were to come back, definitely would get that bacon-wrapped duck...