Hamsa — Restaurant in Houston

Nut allergy friendliness: A little misleading. We had a reservation and noted my nut allergy, and the waiter was at first extremely considerate with providing a menu that crossed out dishes that they could remove nuts from and dishes that they could not make at all. However, after ordering, they still initially brought out a dish with pine nuts that we specifically ordered without it, and we had to get it fixed (thanks to my friend for having a good eye!). Given the high number of dishes with pine nuts or tree nuts (walnuts, etc.) on the menu, I'd be VERY careful eating here.

Time-to-Appetizers (Salatim): 14 Minutes Time-to-Entrees: 17 Minutes Time-to-ask for a bill: 30+ Minutes

Seated without issues for a reservation on a Sunday afternoon at 12PM. Our server was initially very attentive, providing a menu that had certain items crossed out that had nuts or could be modified to be created without nuts for an allergy, which I really appreciated. We ordered a 5-choice Salatim for the table and a Schnitzel Sandwich off the brunch menu to share for two.

Salatim: Plain Labneh (3.5/5): Very much like a more intense Greek yogurt. I liked the smoothness of this dip and it paired well with the olive oil and pita bread. Baba Ghanoush (2.5/5): I thought this was on the more bland side of baba ghanoush I've had in the past. It needed more zest or more pepper or something. Lemon Tahini (2/5): If the baba ghanoush was bland, this was even blander. Harissa Carrots (3.5/5): A really good spice with the harissa. Matbucha (4/5): Unanimously our favorite dip. Smoky with a deep complex flavor. Overall, the portions for these were a LOT smaller than expected.

Schnitzel Sandwich: Going to be honest, it was just a plain sandwich (3/5). The portions were good here and the matbucha and aioli gave it a good mix of flavors. However, the best part of this was actually that they had no ketchup for the fries and instead gave us some garlic aioli. The garlic aioli was actually very good and the fries had decent herb spices that paired well with it. (4/5 with the garlic aioli)

Service: Overall, it started off great and went downhill. We were served a basket of pita bread which was just enough for everyone to get one piece of pita, and never got a refill. It took 30+ minutes to get a water refill and we eventually had to flag down another waiter. Our waiter cleared away our dip before offering more pita bread. He vanished for over half an hour (we barely even saw him at other tables) while were trying to get our check - we almost got up and went to the host booth. Mandatory 20% "Large Table" gratuity for a table of 5.

Overall, very pricey Mediterranean. Great vibes to hang out or take a date, but I wouldn't...

Horrible experience! I went there for my birthday end of November. I went there because it looked fancy and that I love Israeli foods or Middle-Eastern foods.

They give you at the beginning a bottle of water which is free, thanks God. Me and my family, we ordered what I imagined to be a big plate: falafel and octopuss. Guess what? We got only five little falafel balls with a microscopic dose of hummus, we took the kebab which was absolutely delicious but once again, very little for one person. I did not find the same generosity I found in Israel. When I was in Israel, they served me as many pita bread that I wanted with a large quantity of hummus, tehina, falafel, even schawarma and I paid a very reasonable price in Tel-Aviv. Hamsa which means: five in Arabic tries to do a high gastronomic menu serving very little and charging a lot. That is a mistake.

Later in the night, we have seen musicians and oriental dancers popping up from nowhere. The restaurant quickly transformed into a club which would have been a good thing if my kid would not have been with us. The oriental dancers were trying to charm some men with their glittering and beautiful costumes to get some tips. I do not know if Hamas receives dancers and musicians every night but I really liked the atmosphere, a similar atmosphere you can find at the Moroccan Jewish weddings. The dancers had beautiful costumes and they changed at least 5 times, they were wearing lights and glitters and all kind of props. I did not stay for the whole show.

To sum up, I would say the atmosphere is very nice. I like to see artists intervening but the foods are really served in a little quantity, even if they are foods of high quality, the prices are too steep.

I will wait until they take into account these remarks. I am actually not the only one to be disappointed in this fancy restaurant. I read several reviews about it but the problem is that I read the review after going there. That was my mistake. Never go to a restaurant last minute, especially if it is your birthday.

I will continue to look for something better all over Houston.

In the meanwhile, whether you are,...

Delicious but rip off

We made reservations well in advance for a Friday night primetime dinner slot. Upon arrival, I was a bit surprised why the restaurant was being so snooty with seating walk-in's since there were so many open tables. Throughout the evening, many tables remained open but they kept turning away walk-in's.

Our server never introduced herself, said hello or welcomed us. Her first words were still or sparking water. It was not even asked using a full sentence. This felt quite unprofessional to me.

As a previous reviewer as mentioned, pricing in the restaurant is very different from the online menu prices. So expect to pay at least 2o to 30% more. At the bottom of your menu you will see in small font that the restaurant charges $2/person for water. This left a really bad taste and set the tone for the rest of the evening.

We ordered multiple items and I ordered a glass of wine. When I received my glass of wine, I was shocked at the very small quantity of wine. I can safely guess it was maximum 3 ounces of wine. I asked our server if this is the normal pour and she said it was and that the manager pours all wine. Throughout the evening, I did notice the manager was delivering wine by the glass to many tables and the pour appeared to be of the same size. At the price point that they have for glasses of wine, a whole 5 or 6 ounces should be served and if they are going to serve less than a normal glass of wine, they should advertise as such. I can see why the manager pours all wine. He wants to control and make maximum profit.

Lets talk about the food. Each item we ordered was very delicious, flavorful and presented like the way it should be for of a high end restaurant. The pita bread served with the dips was warm and I loved the consistency and texture of it.

The charging for water and the ripping of customers who order wine leaves me with a bad impression of the restaurant and thus I will not return. That is unfortunate because the food is...