Poppy’s Bagels / Little Purse — Restaurant in Houston

I typically wait a few days to review a place. I give myself time to think about what I really thought about an experience at a place. Especially if it was not good. I left about five minutes ago and wanted to go ahead and do this. Just walk past and go someplace better closer to your gate. I will say upfront everything wrong with this place is management. I respect them opening early. A lot of the time there is not many options before 6am at any airport. If you are near the screening entrance and plan on opening early, make sure you have the staff to do so. Or block off tables so they do not get overwhelmed. When I arrived at 5:15 am there was only one server. Every table was pretty much full. That poor lady was running around and stretched thin. She was doing great for what she was dealing with. Second, the food was completely bland. I ordered the “Big Poppy Bagel Sandwich” with a side of breakfast potatoes. I never had lox, capers, red onions, cream cheese, and tomatoes that tasted like absolutely nothing. The only thing with flavor was the bagel. Which was not the right bagel. I ordered the garlic and they gave me an everything bagel. The bagel had decent flavor, but was tough and chewy. The cream cheese was hard as a rock. Which made it hard to smear since they give you a flimsy plastic knife. The potatoes were okay. Just a little stale from sitting under a heat lamp for a while. The bagel was $20 and definitely not worth it.

All this was being watched by who I guess was a manager standing at the bar. He kept talking to the employees and wore an airport armband. She was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and he kept bugging her...

Usually I wait a little before posting a review. First, the design of the space is attractive. Although, the copious amount of Asian writing on the signage should have been a warning sign of overselling authenticity. It’s airport dining and at IAH everything is essentially done online - they even offer you a tablet to order from if you don’t have a phone to scan their QR code menu. And bring an airport shop I expected the pricing to be north of egregious. I ordered the tonkotsu ramen and the shumai app. I was a little worried because it was close to boarding time. But the food came out relatively quickly. Well the shumai was 5 tiny pieces dotted with some spicy creamy sauce. It was hot but looked tired. The ramen presented pretty well. It was a pretty big piece of roasted pork - tasty and salty but not the delicate salinity of slow roasted char siu. The egg was hard boiled. The bean sprouts were crunchy. The broth was thin and not the hearty thickness of long simmered stock. Let’s just say I was looking for the bamboo shoots for an extra hot of flavor. But possibly the most unforgivable offense was the the state of the noodles. It’s one thing if it had the consistency of Sapporo ichiban instant ramen noodles - but they were so overcooked that I frankly couldn’t keep eating it. It was a generous portion but it’s frankly insulting to call that ramen. Service was good but too bad the food was just so poor - and especially at...

So let's get this out of the way: it's in an airport so it's not going to be a 5 star meal and its a little over priced. But after reading the reviews I feel the reviews are inaccurate. For the record my review was during dinner.

Food: I got tonkatsu ramen. It was good. Some choices were....interesting. They put a decent sized amount of pickle ginger in it. I personally didn't like it BUT the wife enjoyed it quite a bit. So to each their own. The egg was a hardboiled egg. I wish the broth was a little warmer but still good. Not the typical super heavy broth I typically associate with tonkatsu. It's light and flavorful, honestly probably better right before a flight. Noodles were fine/good. Nothing to complain about or praise. The Chashu was actually QUITE good. Very flavorful and had a nice char on it. Now the bamboo shoots were surprisingly VERY GOOD. Very flavorful. Somehow savory and just the slightest touch of sweetness. Really surprised me.

Service: i read a lot about not having or seeing a waiter. That wasn't the case today. There was at least one waiter that came to our table, took our orders, gave us our drinks, etc etc. He was nice professional. A very good waiter. You CAN order things via app. And they DO make you pay at the beginning.

Overall, pretty good. Would...