Safina — Restaurant in Houston

The restaurant is inside the Intercontinental Hotel in the Lobby area. The decor and atmosphere are simply beautiful, upscale and quiet. The wait staff is very nice however not very knowledgeable about the menu nor the bar drinks. We basically educated our waiter on their own food selection, what it was and where it comes from, yes that's right. Now onto the food; pricey but good portion, lovely presentation but lacking in "wow" factor, tasty but nothing special, spicy yet lacking flavor somehow. We were told the chef is from Portugal, which probably explains why the mediterranean dishes we ordered were seriously lacking in staple ingredients. For example Hummus must have garlic and lemon and not just a chickpea and tahini mixture. Taboule is not a bulghur salad but has bulghur to compliment it, it also needs parsley and tomatoes and most definitely lemon. The Kafta spicy with foreign flavors hinting to more Indian than MIddle Eastern. The couscous and the spicy chicken were Moroccan dishes with spicy heat that overwhelmed the flavor. On special was the "red snapper" at $40 which arrived covered with vegetables, legumes and other ingredients, where is the fish? It wasn't red snapper either, nor was it worth $40. We did have an enjoyable dinner however we were not impressed with the food too much. NOTE: The manager Menno saved the evening he was knowledgeable about our rather exotic drink orders, he was super nice, efficient, pleasant and hospitable. A manager like him is what every upscale restaurant needs. ...

I ordered room service from this restaurant over the weekend for my husbands 30th birthday. I was extremely disappointed in the food. I do want to point out that the customer service and the convenience of room service was awesome.

I ordered the Grilled Salmon. It was very dry. The red pepper sauce tasted like marinara. The corn seemed canned and not grilled in the slightest. This dish should be taken off the menu.

My husband ordered the dry aged rib-eye (I can’t remember the exact cut, but it was dry aged for sure). He asked for medium but it was practically well-done. It was very tasty, but dry and tough due to it being overcooked.

The relish that came with the crab cake did not pair together. Maybe serve it with tzatziki sauce instead.

I am sad to say that the potato gratin was the only good thing about our dinner. However, the drinks were great and so was the tres leches and cheesecake.

The breakfast buffet was terrible. You are better off going to Common Bond. The Shrimp and Grits I got there were fire and they have the...

Most food here isn't made in-house, including the hummus listed among a small number of appetizers (so simple to prepare and how can a Mediterranean restaurant not make their own hummus; this was a first for me in this genre), and all desserts "came in boxes" from a place unknown to the waiters (unforgivable in a region known for homemade desserts) - which doesn't justify the relative high price for the area. $6 for a plastic teabag in hot water (microplastics) is absurd. Waiter suggested sides to "compliment" an entree that was topped with both of the exact same sides. Second waiter could not recommend anything when asked, repeatedly. One star is for the honesty of staff, who confessed several menu items were not made in-house. Website has not been updated, and therefore I was under the impression they had a dish I desired and did not. Interior is coldly designed and just as uncomfortable as the icy room temperature....