Eculent — Restaurant in Kemah

So this is a restaurant that you visit to have an "Experience". So if you are a man who is 6'5, just worked 12hrs, and hungry...then you may want to go elsewhere...lol. I just wanted to mention that because I know many people may come here expecting a "traditional" dining experience but it is anything but that.

Now lets get on with the review. Needless to say this place is expensive. For 2 people you will pay $500 and if you partake in the wine tasting you are looking at $600. There is a $50 deposit required when you make a reservation that you get back. It takes several months to get in, and you will be placed on a waiting list more than likely. The whole dining experience is 3hrs. The price is one reason why I gave this place 4 stars instead of 5. Honestly, I feel it should be about $200 cheaper, at the end of the day...its a great "experience" but the actual function of the food is for art and eccentricity not substance.

You will be escorted through 27 dishes, each with a theme. My personal favorite was "The forest". The worst of the dishes was the Seafood Ceriviche. My boyfriend wouldn't touch it. I took one bite and wanted to spit. Oddly enough, all of the other patrons ate every last bite of it. For me, I just didn't like it and just the look of it wasn't appetizing. But for the exotic people who like to live on the edge...that dish is perfect for you.

Overall, the concept was great and I enjoy the idea of only dining with 8 other people at most. This is something I would do once, just to say I did it, or if you have some money and want to switch things up for a day. I must warn you...if you are a "meat and potatoes" kind of person, this restaurant may not appeal to you. Just wanted to put that out there so people will not leave an unfair review based off the nature of...

I was very excited to visit Eculent. It took me a couple months to even get a reservation. Unfortunately, 26 courses and $500 later I felt disappointed. The restaurant had a few creative and interactive things about it such as changing lights, projectors and perfumes sprayed in the ac vent which changed the smell in the room. The part that left me with a bad taste was mainly the flavor and texture of many of the dishes. There were a few courses that were tasty and well-made but unfortunately the majority were not (In my opinion). The texture and flavor of the “forest salad” left me feeling like I ate cigaret paper (freeze-dried leafy greens) and seriously tasted like an ash tray. I love smoky flavors but that was just not good. The freeze-dried elements were cool at first but after so many of the courses containing something freeze-dried in them it really started to seem overused and predictable. The main course was a steak that was very average and not memorable in either texture or flavor. A lot of the experience is perceived through the smells and aromas and I just felt like there were too many synthetic or perfumy smells in the dishes and environment. At one point they served a pork skewer inside cotton candy, which was cool until I tasted the meat itself which to me tasted so bad and low quality that I had to discretely spit it out. I could keep going but I don’t want to review every single course. Overall, I respect the artistic and unique approach to the cooking and multi-sensory experience but the food, textures and smells left me feeling extremely underwhelmed. I don’t usually leave bad reviews but after paying so much money for a bad meal I felt like I had to. I would not recommend...

It took us almost 4 months to get a reservation at eculent. We have been looking forward to this reservation for a long time. We were two of only 10 people in the restaurant for dinner. Thanks to COVID it also helped us get the reservation since we were on the waitlist forever. There was an air of excitement in the restaurant and IT DID NOT DISSAPOINT. We got a bonus as we were the first to try new dishes coming up on the next menu in January. The highlight was a new fish and chips course that was probably the best fish and chips I have ever had. But we also had a course called Summer in Parma which was also amazing. Several of the courses featured food that had been freeze dried. I was not sure at first but all of them were excellent. The process changed the texture and accentuated the flavor. The chef was very attentive and was checking to see what our favorite courses were as we went along. It was very hard to choose because they were all so different and every course was simply amazing. We had did research but, It was far better than what we expected, and we had high expectations. We eat at a lot of high-end restaurants and have traveled the world and dined in Michelin restaurants and this was one of the best experiences and tastiest dinners we have experienced. While eculent is not inexpensive, on the fine dining scale compared to other restaurants of the same caliber it is A BARGAIN. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a memorable experience, along with a fantastic meal, and great service We look forward to returning…if we can ever get another...