Aqui

Finally gotten a chance to visit Aqui.

It is over by Lower Westheimer, and their space is very posh.

Here's my posh drink at the bar.

This is Elderflower Fizz, quite refreshing in the afternoon.

My only complaint is that they weren't able to smoothly transition my tab at the bar to the table.  

We got the Mushroom Salad, for me, who like mushrooms, this is a very flavorful mix.  There peanut, cilantro, Thai Chili sauce as dressing.  Not too spicy, the mushroom has been tossed in a pan and mixed in with the greens.  Very lively.

This is Sisig Tacos.  Since we had some Sisig at Underbelly.  Wanted to compare a bit.  The meat is good, the onion is fresh.  My only complaint is that they put some mayo in the mix and thrown off the taste buds.

Here we have Tuna Kililaw - it has coconut, heart of palm, jack fruit, cilantro, and tuna.  The fish is very fresh, but it was too coconutty for my taste.  

This is Banana Leaf Chicken, it is literally individually wrapped in banana leaf.  The problem with that is you can't use a fork to push it all down.  You have to painstakingly take them off the skewer one-by-one, then pull them one by one.  Ours were a little too toasted, so it was sticking together.  You get a side of rice and sauce.

This is their Hamachi Crudo.  Yellowtail with jalapeños and nuoc mam (aka fish sauce).  Typically, I love Crudo dishes.  This one however was a tad more fishy in taste than I'd like, and not the fish sauce type fishy, as in it may not have been the freshest of yellowtail.

This is me, pretending to have great artistic photographic skills.

This is their Tapioca Dumpling, which has ground pork inside, peanut, and salted radish.  You actually get these type of dumplings at dim sum.  Frankly, the skin covering it may not have been see thru, but taste about the same.

We decided to check out the Eggplant Tacos, eggplant, onion, cilantro and the sauce was really what made the dish.  Unfortunately, I forgot to jot it down.  If you happen to see it, order it and check it out.

Madai - Japanese Seabream, wasabi, shiso pepper bits, and thin slice of pear.  It was very nice, the seabream was seared and it taste very nice and very sashimi like.  One of my favorite.

Was very curious about the Fois Gras - which is on toast with coconut jam, kalamansi jelly (calamondin is a tiny citrus fruit),  and pandelsal (Filipino bread roll) aka my toast.  

Ensaymada - It's a mini ball brioche with brie inside and manchango cheese shred on top.  I wanted to like this very much, it was very hot inside and the ball brioche was ok.  As much as a cheese fan that I am, it is only ok for me.

Kalamansi Tart  - It has the kalamansi citrus, toasted coconut along with the ice cream, and slices of meringue fluff. 

It is very artsy composition, and the mix of it all is very good, and surprisingly light and not filling.

Overall, the service is great.  Their claim to fame is their chef Paul Qui, while I totally respect that he is a Top Chef and a James Beard award winner, the chef himself weren't there. Though the experience was not bad, but alot of people over hyped it a bit.  Not all dishes hit it out of the park, which I expected from all the accolades and the price.  It is a mix of Southeast Asian cuisines, and some were great and some were alright.  It is a unique dining experience nonetheless.  My main disappointment was that they did not have uni the night we were there... 

We got there when they open and it's not as busy as they made us to believe when we made the reservation.  It was interesting, their valet person was not there when the restaurant open.  Mid meal, the hostess came over and asked for our car keys and gave us a ticket.  That's just poor etiquette.  I don't even mind paying the valet, even though it was complimentary.  But, the guy was late, I'm eating, you coming to ask for my car keys, is just weird.  They should've left diners be, or ask for some kind of cash in exchange for the parking.  But for them to interrupt a meal, that's just put an awkward air mid-meal.  The hostess tried to be nice about it, but there's just no going around an awkward situation.  Just poor etiquette on their part, next time, just gave it up.

Aqui Houston

520 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77006

713-360-7834

http://www.aquihtx.com