Monday, August 14, 2017

HRW: Cafe Azur

My Houston Restaurant Week this year started with Cafe Azur. 
 They took over the old Max & Julie spot on Richmond & Montrose.
 First course: Ceasar Salad, it's grilled which is not what you usually see, and they cut the romaine long way, topped with slices of shaved parmesan and 2 round of bacon, which at first I thought they brought us tomato, which is uncommon but luckily it was bacon, whew!  They didn't douse the caesar dressing, just lightly drizzled, so you still get the taste but not overwhelmingly so.
 This is their squid ink risotto.  A lot of people were turned off by the squid ink.  Honestly, beside visual effect, it doesn't taste much different than a well done risotto to me.  Maybe my tastebuds hasn't been that refined but honestly just good risotto.  Of course they included squid, which also freaked a lot of people out, since it's not battered and fried; but to me, it was fresh and that's all I cared about.  And couple slices parmesan to boot.  Pretty tasty over all dish.  You don't feel over stuffed yet satisfying.
This is the Apple Jalapeno Crumble, which also scared a lot of people away mainly that apple and jalapeño don't usually go together.  The apple slices are cold but it cooked in a sauce that has jalapeño in it.  So when you eat it, it has a little spicy kick as it goes down.  Of course, you have the crumble part of the dessert to neutralizes the taste.  Very smooth going down.

This was a great experience.  First off, the staff are all polite and super accommodating to a group of 8.  They remembered everyone's order and made special accommodations for those who have different tastes.  Now, it was a Sunday evening that we went and it wasn't super crowded, but they were busy.  They came and checked on us, recommended various drinks and took really good care of us.  So between the food and service, this will be hard to top.  Looking forward to coming back after Restaurant Week.

Cafe Azur
4315 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006
713-524-0070
http://www.cafeazurhouston.com

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