Kosher Food and Drink

This review is part of a series of restaurant reviews conducted while my family was on vacation in Houston. It was an amazing opportunity to try many kosher restaurants in this growing Jewish community.

While I’m always interested in trying out the neighborhood hangout restaurants, nothing gets my attention like a kosher restaurant that tries to elevate the experience. In Houston, Genesis Steakhouse (80 Braeswood Square, Houston, TX 77096, USA; 713-665-2222; genesissteakhouse.com; under HKA supervision) is one of a couple restaurants that tries to attain a higher-end dining experience.

We went to Genesis for lunch. I must admit to being more of a dinner diner for the steakhouse experience, but that’s where it fit into our vacation schedule. When we arrived, we were pleased at how easy it was to find (next to a huge restaurant supply store!), with lots of parking. The exterior was nicely appointed, and in a promising sign, blacked out at the windows.

The interior was very nicely done in terms of decorations, and had a well-stocked bar. There was one glaring omission: the floor. The floor was just polished concrete, and to be honest, it was ugly concrete. It was not fundamentally any different than the floor at the local Costco. I know this is a weird thing to get hung up on, but it really detracted from the ambience for me. Almost anything would have been an improvement.

The kids were big fans of the lighting, though. I agree with them that it was well-executed and added to the experience. More formal lighting might have given it a more upscale look, though. That said, a lot of the ambience is explained by the do-it-yourself ethos as explained in this Houston Chronicle article. (In retrospect, I think the owner actually greeted us at one point, but never actually introduced himself.)

Service was good, but not exceptional. The menus were a little nicer than I was expecting, with a pleasing theming to the choices. Prices were in the $10-$25 range. Our order was taken quickly, and we got our appetizers in a reasonable amount of time.

Whatever you want to say about the ambience, it always comes down to food in the end. The chicken egg rolls and short rib tacos were hits with the table. Stellar plating, crisp wrappers for the egg rolls, and well-executed sauces really got everyone excited for the entrees.

Again: plating with the entrees was just excellent. You can see here that we went for some matzo ball soup and sandwiches (The Bruce, The Judah, and The Benjamin). I ordered The Bruce, which violated my cardinal rule of eating out: never order a hamburger, because they always screw it up. I had bariatric surgery almost a decade ago, and not only can I not eat too much, my stomach really cannot handle a well-done hamburger or steak. I ordered a medium rare hamburger, because, hey, this is a steakhouse and they know how to make a hamburger.

Nope.

Well-done, through and through. I took a few bites, took a picture, and gave it to my son. My intention wasn’t to request a refund or replacement, and I wasn’t going to send it back (I was full anyways). I was mostly flashing back to the Kosherpalooza panel where the panel implored the audience to let restaurants know immediately when they screw up, not a week later. Maybe me pointing it out would get a better burger for the next customer. They handled it pretty well, which I appreciated, and comp’d us a dessert. (Editorial note: I did not disclose that I was writing a review of the restaurant. All they saw, maybe, was me taking pictures of the food.)

Other than that unfortunate incident, the rest of the meal was excellent. Everything was really flavorful, cooked correctly, and had about the level of quality I’d expect for this price point. I had a nibble of my wife’s The Benjamin, and I was surprised that it was not as spicy as I had expected – which wasn’t a bad thing, restaurants to tend to make buffalo chicken way too hot. There weren’t any big standouts, but quality throughout.

Our comp’d dessert was The Chocolate Explosion.

The plating was creative, and it was delicious. The ice cream (paerve) was some sort of mocha flavor, which had a nice offset to the very strong chocolate flavor of the brownies.

Overall, I really liked Genesis, at least as a lunch choice. Yes, they screwed up my hamburger’s done-ness and could have had a nicer floor. But, the food was uniformly very good, and the prices were well within the acceptable range. As a family sit-down choice, I thought it was a place I’d go back to if I lived in Houston. A bit of a renovation might go a long way, too.