Sorrell Urban Bistro
This entry was posted on 9/10/2011 8:54 AM and is filed under New American Casual, New Openings, Casual Chic - Jeans Allowed.
The folks who own the well-regarded Ray's in Fulshear have ventured inside the Loop to the former location of Ziggy's Healthy Grill. The restaurant has taken off like a shot, packed from its opening. Reservations are highly suggested, at least on weekends. They've done a very nice job reconfiguring the space into a warm, contemporary environment, with a large open kitchen. There's a bar area that includes seating for dining.
We started in the bar with a couple signature cocktails featuring sorrel -- the confetti lemon drop martini and the lemon sorrel manhattan. We enjoyed both but not sure the addition of sorrel to these classic cocktails improved matters.
Our reservation was honored on time. Service was a little harried but nothing to complain about. The house-made foccacia bread, served with olive oil, sundried tomato, and sorrel pesto dipping sauces, was a welcome start to the evening.
Consistent with the farm to table concept and the use of locally sourced ingredients, the menu changes regularly as the starters we tried -- the ceviche cocktail, rabbit risotto, and the clams and mussels in ancho chile broth -- aren't currently listed on the website. The ceviche was the better of the two, light and tasty. The chile broth was rich and flavorful and, to the dish's credit, it was not overly heavy. Just not sure it worked all that well with the seafood. We then shared the tomato salad with local cheese; the basil oil dressing was nicely done, but the tomatoes were lacking in taste. (It's tough to find a good tomato, even in restaurants priding themselves in using local ingredients; the exception recently was a tomato salad at Reef.) For an entree, we shared the pan seared flounder on barley, which was the highlight of the evening. Piping hot, beautifully cooked, this was a great dish.
We look forward to returning, particularly given the ever changing menu.
2202 West Alabama
713/677-0391
http://www.sorrelhouston.com/
