Houston'sUnderbelly

 

Once again I find myself in the lone star state for work. I stayed downtown near the Galleria, the biggest, department store-ridden mall in the area. However, despite the numerous restaurants near my hotel, it took venturing a little farther out to find Underbelly, a restaurant featured on Bizarre Foods America.

The restaurant hosts a bar area in addition to the main dining room. The open kitchen is shown prominently on one side of the dining room, with the charcuterie curing chamber off to the left. Part of that wall is also lined with in-house made pickles and jams of all varieties. The menus are reprinted daily and shown on repurposed text books, I received “Managerial Accounting.” The wine list is a leather bound tome, mentioning some features of Underbelly’s wine, where it came from, and how one can buy it by the bottle to take home (they are also a wine shop.)

My meal began with the roasted pork belly (considering the restaurant’s name, how could I resist?) The plate was a large disc, the center being filled with a rice porridge the consistency of grits that have been left the sit and started to congeal (though this rice was still served warm). The belly was a rounded cut, different from my usual experience of a square. The outside was audibly crispy and the meat was tender, though a little dry. Pickled carrot and green onion accompanied the pork and was finished with a house made hot sauce, a vinegary, bright red concoction that added a nice colorful note to the plate.

Next was the sourdough. A whole boule was brought to the table, still steaming hot. The crusty exterior crunched wonderfully, as the whole grain interior filled your mouth. It was served with a red pepper vinegar butter that added to the sour note of the bread. Diner beware, unlike most places, the bread is not complimentary, or at least it wasn’t for my party of one. This is not mentioned on the menu.

Having spotted the room of cured meats, I could not resist the charcuterie plate. Pickles, peach mustard, summer sausage, bresaola, coppa, boudin, and prosciutto were displayed on a wooden plank. The thick slices of summer sausage had bits of cheddar cheese throughout, making the sausage almost creamy in texture. The bresaola was a dark red and lean, retaining the meaty flavor. The coppa was quite fatty, but the spices and smoke were held in that fat. The mustard and pickled white string beans, radish, and asparagus helped to cut through that fat. The boudin was served warm and spicy. The rice had soaked in all of the porky flavor and just a little iron from the blood. My decision to order the bread was affirmed as a wonderful idea as I smeared mustard on the crusty sourdough and topped it with cured meat.

The entire meal was paired with a white vouvray, grown and produced in Texas. The hay-colored white had some bright citrus notes of lime moderated with a sharp pear and a floral nose. A little sweet, which was welcome considering the building heat from the boudin, pickles, and mustard.

My local dining experience came to a close around 8 o’clock on a Thursday night. Though I was leaving, the restaurant was filling up, apparently a hot spot for couples and business people alike.