Mood Lighting and Seafood

After a week of hard work, it was a pleasure to take the newly trained supervisors to a nice meal. My reputation for being a foodie preceded me, so expectations of my restaurant selection were high. I chose ARA, a restaurant in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, somewhere none of us had been before.

Parking can be a bit of a hassle, but the restaurant validates, so at least it’s free. Tucked into the corner of the lobby, the mood-lit ARA offered a quiet and serene dining room. On one wall, bottles of wine stood at the ready, including a large ice bin for keeping the whites and roses chilled.

I was excited to learn my dining partners were as excited to share and sample as I was. Having perused the menu, we already knew that seafood was going to constitute the predominance of our meal, so we started with a bottle of sauvignon blanc. Slightly fruity yet dry, it went quite well with the bisque of scallop, and shrimp. The seafood was artfully placed into a tear-shaped bowl, then the bisque poured around it tableside. Bright orange and velvety, yet not overwhelmingly rich to overpower the crustaceans, we had to deny the server taking it away until we had unapologetically wiped the bowl clean with bread.

ARA is known for their butcher block steaks, and that same meat was dried to a jerky, chopped fine, and topped seared scallops. The scallops were soft and buttery, the jerky adding a chewy texture and a smoky component. The scallops sat atop a disk of green wheat freekeh, giving the starter a hardier feel.

We continued our barrage of seafood with Cobia, an Atlantic sea fish whose meat is light and airy. Skin removed, it had just enough browning on the top and bottom to seal in the moisture. Fresh, a delicate brine flavor came through with no fishy taste or smell. The cobia perched atop a roasted poblano pepper, stuffed to bursting with Aztec rice. An orange saffron sauce dotted the dish, adding both sweetness and citrus.

The menu states that the Scottish salmon comes with tamarind sauce, a combination I’ve never had. Intrigued, we ordered it. The sauce was thick, almost like a preserve, and was generously smeared across the top, then dolloped with almonds. The bowl in which it was served also had a red lentil curry, pureed to smoothness. The Indian flavors paired well with the salmon, while not overpowering the palate to the other dishes.

The sweet tooth in our party not yet satisfied, we ordered desserts. A trio of unique ice creams came to our table. Beer, made with what I assumed was a porter, as the ice cream was a dark brown, had cacao notes, and a slightly bitter finish. Goat cheese and sun dried tomato, the goat cheese adding a firmer texture and a slight buttermilk-esque twang to the ice cream, the sun dried tomato tasting sweet in comparison. Strawberry balsamic, again, a sweet sour combination, small chunks of strawberry adding a soft element to the smooth ice cream

Thank you Houston team for a great rollout week, and amazing dining company. I look forward to my next trip!