NOE GRILL

This review is for Noe After Dark.
Following an event, we tried to go to Black Swan. Unfortunately it was closed due to the Memorial Day floods. Instead they’ve opened up Noe for all your post wedding festivities. The place itself was ok. It wasn’t too crowded but the dance floor is tiny. The music was meh. The main reason for my poor review is the bar service.
One guy was cool, the other guy with blondeish hair and glass (wearing a purple shirt on this particular night) was a real D. Every time I ordered I felt like I was bothering him. My friend had a glass of the house wine and gave him $ 20. Thinking she was drunk, he gave her back a $ 1. Yeah $ 19 for a house wine. I think not. My biggest complaint was when I got my bill it was $ 146. Not bad but I didn’t have that many drinks. I asked for an itemized receipt. It was $ 72 for 6 shots then the vodkas… Plus included 18% gratuity. This was not included on my original receipt. I’m sure they make mega tips with this shady habit.
Say No to Noe!
Edit To Add:
I ended up emailing the Omni, because I was shocked by the shady business in Noe After Dark. I received a generic response from Edward the Director of Food & Beverage. He informed me that the policy was to include automatic gratuity on parties of 6 or more. I inquired how a bar tab was a party of 6. His only response was to refund my gratuity. Point being, Edward missed the point to begin with. My complaint was never about the tip, it was about the lack of transparency. In the end, the bartender missed out because I would’ve left a much larger tip. See ya never!

The male host was very rude and would not accommodate my party of 4 in a table with 6 chairs because he needed it to be available for a bigger party. The place was empty — on a Tuesday night! The waiter commented that there were no reservations pending and that the host was always rude. That set the tone for the remainder of the dinner… I will remember his name and repost!

Noe grill has the farm to table approach with sourcing it’s ingredients within a 500 mile radius of the restaurant making it a locavore spot. The just received the wine spectator award of excellence and rated by Zagat as top 10 hotel restaurants in houston. The menu offerings are fresh and presentations are spectacular. A must try is the Noe grill burger!

I was really surprised and disappointed about my experience here. I would not call this a destination place for fine dining within Houston.
We went for late dinner on a weeknight. There were maybe five other tables besides us in the very quiet dining room. We heard almost every word of other men’s conversations, mostly businessmen having a nice meal, I suppose.
I was not fond of our server. I didn’t think he had the people skills that would be expected of Omni or of a «fine dining» establishment. The server several tables over, however, seemed very pleasant and was offering to have someone’s incorrect drink remade. At the end of the meal, we sat finishing our wine, and I really wished he had not opened the signed check at the table in front of us. Either leave it on the table until we leave, or take it and check that it’s signed [and that you think your tip is big enough] away from us, please.
The biggest letdown was definitely the food. We had the pork belly tacos to share as an appetizer. They were listed as coming with «napa cabbage», which I figured would be shredded cabbage in a corn tortilla. Instead, they came in a cabbage «tortilla». I thought the pork was too dry and was actually rather disappointed that they weren’t.well…actual tacos. The sauce was good.
We each had the 8oz grilled filet, and I asked to sub my root vegetables for mashed potatoes (was given some grief over this). I guess I’m used to this being no big deal; I didn’t see a «no subs» disclaimer and the root veggies side is the same price as all the others. (Also, I didn’t like that the menu had the root veggies as the default side for the meats when there were choices like asparagus and mashed potatoes.) Oh well. The potatoes were delicious and creamy. The steak was cooked medium in the middle like I had asked, and overdone and dry everywhere else. I got by soaking each piece in the garlic butter and didn’t finish all of it. Sad.
We shared the mac n cheese side, which was the biggest disappointment aside from the steak. Very bland, odd flavor with almost a sharp aftertaste — I had three bites and was done.
The bread was delicious; it’s reminiscent of rosemary foccacia and is pillowy and light.
In addition to the above, the tables around us didn’t seem to have the best experiences either. The women behind us actually complained to the server about the panna cotta («not supposed to be like this») and did not finish it, and the bartender made one of the cocktails incorrectly for a different table. There was a brief discussion about the tip at a neighboring table, which I find very inappropriate for a server to mention.
The parking situation is terrible. It’s $ 10 for 2 hours of self-​parking or $ 16 to valet. What’s more, the ticket reader at the exit wasn’t working, so we dialed for assistance. We then had to wait for a parking attendant to come from the front (can you not just open the gate for us?), who tried it himself and then used his key to open the gate arm, but not before asking us how we wanted to pay and running off with our credit card. What? The head valet must have told him he was being ridiculous because when we pulled through the drive to collect our card (in shock…) he handed everything back and told us not to worry about it.
The food was overall pretty terrible, the service was lacking (with exception of the hostess and one of the kitchen managers, who came to check on us after a brief power outage…), the parking is awful. I wouldn’t go back here.

OK, so two stars seemed harsh as the meal wasn’t that bad, but I hate the A-​OK on Unilocal as that does not imply three stars which I see as Average. Then, you see that there is one review from 2013 which is at 4 and based on the review I thought it was fair.
I ate here long ago and the hostess mentions an «all new menu» as I am seated. I am not a meat eater other than fish and, I do have an opinion on most fish dishes. I order the salmon on the menu as opposed the fish of the night (red snapper over orzo with cream sauce) as it sounds good but don’t fancy cream sauce. The salmon comes with Enoki mushrooms as side and pickled radish and onions on top. I also order a unique side, a mushroom and quinoa «risotto» as it sounds interesting.
The waiter is attentive but not overly; he brings my meal without the side and says he will get it without me having to ask. About ¾ths through the meal he comes back, apologizes and says the side will be complimentary. OK, we all make a mistake but they handled it well. The salmon is average and there is not real range of tastes on the plate. It is at best a better than bland meal. When the «risotto» comes out it is hot and looks good. It is a bit heavy to my taste and overpowers the experience I just had. So, now onto the Jasmine crème brule; I rarely have crème brule but I do love it. I order coffee and it is served right away and very good. The crème brule is served in a reasonable amount of time and is over dense approaching a cheese cake density but not quite. So, the taste is decent, but it is not great crème brule.
Overall this is a disappointment, but not enough to rate two stars.

Great service! — Small and intimate restaurant inside the hotel… until I’m there. Everyone glares at me when I laugh (sorry can’t control it).
Love their bread and the Squash soup is heavenly! Met the chef and told him how much we enjoyed the soup. He seemed a little stand-​offish. It was a little awkward.
I don’t usually dine at hotels unless if I’m at an event or staying in the hotel. This was a nice meal and a good time.

Ate here a few months ago and was pretty pleased at the presentation of some of the food here. You do not get a lot but the eye candy so to speak reminds you that you are in a hotel restaurant where presentation and the «wow» factor is factored in when the menu was made here. Had the salad appetizer which came with some micro greens, a fig, some candied pecans with a balsamic type vinegar dressing. Admirable taste when your cheeks pucker up when the dressing clutches onto the inside of your mouth.
The Chilean Sea Bass, flaky, buttery type sauce spooned on top and placed on a bed of mashed potatos, wonderful combination.
Ronnie who was the wine sommelier suggested me a nice white wine to compliment my fish plate which was not too acidic for me and made a great compliment with the meal.
The service was ok, they had a few tables so our vertically challenged waiter seemed to want to do too much within so little time that another server had to back him up and help us with the refills of water and butter I needed for the bread.
Definitely will be back if I am by this Hotel, remember to always look for Ronnie since he was the most professional person with some of the rest here.