Zutro, Houston

I recently stayed at Le Meridien in downtown Houston.  My stay was a very mixed experience - the suite was really lovely, the toiletries quite nice, and I loved how the fitness center was on the top floor, with a wall of windows.  The service however, was a bit lacking - my room was not cleaned two of the six days I was there, and several days when it was cleaned, things were not replenished.  When I used the app, or even went to the front desk, to ask for more coffee for the machine, or lids, or whatever I needed, most of the time, it never came (or if something did, it was the wrong thing).  But the suite was lovely, and I did have a good stay.

The on-site restaurant went much the same way as the overall hotel experience.  It was a nice facility, particularly for a hotel restaurant.  And if you have high status with Marriott, which I do, you can pick breakfast as your welcome gift, and it is one of the most generous I've seen in the US, on par with what you more frequently see internationally (in the US, for non-buffets, they usually limit you to a continental option, or, sometimes a dish from a set list of only a few items).  Their breakfast vouchers however were for $50 each, to use on whatever you wanted in the restaurant.  The restaurant, oddly, doesn't actually serve a separate breakfast and lunch menu, but rather, just serves brunch every day, from 6am-4pm.  And unlike most hotels where if there is a brunch offering you can only use your vouchers during the morning, these vouchers worked anytime from 6am-4pm.  If you were there with a second person, you could easily use one for breakfast, and one for lunch, if you wanted to eat your meals in the hotel, and be fully covered, as prices were reasonable.  In theory, this was all fabuous.

That all said, um, the restaurant was not that great.  The food was all mediocre, and after the first couple days, when I had a switch to my reservation anyway (personal stay the first few days, business trip ater), I opted not to take breakfast as my gift going forward.  Every single visit, dine-in or takeout, had something not right.  I was given the wrong order twice.  Orders took forever.  All but one takeout order I got had at least one item missing.  Uh, yeah.  The common experience when you entered was to be ignored.  But, I was a captive audience, at least those first few days, with my vouchers, so I kept trying it.

Setting

The restaurant is located in the ground floor of Le Meridien, in downtown Houston.

Coffee Shop Menu.

At the front of the restaurant is a little takeout coffee shop, with all your standard espresso drinks.

Bar.

Next comes the bar, a lovely natural wooden bar, for drinks and snacks, or full meal dining.  It was never busy when I was there at any time of day.

Tables.

The main restaurant fills the rest of the space, with vibrant artwork and bench style seating along the walls, and chairs on the other sides.  There are also some coveted large round booths with benches around 75% of the booth, and one chair on the other side.

Semi-Private Tables.

Assorted other larger tables, and semi private areas are around.

Baked Goods / Coffee

The coffee shop area also has baked goods, and a few other grab and go items like yogurt parfaits and fruit cups.  Later in the day this transforms to house cakes and other desserts.  I sampled much of this menu.  The baked goods all looked much better than they were, but the coffee was reliably good.

Decaf Americano. $4.

My americano the first day took about 8 minutes to prepare, which seemed a bit lengthy for a pretty empty restaurant, but, it was worth the wait.

This was a good americano.  Good for regular, great for decaf.  No funk to it.  I also appreciated that my server used the word "decaf" several times, e.g. "I'll be right back with that decaf americano" and "Did you want another decaf?", as I didn't need to wonder if it truly wasn't decaf, as it was so good.

Far above average for hotel, and even coffee shop, coffee.  A nice surprise.  ****.

I got takeout the other days, and always thought the decaf Americano was above average, and the staff always did say "decaf", again, very appreciated.  Highlight of the restaurant.

Bagels, Croissants, Loaf Cakes.

The coffee shop in front has a display housing the baked goods of the day, which seemed to always include croissants (regular or chocolate), 3 kinds of loaf cake (lemon, banana, marble), bagels, and grab n go parfaits.  I never saw the danishes listed on the menu, and a staff member confirmed they had them "like one day ever", the day they put them on the menu, and haven't seen them since.

The chocolate croissants actually looked pretty good, lofty, and the kind with two big bars of chocolate in them.  I actually did try to order one my final morning, but they had been replaced by another kind of croissant (more on that soon).

By lunchtime, the breakfast pastries are taken away, and slices of cake are in their place, huge slices of what looked like pretty generic chocolate cake, carrot cake, and cheesecake.

Fresh Baked Muffins. $5.

The muffins were also on display in this area in the mornings, and really drew me in.  They looked great.  The staff told me they make them in house daily.

Double Chocolate Muffin. $5.

The first morning, I had no choice but to try a muffin.  They looked too good not to!  Plus, jetlag and all that.  It was delivered to my table alongside my coffee.

I had to laugh when my muffin was set in front of me, exactly like this.  No, I didn't pick out the chips before taking the photo, it came this way.  It was served warm, so, I give them a point for that.

The muffin though was far more average than it looked.  Not particularly moist, not particularly chocolately.  But it did have a lightly crisp top and certainly wasn't stale.  The chocolate chips were tasty.

I ended up saving most of this, heating it up again in my little portable oven, and serving it topped with fresh strawberries and raspberries, and copious amounts of whipped cream, for my dessert after lunch, and enjoyed it enough that way.  But as served, just **, and I wouldn't get it again.

Cream Cheese Muffin. $5.

The next day, there were the same chocolate and banana nut muffins, but rather than blueberry or cranberry as I had seen other days, there was a mystery muffin.  And only one of them.  To me, that meant exclusive, and perhaps an interesting flavor (is that why there was only one left?), so I inquired about it.  I was told it was "cream".  Uh, sure?  Cream muffin it was.

Cream seemed to mean cream cheese, as I heard another staff member refer to it that way as she took it out of the oven.  I thought perhaps it would be stuffed with cream cheese, or have a cream cheese bottom?  It didn't have either of those things, but seemed to just be a richer plain muffin, if that makes sense.  It was very moist, and had a bit of a streusel top that I liked.  But otherwise, it was a fairly plain, sweet muffin.

I later used it like the base of a shortcake, and topped it with fresh fruit and whipped cream.  But I wouldn't get another of these either.  ***.

Chocolate (Nutella?) Croissant. $5.

The chocolate croissants every other time I visited looked fairly good - lofty, huge, and the rectangular kind that have two big bars of chocolate running through them.  So my final morning, I asked for a chocolate croissant (which I didn't see, as I called in my order to pickup).  I was surprised when I opened my box to find this crescent shape croissant, with the chocolate dots all over the top.  It also was not served warm, when all other pastries were.  I think they forgot to warm it for me?

The croissant itself was pretty meh.  Not flaky, not laminated, the kind that seems like it is baked and frozen and just defrosted.  Inside was a bit confused ... it seemed like there was a solid chocolate lump, but then there was also what seemed like chocolate cream ... and the more I tasted, it actually seemed more like Nutella?  I think this was a Nutella cream croissant, not chocolate?  It was partially underbaked inside.

The filling to this was good enough, and I used it with some leftover hazelnut crunch cake, fresh berries, and whipped cream to make a decent dessert, but the croissant itself was pretty meh.  ***+ filling, ** croissant.

Bread Pudding. $7.

I struck out with basically everything I tried from the breakfast menu (baked goods or otherwise), so I'm not sure why I kept trying, but, one day, when I was passing through in the afternoon, they had some epic looking slices of carrot cake and cheesecake, chocolate cake, and this: bread pudding.  Now, granted, I didn't identify it as bread pudding, and thought it was some kind of odd cinnamon roll (given the icing on top ...), but when the staff member told me it was bread pudding, I couldn't resist trying it.  I should have known better.

I adore some kinds of bread pudding.  That said, I know I am very opinionated on this matter.  I do not care for the dense, homogenous lump kind of bread pudding.  I want distinct chunks of bread, large slice hunks.  I want it super moist and custardy in the middle, crispy on the outside.  I want it served warm, and ideally with a scoop of ice cream on top.  Bonus points for nuts or something for crunch inside.  And I can safely say, I've never seen *iced* bread pudding before.  But I was willing to give it a try.  Captive hotel audience I was.  This is also on their room service menu as a signature dessert.

I tried it first at room temperature.  The icing was just odd, and I'm a big fan of icing, but, it seemed strange in this context.  But I could get past the icing if the rest was good.  It was basically the dense style I don't care for, and had strange flecks of black around in it.  At first I thought it was mold, or burnt bits, but I think it was intentional? I just don't know what it was.  The flavor to the whole thing was a bit off.  It didn't have any clear spicing, no nuts, fruits, etc mixed in.  Fairly plain other than those flecks.

Undeterred, I tried heating it up in my portable oven.  I had fresh fruit and whipped cream on standby (no ice cream in my hotel room at that time, sadly).  It actually was worse warmed up.  The bread got really mushy and kinda fell apart, rather that getting moist and gooey.  The slightly off tasting flavor intensified.  I ended up scrapping off the icing and very top layer, and eating that with my fruit and whipped cream.  After all that, the icing is the part I salvaged!

I used this experience to tell myself NOT to bother with the carrot cake or cheesecake the next day, and ordered delivery instead.  *+.

Breakfast

The breakfast portion of the menu contains standard egg dishes, "from the griddle" items, healthy choices, and then some specialties like biscuits & gravy, an egg casserole, chicken & waffles, and more.   There are no a la carte items, e.g. you can't just get toast or a sausage, although perhaps you could ask for it?

I sampled much of the breakfast menu, and found it all to be pretty lacking.  The $50 breakfast voucher could easily cover any two entrees, and two drinks, and a baked good or two, so the fact that both people get one is a bit crazy, and you could tell the people who were there their first day with a voucher, as they had tables full of food.

Classic Eggs Benedict (Sub Mushrooms/Spinach for Ham). $13.

"Poached eggs, Canadian bacon, hollandaise sauce, served with seasoned breakfast potatoes"

When I travel, I always get eggs benedict.  It is just a travel thing for me.  I asked if I could have mine with spinach and mushroom instead of the standard ham (unlike many places, they have just the one version of the benedict, no florentine, no smoked salmon, etc).  My request was honored.  I also asked to have the hollandaise on the side, just in case it was not to my liking (although, clearly, an essential part of a benny!).

My order took a very long time.  Tables seated after me, who also ordered egg dishes, got their meals.  One table ate and left before I got mine.  Pancakes passed by, oatmeal passed by, everyone, everywhere, got their food.  I waited and waited.  Finally, after 25 minutes, I asked.  There were only 3 tables occupied in the restaurant, no one at the bar, and 4 servers, so, they definitely weren't busy.

I wish I could say this was worth the wait.  It certainly was not.

I didn't notice that the menu said it would come with the breakfast potatoes, had I realized that, I would have asked to sub them for something else.  Oh well.  I tried them anyway, assorted sizes of lukewarm potato, with peppers and onions, and aggressive seasoning.  Not my thing at all.  Maybe with some syrup I'd appreciate them a little, but, just not my style anyway. **.

My plate also had a slice of roast tomato on it, that tasted like bacon.  Very strongly of bacon.  I wonder if they cooked it with bacon or something? The flavor was intense, and quite greasy too.  Eh to this as well. *.

The english muffins were soaking wet, from copious amounts of butter or oil.  I couldn't quite tell which.  But it meant they were spongy, and quite heavy tasting.  Not good. *.

Next, the hollandaise.  It was ok, a bit thick, not particularly seasoned, not particularly good, but at least it wasn't broken.   I needed to ask for salt and pepper to jazz up my food, even with the hollandaise. ***.

Not a great poached egg.

The star of eggs benedict though should be those perfectly poached eggs right?  Particular eggs that took 30 minutes to get to me?  Alas, perfectly poached they were not.  No runny yolk to be found.  The egg was actually fine otherwise, but, yeah, not runny, which really let me down.  ***.

Under the eggs was my requested spinach and mushrooms, sliced button mushrooms, both of which had been sauteed in oil.  They weren't too greasy, but likely contributed to the soggy oily english muffins.  The veggies were fine, but also entirely unseasoned.  Salt and pepper, and hollandaise, needed. ***.

Overall, I ate my eggs and veggies, with plenty of hollandaise, and it was fine, but, certainly below average, and didn't leave me inspired by the skill of the kitchen. **+ overall.

From the Griddle: Waffles. $14.

"Fresh berries, powdered sugar, syrup, and whipped butter."

The "griddle' had two options: pancakes or waffles, both served with berries, syrup, butter, and powdered sugar, both the same price.  I opted for the waffle, hoping for a great liege style waffle like I had at their sister property, Le Meridien in Munich, back in May.

Alas, it was just a regular American waffle.  And, uh, it was *very* American, being shaped like the state of Texas.  Ok, they get a point for that for uniqueness at least.  It came with a thimble of berries, two thimbles of syrup, no whipped butter as it was supposed to, and powdered sugar.  Since I got this as takeout, I didn't realize I had no butter until I was back in my room.  I almost turned back around, as I think whipped butter would have helped a lot, but, I was too lazy.  The syrup was not real maple syrup, rather the thick, gloopy, cloying sweet kind.

The waffle was underwhelming, although not bad, just, a standard waffle, slight buttermilk tang, lightly crispy outside.  It needed more to jazz it up that the tiny portion of berries however.  I'm also curious if the pancakes truly are pancakes, plural, unlike my waffles, which was just one, given that they are the same price, and both listed on the menu as plurals.  

I think a child would be into this, but I was pretty bored by it. **+.

Healthy: Overnight Oatmeal & Granola. $12.

"Almond milk, local honey, greek yogurt, apples, and berries, served with granola and whole grain toast."

After the heavier options, I moved on to the lighter "healthy" category.  My first pick?  Overnight oats.  I do like overnight oats!  I ordered takeout, and was told it would take 25-30 minutes, which seemed crazy given that they were already made (overnight after all), but, entirely in line with the restaurant speed from my other visits.  And they were right - my order was not ready when I went to pick it up after 25 minutes, and, when they did finally give me an order, it turned out to be scrambled eggs, bacon, and potatoes.  I was glad I checked my bag before leaving.  Another 5-10 minutes, and I was brought this, and assured that they had checked it.  So I didn't.  But when I got to my room, I realized I was missing the toast.  Sigh.

Anyway, after 30+ minutes, a wrong order, and a partial order, did I have great breakfast?  Answer: no.

The oats had a nice consistency, soft but not mush, with chia in there too, but the flavor was just odd.  Rather sour.  I like almond milk, so I don't think that was the issue.  I didn't actually find any apple, like you'd have in bircher muesli, but maybe there was apple in here somewhere that made it sour?  I'm not sure.  I set to adding the little thimbles of toppings, starting with the syrup.  I hoped sweetness would balance out the odd flavor.  But one bite with that syrup, and I nearly spit it out.  I have no idea what it was, but it tasted really, really off.  The menu said honey, and it was very thick and sticky, but it tasted like no honey I've ever had.  I thought perhaps it was the "breakfast syrup" they serve with the pancakes (note, I say breakfast syrup, not maple syrup, intentionally here!), but it didn't seem to be that either.  It did NOT help things.

The other toppings were a tiny bit of generic (Kellogg's?) granola (I get adding texture to overnight oats, but, granola? Nuts or something would make more sense ...), peanut butter (?! was that for my missing toast?), and a tiny little thing of berries.  Berries would make sense, but, they needed to be in much bigger quantity!

I tried to salvage this, but it just really was not tasty.  I was glad I had a backup muffin on hand, as this went into the trash. *.

Healthy: Bowl of Fresh Melons + Berries, Greek Yogurt. $12.

"Seasonal fruit, local honey."

Because I'm allergic to melons, I asked for just berries, no melons.  The berries were sliced strawberries and whole blackberries, all reasonably fresh.  No qualms with the berries.  ****.

The yogurt was fairly average, tart, thick but smooth, greek yogurt.  Not yogurt I'd be excited for, but nothing wrong with it, not runny. ***.  

And that was it.  The menu said "local honey", but that was missing from my order.  Yet another order with a missing component.  I also find it odd that the dish is just yogurt and fruit, no granola ... about equally as odd as the fact that the overnight oats comes with a thimble of granola to add to it.  It certainly would be more standard to have the granola here instead ...

Anyway, this was essentially the only dish I had that wasn't a complete failure, so there is that.  ***+.

Berries, another time.

The next time I ordered the yogurt and berries, the only real successful breakfast item, my berry mix also contained blueberries (hidden below).  Again, all pretty fresh, not bad.  They also normally had pineapple in the mix that day, but I asked to have it left off, not due to allergy like the melons, just due to preference.  Again, good berries, ****.

Specialties: Biscuits & Gravy. $10.
(Gravy on the side).

"Two fluffy biscuits smothered in sausage gravy."

For my final breakfast, I went for a "Specialty", hoping that this is where they would shine.  It is their specialties after all, and, I was in the South, they must do decent biscuits and gravy right?  HA.    I asked for the gravy on the side, which was easily done.

I was actually impressed by how lackluster this was.  The "two fluffy biscuits" was a single biscuit, cut in half.  It was not fluffy, nor very large, it was thinner than an English muffin.  It was very bready, not a crumbly, butter heavy biscuit, no butter milk tang.  Basically, just a thin English muffin without the nooks and crannies.  **.

And then the gravy.  Oh, wow.  It was very, very thin and watery.  What?!  It did not have any real chunks of sausage in it, and tasted like very poorly made clam chowder.  Thin, watery, cream, no noticeable sausage.  I mean, really?  Wow.  I expected it to be thick and gloopy if awful, not thin and watery.  It really was like they had run out and decided to thin it out to make it last longer.  It was lukewarm. *.

So, yeah, not a winning dish here, and they should be embarrassed to call this a "specialty"!  *.

Nice Jams & Honey.

I will give Zutro one credit for having decent jams and honey on the table, Bonne Maman brand, and they even had a fig jam, not just classic strawberry/grape/orange.

Lunch

The brunch menu is served daily, so it also includes some basic lunch items: 3 flatbreads, 2 salads, 2 sandwiches, and a burger.  None are particularly inspired.  You could easily use your hotel breakfast voucher for a multi course lunch instead, or really, since each person gets $50, if you are there with someone, you can go to breakfast with one, and lunch with another, and it really would cover it all, as prices aren't particularly high.

I mostly skipped the lunch menu, but my final day, I grabbed a salad as takeout (alongside my full breakfast order), to eat before I left for the airport.  It really was a generous voucher to cover my yogurt and fruit bowl, a chocolate croissant, and coffee in the morning, plus a salad with protein added for lunch!  While the food, and service, certainly did not impress me in any way, the value for the vouchers did.

Ceasar Salad. $13. 
+Grilled Shrimp, $10.

"Romaine hearts, house made croutons, parmesan cheese, and classic caesar dressing."

Since the breakfast food failed to inspire, my last day, I tried a lunch item.  I didn't risk the burger or flatbreads, which I'd see other diners get on previous days that looked pretty lackluster, but opted for the ceasar salad, assuming that would be pretty safe.  And worse case, I had my own dressing if theirs was lackluster.

The salad was fine.  Fresh torn romaine lettuce, no brown spots.  Shredded parmesan cheese, that kinda melted in mine due to the hot protein added.  Standard croutons, although I guess they were house made.  They did have a strong garlic flavor.  The dressing was indeed the style of caesar I don't care for - more tangy vinaigrette than thick, but it was nicely loaded with parmesan.  I doubt it had anchovy.  All was average, but fine.

To the salad you can add chicken at lunch (as listed on the menu), or in the evening shrimp is also an option.  But I asked about shrimp at lunch, and it was no problem.  Not sure why it isn't on the menu properly?  Anyway, the shrimp was fine, standard med-size, generic shrimp, not large succulent local shrimp, but, they were fine, well cooked, not rubbery.  The price of 5 shrimp for $10 was a bit high compared to other places, but it was fine.

Overall, an average, but safe, dish.  ***.