t’afia

I am not a big fan of american eclectic cuisine but none of the food was bad. The restaurant seemed to lack a cohesive theme, with some asian and mexican and french influenced dishes. Somewhat less than expected for the price.
The décor was modern but comfortable. The wait staff attentive but not overbearing. Parking was valet only.

I didn’t like Beavers but I love t’afia.
The food was great but service wasn’t.
The chickpea fries were seasoned with one of the best spice combinations ever. I just wish the fries were crispy instead of soft.
We also got the mushroom dumplings. They were very good. The honey pushed the dish over the top.
Pork cheeks with brussels sprouts was delicious. One of the best brussels sprout preparations I’ve ever had.
The fried flattened chicken was good as well but I prefer the pork cheeks.
For dessert we had the persimmon walnut cake. It was good. It wasn’t as special as it sounded.
Service was pretty bad. Our server was not friendly and snobby with us. He abandoned us for long periods of time. We had to flag down other servers who were serving other tables to help us a few times.
5 stars for food, 0 for service.

I would rate T’afia a solid three stars. The ambiance is pleasant and the food is decent. For starters I recommend the mushroom ravoli which was pretty scrumptious and it was served with a savory sauce. For my first course, I had this endive & mushroom salad with blue cheese and spiced pecans. This salad had absolutely nothing in it. It probably had one mushroom and one total pecan crushed into 4 tiny pieces. For $ 10 that is very overpriced. For dinner, I had the maple-​chili marinated tofu. I did not like this dish one bit. No matter how many sauces I tried to add, it was super bland. I was very disappointed in my meal.
Now if I had to review this restaurant based soley upon that salad and tofu, I would rate it one star, however I find that it is not fair for me to review a restaurant just based on the tofu. Next time, I would try something more substantial such as the almond chicken, scallops or market fish. The chili tofu just sounded so delicious on the menu so I thought I would try something new.
The other side of the story is for my date to tell. He ordered some soup to start and really enjoyed it and for dinner he had the lamb shoulder chop. Oh god, he was raving about it all night. He claims it was the best lamb he has ever had. I did try the lamb and even though I am no lamb eater, I must admit it was pleasantly flavorful. To his credit, I decided to bump my review from one star to three stars. I would say it is worth checking out T’afia. Just please do not order the tofu!

Ah yes, can’t forget to review T’afia. I hated Beavers so much that I was sure T’afia would also suck– and I couldn’t be more wrong. T’afia is the bomb. It is that farm-​to-​table Berkeley stuff at its best. We came here for lunch. I had a snazzy, super filling 3-​course meal that was impressive both in its innovation, its homeliness, and tastiness. Case in point: I had some pea & crab pasta thing where the pasta was shaped in balls that were the same size as the peas and it was like a 1:1 ratio. It was unlike anything I ever had, but tasted super good — not overly rich or fancy — but the subtle kind of refined cooking that you really hope for.
I also loved the desserts. Again, it isn’t Mark’s or Da Marco dessert’s in how fancy and how precise it is but it is just as good. It’s…comforting…and impressive in its own way.
I love T’Afia and can’t wait to come back for lunch or dinner

This restaurant is really great for happy hour, but sadly fell short of my dinner expectations. I felt it was a bit expensive for the quality of the food we received. I’d definitely recommend it for a girls happy hour though.
Ambiance = 5
T’afia has a cozy outdoor area that I fell in love with. I could not have asked for a nicer setting on a spring evening.
Drinks = 4
Their drinks were great — lots of fun combinations. My husband had a ratafia and I enjoyed the wine.
Food = 3
Hummus Appetizer: good hummus, but very bread-​y pizzette
Scallops: 3 scallops with one overcooked. Slightly oily. Couscous veggie mix was heavy on the red onions
Pineapple Tofu Soba: something I probably could have made at home

Adorable little restaurant tucked in midtown. I love the simple layout of the restaurant. It’s all about the food here. Each dish is perfectly composed. The menu is pretty simple, and the dishes are small, tapa-​style. We ended up ordering like half the menu, and I enjoyed every single bite. Quick shout out to my favoriate food item, beets. Such an under-​appreciated little root with such sweet flavor. You must try the beets here.
I’m a huge Top Chef fan, so it was really awesome to see Monica Pope walking around the restaurant.

What a great gem in Midtown Houston! Great food, great service, and a great patio fit for fueling great conversation!
We began with free appetizers like chickpea fries (wow!), hummus with pita, Jamaican chicken wings, carbonara, and «date with a pig» (paid for separately). I loved the chickpea fries and the hummus pita! I don’t particularly like spicy food and can’t devour pork, but I heard the other dishes were good!
My main course was scallops. And, they were scrumptious! The other ladies in our group order marinated tofu, a slaw salad, and a larger serving of the carbonara. We all had a great time and plan on checking out Monica Pope’s other restaurant, Beaver’s soon!
Also, it helps to have complimentary parking. :)

m pretty surprised by reading the reviews for T’Afia. I was first introduced to the restaurant for a work lunch. I thought the atmosphere was unique, neat and the food I got that day was what drove me back my second time. I ate their pepper soup and their mac n cheese the first time which was superb.
So when it came time for my bf to visit for my birthday, I asked him to take me here for my bday dinner. We were there quite a while since the menu wasn’t even ready for dinner for our reservations at 5:45. So we had a drink or two before the menu was provided. We order dates stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon which were amazing. quite pricey, but we got one each and it was totally worth it. I had pork for dinner which was so yummy. The drinks were pretty good too, but a little pricey. But overall, i love this place. I won’t be going there much since it is out of my price range but every one in awhile for a special occasion I would love to go.

Got the opportunity to attend a special event at T’afia and get to know more about Chef Monica Pope. I already liked both the restaurant and the chef, so this was a nice bonus. We went through a tasting menu paired with several wines. Chef also did a demo and discussed the virtues of local eating while chatting with the audience. The meal was delicious!
First course: Carrot vichysoisse, seared scallop, crispy brussels sprouts, chermoula
Silky soup, tender scallop, best. brussels. sprout. EVER
Pairing — 2010 Lucien Albrecht Pinot Blanc, 2010 Vivi Falanghina
Second course: winter slaw, olive oil poached gulf shrimp, blue heron feta curds, miso dressing
Great texture/​flavor combos — crisp greens, crunchy radishes, perfectly done shrimp, silky cheese; salty/​sweet/​bitter/​tangy
Pairing — 2009 Rami Aziendo Agricola COS, 2010 Valpolicella Classico le Salette
Third course: seared spiced duck «sirloin» & leg of duck confit, vanilla lacquered, celery root purée, mushroom jam
Earthy purée, sweet mushrooms, rich duck
Pairing — 2009 Becker Claret, 2007 Abigail Adams Carver Sutra
Fourth course: meyer lemon buttermilk pudding cake, strawberry sorbet, macerated strawberries with lemon verbena, maisson burdisso almond macaroon
Bright lemon flavor without the tartness, super fresh strawberry flavor from the sorbet, sweet and strong almond
I agree with what my dining partner said; it reminded him of why I liked T’afia in the first place and why he should go back more often.

I was reluctant to go here to eat because of some of the reviews but gave it a chance.
I would say it is one of the best restaurants in Houston. The food was very good to excellent. I hdd a lightly battered chicken and it was so perfectly seasoned and cooked just right. The potatoes were perfect and everything had lots of unique flavors. I understood why Monica Pope has won so many awards.
The service was very good, No ‘is everything ok?’ visits which can be annoying
The atmosphere was pleasant and sophisticated. The drink, which I don’t remember the name of (had rum in it) was delicious. I am not a drinker and I downed two of them. I will definetly go back.

Hi, I’m a t’Afia diner. I like to eat right next to the table next to me. Pay a $ 1 for «still» water in a pretty bottle, oh yes, please! But don’t forget $ 18 extra dollars for two midget mixed drinks. I also like terrible wanna be fist pumping music blaring in my ears while I dine. I’m not done.
So yeah, the chickpea fries are decent after slathered in the sauce that it doesn’t come enough with. Who am I kidding? For $ 10, the entire entrée wasn’t enough. Endive salad had great components but just didn’t… blend well. Again, for $ 10, please wow me for this kids sized plate of food.
I will say that I really enjoyed my Kobe skirt steak. Though, I asked for it medium rare and it came rare… It still had amazing flavors. Whatever fancy grains it came with was a bit al dente for me and remained on the plate.
Tried some of the schnitzel. I’m a snob when it comes to this genre of food and what the… Why did it taste like citrus? Not ok.
$ 100 for four items and two alcoholic drinks and some simple water. For meh food. Nothing made me want to return for more. I honestly think I’d rather have fast food and save $ 95 and an ear ache. Some places just don’t live up to the hype.

Slightly disappointed… To start, I typically question when an existing restaurant starts offering deals like $ 25 for $ 50 on a online coupon site. Unless they are new, it typically means they are hurting for business. They also required a reservation for dinner, but when I arrived — there was no one eating in their dining room and as the night went on, it only got about full.
In all honesty, I am not crazy about the concept. The menu is way too busy/​large and the whole concept was not my favorite. The suggestion from the menu and our waiter (who was pretty odd and wouldn’t give an opinion one way or another) was to order 2 – 3 «appetizer items» one salad/​soup selection and an entrée a piece. It was sort of, a Tapas like concept I guess…
Anyway, I will give credit to the chickpea fires. The sauce was very good, and the fries themselves were good (a little dense, but still good.) I also had the beech & maitake mushrooms, endive, blue cheese, spiced hazelnut, truffle dressing salad. Sounds good doesn’t it? Shame it was so bitter I could barely get through it.
As an entrée I had the Buffalo Ribeye Schnitzel that was served with a potato salad. I really don’t know what to say — just ok? The ribeye itself didn’t have much of a flavor profile and it was way tougher than advertised. The potato salad also lacked in the flavor department. It was a decent sized plate of food, but for $ 32, I kind of expect that.
Side note, I did have the Midtown Manhattan (Maker’s, haak madeira-​bay leaf reduction, and OJ.) It was a really good bourbon drink.
In summary, unless you are enamored by the idea of dining at a «celebrity chef» establishment, I wouldn’t waste my time or money. The $$$ is misleading. It is more like $$$$.

Given Monica Pope’s reputation as one of the top chefs in the city, I was expecting a «gee wiz amazing» dinner — unfortunately it fell short of expectations.
We went on a Tuesday evening and the restaurant was pretty empty — the atmosphere is very nice, casual yet modern and cozy.
The bread that they brought to the table was interesting, it looked as if it had not been quite baked enough, but as you eat it you taste the fine texture very akin to a scone. Even though there were some spices in it there was not much taste.
The food was so so — we started off with the chickpea fries — while innovative, I don’t get the hype. They tasted like most other fries the zatar and curry ketchup gave an extra kick — but $ 10 for a few fries is a bit excessive.
For the main course my GF had the Sweet Chilly Maple Marinated Tofu with soba and mushroom salad gomashio and I had the Kobe skirt steak Farro salad with turnips and tarator sauce.
My GF thoroughly enjoyed her Tofu as well as the soba salad. The salad had a fresh and light flavor.
My Kobe beef on the other hand looked fabulous the table next door ordered it and that’s what prompted me to go for it. But sometimes looks can be deceiving and unfortunately the steak was tough and bland, dipping it in the tarator sauce added some flavor. The farro salad was pretty innovative and went well with the steak — it was probably the best part of my dish.
The ice tea was really the best part of the meal it was better than the one at Café Express and that’s saying a lot. The service was also very good.
I like the fact that Monica Pope experiments with new ingredients and buys her ingredients locally, so I will probably give it another try

I’ve always heard mixed reviews of this place so I was very hesitant to try this place, but after visiting the mini farmer’s market she holds here I was willing to come back.
My gf and I came one night for dinner. To start out their bread is delicious! Some of the best I’ve ever had, it’s very soft.
Then we started out with an appetizer: the chickpea fries. Very interesting and quite tasty. We also split the cream of tomato soup. Also good.
For my entrée I had the wild boar stew. I was expecting the wild boar to be more gamey but it was quite tender. I enjoyed it a lot. My gf had the wild salmon, it was solid.
We even noticed Monica Pope came out and talked to a table next to us. The service was so-​so, they were busy so we were neglected a bit.
Everything tasted very fresh and I could see how she takes advantage of her fresh local ingredients.

I’ve been putting off a visit to t’afia because I was a bit wary of the bad reviews. I had some out-​of-​town guests who are big on vegetarian/​organic eating so I figured I’ d take a chance. The place was about ½ full but they only had one person working the floor. That being said, we never felt that we were waiting for very long and our waiter was very friendly and helpful so I guess we just got lucky (since service seems one of the weak spots here).
Most of the dishes we tried were successful. From the mezes menu we sampled the red pepper dip, and a couple of cheeses (ghost jack and a young blue cheese), all very good. After that we got the chickpea fries, deviled eggs, and the mushroom dumplings. The fries tasted like a lighter falafel and the dumplings were creamy and velvety. The deviled eggs were pretty disappointing, only two egg halves with a mushy topping. We split the brown rice and nut croquettes bowl and the pistachio-​crusted salmon. The salmon was the clear winner here, although the croquettes were quite good and a good representation of creative vegetarian cooking.
For dessert we split the chocolate and sour cherry bread pudding which was pretty good if a bit small (which was the case for most of the dishes actually). So the food is fantastic, the ambiance was great, and luckily our service was good. Unfortunately our very light and healthy meal didn’t provide enough support for the amount of wine and booze we consumed afterwards so I think this place is not the right place to start a night out on the town.

I have to say I was disappointed. I’m a big fan of «New American» cuisine, and I love the idea of local and organic ingredients. I just wasn’t impressed with what I got.
We had the hummus as a starter. It was just ok. Then I had a dish that was essentially gnocci, but I can’t remember exactly what it was called. The hubby and my dad both had the «redneck mac n cheese» and said it wasn’t as good as the mac n cheese we made at home for Thanksgiving (not even close!) My mom had the sea scallops with black quinoa. She really liked her dish.
We got an assortment of desserts. The chocolate cherry bread pudding was great.

I was visiting Houston with friends and was told to check out Monica Pope’s cuisine so took the light rail to this little collection of businesses near the Ensemble stop. The restaurant is small, and we were walk-​ins. They seat people in the little bar area or outside if you are just popping in. We came at 7 on a Saturday night and were able to get a table outside. It was a good start.
We ordered cocktails and these were amazing. I had a tamarind Manhattan which was excellent. From here on out it was downhill.
We ordered a collection of small plates and specifically told our server to bring them all at the same time as we were going to make a meal of these. One of our group ordered an entrée. Our food came out with no rhyme or reason. Our drinks went dry, our bread plate went empty, and our «bottomless» water hit bottom. Now, if you are running a hot restaurant and can reasonably expect people to come on a Saturday and you have a nontraditional menu you should expect that people will order the food to eat as a meal, and should think a bit about having the orders either flow in some way (or suggest it) or just have a simple menu with things included and do away with the small plate idea completely.
I really wanted to like this place, but it was not ready for prime time. The staff seemed crazed (although nice) and food was just dumped on the table without any care or presentation. There was a «food dumper» who ran things out, dumped them on the tables and ran back in the café. Our food was ok. Nothing special. No real artistry.
Get more staff, get a better kitchen setup, and be prepared for weekends. If the idea is a good one (and it is!) don’t let sloppy uninformed, unprofessional staff and sloppy food preparation and presentation ruin what should be a hit.
Keep working on it.

Ever since Top Chef Masters I’ve been yearning to try this place. The $$$ is extremely intimidating… haha. However, I looked at the regular menu and it’s around $ 25/dish…not bad. AND those entrees sounded much more appetizing than what I had for happy hour. I guess… keep that in mind for my 3 star rating.
So i think happy hour is a poor way to judge the quality of a restaurant’s food, but after this dining experience, i don’t know if i would want to risk spending even more money on another disappointing one.
We got there around 4:35…good thing, didn’t have to valet. After being seated we had to wait 15 minutes if not more for them to print out the happy hour menu… even though i HIGHLY doubt it changes that much, but what do i know. They should change the operating hours to 5 instead of 4 PM because no one started ordering until 5:15.
The T-​Th HH deal sounds pretty sweet… with one alcoholic drink you get 2 appetizers. Well we thought we were cashing in: with one amstel light ($ 5) i get two appetizers! And then the dishes came out… with about $ 2.50 worth of food on each plate. haha
Tumeric chicken: it was dry… nothing special. maybe because it was free range chicken? dry. E liked the coconut dipping sauce.
Chick pea fries: interesting. I wish they were crispier? maybe the consistency of chick peas doesn’t allow the fries to get that crispy
The fried sushi roll: 3 tiny pieces of a regular sushi roll sitting in this pool of soy sauce. (essentially) the presentation was cute– a smear of wasabi with fish eggs.
Mac n cheese: 10 if not less bow tie pastas in a creamy sauce with flecks of cheese grated on top.
So I rated T’afia with a 3 because it was alright… not that bad. The harsher E wanted to give a 2. I guess that averages out to be a 2.5 and I rounded up.
UGHHHH so disssapppointeddd!!! I had such high hopes for the place. Maybe one day if i come back for dinner i will be impressed.
I really liked the décor and bathroom smelled nice.

«t’afia!» .
What’s it mean? The saying is all in the name. .
«t’afia!» means «to your health!»
I absolutely love the sheer brilliance Monica Pope has behind her restaurant. Not only does the name stick out, but so does everything else about her idea’s.
Chef Monica Pope teaches Saturday morning cooking classes, in which there is no charge, and she uses local produce. I have only came here on a Saturday morning, but was unfortunately late to watch her cooking demonstration.
The Midtown Farmers Market also begins early on Saturday mornings, which is right in front of t’afias.
Around 10 AM, the place was bustling with liveliness with people of all character. For breakfast, t’afia offers egg and ham biscuit sandwiches, chocolate chips scones, iced coffee, and a variety of hot teas (which is provided by katz coffee).
I have enjoyed the environment, and I love the fact that Monica speaks to everyone. It make‘s you feel comfortable, as if you are home. I definitely want to drop by here for dinner, which is when she dishes up a concoction of unique locally provided ingredients.

I’ve visited this place 4 times and I only really loved it the first time I went. In general, their chicken is always dry and their food is sort of overpriced! Service and food is inconsistent.
Dinner — The first time I went was for dinner during the «Restaurant Stimulus Week» where I ordered a 3 course meal for $ 35. The appetizer was a nice, fresh smoked salmon with mascarpone & pickled onion. I ordered an entrée of the beef cubes with sticky rice. It was DELICIOUS! Tender beef topped with a nice vinegarette sauce. The dessert was a vanilla crème brûlée. My friends had this really fancy and delicious macaroni as a side dish. The chicken was super dry. The mousse was very good, though.
Happy hour — the drinks are nice, however, they are so expensive! Maybe I am used to cheaper Austin and other HH prices, but $ 12 for a cocktail??? One of the nice things about HH here is that you get ONE, let me stress ONE, free appetizer with each drink purchased. The tricky thing is they keep bringing out refills of the appetizer and you foot a larger bill at the end than you expect. Should’ve figured, right? The appetizers were good — cold noodles, edamame, various other easy appetizers for ~$ 3/​each — small portions though.
Dinner #2 — I went back with my husband. I can’t even remember what I had because it was so regular. My husband gave the beef cubes a try, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the first time I had it. The beef tasted like it had no flavor and the sticky rice didn’t seem sticky enough.
Friday lunch menu
– Overall the food was good, but was not fantastic.
– Starter was a chicken gumbo. It was too watery and thin to be a gumbo.
– Entrée was hand torn noodle buffalo bolagnese. My friend called it a glorified «stroganoff» with a citrus flavor.
– Dessert was a crème brûlée. I felt SO cheated because my brulee was NOT in a petite container where it was bruleed. Since it was packed that day, we were stuck with the mass produced brulee that was prepared in a long tray and broken off into a small piece. It was like eating pudding off of a plate. Sad, sad, sad.
– Service — Not very good. There was only one waiter for the entire lunch crowd. We were never asked how our food was. Monica Pope made rounds at most tables, but she skipped us. Maybe she’s a racist b/​c there were 2 asians at our table and like no other asians in the rest of the restaurant.
– If I had to base my rating on the last visit, I would’ve given this place 2 stars.