Merlion Restaurant

We normally only write reviews when we have experience that are outliers to standard food quality or service. This was one of those occasions. Our experience last night was disappointing at best. We patronize Merlion’s at least once a month and while this was the first time we have had a bad experience, it emerged into one that we felt needed to be shared.
We have touted the experiences at the restaurant to our friends for several months and finally convinced them to try it out. They usually want to go to Thai Gourmet or Nidda, but at our insistence we went to Merlion. We had reservations for four, arrived on time and were seated promptly.
We have had the Chef’s special and never been disappointed, so we elected to go with the three course (appetizer, entrée, desert) Valentine special for the table. We had a couple of orders of the the dumpling appetizers and the the Lamb Chop Satay. For dinner we had a variety of entrees, rather than the standard protein we selected a couple from the special’s. The waitress indicated there would be an up-​charge for the off the menu proteins. Specifically, our table had the wild boar, sea bass, rib-​eye from off the menu and the standard shrimp. The first three were up charged.
While we understand that we were there on a Friday night and it was Valentines day, the wait for food was extensive. It took about 20 minutes for the appetizers to arrive, the dumplings appeared to have been pre-​made and were luke warm. The chops were good. The dumplings did have a spicy bite to them and during on table conversation, we realized that our waitress did not ask for our selection of spice level. While she was attentive, it was painfully apparent that she has way too many tables. We were able to catch her and ask about our entrée spice level, at which time she indicated that our food was next up to be prepared. She indicated she would let the chef know what we wanted and returned to inform us that she had been able to let him know before he prepared our food.
From appetizer to entrée was about 35 minutes, and the main courses were far from their normal quality. The rib-​eye was overcooked, it was well above medium instead of medium rare. The sea bass was under cooked. The spice level on the sea bass was ordered as «no spice», the shrimp was ordered as «no-​spice», the rib-​eye was ordered as a 3 and the boar as a 2. The shrimp and sea bass were much hotter than the rib-​eye and boar.
While we understand the differences in the dish and ingredients will effect the spice level, and even a «no spice» will have some level of heat — the dish should be enjoyable to the palate. At this point, we had been there over seventy minutes, the restaurant was packed and our waitress was scarce — sending the food back was not really an option. Our friends, while polite, were not impressed — we were embarrassed. The desert finally came, it was average.
We had six cocktails for the table, the dinner special for four, and the up charge for our meals — our bill was $ 4+.
Understanding that this was a holiday but restaurants have the opportunity to show case themselves to new customers — we expected to have a great meal with great service Instead we received a marginal meal with average service. The ratio of $ to quality was well below our expectations and Merlion’s reputation.

I am the happiest girl in the world. It’s my birthday and Merlion’s contributed.
The staff was amazing. The food is unbelievable. It’s not for faint of heart though… They serve everything from tuna, wild bore and venison. Come here expecting nothing but the best! You get what you pay for.
Thank you Merlion’s.

This place was truly DISAPPOINTING! We came here relying on prior reviews expecting a better than average Thai meal. The food was both Over priced and Under whelming in taste and quality. To top it off, we had to wait over 45 minutes between appetizer and entrée service. Everyone in the restaurant section finished their wine, water, appetizer or soup and were looking at their watches waiting and waiting for their entrees with no explanation from the wait staff regarding the long delay. The owner finally came to our table and chastised me for asking about the wait and how much longer it would be and why I only got 3 scallops on the $ 21 scallop entrée. My Strong Advice is to Stay Away from Merlion Restaurant!

Excellent food. So many great menu options to choose from. I’m enjoying pan seared sea bass with curry sauce. Most excellent.

Their 2 level spicy is the equivalent of a 4 in many places. But that’s ok I come prepared with a slice of bread and a box of tissue, just wipe my nose and keep on eating!

Asked for the food to be a #1 spice level. It was about #4 out of 5.
Pad Thai was mushy, not a good consistency. The main entré took about 30 – 40 min to come out, with only one other table occupied. Good ambiance. Waitresses were nice.

Brooke and Andrew are amazing and the food is hands down the best I’ve had stateside. I used to live in Bangkok and it brings me right back the min I take my first bite!

I think I found my favorite Thai Food restaurant in the greater Houston area. Yum yum Tom Yum! Went to this restaurant and hopes that it would be good if not better than Banana Leaf in Dallas. Well, it’s way better. The Chef knows exactly what’s up and delivers the food spot on. This particular evening, I was hosting a client for dinner and they were in awe of how good, savory and spicy Merlion’s food really is. We were all pleasantly surprised. Service was stellar! Miss Candace was our server and she was sweet, kind and very accommodating. This place has a bar and patio seating. Towards the end of the night, this place turns into like disco dance room. Lots of fun. Can’t wait to go back.

This was my first time and the food was excellent. They have a great happy hour. Love eating at local restaurants in my town of Seabrook.

I got the fried rice with chicken and shrimp and it was beyond amazing so I can only imagine the rest of the food! The service was awesome!

Just left an another amazing experience at Merlion. Arrived on a very busy night without a reservation for our Anniversary and we were still treated like family. Everything was deliciously exotic and all the flavors explode in your mouth. Do yourself a favor and have the mussel app. Orgasmic…

Most amazing thai… no most amazing food out of any restaurant in the area. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The wine selection is wonderful and with the owner’s expertise, it can’t be beat!

My husband and I have been coming here since we moved to Houston nearly 3 years ago. Best Thai food I’ve ever had, definitely worth the wait (IF the kitchen is slow)!! The staff and management are great! Merlion is a family, and everyone is welcome!
I would recommend a reservation if you want to sit in the dining room. They get extremely busy and will accommodate if they’re able. The bar is first-​come-​first-​serve, but not very big.
Merlion has awesome food, a great atmosphere and fun staff!

Fabulous service and food. We were thoroughly impressed and can’t wait to go back!

You failed to mention the attacks by the chef, where the problem began. Very similar to the attacks in your write up, hum?
I pay for all meals, good or bad. You failed to mention that I was double charged.
The waitress was awesome. Yelling?
I am sorry that I did not accept the cupcake, but I simply do not eat sweets. My apologies if I offended you in any way.
Best wishes!

Service, food and quality A+++++!!! If you are looking for a great Thai place this place won’t disappointment. We will be back to try everything on the menu. LOVED the Raad Prick curry, it was authentic tasting and the sauce had a great kick at level two. A level three would have been to hot and usually get 4 on the hot scale. This Thai food is the best my husband and I have ever had! The owners were friendly and even gave us a bottle of champagne it being our first time to their restaurant. The atmosphere was romantic (quaint great little outside patio no small kids running around [not that I have anything against kids but it is date night] loved the vibe) and quiet enough to talk but music and stuff still happening. Loved the backlit bar and the yummy mango rice dessert.

I had been to the original Merlion years ago, and I knew it washed away in the storm so it wasn’t on my radar. Looking in Open Table it kept popping up, so out of the blue I called to see if we could get a reservation on the fly, and we did. I love having a place so close to home, it’s quaint, it was full of locals, and the staff was really nice. It wasn’t a restaurant that the staff was at your table every 5 minutes, «is it ok, anything else» you enjoyed your wine, then your appetizer then your main course, you were not rushed in and out! We started with the Dragon Fire Dumplings, then I went with the Merlion Thai Peanut sauce curry with shrimp, and partner tried the Suaras fried rice and we ended with the mango-​sticky rice. We shared everything, and took leftovers home. Chef does a great job of the fusion, it was a great meal and we’ll be back with friends.

EXTREMELY OVERPRICED!
Was craving some tom kha soup and made the mistake of walking into this place. Im from California and have had my fair share of authentic Thai food. The flavors are far from authentic. My lobster tom kha tasted like canned coconut milk with a dash of sriracha. No galangal or lemongrass flavor at all! We also had the crab and apple salad with was not very memorable. I don’t recall what else we had because we were so upset from the disappointment of the first few dishes, but they were certainly not good enough for us to remember them. Service was also horrible. The waitress had the social skills of a brick wall and we never got drinks refilled.
I understand its a thai fusion place but I suggest the chef not try to butcher authentic thai recipes.
Edit. Yes I did get a $ 50 soup. Yes you did do it.

I was excited to try this place because they were the only place close by that served «authentic» thai soup. After trying three of my favorite thai items,
I’ve concluded that its very Americanized thai food, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Tom Kha and Tom Yum soup both tasted good, but to me they needed a bit more body/​flavor. The Tom Yum smells lovely and it was very light. The mushrooms were great, but the shrimp was slightly over cooked and was a little gummy. You can smell tamarind but I would’ve liked more prik pao.
The Tom Yum is a coconut milk based soup and their version was good, but to me lacked lemongrass and fish sauce. The soup was heavy and too thick. Some places use low quality coconut milk and the soup ends up being too watery, in this case however it was too thick almost tastes like theres cream in there. The soup was pretty smooth, just tastes like the creaminess overpowered the spices.
I tried the panga curry with ²⁄₅ spicy was quite hot! Good hot, but again lacked fish sauce…
Overall I think the flavors were lightened up with less of the «smelly/​aromatic» Asian flavors. Haha the palate was definitely lightened up.
the atmosphere of the place was great. Quaint place with a nice staff. it was full of old people on a weekday, but thats seabrook/​kemah in general lol