The Tasting Room - City Centre

I love The Tasting Room.  I always have.  Ever since they opened with a tiny hole in the wall in Uptown Park.  And, look how far they have come!  Three locations, a full lunch and dinner menu, and, another new location.  The Tasting Room is now open in City Centre.   By the way, I love City Centre, too.

The Tasting Room at City Centre follows the same basic tenets in design as the other 2 locations.   High energy.  Outside seating.  Nice service and nice staff.  The decor is simple and streamlined.  Polished cement floors, simple furnishings, a laid back approached to a sophisticated experience.  The latest Tasting Room is their largest location with plenty of room for private parties. 

The Tasting Room - City Centre

The menu.  The dinner menu is still more of "bar menu," but they do offer large plates such as Oven Roasted Red Snapper ($18) and Butternut Squash Tortellini ($14), which I thought sounded particularly yummy!  TTR offers many pizza selections and also added a wood-fired pizza oven at this location. 

We started with the Salumi and Cheese plate (3 cheeses and 3 meats for $26; alternatively, you can order just 3 cheeses for $18 or 3 meats for $18).  We enjoyed all 6 of our selections with our favorite being the Ossau-Iraty Sheep Cheese from France.  Sweet, buttery flavors.  Firm, but not hard.

Cheese & Salumi Plate

I am a Risotto Fanatic, so clearly, an order of their Mushroom Risotto was going to happen.  The dish ($10) made of carneroli rice, tomatoes, and Parmigiano-Reggiano was okay.  I was a little disappointed, though.  It was too thin and needed more seasoning, even a pinch of salt would have gone a long way on this under-spiced dish.  Sadness. 

Mushroom Risotto

I love that TTR offers Dessert!  Nothing like capping the night off with a little dolce to satisfy my crazy sweet tooth.  The Pistachio Pound Cake with truffle honey, agrodolce (traditional Italian sour-sweet sauce, made from reducing two sweet items such as sugar and vinegar), and lemon cream ($6) sounded intriguing and delicious.   It was good.  The pound cake was moist, but toasted, giving it a warm, crunchy texture.  The agrodolce was a strong flavor pairing nicely with the citrus-y whipped cream and toasted cake.  I really enjoyed it.

Pistachio Pound Cake

Our experience at The Tasting Room - City Centre was excellent.  I look forward to going back.  The service was perfect, the wines were yummy, the food was mostly delicious, and the ambiance captured high energy with relaxtion.

The Tasting Room - City Centre
818 Town & Country Boulevard, Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77024
(281) 822-1500
www.tastingroomwines.com