Experience: Peska Seafood Culture

Peska Seafood Culture

Is it just me or does anyone else have a hard time writing less than stellar restaurant reviews? I wasn’t totally thrilled with this place and I’m not going to be gushing about it. But, people want to know the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between, right? Now, I’m not saying this place was horrible – it really wasn’t – it was just fine. But something crucial was missing and I’m not sure what.

With that said, let’s get to it.

As the name promises, Peska Seafood Culture is all about seafood, which is perfect because guess what? I’m all about seafood too. This relatively new restaurant just opened in April of 2015 and has already been featured in Zagat and the Houston Chronicle, so I figured it was worth a try.

First, the good. I appreciated Peska’s overall ambiance. The first thing you notice as you walk in is the seafood display boasting fresh lobster and giant prawns. Mmm…as they say eating starts with our eyes! The restaurant was spacious and tastefully appointed with a clean, modern vibe. They incorporated a coastal theme in their decor by installing a school of silver fish suspended from the ceiling and using a color palette of soft hues, vaguely reminiscent of sandy shores and perhaps a coral reef. Soft pools of light were strategically placed throughout the room and appropriately dimmed. I felt comfortable, and despite there being only a handful of diners scattered about the room, the energy was still upbeat.

The dishes themselves were moderately sized and tasted pretty good. Nothing spectacular. If given another chance I definitely wouldn’t order the same things again, especially after seeing photos of their other offerings on Yelp. Mark and I ordered a half dozen East Coast oysters to start off the night. They were delicious and we did our best to resist ordering more. A complimentary appetizer, two tuna croquettes with a chipotle mayo sauce, was then immediately brought to our table. We were both pleased. For my main, I ordered the Miso Bacalao, a white fish sitting in a pool of nori sauce, accompanied by bonito (smoked fish) flakes, and shishito peppers. It was perfectly flakey but a touch too heavy for my mood that evening. Mark ordered the Braised Beef Short Rib which came with mashed potatoes and veggies. The dish was tender, flavorful, and well seasoned – Mark had no complaints. For dessert, we ordered the Doughnuts with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, which was quite delightful.

The atmosphere was upscale without being pretentious and our waiter was helpful and for the most part attentive without being overbearing. Peska delivered a great presentation and tasty food – so, what went wrong? Well, the timing was way off. It was great to receive a free appetizer, but they brought it out two minutes after dropping off the oysters. It takes a bit of time to enjoy food and you should not feel rushed, we thought it was just a fluk and were ready to let it go. But then the main courses hit the table a mere 20 seconds later, so here we sit still finishing the oysters, our two tuna croquettes looking at us and the main courses being dropped by the manager and assistant waiter. A few minutes later the waiter noticed and was noticeably bothered by this, yet he did nothing to acknowledge the mistake or remedy it in any way. We looked around the room and noticed two other tables having to deal with the same issue. Yet at the same time we had to wait a while to get our wine glasses refilled. Timing is very important and this was way off.

And I don’t mean to be picky, but the place smelled exceedingly fishy. I’ve been to many seafood restaurants and none have even come close in terms of the intensity of the smell. It was overwhelming and off-putting.

So, while it had all the makings of a good restaurant, it could use some refinement before I would consider it great.