One Fifth (Romance Languages)- Houston

We rushed back from Fredericksburg for this restaurant reservation so I was really hoping that it was worth it. And it was.

One Fifth is Chris Shepherd’s (of Underbelly) five-year project featuring five different restaurant concepts. The first one (last year) was Steak, which I unforgivably missed. I was determined not to miss this year’s so as soon as I got a reservation, I knew I had to keep it.

This year’s concept, Romance Languages, is French, Spanish and Italian Cuisine. It’s really hard to get bad food from such cuisine so I knew that one way or another, we will end up happy.

I started with a very refreshing LE CHIEN ROSÉ — vodka, grapefruit, house cherry, turbinado, sparkling rosé
D had a very interesting 2011 Syrah
D’s appetizer – CRUDO made of snapper
I had CHARRED OCTOPUS–almond romesco, salsa verde, squid chicharones

For entree, I chose the suckling pig aka cochinillo. In the Philippines, it is called lechon. I could have had the entire pig at the price of this dish but it did not even taste half as good! Here’s when I’m really starting to have a bad case of homesickness…If I didn’t have to compare it with Cebu’s Inasal, this dish would have bode well.

SUCKLING PIG PRESSE–white bean puree, charred broccolini, red pepper mustarda
D had CHICKEN ROULADE–whipped potatoes, mushroom jus, truffle
I love the dessert—croquembouche!!! Takes a bit of time to execute so order early (they recommend 20 minutes)
It paired excellent with this 1963 Rivesaltes, easily the best dessert wine I’ve had by far.

This restaurant is faultless. Not an easy feat in this city crawling with really good restaurants. Our server, Emily, was above par.  I kick myself for having missed the Steak concept they had earlier. I ditched that reservation for Roka Akor, which was no slouch either. Next year’s concept is Fish. I can’t wait.

One Fifth, 1658 WESTHEIMER RD, Houston, TX

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *