Masraffs

What a great date night place! It’s a beautiful restaurant and the ambience was romantic with low lights!!! This was our first time here and was very impressed by the food! We had the calamari which is the best we’ve ever had. It’s a must try!!! For dinner we decided to go with the red snapper and short rib with a side of lobster grits. All the food was delicious but the lobster grits definitely could have used more seasoning but again it was amazing food. Probably one of my new favorite places. Our server was Freddie and not only was he so attentive, but he was superb at all of his recommendations, he was friendly and funny! We really liked him a lot. I absolutely loved that the owner Mr. Tony Masraff went around to each table to introduce himself and ask how was the experience so far. That was a game changer for us! We will definitely be back!!! Thanks again Freddie!!!

Excellent service and nice upscale atmosphere. The food was very good but in my opinion a bit pricey for the portion sizes (lunch menu). I really enjoyed the fireside old fashioned and I do highly recommend it as well as exploring the cocktail menu.

Just had dinner here for my anniversary with my boyfriend and I’m so glad he picked this restaurant. Our typical anniversary or birthday dinner is usually a Brazilian steakhouse but this restaurant was 1000x better - from the friendly staff, the atmosphere and most importantly the food! I can’t remember the last time I’ve had such a flavorful meal that I savored every single bite! Tony Masraff came to greet us and ask how our food was. We loved everything about our experience and we both can’t wait to come back even when it’s not a special occasion. The food and service is worth every penny!

My husband and I dined here tonight after making a reservation. We have been looking for a more upscale place for awhile now and left other restaurants feeling like we overpaid and still had the same “run of the mill” meals with no excitement or finesse. But that was NOT our experience at Masraff’s. Our dinner tonight was so good! I got the Seabass and literally one of the best cooked pieces of fish I’ve ever tasted. Delicious! My husband had crab risotto and it was really creamy and wonderful. Two sides and two desserts later…we left SO full and happy. The owner and his son introduced themselves to us, what a nice gesture. Food came out quickly and hot. Great experience and can’t wait to go back.

As first time guests, we were blown away! We celebrated our 5 year anniversary and we could not have had a better experience. Our waiter Paul was so incredibly kind, knowledgeable and polite. We really appreciated all the staff for being so great during our dinner including the hostess stand, bussers, wait staff and manager. Every course was incredible! Our favorite was the Calamari and Clam chowder which burst with flavor. It was an amazing way to start our meal. Per Paul’s recommendation we tried the Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert and it’s our new favorite dessert we have ever had! They very kindly comped it for our anniversary. We will be returning often!

Houston's most iconic restaurant? If that's factual, then no restaurant is worth eating in Houston. Visited with a friend. I am not a drinker, so I didn't order alcohol of any type. Hopefully I didn't miss the best part of the restaurant. The calamari for starters was ok, large chunks of calamari fried to perfection, but the sauce/accompaniment didn't have much to talk about, pretty mundane. My friend and I then ordered a filet mignon and a burger, both of which are disappointing. The filet mignon was topped with barbecue sauce. Interesting twist, it'd be great only if it tasted good as well. I ordered it to be medium, only to get a piece of meat overcooked on the outside. The spinach and the baked potato below it are both very very mediocre of a restaurant with a 4.7 rating. The spinach was simply boiled in water, at most with salt, if I am to guess it. The baked potatoes were overbaked, with barely any taste. The sandwich, which we shared, was pretty normal. However, the smoked meat inside it was too hard and didn't really add any pleasant flavor to it. Just an ordinary burger with a failed effort on adding a twist. The service was OK. Nothing too special about it. You can give it a try, but I would say, its description is fairly inaccurate. Most iconic restaurant in Houston? I guess McDonald's are world class restaurants then. This restaurant is overpriced and overhyped. However, it's important to mention that the bread for starters is an absolute banger. It's wonderful.

We’re definitely coming back here. I was able to join my friends just for desserts but definitely fell in love. They’ve said great things about the food, I look forward to trying. I loved how they served the dessert, taste, the perfect softness of the cake. Oh no! Writing about it made me crave it :) Update: I went there with a larger group and a toddler. We had a chance to meet with Mr.Masraff and he spoiled my nephew to some fries. He enjoyed the fries the most out of all the other amazing food we had him tasted. You will get high quality service here.

WEDDING CATERING: Masraff's is one of the five approved caterers we could choose for our wedding reception at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). I thought from planning my sister's wedding we'd be all in on Cafe Natalie, but when we compared our tasting experiences at both... Masraff's was WORLDS ahead of where we thought we could land in our price range. There was simply no comparison. Brooke, the Masraff's Catering Director, was so accommodating, and we were blown away by the service and treatment we received at our tasting. The owner even came over to meet us and our parents! Joe, the HMNS Events Manager, told us not to write off Masraff's, which I was tempted to do since their online presence doesn't show much on their catering front - they're not listed on the Knot. But his friendly advice was right, along with his helpful recommendation to try the chicken roulade that wasn't included on their set catering menu, but available upon request. At the tasting we tried... Hors d'oeuvres - Tuna tartar tacos, figs in a blanket, bacon-wrapped blue cheese dates, mini brie en croute, grilled cheese bites, mushroom risotto balls, short rib egg rolls // Salad - Chopped Boston, West coast spinach, Masraff's wedge // Entree - Crispy chicken roulade, Meyer lemon chicken chop, roasted shrimp served with garlic pesto, Barolo braised short rib // Sides - Potato puree, truffle mushroom orzo pasta, Brussels sprouts Brooke was very friendly and sat with us throughout the tasting collecting our feedback on the food and encouraging us that we could always ask the chef to make changes as we desired! We ended up tweaking the west coast spinach salad to add a mix of lettuce instead of all spinach, which can be hard to eat without making a mess of dressing on your face. Everything was delicious and it was hard for us all to come to consensus on what was our favorite. We ended up serving... Passed hors d'oeuvres - tuna tartar tacos, bacon-wrapped blue cheese dates, risotto balls, braised short rib egg rolls // pre-set salad - west coast spinach, Bibb, and arugula salad // seated dual plate dinner with chicken roulade and braised beef short ribs with truffle parmesan orzo pasta and crispy Brussels sprouts. And their focaccia bread is to die for!! Masraff's also cut and served our cake and provided a coffee bar and ice cream bar (since my husband prefers ice cream to cake!). They were also very accommodating to provide nut free, gluten free, and even dairy/gluten free options to our specific guests with those needs. They also handled our bar service. I can't recall which bar tier we went with - maybe Tier Two (it was the one with Monopolowa Vodka). We subbed one of our beer options for Topo Chico Hard Seltzer and served French 75 as our specialty cocktail, which was included because their package included all its ingredients already. We also had them set out/serve bottled waters for a half hour after bar service ended. We had our reception in the Paleo Hall at the HMNS with about 150 guests on June 11. We chose to have the dance floor in the middle with tables surrounding. Brooke suggested high-top tables for the back walkway, which we placed our younger guests at, and it worked perfectly! Service the night of was prompt and friendly! And inevitably, someone broke a glass on the dance floor yet I hardly noticed because Brooke herself was cleaning it up as soon as it hit the floor. They swapped to plastic after that too - I suppose that was the sign we were have too much fun! Nearly all of our guests commented on how it was the best wedding they've ever been to, and I contribute that all to Brooke and the Masraff's catering team and Joe from the Museum. I could just go on and on about how Masraff's was the absolute right choice. My husband and I could not have been happier with how the night unfolded. If I could give them more than five stars I would! We've already been back to the Masraff's restaurant for several special occasion dinners and plan to return for our one year anniversary!