Black & White

Great atmosphere, great service, good wine list with several great inexpensive options, pork dinner was great

As the name suggests there are two sides to the restaurant– black which is more formal/​white tablecloths and white which is more casual. You can order from both menus from either side.
Many of the hot tapas are deep fried (soft shell crab, tuna carnitas, fish tacos, etc) without much flavor. The waiter had told us the tuna carnitas were just flash fried and the tuna was raw on the inside — our order was completely cooked on the inside. The tuna cubes which was highly recommended by the waiter came out frozen! Of the items ordered, the table enjoyed the grilled octopus and soft shell crab the most.
Dessert on the other hand was quite delicious — highly recommend the chocolate tarte!

My husband and I went here tonight to celebrate his birthday. We had a reservation and when the hostess called to confirm she asked which side we would like. You can order menu items from black or white no matter where you are seated, but I requested the black side since it is nicer and we were celebrating. When we arrived we were seated in the white side next to the door. I was not impressed and I asked again to be seated on the black side. The hostess said it would take about 5 minutes to get us a table (even though there were several empty tables). We said it was fine and we would wait at the bar and grab a drink. Once we got a table our waitress, Claudia, was very nice. We ordered 3 small plates to share. We ordered the Nostro Polpo, Tuna Carpaccio, and Shrimp «Ajillo». The only one we enjoyed was the shimp. The other 2 dishes were very bland. My husband was very excited to try the Nostro Polo and it was a let down. The dish was in serious need for salt/​flavor, and the octopus was rubbery/​overcooked. The waitress asked about our food and she could tell we weren’t impressed. She brought us out a dessert called a white brownie, and it was delicious. Over all we were disappointed, but the shrimp and the dessert were delicious. But that’s just 2 out of 4. Sadly we most likely won’t be returning since there are so many better options in Houston. The restaurant did comp the Tuna Carpaccio & the white brownie which was nice since I’m not one to ask for free things. I kinda felt bad because the waitress begged us to come back again and give them a second chance. I assured her that it wasn’t her fault, but after reading other reviews we weren’t the only patrons that have been disappointed with the food.

Let’s play «Which restaurant won’t make it until the end of 2016?» This one.
Do I feel like writing a detailed review today? Nah.
Was the food here good, was it worth the price, would I return? No, no, and nope.
Snapper was dry, octopus had a burnt taste, and it was so loud I couldn’t understand my dining companion (he does have an accent– but that’s not the only reason).

We were sadly disappointed by our experience at Black & White. The two menu/​two dining room experience was OK. But why bother? It’s just a two sided menu and you can order anything from either. But we had several other complaints that made our visit here a bad one. Our waiter had a weird sort of demeanor — bad attitude, or whatever you want to call it. He brought us a basket of plain dry tortilla chips and some sliced bread. No butter, no olive oil, no dip. When my husband requested some butter, the waiter responded with a snide comment like, «Oh. You want that…» He did bring some butter. We ordered the tuna carpaccio appetizer, which was quite nice. For dinner, my husband had a snapper dish, which at $ 42 was WAY overpriced and WAY too bland. Dry overcooked fish. Not good at all. I had a Mediterranean linguine with shrimp, olives, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and eggplant, which was ok, but also extremely bland. The shrimp were unseasoned, small and few in number. The dish was desperately in need of some Parmesan. We had placed an order for a bottle of wine at the same time we placed our food order, but the wine did not come out until we were nearly finished with our entrees. When we asked the waiter about it, he said it was still chilling. What??? No good restaurant puts a wine on their list if it isn’t already chilled and ready to serve! He brought out the barely chilled wine and poured some, and for the remainder of our time there, be was running back and forth to the bar to chill it more. Just bad, bad restaurant management. All in all, very expensive for very bland food, goofy service, and bad restaurant management equals no return trip here for us. There are too many good restaurants in Houston to waste your time on this place.

From Dallas visiting friends here in Houston.
We went in for a Sunday brunch their menu is set but very nice. Although their menu was set we asked if they had chicken nuggets for our daughters and the server politely said no but will check to see. Well he came back and said yes and made my kids day. Not only they made the chicken nuggets but they also made some fries that clearly was freshly made (just like the ones I make at home.)
Our food arrived and was delicious and beautiful. I’m not sure what the other Unilocaler was talking about but we didn’t have to deal with Valet and there was plenty of parking.
The desert was also delicious and looked amazing as well.
At the end a gentleman who I believe must have been the owner /​or the manager came to check on is to make sure all was okay. That was nice as well. He invited us to come back for dinner. But we are heading back now and I hope friends would go back to enjoy this nice restaurant with a night atmospheres

Décor is a beautiful «modern rustic «, food is a lot of Spanish-​inspired seafood. but really a fusion of many tastes. The result is EXCELLENT food with complex flavors, top choice ingredients and interesting seasonings. I would say that their pulpo is the best I’ve ever had: tender, succulent, and seasoned with the best paprika. The mahi-​mahi sauce was also such a treat. Well done! I will come back.

I have never written a Unilocal review but somehow I think this restaurant really deserves one. Parking: The restaurant is empty. The parking lot is empty. Why do we have to valet park? There is one guy working at the valet stand and 7 people have to wait one by one to get their car from the back lot that was empty. One person in our party suggested that we retrieve our own cars but that was not allowed.
Seating: I originally made a reservation for 6 however when the hostess called to confirm the reservation I asked that we change the party to 7. She said sure she would change the reservation. We arrive at our table, the restuarant is again empty, it is a six top seating. I say remember we have 7 people. The hostess says «oh we will add a chair».
Service: Waiter never came to check on our experience or if we were enjoying our food. Which brings me to the food.
Food: I ordered Nostro Polpo. Which tasted as though the sauce was burnt. It was truly the worse food I have eaten in a restaurant ever… I ate some of the mash potatoes that came with the dish but was unable to eat anything else. The waiter returns to collect our plates and asks if I need a to go box. I say no. A good waiter would have asked if I had enjoyed my dish. He said nothing. Collected my full plate of food and returned with my bill.
Save your money.

This place is great! We had the salmon entrée as well as the tuna entrée and both were delicious and also a good sized portion. Love the customer service, from the hostess to the wait staff. Very friendly and accommodating.
I would give five stars, but the parking situation does not make sense to me. There is a large parking lot behind the restaurant, but it is ALL blocked off for valet parking. Granted, the valet parking is free, but I’ve had bad experiences at other places with valet parking and prefer to self park. It’s frustrating to see dozens of nice empty parking spaces blocked off and having to circle around to find street parking. We went early (around 6:00), way ahead of the crowd, so I suggest they only block of a portion of the parking lot until the restaurant fills up and the valet really needs the room. Not sure I’ll be back for this reason.

I had my birthday dinner here tonight with my boyfriend and everything was so awesome. We had the soft shell crab, nostro pulpo, octopus tostadas, and the spicy shrimp linguini. All the food was SO good. After vacationing in Greece, octopus is my favorite and it was just as good here as it was in Greece. Also — the drink menu was spot on! Every drink we had was fantastic. For dessert — the white brownie is the way to go — like an amped up tres leche. awesome. Can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu!

Black & White is a contemporary, dual concept restaurant featuring international seafood & European-​Mediterranean fare. Its «two concepts under one roof» theme offers guests the White seafood offerings and the Black Mediterranean fare. Their motto: providing the best food experience in conjunction with a relaxed and laid back ambiance. Their unpretentious yet savory dishes are served with pride and prepared with the best ingredients possible.
Items to order:
«Nostro Polpo» — fried octopus tentacles lightly seasoned with paprika, clove, salt, olive oil and a dash of lemon zest, served on a bed of mashed potatoes.
The «Ensenada» Fish Tacos looked and smelled delicious. Three battered fish cuts on flour tortillas, with pico de gallo, chipotle mayo, refried beans, lettuce and avocado
The «Mediterranean Ceviche», a mix of Spanish octopus, lobster tail, shrimp, mussels, and calamari, with bell peppers. It was so fresh and perfectly acidic.
Items to drink:
The Pomegranate Mojito & Raspberry Limoncello. I absolutely love Limoncello and usually drink it with a splash of prosecco. This recipe called for a sweet fresh raspberry infusion of which I welcomed.
The B&W Gin & Tonic was a hit. The classic mix of Hendrick’s gin, Indian Fever-​Tree tonic, juniper berries and cucumber can’t be beat.

Hidden Gem for Sunday Brunch. We popped in around 1:00 pm and had this fabulous place to ourselves. They are testing out the brunch menu, I hope it stays. We tried an array of fresh seafood dishes and was impressed with great flavor and textures with each serving. First up was the octopus it was lightly sautéed with fresh herbs and garlic; it was tender (not chewy) with saffron potatoes which was very light and paired well with the octopus. I also the blood orange mimosa and Bloody Mary which were tasty, but the Bellini Martini was our favorite… We also shared the tuna tostadas and ended with the Huevos Rotos the flavors were bold and the portion was filling. We really enjoyed our brunch experience and will return soon with friends, before the word gets out… The service was great and I love the concept of selecting dining experience — casual or fine dining without a price increase…

The staff is phenomenal. The brunch is delicious and impeccable. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. The ambience is delightful! Will definitely go back :))

Nah. Not good. I hate to say it but I don’t see this place surviving.
EDIT: I’ve updated my original 2 star review to one star. My husband, friends and I were up all night with terrible stomach aches after eating there. I won’t call it full blown food poisoning but it woke me out of a dead sleep and I was wide awake clutching my stomach in pain. I think it must have been the tuna, since we all had that.
Started shaky in the beginning. I made a reservation and they didn’t have it or something. I reserved for the «White» side because we wanted to have a chill, laid back night. I followed the instructions on OpenTable and put that in the special requests field. We arrived and they said there were no tables in that area and we would have to sit in the other section. That’s fine. Ok.
We get the table and the service was sow and not great. I’m not faulting our server though. She was pretty much alone and running like a mad woman. Not her fault. Not like she was sitting outside chilling. She was working, hard.
Drinks are reasonably priced and it’s a gorgeous setting. That’s what gave two stars.
Now the food. NOPE. Maybe it was an off night for the kitchen but the food was very unimpressive. They brought bread but didn’t give us the oil that we saw other tables get so that kinda sucked.
I got two small plates. The tuna cubes were my starter. Raw tuna in sesame and soy and it’s typically one of my favorite dishes. NOPE. flavorless, weird texture on the tuna, not good. I didn’t even eat it. My table mates ate and were like «yeah not great.»
I got the octopus with the mashed potatoes as my main dish. Octopus is one of my FAVORITE things. It was over cooked and just not good. I was sad.
My husband got the Mediterranean ceviche and said it was good. But he got the tuna steak as his entrée and hated it. Over cooked and not good.
Bottom line, after spending $ 130 on the food and a $ 26 tip (never ever screw over the server, that’s our motto!), we simply won’t be back. Too many great places to spend that kind of money. I feel like we got screwed over. No I didn’t send my food back. And yeah I guess I should have said something at the time. But it just wasn’t worth it.
Won’t be returning.

This place is great! I enjoyed our dinner here very much. There is a Black side (formal, meat dishes) and a White side (casual, seafood dishes). I went here on a Friday night with a few friends. We opted for the white side, but you can sit anywhere and order from both menus. We decided to do tapas style and order many dishes to share. I don’t think we ordered any entrees, but it was the perfect amount of food.
B&W Octopus Carpaccio — Yummy. We ordered this dish on accident, but it did not disappoint. The octopus is thinly sliced and dressed in a delicious vinaigrette.
B&W Caprese Salad — It had fresh thick slices of mozerella cheese and tomatoes with thinly sliced beef. A delicious twist to the normal caprese salad.
Mediterranean Soft Shell Crab — Order this. It’s a safe dish that everyone will enjoy. The sauce that accompanies it is good too.
Nostro Polpo — Is this what we meant to order! It was delicious! That is if you like octopus. It’s served with a bed of mash potatoes so if you are starting with this, opt out of mash potatoes for your entress because there is plenty on this dish!
Oysters — Yum!!! Get this. Some of the best I’ve ever tasted.
I deducted a star because service was a little slow. It felt like our waiter was all over the place and was short staffed. If you have somewhere to be, I would not recommend having dinner here.
P. S. Their happy hour ends at 7pm.

Went here last night for dinner and ordered a bunch of cold and warm starters instead of the typical 3 course meal. We ordered the steamed
Mussels, boulibasse, Mediterranean ceviche, and the beef carpaccio. Personally, the bouillabaisse was too salty. The ceviche and the beef carpaccio were just average, would’ve liked a more citrus kick to the ceviche. The steamed mussels were our favorite, and the portion sizes were great. Nice atmosphere, but gets a little too crowded around 8pmish. The cocktails were very tasty! Overall, just meh. Nothing stood out.

This place is delicious.
Even though there’s a «Black» side and «White» side, with separate menus, you can order from either menu wherever you sit.
At least, this was the case last night!
Fantastic food. Octopus carpaccio!!! A lot of places make this tough, but this octopus was soooo tender. I don’t know how they did it.
The raw blue point oysters were ok – I thought they were a bit fishy. But the horseradish sauce it comes w is so good I packed it to take home!!! Yummy
Our mains were my peppered tenderloin steak, with two sides, from the Black menu, and my husband’s snapper — I can’t remember which menu he got it from.
Again, the food was so great. I was so happy to take home my leftovers — I can’t wait to eat it again!!!

From the reviews of this month-​old restaurant, it seemed to be a hit-​or-​miss experience for most people. Fortunately for my sister and me, it was a hit! I’m a big enough fan to want to visit again as well as tell others about it.
We went on a Saturday evening, around 8:30 pm. There was a fair amount of people, but no line. We chose the white (casual dining, more tapas-​style) side of the restaurant and were immediately seated.
Service (⁵⁄₅): Our waiter, Scott, was THE BOMB! He was warm, humorous, and enthusiastic as he provided attentive service to us all evening. When we asked for menu suggestions, he easily share the details of the most popular dishes as well as his personal favorites. We were provided a complimentary plate of soft-​shell crab by one of the chefs. Additionally, we were visited by one of the assistance managers (we’re guessing that’s his position?) and asked how we were enjoying our experience. Overall, service was welcoming and attentive without being overbearing.
Food (⁴⁄₅):
— Fried soft-​shell crab (complimentary!): This was DELICIOUS! The meat was well-​seasoned, and the texture was crispy and soft without feeling limp. The accompanying salad was fresh and flavorful.
— Peruvian ceviche: A solid dish, but nothing spectacular. This was my first time having ceviche with sweet potato (not sure if that’s a regular Peruvian thing?), but the combo of sweet and sour was tasty.
— Nostro polpo (grilled octopus tentacles on a bed of mashed potatoes): For me, this dish was on the brink of being great. Maybe it was because I was so besotted with the soft-​shell crab that this paled a bit in comparison. I wish the octopus had been just a smidge more chewy. The grilled flavor was on point, however, and the mashed potatoes were well-​seasoned.
— White brownie (*****): If you eat just one thing at this establishment, let it be THIS dessert! After two staff members singing its praises, we were convinced to change our choice from the dark chocolate tarte and coffee flan to this. Neither of us regretted it one bit. The name is extremely misleading (as the wait staff may tell you). This dessert is not a brownie and more of a dense sponge cake, soaked through with the most delectable vanilla sauce you can imagine. The closest comparison I can think of is a denser, thicker/​gooier tres leches cake, but even that description is somewhat off. JUST TRY IT. If you don’t end up liking it, give it to me.
Tl;dr Give this place a try. The white brownie is a MUST.

I like trying new restaurants in my hood, The Heights. Usually for a Thursday night at 7:00pm, its almost impossible to get in anywhere without being there at 5:00pm to grab a table. Knowing this is a new place my friend and I thought we take our chances.
WE pull up to the valet parking and walk right in. First impressions of the design is very modern and stylish. Nice bar seating area. To the Right is the black side and it is very dark and in a romantic way. To the right is the «white» side that is not as stark white as one would think, but it is very tastefully done in hues of dark and and light shades of white, grey and tans. Outdoor seating is really nice and since it was a comfortable night, we chose outside. I was surprised however to notice that there was only one table on the black side and one or two on the white side (inside) and 4 tables outside. It was incredibly slow during our entire meal. Which I must mention was cut short as the waiter kept trying to get us out of his section. I am not sure why as we ordered 3 tapas plates, and a bottle of wine. Once we finished our plates he offered to cork the bottle of wine for us so we could leave. My friend asked if he was ready to leave his shift and he replied «Always» WOW. We had only been there for maybe 45 minutes and he was already to kick us out? He was not rude about it, but I was talking and trying to catch up with a friend and he was not wanting us to stick around. Had he let us, I would have ordered another bottle of wine. But when a waiter is not interested in serving me as a customer, I want to get out. I should give the establishment 2 stars, but the food was very good.
We ordered the Octopus dish with the mashed potatoes. OMG this was heaven. I have never had octopus so tender and flavorful. It is very filling so do share this with 4 people. We also had the Shrimp tostata. This had the perfect mix of heat from the serrano pepper and coolness of the blended avocado. The fried soft shell crab was good, but not much crab, it was more legs than anything. The star of that dish was the homemade tartar sauce. This was just excellent. It is the best home made tartar sauce I had ever had. Very light and tart at the same time.
Wine list is very nice and affordable. If you are allowed to get a second bottle and not be run off by the waiter, there are some great choices so you can try more than just one type of wine.
Since this place is new, and I know how hard it is to find good waiters in a city so full of restaurants, I will give the Black side a shot, and hope for a better waiter.

The overall theme of the establishment is predominately Spanish Mediterranean. The chef is from Valencia (what I was told) so if you’ve been there you can see many of the southern Spanish themed dishes. The build-​out of the place is open and contemporary with a southern richness, if that makes sense.
The menu for the White or casual dining has a raft of seafood dishes from cold to hot aps to entrees. My eyes were drawn to the octopus choices so I ended up landing the Nostros Pulpo and my GF ending up choosing the Bouillabase. The octopus showed up with 3 huge tedrils on a bed of mash potatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Spanish paprika. When they arrived I was grinning ear to ear thinking holy crap… they’re the size of a baby’s arm. Not quite but damn close and for $ 15 my happy smile would have rivaled Heath Ledger in Batman. The bouillabase broth was loaded with taste, depth and richness and of course the seafood was fresh and juicy on each bite.
I think I’ve found another go to place and look forward to trying out all the other dishes with an equal excitement as I had tonight. Btw, the grand opening of this place is this Thursday Sept 10 and they’ll be serving small bites and will have music to liven up the festivities. In addition, they will be starting brunch this Sunday from 11 — 4 pm.