The Bird & The Bear

Meh is right. This was my first stop on my month long restaurant weeks journey and what a disappointment. I really wanted to give this place a shot despite the reviews. Unilocal is so successful for a very good reason… the reviews are usually spot on. And this is no exception.
Being in River Oaks and the sister restaurant to Ousie’s Table, the expectations were a little high. But the service, food, and décor did not live up, at all. We were seated for the HRW brunch. The décor is the «we are quirky», but still in River Oaks. The menus were really old and worn and stained. I know it is not a huge deal, but this bugs me so bad about places. The first thing I see as a patron is a menu. It is a first impression.
We were told that the HRW menu was not entirely ready. They only had one first course option and none of the desserts. This shocks me… HRW is the same month every single year. It is not an excuse to not be ready. We were offered dessert from the regular menu. The server was very sweet, but not experienced at all and very slow. He forgot just about everything from drinks to dessert. The food was also meh… blueberry pancakes, bacon (only 2 slices) and an egg… which I was not asked how I wanted it cooked. A bowl of fresh fruit was also listed with this option but we were told by our server that that was incorrect and got no fruit.
Just all and all a disappointing brunch. I use HRW to try to get to new places… but this is off the list for good. And if not for this special menu, I would have been stuck paying 16 $ for pancakes. Might as well walk next door to Chuy’s next time.

Bottomless mimosas/​belinis!!! We were pretty much the only party in the place on a Saturday afternoon… The food was pretty good nothing over the top unique to it. I would definitely recommend for a Sunday/​Saturday funday!

I was very disappointed in the food. The crab cakes were burnt, the steak was under cooked for medium, the snapper was over cooked and crab was old. We had a large party but, there were only 3 – 4 small groups besides ours. That should have been a tell since it was Saturday night in Houston.

I wanted to like this place but I just can’t find anything good about it except the interesting décor. Aside from the bad reviews I read prior to arriving the next red flag should have been the fact that there were only 6 other patrons there. How does that happen in Houston?!
I expected so much more from a restaurant in this neighborhood. Our waitress tonight was very nice but not trained at all. I could tell she was overwhelmed by my table of 6 girls and let the manager know. He didn’t come out until the very end. That’s disappointing and unprofessional. He should have come out to help her.
The food was just sad and over priced. My Caesar salad was not good. Even store bought dressing would have been better. My friend ordered a Chicken sandwich thing that she said she could have made at home and saved herself the drive/​money.
Overall… Just based on the reviews we should have selected another place.

How is this place still open after months of terrible reviews? Gordon Ramsay, you are needed… PRONTO!!!
This place is a joke, right?
Inexperienced and uninterested staff.
Food was abysmal and inconsistent.
Wait was ridiculous.
The place was empty.
Please believe the other low reviews and stay away!!!

Overview:
The food is not impressive. I’ve been here a couple of times for brunch. The restaurant is nice and I haven’t had an issue with the wait staff but I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re looking for a good brunch.

Food was very good. They have a new menu that’s a lot healthier and gluten free options. I had the grouper fish. Very good! We had a new waiter and he was very knowledgable. Took a little time for the food to come out though and it wasn’t busy.

When you walk into a restaurant on a Friday evening and it’s not even a quarter full you should immediately turn around and RUN away.
Our server was very nice, but I don’t think properly trained. They were very confused by the request for still mineral water, but eventually we got a bottle of Fehji (never heard Fiji pronounced like that but ok.) But they didn’t open it or pour it, and left the ice waters sitting on the table. Ok, just smile and move on.
Crab cakes were from Sysco and the two shrimp in the Shrimp at War weren’t spicy in any way, the risotto it was served on had way too much cheese in it.
The gumbo was a Sysco crab soup that someone had doctored into what they thought a gumbo should be. Lived in Maryland many years I know crab soup when I taste it. But «not quite» gumbos are common here in Houston, so meh.
One good thing is the wine list, lots of hard to find items at great prices. Shame they don’t have anything but the cheapest, most basic wineglasses; kind of dampens the excitement on your find of an obscure pinot noir or Bordeaux.
Which brings me to all the dinnerware, it is all very worn and dinghy, something you’d expect to find at an all-​night diner, not River Oaks-​ish zip codes.
The scallops were frozen and I guess they forgot to season them, some didn’t thaw completely before hitting the pan so were overdone in one quadrant and under in another.
The lamb was supposed to come with asparagus, like with the shrimp I was fooled by words that are the same singular as plural. One skinned asparagus, why they skinned it when they ignored so many other much more important techniques all through the meal I don’t know. And it certainly didn’t taste grilled, but I’ll never know because it was skinned, hmmm. The lamb chops were ok, the glaze was honey based so they were a bit sweet and under-​seasoned. They were petite and you only get four, but it’s on a huge pile of risotto so hope you like cheese.
Risotto seems to be a cost saving measure here, over half our small portioned dishes were served on mountainous mounds of over-​cheesed risottos of various flavorings. I love a good risotto, it made me sad to see a sublime dish turned into an unloved workhorse.
Good news, it’s almost over, here comes the freaking dessert tray, just like TGIFridays. No I am not kidding. Most of it was out of box, but pot d’crême isn’t a Sysco product and not too hard to make so we took a chance. And it was good!
The people near us had ordered a burger which I believe was supposed to come with pomme frites. But they were out!!! And apparently didn’t have a mandolin or potatoes! So the kitchen substituted steak fries, without asking, which surprisingly they weren’t happy about since they were looking forward to bistro fries.
Hmmm, they have steak fries but no potatoes on a Friday night with the whole rest of the weekend to come, and they call themselves a bistro so frites are an expected bistro item. Sounds like BS to me, their Sysco order was messed up and they got bags of frozen steak fries instead of skinny cut bistro fries. Pathetic.
Oh and hearing the ka-​chunk, beep, beep, beep, whoooozhe of a microwave over and over while you’re dining IS NOT REASSURING or APPETIZING in ANY WAY!
Ouisie’s should be embarrassed and ashamed. It’s exactly like the pathetic restaurants you guiltily watch on Kitchen Nightmares. Scripted or not, some places are just that screwed up.
Do everyone a favor and close, much like the sad offspring of Ninfa’s, which had to be put out of their misery before they dragged down the original, so does this basket case. It would be a kindness. The people employed there are learning things that will hurt them for the rest of their hospitality careers.
A kindness…
…hey, turn it into a nice wine bar, with easy small plates that you can make and don’t need to buy premade. And let’s get rid of the bad attempt to copy Down House’s décor and do something warm and inviting. Rugs on the concrete are an absolute must. And the suicidal furnishings have been hanging from the rafters long enough, let’s put them to rest. No one wants dine at the Bistro of Damocles.
Just do something, as it is now it’s a train wreck.

I will say that after reading the Unilocal reviews, I was pleasantly surprised by The Bird & the Bear. But… hmm.
Went for Sunday brunch and had Alaskan Benedict. It was good, but nothing special. The english muffin was like, store bought whatever. But I will say that my eggs were perfectly poached. Potatoes were somewhat lackluster, and the fresh fruit was nothing outside of ordinary. The service was perfectly fine. Drinks were refilled, requests were met, all good on that front.
However, for $ 19, the cost/​quality ratio is just not there.

The décor was cute and unique– I mean, chairs hanging from the ceiling? Whaaaat.
The service was slow for a place that was mostly empty, Sunday morning.
Parking lot is limited, I can see potentially painful valet in the evening, but I went during the day. It wasn’t bad when I got there, but the lot was full by the time I left, early afternoon.
The gumbo was not impressive. The tomato basil mini-​sandwiches paired with chicken salad were good, but not for the price.
In summary, food wasn’t great. I would probably come here with friends, but never on my own.

This place is great for several reasons. It’s a white table cloth kind of place but still casual. I’ve never had to have a reservation for either dinner or brunch.
I know the menu is kinda crazy. It’s all over the place. French, indian, spanish. A little of everything. But everything I have had here is quality. Also don’t count on the online menu as it constantly changes. I think everything I had last time I was there is not even listed.
They have this appetizer it’s a feta Greek yogurt… SO good. I’ve been teaching myself how to recreate it at home. Bison burger was great and the spicy chicken sandwhich is recommended.

Came here for New Years lunch and had a decent dining experience. Our waiter was extremely friendly and prompt with his service. The food was OK.
To start we ordered mimosas, and then a glass of white wine. Both were good. Complimentary fried poppyseed won-​ton skins and an olive oil dip with olives was served.
We then proceeded to order two small plates to share, think of these small plates almost like tapas. We ordered the sardinas with saffron rice, and a seafood crêpe. The sardinas was a whole fish, fried, and placed on top of rice. Flavor was briney, salty, and very fishy… I have had sardines before but this was not a flavor of sardine that I was expecting, nor accustomed to. It was interesting. On the other hand, the seafood crêpe was really tasty. Creamy sauce and filled with lump crab meat, shrimp, and fish. Definitely would recommend trying the crêpe.
I ordered a hot green tea but I was disappointed in the temperature of the water as it was barely hot enough to release the essence of my tea bag. For my entrée I ordered the tandoori halibut with cucumber and a grilled peach. This dish was also interesting in flavor. The fish was tender and well seasoned (if you like tandoori flavored food). The cucumber ribbons were probably the most delicious part of this meal, drenched in a yogurt sauce and lots of black pepper. I was a little disappointed when a grilled pear was served with my dish instead of a grilled peach but I assume it’s because peaches are out of season.
Overall, the dining experience was OK, I liked the décor and ambience of the restaurant the best. Would come back to try more drinks and possibly some more small plates. The parking lot can get crowded during lunch hour as try share a lot with Chuy’s Mexican restaurants

I took my family there for Christmas Eve dinner. Apparently they had a reduced special menu that night. The food was very good I must say. We shared a calamari for the table. It was small portion and my kids took it down while I talked to the waiter. I only had a single bite! I had a chicken breast over dirty rice (only because I saw another one served to the table next to us). It was better than expected. Most of the rest of the table had duck confit, and nobody would offer me a bite, so they must have all liked it, and some of my crew are picky eaters. The décor was fine, although not my style. It is a very «Houston» style however.
But the 3 star rating comes mainly from 2 areas: the wait staff that while friendly, did not seem very experienced. In our case we did not have to many questions, but he did not sound like he was at all familiar with the offerings that night. And while that may be because of the special menu, I do not got the impression that anything offered was not all that different that their normal menu.
The other deduction was on price. Dinner for 2 adults and 3 kids with only one appetizer, one shared desert, plus tip came to $ 300, and for what we had, good but not special, that seems quite high. Good food but not good value.
I would probably go back since it is convenient to where we stay in Houston when we visit, but I would hope that our hosts pay for it next time!

I don’t even know where to start… I wanted to like it but it just didn’t work out. Valet parking was hectic but I won’t hold that against them. I ordered shrimp at war. Risotto was oily and bland. seafood crêpe– salty and a tinge of vinegar taste. We split the bison burger with a quail egg on top. They forgot the egg and the burger was cold. Parmesan fries??? Freezer burned fries with a sprinkle of hard shredded Parmesan on them.
Positives: bottomless mimosas stayed full and tasty.
Friend reports the French toast was yummy.

Let me start by saying Kim the bar tender is is great, be sure to give her a good tip! I really wanted to be impressed and tag this as a place to return… however !
The décor is interesting. Nice chandeliers, decent looking bar, ok layout.
Now onto my dining experience.
There were a few issues with my experience, not with the service but, with the quality of my kibbles.
I dined with friends and we split a couple of small plates and one entrée, here goes.
First small plate I tried was the shrimp crêpe, it was not as tasty as I expected, looked nice, but hardly amazing, somewhat salty and vinegary.
Next small plate I tried was shrimp at war, shrimp was ok not flavorful and the risotto was tasteless and oily. oh my
Lastly I split an entrée, the bison burger. I must say the description of the entrée on the menu won my attention, especially the parmesan fries.
Oh where should I start with this entrée, the drama of it all. First the server assisting made me aware they ran out of hamburger buns. mmmkay so they would have to put the burger on wheat bread as if! I got over it and found an alternative of ciabatta bread on the menu and they accommodated.
Sooo now onto the burger arriving at place setting. Burger was cold cheese barely melted and those parmesan fries looked like some lame grocery store brand fries with a teaspoon of shredded parmesan cheese. they were cold also. yeah pretty sad. Also part of the ingredients listed in the menu that was supposed to be apart of the entrée was missing. The server assisting us noticed we were NOT pleased and sent the good back for a remake.
The entrée was remade, this time it was hot. Great right, um nope, not so much. The quail egg on burger was not fully cooked, the fries tasted like it had freezer burn. Not pleased.
Another turn off, the atmosphere was busy and the manager on staff was hardly present to assist his staff and really engage with the customers. Too bad for the hardworking servers. The manager did have on a nice suit not sure if that helps, but whatever.
I hope the restaurant can improve the quality if ingredients, keep up to date with their supply of ingredients and get some help for servers and staff.

My favorite restaurant NO MORE. Moroccan? What happened here? This isn’t even the same restaurant I came to in May.
The entire menu has changed and not for the better. The Classic Caesar salad used to be beautiful and scrumptious with long uncut romain leaves… Gone. The new version is boring. The salmon dinner that used to be ridiculously good… changed and not in a good way. The red snapper… no more and even the chicken fried steak is gone. gone. gone… Sucks
Further — the service was amateur. We were given menus holders with no menus in them. The waiter must have been new and he wasn’t ready for prime time. He didn’t know the menu and couldn’t make recommendations. Drinks were taken away and never refilled… Silverware had to be hunted down… Overall — slow, unorganized service.
I used to love this beautiful restaurant… Never going back.

I went here for restaurant week, brunch menu $ 25 for three course.
I love the décor, it’s sexy, romantic and contemporary:)
The service was good.
The food was okay. I got the crab cake, which was the only thing I liked. The omelette, egg Benedict, tres lache, and tiramisu were all decent… I have tasted better at other cheaper restaurants.
However, I heard the dinner here is good so I might come back for dinner and see how their food is.
Overall, I wouldn’t come here for lunch nor brunch. Over price for average food.

I went here right when it first opened, but have not been back. I keep thinking I needed to return because I thought it was good. We went the other night for a friend’s birthday party. There was about 15 of us on a Saturday night around 6:00. The restaurant was pretty dead. It took about 20 minutes for anyone to even take our drink order. This was a bad sign. The entire night I felt like I had to beg the server to take our order. I am not going to waste my time reviewing the food. I had three courses and they were all pretty terrible. My chicken was so dry that I had to continuously drink water just to choke it down.
By no means am I a wine snob, but I do know some wine etiquette. We ordered one bottle of wine (Coppola Votre Sante Pinot Noir), this was the only bright spot of the night. It was a great wine for a nice price. We decided to have one more glass before journeying out. It was a different red wine all together. He grabbed my Pinot glass which had a good two or three sips left. When I said I was not done, the server just took what was remaining in my old glass and just dumped it in with my new wine. What the heck?
Maybe it was because we had a big party and he knew he was auto-​gratting the bill that he did not care to give good service. If your food is terrible, at least give me some good service.
When I told my buddy about this situation the following day, he asked me why I went back because I did not really like it and said it was over rated the first time. Well, now I have written document with this Unilocal review to keep me away next time.

My friend recommended The Bird and The Bear Bistro and I was skeptical to want to try it out due to the Meh! reviews on Unilocal. Well Unilocalers don’t lie. This place was a true let down. Inside is freezing, the drinks were over priced, the service was excruciatingly slow, and the food was mediocre.
Its a shame because the décor is beautiful and the menu described delicious food.
I would not recommend this restaurant.

This restaurant gets 3 stars because of the lack of service. The waiter waited about 10 minutes before acknowledging us. The whole night was a waiting game. We had to ask other waiters to assist and the place was not packed.
Aside from the poor service everyone loved there food. I had the Gumbo which for a appetizer size was quite big and fulfilling. My girlfriends got the Lamb Chops while the others ordered the Steak. No complaints on the food.
This restaurant has a nice ambiance but I do not think I will be back.