the springbok

for food, we of course began with the highly acclaimed brussels sprouts. what makes this brussels sprout dish so unique is that it is strictly made up of the leaves. the hard cores (ha, hardcore...anyone...?) of the sprouts were nowhere to be seen, so what we were left with were the charred, crispy remains. they were wonderfully smokey and had a beautiful, wafer-y crunch to them. squirting a little lime on them added a playful juiciness.

time and time again i find myself trying a cuisine or a restaurant that i would not have tried prior to becoming a food blogger. springbok on main street is the perfect example of this!  a few years back i was invited to happy hour at springbok.   after a bit of googling, i discovered that springbok is a restaurant/bar specializing in south african cuisine.  ignorant old me wanted no parts of that and declined the invitation.  fast forward to now and i am currently the events chair for the houston food blogger collective.  our group was invited to a tasting at springbok and ironically i became the host at a restaurant i would not dare try a few years back.  despite my doubts, springbok really impressed me!

a friend and i while strolling around downtown houston due to a plane delay. we found this place due to the friendly staff that saw us quite lost. the bartender gave us great advice on what to eat and what places to check out. the atmosphere is like a buisness casual sports bar and the food is very well prepared. i'm so thankful to everyone that was very kind to us.

great little bar. josh does a great job on whiskey cocktails. don't let his beard fool you. he's not that young. when will beards go out of style?

vile prison food. the veggie curry was quite disgusting – comprised of (1) four slices of limp and overcooked zucchini, (2) two huge almost-raw cauliflower chunks, and (3) a couple of grape tomatoes slathered in a curry sauce that was literally full of large lumps of roux (the flour mixture used to thicken sauce). vile. prison food.

while looking for a new lunch experience downtown we stumbled upon the springbok bar and restaurant. we were pleasantly surprised by the flavors and creativity of the bar manager and chef. the springbok mule was spicy and the lemon drop refreshing, with hints of orange and rosemary respectively, they left traces of aroma in our taste buds. the chicken salad had a fantastic smoky flavor with crispy bacon and soft avocado and the bunny chow of the day was spare rib with a creamy curry and surprising hints accents of hot chiles. the service was good and we met the bar manager as we exited the restaurant; he was knowledgeable and passionate about his craft. overall it was a great experience and we will return our friends.

this grazing animal is a fitting symbol, i think, for midtown’s newest gastropub whose south african fare is best experienced by slowing nibbling on plates small and large.

springbok meal inedible. a group of colleagues reserved community tables at the springbok to celebrate a special occasion. the food was unbearably awful; the service was tepid. the pub knew that a group of us were coming. but, when we finally were served, this was the menu, for which each person paid $31: a salad; another cucumber salad (the salads were all that appeared during the first hour of our waiting for food); bowls of overcooked, mush vegetables in some sort of curry sauce--served over a white carbohydrate that was unrecognizable. this dish was totally inedible--it tasted like leftovers from 3 days ago, warmed up for the 4th time. finally, some "piri piri" chicken arrived. it was tasteless. i know a good piri piri chicken, having spent much time in australia and portugal and africa. this chicken was unseasoned; it was not rotisserie-roasted. it was bland, cut-up piece of chicken. there wasn't even an edible piece of bread to eat to salvage the meal. we all left hungry--and would never come back. the chairs are very, very uncomfortable also. this was a meal that any restaurant should be totally ashamed of having served.

i had the hanger steak wow. this dish was amazing. the steak was fantastic and i will be back.