Little’s Oyster Bar is in the Montrose area of Houston.  It is a chef-driven  restaurant from the Pappas Restaurant Group. Chef Jason Ryczek highlights Gulf Coast seafoods along with selected caviar, lobster and seasonally changing items.   Opening in the location of the Little Pappas Seafood House it’s anything but little.  A long marble topped bar runs the length of the room which is mirrored with an outdoor patio room.  There is a good sized parking lot adjacent to the building.  Inside you’ll find loud music with fairly bright lighting complementing the wood and brick walls and partial carpeted areas on the floor.  We were there with family and as the place filled I’d swear they turned up the music.  Service was good but not great but the food was mostly good, fresh and pricey.   If you want seafood it’s a good place to go but expect variable flavor.

Set-Up

 

Food

Jumbo Blue Crab came with Louie dressing, cocktail sauce topped with fresh horseradish, lemon and sea saltines.  It was a deconstructed style plate with everything being separate.   It was a generous helping of large crab pieces but the consensus from those who ordered it was that they’d rather have had it mixed together.

 

Baked Gulf oysters were made with blue crab, garlic soubise, Absinthe and parmesan.  These came 5 to an order and were quite saucy.  I borrowed a spoon from another plate to try and eat them without spilling the wonderful toppings.  The oysters were fresh and tasty and the crumbs on top added that good textural contrast.

 

Lobster and gnocchi also contained blistered cherry tomatoes and crispy potato skins.  It was another good sized portion of tasty ingredients.

 

American Red Snapper was chicken fried with a sauce Ravigote.   My husband called it boring.  The snapper was mealy and there was too much of it.

 

Texas Redfish was plated with Castelvetrano olive salsa verde.  It was across the table so not a great photo, but it was declared good.

 

Gulf Grouper came was topped with radish beurre Blanc in caper brown butter.  It was a huge piece of fish cooked nicely.  The rich sauce went well with the mild fish but the radishes overwhelmed me.  Not that they had a ton of flavor but there were too many of them.

 

Sides of Delicata Squash contained pepitas and queso fresco.  This was sweet with bits of crispness in the mix.  Nice.

 

Crisp Eggplant was mixed with Nuoc Cham, chili and sweet herbs.  They seemed to use Japanese eggplant and with coating was light and crisp.  This one was delicious.

 

French fries came with Cajun ketchup and were housemade.  They were crisp, hot and a definite favorite at the table.

 

We were too full for dessert.