Date Visited:  October 12, 2012

Pam received a gift certificate for Spindletop from her office, which in all honesty is the only reason we came down to try it out.  The restaurant has been atop the downtown Houston Hyatt since 1972.  It shut down due to damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008 and reopened in 2010.  For those not familiar with Spindletop, it slowly rotates so there is not a bad seat in the place.  Everyone gets to see the 360* view.

We arrived early for our reservation so we decided to grab a Martini in the bar.  The “bar” is a section of tables on the rotating floor, not an actual bar with a bartender behind it.  In fact, we walked straight past it the first time with the hostess running around trying to flag us down.  When we finally found the “bar”, we ordered two extra dry, extra dirty vodka martinis which were prepared perfectly.

After enjoying the view from the bar, we moved to our table.  For our meal, we ordered a nice Kendall Jackson Chardonnay which is a nice buttery chardonnay with pear and apple, if a bit sweet.

As an appetizer, we ordered the Signature Avocado Dome.  It is a large helping of jumbo lump crabmeat sandwiched between avocado and a thick slice of beefsteak tomato, topped with salsa cruda and a touch of balsamic vinegar on the plate.  It was a great balance with tons of crabmeat. Pam enjoyed it, even though she doesn’t care for sliced tomatoes.

Jeff ordered the Chilled Texas Watermelon Soup with lemon chive creme fresh.  It was light, fresh and had great flavor.  Unfortunately for those of you reading this, it is likely no longer on the menu. They are moving to the winter menu shortly.

Pam ordered the Market Fresh salad with mixed greens, blackberries, raspberries, Texas ruby red grapefruit, oranges, goat cheese, roasted red pepper vinaigrette and candied pecans.  The mix was nice, and the goat cheese delicious.  Nothing unique or exemplary, just a very nice salad.

For the main course, Jeff ordered their Signature Paella with maine lobster, black mussels, clams, shrimp, chorizo sausage and fire-roasted corn.  The flavor was nice, and seafood ample and tasty, for the most part.  However, many of the mussels and clams failed to open and Jeff therefore passed on them.  Not a dish we would consider a “signature” dish.

Pam ordered their Roasted Peach Salmon with peach salsa, tomatillo sauce, asparagus and mushroom risotto.  The flavors were well balanced and salmon was perfectly cooked.  The risotto was excellent and also well executed.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience and most of the dishes were excellent.  While we would not have gone without the gift certificate, we will go back in the future.  It has one of the best views in the city of Houston.  Make sure to call ahead to get a reservation to enjoy the view.

Menu Link:  http://www.hyatt.com/gallery/spindletop/dinner.html

1200 Louisiana Street
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 375-4775
http://www.hyatt.com/gallery/spindletop/