3 Houston sites join state list of best new restaurants

What are the top tables in Texas? Three of the state’s best can be found in Houston, apparently.

Texas Monthly’s list of “Where to Eat Now,” canvassing the 10 best new restaurants in Texas, includes Navy Blue, Aaron Bludorn’s new seafood restaurant in Rice Village at No. 1.

Two other Houston spots, Hamsa and Pacha Nikkei, at No. 3 and No. 6 respectively, also made the cut of the best in Texas dining by the magazine’s executive editor and restaurant critic Patricia Sharpe.

Here’s what she wrote about each:

Navy Blue: The spiffy Rice Village restaurant that opened in November found itself at the top of the list.

“Navy Blue is the best restaurant to open in Texas in the past year,” Sharpe wrote. “The contemporary space inspires a sense of occasion without being formal.”

She praised the menu from chef Jerrod Zifchak and chef/ owner Aaron Bludorn, as well as the 150-bottle wine list, and the smooth moves of restaurant manager/partner Cherif Mbodji.

A “scandalously rich mussel bisque shot through with fennel and saffron” earned her attention, as did a “superlative” seafood risotto and a dry-aged strip sirloin “nestled in a pool of bordelaise sauce and adorned with a pat of bone marrow-enriched butter.” 2445 Times Blvd.; navybluerestaurant.com

Hamsa: Sof Hospitality’s modern Israeli restaurant in Rice Village was No. 3 on the list. Sharpe found favor with the restaurant’s “sensational hummus,” and its basboosa, “a rustic cake of farina flower layered with malabi (a rosewater-tinged pudding).”

The menu’s flatbread “comes delectably blistered and topped with ground lamb and tahini.” A good bet, she wrote, is “the Wholeshebang, a roundup of 10 salatim (spreads and salads) that can be sampled on hunks of fabulously puffy pita.” 5555 Morningside Dr.; hamsahtx.com

Pacha Nikkei: Chef Masaru Fukada’s merger of Japanese and Peruvian cuisines “create dishes that are edible works of art,” Sharpe wrote.

She enjoyed grilled boneless short ribs, octopus, and the causa limena chicken salad that employs “aji Amarillo to tint the traditional mashed potatoes bright yellow.” 10001 Westheimer; pachanikkei.com

Two other Houston restaurants were included as honorable mentions: the posh Mexican restaurant Flora from Big Vibe Group (3422 Allen Pkwy.) and Gatlin’s Fins & Feathers, the restaurant from Gatlin’s BBQ owner Greg Gatlin, celebrating Texas foodways (302 W. Crosstimbers).

The list appears in the March issue of Texas Monthly.