I’ve had more than one friend in the Cypress area of northwest Houston tell me to take a jaunt by Black’s Market Table. It’s a pretty little place, even if it is in a strip center. Twinkling outdoor lights strung across the wood-fenced outdoor patio wink and beckon you to come on in. Inside a tile mosaic spells out “Black’s” and gleams under the lights near the kitchen pass. The chairs are of rustic wood and the tables varnished pine.
It’s like a country cafe — a very attractive, classy country cafe.
Food-wise, Black’s is not exactly setting the culinary world on fire, but they’re doing an honest job with simple dishes. The menu is geared for Suburbia, simple to the point where you can bring anyone here and there’s not much to figure out. That’s not an insult; it’s called knowing your audience. In Black’s case, that audience might show up clad in slacks or khaki shorts, jeans or dresses, even medical scrubs.
The wine list is equally simple. It’s mostly from California, and the requisite Cakebread is present and accounted for.
The menu is like Haven (now Paul’s Kitchen) and Punk’s had a cafe child, and that was never truer than when our order of deviled eggs topped with fried oysters (photo above) sailed out of the kitchen. The fried oysters were good, but the filling in the deviled eggs themselves seemed a bit wan.
I am a sucker for good hot wing sauces. Just catching a whiff of the tangy, vinegary stuff will send me on a hunt for the source. Put it on slightly smoky quail with bold grill marks (photo below) and I’m a contented diner. Inventive? Maybe not, although I thought it was clever to carve the requisite raw celery and carrots into julienne and lightly dress them with ranch. The traditional blue cheese was found as a single cube in the center of the plate for you to mix into the dressing. Because, you know, not everyone likes the pungent flavor of blue cheese.
This is good ol’ country food brought up several notches. Take, for example, the brick-roasted Christian’s chicken with buttermilk mashed potatoes and pan jus. The minute we crunched through the crispy skin into the juicy, perfectly cooked meat, we were sold. Green beans fanned across a bed of rich, creamy mashed potatoes were barely crisp — not a whit over- or under-done. Delicate sprigs of thyme lent a green flavor note, and across the top were darkly toasted pecans. The combination was perfect cool-weather eating, and the dish is worth driving a bit extra.
Of course in a place like this you’d expect pecan pie — and Black’s can compete with the local stars (photo below). (It may surprise you to know they make all of their desserts in-house.) The filling was generously full of toasted pecan bits, caramel-y and with just a touch of salt to offset the sticky sweet dessert. Alas, the crust needs to be reconsidered. A pie crust should be a delight unto itself, and this one fell flat. Literally.
Black’s joins the small group of restaurants and other venues — such as Rockwell Grill, Kilburn’s, Locatelli’s pizzeria, Alamo Drafthouse and eT Craft Burgers & Beer — who are blazing the craft beer trail in Cypress and Northwest Houston. There’s a small but well-rounded selection from Saint Arnold, Southern Star and Karbach.
The theme at Black’s, both emblazoned across the T-shirts they sell and spelled out in big, silver letters on the top decorative shelf in the back is, “Let’s Eat.” They’re not messing around with that. They’ll feed you good, and you’ll be smiling about it when you finish.
Black’s Market Table, 11550 Louetta, 281-826-0211, blacksmarkettable.com