Did I ever mention how much I love ahi tuna? I do. I am a sushi fan and my friend reminded me I'm the one who introduced her to sushi over a decade ago, pre-vegetarian-then-back-to-carnivore days. I tried the whole fish thing after becoming unvegetarian and I got so tired of it. With the exception of rare tuna. There's that thing of not eating too much tuna due to mercury levels so I usually order it when I go out to eat since I don't eat out often. And for a special treat or home-cooked dinner, I'll buy some fresh ahi tuna and sear it myself. It's not exactly cheap, so I think I can manage to keep my mercury intake low.
Anyway, I went to BlackFinn American Grille on a Thursday in May for happy hour, although we were a little late. The dish above is the Ginger Tuna, which according to their menu is described as "sushi grade ahi steak seared rare, served with stir fry vegetables, smashed rice cake and citrus soy."
It didn't take long for this dish to come out. The tuna was indeed very rare which I loved and the vegetables were super buttered and since butter makes the world go round, it was delicious. The smashed rice cakes were a little bit soggy, but it was still good. I'm pretty sure it was sweet rice that was used and if you've even order the Ga Xoi Chien (Fried chicken and fried sweet rice patties) at Kim Son, this was a non-crispy soggy version of it. I use the word soggy, but it's not in a negative way. I thoroughly enjoyed this super wet rice patty. And this patty was already marinated with the soy sauce, reminiscent of teriyaki sauce. It was my favorite part of the dish. The little metal container of sauce that came with it was basically oil and perhaps cilantro? I'm not sure what herb was in there, but it probably had some soy as well. It may have had some sesame oil in it as well but it was for dipping the tuna which made it quite decadent.
So I did mention this was supposed to be a happy hour outing. I don't really drink much but it seems my group fitness instructor whose class I religiously attend every Tuesday afternoon is trying to get me into alcohol. Apparently, not drinking is a foreign concept to him. I was tempted to order their S'mores Martini, but opted for something a little less decadent and what seemed light, the Mango Sunrise. The menu describes it as "smirnoff mango vodka, mango puree, triple sec, sour mix, sprite." I thought the drink would be a little thicker due to the mango puree, but it was not... I couldn't even detect any mango puree in there. It was good nonetheless and I would recommend it for those who don't drink much alcohol since it is light on the alcohol. I only drank half.
Service was great here, our waitress (I can't remember her name) was so sweet and a little over-friendly, but she's just trying her best to provide great customer service. My instructor also invited some of his clients who brought their pomeranians and our waitress got water for the pooches! She's so sweet to be so considerate of the dogs. We of course sat on the patio. Houston is becoming more and more dog-friendly so you can add this to your list of dog-friendly restaurants.
I plan on going back to try their brunch offerings as well as some of their other dinner options! BlackFinn is located in midtown. High-quality food for a great price too. Definitely recommended!
Oh and by the way, the group fitness instructor that I mentioned - I've trained with him twice and he killed me, twice. And he kills me every Tuesday and the occasional Fridays I attend. He does killer TRX workouts but also works with weights, it's all up to you! I've done a TRX session with him as well as a heavy weight session and both times left me sore for days, and not just a little sore but the give-me-my-jar-of-peanut-butter-so-I-can-eat-in-bed-all-day sore. You can contact CJ Wagner via his LinkedIn profile.
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