I really don't like Citycentre. It's so crowded and it for some reason comes off as really touristy. I have nothing against touristy places, but for the first time, I can slightly understand the frustration some New Yorkers seem to have with tourists in their city. Just slightly. It can be frustrating to go out in your own city but be bombarded with crowds of people who don't know where they're going or driving.
Anyway, I digress. This is a review of Ruggles Green which has become less and less my favorite lately. Ruggles Green has been one of my favorite restaurants in Houston, from their most amazing salads, to their veggie burger, to their Charlotte's Web dessert (I don't share this one, I don't care if I get overly full). But lately, it seems that with their recent expansions, they are going down a slippery slope. Quality control is lacking and consistency? Well you can forget about that. I've found the River Oaks and Heights location to have the best food. Ambiance is a lot nicer too. I've been to their Sugar Land and Citycentre location and the food always seem off - underseasoned, overcooked, bland.
The Citycentre location gets really dark and it's annoying. I hate how their restrooms are set up too. Oh another thing I don't like about Citycentre? I could not find restrooms anywhere on their map. I'm not one to go to a restaurant's restroom unless I'm dining there since I personally think it's a bit rude. If you're going to open a shopping area like that, you have to have restrooms! Okay, I'm done ranting. I'm really going to review the food now.
I ordered the spinach salad and added on a grilled chicken breast. You can see in the picture the chicken breast is severely overcooked. The edges were like jerky. I was really disappointed in this salad. The description emphasized bacon and bacon vinaigrette. Well I can tell you I really had to squint to find any bacon in the salad and simply crumbling bacon into plain vinaigrette does not make it bacon vinaigrette. The vinaigrette tasted good, but it is not bacon vinaigrette. Chicken was sweet, I was looking for simply grilled, non-overcooked and non-dry chicken breast. I got the opposite. I was hungry after this.
My sister ordered the buffalo burger with swiss cheese. She said it was a little drier than usual but didn't have too many complaints. For the record, my sister is not really a foodie, so I don't really ask for her advice or opinion on food.
I usually order the buffalo burger for my mom, but since the last one from the Sugar Land location was dry, I asked her if she wanted to try something different and so we ordered the kobe beef burger topped with mozzarella. I usually order all their burgers with mozzarella here because it tastes so fresh and creamy. We also always get sweet potato fries - they have the best sweet potato fries... in Houston so far. I sampled some of the beef and it was actually really good! It was seasoned well with some spices and it wasn't overly dry, although it was a little more cooked than what we had asked for. I like how it was nicely charred and not dry. Oh and being a bread lover, their wheat buns they use for their burger tastes awesome. It's not dry and plain like some other places serving up wheat buns. My mom didn't have any complaints about this burger and it's probably her new favorite at Ruggles. I'm going to have to try to order this next time!
I've always loved the sweet pickles at Ruggles, but this particular location seems to have confused the salt and sugar jars because this thing was PURE SALT. What the hell. How the hell do you mess up pickles? It was just so annoying how careless they were at this location. Something so simple...
We also helped ourselves to some pineapple pico de gallo. It was good and basic, but it was fresh and bright. Definitely add it to your burger to add dimension in flavor.
Ruggles Green has a couple locations and you can find it on their website. I almost don't even want to tell you where the CityCentre location is because it was such a bad experience. But I realize not everyone lives inside the loop and it can be a bit far to go to my preferred locations, so here it is. It's in the Citycentre (duh) and you can find it in the central part of the center where the fake grassy area is - they usually have bands playing here. You order first and then sit down. The food is brought out to you. Their patio is dog-friendly and has plenty of outdoor seating. I would be wary of bringing my dog on crowded nights like the weekend since there are a lot of kids and parents who aren't watching their kids. If your dog might bite or you think your kids will provoke, don't bring him/her... unless you want a lawsuit for your dog biting someone's kid after telling them not to touch (at which point it's clearly THEIR fault, but government thinks all biting dogs should be put down regardless if the dog was provoked or not). Bitter much? I know that's what you're thinking. This experience sucked.
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