Le Colonial - Houston

Simply my favorite restaurant to celebrate, celebrate milestones, celebrate friendships, celebrate life!Food was always fabulous!Service was always top notch!Last week we were celebrating a surprise birthday and when the cream brûlée magically arrived at our table, my friend was really surprised, and touched by this thoughtful gesture! Definitely will be back again soon

Okay, so this place has ~*rules*~. When you make a reservation online you scroll through more than a page of rules regarding dress code. Intimidating. TLDR version of their rules is basically 'no sportswear". It actually wasn' as bad as it seemed. My husband I went for a date night. When we arrived for our 6 pm reservation MAJOR Chinese New Year shenanigans were going on in the street in front. Massive crowds were gathered around people doing a show in a Chinese dragon costume. Kinda cool. Once we slipped past the crowd into the door we were informed that they were not currently seating people while the shenanigans were going on outside. Why? Who knows--it was never explained to us. We and multiple groups of other people who had been waiting angrily stood in the small entry way while listening to the deafening sound of pounding drums outside. We waited 20 minutes and were lucky not to have waited 45+ minutes like some of the other guests who also had reservations.Finally we were seated. Once seated, service was impeccable. Wait staff was attentive and had good recommendations. We split two small plates and one large plate between the two of us. Our favorite was the Ga Xao Xa Ot or spicy chicken stir-fry (spicy). My husband liked his old fashioned especially because it involved a smoke show.

Never had egg rolls like these before! The fish sauce tasted perfect and didn't leave the usual fish sauce breath. The Bo Luc Lac (Shaking Beef) was exquisite since Filet Mignon was the cut! I believe they provided high quality ingredients and this is a bit upscale for Vietnamese food. Service was great. You'll enjoy the decor inside. I just didn't like where I was seated since it was a bit awkward facing a couple eating. I'm glad I tried it.

One of our faves in Houston. You can always count on the great service, food and ambiance at le colonial! You can't go wrong with anything on their menu. The decor is always like going into the past and in another time and place.

After dinner night cap only... it's a beautiful bar, felt transported to Asia. It's dim lit but not dark. It's warm and comfortable.The interior is filled with plants so it really feels exotic which matched the well crafted litchi martinis. Wanna go back for dinner, will report back ;)

Okay, I won't lie, I was hesitant given river oaks and Vietnamese cuisine mixing together had me taken aback. I've read the history and thought it would be a heavy attempt on Vietnamese cuisine but I was wrong! The vermicelli was one of the best I've had with a great flavor mix of French and Vietnamese cuisine. Service was amazing. My wife accident booked next month instead of this specific date but they were accommodating as it was not too packed at 11am. Thank you for that. I plan to come again and take my parents. Note to others, dress code is enforced if you are unprepared.

I asked my kids to surprise me for my birthday. The day of our reservation, my daughter hinted that we were having French Vietnamese fusion. When I googled that phrase, Le Colonial was the only result!!!I was blown away by how beautiful the interior is. There's a beautiful mural in a private room upstairs that seats 8. We were fortunate enough to have this room as it can be closed off from the rest of the restaurant. The wall separating the room from the rest of the restaurant has floor to ceiling windows that allow servers to keep an eye on you!The food is next level in terms of flavor, variety, spice, and cost! You will spend a bit more, but you won't regret it. If you have already sampled a small plate, the main plates serve two. For starters, I recommend the ravioli, the beef wrapped in betel leaves, the ceviche, and the ribs. I had sautéed tofu for the main entree. You'll love this restaurant for a special night out!

A friend of mine selected a restaurant for NYE '23 and chose this fancy, Vietnamese-French fusion. I typically don't go out or dine out for NYE but thought it'd be a nice change to do something fun. Reservations were made ahead of time. Location is in River Oaks. Valet parking is available, and there's an app that will inform you when your vehicle is ready. Walking in, I saw patio seating outside, but it was a chilly night, so no one was out there unless you were valeting. Check in at the hostess stand right at the door. Not much space between that and the staircase when there's a line to check in. You're not seated unless the whole party is present, which includes a part of 2. I was early, so they told me there was a seat upstairs at the bar. I ordered the Le Violete gin cocktail that was tasty and topped with egg white, which I'm a fan of. It was around $20. When my friend arrived fashionably late as usual, we were seated at a small table for two. There were small, gold and white balloons floating at the ceiling. Every time one would drift down, a waiter would casually grab it by the string and walk off with it. It was a bit comical. The island decor and dark interior/fixtures reminded me of Tommy Bahamas restaurants.So for the food, it was a prix fixe menu, unbeknownst to us since their website didn't advertise it. I look at menus ahead of time, so I was thrown off and disappointed that I wouldn't be able to try a few dishes I wanted. You choose an appetizer, entree , and dessert for $115. I had the pan fried chicken dumplings, shaking beef with salad, and the creme brulee. I ordered the garlic noodles as extra ($10) to try. The meal itself was ok and NOT worth $250 with 18% gratuity added and another small percentage of alcohol/food gratuity added. I really only liked the cocktail and creme brulee. The chicken dumplings were slightly soggy at the bottom because they put the soy sauce at the bottom of the plate instead of on the side for dipping. The shaking beef was filet but wasn't as tender as I expected. It was also a little sweeter but ok paired with the vinaigrette salad it came with. The garlic noodles were underwhelming and did not taste garlicky and was also on the sweeter side. The creme brulee melted in your mouth like butter. I think it's one of the best creme brulee's I've had. The little madeleines it came with don't really add to the dessert. Plus, traditional Parisian madeleines don't really taste like that. It was a hint of lemon and dry.It was a busy night, and the place was consistently being seated as people came and went. I personally wouldn't come back because I could have really good Vietnamese food elsewhere for less than half the cost. It was a decent experience for NYE. The least they could've done was throw in a glass of champagne since it was NYE.

Le Colonial is a colonial Vietnamese style restaurant that serves on class, presentation, and good flavor. Be advised of the dress code that they have, as I was not expecting to get eyed up and down when first entering. I had the chicken clay pot, which was really quite ginger forward, which was overall very refreshing and rich in taste. For dessert I had the pictured coconut tapioca dish, which had some really nice presentation! Very creamy, and not too sweet.Surface was prompt and very polite, and the food came out very quickly. Would recommend making reservations here, and this place fits the bill nicely for a occasion, for business, or for upper end really nice eats. I would recommend playing with the spice ratio on the chicken clay pot. It is really quite complex, and I'm really curious to see what other profiles can be brought forward other than ginger! Was really a great dish nonetheless.

Le Colonial was everything I thought it would be, so happy I finally got to visit! I don't do upscale too much but appreciate the ambiance and thoughtfulness of not only the menu but the entire atmosphere. This place is just gorgeous. We came here for a business lunch and the service was excellent. We split a number of appetizers like vegetable rolls, coconut sticky roll, brussel sprouts and green beans. Every. Single. Thing. Was. Delicious. But I had to remember to save room for the main course, the shaking beef. Perfectly marinated filet mignon bites served with a nice, fresh salad.Fabulous place for a celebration, business lunch or nice catch up with an old friend!