Reef

2600 Travis Street

The former chef at Bank runs this classy joint. A former pho restaurant used to occupy the space. It's not a real loss for downtown. The decoration is beautiful. Undulating walls play against the concrete floor lighted with the huge windows looking towards downtown. The pearlescent tables made from poured plastic make this joint swank--even if they use the over-hyped Design Within Reach style lamps.

We started our meal with a few raw oysters. Nicely shucked, the oysters looked beautiful, but missing in liquor. So, all the effort putting the oysters on rock salt and in a rectangular plate was lost because of the mediocrity of the oyster. Not even the spicy tomato water could liven the oysters with the lost liquor.

I had the crispy snapper. The waiter told us it's the most popular dish on the menu. The fish was nicely prepared and had pretty good flavor. It matched well with the chard.

Some seafood places specialize in oysters, mussels, crabs, shrimp or lobster. Few specialize in fish. This one seems to have a fish affinity. I like the emphasis on fish--as displayed by their display of raw fish at the entrance.

A very pretty restaurant with great potential, I'll come back and expect that things will improve.