Common Bond Café & Bakery

Reviews 3

ME

Melissa Tan

Ive been anticipating the opening of Common Bond for nearly a year. There are very few restaurants that live up to the hype, but Common Bond is one of them. When one of the top pastry chefs in America teams with other world-class pastry chefs with the goal of being the best bakery ever, you know its going to be huge. Ive visited twice since the grand opening, and both times have been crazy busy. There are some who say, "Oh, the lines will die down," but I beg to differ. Has the popularity of Uchi gone away? No, because Uchi is freaking awesome. Well, Common Bond is just as appealing, so I think it will be a Houston favorite for a loooong time. I showed up today for Sunday brunch around 12:45pm, and they had already run out of a couple of items on the menu, including the fried chicken on a biscuit. I opted for the chicken torta, which I would give 3.5 stars. It was tasty, but its not something I would find myself craving. The fried chicken on a biscuit sounded amazing, so Ill have to make sure I get there earlier next time. Their pastries look amaaaazing. Ive had two failed attempts to obtain an almond croissant, but I was fortunate enough to get the chocolate chip cookie, chocolate croissant, and croissant bread with almond paste and shaved almonds. Let me just say, they make THE BEST chocolate chip cookies in Houston. Sorry, Tinys. The chocolate croissant was dense, buttery, and flaky with the perfect amount of chocolate. While I enjoyed it, almond croissants are my favorite and the standard by which I compare croissants. However, I have no doubt it will live up to all my expectations. I took off one star because it seems they are always sold out of something, and you dont know what that something is because the display is empty and the description is missing. For example, during the 15 minutes I was in line, they were out of fruit tarts. I didnt even know they had fruit tarts, nor did I want one, but after I sat down, I saw them bring some out. It would be nice to know exactly what pastries they offer, since the ones that are sold out are apparently popular, and I want whatever it is that is so damn good! Descriptions of the pastries would also be helpful, since I think that is what is holding up the line. Every person in front of me asked "What is kugelhopf?" whats this, whats that? Im hoping once people have visited a couple times, there wont be as many questions, and the line can move a bit faster, but until then be prepared for a wait. Overall, Common Bond is a much needed addition to the Houston area, and Im glad I live minutes away.

WN

wncapt2007

Nice hipster/modern looking atmosphere, outstanding food, great service except check your take out bag/box and dont expect for them to have everything available thats on the menu! Got the Chinatown pork belly Philly cheesesteak, loaded with flavor, melted provolone on a perfectly toasted bun (high quality bread), soaked in this sweet pork belly jus. Topped with beautifully cooked butter broccoli rabe with red pepper flakes which ads a touch of spice to round it out. I ate it with a fork and knife (flatware in middle of restaurant, luckily waiter reminded us) lacking the mad skills of guy fieri. Side of sliced pickles & chips. Potato chips were perfectly seasoned and clearly house made with the crunch on outside yet still faintly soft inside. Salty goodness! Highly recommend for the price (2$)! Wife got sweet potato soup which was thick and creamy which is the hardest part to get right for soup, well done. Desert: got the chocolate bread and fruit croissant (with cherry/almond crust and real gold flakes like golschlagger!) Sadly, we also ordered and paid for a sunflower rye loaf that we didnt get. Ordered it, girl gave the info to the cashier & I paid, another girl came in and it took 10 minutes for them to take it out from behind the glass and off the shelf to get into the box, so I assumed surely it must be correct if it took that long, I had even left a 25% tip on top of the 19$ order (I dont like to be guilted into tips just bc they show up on all receipts but I always leave a tip anyway). 1.5 hour drive home and oops no loaf, so my bad for not checking but it didnt seem like the sort of place that would forget such an obvious item especially after a tip, but that goes to show tips dont ensure good service if u tip in advance. I suspect it was the communication that caused that issue, transferring that order between 3 different people. I really dont want a small mistake to bring down the rating, but as a team it wasnt one persons mistake, any one of them could have prevented that and if I dont be honest about this others may get burned, so simply check your order if you get take out! They were also out of the fried cauliflower which by only 2pm so someone miscalculated, but hey, it happens, no biggie! Otherwise will be back for sure!!

JO

Jonathan Nassar

I think of the Westheimer curve as a place to go to at night. Some of the cities best restaurants, bars, and coffee shops are in this area, and they really come alive at night and on weekends, serving some of the citys best treats to live music. Sure, the area is somewhat busy during the day too, but a lot of the day time to-dos involve shopping for clothes or antiques. Only a fraction of the restaurants are breakfast/lunch/brunch-type places. Common Bond gives Houstonians a reason to come to the Westheimer curve during the earlier hours of the day. Open from 7a-7p (and kitchen open only until 3p), this is a place you should go out of your way to visit if you at all like bakeries. Dont necessarily stress about trying to make it for a crowded meal either - while Im sure their food is delicious, you will find plenty to satisfy yourself past that 3p cutoff. I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable foodie, but I was certainly stumped when I came here one afternoon with my wife. We ended up ordering the strawberry shortcake verrine and the kugelhopf. What am I talking about, you ask? A verrine is (apparently) a layered dish designed for you to be able to see the and self-portion the flavors of your meal. In this case, a bottom layer of strawberry jam, a middle layer of vanilla custard-creme, topped with strawberries and a small piece of shortcake. A kugelhopf if is a mini bundt cake shaped brioche, this one with brandy-soaked raisins and the result is then soaked in orange blossom water. Have no idea what Im talking about? No problem, just go there and try random things! Youll be amazed what you stumble upon. We also got a couple of coffees and a couple of french macarons to take home. Everything was amazing, definitely worth the slightly-difficult parking situation (its Houston, deal with it). The mochas are "Valrhona Manjari Mochas" which they told me is a french chocolate with a caramel flavor to it. Whatever it is, its also delicious. They were unfortunately sold out of their croissants when we stopped by, but we did notice they were putting out more of various things as they worked throughout the day. Mind you, theyre closed Mondays. That means youll crave them every Monday. Lets start a petition to make them stay open 24/7. Enjoy!