The calamares en su tinto ($13.50) at Lemon Tree (207 Gray, 713-655-0430) are certainly dramatic-looking, with their contrasting purplish-black sauce, made of squid ink, and timbale of brilliant white rice on the side. There is so much sauce, it looks like a soup, and it obscures the perfectly round slices of calamari as well as the whole squid. Empty your rice into your soup so it absorbs all of the intense fishy flavor, and the dish is reminiscent of a squid-ink risotto.
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2010.