tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123496002009-09-17T10:09:17.246-05:00Houston food, restaurants and dining review. Urban living, travel, thoughts and other randomness.Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.comBlogger165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-63608588715350859942009-04-13T00:39:00.002-05:002009-04-13T00:50:44.187-05:00

12545 Jones RoadHouston doesn't have many custard joints. So when you're in the mood for a smooth, air-free custard, choices are few. Sonics and Dairy Queen will do in a pinch, but what if you want the real thing?Head out the BFE and check out this yellow store front. Connie's claims to make custard every hour. There isn't any seating so hang out on the small lawn out front and let the custard

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-52945245816746503422009-04-12T22:22:00.002-05:002009-04-13T00:27:07.700-05:00

2525 Airline DriveDrink enough michelada (beer + lime juice + hot sauce mixture) and any fried food tastes good. So, the only time you truly know that Connie’s knows its food is just before the first gulp of their incredible michelada. Not even the fun, loud and sometimes annoying mariachi band touring the restaurant will distract from the michelada.The michelada: Cold beer mug, rimmed with salt,

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-2525404099434710922009-03-28T22:46:00.005-05:002009-04-03T14:06:14.068-05:00

11500 Space Center Blvd. Houston, Texas 77059Cullen's is a Vegas restaurant landed on a Houston suburb. Surrounded by fields, including Ellington field, this beautiful edifice, houses a dining room that soars like a circus tent muted by browns--lots of browns. The restaurant seats hundreds and is probably the most over-the-top restaurant since Bistro ModerneWe started with the salads. Mine the

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-26593888073010900402007-07-24T22:20:00.000-05:002007-07-24T22:32:52.808-05:00

2600 Travis StreetThe 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

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-20855799580682850822007-06-20T23:23:00.000-05:002007-06-20T23:35:13.554-05:00

9889 Bellaire BlvdLocated in the same shopping center as Juice Box, Fu Fu Cafe, and Cafe 101, this uber-trendy restaurant serves up shabu shabu, a Japanese hot pot. The small restaurant is really one big U-shaped counter with a pot of boiling broth to the right of every seat. The decor is modern and the service is touch-and-go.Each seat your group occupies requires an order from the menu. Each

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-13090170246735277062007-06-11T01:44:00.000-05:002007-06-11T01:59:56.818-05:00

5555 Washington Avenue713.426.4260I wrote last time that Catalan's dessert was "quite a letdown." I've changed my mind: they have changed their pastry chef. Julie Hewitt, the new pastry chef has only one thing left from the old menu, the banana bread pudding. From what I've tasted of her new menu, she should get rid of that dish too and add one of her own.We tried the peach souffle. It comes

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-43626524429256115682007-06-06T03:10:00.000-05:002007-06-07T09:56:57.599-05:00

11210 Bellaire Blvd., Suite 113 @ Boone Road281.933.9988In the heat of battle that is the normal workday, there comes a time in any peon's Tuesday (or Monday or Wednesday) when it becomes necessary for one people to throw off the shackles of Community Coffee and seek the darker, richer pastures of outrageous and expensive coffee. Such was the injustice of today's heat, workload, and exhaustion,

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-6442728593830182382007-05-30T20:30:00.000-05:002007-05-30T20:36:53.214-05:00

Bellaire, Behind Sinh SinhThis place has a good variety of small side dishes, though the flavors need a bit more spice. The kim chee wasn't quite punchy enough. The seasoned mushrooms had a nice tang. The cucumbers had a pretty good spice. The fish tasted fresh. We ordered a combination. You choose one tofu based hot pot. We had the one with kim chee and beef. Next time, we'll order it

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-9593724194404652872007-05-20T22:28:00.000-05:002007-05-20T22:36:29.581-05:00

2820 White Oak Dr713.861.2033Rumor has it that cops frequent this barbecue house. When we went, a cop was the only other customer. The restaurant has the feel of a run-down, small-town cafeteria. Almost like someone forgot to tell the owner that they need to make changes after 30 years of deterioration. The atmosphere here reminds me of Biba's, meaning there is no atmosphere.We had the

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-39115276193456795352007-05-20T22:21:00.000-05:002007-05-20T22:26:16.378-05:00

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-62397592025380584522007-05-17T22:09:00.000-05:002007-05-20T22:37:57.911-05:00

5616 Bellaire Blvd713.395.0990Instead of KFC or Popeyes, try Pollow Campero. Started in Guatemala, this fast food fried chicken joint has spread thoughout Latin America and now the United States. They marinade their chicken and bread it in a way that makes the chicken flavorful, tender and tasty. The fried flavor can best be described as fried in lard--which if you don't know, is a fantastic

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-59280791821066901182007-05-04T01:55:00.000-05:002007-05-04T09:59:52.581-05:00

516 Westheimer RoadIn writing for my other blog, I realized I hadn't written anything about Indika!!! I've eaten here twice in the last couple of weeks and about half a dozen times over the past year. It's a new restaurant run by an innovative Indian chef. I like the chicken chaat appetizer. In fact I like most of the appetizers. I'll do an in-depth review at some point, but should point out

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-75270074904130282832007-04-30T23:01:00.000-05:002007-04-30T23:11:22.217-05:00

250 W 19th St.713.863.7500I thought I had reviewed Shade before, but I haven't. This restaurant in the heights is a pretty good neighborhood joint. It is beautiful modern restaurant with soft light colors minimal decoration and maximum attention to detail.We usually have brunch here and start with the large plate of pastries. These warm goodies don't last long on our table and I'm always

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-53860229253452546762007-04-12T13:20:00.000-05:002007-04-12T13:27:04.724-05:00

Sugar Land Town Square281.494.3474This posting uses simple sentences: it matches the restaurant.I've eaten here twice. Prices are reasonable. The ambiance is relaxed. Service is good. This is a chain.They have daily specials on the blackboard. Specials usually include salmon and cost about $12. Ignore the specials.Eat the po-boy. I like the fried crawfish po-boy. It is yummy. Not s***

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-73597883748981715572007-04-08T22:43:00.000-05:002007-06-12T01:26:33.543-05:00

1400 Allston Road713.880.2166House in the Heights is... (wait for it)... a house in the heights. A chef named Patrick Zone runs this very cute restaurant. This is the second iteration of the restaurant. It opened at its current location in early 2006. Walking into the house is like walking into an old Heights family house, replete with mirrors, dark woods, knickknacks and a maze of

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-53424696727711904742007-03-26T11:22:00.000-05:002007-03-26T22:53:17.816-05:00

35 rue de Vaugirard, Paris 6èParis, FranceWe were in Paris for the weekend and went to Sadaharu Aoki's pastry shop. As you might have guessed from the name, the chef is Japanese but trained in both Japan and France.The tiny shop is all white and staffed with oriental women. There are two tiny white tables that can seat two people each. We sat at one while a Parisien in fur sat at the other.

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-1119424858207362772007-03-26T02:10:00.000-05:002007-04-12T13:28:02.061-05:00

I have a love-hate relationship with this Houston institution. I hate that I always wind up here when there are several better sushi restaurants. I love that this was one my first sushi restaurants and is always consistently pretty good--though almost never great. Today I had the same experience. After wandering around in the car thinking about what I could eat for $10 or less, I settled on a

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-65506958428261948992007-03-20T00:35:00.000-05:002007-03-26T23:04:31.726-05:00

607 W. Grey Street713.523.0425Bibas Greek Restaurant is old. The very worn, grey booths look like they should smell. They don't. The bar hasn't been use like it was intended in years. The few patrons there during dinner look like they want to smoke a cigarette but can't: One guy kept gnawing on a cigar. The man in front of us read his newspaper page by page, nursing his coffee.The Spanish

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-82031066341546556142007-03-16T13:18:00.000-05:002007-03-26T23:09:45.784-05:00

2735 N Town Center Blvd281.313.0881Wild Ginger's business card says that they have sushi, satay and pho. I didn't see any sushi, but did see the satay and pho on the menu. The menu is a bit Chinese, a bit Thai, and a bit Vietnamese.I had the pho. It came with basil and bean sprouts. The pho tasted okay. There are so many better places to eat pho, it's not worth the visit to Wild Ginger to

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-10593950458272315712007-03-15T01:09:00.000-05:002007-03-15T00:56:00.345-05:00

5655 Hillcroft Avenue713.783.1126My father-in-law calls this the best deal in town. He is probably on the money on this point. Balaji Bhavan is a South Indian restaurant. Dark inside, and covered with tile, this restaurant very much reminded me of our trip to India.The menu is extensive and cheap. I like chaat--a kind of Indian snack. This time I had the best chaat I've ever tried at Balaji

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-71754629536754045072007-03-11T00:08:00.000-06:002007-03-20T00:59:02.087-05:00

1308 Montrose713.807.8996We walked over to John Paul's restaurant today. Formerly known as John Paul's Sabor, the restaurant is now called 1308 Cantina. Redecorated to look much more like a traditional restaurant Mexican, I prefer the new earth tones of this decor to the cold blue of the previous decor. What has not changed is the attentive service and the thoughtful menu.I had three tacos for

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-78804492510118664102007-03-10T02:47:00.000-06:002007-03-15T00:48:43.693-05:00

1953 Montrose Blvd713.523.4866Hurrryyyy!!! Come to Inversion Coffee House before the suburban yuppies find it. Located in the Art League of Houston's new building, this coffee house will surely grow to more locations in the coming years. The staff are friendly and the local clients bring a much needed boost of artistic inspiration to the coffee house scene.The coffee tastes like any other good

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com98tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-77618256507464506252007-03-10T02:21:00.000-06:002007-03-15T00:51:33.045-05:00

9889 Bellaire Blvd.Dun Huang PlazaWe walked by Tofu Village last week and saw a lot of people inside. So this week, instead of Noe or Cafe Laurier, we tried Tofu Village. This Korean restaurant rocks. They decorated with simple elements like wood, oversized pictures of popular singers, and the occasional television. Incredibly, some of the patrons actually sounded Korean.This is not a Korean

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-49246826570842699522007-02-25T00:52:00.000-06:002007-03-26T23:09:45.784-05:00

????Bellaire BlvdI have question marks on the address because I don't know what it is. It's located in the same shopping complex as Sinh Sinh, on the corner of one of the buildings.The first special on the list is crispy Sichuan chicken (or some name like that). It's basically bite-sized pieces of chicken wok-fried on high heat with sichuan peppers and dry red peppers. At Sichuan Cuisine, just

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12349600.post-39838011473229441372007-02-25T00:42:00.000-06:002007-02-25T00:51:07.304-06:00

2311 Bissonnet713.521.1155We've tried eating here twice before on the weekend, only to get turned away because we didn't have reservations. This time, we went really early, 6:00. As usual, very expensive cars sit out front. We didn't get to make it into the restaurant because all the tables inside were taken. We sat outside on the porch.The menu is pretty extensive. It reminds me a bit of a

Huanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305419563752526993noreply@blogger.com2