cafe pita +

cafe pita +
10890 westheimer rd nr wilcrest

as vast and diverse as houston is, it only has one bosnian restaurant. and as far as i'm concerned that's perfectly okay because the bosnian cuisine is served at cafe pita + is really *that* good enough.

bosnian food is an amalgamation of many regional influences. it is similar to greek and other mediterranean cuisines with their use of pita, feta, and phyllo dough. cafe pita + also serves a meza plate, eggplant dip, hummus, and gyro sandwich. other dishes seem more balkan or eastern european influences such as stuffed cabbage rolls. shish-kebabs and cevapi (similiar to kofta) are more popularly associated with turkish cuisine. much like the cuisines of these regions, bosnian food can be relatively light and healthy with no shortage of flavors.

we started with fried cheese and fried anchovy apps.

fried cheese from Cafe Pita +

fried cheese was lightly battered and fried, dense and a tad on the salty side. cafe pita + uses a store-bought ackawi, an arabic style semi-soft cow's milk cheese. it was good enough, but i'd gladly give it up next time to try something different. ajvar, a relish made primarily from red bell peppers, accompanied the fried triangles. ajvar also contains eggplant, garlic and chili pepper and can vary between degrees of sweet and spicy depending on how much heat the red bells and chili peppers have. cafe pita +'s hits more of the sweeter notes.

girice (fried anchovies) from Cafe Pita +

these little fried anchovy fishlings were addictive. a squeeze of lemon over the top and i was popping them into my mouth like popcorn. yes, a tad fishy as expected, but not fishy offensive. the dipping sauce is simply avjar with the addition of tabasco sauce. i'd recommend this even to folks who don't like 'chovies. you might surprise yourself.

sarma (stuffed cabbage) from Cafe Pita +

sarma was boiled cabbage leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice. it was stewed in a tomato based sauce. the dish came to the table a bit cold. the dish was good but i prefer the romanian version of the dish called sarmale which uses ground pork, sausage, and sometimes even bacon. sarmale is also served with sour cream on the side, just an added bonus in my eyes.

burek (spinach) from Cafe Pita +

an order of spinach burek made from phyllo dough, spinach, and feta was huge. the burek was reheated but it was a shame that the pastry arrived soggy. however the flavors were there and i was told that i should ask for it crispy the next time and they will heat it longer. burek can also be ordered with other fillings such as potato, beef, or just cheese.

cevap on lepinja bread from Cafe Pita +

the highlight of the meal were the ćevapi or ćevapčići (cici meaning small, sweet, nice in turkish) which is the national dish of serbia. cafe pita's ćevapi are made from ground beef and lamb, baking soda, mineral water, and bread and then formed into little breakfast sausage links. the baking soda gives the sausages a great, spongy texture. after grilling, the meat was still slightly pink inside and tender juicy. the flavor was more delicate than i imagined and truly enjoyable. the lepinja bread which i'd describe as a fluffier english muffin was served toasted.

cevapi w/ avjar and kaymak from Cafe Pita +

diced raw onions, ajvar, and kaymak escorted the sausage sandwich to the table. kaymak is a thick cheese spread similar to clotted cream made traditionally from water buffalo milk. the taste is mild yet buttery. i enjoyed the cevapi tremendously with raw onions and kaymak. this is one of those dishes that i feel sorry that vegetarians can't enjoy. this dish will also be one reason why i'll always be a meat-eater.

pirjan (lamb shank) from Cafe Pita +

pirjan or lamb shank was served with basmati rice and stewed vegetables including potatoes, zucchini, and eggplant. kaymak reappeared on this plate too which when enjoyed on lepinja makes this a hearty meal for one. unfortunately, five of us all tried get a taste of the tender lamb. it was a modest portion (for one) which left everyone wanting a little more. this dish at $9.99 a plate is a steal. it also ties with two other dishes (beef shish-kebab and meat lovers pizza) as the most expensive items on the menu. as heavy as lamb can be, i was impressed by how light the other flavors and spices were. the natural essence of the vegetables really shined.

postprandial turkish coffee presented in a copper mini pot and baklava followed. the turkish coffee wasn't as strong as i remember, but the baklava was tasty. less sticky sweet than typical greek baklava, cafe pita's is made from walnuts.

cafe pita + serves honest food at amazing prices. our dinner for 5 came out to $15 per person which included a generous tip. a bottle of wine was brought from home and another was purchased at the liquor store next door (where i spotted chilled bottles of moet white star for only $38.99). BYOB, as there is no corkage fee. the ambiance has a bit left to be desired but the friendly and warm service more than makes up for it.

it is authentic, family-owned restaurants like this that we must support to ensure they survive our tough economic times. if you need one more reason to stop by: the #1 food trend of 2008 is recession dining and i think cafe pita + is exactly what they're talking about.

beijing olympics closing ceremonies - part 2

continued from part 1

peking cuisine
8332 southwest fwy @ gessner

the second meal of the day to commemorate the end of the beijing summer olympics last weekend was appropriately centered around peking duck. peking cuisine is well known for serving the best peking duck in town. i remember having the peking duck there on thanksgiving with my family many many years ago, but couldn't really remember thinking it was as good as people say it is. i was anxious to get back there and investigate with the houston chowhounds.

dinner this evening was for 12 and we secured the private room for the event and also ordered our ducks one day in advance. my chinese mother was in tow for dinner so we could order off the chinese language menu.


chinese language menu. we ordered 2 ducks and the family dinner for 6 which included your choice of 6 cold appetizers, 6 hot dishes, and 1 starch.

this is what our table looked like once all the dishes were brought out. (the duck soup came much later)

la pi in garlic sauce. it had a strange sour taste, i was not fond of it.

honey smoked fish. the consensus at the table was that the dish was not that great. it was overly fishy, dry, and had only a slightly sweet taste.

fried stuffed bun. i didn't try it.

preserved egg with tofu. i only like preserved eggs (aka thousand year old eggs) in congee. it is definitely an acquired taste. i noticed that most of this dish went untouched on the table.

soy sauce pork feet. truthfully, i don't remember trying this. if i did, it was not memorable. perhaps some attendees can comment about this dish.

jellyfish with garlic. excellent. i could have eaten the whole plate myself.

spicy beef tendon. i love tendon and this was no exception. i would have prefered cilantro on top instead of scallions to complement the heat.

fish with hot red pepper. i expected the fish to be crispy which it wasn't. perhaps, i waited too long to dig into the dish. it also looks a lot spicier than it was. next time i'd rather order the sichuan fish.

eggplant with garlic sauce. i love japanese eggplant and this dish didn't disappoint.

fantail shrimp (not on english menu). nothing exciting. the dish tasted exactly the way it looked. i would have liked to eat more of the veggies in the dish, but i was sharing with 11 other people.

stirfried green beans. very good.

sichuan beef. good ma la from the dish, however not nearly as tasty as sichuan cuisine.

ma po tofu. again, passable but not as good as sichuan cuisine.

the star of the show peking duck. the duck skin was arranged on top of the plate of duck meat carved off the whole duck. scallions and plum sauce were served on the side. pancakes were served in plastic tortilla holders (pancakes are in the above photo of the whole table). the duck had cooled down too much by the time it was served and i expected the skin to be crispier. however, the pancakes were warm and delicious. definitely the best i've had. soup made from the duck carcasses, napa cabbage, and tofu was also served at the end of the meal.

it's hard to believe that this is the best peking duck houston has to offer. does any place in houston actually carve peking duck at the table?

the meal was fun and enjoyable of course b/c the chowhounds were there. it was also a great value as the meal came out to $13 per person. for sichuan food, i'd definitely head to sichuan cuisine, but i guess for my peking duck fix - this is as good as it gets?

special thanks to reed, my mom, for many of the photos posted here. the good ones are hers ;-)

thien an

thien an sandwiches
2905 travis nr. tuam

thien an is my midtown lunch destination for pho. and apparently everyone else's. the place was PACKED when i walked in around 1 pm on random week day. the room was filled with half asians and half caucasians. we had to stand around waiting for a table to be cleaned off.

everyone orders the banh xeo here for some reason. it's a crepe made out of rice flower, coconut milk, and tumeric for color that is usually filled with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, and onions. it's wrapped in lettuce leaves and herbs like cilantro and mint and then dipped in fish sauce. yes, thien an's is HUGE - surface area wise - but it's so flat. it's all crepe and no filling which i think it pretty lame. i noticed that 1/3 of the tables had one on their table. big half moon yellow crepes kept flying out of the kitchen. why are they all ordering it? am i missing something?

i love the pho here. this was my pho tai. pho actually refers to the thin rice noodles at the bottom of the bowl. pho is pronounced like you are asking a question 'fuh?' (not like you're saying fo realz). tai refers to the thin slices of rare beef (usually eye of round) that are placed into piping hot bowls of pho broth. the hot soup cooks the beef.

a plate of bean sprouts, lime, sliced jalapeno, and herbs such as cilantro, basil, and culantro accompanies each bowl. thien an garnishes each bowl with cilantro before it leaves the kitchen so none is on the plate, but you can request more by asking (or more efficiently, just point to what's already in your bowl). there are only 1 or 2 employees at most that speak fluent english.

good pho is all in the broth. pho broth is made by boiling down beef bones, oxtails, and spices such as vietnamese cinnamon, star of anise, ginger, and cloves. thien an's is especially flavorful b/c i think they use a little extra cinnamon in their recipe. anyway, there is nothing adventurous in my bowl today. i'm not a fan of tripe in my pho but i do like tendon, fatty brisket, and sometimes meat balls. today, i was attempting to be healthy and i already ordered the banh xeo too, but J. did a good job helping me eat it. he was a banh xeo virgin until today. boy, it's fun eating out with me!

this was J's vermicelli bowl with thit nuong (grilled pork chop) and cha gio (fried egg rolls). i wasn't offered a bite and i prefer my thit nuong over crushed rice with a fried egg on top anyways.

thien an is cash only, they are closed on saturdays, and they close at 6 pm on other nights. you can find me here almost once every week eating a cheap lunch.

beijing hot pot eating olympics

sichuan cuisine
9114 bellaire blvd @ ranchester

last week, i took a hiatus from houston restaurant week, a clouded week of overindulgence in butter, bordelaise, braised short ribs, and creme brulee, to commemorate the beijing summer olympics (or anything for that matter) the way i do best. by eating! we hit chinatown of course! my tummy was looking forward to simple comfort food - one of my favorite things to eat in the world. soup.

on the menu for the evening? sichuan hot pot!

i noticed sichuan hot pot on the menu during my last visit to sichuan cuisine when the houston chowhounds and i were there on our 4 hour soup dumpling crawl. when we walked in this friday evening there were 4 other tables seated with asian patrons. three of those tables already had their own hot pot parties going. this was a good sign! we could see the fiery red pepper spiked broths bubbling, plates of raw meats and veggies laid out, and we were eager to participate ourselves.

we were first seated at a normal square shaped table for 4. when we told our server we were ordering hot pot she first warned us that they close at 10 pm. it was 8:30 at that time, which is an indication that hot pot is usually a long, drawn out affair. i remember when my brother and i used to groan when we found out we were having hot pot at home for supper. it guaranteed that we would be sitting at the dinner table for at least an hour or even longer if we had guests over. our friendly server, the same one from my last visit here, hurried back to the kitchen to tell them to get our soups started and came back with the hot pot menu. she then moved us to a big round table, which we were all excited about.

on the regular menu, sichuan hot pot is listed simply as "house special mini hot pot" for $13.95. however ordering community style hot pot is much more complicated than that. a pen and a separate menu printed on half a sheet of white paper will be brought to you for ordering.

first, choose your soup: yuanyang (half spicy, half mild), all spicy, or all mild. we were ready to go spicy all the way, but the server recommended yuanyang. judging by the look on her face, i knew we had better take her advice.


secondly, pick your raw ingredients, as many as you like:
meats: lamb, shrimp, beef, beef omasum (tripe), lunch meat (spam), intestine, pork blood, fish ball, shrimp ball, crab meat (the fake stuff), sliced fish, sliced chicken, squid
veggies: spinach, gongcai, potato, fungus (mushroom), napa cabbage, eggplant, A choy, cilantro, taro, bamboo shoots, seaweed
others: tofu, cellophane noodles, lo mein noodles, egg (raw), wonton

(L to R) sliced fish, shrimp, tripe, chicken (middle), cilantro, wontons, potatoes, gongcai

A choy, napa, lamb, beef

lastly, pick your dipping sauces: sesame oil, sa tsa sauce (chinese barbecue sauce, made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chillis, brill fish and dried shrimp), and/or sesame sauce. dipping sauces cost $1 each for half a small bowl. we ordered the sa tsa and sesame sauce. neither were very interesting, but weren't bad either.

how to eat hot pot: first the electric burner will be brought to the table. by this time we had already scarfed down a plate of 3 cold appetizers selected from the cold table in the back. we chose garlic cucumbers, sliced beef and mow, and sichuan beef jerky. next the hot pot arrives already filled with both broths. huge platters of raw and frozen food start arriving at the table. at this point, the server lights the burner for us.

the premise is simple. raw food goes into the boiling broth and is left long enough to cook. food is then fished it out with chinese spiders and can be dipped in various sauces to taste. ladles are used to scoop out broth which is usually enjoyed after all the food is cooked. i like drinking the soup all the way through hot pot activities. it's my favorite part of the fun!

a few tips. first, wait for the water to boil before throwing in too many cold items. you don't want the temperature to drop too low. frozen foods such as wontons need to be cooked for at least 8 mins, so throw some of those in first. also stalky vegetables, like napa cabbage, along with potatoes, and chicken usually require longer cooking times so put those in too. tripe, fish and shrimp balls, squid, and tofu don't require a lot of time and don't need to be watched too carefully either.

shrimp and thinly sliced meat such as beef and lamb cook the fastest and care should be taken to not overcook them. make sure the broth is boiling before throwing them in and then shrimp should be pulled out as soon as they turn bright pink, sliced meats should cook through after 30 seconds in the pot. noodles are usually cooked through and just need to be reheated. veggies such as spinach an gongcai cook quickly and will shrink when cooked.

a good safety measure to always remember is to dip your chopsticks in the boiling pot for several seconds after handling raw meats. or simply use a separate pair of chopsticks for eating.

the sichuan side of the pot was extremely spicy and ma la. "ma la" means "numb" and "hot" in chinese and refers to the numbing, tingly sensation of sichuan or flower peppers (hua jiao) . the taste is very unique and fragrant with notes of anise and clove. one of my dinner guests had to take a break b/c the ma la was so overwhelming. i told him to stick to the mild side for awhile. if the spicy side gets too overwhelming, one of the advantages of ordering yuan ying is the versatility - you can add some of the mild broth to the sichuan side of the pot to tame the heat. and if you need more broth as it will inevitably evaporate, just ask your server to bring some more around.

the traditional dipping sauce is made by mixing sa tsa, a raw egg, cilantro, chilis, and soy sauce to taste. we forgot to order eggs, and by the time food started arriving i never asked for it. also, several things we ordered never arrived such as squid, tofu, spinach, mushrooms, eggplant, and seaweed. my advice is to ask for 2 copies of the menu, check off the selections you want on each and keep a copy for the table. however, there were no complaints by anyone at our table. we couldn't even finish the food they brought to us. this is what our hot pot looked like when we were done:


chinatown is cheap right? but just how cheap? at sichuan cuisine, hot pot is a per person charge and an all you can eat affair. hot pot for 2 will cost $15 pp, but for 3 or more it is $13 pp. this is also an option for chinese pickle fish soup for $8 a pot extra, which comes with a live fish (i do remember seeing a live fish tank in the back of the resto). no one in the restaurant was eating fish hot pot and i'm not sure i've ever seen it. dipping sauces are $1 each and are enough for 3 or 4 people.

with a full belly, looking at what was left in the hot pot, i asked tatitraveller who just got back from 3 weeks in china what she thought of our dinner. she said she had better sichuan hot pot in a place that specialized in it in beijing, but she said she has also had worse in china. tatitraveller also surmised that the meats here in the US were better quality but decided that the sauces in china were much tastier.

the last tip i leave you with and perhaps the most important one is sichuan cuisine is a BYOB establishment. we stopped by welcome food center in the same shopping center to pick up some cold tsingtao beer to enjoy the evening with. the refrigerated case at welcome was almost DOA. tatitraveller even added that it wasn't bing pijiu (cold beer). how cute that she learned the essential chinese words during her visit there. so stop somewhere else for the booze.

also see 7/6/08 review of sichuan cuisine

HRW tuesday reviews

houston chowhounds had mixed experiences with houston restaurant week food and service monday, HRW opening night, but tuesday night reviews at the strip house and VOICE were better...

strip house
VERDICT: polished service, well-executed food, portions could be a little bigger, highly recommend

chowhound javapeg and i went to the strip house on a last minute whim last night. we had a lovely comfy banquette in the corner of the dining room as we requested chowhound fulmer to be our server. as so, service was amazing.

an amuse of chilled honeydew soup shots arrived at the table. they were little cups of summer. sweet, light, and refreshing.

javapeg started with the smoked potato soup which was served in a coffee cup. it was garnished with crispy crumbled bacon and a slight drizzle of chive oil and served cold like a vichyssoise. it was light yet creamy, smokey, and wonderful. the bacon really made the dish (when does it not though?). kudos to the chef for serving something not on the regular menu. i ordered the caesar salad which was pretty small and arrived with scary bionic orange croutons. i was definitely put off by the look of the whole plate, but after a bite i was content again. the dressing was garlicky with strong hints of anchovy. there was also plenty of shaved parmesan. the croutons were a good texture, crunchy but not hard, but the soup was still the real winner at the table.

for mains, javapeg was intent on ordering the 6 oz filet mignon b/c it was accompanied by black truffle cream spinach. the filet was half as thick as the cuts that are usually served which made me wary that the meat might be overcooked. it was fork tender and cooked to a perfect medium rare. i ignored the pool of bordelaise sauce it was in, but peg seemed to enjoy it. creamed spinach was heaven. charles clark was overheard calling it "crack spinach" the night before.

i ordered the seared atlantic salmon with braised escarole, runner beans and sun-dried tomato caper vinaigrette. the salmon was prepared medium rare and the vinaigrette provided wonderful acidity to counter the fattiness of the fish. the bed of escarole and beans was delicious and had such an intense smokey flavor that i kept looking for pieces of bacon in the dish, but never found any.

we ended up with 3 desserts due to a small mishap which was quickly remedied: molten chocolate cake which we kept waiting to molt. no chocolate gooeyness to be found, but it was moist and rich. not bad, but nothing exciting either. creme brulee had a lot of orange peel flavor in it. the caramelized pineapple chunk on top made it taste better, the anise spiked biscotti was a surprise. i don't like anise but i was impressed by the boldness of the idea. the caramelized apple tart with tahitian in-house made ice cream, cinnamon anglaise, and golden raisins was the winner at the table. nothing fancy, just tasted like it should.

javapeg was happy to find a 1/2 bottle of tattinger champagne on the menu which she treated me to a glass of. we both had a glass of wine to boot. it was a lovely meal that didn't disappoint: polished service, great looking dining room, and just-creative-enough dishes that were well-executed.

review by J.L.

"My bf and I were also [at Strip House] last night. Service was quick and efficient (much better than VOICE the other night). Started off with an amuse bouche-chilled shots of honeydew soup. Light and refreshing-a great way to start off the meal.

For appetizers we ordered the chilled potato soup and the roasted gold beets salad. I had some of my bf's potato soup. Creamy, with a bit of smokiness from the bacon, but nothing spectacular I thought. The gold beet salad, on the other hand, was delicious. The beets were garnished with some micro greens and dressed lightly with a peppery vinaigrette. The Stilton cheese was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the beets. I could've had another plate (or two) of this.

We both ordered the 6 oz. filet mignon with creamed spinach for our entrees. The filet was cooked a perfect medium rare (more so on the rarer side which is how we like it) with a nice black pepper crust. The creamed spinach was as usual, superb. Creamy, rich bites of deliciousness.

For dessert, we had the creme brulee and apple tart. The creme brulee had hints of orange flavor and was served with a rum-scented pineapple chunk and anise biscotti. As good as the creme brulee was, the apple tart was better. The anglaise went perfectly with the apples, which I thought were a tad too mushy for me. My one caveat with the meal is I felt the portions were a little small. My bf and I were about 85% full when we left. However, we were very satisfied with our meal-good ambience, great service, delicious food, and worth the visit."

other chowhounds share their experiences elsewhere...

VOICE @ hotel icon
VERDICT: excellent service, desserts were hit-or-miss, but don't miss it

review by K.L.

"We just got back from VOICE. Wow! Totally impressed on all fronts. Our service was excellent, our waiter was fantastic. We got there early and had a drink at the bar which included bar snacks of olives, candied nuts, and buttered popcorn. After we finished our drinks we were seated and chose our menu items.

We inquired about the amuse bouche listed on the HRW website and were told it was generally the mushroom soup however since we were ordering the mushroom soup we could get the tuna tartare in its place. Unfortunately, we wound up being charged for it separately. The tuna tartare was excellent, our first time having such a dish. Next we had the mushroom soup and the apple and blue cheese salad, both of which were excellent as well. We also ordered an appetizer of scallops which were perfect and delicious. Our waiter sneaked us a great sauvignon blanc pairing to match. For dinner, we both ordered the short ribs and truffle fries, again delicious all around. The fries were heavily scented with truffle oil and very good. The short ribs were the easy menu choice and were satisfying and delicious.

The desserts were good, our waiter brought us all three even though we only ordered the creme brulee and the chocolate cake. The 5 spice ice cream was the most interesting but a little weird. The creme brulee was good and refreshing. The chocolate cake was rich but neither was amazing. The crispy ice cream was a waste. A French grenache was paired with the short rib but we chose another French red instead, de pape, which was dustier and more complex. Overall it was wonderful and although ordering the short rib was a bit like having pot roast and mashed potatoes, all of the other courses made it far worth it.

HRW monday reviews

last night was the first night of houston restaurant week - a week long foodie fest of 3 course dinners for $35 at most of houston's top restaurants. $5 of each meal is donated by the restaurant to the end hunger network. the houston chowhounds waited patiently for weeks for HRW menus to be posted, then studied, debated, deliberated, and prioritized which restaurants they would patronize, diligently made their reservations and waited for HRW monday to come.

this is where the houston chowhounds went and what some of them had to say about *17, monarch, VOICE, the oceanaire, the grove, and arcodoro.

---

*17 in the alden hotel (review by neverfull)
VERDICT: good service, food underwhelming, tiny portions, skip it

a group of houston chowhounds, industry folks, and i went to *17. we had a table of 10 and the service was friendly, professional, but a little slow. the restaurant only got about half full throughout the night.

an amuse of tuna tartare on a watermelon radish chip set the dinner into motion. i was busy taking photos of it with my camera, and then the amuse disappeared before she eats and i could eat it.

for starters, almost everyone at the table chose the seasonal roasted tomato soup. our server told us there was crispy pork belly in it, so the baby lettuce salad dressed with EVOO & sherry vinegar largely skipped by everyone at the table. but when the 1st course was dropped, not a speck of pork was to be found at the table. the soup was boring and a tad acidic for my taste.

second course was a choice between halibut w/ corn pudding or a NY strip w/potatoes puree & sauteed spinach with a bordelaise. the "NY strip" was a 4 oz. filet -no grisley strip of fat was detectable. both portions were slightly larger than tasting menu size. the "corn pudding" was a creamed corn. neither dishes were bad per se, but more reminiscent of lukewarm wedding banquet food.

third course was chocolate fondant cake or ice cream. i had a bite of the cake and it didn't excite me, but chocolate rarely does. it was dry and a little bittersweet. it probably would have been better with a bite of the ice cream quenelle which arrived half melted on the same plate. i opted for the coffee ice cream and received 3 small scoops.

i was initially quite sticker shocked by the wine prices, but i realized that i have been spoiled by the wine lists at catalan, ibiza, VOICE, and reef.

they sent us home with a voucher for a free cocktail at a+, the bar at the alden, or free dessert with the purchase of a meal at *17. i can't say i was blown away. jokes were also flying about stopping at catalan or somewhere else for a bite to eat on the way home. and misha did just that. if you still want to hear more, here is ruthie's account of the evening.

other chowhounds had better or similar experiences elsewhere....

VOICE @ hotel icon
VERDICT: some service problems, desserts could be better, but don't miss it

review by tetsujustin:

"I went to Voice last night with my family, and we had a really good time... they did present us with the full menu also so we could peruse, which was good because we were waiting on a couple more people and ordered the truffle fries and the ricotta ravioli, both of which were great, though I will say the ravioli was very well made, bright, and summery.

We ordered the entirety of the HRW menu (since there were seven of us) The corn risotto was good, though I think it could have been a little creamier. I'll echo everyone else's love for the mushroom soup cappucino, with the intense mushroomy flavor. I didn't get a chance to taste the apple and blue cheese salad, though I will say it looked like a lot of greens for an apple and blue cheese salad, but my brother who had it really liked it, so I'll go with his opinion.

For mains they had a very well braised and tender shortrib, pan seared snapper with hearts of palm and peas, which was light, not overcooked, and with a crisp skin. The only problem I had was with my main, the pork sous vide. In my experience with sous vide, most everything that comes out of that bag is immensely succulent and juicy, but what I received wasn't poorly cooked or anything, but especially dry for something that was supposed to be sous vide... I knew this was a HRW menu item, so I ate the accoutrements, and didn't want to cause any trouble. But my family made me tell the waiter since I always tell them that if a customer ever has a problem with anything I really want to know and want to make it up to them. I told the waiter I didn't want to trade out my dish, but I just felt like Chef Kramer should know, but he insisted that I get something else, so they gave me the duck which was by God, a delicious, sweet, smokey concoction and more than made up for any dryness of my pork.

Dessert seemed to be a bit of an afterthought. The most interesting thing on the menu was a chocolate cream pie with five spice ice cream and an orange tuile (which didn't show up on any of our plates, now that I think about it) The crust seemed underbaked, but the five spice ice cream was delicious. While now that I re-read this post, it sounds negative, I just want to say that the food at Voice was very good, and yes, I would go back to try its full menu. Especially after tasting the duck, I'd like to go back and get the full tasting.

I want to say that the server, Alan was absolutely professional and personable, and if you have a chance to request him, please do. I'd also like to give a shout out to their wine list, which was not only interesting and had a wide variety of funky selections, but was also very, very well priced with a lot of good wines in between the 40-60 dollar range. We had a white from Rioja, a Burgundy from Chateau Parent, and a Meritage blend, "optu" from fidelitus in Columbia Valley, WA. For the prices there that don't seem too "hotel-y" for both food and wine, I hope Voice does well. Houston would be a better place with more restaurants like it."

review by myworldofnoise:

"We were a party of four at VOICE last night. They couldn't find our reservation (after confirming it the day before??), but seated us promptly anyways... Our server didn't seem to know much about the wine pairings at all, but found out the answers to all of our questions after disappearing for 10 minutes after each. This got to be a little much as we had several questions about the wine and he would run off before we could grab him...

The manager ended up talking to us for awhile about wines and doing the first pour for us when 3/4ths of us settled on buying a bottle instead of the wine pairing (we went with a bottle of what was being paired with the short ribs, the name escapes me at the moment). We were provided with bread (first round tasted like hockey pucks! I don't know how long those had been sitting around) with a garlic paste, butter, and sun-dried tomato/olive spread. It took a while for the bread to come out and the water didn't arrive at the table for quite some time.

I had the Summer Risotto which was pretty disappointing. It tasted like regular long grain rice was used and it was not creamy at all. The teeny tomatoes in the dish were fantastic, but the corn was pretty unremarkable. I tried a bite of the bleu cheese salad and wished I had gotten that instead. The greens were very fresh and crisp. My husband reported that the bleu cheese was steller. One person at our table got the mushroom soup and ended up having to fight off his wife and my husband (I'm not very big on mushrooms) to be able to finish his own dish. He said the truffle cream really put it over the top.

For entrees, it was three plates of the braised short ribs and one plate of the pork loin sous vide. The entrees were delicious. The potatos were beyond creamy and the beef had a beautiful crust and tender insides. One person said he didn't care of the apples on top,but I thought they complimented the celery and tangy flavors of the au jus. The pork loin was on the sweeter side and received highmarks, especially the pancetta and beans served along with.

Dessert was a bit of a let down after the high of the entrees... The cake was ok, a bit dry on the outside and 'molten' on the inside. Ice cream was custard based with a lot of yolks and rolled in what tasted like wafer-thin fortune cookies. I liked it alot better than the cake. The chocolate pie tasted like it had a shortbread crust that had gone kind of stale... the topping was a bit flavorless and the chocolate was unremarkable. He did like the ice cream (tasted like dark chocolate to me)... The creme brulee was said to be 'good'...

Head chef came by and talked with us for a few minutes, which was nice. He was personable and open to all of our questions. Overall it was a pleasurable dining experience. We were treated very well and left alone but not forgotton. The manager was by to make sure everything was Ok throughout our meal and once our waiter got all of our wine questions figured out he seemed to get a handle on our table. The entrees were top notch, but the desserts and rissotto could use a little bit of work. Next time I'd go with a salad for the first course and skip dessert entirely for the homemade ice cream I have in my freezer."

review by J.L.

"We were also at VOICE last night. Service was a slow for me as well (our waiter said it was his 3rd day of training). The table next to us complained that their wine pairings weren't coming out on time with each course and that it was hard to get a hold of the waiter. But onto the food...

The bread, like Rachel said, were hard little balls, but I did like the garlic paste that came with it. We started off with the summer risotto and the mushroom soup. I really enjoyed the summer risotto. It was creamy and the little tomatoes provided the right amount of tartness to offset the creaminess/richness of the risotto. The mushroom soup was amazing! Light and creamy at the same time.

For our entrees, my boyfriend and I ordered the short ribs and sous vide pork loin. Both entrees were delicious. The short ribs were so tender. The apples and celery on top cut through the richness of the meat and potatoes. The potatoes were good, although too buttery for me. Like Rachel said, the pork loin was on the sweeter side. The pork itself, to me, tasted a bit flavorless. It definitely needed the tangy sauce on top. We also ordered a side of truffle parmesan fries. I faintly detected the truffle flavor, but I got almost no parmesan taste. Both my boyfriend and I felt the fries were underseasoned and needed some salt.

I was pretty full and feeling a bit sick from all the richness by the time dessert came around. We ordered the chocolate cake served with crispy vanilla ice cream and creme brulee. My boyfriend really liked the chocolate cake, but was disappointed that "crispy" vanilla ice cream meant a vanilla ice cream quenelle rolled in crushed thin cookies. The creme brulee was good, but nothing to write home about. All in all, the food was great, but the service was average. I think once they get the kinks smoothed out, we'll be back for another meal."

review by eatinHou:

"We waited over 35 minutes to get our first round of drinks only to be told they couldn't make dirty martinis because they had no olive juice followed by our $20 extra wine pairings were arriving well after the food had arrived. The place didn't look extremely busy, but it seemed that the staff was struggling to stay afloat. Once the manager stepped in to help, the service did take a big step forward.

Yes, it was our waiter's third day, and yes, he was overwhelmed. That much was apparent- but the manager was sympathetic and understanding.

Overall, the food was good- I started off with the mushroom soup -which I think tasted better than my dc's risotto. I will second the opinion about the pork loin- it was very well done- kinda sweet, and not overdone. My beans were a little firm....

The place is beautiful, the food was good. I am not sure I will rush back seeing the service problems we encountered, but I am glad I got to check it off my list."

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the oceanaire (review and photo by javapeg):
VERDICT: wonderful service, good food, recommended

"First, let me comment on the service. Top notch from start to finish. The staff (host, manager, server) all introduced themselves by name. Everything was well paced: when I said wait, they waited (no hovering), if I gave an indication I wanted something - clear a plate, next glass of wine - it was swiftly done. That alone rates in my book because it shows they're *paying attention*....

I decided on the house salad [with vinaigrette] to be healthy... I thought it was flavorful and better than the typical, the egg made a difference...

For my main, I went with the black and blue grouper (blackened, with blue cheese compound butter and carmelized onion jam)... It was, in a word, delish. I had to use break to sop up the liquid... the blackened coating had a slight salty note but with the butter and onions it was pitch perfect. After confirming that "black" meant blackened, I ordered a zin to go with the dish. Absolutely great choice - the blue cheese, spicy blackening, and sweet flavorful onions were matched well with the fruity spicy, but not too tannic (appropriate for a fish place!) zin.

Finished off with the key lime pie. Thin graham crust but very light custard filling, almost mousse like, with a massive mound of whipped cream. Could have had a touch more lime flavor but was a good lighter ending to the meal...

My one complaint for the night? The HRW website mentioned an Amuse Bouche but none arrived. I mentioned this to Brian (my waiter) who apologized and said if it was on the website they should have had one, and he would mention it to the chef directly,

Aside from that, for $35 bucks it was a great meal, wines and coffee came to $25 (but then, I knew I'd probably spend as much on wine as the meal, and was less than that here). I'll definitely go back but will be aware my meal will cost a pretty penny more than this."

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the grove (review by tatitraveller):
VERDICT: huge portions, recommended

"Apparently they don't want to sell the idea of restaurant week because we were given normal menus and the event was not mentioned. I had to ask for the HRW menus. I can see why. The portions are huge - or, standard American big I guess, depending on your point of view.

I had the lobster crab bisque, C. had the salad. The arugula/baby greens were fine, and it was enormous, easily split for two. A toasted piece of bread with cheese on the side was ok, but just like my toasted bread with the soup kind of...an after thought. The bisque was heavy on crab flavor, a little fishy, strong spices or roux taste, and thus overall heavy-handed - or maybe actually attempting to finish the portion was a mistake.

C. had the organic roasted chicken, I had roasted salmon on roasted corn. The chicken was excellent, moist, flavorful, spiced. The salmon was underseasoned but prepared well. Again, large portions.

Dessert - butterscotch flan with seasonal berries or a pie plate: two key lime pie squares, and two pecan pie squares. Key lime pie was lime-tart refreshing and the pecan pie was sweet chewy texture good. I'm not a fan of butterscotch so can't quite comment on the flan.

Service was moderately attentive, a lot of large business tables competing for our attention. If you want the $35 to count, the Grove satisfies. I imagine if they do this a bit more they might scale back on the portions."

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monarch @ hotel zaza (review by S.L.)
VERDICT: service unattentive, "catering menu" food, skip it

"Had the HRW meal, with the recommended Cabernet Sauvignon. It was basically what you could get on a cruise ship, classic catering fare.

Gazpacho was good start, crispy cucumber, just cooked shrimp, etc. Main dish was steak, and it was cooked only one way: dry! Sides of green beans and mashed potatoes were straight off the speed catering menu. Dessert was interesting, but it was basically cheesecake. Espresso was good.

Service was basically unattentive, kept getting the, "Oh, you know what it is." introduction. Could see from others seated nearby that those not on the HRW menu were treated much much better (ex: they got water within 15 min!)"

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arcodoro
VERDICT: mixed reviews, great desserts, rest of menu hit-or-miss, (17% automatic gratuity for a table of two seems sleazy to me)

review posted by K.L.

"it was pretty good, J. definitely ordered better things than i did. her appetizer, the fried ravioli was awesome and her veal was good and tiramisu was excellent. i had a couscous saffron soup was okay, but u could tell they watered it down. i had fettucine w/ wild boar ragu wasnt memorable and i had a puff pastry + honey dessert"

review by J.L.

"my boyfriend ordered... Panadeddas di Cinghiale al Piccante (fried ravioli) for appetizer, Arrosto di Vitello ai Funghi (veal) for main course, and Tiramisu Cioccolato for dessert. My boyfriend said that of all the courses, the dessert stood out the most, which says a lot for him since he doesn't usually like tiramisu that much. The other two were good but nothing spectacular. He commented that the veal needed a little more of the sauce.

I ordered the Misto Terra (sample of meats, cheeses, olives, and artichoke) for appetizer although I don't recall any artichoke being on the plate. I had the Ravioli al Granchio e Crema di Bottarga (ravioli with crab) for main course, and Seadas al Miele (puffed pastry with sweet cheese) for dessert. My main entree came with the bottarga cream sauce that was good, but I think the ravioli itself was slightly undercooked. I, too, found that the best part came last with the dessert. There was a scoop of I think vanilla bean icecream drizzled with caramel that tasted awesome with the puffed pastry, which had a good portion of honey (which I love!) on it.

I also ordered a glass of white wine that I quite enjoyed-- I have on idea what it was (says "G Verminto" for $12.50 on the receipt) but it was the "better one" of the two available (I let the waiter pick). FYI-- the meal, wine, and bottle of distilled water came out to around $110 for the two of us. Gratuity was included at just under 17%. Overall, for the price that we paid, I'd say that it wasn't entirely worth it, except the dessert part. Then again, this was a special menu and I've never tried their normal menu items before!"

the HRW list of restaurants and menus here.

HRW: eat to end hunger

now that i have booked my own reservations, i can share this exciting news with you, all my darling readers.

houston restaurant week will be here aug 11-17. for $35 per person, you can enjoy a 3 course meal at some of houston's top restaurants. $5 of the cost will benefit houston's end hunger network. kinda ironic huh? you get to eat a fabulous meal AND help out someone unfortunate get a good meal too. that's what i call guilt-free calories.

does it get any better? the answer...

YES. the list of participating restaurants is impressive. voice (which alison cook just gave a glowing review to), *17, le mistral (best french restaurant in houston IMO), cafe annie, arcodoro, glass wall, gravitas! feel guilty about spending $40 on a piece of red meat? then take this op to make your way to strip house, del frisco's, or some of the larger chains like ruth chris (offering a 16 oz. strip), fleming's, or smith & wollensky. seriously good deals. recently, the corduas have joined the action and the americas woodlands and artista have been added to the list. i haven't made it out to the new americas yet. the awesome price tag should more than balance out the cost of gas to get out there and has convinced me to finally make the trek.

check out the HRW website for menus. many restaurants are not accepting walk-ins and will only have a limited number of seats available for HRW, so book your reservations now! you must request the "houston restaurant week special menu". in addition, if you book your reservation on open table, an additional 80 cents will go to end hunger. however, you must use the opentable "reserve a table" links on the HRW menu page.

choose wisely. unfortunately there are only 7 nights during HRW which means 7 potential dinners, but there are over 50 restaurants to choose from.

asia market

asia market
1010 w. cavalcade st #D (b/w airline & main)

My wonderful Super H-mart experience prompted a luncheon food excursion to 2 other ethnic grocery stores with much lauded food. yes, i had 2 lunches today! they don't call me neverfull for nothin!

My first stop was Asia Market in the Heights. i first read about this place in the Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide. But after seeing the photos that anonymouseater posted on his blog this week and rereading his previous review, i suddenly felt the need to get out there ASAP. (i actually attempted to go last night, but they close at 7 pm).

The website (i was surprised to find one) lists 10 menu items, however the menu i found in-store boasts 6 salads, 4 soups, 5 noodle dishes, 5 rice dishes, 5 curries, 2 vegetable dishes, and 10 specialty items. the menu also says 'let us know if you would like to try something that's not on the menu.' there were a couple thai women behind the register where you place your order and pay for groceries and a congenial african-american gentleman who took our order. he seemed very helpful and knowledgeable about the menu. we ordered the tom kha soup w/shrimp, pad kee mao noodles w/chicken (thai spicy), and the kang keaw wan w/ pork (green curry).

when we tried to order the green curry thai spicy, he looked at us like we were crazy and said it was already really spicy. we took his advice and ordered it "normal" or farang-style ('farang' means the same thing in thai as 'gringo' does in spanish).it took about 15-20 mins before our food started coming out which gave us ample time to explore the grocery store. there were lots of homemade desserts on a table near the dining area and some interesting savory snacks as well. since we knew we had 2 stops for lunch, we had to show some restraint and pass on them.

the dining area was larger than i expected and was on the front side of the store. there were 8 small tables with 2 chairs at each. another long table contained styrofoam plates, eating utensils, and various condiments such as sriracha, pickled chilis, and chili sauces. the kitchen is almost completely open and there was a cute older couple that seemed to be chef and sous chef. ventilation was good b/c there was no noticeable greasy stirfry smell about the place.the first dish that came out was the pad kee mao. it was delightfully spicy but we still added some srichacha. i could have taken a little more heat, i think the kitchen was being easy on us. this dish was amazing and had a wonderful fresh basil flavor. i also love anything with egg in it. i was literally dancing in my chair.

next up was the tom kha w/shrimp that arrived right before we were done with the pad kee mao. i have a photo of the soup innards below too. the baby shrimp, although plentiful, was obviously the cheap frozen stuff. my dining companion even remarked that he preferred a couple big shrimp to a bunch of little ones. i'll get the chicken next time, but the flavor of the soup was wonderful. it had a lot of coconut milk in it and the flavors just exploded in my mouth. i still can't decide if i like vieng thai's version better. VT's is more savory and delicate. AM's is loud and vibrant.

we closed the delicious meal with the green curry w/pork (see above photo). again the flavor profiles were amazing. the green tomatillo-esque objects are thai eggplant which comes in all their curry dishes. i've just recently fallen in love with eggplant in the past couple years, used to hate it as a kid, and after seeing anonymouseater's photos of it, it was my number one reason for coming out. the eggplant itself disappointed. it didn't taste like much and the outside of the vegetable was so hard that it was sometimes difficult to chew and swallow. the curry itself was glorious. we substituted sticky rice for white rice.

i was so excited about this meal that i had to tell my friend about this place. he was the person who introduced me to vieng thai for the first time. he was so excited about it that we went to asia market for dinner.

i have to say that round 2 of asia market was not as impressive. it was funny going back only 4 hours later and the employees were happy to see me again.

we ordered the som tum. i had previously read that the som tum was better at VT in the fearless critic houston restaurant guide. i've only had it thai style at VT; the funky laotian style with purple crunchy crabs was even offputting to robb walsh. i had hoped to try the laotian style here w/shrimp paste, but when i asked the thai woman behind the counter which was better she said "thai" w/o even a second thought. well, the fearless critic was right. VT's som tum blew AM's away although i did like the halved cherry tomatoes in this version. i have a feeling that i would have preferred the laotian style here.

my dining buddy ordered the tom yum soup w/tofu. i'm not a big fan of this kind of soup, it is a little too tart for my taste, but i did enjoy a small bowl. he loves the stuff and i've shared an order with him at VT too. he is the better judge on this subject and based on his decision, again VT's triumphed over AM's. my only critique was that the tofu was overcooked in the soup. i generally enjoy tofu in all its forms (dried, fresh, pressed into bean curd, fried) but i did not enjoy this one.

next up, pad thai. this is a dish that i generally order at americanized thai places and i enjoy it for the raw bean sprouts. i have never ordered it the many times i've been to VT, but the fearless critic said this version was the best in town. it was served with crushed peanuts, bean sprouts, a lime squeeze, and roasted chili flakes on the side. i forgot to take the photo before we mixed it all up. my expectations may have been too high after the pad mee kao noodle dish earlier, but this was the most disappointing dish yet. it was dull and bland compared to all the thai spice goodness from earlier. what a beautiful photo though, huh? my friend took all thephotos from this trip. i can't take credit for any of them.

lastly, i wanted to order a curry. the counter lady told me to get the panang. we ordered it with chicken. it was my second chance with the thai eggplant. again, they were too hard to eat. i found myself longing for the penang with green beans at VT. the curry itself was good however, but not that memorable.i know i didn't impress my dinner guest on this visit. i promised him we would come back again and experience the heavenly pad kee mao or try something really authentic like the Koa Nam Tod (fried rice w/ nam sausage) that a friend of mine who spoke thai recommended when we ran into her earlier that day. there's also an intriguing fried quail listed under their specialties that deserves a try.

gerardo's drive-in

gerardo's drive-in
609 patton nr. irvington

my second stop for lunch today was gerardo's drive-in. i have to admit i was a tad full leaving asia market. i couldn't stop eating because the food was so good, but my lunch companion was game to follow through with our plan. gerardo's was a short drive away on the other side of 45 near irvington. we didn't get there until about 3 pm. we arrived at a mexican convenience store. the "deli' was in the back of the store. their condiments bar was put up but they seemed happy to serve us. the menu was hung on the wall, but i knew exactly what i was ordering. click on the photo of the menu to enlarge.

i came for barbacoa. i had the lamb version at hugo's last week. it was too lamby and not quite unctuous and greasy enough. i was looking forward to this, but the barbacoa looked like it had been sitting out for awhile in the steam table. a huge tray of carnitas still boned filled me with more hope. mmm.... carnitas!

then we spied some huge hunks of chicharrones on another tray (why didn't i get a photo?). they looked like thick, huge slabs of deep fried bacon. the older man behind the counter told us to try some when he saw our eyes pop out at the sight of them. he instructed us to heat them up in the microwave in the dining area. hey, what's better than deep fried fat?

split the lunch plate w/ 2 meats and the obligatory rice and beans. we came for the barbacoa and carnitas based on robb walsh's review of the place last year. the older man behind the counter was happy to give us both corn and flour tortillas. we also asked for some fresh onion and cilantro and they gave us a boatload of it. we were given 3 salsas. the green one was fantastic!

all the food was about room temperature except for the warm tortillas. in hindsight, we probably should have nuked everything in the microwave sitting in the dining area. the carnitas did have a good crispy texture which was what i was looking for even if they were cold. my friend and i both decided we would come back again during prime lunch hours. btw, barbacoa is only served on friday, saturday, and sunday and i hear the place is crazy on weekends.