strip house

[side note: so some of you may know that i'm currently on day 3 of the master cleanse. i'm attempting to detox from the lifetime of crap i've put into my body and i want to prove to myself that i'm not completely controlled by food. my recent binges have sent me over the edge (obviously).

but readers, i'm still thinking about you. after 3 days of no food or booze, i'm seriously thinking about a good steak. and so i leave you with this review...]

strip house
1200 mckinney @ san jacinto

what do you get when you cross a boudoir and a great piece of red meat? the strip house! i love the dark, sexy atmosphere. makes me want to go hunt down my fishnets.

i've dined here a dozen times. with the exception of one off-night when i had a bland bone-in prime rib, every other time has been very good. and they put the fois gras torchon back on the menu which means i will probably be back there soon.

okay, where do i start? for starters, the seafood plateau is impressive. chilled shrimp, clams, lobster, king crab, mussels - pretty standard. but theirs comes with an addition of tuna tartare and baby scallop ceviche. if you're willing to splurge, this is a great way to start. fois gras torchon. i call it nature's butter. total diet-dropping stuff. theirs is served with toasted brioche. to opt for something lighter, split the bibb salad - it's large enough. nice chunks of lardons and gorgonzola.

as for steaks, just take your pick. i like them all but i usually choose the strip or filet. it comes to your table nicely charred with a little drawn butter coating the bottom of the hot plate and a half head of roasted garlic. squeeze the soft mellow garlic out and try it with a bit of steak. delish! my steaks are always perfectly cooked to medium rare the way i like it. rack of lamb has also been wonderful.

some sides are better than others. skip the goose fat potatoes no matter how hard you want to try them. yes, they sound extraordinary, but are a huge disappointment. bland. choose mashed potatoes or potatoes romanoff which are both good. truffled creamed spinach is yummy. garlic fries are yummy. mushrooms are yummy! for the true splurge, there is a baked potato with caviar, bacon, sour cream and chives that which will cost you a pretty penny.

the grapevine tells me that the chef is experimenting with new apps. expect a crabcake and a kobe beef app soon along with some others.

also, for a more casual experience, consider dining in the bar or lounge which is usually pretty quiet, roomy, and comfortable. it's a perfect romantic date situation where you can just split a few menu items and get out without throwing out crazy coin.

strip house wins for best steakhouse atmosphere in houston. but vic and anthony's is still my favorite spot for red meat b/c the crabcake and maple glazed quail are so damn good.

hue - visit 2

hue vietnamese restaurant
3600 kirby dr #h @ richmond

see 6/21/08 hue review

went back to hue recently with a girlfriend on a tuesday night. there was only one other table in the restaurant but it was 9:30. i learned that the restaurant name is pronounced hwet with a silent t and it's a province in vietnam.

i ordered a green tea mojito which was perfect. she ordered a saigon breeze which was too sweet.

we split 3 apps: (1) hue spring rolls - excellent. the "tiger" shrimp was grilled, rolled, and still warm when it hit the table. i wanted to ask for more sambal or sriracha in our peanut sauce, but i finished before the waiter came back. 3 medium sized rolls to an order. $7

(2) vietnamese sweet and sour soup w/ red snapper, calamari, shrimp, okra, mushrooms, bean sprouts. it was pretty good and the seafood was cooked perfectly, but both mai's and kim son's versions are far superior. note, there was no pineapple in it which is usually standard. $8


(3) banh xeo (crispy crepe) - wow, this thing was tiny. we split it in half and we were each able to put our whole half in a deveined leaf of green leaf lettuce. banh xeo is usually huge with lots of stuffing (big enough for me to order as a meal in fact). the stuffing of chicken, shrimp, crab, and bean sprouts was almost non-existent. $8

we still had a nice meal, but it was a little hard to swallow (pun intended) paying $8 for a banh xeo that was so minute. i could still tell from this visit that the quality of ingredients is fantastic. if i remind myself that the service here is much better than the churlish waiters at mai's i feel better.

so vino monday

so vino
507 westheimer rd nr. taft

last monday was my third visit to so vino and my most memorable. why, you ask? because monday nights are 1/2 off bottles of wine night... so we ordered three! we started off with the jansz brut rose, a sparkling wine from tasmania that was wonderfully priced on the wine list for $24 a bottle. do the math kids. yes, we paid $12 for it. it paired nicely with truffle popcorn tossed in truffle oil and then sprinkled with finely shredded white cheddar. it was served in a paper cone and it was great to find cheese sprinkled throughout the whole order of popcorn and not just on top. this stuff was awesome!

then our flights of apps arrived and included the roasted beet & goat cheese salad, the heirloom tomato & burrata cheese salad, and the house-cured salmon. both salads were wonderful and very well dressed, i would order them again. the cured salmon was served on a cutting board with dijon shallot remoulade, boiled potatoes w/ fresh dill, and pumpernickel bread layered with butter. the salmon was a little bland but was delish with remoulade and potato. the pumpernickel didn't need the butter addition.

next we opened our second bottle of wine, the 2006 turley juvenile zin. the half off price of $24 was a steal b/c it's hard enough just trying to get your hands on a bottle of it. it paired perfectly with the braised short ribs and gruyere polenta. the short ribs were a little too reminiscent of pot roast, but still good. we also ordered the truffled taleggio and mushroom pizza which wasn't anything too exciting. the red sauce on the pizza was too overpowering for the taleggio and i could smell the truffle oil more than i could actually taste it. the really, really thin crust reminded me of a chewy cracker. i'll definitely save my pizza cravings for dolce vita across the street. a side of brussel sprouts were made even more tempting by sprinklings of parmeggiano reggiano on top.


before ending our meal, we couldn't resist ordering the other turley on the menu - the 2006 turley old vines, also a zin. we wanted to taste both turleys at the same time and we could easily afford to at these prices. (i preferred the juvenile, the old vines was a little too spicy for my taste). this bottle was also $24. we drank a third of this bottle, popped the cork back in and took the rest back to my house to finish off the night. an order of smores was fun for the pyros at the table (all 3 of us), we even shared with a neighboring table.

continuing the theme of decadence, we got a second dessert - the mosaic - which was a vanilla semi-freddo wrapped around mango and raspberry sorbets and sliced. it was delicious. service was amazing. the owner of so vino kept stopping by our table to check on us too. i believe my girls and i have found our new monday night spot.

hue

hue
3600 kirby dr #h @ richmond

this new trendy vietnamese joint is brought to us by the azuma folks. my, my have they been busy lately. soma only opened earlier this year and 6 months later they've brought us another chi chi pan-asian joint. we joked that it's too bad they didn't get philippe schmidt to run this place, as gadsby is over at soma turning out franco-japanese cuisine. if they did, i think the menu would have been much more exciting. i would describe the cuisine here as slightly updated classic vietnamese.

the chef was courted from NY to run this kitchen. she is a sweet, humble vietnamese woman who looks like she could be any of my vietnamese friends' mother. she left nam restaurant in tribeca to bring her culinary skills to the south. our pretty asian hostess was super polite and our waiter was attentive and willing to chat with us as the restaurant wasn't very busy at all.

the interior space feels very clean and modern. the walls look as if they were dyed in green tea and teak colored wood is used throughout to provide organic components. interesting textures decorate the wall.

the menu was printed on 2 sheets of legal size paper, stapled, and stamped "DRAFT" as soma did during their soft opening. it lists four variety of rolls: imperial (the little fried ones) and spring rolls with your choice of grilled tiger shrimp, tofu, or grilled filet mignon. the rolls run $6 to 8 on order.

three salads are also listed including a calamari salad, spicy filet mignon, and mixed house salad. the prices were $7, $8, and $6 respectively.

there are 3 types of soup: wonton, pho, and vietnamese hot & sour; and 2 noodle dishes: vermicelli w/ grilled pork and stirfried egg noodles with assorted meats. prices ranged from $6-10.

starters included classic vietnamese dishes with anglo-friendly names: crispy crepe (banh xeo), sugar cane shrimp, wild mushroom cannelloni (banh cuon), and shrimp ravioli (banh li) joined a few others. prices were $6 to $9.

entrees included bo luc lac, roasted cornish hen, claypot salmon, seafood curry, and a few stirfries. nothing was a terrible stretch from anything you'd find from our vietnamese standbys like mai's. small changes were made such as choosing salmon instead of catfish in their claypot, but nothing is a far stretch into the innovative or creative realm. the cheapest entree was the stirfried lemongrass chicken at $12 and the most expensive was the crispy whole red snapper at today's market price of $33. our waiter assured us that the snapper was more than 2 lbs and it was sushi grade. i wasn't sure if i believed him or not. but i think it would have fed 2 people easily. our waiter and the chef kept steering us into ordering the bo luc lac or "shaken beef" when we asked what the house specialities were. i've had my share of beef this week (as some of you may know), so i was craving something lighter.

we started with 2 appetizers, the calamari salad and grilled pork ribs. the calamari salad was overdressed. the presence of pickled red onions already provided a healthy acidity to the dish. they need to tone down the amount of the slightly spicy tamarind dressing that is going on each small plate.

the grilled pork ribs were nicely crispy from the grill and tasted just like the grilled pork chop you get on a rice plate or vermicelli bowl.

we shared the steamed sea bass entree ($19). note, there is no lunch menu. when i asked our server if there were any plans to provide one, he said he didn't know. these prices are definitely steep for lunch, especially considering you can have a 3 course meal at da marco or feast for $22.
the sea bass was delicious and on the right side of the border of almost being overcooked. it was swimming in a delicate but flavorful sauce with shitake mushrooms, cellophane noodles, and a little bok choy. fresh cilantro was generously scattered on top. this is a great summer dish.

the beginnings of an outdoor patio were apparent. the bar area in the back of the restaurant is small. they aren't trying to create another soma bar crowd which is good. the place will still attract a hip, be-seen crowd that probably doesn't know that a bowl of pho is usually only $4-5.

see updated 7/5/08 review

a new voice

voice
hotel icon
220 main b/w franklin & congress

( photos are courtesy of james yu)

see updated 8/17/08 review

now i am truly embarrassed about the quality of my photos. the footage i have from last night's dinner really didn't capture the beauty of the food and the food was GORGEOUS. i think i would actually be doing the restaurant a disservice by posting my photos, so thankfully james offered me his.

the restaurant has been updated. a circular bar has been put in the middle of the restaurant and i can see that it will do well in attracting a vibrant bar scene. there is also one long communal bar table where i saw 6 guests cocktailing happily. i like some of the new, modern touches including the black and white giant hanging tapestries and the black and white cowhide (faux?) backed bar chairs. the contrasting textures are interesting. the tall banquettes are left over from the days of bank, the previous restaurant that was opened by the jean-george vongerichten enterprise. overall, the restaurant just seems more energetic. it was a good move to get rid of the old bar. i never wanted to sit there and bars and i usually get along just fine.

the 6 of us started the night with a bottle of l'aventure syrah from paso robles alongside our cocktails. it was remarkably priced at $65. in fact, we were surprised how affordable the wine list was, not quite as close to retail as ibiza, catalan, reef but still quite low. for example, a bottle of nicolas feuillatte brut rose (one of my favorite champagnes) is $38.50 at spec's, $40 at ibiza, and $55 at voice.

for appetizers we started with 2 orders of grilled octopus, 2 orders of truffle fries, the mushroom cappuccino, and crabcake. the grilled octopus had a wonderful char on it and was topped with a lovely frisee salad dressed with truffle vinaigrette and hon-shimeji mushrooms. the truffle fries, lightly drizzled in truffle oil and parmesan, arrived hot, crispy, and provided a wonderful truffle fix.

the mushroom soup "cappuccino" was whimsically served in a coffee cup with saucer. the stiff foam did a good job replicating a cappuccino froth. i wanted to pick up the cup and drink it! the flavors were wonderful and earthy and the texture was soft and creamy, but unfortunately it was painfully oversalted. we informed our server and had him remove it from the table. (btw, no one followed up with our complaint. we were not offered a new one or a replacement nor was the item taken off our bill.)

lastly, the crabcake was nothing remarkable. it had a lot breading and was served on pressed avocado, shaved fennel, and cilantro oil. i would have enjoyed more cilantro oil since the cake was bready and dry. it seemed more like a garnish on the plate.

now we were down to 5 people and only 4 of us were drinking. we ordered the beau vigne juliet, a cab blend from st. helena, CA. the bottle was $73 (retail is $54.95). it was a nicely balanced wine with good fruit and an interesting finish.

i noted to the group that the chef didn't send out an amuse. am i wrong to expect one from a restaurant at this price point?

for entrees, i chose the lacquered duck breast w/ morels, fava beans and black pepper gastrique. the duck was slightly overcooked (i requested medium-rare) but the dish was still fantastic. my plate was also garnished with sweet potato puree that had a nice star of anise flavor punch.

the wow dish at the table was the venison sous vide. the protein was pleasantly gamey and oh-so-tender. the accoutrements were caramelized apples, cipollini onions, and sour cherry sauce. superb! everyone also enjoyed the rack of lamb which was perfectly cooked (see top photo). both the guys were gnawing on bones which is a good sign.

we also picked 2 fish dishes for the table. the first was the alaskan halibut with baby carrots and truffle foam. the dish was composed of 3 thinnish filets of pan seared halibut which were overcooked and dry. i questioned why the chef didn't choose to serve 1 thick piece of fish to really show-off the buttery unctuousness of good halibut. the truffle foam provided some creaminess and saved the dish. however, the grouper wasn't any better than the halibut. the fish was also dry but the mussels served on top and the sauce (a mussel broth maybe?) didn't excite any palates at this table.

after a round of espressos, we had 3 desserts. the peanut butter custard with caramelized bananas was the table favorite. a study in chocolate included warm molten cake, mint ice cream w/a chocolate cookie, chocolate mousse, and a milkshake. it was a fun playground of various chocolate treats however the cookie was so hard we couldn't even cut it with a knife. lastly, we picked three in house made sorbets: ginger-lychee, green apple-champagne, and passionfruit. we expected a smoother texture. some of them were also cloyingly sweet.

service was wonderful. the company was even better. i dug the ambiance of the place which was relatively busy. will i be running back? probably not b/c i expect a little more polish if i'm digging out the serious coinage. but i *am* still thinking about that venison more than 24 hours later.

max's wine dive

max's wine dive
4720 washington ave @ shepherd

first of all, if you've never been here, this place is much more restaurant than wine bar and it certainly isn't a dive. max’s offers gourmet comfort food, decent wine prices, and a kitchen that closes late. it has a loud, energetic atmosphere, great for dinner with the girls on a tuesday or saturday night. if i didn’t worry about calories, i would eat here twice a week. but i've still been here at least a dozen times.

last night was my third visit since the departure of chef jonathan jones who left for the executive chef position at the new americas in the woodlands. the menu hasn't changed too much and i hadn't really noticed a drop in the quality of the food until last night. later on in the evening, i learned that max's has gone through three chefs since JJ left and a friend of mine was just recently hired there. we went in last night hoping he would be there. he was not.

i rave and rave about the fried chicken. in fact, i have probably ordered it the last 4 times i was here. it's wonderfully flavored and always moist inside. but last night i realized that i'm in love the composition of the whole dish -- crispy fried chicken, creamy marscapone mash, bitter collard greens, and sweet, smokey chipotle honey. texas toast is garnish b/c when i finally get around to it, it's always cold. last night the chicken was fine, maybe a little more greasy than usual, but the mashed potatoes were bland and the collard greens were undercooked & fibrous.

btw, i checked the description of the mashed potatoes on the menu online and it no longer says they have marscapone in them. cost cutting? come on, this IS an $18 plate of FRIED CHICKEN.

onto other people's food, michael got the softshell crab special. it was served as an open-faced sandwich and was dressed with a tasty aioli. he gave me a generous portion. i enjoyed the dish immensely. paul got the fried egg sandwich which i have had before. it is a monstrously messy affair. max's describes it as "Three pan fried eggs, drizzled with truffle oil and maldon sea salt, topped with three slabs of applewood smoked bacon and Veldehuizen gruyere, organic bibb lettuce, hot house tomato, and garlic black truffle aioli. All sandwiched between two pieces of artisan sourdough and served with hand-cut chips." unfortunately, this dish is anticlimatic for me. i end up with lots of runny yolk, good bacon flavors, but not enough truffle. what a tease!

lea got the caesar salad and truffled mac & cheese. i do like how the romaine lettuce leaves are served whole the way cardini conceptualized the dish. the leaves are supposed to be picked up and eaten with your hands. the huge white anchovies are a nice touch. the mac & cheese is rich and creamy, but not to die for. i prefer the truffled mac at oceanaire to this version.

steve had the yankee pot roast made with locally sourced kobe beef cheeks. i had a small bite and for cheek meat (my favorite), it wasn't very memorable. dimitre had the kobe burger topped with brie (photo above).

i'll give this place another go when i know there's a different guy in the kitchen. btw, if you are industry, they'll give you 15% off your bill. last night, they discounted our wine too.

soma

4820 washington ave #A @ shepherd

did anyone read this article in the chronicle today about robert gadsby, formerly of noe? he is at soma now, the new franco-japanese place that opened on shepherd/washington by the azuma folks:

i've been to soma twice now since it's soft opening several weeks ago. i had higher expectations since it is owned by azuma and i want to see this place succeed b/c of the location. personally, i think there is much better sushi in houston than azuma, but the location is within a 5-10 min drive of my house and i'm excited to see washington ave. become the new, hip part of houston with all the recent openings of restaurants, bars, & clubs.

back to soma, my first visit was on the 4th day they were open. the sushi was mediocre, although the fresh salmon was wonderful. i don't normally order rolls but the soma roll was listed on their sushi menu as having cilantro and onion in it, so i couldn't pass it up. it came to the table with tempura crunch all over it and there was no onion or cilantro flavors to be found.

disappointing.... on my second visit, a week and a half later, again, the sushi was mediocre. they did have a live scallop special where they served it 2 ways and it was excellent. but both times, the quality of the sushi was worse than azuma (and i've frequented both locations). it seems to me that they have a different seafood purveyor for this establishment?

the non-sushi menu is all gadsby's doing. i have to say that is was very strange seeing a kitchen full of non-asians back there (is that un-PC of me to say that?). the menu is creative. think truffle oil, quail eggs, fois gras. my first night, i ordered a hot plate with ny strip loin and potatoes. the steak (about 4 oz.) was chewy, although cooked a perfect medium-rare. the potatoes were similar to an au gratin, but less saucy with a nice buttery finish. it was apparent to me that this dish could have been heavenly, if not for the low-quality of the meat. i think this small dish was $18. i would have gladly paid $25 for it with a better piece of beef.

on my second visit, the non-sushi menu had changed, although it was still printed on normal white copier paper stapled together with the word "DRAFT" stamped on it. there was a fois gras terrine with raw tuna on there that i could not pass up. it sounded interesting, scary even. it was served just like a slice of a terrine. there was a large hunk of tuna in the middle and fois gras wrapped around it. it was served with a mango relish. no regrets, it was very interesting, much better than i could have ever imagined, but a novelty. fois gras is much better in more classic preparations.

soma is already reeling in big crowds. expect a wait. expect a large bar crowd. expect loud techno music. give it a try, but stick to the non-sushi menu. they still have a lot of kinks to work out and the chronicle article says that gadsby will work on the sushi menu when he is done with the main menu. but really, he just needs to find a new fishmonger,some sushi chefs with better knife skills, and probably just add a few more rolls for the not-so-serious-sushi-eater types.