new @ rainbow lodge

rainbow lodge
2011 ella blvd @ e. tc jester

what's new at rainbow lodge? a WHOLE LOT. chef randy rucker of former laidback manor and tenacity supper club has taken over the kitchen and the food has gotten a lot more... well, "rucker-esque." i wasn't really sure what to expect from lunch today - i have to admit that i wasn't the biggest rainbow lodge fan previously. but we were in good hands, randy's hands. as soon as the amuse arrived, a big smile creeped across my face.

amuse bouche from Rainbow Lodge

the amuse was a small bite of poached shrimp with cocktail sauce gelée and tangerine leaves. the presentation was clean and whimsical.

marinated raw scallops from Rainbow Lodge

our first course were sliced raw scallops marinated in miso, white soy, and sesame oil. it was served w/ a creamy miso vinaigrette, thai chilis, fresh dill and shaved radish. the inherent creaminess of raw scallops was accenuated by the crisp radish chips. the marinade was flavorful and benefited from the nuttiness of the sesame oil. the miso vinaigrette should be sold by the gallon. i would buy some, take it home and dip everything in it. the dill and chilis added a fresh, vibrant touch.

foie gras torchon on brioche w/ candied bacon from Rainbow Lodge

we were lucky to lunch on this particular day as the kitchen had foie gras torchon already prepared for the new years eve tasting menu. the foie gras from labelle farm had been cured in armagnac and sous vided. it was served on a piece of smoked brioche with candied bacon and blis maple syrup. tat soi flowers, rutabaga tops, and fleur de sel crowned the torchon. bacon and foie on one plate makes happy palates. and it did indeed.

rabbit & apple cider velouté from Rainbow Lodge

a bowl with a rabbit rillette and romanesco, a broccoli/cauliflower hybrid was set in front of me. then a rabbit and apple cider velouté was poured into the bowl. this was one of my favorite courses as it was so unexpected. a velouté is one of the four mother sauces of french cuisine. the sauce is essentially made from a stock (in this case a rabbit stock) and a blonde roux made from equal parts butter and flour. the sauce is so silky the word comes from the french word for velvet, velour. randy cuts the sauce with acidity from apple cider vinegar and the end product is magnificent: slightly sweet, rich, and creamy. the rabbit rillette was equally velvety and offered something more substantial to each spoonful. the romanesco was visually stunning and just barely steamed to add yet another textural experience into play.

berkshire pork belly w/cauliflower mushrooms from Rainbow Lodge

our fourth course was berkshire pork belly sousvided for 48 hours and then flash fried prior to serving. it was accompanied by cauliflower mushrooms (sparassis), leeks, and blackeyed peas in an orange blossom vinegar. nasturtium greens from randy's garden topped the plate and have a distinct peppery flavor. the blackeyed peas seemed to add some starchy creaminess to the plate and was a welcome reminder of the new year.

grilled tuna and fingerling potatoes from Rainbow Lodge

the fifth course was seared tuna with fingerling potatoes in a red wine bordelaise with sprinklings of fleur de sel and tangerine leaves - both very noticeable. the tuna was cooked perfectly. the fresh citrus notes from the tangerine leaves made this otherwise good dish something very special.

venison loin rubbed with cinnamon and "christmas spices" from Rainbow Lodge

our sixth and last savory course was venison loin seasoned with cinnamon and christmas spices. it was served with black kale, sunburst squash, and purple carrots in venison jus. the venison was not gamey at all but i would have preferred it cooked to a prettier rare. i also didn't really "get" the choice of seasonings although i appreciated the humor in incorporating some x'mas spirit on the table.

liquid pumpkin pie from Rainbow Lodge

liquid pumpkin pie was served warm in brandy snifters. it was rich in flavor but not in cream and we remarked how good it would be with the addition of rum for a great holiday drink. i love pumpkin pie and i loved this.

chocolate ganache from Rainbow Lodge

our last course was chocolate ganache with pistachios and wood sorrel. it was decadent and smooth on the tongue and a satisfying end to a long luxurious lunch.

i admit that i had some doubts about the relationship between randy and the owners at rainbow lodge: i was skeptical the business would not give randy the creative freedom to offer the kind of food he is blessed to be able to create. i'm happy to report that my concerns are no longer. randy will be rolling out a his new menu on january 6th.

and...if you don't have plans for dinner tomorrow night, it may not be too late to book a reservation at rainbow lodge and take advantage of their new years eve tasting menu. for details, go to randy's blog.

crawfish in dec?

is it just me or does crawfish season seem to start earlier and earlier every year? i heard rumors last week that mardi gras grill already had crawfish. a quick phone call over there confirmed the rumor and i quickly organized a lunch there this week.

the chowhounds and i eagerly arrived at mardi gras with visions of mudbugs and getting down and dirty together only to find out that they ran out the day before. i had a hard time accepting the news and talking my belly into picking something off the regular menu. disheartened, i finally settled on the grilled boudin and a side salad. determined that the quest wasn't over yet, i called ragin cajun who confirmed they had boiled crawfish in.

a quick conversation about it led us to scarf down our lunch and head straight for ragin cajun. hey, there's a reason we're called the "chowhounds!" we started with 3 pounds.

the crawfish were of smallish size. of course i knew that this was something we should expect pre-season. we poured the crawfish out onto the red plastic trays set out for us, sprinkled a generous dose of "slap yo mama" on top, and dug in. i sucked my first head. something wasn't right. the smell of crab boil was too overwhelming. the taste? the taste wasn't really there. i realized right away that they were using concentrated liquid crab boil and probably not much of anything else like lemons, onions, garlic that would give it more dimensional flavors. we ordered another 3 pounds and switched to oysters and some pretty heavy drinking as happy hour just started.

year after year, people keep telling me they like ragin cajun the best for crawfish. every season i am talked into going at least once and each time i leave disappointed. it's official this time. if i'm walking into ragin cajun from now on, it's for 25 cent oyster happy hour and cheap drink specials. i'll try to patiently wait for mardi gras to get their next shipment of mudbugs in and i'll head to big woodrow's during prime time crawdad season. i can hang out with friends, throw back some beer, and pretend that i'm watching basketball. but really the yummy crawfish will keep me occupied enough. i also plan on checking out the crawfish spots in chinatown this year.

top chef dinner

isla coqui
1801 durham dr. suite 1-A @ i-10

last night some of my new friends from houston chowhounds (and some not so new foodie friends) and i met up for some puerto rican grub and to watch the top chef finale in puerto rico. (i love themed dinners!) the locale was isla coqui, a puerto rican restaurant that i drive by all the time and never heard much mention of in foodie circles.

the arrangements were made in advance with the owner, maida and they set us up with a 10 top in front of their flat screen tv. they even gave me both remotes so i had complete control over the tv and volume. incidentally, texas monthly was there taking photos of the restaurant which included snapshots of our group, so pick up the august issue!

before i go any further, let me just say how proud i am of stephanie for winning the top chef title this season. she was so humble when it was announced and i thought she was even going to cry. methinks she was very deserving. our first female top chef, woo hoo! that fish course she made looked beautiful. (the fried whole snapper we had did not, but i digress.) richard also looked like he was going to cry, he was pretty upset with himself. his pork belly dish totally bombed. and what the hell was he thinking doing pork belly AGAIN? didn't almost everyone do pork belly last week with the whole pig elimination challenge? lisa acted like she OD-ed on happy pills. she was actually really calm in the kitchen. she got along with her celebrity sous-chef and didn't piss anyone off with her bitch-self this week. her food for once even looked good! i was flipping over the fact that she actually had a chance to win the title. another mojito please! ok, whew!

so, onto our food which i'm not as excited about. we started with almost every appetizer on the menu. the bad ones made the biggest impression. WAY overcooked mejillones (mussels): disgusting and you only get 6 small ones in an order. pulpo, the octopus ceviche served on a toston: tiny appetizer and the octopus was too chewy.


i also did not care for the pastel, a puerto rican tamale stuffed with pork steamed in a banana leaf. it was also a very unappetizing dark green color. the conitos de platano rellenos, fried green plantain cones topped with shrimp: bland.


i did enjoy the mofonguitos de yuca, described as fried mashed cassava w/ham on the menu. although i didn't get any ham in my piece, they were fried nicely and had a texture on the outside similar to panko. it came with a killer garlic oil and spiced mayo or aioli. i also liked the bacalaitos or fried codfish fritters and the aceitunas verdes, marinated green olives (no photos). we had an empanada at the table, not sure what kind, but alas, i didn't get a bite. the toston here are really thin and have a nice crunch. the spiced mayo showed up on this plate too with some red "caviar."


we decided on 4 mains to share family style. (that's how we chowhounds roll -- we share everything) we chose the mofongo de camarrones (see photo above), a dish that took me back to PR for a few moments. i was there for a wedding earlier this year. mofongo is PR's signature dish of mashed green plaintains. ic's version also included olive oil, garlic, spanish ham, and pork rinds. the dish was tasty. we also ordered the chillo entero, which was a fried whole red snapper (photo above). it was an overcooked mess and hard to carve off the bone. (for the same $23.99, you can get a 1.5 lb whole grilled red snapper masterpiece at tampico, one of the best dishes in houston.) we chose zucchini sauteed in garlic and maduros fritos, fried sweet plaintains, as our sides. i thought both were good, although the zucchini was slightly undercooked.

we also chose 2 meat dishes, the first was the special of the evening, pernil or roasted pork shoulder. it was a little dry and oversalted. we chose a side of arroz con gandules a stewed rice dish with pigeon peas and pork. (our pigeon peas were not al dente like antonia's dish last week. these were the peas that sent her home and gave lisa the undeserved ticket to stick around for the finale.) this dish was nice. i helped myself to seconds of it. we also ordered the churrasco a la parrilla or grilled flank steak. it was DOA. i ordered it medium rare and it came to us medium well. the chimichurri didn't help matters much.


to close on a good note, service was attentive and maida even came by the table several times to check on us. she sent us complimentary shots of coquito made by maida herself, which is a puerto rican drink made with rum, eggs, condensed milk, and coconut cream. it tastes like a liquified macaroon. the mojitos were also excellent and i enjoyed several of them as we caught their tuesday and wednesday night 50% off drink specials.

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.