Moooseum

When there's a food truck, I'm naturally curious...

This is not your regular ice cream trucks.  They have all sorts of fancy sundaes, floats, milkshake.  Ice Cream of sorts of course.

We got a milkshake.  It's the good o' fashion thick you have to suck your face in type milkshake.  That said, it melts nicely and every sip is fully of real ice cream.  That said, it cost $6, which is on the higher side in terms of price.  But I do want to give small businesses a chance.

If you want to find the truck, they are pretty up-to-date on their site: http://www.moooseum.com/calendar

Moooseum Ice Cream Truck

http://www.moooseum.com

Original Ninfa's

Gosh, haven't been to the Original Ninfa's since the early 2000s.  Not because it wasn't good, the parking is not as accommodating as it is now.  The neighborhood hasn't been 'fixed up' until now.

I forgot how small the inside is, there's alot of great seating outside, so for good weather, that's worth while.  You don't have to valet, but as it gets later, there might not be an option to self-park.

While we already started with various appetizers, I ended up ordering Xochitl.  I haven't had their famous chicken soup for many years.  I love how the broth is simple but rich in flavor and the chicken is well cooked and seasoned.  It comes with rice, avocado, pico, and tortilla strips.  You can choose to dump all of that into the soup.  I only did the rice and the pico to add to the flavor.  It got plenty already, I was just greedy.  

Everyone from my boss to my coworkers were looking at me like crazy.  The company is paying for dinner and all I ordered was chicken soup.  They just never had this before to understand how rich in flavor the is.  This is not chicken soup for your soul, it's chicken soup for your belly.  It's nice and comforting and definitely don't get enough cred.  

If you do go to the original location, make sure you check several things.  First, make sure you make a reservation, because on any given night they are busy.  Simply because the brand is famous.  Second, check if there's any activity going on in that part of downtown, such as baseball, soccer, parade, concert, or anything else.  That will impact how you get there.  Besides cutting thru downtown, you can also cut thru I-45.  So, check before you go.  If you're going to the sporting events, they do have a shuttle service make sure you call in advance.

Original Ninfa's

2407 Navigation Blvd.

Houston, TX 77003

713-228-1175

https://ninfas.com

Tiger Noodle House

Happened to walk by Village looking for food...

Came across this new place, looked interesting, thought heck, why not.

To our surprised, they have Xiao Long Bao, they have pork and chicken to choose from.  One order comes in 10 pieces, plenty to go around.

Then I ordered the Taiwanese Sausage Rice bowl.  The sausage is much like the other Chinese Sausage, it is dried, densely packed and the fat inside is what you use to cook the sausage.  The Taiwanese part is the minced braised pork with the mix of dark and light soy sauce over them.  You can see, it is an accompaniment, but it is actually comfort food for many.  It comes with a boiled egg, and also small bed of cabbage over a layer of rice.  It does deliver the homey feel to the dish.  You do feel like eating something comforting.  Definitely worth going back for.

The place decor is not typical, it looks more like a sit down cafe than a Chinese restaurant.  Maybe because it's near Rice, and the crowds are mostly students they decorated it more young and hip.  But to me, as long as the food is good, I don't have to look at the decor.

Tiger Noodle House

2424 Rice Blvd

Houston, TX 77005

281-974-4083

https://tigernoodletexas.com

Ishin Udon

Last time at Ishin Udon, I saw some Italian Style Udon, got me curious.

Came back to check that out:

But first, got some Iced Green Tea

For appetizer, I got the sweet potato tempura, my favorite.

Then, I got the Crab Meat Truffle Cream Udon.  So, the noodle is still udon instead of the pastas.  There are justified amount of crab meat, mushroom, veggie, but they really poured on the truffle oil in the cream.  You can taste it in the sauce, but it's so overpowering that it wasn't as enjoyable as I'd thought it'd be.

As usual, the staff are friendly and food serves very quickly.  But don't feel rush to leave, they're very courteous about not making you feel rushed.  This time I showed upon the middle of lunch service on a weekend, and was seated quickly and over all meal, did not take a full hour.

Ishin Udon

9630 Clarewood

Ste A15B

Houston, TX 77036

713-205-8167

http://www.ishinudon.com

Bellagreen

Haven't gone to Bellagreen at City Centre since they've changed from Ruggles Green.

If you go early enough, parking is not an issue and you can get the front row seat of whatever going on in the Greens.  

I got their version of Huevos Rancheros, which is on tostadas instead of a big o' mush.  It is layered by beans, eggs, queso fresco and ranchero sauce.  I added a side of bacon for protein.  Plus, who doesn't like bacon, amirite?!  

This is definitely a cleaner way of eating Huevos Rancheros until you got to the egg yolk, where it just slimes everywhere.  So lesson learned, get scramble it's easier.  Of course, if you're an Egg-cellent egg-eater, and can handle the dripping, by all means.  Otherwise, safest bet is scrambled.

Like I mentioned earlier, if you go to City Centre early enough it is very manageable.  We were able to get an awesome parking, for free and enjoyed the scenery, weather until the activities at the Greens started to get set up and people starts to show up.  Otherwise, it is pretty leisurely.

Bellagreen

City Centre

800B Town and Country Blvd

Houston, TX 77024

713-464-5557

https://bellagreen.com 

Cafe Bustelo

Been seeing this in various instagram account.

I was just attracted by the colors and the graphic that's very mid-century like.

Love this neon sign.

Even their cups are bright colored, and it's to match the coffee they sell.

I got the Cafe Con Chocolate, of course the chocolate was yummy but the coffee really makes a huge difference.  I've never had Cuban coffee before, so this was an interesting experience.  If you're a regular coffee drinker, you can tell the taste is a bit more intense for the base espresso, and with a faint hint of chocolate.

They do sell some food, not a lot of food offering, per se.

Grabbed a Spinach and cheese empanada.  It's not alot, but it is something.

Cool art on the side of the shipping container, it has stairs that leads to more seating upstairs (aka top of the shipping container).  On a nice day, that's not a bad idea to enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

The ropes there, aren't a joke, on a weekend day, the line does get thru that long.  Luckily, every time I went, it's been between lulls.  Not that there weren't people coming or waiting, but not out the door like that.

So, you know the 4-1-1.  They are only open from 7am - 4pm.  As to where to park, the restaurant next door has that parking space behind the shipping container.  But if you go while the restaurant is not open, feel free to park there.  Otherwise, street parking is perfectly fine.

Everyone there is friendly and fully expect that you're not a regular and have questions, which they happily assist.  If you sign up to their rewards program, your 2nd drink is free.  Or you can get more points as you make more purchases.  It's not a bad deal. Since this is a pop up, this will go thru May 25th.  So, if you want to give them a shot, go soon!

Cafe Bustelo

3615 Montrose

(near UST)

Houston, TX 

832-804-9651

https://www.cafebustelo.com/en

Argentina Cafe

So happy to share this with foodie friends.

We decided to have a long overdue foodie friends lunch at Argentina Cafe.  Truth be told, I haven't been there for some time now, I forgot how yummy their food is.

First up: empanadas.  There's beef, chicken, ham and cheese, and onion and cheese.  Upper L: Chicken, Onion and Cheese, Beef, and Ham and Cheese.  I like the Ham and Cheese with the sauce.   The sauce is the chimichurri sauce.  I think if you sat these in front of me, I'd be content just eating these.

Morcilla Sausage - blood sausage.  Pretty good on it's own.

Gnocchi with bolognese sauce and a side of parmesan cheese.  This is beyond my surprised that it is amazingly good.  Totally revitalized how I love pasta all over.  So good, it is that good!

Then we get the Lomito Plate, it is filet mignon with a side of potato salad.  Amazingly, I cannot stop myself from eating the potato salad.  The filet was ok, but the potato salad was da bomb!

Overall, the meal was not bad in terms of per person and the variety.  Of course, it's more fun to share it with friends.  Definitely looking forward to the next time, but this meal can totally stand on its own.  I'm thinking of checking their 'express' location and see how it compares.

Argentina Cafe

3055 Sage Rd

Ste 130

Houston, TX 77056

713-622-8877

http://theargentinacafe.com