It was very serendipitous that Jakeisha from Cheap East in Houston invited me to do a soft opening/tasting at Blu down in Sugarland. Since I didn't make it to my run as I intended, this is a great evening alternative. And I'm so appreciative.Ok, gang, this is picture filled, so grab a napkin, you'll be drooling...
The GM had personally presented us with the drink menu, they also have a full list of remix of standard concoction. My only thought is, with all the great mixologist in town, what would be the draw to come out? Well, the space is actually very nice, on a rare lovely day we have in Houston, it's actually nice to sit outside and enjoy the view and have a cocktail. The most popular at our table was the Orient a l'orange. It was vodka, ginger liqueur, citrus, orange blossom, and Thai basil. It is packed with liquor, but it is also refreshing for a hot day. Worth a try.
Chef Jett, formerly of Gigi's, took away our menus and asked us to trust him. When a chef offers, you nod and hand over the menus. First up, is ceviche. It was flavorful, but I'm not a very big fan of ceviche. That said, he made sure each of us get a jumbo shrimp per person. Great portion, perfect of Happy Hour.
Next up, is shrimp dumpling, very similar to har gow that you get at dim sum. The tiny difference from the traditional Chinese is that he put butter inside. Yes, I said butter. It does go with everything, doesn't it? I think that's clever, it brought out flavor and easy to do.
Following the shrimp was the Edamame Dumpling. They grained up the edamame beans and mixed it up as filling. When they serve the dumplings, they drizzled truffle oil on top. So the scent and sight of the dish already gives you a clue as to what you will taste. Sure enough, the truffle oil adds so much to it that you didn't expect.
Here comes the protein: Kaya beef. It really is jerk beef with chili sauce. As the lady sitting next to me described, it's like the dried beef jerky with a sweet and spicy taste. It does touches all those nodes, and it wasn't too dried that you have to use your fake teeth to pull off.
Then, we have lamb samosa. It's a playful way to mix things up with this Indian food favorite. The flavor didn't blow me away, it worked just fine.
Perhaps, one that truly strike me as unique and different would be the Meatball Lollipop. Not only presentation is cute, the taste is very impactful. You'd think, it's just a meatball. But the quality of it was top notch, BUT! Hold your hats, the sweet and spicy sauce on top is to die for.
Next, we were presented the calamari salad with miso lime sauce. Honestly, if I were here for lunch, I'd order this. You have crispy factors from all over, from the calamari, lettuce, and the noodle stripes, the sauce is not too moise and mixed things up nicely. You don't feel at all heavy with the fried calamari.
Here we have Chili Lamb. It's kind of a misnomer because it was not as spicy as the name indicated. I would say it has a small kick, but it also have the sweet and spice to balance things out. You can see the baby tomato and bits of jalapeno salsa on top to enhance the taste.
Perhaps the most stunning in terms of taste + presentation would be the Crispy Whole Fish. He wasn't kidding when he said a whole fish. They basically de-boned the fish, fried the meat and bone, created this structure to hold the meat, and let the meat soak in the chili sauce. Now, I know thus far, I've mentioned chili in alot of places, but I can assure you that nothing is so spicy that you need to grab a drink of water.
Here is the Tuna Tataki, it's charred tuna (seared) and mixed with citrus soy oil. I liked the taste, and was in my head, curious what would it taste like if I had that with my salad? Hmm...
Here's something I got excited about: that is Hong Kong Fried Rice. Now, here's the thing: having grown up in HK, you have certain expectation of HK style fried rice. Sure you have your basics; rice, meat, scallion, soy sauce, and egg. I can tell you that they have all of that. What a nice touched they did was to add Chinese sausage. You don't see restaurants (the ones not located inside Chinatown) that take advantage of Chinese sausage. It is essentially made like normal sausage that you and I know now, dried, and high in fat content. It is just one of those childhood memories that Chef Jett captured in a little dish. Plus, I love those mini woks as presentation.
Then, we have Chicken Cashew. To me, that wasn't any different than alot of American Chinese restaurant had put out. Perhaps maybe their ingredients are of higher quality.
Lastly, we have the Sweet Thai Curry Short ribs. Now that's what I'm talking about, meat fall off the bone good, and dip into the yummy curry sauce. The coconut milk from the sauce brings out the flavors of the rib. It taste remarkable. I would say this dish and the Crispy Fish were fighting for top billing.
The GM had personally presented us with the drink menu, they also have a full list of remix of standard concoction. My only thought is, with all the great mixologist in town, what would be the draw to come out? Well, the space is actually very nice, on a rare lovely day we have in Houston, it's actually nice to sit outside and enjoy the view and have a cocktail. The most popular at our table was the Orient a l'orange. It was vodka, ginger liqueur, citrus, orange blossom, and Thai basil. It is packed with liquor, but it is also refreshing for a hot day. Worth a try.
Chef Jett, formerly of Gigi's, took away our menus and asked us to trust him. When a chef offers, you nod and hand over the menus. First up, is ceviche. It was flavorful, but I'm not a very big fan of ceviche. That said, he made sure each of us get a jumbo shrimp per person. Great portion, perfect of Happy Hour.
Next up, is shrimp dumpling, very similar to har gow that you get at dim sum. The tiny difference from the traditional Chinese is that he put butter inside. Yes, I said butter. It does go with everything, doesn't it? I think that's clever, it brought out flavor and easy to do.
Following the shrimp was the Edamame Dumpling. They grained up the edamame beans and mixed it up as filling. When they serve the dumplings, they drizzled truffle oil on top. So the scent and sight of the dish already gives you a clue as to what you will taste. Sure enough, the truffle oil adds so much to it that you didn't expect.
Here comes the protein: Kaya beef. It really is jerk beef with chili sauce. As the lady sitting next to me described, it's like the dried beef jerky with a sweet and spicy taste. It does touches all those nodes, and it wasn't too dried that you have to use your fake teeth to pull off.
Then, we have lamb samosa. It's a playful way to mix things up with this Indian food favorite. The flavor didn't blow me away, it worked just fine.
Perhaps, one that truly strike me as unique and different would be the Meatball Lollipop. Not only presentation is cute, the taste is very impactful. You'd think, it's just a meatball. But the quality of it was top notch, BUT! Hold your hats, the sweet and spicy sauce on top is to die for.
Next, we were presented the calamari salad with miso lime sauce. Honestly, if I were here for lunch, I'd order this. You have crispy factors from all over, from the calamari, lettuce, and the noodle stripes, the sauce is not too moise and mixed things up nicely. You don't feel at all heavy with the fried calamari.
Here we have Chili Lamb. It's kind of a misnomer because it was not as spicy as the name indicated. I would say it has a small kick, but it also have the sweet and spice to balance things out. You can see the baby tomato and bits of jalapeno salsa on top to enhance the taste.
Perhaps the most stunning in terms of taste + presentation would be the Crispy Whole Fish. He wasn't kidding when he said a whole fish. They basically de-boned the fish, fried the meat and bone, created this structure to hold the meat, and let the meat soak in the chili sauce. Now, I know thus far, I've mentioned chili in alot of places, but I can assure you that nothing is so spicy that you need to grab a drink of water.
Here is the Tuna Tataki, it's charred tuna (seared) and mixed with citrus soy oil. I liked the taste, and was in my head, curious what would it taste like if I had that with my salad? Hmm...
Here's something I got excited about: that is Hong Kong Fried Rice. Now, here's the thing: having grown up in HK, you have certain expectation of HK style fried rice. Sure you have your basics; rice, meat, scallion, soy sauce, and egg. I can tell you that they have all of that. What a nice touched they did was to add Chinese sausage. You don't see restaurants (the ones not located inside Chinatown) that take advantage of Chinese sausage. It is essentially made like normal sausage that you and I know now, dried, and high in fat content. It is just one of those childhood memories that Chef Jett captured in a little dish. Plus, I love those mini woks as presentation.
Then, we have Chicken Cashew. To me, that wasn't any different than alot of American Chinese restaurant had put out. Perhaps maybe their ingredients are of higher quality.
Lastly, we have the Sweet Thai Curry Short ribs. Now that's what I'm talking about, meat fall off the bone good, and dip into the yummy curry sauce. The coconut milk from the sauce brings out the flavors of the rib. It taste remarkable. I would say this dish and the Crispy Fish were fighting for top billing.Blu actually has been opened a few months, but after working out kinks, they are now doing a proper launch. They have alot of great things set up and visioned for the place. For instance, they have lunch specials Tuesday thru Friday (they're not open on Mondays), 3 courses for $12. Not to mention, they just finalized their brunch menu.
Top it off, Chef Jett wanted to do some street side fare by pulling out the grill at the outdoor lounge part and just mix things up and doing it street fare style. While you don't get the mystique of a food truck, that is still pretty neat to have open dining that way. More fun, and can totally picture that to be my 4th of July - Town Square eating spot.
Tomorrow, I will talk about the rest of the yummy food, this time featuring Chef Jett's wife, Chef Jira, who is the pastry chef by his side cooked up for us.
Blu
Sugar Land Town Square
2248 Texas Dr
Sugar Land, TX
281-903-7324
http://www.blusugarland.com/index.php
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