Jinya Ramen

So we have heard about the downtown ramen spot opening...

I grabbed Julia for lunch.

Nice set up... everything is set nice and pretty... can't wait for the food.

This is Jinya Tonkotsu Black.  Sounded exotic enough on the menu, had to give it a try.  The broth wasn't as thick as I had hoped.  They said it's a pork broth, so I had expected to be thicker and fattier.  It was neither.  The pork itself was good, fall off the chopsticks good.  You see here, green onion, seaweed, fried onion, garlic chips, the noodle wasn't as chewy as I had hoped.  The egg was the most upsetting... it was cold, but the thing doesn't even taste good... I would opt out next time.  The hot sauce was good, and if you like spicier, tell your server.  They're very on top of it.

We went during lunch time, and parked in the garage in the back for free.  The building does have a valet, so not hard to find if you drive to the restaurant next door.  They also have a full bar, and if you come at night, I'm pretty sure it'll be hopping.

Jinya Ramen

3201 Louisiana St

Houston, TX 77002

832-925-8596

http://www.jinya-ramenbar.com/

Ding Ding HK Tea House

I saw it on my friend's FB feed that there's a new place opened up... of course, I have to go check it out.

This is same style as HK Cafe.  Tea Restaurant, which was invented during war time.  You can read the Wiki here.

 This is their Lemon Tea, you need to stir it up real good.  

 This is the Curry Brisket Rice.  It's actually pretty good, the meat is tender and the sauce is not too spicy.  It's goes well with the rice.  Frankly that broccoli may as well be a parsley because I didn't even touch it.  My only thing is that I'd would love to have more sauce to go with my rice.  Not to lick the plate or anything, but just finish the rice would be great.

How this works is that you go in, feel free to grab a menu and study it.  Then go to the cashier to order, and they do accepts credit cards.  Grab yourself a glass of water, utensils, napkins at the water station. Then find yourself a seat.  Within minutes, seriously, it's a few minutes, food shows up.  Service is quick.  And they open for breakfast at 7:30a, lunch begins at 11a, and dinner till 9p.

Ding Ding

9398 Bellaire Blvd.

Houston, TX 

832-649-2230

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ding-Ding/1405400513098715

Tout Suite Macarons

This is such a good message for everyone to get up in the morning~

Wake Up, Kick Ass, Repeat!  I just find it poetic to be under a banana... because everyone should have some potassium for the day.

I came here on St. Patrick's Day, and of course here for the special Shamrock Macs.

They even have a special decoration for the green and white macs... even put them in the shape almost like a shamrock.  Squee!

Thought I was going to get some coffee to go with the macs.  This is their nicely packaged Cafe Su Dai.

Here's the beautiful macs.  Very nicely shaped.  I tried it, not easy to do.  So we have the brown ones are salted caramel.  The green middle one is Chocolate Cream.  The light green is pistachio.

Don't you think that this slim looking coffee is any weak, they are plenty strong with a kick!  And afterwards, the bottle can be used for single flower.

Here's the Rose, just because that's one of my favorite flavors.  The macs are so beautifully made.

The shamrock macs aren't shabby either, it has the feet, may not be as high as the others, but sure is pretty... and yummy!

Tout Suite isn't exactly easy to get to, but once you park and stuff it's well worth while.  Food is great, dessert is great, and of course the macs.

Tout Suite

2001 Commerce St.

Houston, TX 77002

713-227-8688

http://www.toutsuite.co/

Potato Corner

So I was itching for some salty snacks and been walking by the Potato Corner and highly curious.

And yes, they are in a corner... which actually was under the stairs.  I'm not sure how the ventilation works for them because where they fry the potato and the office is in the same space... 

Anyway, they can do fries, curly fries, potato chips, tator tots, sweet potato waffles fries and baked potato.  So, what you can do here is that they have different flavors, so you tell the guy what type of potato you want, and what flavor you want.  They put it in the container, shake it real good...

And viola!  You get the end product here.  This is the small version, it comes in 3 different sizes.  And the salt they shake them in is highly addicting... so eat at your own risk.  LOL.

Potato Corner

Food Court

5085 Westheimer Rd.
Houston, TX 77056
713-840-1374
http://potatocornerusa.com/

Tiny Boxwood's

For my birthday, I decided to treat myself to a nice breakfast...

 Went over to Tiny Boxwood's for a quiet breakfast. 

 Orange Julia, which is orange juice blend with honey.  Some recipes I've seen have egg whites and milk too.

I got Migas, which was super good that day.  It's scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, potato, tortilla chips (which are super crunchy), and tomatillo sauce (super yummy).

It's nice to have a nice breakfast at the bar, they are very attentive and bring your orders quickly.  You can also get one of their newspaper and spread out when there's no one around and enjoy your morning breakfast.  Highly recommend it.

Tiny Boxwood's

3614 W. Alabama St.

at Saint Street

Houston, TX 77027

http://www.tinyboxwoods.com/

Hong Kong's Cafe

Couple of visits at my usual place...

For afternoon tea: ramen noodles with egg and spam.  It's like breakfast and lunch mix together.  Nothing out of the ordinary, the soup is clear and the breakfast on top.  For $6.50, it comes with the main dish and a drink.

For lunch: I had the Chashu Fried Noodles, it's dried stir fry, so sauce is mostly soy sauce for the color and taste and it has pork and bok choy.  Pretty good for a quick lunch.

As usual, they only accepts cash.  But they do have quick turn around and dishes are good and comfort food for those of us who are far away from the original place.  The waitstaff and owners are super friendly and definitely a good reason for me to return time after time. 

Hong Kong's Cafe

9108 Bellaire Blvd

Houston TX 

713-772-9633

River Oaks Donuts

So, I was craving for some donuts...

It's on the way, anyways... this is actually 2 different trips.

One trip, I had gotten half dozen donut holes.  There were Nutella holes, 2 Chocolate Cappuccino Holes, 2 cake, and one plain.

On a separate trip, I had Fritter Bites, which are miniature Apple Friters.

Chocolate Cake Donut.  Pretty awesome as far as cake donut goes, I still like Shipley's cake better.  The frosting, however, it's pretty good, and that's what makes me come back.  Go check them out.

River Oaks Donuts

3601 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77027

713-961-9458
http://www.riveroaksdonuts.com/

McCormick & Schmick Happy Hour

Went back to McCormick for Happy Hour.

Wouldn't you know, it was nice enough weather to sit out at the patio.  And the seats near the open fire were available, we just decided to just enjoy our happy hour fireside.  We ordered from the Happy Hour Menu, which is available from 3:30p to 7pm.  The specials are really a great price, and there are great drinks specials too.

One tip on ordering by the fireside, is be careful what you place near the fire.  You see that we ordered the margherita flatbread pizza, and since it's near the fire, the longer we waited on the slice, the more melted the cheese became.  So, just a quick tip.  The other thing is that I forgot their calamari has alot of other stuff, like jalapeno slices, carrots, and other stuff than calamari... I wish they have more calamari, because the batter is awesome.

As usual, happy hour fills up fast because the price is so good, so if you were to go, go on the earlier side.  Also, if you are part of the Landry Select, you do get points for going, don't forget your card.

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steakhouse

1151-01 Uptown Park Blvd.

Houston, TX 77056

713-840-7900

http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/Locations/houston-texas/houston-texas/uptownparkboulevard/menus.aspx

Antica Osteria

For one of my birthday meals, I asked to go to Antica Osteria

 They seated us in the table between the two houses... nice bread and butter while you wait.

 When you sit down, they immediately bring you bruchetta... which is very tasty.  

 We shared a beef carpaccio, which is slices of raw beef over a bed of arugula with slices of parmesan cheese on top.  It's good, highly recommend you to try it.

 If raw is not your thing, we also tried the proscuitto wrapped scallop, very good sauce and fresh scallops.

 For my entree, I had the veal piccata.  The capers goes well with the sauce and it is definitely creamy and a subtle bit of lemon in there.

For dessert, we split the tiramisu, it's not too sweet and it's a great way to top the meal.

The service is definitely top notch.  They were very on top of checking in, getting our food quickly.  So quickly that my friend ordered a cup of cappuccino and it arrived almost as soon as the server stepped away with our order.  The house does look small, but don't let it fool you, they do have upstair seatings and another house seating.  But making a reservation is always the best policy.

Antica Osteria

2311 Bissonnet Blvd

Houston, TX 77005

713-521-1155

http://www.anticarestaurant.com/

Maison Burdisso Macarons

Been meaning to catch the Maison Burdisso at Eastside Farmers Market for a while now.

So when I saw on their Facebook page then menu, I have to go there... 

Very unassuming packaging...  

They are $2 per mac.  I got: burnt sugar, pear, tiramisu and pistachio.  They have limited amount each day, so you have to be early.  Otherwise, you snooze, you lose.

Macs are a tad smaller compares to what I like and what the others are selling.  But for $2 a pop and you know that you're getting quality work, you can't beat that.  I will say, you have to be dedicated to catch her at either Eastside Market or Rice Farmer's Market.  At Eastside, she is right by the music guy.  At Rice, she's at the end, right by the egg guy.  Go find her!

Maison Burdisso

http://www.maisonburdisso.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maison-Burdisso/191791629902

Hunan's Chinese

Been seeing this restaurant as I'm stuck in traffic, so decided to give them a try.

When you first walk in, you can already tell the cuisine is very 'American'.  The decor is 80s/90s at best... My mom was saying, she wanted to try their vermicelli dish, which I thought was strange, seeing that this is Hunan style Chinese... Sure enough, they have a 'special' menu of Vietnamese dishes.  Not alot but mostly variation of bun dishes, which has a bed of veggies, vermicelli, and pork or other meat.

I got the spicy bean curd dish, which is Ma Po Tofu, not too spicy.

On left, is the House Fried Rice, which is essentially beef, chicken, shrimp, eggs, tons of eggs in the fried rice.  On top is the Vietnamese egg rolls, which you use the lettuce on the below right and wrap the egg roll and dip in fish sauce.

The servers are friendly but in evening seems like they do more to go order than dine ins.  But from what I understand, for lunch, there are a lot of people from the Med Center that comes here, and that's their main source of business.

Hunan's Chinese Restaurant

3835 Bellaire Blvd.

Houston, TX 77025

713-666-2000

http://www.hunansbellaire.com/

Lemongrass Cafe

So I saw the Lemongrass vendor at the Chinese New Year festival at the Chinese Mandarin School.

It was quite close to the school so, thought I'd give them a shot.

Here's the Iced Thai Tea, which tasted like pretty much like everywhere you ordered Thai Teas.  Tad of sweet black tea mix and half & half. 

 I go the 5 spiced duck... it was pretty lukewarm by the time it arrived at the table.  But the idea of the bok choy and duck together is good.  The duck wasn't too dry either, which was good because at first I was a tad worry that there were no sauce that came with it, how it would be.  But luckily, it turned out good.  Just wish it was warmer. 

We went during a non-peak hour, so we pretty much have the place to ourselves.  The service was great, even when other people came in later.  That said, the food isn't anything to rave about.  They were going for fusion, so they have a plantain chips with chimichurri, paid thai, and Chinese food. That said, I'd rather them be more focused in something instead of dabble in a bit of this that or another...

Lemongrass Cafe

5109 Bellaire Blvd.

Bellaire, TX 77401

713-664-6698

http://www.lemongrass-cafe.com/   

Daily Grill

So for lent, we went to Daily Grill for lunch.

 They usually have the 600 menu, which means items with the 600 symbol is only 600 calories.

I got the Blackened Ahi Tuna salad.  That is not part of the 600 but it was nice to have options.  

They truly is a good steakhouse, but since it was Lent, I just needed to get some fish.  They also have different types of pot pies.  On top of that, they give you a nice thing of bread which if you order soup, goes well with them.  They also have a great happy hour, and for mall, this is a great alternative to the food court.

The Daily Grill

in the Galleria Mall

5085 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, TX 77056

713-960-5997

http://www.dailygrill.com/

51Fifteen

Grab a quick lunch to catch up with a colleague. 

Went back to 51Fifteen and caught the special.  I had the Pasta Pescatore, the chicken was very tasty.  They have artichoke, spinach, tomato, and mushroom.  The sauce is not too sour from the tomato, but the cheese worked out nicely.  Again, sitting at the bar area you pay $13 includes a drink and tip for lunch.  

51Fifteen

5115 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, TX 77056

713-963-8067

http://51fifteen.com/

Chili's

I was jonesing for some chips and queso, so I talked my friend into going to Chili's...

Chips came first, and we were munching and gabbing...

 Skillet came... the cheese had kinda formed a layer on top... I hate that it's not hot when it comes out, but what's also disappointing was that the taste was lacking for sure.

I got the margherita flat bread.  That actually tasted very good.  Too bad I filled myself up with chips...

Chili's food is decent, but the wait time is horrifically long.  Luckily we can sit at the bar area.  But that's not truly better because there's nobody busting the tables so even though they can turn the tables, no new people can sit down.  We had a good server but since he's busy going around his area and even though no one is busting tables, it's hard to get drinks refill.

Chili's

10001 Westheimer Rd

Ste 127

Houston, TX 77042

713-780-8254

http://www.chilis.com/