Bite Macaron

Since we were next door at Vietopia, stopped by to grab a quick dessert.

Kids love the macaron, and even though it's pretty much a meringue with almond flour and sugar, my kid just loves it.  

We got the chocolate one and chocolate dipped black currant.  I don't get black currant very easily or frequently, so when I get a chance, I do.   It's just that their ganache filling is so consistent and just very nice after dinner dessert.  Nothing too heavy or over the top.   The chocolate one I have no complaint, it's a good standard and they've done it well.

Bite Macaron

5172B Buffalo Speedway

Houston, TX 77005

713-664-2483

http://www.teambite.com/

Vietopia

So we were at Vietopia for dinner....

Since it was a Friday, it is during Lent, had to do vegetarian.

Flame Wok Tofu Vermicelli bowl.  The Tofu is one of the better ones I've had in a long time.  They are fried and has a sweet and spicy sauce on top of a bed of veggie and vermicelli.  By the time you douse the fish sauce and mix it all up.  My 4 year old basically devoured the dish... all I ate was vegetables, guess it's validated by a 4 year old!  I had a bit, and it was delicious, so next time even not during Lent, I'll still order this dish.

Vietopia

5176 Buffalo Speedway

Houston, Tx 77005

713-664-7303

http://www.vietopiawestu.com

Peli Peli

Having lunch again at Peli Peli. 

Under the recommendation of the server, I got the punch.  Nice little fruit punch, not too sweet, and non-alcoholic, perfect for a working lunch kind of drink.

Here's lunch, and you can get a decent size portion for your lunch order.

I got Cole Slaw and Brussel Sprouts for my sides.  Very delicious Brussel Sprouts, wish I had that growing up.  The Slaw wasn't bad either.

My entree: South African Kingklip and Scallop.  The scallops are the little diced pieces you see there.  It's sitting on top a bed of sautéed spinach.  The creamy buttercream sauce is lick-worthy.  You grab a bit of Kingklip, scallop and spinach, it's pretty good.  You can taste the fish, since it's seared, but comes off the fork easily.  Nothing fishy about this.

Service is great, we do make a reservation even for lunch since they do get busy.  My only complaint is the main dining room, it is designed with 2 arches intersect each other.  The problem became that the acoustic is echoing what the table on the other side is talking about.  Just that's how sound travels.  That's a bit weird.  Otherwise, food is good, lunch service is fast, and drop in and leave no issues.

Peli Peli

5085 Westheimer Rd

Ste B2515

Houston, TX 77056

281-257-9500

https://www.pelipeli.com/Index.aspx

51Fifteen

Went to 51Fifteen bar for lunch.  Gone are the days of associate lunch, but you can still get some decent food from the bar menu to console yourself.

We got Cajun Grilled Shrimp, which is sweet chili sauce and grilled shrimp.  Nice and sweet, not spicy at all.

Classic Slider, each of them are perfect size, the bread is nice and warm, and it is a cute mini cheeseburger, and delicious to boot.

Black Bean Empanadas.  I'm not typically an bean empanada person, but they mix it with cilantro cream, not just sour cream, and that makes a difference.  

Sitting at the bar area, you are practically front row to their in-house pianist, Michaelangelo.  He's ever so charming and love to entertain.  So prepare to enjoy some of that, and he also likes to work the room too, quite a character.  The service at the bar is just as good as being seated, so feel free to take it easy if dining room is a bit too stuffy, dependent on other diners in the room too.

51Fifteen

2nd floor of Saks Fifth Ave in Galleria

5175 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77056

713-963-8067

http://51fifteen.com

Tiger Den

Came back to Tiger Den for dinner with friends.

Just to remind everyone, make sure you put your name down.  But, if your party is incomplete, they won't seat you.

Spicy Cucumber, I'm not a spicy food fan, but this is pretty interesting.  Crunchy with spice sauce and bonito flakes.  Something different.

Gyoza, their dumpling is super good, I can go for another dish.

Ika Geso aka Calamari - which kinda freaked my friend out.  It's bigger pieces than a normal calamari you'll see, but it's just as good.  I'd like to do this one again actually.

I got Tsukemen, it is dipping noddles, the noddles are somewhat cold, and you dip into the soup.  So needless to say, since the soup is full of orange, you can tell that it's spicy.  And being a whimp that I am, I have to carry tissue and wipe my tears.  It was fire burning hot.  Besides the egg and the scallions you see here, there are meat in the bottom, and you can mix it all up.  You then dip your noodles into the soup and grab whichever side.

For me, I would mix it all up, and then put the noodles in.  The trick however, for us whimps, is that you cannot leave it in there too long.  It'd be hard to fish them back out, and by the time you do, it'd be super spicy.  And I do mean, super spicy.  The meat was good, but my mouth was too on fire to tell any other taste other than spicy.  That said, I do know that this was not an original menu item.  It was always on the board type items, and finally made its way to the permanent menu.  It proofs to be a great noodle dish to be on there.

Tiger Den

9889 Bellaire Blvd

Ste D-230

Houston, TX 77036

832-804-7755

http://www.tigerdentx.com

Escalante

When you say Happy Hour, I always felt that Mexican Food cannot go wrong.

Luckily I got there early enough before the dinner crowd came in... Chips... yum!

Queso, double yum!  I asked for con carne, and they brought me all the fixin's on a separate plate.  Don't usually have that, but hey, cheese is cheese.  I'm not picky.

This is the Mint and Melon, pretty tasty, not too fruity and not too much alcohol either.  Goes down easy, get drunk fast.  Watch this one!

This is the Enchiladas Marisco, which has shrimp and crab meat inside the tortilla and they pour more cheese on top.  Came with pico, guac, rice, and beans.  Naturally, I soaked up all the cheese and rice.  The rest were just there, yes I even said that about guac.  Usually, I will take the guac happily, but just cannot bring myself to do it.  That said, it was a happy and satisfying meal, so no regret there.

I love Tex Mex, and going to places in Meyerland, you do have to think ahead, since the dinner crowd is earlier to accommodate families near by.  Go early, get a decent parking and enjoy the food.

Escalante

590 Meyerland Plaza

Houston, TX 77096

713-663-7080

http://www.escalantes.net

Oceannaire

Having a business lunch at Oceanaire.  

I love how my Arnold Palmer are separated by color, pretty.

Starter: house salad, nice dressing, little shoe string crispy fries, really adds to the salad.

This is my Smoked Salmon Club.  Tons of fries, tons of sandwich too.  It is 2 layers of salmon, 2 layers of cucumber and of course, 2 layers of bread.  I was only able to do about half and had to box the rest.

Of course, service here is always top notched.  From the moment you sat down, it really reminds you the old fancy seafood or steak places.  All the server has a white coat, very fancy.  Lunch time you can pretty much walk in and get seated.  For dinner, however, I highly suggest a reservation.

Oceanaire

5061 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77056

832-487-8862

http://www.theoceanaire.com/Locations/Houston/Locations.aspx

Pepper Twins

It's have been a while since I've been to Pepper Twin (also known as Cooking Girls).

They took over the old Cafe Japon on Kirby.  As a matter of fact, the decoration is very simple, you can still see some semblance of the old Cafe Japon.

Mapo Tofu with Berkshire Pork, which I can't really tell the quality of pork because it was so damn spicy.  Then again, I asked for it, because the sauce is so damn good to go with rice.  Tofu is always warm, but the sauce is so good, I can just eat that alone with rice.

I thought I got the Diving Fish, but I think this is actually spicy fish soup.  And there are plenty of pepper to proof.  Needless to say, I was crying more than eating.  Unfortunately, I doggie bagged it, and it just basically marinated it some more.  So the fish got even spicier when I went to reheat it for my next meal... Wowza.

So, needless to say, I was crying when I was paying my bill, everything I ordered this time was so spicy.  Don't get me wrong, they do have non-spicy dishes but since I ordered the wrong fish, it was my own dang fault.  Now that I realize how close it is to me, I'm definitely going back to order other dishes to redeem this meal.

Pepper Twins

3915 Kirby Dr

Houston, TX 77098

346-444-6493

http://txpeppertwins.com/kirby-location

Red Circle Ice Cream

Dessert time!  Been meaning to try Red Circle since my friends been posting on Instagram.

Finally got a chance to see it for myself.

Wasn't quite in the mood for ice cream, so went for Churros instead.  This is a few rare places that just do Churros.  And after my trip to Cali, I get Churros wherever I can get them.  

Churros has different categories here, they are Cinnamon Sugar Churros, Glazed Churros (which is what I got), or Frozen Churros (which is Churros plus ice cream).  Since I just had dinner, Glazed Churros is what I got and this is Cookies n' Cream, which is chocolate glaze with Oreo cookie crumbs.  It came out nice and warm, and totally worth getting.

They are not wrong about this, Churros, Ice Cream = Happy.  Definitely will save some room for dessert next time and get a combo of ice cream and churros or ice cream with puff waffles (aka Hong Kong waffles).

Staff here are super friendly.  They know that they're new and happy to explain what they have to offer, let us taste different ice cream and explain how everything works there.  They even have a Churros Sampler, in case you can't make up your mind.  The seating area has lots of small tables to accommodate different size parties.  Frankly, since it's dessert, the turn around time is quick, if any at all.

Red Circle Ice Cream

6838 Ranchester Dr

Houston, TX 77036

832-767-5679

Hong Kong Food Street

Haven't been back to Hong Kong Food Street a while, decided to stop by for lunch.

Start with some Jasmine tea.

This is Snow Pea Leaf with garlic stir fry.  One of my favorite as a kid and the flavor goes with rice super well.  Yum.

This is another memory lane favorite: Preserved Vegetables with Fatty Pork.  So, they really mush all the veggies and it is layered at the bottom of the pork.  The veggies are mostly mustard greens and the preserved is really dried and fermented.  The pork is super fatty but the dark color is really from the various soy sauce(s) to create that color.  Traditionally, you steam the pork with the various soy sauce and seasoning mix, then you fry it skin down to get that effect.  I will say, you just put your chopstick into the meat and it fell apart.  To me, that's the best thing ever.

The entire meal is really a walk down of memory lane for me.  Or rather, a meal of comfort food.  Is it bad for me, probably, but for a few minutes to enjoy and remember my childhood, it's quite worth it.  Though, I know this place isn't serving any authentic Hong Kong food, but for being where I am, this is the closest that I can find and I enjoy every single minute of it.

Hong Kong Food Street

9750 Bellaire Blvd

#100

Houston, TX 77036

713-981-9888
http://www.hongkong-foodstreet.com

Rodeo snack

Went to the Rodeo, and inevitably, we'll end up eating something even though we have no intention to do so. 

I was already being good, staying away from Fried Oreo, Fried whatever they can put in the fryer.  But it is lunch time... unfortunately for me, I picked a Friday to go to Rodeo during Lent, so no meat for me, in the land of nothing but meat, meat, and more meat.  Luckily, the Polonia booth saved me.  

I got the Pierogi with Kraut and Mushroom.  It was simply delicious, which was to my surprise.  Last time I had Polish food, I have to admit was at a fair, and it was basically that, fair food.  This is actually very nicely textured with the mix of kraut and mushroom filling, not too pickle-y and not too much mushroom to over empower it.  They topped the pierogi with a few steamed onion for taste.  The lady asked if I wanted mayo.  Personally, I'm not a fan of mayo on anything, sometimes on sushi is unavoidable, but I don't voluntarily go ask for mayo.  But since she offered and I haven't tried it, thought, why not.  To my surprised, it actually tasted even better than plain.  I didn't over do it, just dip a bit out for taste, but somehow the mayo draws the flavors out even more.  That was just a surprise.

They do have a location on Blalock, now I'm curious to go.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Now thru March 18th

NRG park

https://rodeohouston.com

Underbelly - Last hurrah

We heard about the closing of Underbelly and decided to go eat there for one last time.

 Menu prepared daily and as cheeky as ever, because they're slipped in covers of text books.

 This is stir fry beets with sweet soy, Thai basil, and you see those mini lotus roots.  To be honest, not much of a beet fan, but thought we tried it since it's recommended by the server.  That said, it's not the dish that wow-s us, but it's not as earthy as normal beet dishes... it reminds me alot of daikon, but that's neither here nor there.

 Next up: Seared Golden Tile Fish.  I love the sauce, the pickled spinach went with the fish very well. Nice balance to hit all.

 Ahh, here's the star for the night... Pork Belly Sisig, with egg and rice.  Sounds simple, but once you mix it all up and the egg is everywhere and gets cooked by the pan from the heat of it all.  It was the damn best pork fried rice, I've had in a long while.  So good.

 One of their signature dish, Korean Braised Goat Dumpling, which is a messy goat stew dokbokki.  It is spicy but even a whim like me can stand it.  It's full flavor and the goat is shredded and the sauce makes the rice cake, which by itself has not much taste just all texture, very flavorful.  This has been on the menu for a long time and one of my favorites.  You will be missed.

 Non-fancy desserts... truly is that.

We split the Strawberry Short Cake, it has lard biscuit, where they had sugar sprinkled on top.  Yummy strawberry compote, and mascarpone cheese in the middle.  It doesn't feel heavy at all, but I was surprised it was served cold.  Either way, it was delicious, so no matter there.

We are sad that one of the Houston Institution is going to be reincarnated to something else.  But if it has to do with Chris Shepherd, I'm not worry at all.  I am looking forward to the new concept, even though leaving this one is bittersweet too.  Go get a table before it's too late, their last day is March 31st.  We fid that weekday is easier to get a table than weekend.  Go eat before you can't.

They are having one last hurrah on April 1st, where it is all you can eat $40 plus 2 drink tickets.  

Underbelly Houston

1100 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77006

713-528-9800

http://www.underbellyhouston.com

Daily Juice Cafe

Needed some quick pick me up... driven by Daily Juice many times, decided to check it out.

As the name imply, they have juice.  But besides that, they also have Acai Bowls, Smoothies, Garden Toasts (think yummy avocado toast), Hot soups, Wheatgrass shots, and coffee even.

So, what did I get?  I got what they called the Crescent Moon.  This is the cashew nut milk, but you see the listed ingredients on there.  They are all cold-pressed and the price for the juice is comparable to those around town, and cheaper than some too.  At least you know it's done locally and fresh.  How does it taste: it has a strong taste of cinnamon but that's typical for cashew milk.  Out of the juicing system, that's the most filling and tasty one to me.

Their staff was ready to let you taste anything you are curious about.  When I was asking about the juice cleansing system, they did not hesitate to open a bottle for me to taste it.  And of course, let other customers a try too.  

Daily Juice Cafe

4010 Bissonnet

Houston, TX 77005

281-974-3728

https://dailyjuicecafe.com/pages/bissonnet

Kung Fu Tea

While we were waiting for Sweets Raku to open, there's a Kung Fu Tea in the same shopping center.

We figured we'd kill some time.  When we got there, there was a line out the door.  Granted, the entire strip center has more eateries than other shops, so naturally people are hanging out to kill some time.

While we were in line, their friendly staff let us sample their ginger tea.  Boy, does it have a kick to it.  I got the honey green tea.  I've asked for no bubble (tapioca), but they put it in by mistake.  Figured, it's no biggie.  the tea was sweeter than I expected, but it's pretty good.  

The decor here is kinda cheeky, they have lots of 1970s Bruce Lee and early 80s of Jackie Chan movie clips in a loop and as B graded as possible.  Aside from that, they also feature art works of local artists, that's pretty awesome given how little wall space they have.  

Kung Fu Tea

5030 Spring Mountain Rd

Las Vegas, NV 89146

702-776-7077

https://www.kungfutea.com

La Creperie - Paris Las Vegas

One of my favorite place is Paris Las Vegas.  We honeymoon-ed there, so I have special attachment to the hotel.

Early in the morning and there's a line waiting for crepe.  And it is always sunny in Paris (note the ceiling).

Here's the offerings...

Some detailed descriptions...

Finally, almost to the window to order!  Weekends, do go early, because alot of the guests trying to grab a crepe before heading out or checking out.  So, get there early.

So, what did I get?  This is a Ham and Cheese for my Savory Crepe.  I know you can't see the ham, it is in there.  They have Parisian Ham, Gruyere cheese, and béchamel sauce on top.

For my Dessert Crepe, because let's face it, they don't serve food on planes anymore and what they have at the airport isn't exactly gourmet.  This is Nutella with Banana.  I will say, having some strawberries will make it better, but given that they make lots of crepe, I understand customization might not be something that they can accommodate.  

They are about $10-11 per crepe.  Bring patience, especially when the line is long because that translates to making your crepe will be long too.  They do have a side cafe, but do not serve crepe if you're in a hurry.  Across from it is their breakfast buffet if you want more than just crepes.

La Creperie 

Paris Las Vegas

3655 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702-946-7000

https://www.caesars.com/paris-las-vegas/restaurants/la-creperie

Las Vegas Buffet - MGM Grand

When in Rome, do as the Romans do... when in Vegas, must have a Vegas Buffet.

You basically can go to ANY hotel and find an elaborate buffet.  Since we were staying at MGM, finding a buffet is not hard to do.

First, you have your eggs mix, with meat, without meat, with taco

And protein, they have craving station, sausage, beans, gravy ... not together, of course.

Then, you have your veggies and sides, potato done in several different ways.

Lox and all the fixin's that goes with it... cream cheese, capers, onion, lemon, bagel around the bakery corner.

In case you're craving for some greens, here's the salad side of things...

... they have potato salad, crab salad, pasta salad, anything with the word salad in it and some shrimps.

Some real breakfast food that you see at breakfast buffet... eggs, round sausage, potato...

... fried hush puppies type thing, other kind of sausage, bacon.

Of course, they would have Lobster Egg casserole, and biscuit and gravy, duh!

So, what did I get?  They have an omelet bar, so I ordered an omelet with cheese, spinach, bacon, mushroom topped with salsa (which was super spicy).  Corn beef hash, salmon & capers, and crab salad.

For your sweet tooth, they do have lemon pie (which is pop tart type looking, but hand made), and fried Twinkies (had to say, not curious enough to try it).

Here's the bakery corner I was saying earlier... basically any kind of pastry for breakfast, lunch and dinner are all here.  Looks great.  They have one section for danish, cakes, and cinnamon rolls and donuts.  Then, the other side has cakes, very pretty.

Round 2: what did I get?  I got the lemon pie, just because I was curious.  Got a side of fruit, just feel like I have to have some to balance out all the junk I've eaten.  Some eggs, sausage, potato, and those fried donut type thing, out of curiosity.  Luckily, it paid off and it tasted good.

Meal cost about $33 with tax, I chose to pay the tip ahead of time, so I can save my cash for other use.  You walk up, pay the cashier, and take your receipt to the hostess and they'll lead you to a table where your server will get any alcoholic beverages.  Otherwise, there's a coffee, juice and soda bar area.

I love buffets, but this was very overwhelming and I forget that they are pretty much open from 7:30a - 9pm.  That is to cover all meals and snack in all possible time.  So naturally the food they have is a bit of very thing.  Since we were there somewhat early for the Vegas crowds, we can tell everything is freshly prepared, and all the food were just put out.  

Now, before you get preach-y about how wasteful Vegas buffets are and how much food they waste.  I will have you know that MGM Grand is one of the leaders in theVegas strip to lead the charge on sustainability on food.  First, they provide their 45,000 employees meals.  20% of their no-longer needed food, goes to feed pig farms, some food goes to compost to become fertilizers for local farmers.  By doing that, they also help save water usage in the area.  Due to food service regulations, they cannot easily send food to charities or shelters.  But they are working on that... they found ways to freeze the food within certain service hours.  And send them to needed shelters.  They then re-cook the food to something else and serve it to the needy.  Who say Vegas is only a land of Excess?

MGM Grade Buffet

inside MGM hotel

3799 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702-891-7433

https://www.mgmgrand.com/en/restaurants/mgm-grand-buffet.html