Cloud 10

Ever since Cloud 10 moved out of the Rice Village, I was super bummed.

While I was waiting for the Midtown and the Upper Kirby location to be fully operational, we happen to drive by the Heights location.  Eh, sure, why not?!

As kitch as all the buildings in the Heights.  Cloud 10 is housed inside a bungalow.  Lovely how they have all their ice cream on display.  I got the Mint Chocolate chip, and you definitely tasted the fresh mint.  Needless to say, ice cream was perfect for a steamy hot day.

They have seatings both in and outside and staff are super friendly.  Glad that they have a Midtown and a Upper Kirby location, so lazy bones like me don't have to go far.

Cloud 10 Creamery

711 Heights Blvd

Houston, TX 77007

713-485-5106

http://www.cloud10creamery.com

Osaka

Need some quick sushi fix.  Was too lazy to drive far, so ended back up at Osaka.

They changed the sushi chefs and staff.  The pricing went up a bit too.  But they still gave me a free appetizer and when I pay the bill, they still gave me free ice cream.

So, what did I get.  First off, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  So, I got the Unagi Handroll, Dragon Roll on top, which has spicy tuna inside and have salmon & avocado on the outside.  The other roll is the Negi Hamachi, which is yellowtail and green onion.

Like I said, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  Needless to say that I didn't finish it all and pack some back.  I skipped the ice cream too.  It was good.  The parking there started get popular, so it was a bit touch to find a decent spot.  So bring patience.

Osaka Japanese Restaurant

4001 Bellaire Blvd

Ste J

Houston, TX 77025

713-838-9812

https://www.osakahoustontx.com

Yong - Finn Hall

Super excited that Finn Hall is right down the street from work.

Finn Hall consisted of 10 different stalls, ranging from coffee to burgers, to seafood, to Asian, to tacos.

This time I'm eating at Yong's Korean.  This is supposedly cooked with chef's family passed down recipes.  For a quick lunch to go, I love every bit of it.

First, instead of standing in front of the stall and looking over the menu, you can go to the Finn Hall website and look thru it there.  The lovely thing about that is: they make it super easy to order your food online.  So all you have to do is to walk up and pickup.  

I'm a fan of Bulgolgi, so of course I ordered the Bulgolgi bowl.  I love the presentation, very traditional on what they can squeeze in a little container.  Ok, let's talk about that egg roll.  According to description, Mom's Eggroll has 12 ingredients in there.  No wonder I was so full after eating that.  Now I know better for next time.  

The bowl itself, of course, you got the yummy marinated meat, usually ribeye.  Then (counter clockwise from the top) you have kimchi, spinach, and mung bean mix and topped off with scallion over a bed of rice.  So, as I mentioned I was pretty much full after 1 egg roll.  But the bowl is really filling.  Between the meat, rice, and veggie.  Maybe next time I won't be so greedy and eat that in 2 meals instead.  There's still tons of other stuff I want to try like the Kimchi Fried Rice, KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), Japchae, Bibimbap, and Kalbi bowl.  YUM!

Yong inside Finn Hall

712 Main Street

Houston, TX 77002

713-357-5115

https://www.finnhallhtx.com/yong/

Punk's Simple Southern Food

Went to Punk's for a group dinner.  I've been to Coppa next door many of times, but never been to Punk's before.

Since the group has kids it worked out to sit out at the back patio, and the kids and run around the green space before the food arrived and after they eat.  They didn't have to be stuck to their seats the entire time.  I will say, it was very hot out.

Since they're known for Southern comfort food, I ordered the 3 piece chicken.  It's a combo of leg, thigh, and split chest.  These are their crispy buttermilk fried chicken.  They are pretty crispy, felt like they over fried it.  Not too much batter, the chicken is pretty moist and tender and not dry.  As you can see, it comes with a buttermilk biscuit, honey butter, and their house made sauce.  It came with a pickle too, but I gave that away, not my thing.

Anyway, you technically can pretty much make your own combo with the chicken so don't feel limited.  As true to alot of the Southern food, lots of fried and heavy food here.  Not bad, just not something that I eat often.  They do have a wide selection for kids meals.  Each meal besides fried food, they come with fruit and a tiny bit of veggie.  Present a pretty balanced tray of food.  

In terms of cocktail, they make a delicious sangria.  They also do a nice margarita.  If anything, this is a great happy hour spot.  Parking can be tricky because this is the Village, but valet is convenient, or parking garage is attached, though they do not validate.

Punk's Simple Southern Food

5212 Morningside

Houston, Tx 77005

713-524-7865

https://www.punkssimplesouthernfood.com

Chuy's

Haven't been to Chuy's for a while...

definitely it's time to go back.

Of course, this is the whole reason for being here.  The Creamy Jalapeño dip, and the queso con carne helped too.  To be honest, I don't usually like guacamole, but it's not a bad thing when you mix everything together.

For entree, I got the steak burrito with Tex Mex sauce.  It depends on the server, but some will do a lunch portion if you ask.  Which has less rice and I asked them to skip the beans basically less of the sides.  Of course they charge you less, I just can't eat them all either.  So instead of wasting food, might as well have less to start.

I met up with friends for dinner, so naturally there's a lot of chip-dipping and yapping taking place.  That said, our server was smart enough to keep filling our chips and dips.  That definitely help keep our conversation going.  Of course, if they keep the creamy jalapeño coming, there's no complaint from me.

Chuy's

9350 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77063

713-278-2489

https://www.chuys.com

Cafe Poetes

Came back to Cafe Poetes for afternoon tea. 

Basically by 2:30, they clear the floor and set up for afternoon tea session.

Looks like they've gotten a new manager, who is getting the place more organized than before.

They still have the lavender lemonade and of course Rose Champagne. 

They do the lavender drops in front of us.

First course: we have beet gazpacho, which I didn't get to try last time.  Amazingly, it's pretty light in texture and not overwhelming at all.

Here's our tea set.

Second course is our savory sandwiches, which had mozzarella and basil sorta like a caprese.  Then, the salmon artichoke eclairs and then the chicken salad eclairs.

Ahhh, got the Earl Grey, very traditional with the tea set.

Instead of scones, we got madeleine they give you home made apricot and strawberry jam.  Personally, I'm a big fan of their apricot jam.

And of course our own personal quiche.  I got the Lorraine, which seems cliche, but it is super delicious.  They have bacon, mushroom, cheese, onion, and bits of potato.  Very yummy.

Dessert set: eclairs (chocolate, salted caramel, and lavender), meringue and ginger shortbread.  Till this day the ginger shortbread is still one of my favorites.  It's not soft, it's a hard cookie, but the flavor just hit all the notes perfectly, I don't mind having it over and over.

Got a close up shot of the lavender eclair, just because I don't see it day to day.  You see the little sugar bits on top.  Very lovely.

If you're interested in coming for tea, a reservation is highly recommended.  Just because the place is tiny and if you walk up, you may be able to get seated but would be outside.  From my observation, the tea sets they don't make many other than what they have reserved for.  So, don't be surprise if they cannot accommodate if you walk up.  That said, their other food also looked delicious, you can't fail either way.

Cafe Poetes

122 West Gray

Houston, Tx 77019

346-802-4969

https://www.cafepoetes.com

Brasserie Du Parc

Went back to Brasserie du Parc for happy hour/dinner.

They have the Happy Hour only in the bar area.  If you seated in the dining area, they don't offer the Happy Hour prices.

That said, they offer enough that you won't starve.

I quite like their Herbal Lemon Soda, a bit salted with fleur-de-sel which cuts the zing from the lemon.

Meat and Cheese Board, has pate, cold cut, bread, pickle, apricot, baguette, cheese.

Mussels with shallots cream sauce.

Cesar Salade - with anchovy of course.

Pomme Frites

Beef Gnocchi, super packed with flavor, the sauce is super yummy too.  Having slices of parmesan helps too.

Beef tartare - this is a raw dish, not for the weak stomach, doesn't taste bad, but wouldn't recommend that as your first dish if you have never had that before.

Arancini a la Truffle, it is butternut squash with truffle risotto ball.  Pretty delicious.

If you are to take advantage of their Green Hour, you don't need a reservation.  Actually, if you go to dinner early enough, you don't need one either.  They're not super busy or their prices scared people away.  While they have good dishes, not enough to impress folks to come back time and again.  Given the area, there are many other choices, and you see folks just hang at the bar area and not the dinner area.  If it's a popular night, like a game or a popular concert nearby, it might be a good idea to make a reservation, but didn't find it necessary the night we went.

Brasserie du Parc

1440 Lamar St

Houston, TX 77010

832-879-2802

https://www.brasserieduparc.net

State of Grace

Finally made it to State of Grace!

Literally driven by it for years.  The space was converted from the old dry cleaning shop in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

Got an Austin East-cider's Orange Cider, perfect for a humid day.

Since we were catching the tail end of Happy Hour, got the $1 oysters, mostly from Louisiana and Alabama.  You really can taste the difference.  Of course, everything is as fresh as can be.  Wouldn't mind coming earlier next time, or order to there ones they have to offer.

This is the Crab Hushpuppies.  Not really used to having sweetness to hushpuppies, granted, it is open to interpretation, but my taste buds needed a moment to register.  I will say the cane syrup butter was pretty amazing, but I would save that for the bread.

This is fried squash, which has a honey sauce, again, took my brain a moment to register the sweet and the savory mix.  The texture, honestly reminded me of a squash gnocchi, I tasted that texture more than the squash on that one.

For entree, I got the Orecchiete which is the wild boar bolognese.  The sauce is delicious, the meat is plentiful.  Every bite, there's an equal amount of sauce/pasta/meat.  Of course, by this point, I had stuffed myself silly on the hushpuppies and the squash, didn't get to finish the plate.  And it's not a big plate.

To top it off for dessert, we got the creme brûlée.  Very vanilla-y with a piece of chocolate cookie.

On the way out, don't forget to stop back by at the hostess station and grab a mini cream pie to go.  The cookie was cinnamon-y, I saved it for the next day since I stuffed myself silly this evening.

Reservation is highly recommended.  If you go on a week day there's more business dinners going on that I can tell.  There are self parking in the back of the building.  If you were to street park, which we did see a few of those.  Make sure you read the signs to avoid being towed.

State of Grace

3258 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77098

832-942-5080
http://stateofgracetx.com

Beard Papa

Went back to Beard Papa, for a quick puff.

Gosh they really need to be inside the loop, or even inside the Beltway. 

Actually, there's already another location coming up on Bellaire Blvd, we saw the sign is already up, but the store front is not yet ready.  Nor is the rest of that building and parking areas.  

That's ok, that just give me an excuse to come back out here.

So I ordered a quick puff, so I actually thought I asked for one chocolate and one green tea but turns out they filled my chocolate puff with green tea cream inside.  Not a bad result at all, was just expecting different puffs. 

I'm bias, I love all of their puffs and cakes.  Have yet to try their drinks, maybe that's next on the list.

Beard Papa 

23119 Colonial Pkwy

A-13

Katy, TX 77449

832-913-1257

http://beardpapa.com

Jeng Chi

Came back to Jeng Chi, Dallas hottest Chinese food in 'Chinatown'.  

They close between lunch and dinner, and let's just say that they're busy from the time they resume for dinner service until way past 9pm.  We though we got smart, and try to get there before 6pm.  Well, that was still a good 30 minutes wait.

This is the Crispy Sliced Fish with Garlic Sauce.  They were not kidding with the slices, they are pretty much a filet size.  Very crispy indeed.

Here's some stirred fried Chinese Broccoli with Garlic.

Dad insisted on getting the pork pan fried dumpling, I barely touched these.  It's alright, nothing wrong w/ the taste, though you can tell these were made in house by hand and were also frozen.  

Finally le piece la resistance, what Jeng Chi is famous for: Xiao Long Bao.  They have XLB in about 9-10 ways.  This is the Pork & Crab XLB.  To be honest, for $10 you get 6 pieces, it's a bit steep, which you cannot taste the crab in the XLB.  I'd rather stick with the original, at least for $10 you get 8 pieces.

Overall, the service is not bad, they are very high tech, and uses a hand held device for order taking for accuracy and speed.  But since the dumplings were made to order, it was the last thing that came out.  Around 6pm, the place was already started to fill up.  Like I said, we thought we'd beat the dinner crowd, but apparently the folks that come here to eat is a whatever I can get in crowd.  Very hard to beat.

I do see that they have a bakery/coffee walk-in/take-out service.  But an 85 Bakery just opened next door recently, so you see less folks coming here for the bakery.  Don't know if this truly works for not, but they do take reservation both by phone and via their site.  Give that a shot!

Jeng Chi

400 N. Greenvill

# 11

Richardson, TX 75081

972-669-9094

https://jengchirestaurant.com