Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Rodeo's Best Bites

So awesome that we got tickets to Best Bites again this year.

Lots of pics, not much words... here we go!
 Killen's in the Heights, who won the Rookie of the Year with their Brisket Enchilada, and what you don't see was the Bacon Bread Pudding.  Both were equally good.  They did say to come back for short ribs, but the line is just too long for even really good ribs. 
 Next up: Bacaro Wine Bar. 
 This is a Chicken Caprese sandwich bite...
 Italian Sausage Meatball and small little Pork Sandwiches.  The Pork Sandwich was actually pretty good.
 Sorry couldn't get the picture fixed...
 Here's various Glazed Donut holes.
 Bread Pudding from Lemond Catering.  There's quite a few of bread pudding throughout the night.
 Then came Rustic from Downtown.
 This is their Wild Boar Meatball over beans.  Amazingly delicious.
 Here's the crew from EurAsia.
 Their menu sounded good but it as too fishy for me.
 Low Tide from downtown did the Shrimp Taco with aioli sauce.
Harold's from the Heights.
 They've brought something I've never seen before, Guacamole Deviled Eggs with Pico on top.  Definitely very rich and you taste the pico.
 Brennan's from downtown. 
 Award winning dish, the fried oysters.  It comes with some kick to it.  They also gave us a small bowl of Mock Turtle Soup with Veal. 
 Omni Hotel brought us bao.
 The presentation is lovely, but it's sausage with panic chips on top.  It's alright.
 Here's one of my favs: Uchi, which brought nice a fresh Salmon with Black Truffle, so yummy.
 Phat Eatery  brought Coconut Curry Beef Meatball.   Very delicious, but I do like their food. 
 Surprised that St Arnold was there to present food not beer.
 They brought Smoked Duck Breast with corn.  Not bad but it tasted more like pork than duck.
                                        
 The Palm brought Pork Chop with Bourbon Cinnamon Apple.  I liked the apple but not a fan of the pork chop. 
Next to Pam is Ashley's Cakes, the chocolate cake has glitter on it, of course I flocked to it.  Nice consistency, not too dense.
 Whiskey Cake brought they were famous for...
 The Toffee Gooey Cake with roasted pecan infused with whiskey and a bourbon anglaise. 
 Outside where the food trucks are.  First time seeing Seoulside Wings.
 Got the Soy Garlic wing with honey butter fries.  My brain was so confused, the fries are sweet but savory at the same time.  It's confusing my taste buds but were so good at the same time.  The Soy Garlic wing as a tad too salty for me.
From North Italia, also dessert...
 This is Salted Carmel Bodino, which tasted good but too rich after all the food we've had. 
 So nice to see Cacao & Cardamom team out there.
We were all just saying how the chocolates are works of art that are too pretty to eat.  Of course, I ate mine but it's still super pretty.  

All in all, here's what we learned.  Even if you have tickets, don't go super early because you wait in line like sardines.  They really should have a more orderly system for early entry versus normal entries.  It was a tad chaotic at the beginning.

Go with a plan: you know about which restaurants and which winery will be there.  So plan while you wait.  And hit that booth first.  

The voting, you're given coins at the entry, voting is only for food.  There's a people's choice and judges, both awards are just as prestigious. 

Wear cute clothes but comfortable shoes.  Tons of walking, people dropping food, and some dropping alcohol, so don't wear too nice of shoes they'll get ruined.  

Lastly drink plenty of water, and when you're done - head out.  There's tons of people waiting for valet or their Ride Share and have been known to wait over 35 mins, we waited for 10 mins or so.  Not too bad.

Great night, walked lots, ate lots, and took lots of pictures at various stations.  This is a start to this Rodeo Season!

Rodeo Uncorked!
Best Bites Winners:
https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2020/02/24/see-which-local-favorites-won-2020-rodeo-best.html

No comments: