Mister Softee

For social distance birthday party, I ordered an ice cream truck.

You don't see these very often anymore, but it's Mister Softee soft serve.

I got Chocolate soft serve with chocolate dip.  It has a nice chocolate shell on the outside.  But under this humidity and heat, it immediately melted.  Had to eat super quick because they give you a very generous serving.

If you guarantee their minimum, they will come to your neighborhood.  Or else, you can catch them in Sierra Plantation neighborhoods.

Mister Softee Ice Cream Truck

832-763-8331

https://mistersoftee.com/our-locations/

Truth BBQ

Had a hankering for BBQ

I like that you can get good BBQ inside the loop so easily.

This is the Whole Truth Sandwich.

As you can see, there's sausage and briskets.  The sausage gets great spices in there, the brisket is exactly how I like them smoked.  Of course, I asked for extra BBQ sauce so I can douse my sandwich with it.  It was super delicious... but that is actually a lot of meat, maybe I'll do a meat plate next time.

Got a Topo Chico to wash down all the yummy goodness.

I got a single serving of Banana Pudding.  Don't worry, I ate it way after I had the sandwich, I'm not a monster!  Anyway, you do have slices of banana in there, there's a bit of pudding, cream, and Nilla wafer all in one bite, it's pretty damn good.  Not overwhelming and it's a class A comfort food.

Order online for pickup, they have designated spots for parking.  When you call then as you arrive, let them know which spot you're parked at and their server will bring it out.  I will say, they do at least 30 min ahead for pick up, so time yourself accordingly.  They are opened from Tues - Sunday.

Truth BBQ

110 S. Heights Blvd

Houston, TX 77007

832-835-0001

https://www.truthbbq.com

Fluff Bake Bar

Been following Fluff Bake since forever.

Heard that they've moved out of Midtown especially after several burglaries, it's just good timing on their part.

Check out that cool mural outside of their building.  It does create a sense of happiness for me because I know something yummy is up ahead.

While they are mostly taking online order, owner and entrepreneur Rebecca Masson was telling me that she baked extra just in case for walk-ins.  And thank goodness for that.  I was running errands in the area and had a few minutes to kill and decided to stop by impromptu.

Picked up a few goodies. My waistline hates me, but my heart and tummy are happy.  

This is their only gluten free item the day that I stopped by, Fluffernutter.  Pretty nutty.

This is their Couch Potato Cookie, which had me intrigued.  It has potato chip, pretzel, cornflakes, marshmallow and chocolate chip.  

It is actually thicker than a regular cookie.  So, to my surprised, it's not super salty, nor super sweet.  It has a nice balance to it.  And the texture you cannot taste the pretzel or potato chips, but you do have flakes here and there meshed with marshmallow & chocolate chip.  I can taste each of the component if I were to look for it.  But first bite, it has a nice balance and had me craving for some coffee to go with it.

HAVE to get Black & White cookie, as Senifeld said: if people would look at the cookie, all the world problem would be solved.  I basically don't pass up one when it's in front of my face.  It's a nice cookie, harmonious between vanilla & chocolate.  I just like that the cookie itself is not too tea-cakey, which alot of bakeries do that.  The only problem with tea-cake style is that a lot of times they add a bit of lemon flavor to the batter.  Look, you have vanilla, you have chocolate, why add lemon?  Leave good itself alone and this cookie is doing just that.

Not pictured: Star Crossed Lovers & Blueberry Financier.  The Financier is not too heavy and true tea-cake style here.  It's a great summer dessert.  The Star Crossed Lovers is like a Snickers Bar and Rice Krispies Treat got married.  It is rice krispies in the middle, it has salted caramel, it has chocolate everywhere.  I will warn you, in this heat, that's the first thing that melts, eat fast!  I did, that's why there's no pictures.

If the name Rebecca Masson sounds familiar because she was on Top Chef Just Desserts a few years back.  She also has been active in the Houston Food scene and I've seen her participate Best Bites a few times.  Definitely go support local and support yummy food!  Online order ahead is highly encouraged!

Fluff Bake Bar

1701 W15th St

Houston, TX 77008

713-522-1900

https://www.fluffbakebar.com

85C Bakery Cafe

Since my dr appointment is right by 85 Bakery, figured might as well grab me a latte.

 So I got the Sea Salt Chocolate Milk Tea

I like these sea salt drinks because it makes the drinks less sweet.  So, technically it's a milk tea, but the salt mellow out the sweet and you still get the chocolate flavor.  I did not add boba into mine, but you can definitely do that.

I like how 85 has one way to the store.  They do still have trays, but all the bread are already pre-packaged, so to avoid having to touch the food by customers.  The path takes you around the store where you get to the brad case and then take you to the cashier.  To wait for your drink, they also have designated boxes for you to social distance.  Definitely happy with their set up.

85C Bakery Cafe

1027 Blalock Rd

Houston Tx 77055

346-319-3950

https://www.85cbakerycafe.com

Kung Fu tea

Must. Have. Sweet.  So I ended up at Kung Fu Tea.

Not my usual haunt but that's one of the few places that's open before noon.  

Got a Sesame Matcha tea to try.  It is light bodied, you do taste the sesame and little seeds comes thru.  I think originally I thought it was cooked sesame dessert blended with green tea.  But then realized it's literally black sesame blended with green tea.  That's just as good, especially for hot summer day.  

Side bar: while waiting in line, they showed these commercial made for the brand.  All of them are cheesy to the max, but it does entertain while you wait.  

Kung Fu Tea

9889 Bellaire Blvd

#222

Houston, TX 77036

832-831-9288

https://www.kungfutea.com

International Snack - Millecrepe

Last time we saw Chestnut Cake, this time we saw Millecrepe. 

This is also found in the frozen section.

It is like a legit Millecrepe, look at those layers.  Of course given that it's been frozen, the taste is not as full as other Millecrepe I've tried.  Unlike the Chestnut Cake which knocked it out of the park, this cake came up a tad short.  If I get the choice, I'd stick w/ the Chestnut Cake.  

Milk & Cookies - Ice Cream

Back at Milk & Cookies again.

 I love how the lines are manageable and most people know to follow the social distance boxes.

 Got me a Ham and Cheese croissant for tomorrow's breakfast.  I usually pick it up and the when I'm ready to eat it, I heat it up in the microwave for 15 seconds.

Got my kid hooked on to their hot chocolate.  Don't worry even if it's hot out, kid temp is just lukewarm and ready to drink.  

Personally, I like their Lavender Honey Latte.  Nice and soothing.

Of course, we come for ice cream too.  I got Mint Chip, it's too hot, and ice cream melts easily.  So eat quickly!

We learned that you can phone in to order, but you have to give them a credit card number over the phone.  So, by the time you arrive, you really just there to pick up.  But, they also have Apple Pay so you don't have to whip out your credit card if you just use your app.  The only thing they do not accept is American Express, please keep that in mind.

Milk & Cookies

3636 Rice Blvd

Houston, TX 77005

713-352-3086

https://www.tinyboxwoods.com/location/west-university/

International Snack - All Raisin

Another find I saw at the Asian Grocery store.

This looks like a thin cookie with raisin flavor on the package.  In reality, it's thicker than a regular cookie and every bite has a little bit of chewy raisin.  It's pretty amazing for a small little pack to have a lot of pretty decent flavor and size cookies.  I'd definitely get this again.

HK Dim Sum City

Had a hankering for dim sum, so I ordered pick up from HK Dim Sum City.

When I went in to pick up, they are only seating every other table, but definitely sparse.

What did I order: Char Siu Bao & Malay Cake (or Ma Lai Go)

Custard Egg Tart

Upper left, Turnip cake, Sesame ball (with adzuki bean filling).  Bottom: Fried Rice Noodle with dried shrimp (Cheung fun).

We also got: Sticky Chicken Rice wrapped in banana leaf.  Shrimp dumpling (Har Gow) and Shrimp & Pork dumpling (Siu Mai).  Those to me are classic dim sum dishes.  

I will say, this time is definitely off the mark.  The Har Gow and Siu Mai were ok.  The Cheung Fun would've been better with the oyster sauce, which was my fault for forgetting to pick up some.  The Sticky Rice was ok, the chicken was stuck in the inside, so porportionately, there were more rice than the filling, but at least tasted good.  Turnip cake is fine, Char Siu Bao (pork bun) is good.  

The sweets all went down from here... the Malay Cake is too dense and not fluffy.  It is a steamed cake and it was made to be fluffy, but it was dense and doesn't have much taste.  Then, Sesame Ball had too much mochi than filling.  The egg tart was so bad that I had to spit it back out, I have never done that before.  At first, I was afraid that my taste bud has changed because I was getting sick.  After checking with other family members, they also felt it was off.  So it wasn't just me, whew!

While the staff are always friendly and attentive, the food is definitely off base.  That's disappointing, because I used to refer people to come here, but now it feels unreliable.  Hope that was a one-off incident.

HK Dim Sum City

9889 Bellaire Blvd

#110

Houston, TX 77036

http://www.hkdimsumcity.com

International Snack - Boba Pops

Here's a compare and contrast of Boba Pops.

So, on my friend's feeds on social media I saw people posting about these Boba Pops.

This is a Korean Brown Sugar Bubble Tea Bar - Babambar.

So, it is actually smaller than I'd expected, but that's ok, I don't need that much.  So, after many bites, I finally got to what I thought would be boba, which is towards the bottom.  It tasted more like grass jelly than boba.  

Then, here we have the Brown Sugar Milk Tea Boba bar.  It is so popular that even the Chicago Tribune wrote about it.  Made it Taiwan's Xiao Mei.

You can quickly see the difference. There is definitely the whole brown sugar thing going.  This is definitely different, you basically get a bit of boba when you first bite into it.  And through out the bar, there are bites of boba.  It is a tad sweeter than the other one, but I think the boba balanced it back.

So, the cost for both are about the same, it comes out to be about $2 per bar, each box comes with 4.   Some may think that's a lot but think about it: if you were to get a real boba tea, it is upwards of $4.  If you get a popsicle by itself at a convenient store or ice cream truck it is at least $3.50.  So, either way, you win.  I do blame my friend for turning me on to the Brown Sugar Bar, it is so good that I kept going back for it, except it's so hot that it's often sell out.  You can try your luck at any Asian Grocers.

Daido - Unaju

So I have talked about getting food from Daido.

This time I decided to try their Unaju.  That is cooked eel over rice.  It is nicely cooked and seasoned.  It's pretty close to restaurant quality, a little lacking because it's not freshly made like you get them at the restaurant, but since I'm not sitting in a restaurant any time soon, this will do. 

Daido Market

11146 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77042

713-785-0815

International Snack - Chestnut Cake

One of the thing I love about going to Asian Grocery stores is that you never know what you'd find.

In the refrigerated section, we found this Chestnut Cake. 

Even if it's from afar and even though it's a grocery store cake; it is actually pretty darn good.  It's no true Mont Blanc, but for a substitution, the is pretty darn good.  It has the chestnut piped on top, but it's covering a chestnut (don't worry, it's cooked & shelled) then cake at the bottom.  It's not too sweet and not too messy.  

If I see them at the store again, I'll definitely stock more of it!

Common Bond coffee

Ever since we started the Stay Home effort, Common Bond has started an ordering app.  

The app allows for a lot of customization and very clear about the cost, and repeating and confirming your order.  One thing that I have a beef with is their timing.  When you order something under ASAP, there's a 30 minute wait.  While I understand that during a rush, the 30 minute cushion is helpful.  However, time and time again, I get there within my 30 minute window and there's nobody in line or in the store.  

So I decided to chance it, walked straight up to the counter and place my order.  All the workers have their masks and gloves.  There are hand sanitizer station at the door, and the social distance stickers are clearly marked on the floor.  

Anyway, here's my lavender latte.  As my co-worker pointed out, that is such an interesting concept, the lavender has a calming effect, yet coffee with caffeine is to boost you up.  Such conflicting concept, yet taste wonderful!

Common Bond

Medical Center

2278 W. Holcomb

Houston, TX 77030

346-327-8393

https://commonbondcafe.com

Underbelly - HEB edition

Finally found the Underbelly Spicy Korean Braised Beef Dumplings at HEB. 

It's basically Tteokbokki with braised beef.  The beef was shredded and the spiciness was on point.  Though, if you let it sit overnight, you need to remember that it will marinate in the spiciness/hotness.    The meat is top notch, the tteokbokki was a tad hard though... not sure if it's because I didn't heat it up long enough or what.  

So, you can find these at the prepared food section, which is mostly at the front of the store, but it's worth it.  The price are $12 and what HEB selling of their own are $5, but you can tell the quality difference.  Trust me on that one.

Aka Sushi

Per request, we ordered sushi take out.

We call about 15-20 mins ahead of time for my order.

Kamikaze roll with tuna, salmon, avocado, soy paper, eel sauce all rolled and fried.  So good.

Speaking of fried... Vegetable Tempura - I will say that since it has to travel from their kitchen to my house, the crispy-ness not as fresh as it would be normally.

Spicy Salmon roll and tuna roll.

Noticed this Notice when I went to pick up.  They basically have revised hours from 11:30a to 10:30p (till 11p on weekends).  They now have limits to table time, lunch till 3p is 60 minutes, from 3p till closed is 90 minutes.  That is: given that you have a reservation either by phone or Yelp.  Of course, they can pick up.  

Aka Sushi House

2390 W. Alabama St.

Houston, TX 77098

713-807-7875

http://www.akasushi.net

International Snack - Nissin Potato Chips

At a glance, you might think it's a ramen noodle.  Caught my eye too. 

 In fact, it's by the Nissin Ramen noodle brand, but potato chips?!?!

So, the flavor does resemble their original ramen flavor of sesame oil.  Of course, since it's on potato chips instead of dried ramen (turn noodle) the texture impact the flavor some.  But it is definitely stronger flavor than normal potato chips.  Is there any distinct ramen flavor?  Maybe it's mixed in there somewhere, but you taste the seasme oil for sure.

Bovine & Barley

Back to the Adult Ice Cream truck.

My neighbor was having a party and called them over. 

For every order you have to order food, as per the Texas law that alcohol can be delivered with food.

Got a mojito, again, they give you a small airplane size bottle of alcohol.  By the time you mix it with the slushy, it fills the cup.  I got their house chips.  They're, as the name goes, made in-house.  And it's very addictive, so I got 2 just in case.  Super yummy, hit the spot!

Hope I can stop by their shop one day.

Bovine & Barley

https://bovineandbarley.com