Happy New Year

Just want to wish everyone a Safe & Happy New Year.

 

As they say: Stay Positive, Test Negative.

Hope we all get back our 'normal' and soon!

Local Pour

For a lunch on a nice day, we went to Local Pour in the Woodlands. 

I've never been to Local Pour before but the view is great.

See this beautiful view by the patio.  Don't worry if it gets chilly, they do have heat lamps at the ready.

Peach Iced Tea - it's supposed to be nitro, but to be honest, I couldn't tell the difference if it is.  There's no bubbles like beer or cold brew, that's for sure. 

I got the Ahi Tuna Salad, it's very well marinated and there's wasabi-soy vinaigrette. I've never had that before, which is actually surprisingly delicious.  For a salad, it's very nice portion between the tuna and the salad.  I really like the sauce.  Anyway fine a nice day and grab a seat outdoors.

Local Pour

1900 Hughes Lander

Ste 350

The Woodlands, TX 77381

281-419-7687

http://localpour.com

 

Pepper Lunch

Been drooling about this for a while, finally had a chance to do a pick-up.

I got the Classic Beef Pepper Rice.  Thinly sliced beef, corn, pepper and rice of course.  They had it all sizzling, and they will stir it up and cooked it up. So by the time we picked it up, it's all sizzling hot. 

The sides, I got were the Sweet Potato Fries.  I'm just a fan of sweet potato fries.  They are light and crispy.  Cannot complain.

Needed some 'vegetables' so I got the kimchi.  Since the rest of the dish was sizzling hot, got some cold and spicy.  It actually went well together, not too shabby.  But kids, remember, if you leave it overnight it marinates and will get spicer/hotter.  Keep that in mind.

Pepper Lunch

9393 Bellaire Blvd

Ste C

Houston, TX 77036

832-623-8383

https://tx.pepperlunch.us

 

Shun Kitchen's Fried Chicken Combo

I saw on Instagram that Shun's Kitchen has a special for week of Christmas.

The best way to order take-out with them, is to do it via GrubHub. 

Love the they're all decorated very festive for Christmas.

Their special packages for Christmas was cute. 

Their supposed to have 4 pieces, but instead we got 6 pieces. It's supposed to be panko fried, but it's darker than I expected. Otherwise, it's not dried but definitely not crispy.  Most important to me, is that it's not greasy, I can always appreciate that.

I love these Miso Honey Biscuit.  It's not too sweet, but not overwhelming in taste.  It smells delicious when you first open the box and it matches the taste.

Then there's the Truffle Mac n' Cheese.  This one was a little disappointing.  I was hoping for cheesier experience.  The truffle was in good amount, not too much oil to mask the taste of the other ingredients, but I was seriously hoping for more cheese. 

Then we have the Waygu Gravy with mashed potato.  The gravy does have a different taste to it.  I like that it's not too heavy like a lot of gravy you have out there.  Where you have a bite and it sinks you down.  This is good stuff. 

This is a Christmas Special, so you will have to keep an eye on their social media to see what specials they're running.

Shun Kitchen

2802 S. Shepherd Dr

Houston, TX 77098

832-409-5888

https://www.shunkitchen.com

 

Meco drinks

Here's another set of random find at the Asian Grocery store:

So this is an interesting thing, it is Hong Kong style Lemon Tea, which did not taste like it.  It has a very faint taste of the lemon, lots of tea, but is it like Hong Kong style Lemon Tea, nope.

This is a Thai Lime, this is slightly better.  It's more citrus to this fruit tea.  It has lime, apple, peach and oolong tea.  Now, that, I like.  Basically a very light tea and not heavily flavored on the fruit.  Just light enough to know there's some there.  I'd recommend this one.    

 

Molina's

Another take-out meal.  Don't forget to support your local eateries, especially smaller ones so they'll be able to sustain this season!

We went to Molina's since everyone was hyping about them.  As far as Tex-Mex goes, the flavor is very tame.  Maybe because I'm used to the kick from Chuy's, the flavor here is lacking heat.

I got the Enchilada de Tejas with beef.  Very generous portion of beans, wish there were more rich and the sauce though.  And more cheese.  The beef brought out the flavors and it's nice, I just wish there were more.  One thing I did forget is queso, for to-go order they give you 2 small containers of salsa, but a very generous bag of chips, need to get queso next time!

Their To-Go system is pretty good, some location has curbside available.  Wish they would do that for all of their locations.

Molina's

3801 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77025

713-432-1626

https://www.molinascantina.com

 

Perry's Steakhouse

Since Covid, even Holiday Parties have to be creative.

So my office decided to buy meals for everyone and then have Zoom meetings to check in and so everyone can at least see each other.  It definitely changes he way we interact and talk to others.

Ok, what did I get: wedge salad - poor thing all squished in this tiny box.

I got an Onion Soup - this is not the onion soup I know, the cheese and crouton are totally separate.  I do miss the whole cheesey experience of pulling the cheese apart from the top of the soup layer.  

For entree, we got the grilled chicken.  It actually looked better than the picture do it justice.  It actually looked very good.  It has bits of artichoke and mashed potato at the bottom layer.

I got a small steak wrapped in bacon. YUM!

For the sides, we got some asparagus.

For the Dessert, we got a sampler.  Left is chocolate crunch - has toffee, brittle, with chocolate ganache.  The back is cheesecake and then there's a creme brûlée.  

The whole experience is pretty easy, you call them and the staff will bring out your order curb side.  So call ahead or order online and pay ahead.

Perry's Steakhouse

1997 West Gray St

Houston, TX 77019

346-293-8400

https://perryssteakhouse.com/to-go/  

 

Japanese snack - Fall

I know we're approaching Winter, but I just found this Fall box.

Japanese love to give food as souvenir for their travels.  Look at that pretty box.

In case you didn't know this is a gift from the pretty packaging, there's bow printed on the box.

The back of the box reminds you of how many kinds and what filling is in it.  Basically the fillings are red beans (Azuki), chestnut, or mix thereof.

I love how pretty they have them individually wrapped.

Each one is in different shape and pattern even though they are similar in size.  

Basically these are pancake style cake on the outside and filling on the inside.  It's pretty much a good snack so you don't over indulge.  It's cute, neat, and tidy and great to share especially now in Covid-times where sharing food from platter is not appropriate.  Having these individually wrapped food it's easy to distribute and hygenic.  I know in the past people complaint that it's wasteful about the packaging, and who knew that this comes into handy now.  But honestly, it is truly meant to be shared with co-workers and friends.  Though there are times that's what you give to family members as well.  I think that's a very considerate way of packing food.  Is it wasteful, it can be view that way, but to me, it also helps me not to over eat.  When was the last time you only had one Oreo cookie?

 

H-mart

I just love Asian Grocery store, they have yummy prepared food galore.

 

We were at H-Mart and besides the food court, they also have their own prepared food section and kitchen.  Often times I get a bento, Korean pancake, or fried fish.  But they have Masubi, which I don't see often.  

The pack comes with 3, one is the standard spam (in the middle) with avocado.  The kani (crab) left one was really all rice not exactly filling.  The right one is spam and egg, which is what I'm used to.  I know I'm in no position to be picky since there aren't a lot of places make them, but I think the spam can be either fried or soak in soy sauce a tad longer before making into masubi. 

H-Mart 

9896 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

713-270-1110

https://www.hmart.com/storelocator/index/index/id/44/

 

El Topo

Finally decided to try El Topo.  

Driven past it so many times.  Super cute place and decent amount of seating outside.

There are big and small tables to accommodate, not to mention a park across the street.  But first, a Pineapple Aqua Fresca.

What did I get?  For weekend brunch, you can get Migas.  That is really my go to choice if they offer that on the menu.  Their version was on the tamed side.  There are eggs, tortilla chips, hints of salsa, avocado and bits of cheese topped w/ scallions.  I think I would've liked another protein in there and more oomph on the salsa.  I did ended up putting more to it for taste.  Don't underestimate this box.  It is actually quite a lot of food here.

They have an online order via Square.  They seems to have pickup at curbside.  But they also have a cute little window for you to walk up and order.  

El Topo

6119 Edloe

Houston, TX

832-795-7251

http://topohtx.com
 

Tiger Noodle House

Went back to Tiger Noodle House for take out.

I got an Iced Tea.

I got the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup.  They come separate packages: here's the noodles,

here's the soup and beef.  They do have chunks of beef in there.

By the time you combine the two together...

Not as pretty as the restaurant, but will do for home re-creation.

I really like their online order.  Easy and online when they give you an ETA.  What is missing is that you still have to pay in person and they still make you sign the sales slip.  They do have clean pens for you to use, but I'd bring your own if you could.

Tiger Noodle House

2424 Rice Blvd

Houston, TX 77005

281-974-4083

https://tigernoodletexas.com

 

Grocery Store coffee - French Cafe series

I don't know why, but I love these cute coffee from Asian Grocery stores.

This is a Black Sesame Latte, you don't see a lot of those around.  Since I am a black sesame fan, thought I'd give this a whirl.  Basically, the body of the latte is fuller than normal lattes.  Since I can't see what's inside, can't exactly tell by visual.  That said, you definitely taste a little bit of the sesame and it does show up on the flavor nodes. 

This is an original series - smaller in size.  It's Cafe au Lait.  Flavor is pretty mild.

Then this is a Chestnut Latte.  Also don't see this often and this is amazingly light in body.  There is a hint of chestnut, made you feel like a mini Mont Blanc (cake - except no cake).  The milk bit is not very heavy in terms of texture, as a matter of fact pretty smooth and easy going.

 

You can find it at H-Mart and several other places in town also have them.

For online here:

https://www.cokoyam.com/products/namyang-french-cafe-cafe-au-lait-200mg?variant=35170704457894

The Palm - Thanksgiving meal

So for Thanksgiving, there were just the two of us eating, so I decided to order out.

The Palm was running a social, so why not.  Plus, I get points for ordering it with my Landry card.

First course, I got Lobster Bisque, you do get chunks of lobster.  You can really taste the Sherry in there.

Main course was turkey, of course.  They included dark and white meat.  It comes with green beans, stuffing, and sweet potato (the main reason why I ordered from here).  They have fresh cranberries (I've never had it fresh before) and gravy, which is one of the best gravy I've tasted.

For dessert, got the chocolate pecan pie.  Definitely chocolatey. 

To be honest, I couldn't eat all of that.  The Turkey was 2+ meals and the pie I had to cut in two.  So, had to split.  That said, every piece of this meal was good, and made me really miss dining at nice restaurants. They were super accommodating and let me called and pay when I order, and when I arrived, I call and they walk it out to my car.  

Please do take-out if you are going to eat out anyway.  Don't forget the servers are still needing to pay bills and support their families.

The Palm

6100 Wesheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77057

713-977-2544

https://www.thepalm.com

 

Dessert Box - Chocolate Bomb

I saw on Instagram that Costco were selling these Chocolate Bombs, which of course, they are not available in my local Costco.  So I was searching for them everywhere.  Except all the fancy chocolatiers in town are not doing them.  Tons of Etsy though.  But as you know, shipping chocolate to Houston has its challenges... for instance humidity or heat are not ideal.

In come a Pop Up for The Dessert Box.  They were doing a special for a box of 4 chocolate bombs.  That is just totally serendipitous for me. 

It comes with 4 very nicely made chocolate bombs.  It is made with Belgian Chocolate on the outside.  Inside it has hot chocolate powder with mini marshmallow.  Tip: if you're a marshmallow fan like me, keep the mini marshmallow puffs handy, you'll want more to go with your hot chocolate.

The box also comes with 4 specially made Cinnamon Marshmallow.  Super cute but as far as homemade marshmallow goes, it was a tad drier than I'd like. 

They also do other dessert, that nigh of the pop up they were promoting Chocolate Bourbon cake and Rum Cake. 

I tried a bit of the Chocolate Bourbon cake, and you can taste the bourbon alright.  That said, it is very balanced in chocolate to alcohol to cake ratio.  I'd recommend it if I have a big group gathering (not any time soon).  

Otherwise, since I found the Chocolate Bomb lady, I've been buying from her to gift to friends and colleagues.  Highly recommend for upcoming teachers gifts.  Note, she is based in Spring area and for a nominal fee, she will deliver 5 miles in the area.  Every Monday, she will post special dessert that she's selling for Friday/Saturday delivery or pickup. She is super easy to work with, I highly recommend supporting local businesses. 

The Dessert Box

https://www.the-dessert-box.com/special-holiday-menu