The last time we were there, it was right before the world shut down. So I was super excited to be back.
Fist stop was Taste of Texas - they pretty much serves you a full meal right away. Beef, Mac & Cheese and mini pecan pie. I will say, not because this was our first dish but meat was cooked perfect, meat quality was good and cut well, not chewy. Mac & cheese was on spot. We voted for them.
My next favorite was Stagecoach ice cream's Buckshot. It's caramel ice cream with praline and a hint of whisky. What's awesome about this was, at the end, you feel the alcohol kicks in. It's pretty amazing. Also went back to vote for them.
This is Mastrantos' Texquenos - its Venezuelan cheese fried in dough like a very big cheese egg roll. The good thing was the cilantro sauce. The sauce and the cheese went very well together.
We turned the corner and there's this long line.
We got the Texas Waygu on toast and a piece of candy floss. The waygu was disappointing because it was so promising yet it was super chewy.
Came up to Merlion Restaurant. It peaked my interest because it sounded like it would be a Singaporean, which turned out to be Thai. Erm, ok.... if you know, you know.
Anyway, I got the Scallop King Bed, which is a Thai Curry flavor with coconut milk over rice and there are scallops in there, pretty good.
Next up: Casa Do Brasil, churrascos, yes!
Even though they gave you a nice hunk of meat, it was mostly fat for my slice. The Mac & Cheese was pretty good.
Ran into some friends and they were saying to try the Crocodile Taco. Now, that one over there is bacon as a body.
This is by Back Table at the
Woodlands Resort - if it's really crocodile meat, it was pretty tasty. It has lots of stuff on top, so turns out to be pretty messy to eat. But I like their food ok, so wouldn't mind going back to get that.
We ran into Milk Mustache Bakery, got the Mocha Caramel Latte, it's thicc cookie, not bad, but the frosting was a bit heavy for me.
Came up to
Kuu, which thought it's weird to get fried rice.
First couple bites, you really got WOW, you can taste the truffle. But over other bites it diminishes. It does have mushroom inside so it's not totally plain.
Got the Sesame Ginger Meatball, the flavor wasn't on spot even though I love their addicting fries at the store.
We went outside and saw Capone's - their Meatball was great. Not necessarily because of the meatball itself, but the sauce that went with it, was so delicious. I would've finished the whole thing had I didn't already had so much and more to go. Definitely went back and vote for them.
Came up to Wolfgang Puck Catering. This was the Smoked Miso Duck & Waffles, but it's really a puff that has duck inside. It's pretty small, one bite of crunchy and you're done.
Came up to Henderson & Kane, and actually I really like their store. This is their Meaty Mac. The brisket on top of Mac & Cheese, it's a pretty good flavor combo, but it had gotten somewhat cold.
So excited to see Kin there. Also got to meet Top Chef Houston runner up, Evelyn, herself. So exciting.
Finally got to taste the Pork Belly Bao - you have no idea, every time they offer to sell this at the farmers markets, they are always first to sold out. So finally getting to taste it is so exciting! The sauce is damn good too.
Shortest commute amongst the competitor, Gus's Fried Chicken. It is nice crispy, not dry, and oh yeah there's a kick to it. I can only do a few bites before my tongue screams at me and gave up. I hope they have ones that aren't spicy, I don't mind going back for them.
Here we have Miss Mini Donuts.
It is small and mini, got the Oreo one. It's cute, they do try to fill up the tiny space the donut has to offer. That said, it's cute but not enough for me to go out of my way to get it again.
I was so excited to see Loro - but their dish is also cold. When a meat dish is cold, it's like a bit of rubber, hard to enjoy. Personally, I was most disappointed at this one because I've been looking forward to trying Loro. Maybe have better luck at the store.
Since Uchiko was next door. They gave out pork belly. I will say that is to the Uchi/Uchiko's standard in taste and texture. Always appreciated.
Awesome display of beautiful chocolates. Had I known that I could've gotten one of everything I would've done it. But just gotten a few and good as always.
That night was so much fun. We ate and walked, and walked and ate. There are alot more wine vendors this year than food, and there were more sweet offerings than savory. In terms of food, we deinfitely see alot more meat, meat, and meat than seafood. Totally get that for a mass event like this, seafood would've been costly but to a point that we didn't even see too many shrimp dishes, you can tell inflation is hitting that market too.
I will say, we tried to stick to our strategy of going to the back first, kinda didn't work. Because we get distracted very easily, so we ended up eating as we walked-in. But don't get me wrong, we still had a grand time.
Best Bites is always before the official Rodeo season begins. This year, they had volunteers driving golf carts to take the guests to their cars in the far parking lot, which is hugely appreciated.
Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
