Island Grill

For a little healthier fare, we went to Island Grill for dinner. They are really known for their juice bar. If you ever want to have a healthy afternoon snack, go for the N.R.G. which is blueberries, banana, vanilla yogurt, and energy boost.

Aside from that, they serve a full arrange of food there too. Anything from pasta, to Greek food, to breakfast, to lox and bagle.

The other night, I got the gyro platter, which was the biggest gyro sandwich I've seen. Most of the time, people give you half the size of gyro meat they gave you here. And they definitely make sure that they did not cheat you for the price you paid for it. The platter, by the way, does come with a drink.

Another night we went, I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich with gluten free bread. They started to carry Gluten Free Houston's products. Since they don't have burger bun, they gave me the bread and cut them up like a club sandwich.
But as you can see, it's more than generous with the size. I can barely fit it in my mouth to take a bite.

I like to support a local business if possible. Faysal is definitely happy to get to know his customers all from the neighborhood. I know they also have a Woodway location, to which he had said that one of his customers kid whom he watched her grow up to where she's inviting him to her wedding. So, a mom and pop style business definitely has its charm.

Island Grill & Juice
4024 Bellaire Blvd
Houston TX 77024
Ph:713-665-5388
http://www.islandgrillhouston.com/

Sorrento

Sorry for the dim photo. The place was dark, my phone wasn't picking up light and the candle was doing all that it could.

But I was there for a glass of wine with a friend of mine, and both of us wanted to have some soup, so I ordered the Lobster Bisque. If I get the chance, I usually do jump on that opportunity.

I will say this, while it looks like any bisque would, on the creamy based soup, you don't feel like you're drinking cream. So, that's good. On the flip side, I think I'd like to have more meat to go with that soup. It was tiny pieces to go with my soup. Even Pappadeaux has more meat in their bisque.

They do have a lovely bread basket that they come around and show you this array of bread with their olive oil & pepper. It was delightful, but be sure not to fill yourself up with bread. They have an extensive wine list that caters to all taste, you will never feel like you can't find what you want. On top of that, their pianist in the evening has a great sense of humor. While playing ambiance music, it wouldn't be surprising to hear him play the theme song to Peanuts.

Sorrento Italian Restaurant
415 Westheimer,
Houston TX 77006
Phone Number- 713-527-0609
http://www.sorrentohouston.com

Fluffbake Macarons

Welcome to Macaron Friday! You know it's going to be that sooner or later, why deny it?!

Now whenever we get a chance to go to Revival, we definitely try to make sure we get some macarons from Rebecca Masson. Did you guys see her on Top Chef Just Dessert? She ended up being top 8 of the show. Her flavoring is definitely unexpected and wacky, but also amazing that it pleased the masses.
It's a delight to walk up to the dessert case and see what's new in the display. This time we have 2 different ones. The top pictured is coconut shell with pandan flavoring inside. Pandan, if you've never tasted it, is a sweet compliement to coconut or to cakes. They are a specialty of Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam. I remember distinctly that when I was little, I had these Indonesian Layered Cake dessert with the pandan flavoring.

So you can imagine, taking a bite of this macaron draws up some childhood memory. They have some decent texture for sure. The shell have some coconut flour and definitely some coconut flakes with the lightly weighted pandan cream as the middle. I want to say it's a white chocolate or a buttercream, but it was too yummy, I ate the entire thing before deciphering which is which.

The other that drew my attention was the red velvet. What drew me to it, and you may not be able to see it, was the glitter on the mac. How does she do that? The spice is what made the red shell for sure, but the middle was lightly cream cheesed. And not that the combo is anything new, but to have it translate to a macaron, I find that amazing, not to mention it tastes good too.

Fluff Bake Bar (available at Revival)
http://www.fluffbakebar.com/

Niko Nikos

More Niko Niko's meal! I never say no to it. They give you a very generous portion of gyro meat for a gyro plate. My favorite of course is the oven potato. I swear whatever they soak the potato in to make it soft as they bake, is my drug. Their seasoning is to die for, I swear.

Of course, not to mention the yummy dolmas. It's light and not over filled, just perfect as I like them.

This time we ordered a side of spinach. It was supposed to be sauteed, but it's a tad more soupy than I anticipated. I think I'll stick with my cream spinach if I can help it. It was soggy than sauteed, but I like that they threw in the diced tomatoes in the mix.

The new thing I've seen but didn't get to try is the Frappe coffee. Almost everyone in the store was carrying one out with them. So, I'll be curious to try that next time. Here's the last time I went there.

Niko Niko's
2520 Montrose
Houston, Texas
713-528-GYRO (4976)
http://www.nikonikos.com/

Zushi

If you ever zipped thru Memorial from downtown to 610, you will inevitably stopped at the stop light where you can see this little sushi restaurant in a corner. Finally, my friend's birthday got me there, and I've been stopping by since.

It's in the corner of Memorial & Westcott, and you can try to park in front, but it's easier to park in the garage behind the building. At dinner time, they do have valet, so you don't have to think about it.

Since we don't usually get to do lunch, we opted to try their lunch combo. The above picture is Sushi combo B, it comes with a miso soup.
We just got greedy at the end to order a dessert. And what better dessert than to have fried green tea ice cream. It looks good, but messy to eat.

If you get a chance to go for Happy Hour, their menu is well worth it, that including drinks. You have to wonder how a place like this sustain business. Food is good, traffic is hard to get into and out of there. Almost every time I went it's been thinly populated. Their price might be one point that can be the issue. Seeing how many sushi restaurants we have in the city and how competitive the pricing is, it's no surprised that shop owners has to work harder to make themselves stand out. That said, there are creative dishes that you don't see anywhere else, and perhaps that's one of the reasons that people who've been to the place will come back for it.

Zushi Houston
5900 Memorial Drive Ste. 102,
Houston, Texas 77007
Phone: 713.861.5588
http://www.zushihouston.com/

Ruggles Green

If you ever want to eat healthier and more 'green', Ruggles Green is the way to go. Set up as a casual dinning, like Ruggles Bakery. You walk into a small space on W. Alabama and go order your food. It is not uncommon to have little or no parking, which is indicative of the seating inside.

Secret to parking, if you find some up front, take it. If not, go to the parking garage next door. I find it safer and easier than parking in the neighborhood behind. Also, I'm sure the neighbors are pretty sick of all the traffic cutting thru and street all taken up by cars going to either Ruggles Green, Flemings, or Tasting Room. Certainly a busy little block.
One of my favorite items is their Quinoa Spaghetti & Meatball. I swear just having the meatballs can last you for at least 2 meals. As a matter of fact, really rarely do I finish the dish. I always take something home.

The quinoa pasta, if you have never had it before, it's short and thin. It does have the exact texture of a normal wheat or flour pasta. It cooks nicely and not fall apart as some of the other substitutes I've seen.

This is upscale casual dining at its finest. You get the great food, great seating in the dining room. I will warn you that Sunday brunch time, people do get rowdy and the place echos. If you sit outside in this type of fall day, you won't regret it. Also, go during 'off' time, i.e. go before the dinner crowd begin, or go during the middle of the afternoon. You will definitely miss the crowd.

They now have another location in City Centre, the space is huge and green. I need to go check that out. But food is always good. Try the hemp brownie, you don't taste hemp and you won't get high, I promise! Their creme brulee is awesome, but best be shared because it's huge.

Ruggles Green
2311 West Alabama, Suite C
Houston, Texas 77098
tel: 713.533.0777

or City Centre
801 Town And Country Blvd. 1B
Houston, Texas 77024
tel. 713.464.5557
http://www.rugglesgreen.com/

Cheesecake Factory

I think alot of people thinks that Cheesecake Factory is over rated, but I still love it because they still deliver good food and good service. This is one of the few places that caters for all tastes, have flexible cuisine and executed well.

Aside of cheesecake which is done extremely well, which is their namesake and you hope that they will live up to that reputation. Unlike some places ( Dessert Gallery )which aren't done well as one would expect in its namesake. Their food is also tasted great.

I usually go in and get the Firecracker Salmon (1st photo). It's essentially wrapped like the English Firecracker like the ones you have for Xmas or New Year. It's wraps salmon, chives, and fried in this thinly wrap paper. What really made this so great is really the sauce. It is not super spicy but it worked really well in terms of flavor with the red lettuce.

The other thing is new to me that I've never tried before was the Blue Cheese BLT burger without buns. It's basically like a steak with fries but complimented with bacon and blue cheese. Tons of it. The blue cheese does have strong flavors but not so over empowering that you just can't taste the meat and the rest of it.

Our server had forgot one of the dish, but she was polite and tried to compensate us. We had to be at a show and had no time for her to compensate us, but she was very apologetic and gave us a comp on something else.

Cheesecake Factory

5015 Westheimer Road
Houston, TX 77056
(713) 840-0600

or

303 Memorial City
Memorial City, TX 77024
(713) 932-6344