Antica Osteria

For one of my birthday meals, I asked to go to Antica Osteria

 They seated us in the table between the two houses... nice bread and butter while you wait.

 When you sit down, they immediately bring you bruchetta... which is very tasty.  

 We shared a beef carpaccio, which is slices of raw beef over a bed of arugula with slices of parmesan cheese on top.  It's good, highly recommend you to try it.

 If raw is not your thing, we also tried the proscuitto wrapped scallop, very good sauce and fresh scallops.

 For my entree, I had the veal piccata.  The capers goes well with the sauce and it is definitely creamy and a subtle bit of lemon in there.

For dessert, we split the tiramisu, it's not too sweet and it's a great way to top the meal.

The service is definitely top notch.  They were very on top of checking in, getting our food quickly.  So quickly that my friend ordered a cup of cappuccino and it arrived almost as soon as the server stepped away with our order.  The house does look small, but don't let it fool you, they do have upstair seatings and another house seating.  But making a reservation is always the best policy.

Antica Osteria

2311 Bissonnet Blvd

Houston, TX 77005

713-521-1155

http://www.anticarestaurant.com/

Maison Burdisso Macarons

Been meaning to catch the Maison Burdisso at Eastside Farmers Market for a while now.

So when I saw on their Facebook page then menu, I have to go there... 

Very unassuming packaging...  

They are $2 per mac.  I got: burnt sugar, pear, tiramisu and pistachio.  They have limited amount each day, so you have to be early.  Otherwise, you snooze, you lose.

Macs are a tad smaller compares to what I like and what the others are selling.  But for $2 a pop and you know that you're getting quality work, you can't beat that.  I will say, you have to be dedicated to catch her at either Eastside Market or Rice Farmer's Market.  At Eastside, she is right by the music guy.  At Rice, she's at the end, right by the egg guy.  Go find her!

Maison Burdisso

http://www.maisonburdisso.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maison-Burdisso/191791629902

Hunan's Chinese

Been seeing this restaurant as I'm stuck in traffic, so decided to give them a try.

When you first walk in, you can already tell the cuisine is very 'American'.  The decor is 80s/90s at best... My mom was saying, she wanted to try their vermicelli dish, which I thought was strange, seeing that this is Hunan style Chinese... Sure enough, they have a 'special' menu of Vietnamese dishes.  Not alot but mostly variation of bun dishes, which has a bed of veggies, vermicelli, and pork or other meat.

I got the spicy bean curd dish, which is Ma Po Tofu, not too spicy.

On left, is the House Fried Rice, which is essentially beef, chicken, shrimp, eggs, tons of eggs in the fried rice.  On top is the Vietnamese egg rolls, which you use the lettuce on the below right and wrap the egg roll and dip in fish sauce.

The servers are friendly but in evening seems like they do more to go order than dine ins.  But from what I understand, for lunch, there are a lot of people from the Med Center that comes here, and that's their main source of business.

Hunan's Chinese Restaurant

3835 Bellaire Blvd.

Houston, TX 77025

713-666-2000

http://www.hunansbellaire.com/

Lemongrass Cafe

So I saw the Lemongrass vendor at the Chinese New Year festival at the Chinese Mandarin School.

It was quite close to the school so, thought I'd give them a shot.

Here's the Iced Thai Tea, which tasted like pretty much like everywhere you ordered Thai Teas.  Tad of sweet black tea mix and half & half. 

 I go the 5 spiced duck... it was pretty lukewarm by the time it arrived at the table.  But the idea of the bok choy and duck together is good.  The duck wasn't too dry either, which was good because at first I was a tad worry that there were no sauce that came with it, how it would be.  But luckily, it turned out good.  Just wish it was warmer. 

We went during a non-peak hour, so we pretty much have the place to ourselves.  The service was great, even when other people came in later.  That said, the food isn't anything to rave about.  They were going for fusion, so they have a plantain chips with chimichurri, paid thai, and Chinese food. That said, I'd rather them be more focused in something instead of dabble in a bit of this that or another...

Lemongrass Cafe

5109 Bellaire Blvd.

Bellaire, TX 77401

713-664-6698

http://www.lemongrass-cafe.com/   

Daily Grill

So for lent, we went to Daily Grill for lunch.

 They usually have the 600 menu, which means items with the 600 symbol is only 600 calories.

I got the Blackened Ahi Tuna salad.  That is not part of the 600 but it was nice to have options.  

They truly is a good steakhouse, but since it was Lent, I just needed to get some fish.  They also have different types of pot pies.  On top of that, they give you a nice thing of bread which if you order soup, goes well with them.  They also have a great happy hour, and for mall, this is a great alternative to the food court.

The Daily Grill

in the Galleria Mall

5085 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, TX 77056

713-960-5997

http://www.dailygrill.com/

51Fifteen

Grab a quick lunch to catch up with a colleague. 

Went back to 51Fifteen and caught the special.  I had the Pasta Pescatore, the chicken was very tasty.  They have artichoke, spinach, tomato, and mushroom.  The sauce is not too sour from the tomato, but the cheese worked out nicely.  Again, sitting at the bar area you pay $13 includes a drink and tip for lunch.  

51Fifteen

5115 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, TX 77056

713-963-8067

http://51fifteen.com/

Chili's

I was jonesing for some chips and queso, so I talked my friend into going to Chili's...

Chips came first, and we were munching and gabbing...

 Skillet came... the cheese had kinda formed a layer on top... I hate that it's not hot when it comes out, but what's also disappointing was that the taste was lacking for sure.

I got the margherita flat bread.  That actually tasted very good.  Too bad I filled myself up with chips...

Chili's food is decent, but the wait time is horrifically long.  Luckily we can sit at the bar area.  But that's not truly better because there's nobody busting the tables so even though they can turn the tables, no new people can sit down.  We had a good server but since he's busy going around his area and even though no one is busting tables, it's hard to get drinks refill.

Chili's

10001 Westheimer Rd

Ste 127

Houston, TX 77042

713-780-8254

http://www.chilis.com/