Rodeo snack

Went to the Rodeo, and inevitably, we'll end up eating something even though we have no intention to do so. 

I was already being good, staying away from Fried Oreo, Fried whatever they can put in the fryer.  But it is lunch time... unfortunately for me, I picked a Friday to go to Rodeo during Lent, so no meat for me, in the land of nothing but meat, meat, and more meat.  Luckily, the Polonia booth saved me.  

I got the Pierogi with Kraut and Mushroom.  It was simply delicious, which was to my surprise.  Last time I had Polish food, I have to admit was at a fair, and it was basically that, fair food.  This is actually very nicely textured with the mix of kraut and mushroom filling, not too pickle-y and not too much mushroom to over empower it.  They topped the pierogi with a few steamed onion for taste.  The lady asked if I wanted mayo.  Personally, I'm not a fan of mayo on anything, sometimes on sushi is unavoidable, but I don't voluntarily go ask for mayo.  But since she offered and I haven't tried it, thought, why not.  To my surprised, it actually tasted even better than plain.  I didn't over do it, just dip a bit out for taste, but somehow the mayo draws the flavors out even more.  That was just a surprise.

They do have a location on Blalock, now I'm curious to go.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Now thru March 18th

NRG park

https://rodeohouston.com

Underbelly - Last hurrah

We heard about the closing of Underbelly and decided to go eat there for one last time.

 Menu prepared daily and as cheeky as ever, because they're slipped in covers of text books.

 This is stir fry beets with sweet soy, Thai basil, and you see those mini lotus roots.  To be honest, not much of a beet fan, but thought we tried it since it's recommended by the server.  That said, it's not the dish that wow-s us, but it's not as earthy as normal beet dishes... it reminds me alot of daikon, but that's neither here nor there.

 Next up: Seared Golden Tile Fish.  I love the sauce, the pickled spinach went with the fish very well. Nice balance to hit all.

 Ahh, here's the star for the night... Pork Belly Sisig, with egg and rice.  Sounds simple, but once you mix it all up and the egg is everywhere and gets cooked by the pan from the heat of it all.  It was the damn best pork fried rice, I've had in a long while.  So good.

 One of their signature dish, Korean Braised Goat Dumpling, which is a messy goat stew dokbokki.  It is spicy but even a whim like me can stand it.  It's full flavor and the goat is shredded and the sauce makes the rice cake, which by itself has not much taste just all texture, very flavorful.  This has been on the menu for a long time and one of my favorites.  You will be missed.

 Non-fancy desserts... truly is that.

We split the Strawberry Short Cake, it has lard biscuit, where they had sugar sprinkled on top.  Yummy strawberry compote, and mascarpone cheese in the middle.  It doesn't feel heavy at all, but I was surprised it was served cold.  Either way, it was delicious, so no matter there.

We are sad that one of the Houston Institution is going to be reincarnated to something else.  But if it has to do with Chris Shepherd, I'm not worry at all.  I am looking forward to the new concept, even though leaving this one is bittersweet too.  Go get a table before it's too late, their last day is March 31st.  We fid that weekday is easier to get a table than weekend.  Go eat before you can't.

They are having one last hurrah on April 1st, where it is all you can eat $40 plus 2 drink tickets.  

Underbelly Houston

1100 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77006

713-528-9800

http://www.underbellyhouston.com

Daily Juice Cafe

Needed some quick pick me up... driven by Daily Juice many times, decided to check it out.

As the name imply, they have juice.  But besides that, they also have Acai Bowls, Smoothies, Garden Toasts (think yummy avocado toast), Hot soups, Wheatgrass shots, and coffee even.

So, what did I get?  I got what they called the Crescent Moon.  This is the cashew nut milk, but you see the listed ingredients on there.  They are all cold-pressed and the price for the juice is comparable to those around town, and cheaper than some too.  At least you know it's done locally and fresh.  How does it taste: it has a strong taste of cinnamon but that's typical for cashew milk.  Out of the juicing system, that's the most filling and tasty one to me.

Their staff was ready to let you taste anything you are curious about.  When I was asking about the juice cleansing system, they did not hesitate to open a bottle for me to taste it.  And of course, let other customers a try too.  

Daily Juice Cafe

4010 Bissonnet

Houston, TX 77005

281-974-3728

https://dailyjuicecafe.com/pages/bissonnet

Kung Fu Tea

While we were waiting for Sweets Raku to open, there's a Kung Fu Tea in the same shopping center.

We figured we'd kill some time.  When we got there, there was a line out the door.  Granted, the entire strip center has more eateries than other shops, so naturally people are hanging out to kill some time.

While we were in line, their friendly staff let us sample their ginger tea.  Boy, does it have a kick to it.  I got the honey green tea.  I've asked for no bubble (tapioca), but they put it in by mistake.  Figured, it's no biggie.  the tea was sweeter than I expected, but it's pretty good.  

The decor here is kinda cheeky, they have lots of 1970s Bruce Lee and early 80s of Jackie Chan movie clips in a loop and as B graded as possible.  Aside from that, they also feature art works of local artists, that's pretty awesome given how little wall space they have.  

Kung Fu Tea

5030 Spring Mountain Rd

Las Vegas, NV 89146

702-776-7077

https://www.kungfutea.com

La Creperie - Paris Las Vegas

One of my favorite place is Paris Las Vegas.  We honeymoon-ed there, so I have special attachment to the hotel.

Early in the morning and there's a line waiting for crepe.  And it is always sunny in Paris (note the ceiling).

Here's the offerings...

Some detailed descriptions...

Finally, almost to the window to order!  Weekends, do go early, because alot of the guests trying to grab a crepe before heading out or checking out.  So, get there early.

So, what did I get?  This is a Ham and Cheese for my Savory Crepe.  I know you can't see the ham, it is in there.  They have Parisian Ham, Gruyere cheese, and béchamel sauce on top.

For my Dessert Crepe, because let's face it, they don't serve food on planes anymore and what they have at the airport isn't exactly gourmet.  This is Nutella with Banana.  I will say, having some strawberries will make it better, but given that they make lots of crepe, I understand customization might not be something that they can accommodate.  

They are about $10-11 per crepe.  Bring patience, especially when the line is long because that translates to making your crepe will be long too.  They do have a side cafe, but do not serve crepe if you're in a hurry.  Across from it is their breakfast buffet if you want more than just crepes.

La Creperie 

Paris Las Vegas

3655 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702-946-7000

https://www.caesars.com/paris-las-vegas/restaurants/la-creperie

Las Vegas Buffet - MGM Grand

When in Rome, do as the Romans do... when in Vegas, must have a Vegas Buffet.

You basically can go to ANY hotel and find an elaborate buffet.  Since we were staying at MGM, finding a buffet is not hard to do.

First, you have your eggs mix, with meat, without meat, with taco

And protein, they have craving station, sausage, beans, gravy ... not together, of course.

Then, you have your veggies and sides, potato done in several different ways.

Lox and all the fixin's that goes with it... cream cheese, capers, onion, lemon, bagel around the bakery corner.

In case you're craving for some greens, here's the salad side of things...

... they have potato salad, crab salad, pasta salad, anything with the word salad in it and some shrimps.

Some real breakfast food that you see at breakfast buffet... eggs, round sausage, potato...

... fried hush puppies type thing, other kind of sausage, bacon.

Of course, they would have Lobster Egg casserole, and biscuit and gravy, duh!

So, what did I get?  They have an omelet bar, so I ordered an omelet with cheese, spinach, bacon, mushroom topped with salsa (which was super spicy).  Corn beef hash, salmon & capers, and crab salad.

For your sweet tooth, they do have lemon pie (which is pop tart type looking, but hand made), and fried Twinkies (had to say, not curious enough to try it).

Here's the bakery corner I was saying earlier... basically any kind of pastry for breakfast, lunch and dinner are all here.  Looks great.  They have one section for danish, cakes, and cinnamon rolls and donuts.  Then, the other side has cakes, very pretty.

Round 2: what did I get?  I got the lemon pie, just because I was curious.  Got a side of fruit, just feel like I have to have some to balance out all the junk I've eaten.  Some eggs, sausage, potato, and those fried donut type thing, out of curiosity.  Luckily, it paid off and it tasted good.

Meal cost about $33 with tax, I chose to pay the tip ahead of time, so I can save my cash for other use.  You walk up, pay the cashier, and take your receipt to the hostess and they'll lead you to a table where your server will get any alcoholic beverages.  Otherwise, there's a coffee, juice and soda bar area.

I love buffets, but this was very overwhelming and I forget that they are pretty much open from 7:30a - 9pm.  That is to cover all meals and snack in all possible time.  So naturally the food they have is a bit of very thing.  Since we were there somewhat early for the Vegas crowds, we can tell everything is freshly prepared, and all the food were just put out.  

Now, before you get preach-y about how wasteful Vegas buffets are and how much food they waste.  I will have you know that MGM Grand is one of the leaders in theVegas strip to lead the charge on sustainability on food.  First, they provide their 45,000 employees meals.  20% of their no-longer needed food, goes to feed pig farms, some food goes to compost to become fertilizers for local farmers.  By doing that, they also help save water usage in the area.  Due to food service regulations, they cannot easily send food to charities or shelters.  But they are working on that... they found ways to freeze the food within certain service hours.  And send them to needed shelters.  They then re-cook the food to something else and serve it to the needy.  Who say Vegas is only a land of Excess?

MGM Grade Buffet

inside MGM hotel

3799 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702-891-7433

https://www.mgmgrand.com/en/restaurants/mgm-grand-buffet.html

Sweets Raku - Las Vegas

Here's a Yelp recommendation...

Sweet Raku which lucky for us, opens at Noon on a Sunday for lunch.

Seating is limited, so we lined up a few minutes before they open.  As you can see, it's a bar setting.  Behind me are 3 more tables that seat 4.  So, they don't hold more than 28 guests, 4 or 5 staff and that's it.

On the weekends, they are open for lunch.  

This is my Cassis & Berry Tea, not too sweet but not too fruity either.  Love the sphere ice cube!

They start you out with a small salad with a side of potato salad.  The dressing is soy-based, but very light and easy-going.  The potato salad is delicious yet very filling, so be careful not to fill up on the carb.  The potato salad did kinda reminded me that the ones you get at BBQ places, except theirs is less mayo-ey.

A demitasse cup of lobster bisque.  Not that I can taste any lobster meat, but it was creamy and you can taste lobster in the mix.  Super hot, so sip gently.

My entree, is the Grilled Salmon and Salmon Roe sandwich.  We watched them first heat up the croissant in the oven, and they take it to the back, where they lay down a giant leave of lettuce, a hearty size of grilled salmon, some asparagus, and roe on top.  When you bite into the sandwich, it's nice and buttery from the croissant and definitely crunchy.  The roe provided the salt and the salmon is a decent size piece.  This will definitely fill you up!

Wait, but there's more!  We got a scoop of the mango sorbet.  I'm not a fan of whipped cream on top of ice cream or sorbet.  So, after the picture, I gentle removed it.  Every bite of that sorbet, made you feel like you're eating fresh cold mango or mango ice.  So fresh!

Seating at the bar you get a front row seat of what the dessert chefs are doing.  It is like a dance that they do.  Talk about an art form.  Even for them to plate a souffle is an art.

I think this is mine.... it fresh hot out of the oven!

Wow... talk about an apple pie deconstructed.  This is Ringo!

Take a closer look: the side they have caramel smeared, with a halved blueberry and a raspberry on both sides.  The apple pie and open crust, nice and crispy.  A scoop of honey ice cream with cinnamon on top and crunchy oats at the bottom.  Take it from me, a scoop of ice cream with the oats and the pie together is divine.

Oh wait!  But there's more!!!  What's inside the cute little apple?  Well, when I cracked it open, the caramel spill out of it.  But at the base of the apple, and which is what holds it down instead of rolling around, is a small layer of whipped cream.  So, when you mix a bit of this and a bit of that, every bite is awesome and divine.  Talk about having your pie and eat it too.

The other dessert we got was Mt. Fuji.  That's a fun way of doing a Mont Blanc.  It is chestnut cream layered on top of a small sponge cake, no bigger than a twinkie size.  A scoop of vanilla Hennessy ice cream on top of some crumble.  A taste of the ice cream I was drunk.  It's a popular scoop here.  I just enjoyed the chestnut so much that totally wasn't paying attention. 

Something for you to enjoy.  If you order Mars, this is what you get.  They lit up a small cute container of brandy, and pour it over a red dome.  It melts over a yuzu mousse and chocolate cream.   So when they pour the alcohol, it melts the dome into the cake.  It's quite a show.

It is great a great deal: $23 for a small salad, soup, sandwich, sorbet and a dessert is well worth the price.  They also have a 2-course dessert for $15.  You get a main dessert and a small dessert.  But for $8 you get salad, soup, and a sandwich, totally worth the deal.  Between the 2 of us, it didn't cost more than $50 (exclude tax and tip).  

They do not take reservation, unless is a large party.  So, go there early.  They have 16 seating around the bar and 12 at the table, the seats goes quick, and next thing you know, people are lining up out to the door.  Place is small and cozy, but that's what allow them to do the beautiful desserts that they do. Not only can you get a seat when you go early, they are less likely to run out of your favorite.

Parking might be a challenge too.  Since there are 4 popular eateries and 1 bubble tea place all in a small shopping center.  You may end up parking on the street.  Just read the signs, they are friendly enjoy to let people park.  But then the drivers there are pretty aggressive, so pay attention.

Sweets Raku

5040 W. Spring Mountain Rd

Ste 3

Las Vegas, NV 89146

702-290-7181

http://raku-sweets.com/sweets/