85 degrees Bakery

Had to grab a bubble tea, and 85 happens to be open before noon.  So, here we are.

Typically the shop is filled with people.  During the 'new era' they now limit 20 people and stand in line 6 ft apt.  I noted that the flow of traffic has now became one way, which is great for limiting traffic.

I got the Tiger Boba Milk Tea.  Mom got the Cafe Latte.  So, I never really understand the appeal for Tiger Boba Milk tea, but sure why not?!  Essentially, the 'tiger' pattern is from when they drizzle in the brown sugar syrup down the side of the cup and by the time the pour in the milk and mix is all up, it creates the tiger pattern on the side of the cup.  It's nifty.  

How does it taste?  Definitely outstandingly sweet.  It is not to say, it's the best 'kind' of sweet I've ever had in a milk tea.  But it is standing out, and strongly highlighted.  I will say, the boba weren't from a fresh batch because some were chewier than the others.  But I was jonesing for something, so this'll do.  

They do have online pickup, they do have pastries but not a lot of the buns for online order.  I saw that they also offer up some popular pastries that are either frozen or unbaked that you can order and make it at home.  That would be a cool thing to make at home.  You too can be a baker.

85degrees Bakery

9750 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

832-831-2458

https://www.85cbakerycafe.com

 

Candelari's Pizza

Went to Candelari's to pick up some pizza.

Call ahead and it's actually pretty fast for pick up.  There is a drive thru lane that pulls up to their second door and the staff comes out ask for your name and grab it for you.

Cheese pizza.

Since they don't have Hawaiian on the menu, it becomes a Create-Your-Own pizza.  Pineapple and ham as toppings.

I got the T-Rex.  That has two types of sausages, pepperoni, bacon, Canadian bacon, and ground beef.  If this is not a meat-lover, I don't know what is.

All of the pizzas are gluten free, and there is an up-charge for that.  Out of all of them, I'm still sticking to my T-Rex, is my tried and true.  Definitely worth getting a few more of those.

Candelari's

2617 W. Holcomb Blvd

Houston, TX 77040

713-662-2825

https://candelaris.com/pizza-place-west-university

 

Roostar Vietnamese Grill

When I went to pick up the Miso Sweets, it was at Roostar.  Figured, might as well pick up dinner while I'm there.

It's been a while since I had Bahn Mi, sure why not?!

Off hand, I ordered the Grilled Pork Bahn Mi.  

Then, I ordered a Pate Bahn Mi.  I grew up eating pate, so was curious how they would make a sandwich out of it.

To my surprised, they give you tons of meat, and they're nicely marinated and super tasty.  You can also taste the quality of meat, they didn't skim on that.

For the Pate one, I was surprised on that one too.  First of, I took off the usual, cilantro, carrots and what nots; then added fried tofu in there.  That was serendipitous because the pate would've been strong, which is fine, but having the fried tofu slices balances out the flavors and the texture helped made the sandwich.  Overall, it was a pleasant surprise.  

I'll definitely go back to check out their other dishes, like the Sous Vide Pork Belly Bahn Mi, their Boxes (which is protein + veggie/carb, sauce), their Bulgogi Fries (or variations thereof), or their wings.  Hmm, wings.

Roostar Vietnamese Grill

5551 Richmond Ave

Houston, TX 77056

832-767-3319

https://www.myroostar.com

 

Miso Sweets - Mochi Donuts

So been seeing these posts on my Instagram feed.

Then a mom friend posted in her FB feed, and the delivery spot will be inside the loop.  I'm all down for that!

They're so darn adorable.

Here are their flavors for the day... 

Comes with an adorable saying - but let's get to my donuts!

I got a dozen.  Had I seen their post about taking pre-order, I would've done that and go pick up whenever.  But since I didn't see the post until late, I had to get there early to pick up a la carte.  In some ways, that worked out, because I can pick and choose and can also do smaller sizes instead of by the dozen.

Here I got: Vietnamese Coffee, Chocolate, and S'more

The Vietnamese Coffee, does have a strong coffee taste and also ends with a sweet after taste like a Cafe Su Da would.  I'm telling you, the flavor nodes were bright enough that it feels like you took a sip from a real cup of Vietnamese Coffee.  The Chocolate is good, it fills with chocolatey goodness.  The S'more, they must've used marshmallow fluff as the topping.  You do taste the chocolate, marshmallow togetherness.  Oh by the way, the S'more is their newest flavor.

Here we have: Taro, Pandan, and Mango.  The Taro is a great intro to Mochi Donuts.  It's mild in flavor and showcase the texture.  The Pandan is legit pandan and coconut combo.  The Mango is outstanding on flavor too, fresh and delicious.

So my impression on these Mochi donuts is that it's chewy and sticky.  Well, duh!  It's made with rice flavor and very much like the Japanese Daifuku or Chinese Lo Mai Chi.  They do tell you that you do need to enjoy them soon... and they were not lying.  By the second day, the donuts started to get stiff.  I guess, that make sense as the lady said, you wouldn't want several days old (regular) donut, same with these guys.

Miso Sweets

https://www.facebook.com/MisoSweetshtx/

https://www.instagram.com/misosweets/

 

Banana Bread

Since we've got these riped bananas, what do you do but to make banana bread?

Since I'm lazy, I used the 3 ingredients recipe on Mashed.

It looked good when it's warm.  Once it cooled down, it was hard as a rock.  

The recipe is unique where it asked for banana, flour, and condensed milk.  I've never used condensed milk before, so thought I'd give it a try.  The reason why it didn't get fluffy is really because you need an egg and need some butter to make it work.  

Since I'm stuck with all of them, I just heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds and it'll soften up.  Not too bad.   

 

Daido prepared meals

Trying a different pre-made meal at Daido.

This is pork katsu curry - the curry is a bit darker than the normal yellow Japanese curry I get (from a box), but the flavor is there.  What would be perfect is to add some potato, I love curry potato.  Carbs, carbs, and carbs.  

The roux is not too thick, but it has texture.  Of course, my favorite is to mix it with rice.  Just for good measures, I threw in some broccoli to have some veggies to balance things out.

Daido Supermarket

11146 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77042

https://www.facebook.com/daidomarkethouston/

 

Awesome Bites Co.

Been following Awesome Bites Co. on Instagram for a bit.

They are located in the Heights behind the art district.

Even their flavors are artsy.  They are known for allergies friendly ice cream.

Another artsy flavor....  they are also known as N'ice Cream.

Awesome Bites are known for not using added sugar, lots of fruits and veggies

Made in-house from scratch, you couldn't tell that there are no milk, eggs, nuts, soy or sugar.

So, what did it taste like?  It's definitely got a consistency of ice cream.  I got the Lavender Earl Grey, which I would say that there's more lavender honey than Earl Grey.  I can tell because I drink enough Lavender Honey Lattes.  You can tell the nodes on the flavor fairly easily.  

This is a cute and small shop.  They also sell donut cupcakes (combo of best of both worlds), muffins, beanie brownies, I've also seen some granola for sale too.   I got 2 little muffins, literally finished it in 2 bites (not pictured).  One was Lemon Blueberry - which to me was a tad dry.  The other was Apple Spice, which you do have chunks of apple in there and the muffin is moist and leave you wanting more.  Instead of sugar, they use fruits and veggies, they don't even use honey or agave as sweetness.  Not all muffins are gluten free, so do double check or ask the server for help.  Oh by the way, the muffins come in 2, 4, dozen pack at the store, which is different from the website.

Basically, if you have any kind of allergies in food, this is a super friendly place for you.  Do note, while everything is Vegan friendly, it's not Kosher and not Halal, even though looking at the ingredients you would think it'd be ok.  It's not, if you're strict to those dietary guidance.  They do have gluten free options, but not all things are created gluten free.  I do appreciate that they do treat items in separate kitchen to avoid cross contamination.  

Awesome Bites Co

2313 Edwards St

#185

Houston, TX 

https://awesomebitesco.com