Ramen Hakata

This one checking on Yelp paid off.... 

Surprisingly there are quite a few Japanese restaurants specifically ramen restaurants in the area.

Yummy Gyoza - too bad, I saved room for the ramen & dessert and didn't finish these.  We put it in the hotel's fridge and it had gone bad because the fridge was broken... but worth a try if you could.

I also got the Hakata Yuzu Sprinkling Soda - which is like a very citrus 7Up, except the citrus is not lemon, lime or orange.  Yuzu is part of the citrus family, so that works.  That said, it was a tad sweeter than I had expected.  But worth giving it a try.  By the way, the to-go version, is good enough for 3 to split, as long as you're not a soda junkie.  So make sure you don't over order.

For ramen, I decided to get the Hakata Ramen, which has pork, in the pork broth, with veggies like mushroom, sprouts, green onions, 60 degree egg, and of course noodles.  The broth was still piping hot when we sat down to eat.  The bowl of broth hits the to-go container right on mark.  You do need to soak it a bit since the noddle is dry at the bottom.  By the time you pour the broth in, your bowl is so full it was hard to move around to mix the ingredients around.  That said, everything went well together, and not bad.

For dessert, we got the Green Tea Mont Blanc.  I've never seen one before and was highly curious.  It came with whip cream and couple of blueberries in it. It has these green tea strands piped from green tea butter cream, adzuki beans in the middle and sponge cake at the bottom and sprinkled green tea powder for taste.  Not too sweet but just enough to close out the night.  The whipped cream had melted by the time I got it due to heat, but dabbed some on each bite, works in its own way.

You can place the order on their website and go for pickup.  Somehow Yelp order wasn't working for me, but either way, figured it out.  You walk in and a table full of to-go orders were waiting to be picked up.  Pretty efficient on their part.

Ramen Hakata

8300 Gaylord Pkwy

#16

Frisco, TX 75034

469-200-8342

http://www.ramenhakata.com/

 

Norma's Cafe

When you travel to a different city, a lot of times I rely on Yelp and local reviews....

When someone else does the research... I got no say... so no say it is.

This is again, eyes are bigger than my stomach... ordered some Onion Rings.  I just chalk it up as to-go is just not as good as when you get them fresh.  Sadly, it was cold by the time it got to me.

I got a taco salad.  And of course, we all know salad is cold to begin with, nothing new there.  It came in a cake box, that was interesting.  But the meat didn't have any taste.  In the spirit of not wasting things, I ate all the meat accompanied by lettuce as I could and gave up the rest.  

Luckily, there's a bright spot in the meal.  The Peach Cobbler.  It was nice and warm and hit the spot.  Redeeming part of the entire night.

Their motto is: Life is Short, Eat Dessert First; appears to hold true to this meal.  That's the piece that they did well.  Perhaps should've eaten dessert first, as per their recommendation.  I'm surprised as restaurants started to cater more to to-go in addition to in-house orders, they haven't perfected this piece.  Mainly, they also forgot to pack one other item in the order, most places got the pack and check part of the program down since the lock down.  Surprise they didn't.  So double check your order to avoid another trip. 

Norma's Cafe

8300 Gaylord Pkwy

#19

Frisco, TX 75034

972-712-2233

https://www.normascafe.com

 

Tom & Tom's Galleria

It's been a few months since I've been to Tom & Tom's.

This time I went to pick up stuff and picked up a Horchata Latte. Horchata is made with rice, cinnamon, water soaked overnight and sweet.  The thing for me is when you add the espresso shot, it was thicker than my taste. It definitely has the rice taste to it, the texture is thicker and felt like it's a bit thinner than overnight oats.  For a Latte, I'd like it to be lighter, especially when it's hot out.  

Either way, come and support the family.  Even though this is franchised, it is owned by a small family.  So please go support.  

Tom & Tom's Galleria

5353 W. Alabama

Suite 107

Houston, TX 77056

713-497-5655

https://www.tomntomsgalleria.com

 

Milk & Cookies - Memorial

Was working over at the Memorial City area and I knew that there's a Milk & Cookies over that direction.

Very curious and it's not easy to find.  It's almost better to take the back streets than follow Google Maps.  Look at it before heading there.  I love how green that mini lawn is in the front.

Got my usual, Honey Lavender Latte.  Yummy as usual, quality is totally up to par.

Got a Lemon Blueberry loaf.  Goes very well with the coffee.  It was a bigger slice than I can have for breakfast, but it's delicious nonetheless.  They will also be rotating that offering too.  So check back.

This location is on the backside of a set of office building.  The maps on the phone are telling me to go via Katy Freeway, but truly, it's easier to take the exit and take a backstreet to get there.  It's easier and less confusing.  Not to mention all the parking is right in front of the shop, easy to stop in and grab to go.

Milk & Cookies

Memorial Location

9655 Katy Freeway

Houston, TX 77024

713-913-4430

 

Alpha Bakery

Haven't been inside Hong Kong City mall forever.  I used to at least go eat near the area, but traffic there can get hectic, so avoided it for a while.  Happen to run an errand nearby, so decided to stop in.

Came across Alpha Bakery, lots of people lining up, and curiosity got the best of me.

You walk in and there are rows and rows of prepared food neatly stacked and ready to go.  There are spring rolls, fried tofu... 

and desserts.

I got the Bahn Beo, steamed fan cake.  Nice that they list all the info on the sticker.

What's in the pack: a small container of fish sauce (which they did put some pepper in there), the little bag on the upper right is fried onion.  Then they use rice flour to make these little mini disks which the texture is more like a thicker rice noodle.  The texture has to be a tad thicker to hold the toppings.  The orange stuff are fried shrimp crumbs, there are mung beans and green onions.  

So I like to spread the topping evenly across.  Then drizzle the fried onions, then pour on the fish sauce all around.  So every bite, you get a bit of everything.  It's actually pretty filling, so one will do the trick for me.  

Besides that, the shop is known of its Bahn Mi - as a matter of fact, when we walked up to the cashier, first thing they ask is how many you want, meaning how many sandwiches.  Since we stocked up on other food, we didn't get anything but that is definitely the thing to get here.  They also have palmier, macarons and other cookies for sale as well.  Definitely support this mom and pop shop.

Alpha Bakery

inside Hong Kong City Mall

11209 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77072

281-988-5222

Modern Tea

Happen to see Modern Tea driving by.

It looked interesting, so decided to walk in and check it out.

Plenty of seating around - spaced out and what not.

Cute corner plus seating.

Nice decor - very pretty.

Cool hanging lights - all cups.

Every cup of tea was made to order.  They really went to cut some lime, oranges, and lemon for us.  It was very light and fruity.  I wish they put more ice into the tea, otherwise, it's perfect.

Parking can be a challenge during prime time on a weekend.  But they do have a lot of good tea and snacks.  Definitely a good place to go back.

Modern Tea

9968 Bellaire Blvd

Suite 100A

Houston, TX 77036

713-773-2231

 

 

Xin Chao

This is technically my 2nd Restaurant Week meal, but I was too hungry, plus the to-go packaging wasn't all that appealing, so no pic to share. 

This time is to Xin Chao.  It was a collaboration between Christine Ha, Master Chef Winner & owner of Blind Goat and Tony Nguyen, founder of Wokker TX Ranger food truck & Saigon House.

What I didn't recognized until I pulled up was that this was formerly Beavers!  Also very closed to a friend's house and almost automatically turn on their street.  But I digress.

Happy Hour menu - from 5-6:30p Sunday thru Thursday.  Definitely try them all... I fully intend to come back just to do that. 

I got the Sugar Cane Juice, you don't get these easily.  And no, it's non-alcoholic.

For my Restaurant Week set, starter was: Not Our Ma's Eggrolls.  It has crab, shrimp, pork inside.  The trick is tear the lettuce (yes, not only for decoration), and wrap it around the egg roll.  Dip it into the fish sauce and enjoy.  Trust me on this... 

Off HRW menu, I had to get the Grilled Oysters, which came out hot, hot, hot!  It has oyster, pork cracklin' but also look to be bits of bacon, peanut, lime juice.  It's good... get it! 

Entree: their flagship dish - Braised Pork & Crispy Rice served in a hot stone pot.  It has scallion greens, some celery, pork (YUM), 60 degree egg.  And in Asian culture, you often see this dish and it is THE BEST to have during Winter time, because it will warm your belly.  The rice is crispy because it's 'burnt' by the pot.  And they have some sauce from the pork to 'soften' it up.  It's pretty good.

Last but not least, dessert: their famous Rubbish Apple Pie ala mode.  Besides apple and pastry, it has a hint of star anise, ginger, salted caramel sauce (where I later found out it has a hint of fish sauce), and vanilla ice cream.  I cleaned the plate of course.  

Overall the experience was great.  Definitely make the reservation before coming.  Whether online or by phone.  If you just show up, it is not guaranteed a seat.  Bar area is small, so those fill up fast.  

Server was fine.  But I have to say, our hostess, was the mostess.  She can sense that I was a tad sensitive about sitting near others indoors, and while we all know they have to fill the tables, she tried to seat folks at other tables until she absolutely have to seat someone next to us.  By then, we were paying our bill, so it was no biggie.  While they do have ample outdoor seating, the sky was gloomy and I was informed that if we sit outside and it's full inside, when it rains, we won't be able to find a seat.  So if you're sensitive about crowded places, go early.

Xin Chao

2310 Decatur St

Houston, TX 77007

832-740-4888

https://www.xinchaohtx.com