Mama's Kitchen

Decided to order in for lunch since there's only a couple of us.

Coworker recommended the Hotopia Fish.  Now, typically, I don't do spicy, but this is totally doable and and as long as I didn't eat any peppercorn, it was fine.  The flounder filet was fried nicely, doesn't fall apart easy but still very flavorful.  It goes well with rice.

Chicken fried rice.  It's good on its own, but what I learned is that the Hotopia Fish should go with white rice because it helps level out the spicy.  The Fried Rice is good on its own but does not offset the heat from the fish.

Overall, it's a great lunch, I never eaten there before.  Definitely going back again.

Mama's Kitchen

3815 Richmond Ave

Houston, TX 77027

713-380-2956

https://themamaskitchen.com

 

Street Treats by Lauren Kay

I was at a market in the Heights and saw the cutest Macs.

Totally adorable and I've attempted to do it before but not with much success.

So I totally admire those who does it well.

I'm not going to lie, I got them because they're cute and well executed, didn't have much regard to the taste. But to my surprised, the texture and taste was spot on.

I got the Pooh & Piglet, and you see the pied is done well.  The filling, I felt that they can use more, but the flavor was good.  It was mango, very suitable for summer.

You can catch them on their Instagram and see where they're participating at a market.  They do customized cookies and cake pop and full fledge cakes too. 

Street Treat by Lauren Kay

https://www.instagram.com/streettreats.lk/

 

Tahini Plus

This place is definitely outside of my normal side of town.

This is kinda of neat place.  You couldn't tell on the outside, but there's water fountain inside and plenty of seatings.  Great for large parties.

Let's start with the mango juice, it is less thick in texture than a mango lassi but still pretty rich.  Since I'm a mango fan, definitely have to stick with that.

For four girls, we decided to order stuff and share then order more as we see fit.

Got started with Dolmas - I would say that the rice is on the dryer side.  But usually the ones I've had are moist on the inside and flavor every bite.

This is Muhanmara - which is a dip (like hummus) but made with walnut.  None of us have had that before, but to all of our surprise, it is the best dish we've all had.  Definitely worth getting time and again, as a matter of fact, we did.

And what is dip without bread? These are fresh out of the oven Pita Bread.  Not too heavy, as a matter of fact light and fluffy.  It is great when it's all nice and warm with the dip.

We got the Mixed Grill to share.  It has chicken, beef and kefta (which is mix of beef and lamb).  The consensus is that the kefta is good, the beef is dry, and the chicken was mix.  Some of us liked the chicken because it was too dry, but some was perfect.  Since it was cooked on a skewer, it may have something to do with that. 

And because food is better with friends and calories don't count, we added a pizza.  It's a half and half pizza that has cheese on one side and meat on the other.  But I really couldn't take the 'meat' part of it, the cheese part was good.

Over all, it's a great experience.  Food is good, the service is great.  They are super attentive and friendly, especially to us newbies who haven't been there before.  Price is also reasonable for a group.  I would definitely go back anytime in the area.  

Tahini Plus Halal Kitchen

6802 Hwy 6

Houston, TX 77083

https://www.tahiniplushalalkitchen.com
 

Hao Hao

So heard a few hub bub on IG about this place and I am easily swayed. 

I was lured here by the rice cake dish and wonton noodles... that's what I got.

This is Rice Cake stir fried with eggs, there's scallion and onion. I think all Asian culture has a version of the rice cake, this is Vietnamese, and I do remember having this growing up.  This one you get a bit of scallion wherever you turn.  You do need to dip the sauce and it would be less dry.

I just never found a place that has that or don't know how to order it if it's not on the the official menu. It's a nostalgic thing.

So their claim to fame was Hong Kong style Wonton noodle.  And as it arrived, there's way too many scallions, this place love their scallions.  The wonton is decent but doesn't carry the taste that the Hong Kong Wonton does.  Adding the Cha Siu was good, but it didn't necessary add to it.  The noodles was ok but the more important part is that the broth has no taste.  

This place does serve Vietnamese and Chinese style dishes, but it was strange that when I ordered couple dishes before landing these, none of those were available.  But the menu was huge, too huge.

I will say, I got suckered by the great job the influencer had done.  I'm was excited for a bit on the Bot Chein, but if I were to come back, probably get a traditional pho instead of a wonton noodle.

Hao Hao

12302 Bellaire Blvd

Ste A-6

Houston, TX 77072

281-933-9464  

 

Clutch City Coffee

Monday morning, of course the most important thing is... Coffee.

Here's a drive thru for you.

You can get your coffee, tacos, muffins and smoothies here all in the comfort of your car.  There are 2 lanes for ordering.  Everything they have is made to order, so you do have to wait a bit but it's all done fresh.  If you have the time they also have a small little table on the side if you want to enjoy your coffee and watch traffic rolls by.

Clutch City Coffee

4733 Richmond Ave

Houston, TX 77027

346-718-2197

https://www.clutchcitycoffeehtx.com/gallery
 

North Italia

As an office lunch, we decided to order from North.

The process was not a good experience for sure, but luckily, that doesn't impact the food.

I got the Prosciutto with fig, arugula.  That's one of my favorite from that place.  Good quality ingredients everywhere.  It was so good.  

Don't mind the corner, I grabbed a handful of Zucca Chips.  This time it's not as crispy as before, but I felt healthy for having some veggie, whichever shape it comes.

So, let me share my online ordering experience as a cautionary tale.  I placed the order via their website and it is by way of Doordash to take the payment and delivery.  In theory, it's great right? You got that piece out-sourced, all. you have to do is to manage the kitchen piece of it.  

I placed the order before they even open for lunch.  At first, they provided very good updates, we got your order, we confirmed your order, and to be delivered between X time and X time.  Well, the time past, it gave update that they are waiting on the kitchen.  Well, ok, things happen, I had it scheduled early and taken delays into account.  However, it kept getting postponed and postponed, then no updates altogether.  

I finally called the store myself.  I mean, if the issue was pending a driver to be assigned, I can just go there myself and pick up the food.  I know it's a privilege to use a service like that, but going to pick up in person is not beneath me.  As I talked to the Manager, turns out: if you order thru DoorDash's site direct, it goes thru the bar.  If you order on North's website, the order goes directly to the kitchen.  The poor Manager I spoke with was checking both front and back of the house.  As he discovered no order to be had, he went ahead and took my order via phone - the good o' fashion way.  When it's all said and done, it was over 2 hours over the previously scheduled delivery time.

So, here's the kicker.  It's not the Manager or the restaurant's fault because they didn't get the order, nor would they have known or predicted the issue.  DoorDash best effort is to cancel the order on their end.  So, even though they took, confirmed, and charged my order, their person on the support line can only cancel the charge.  Of course they were kind enough to re-do my order, but that's pointless at the point.  Which, by the way to connect with a natural person (not a chat bot) is very difficult on DoorDash's site.  So the only person that lost out was me, the user.  No compensation or the like.  As a matter of fact, somehow the order placed via phone is $7 more than what I placed on the website.  So, then now I lost on time, my personally going to pickup, and got charged more.  Let that be a lesson to you...

North Italia

1700 Post Oak Blvd

Ste 190

Houston, TX 77056

281-605-4030

https://www.northitalia.com/locations/houston-tx-blvd-place/

 

Brian's Bitchin' Bakery

Went back to support Brian and get those crack cookies of his.

I love how they are super positive and nice, good food to boot.

I love that they are always adding fun items to their menu.

I had done a pre-order.  That way, it's guaranteed that I will get some cookies and not have to rush.

I like how they always come with a menu of what I'm getting in the box.

First we have Ube. This is more like a brownie texture to me . There's some white chocolate bits in there too.

I quite like this Cookie Butter flavor.  It does remind me a lot of like Biscoff, except thicker, and it is definitely more oomph in there.

One of my favorite ones, Matcha Macadamia.  I think it's mainly because it has macadamia, but the matcha doesn't come across heavy, just a hint enough to have a taste. 

One of my favs, Earl Grey, Lavender and Blueberry.  I just love that combo. I know I said this before, ti really is like a muffin flavor plus tea. 

Lemon Poppyseed is probably one of my least favorite from the box. Just not much of a lemony flavor person.

Of course, the tried and true Chocolate Chip.  It is Thicc... if you warm it up 10 seconds before eating, it's even better.  Take my word for it.

Of course I have to get his Teamisu.  This is the Match flavor, but my favorite is the Thai Tea, which I had already ate it before taking a picture.  That said, the flavor is good, true tea, but most importantly, it's moist and creamy. Truly a great job!

Brian's Bitchin' Bakery

https://briansbitchinbakery.com