Hong Kong's Cafe

Nothing unusual of me coming to Hong Kong's Cafe. 

Unusual that I order anything but breakfast.  This time I got Curry Chicken Rice.  It's not quite the Japanese style curry, which was borderline sweet.  This is curry but it still has a tad of spicy to it.  The meat and potato has been stewing for quite some time, because when I take a fork to it, it all fell apart.  I love it when that happens.  Of course, I'm ordering this really for the sauce with rice.  

Don't under estimate this dish, it basically was 2 meals for me, for less than $8 for 2 meals.  I'm totally happy with this decision.

Hong Kong's Cafe

9108 Bellaire Blvd

Ste A

Houston, TX 77036

713-772-9633

E Tao

Went back to E-Tao since Christmas, now came back for lunch.

 Got they yummy wonton, I love their soup because the wonton is the real deal.  Good meat, nice wrapping job.

The main entree is diced chicken with salty fish.  It's a very underrated dish.  The chicken is decent sized and the salty fish is not crazy, just small enough to give it some taste.  That's where the salt of the dish really comes from.  Not heavy at all.  I will say this though, didn't finish it all, and reheated for lunch the next day.  The problem was, totally forgot that it's fish, and microwave does not like fish.  So cautionary tale for you.

E-Tao

5135 W. Alabama Rd

#7295

Houston, TX 77056

714-965-0888

Shake Shack

Since I moved back to the Galleria office, I have been checking out the food in the mall.

 Since I was there almost 2 yrs ago, the Shake Shack has arrived.

 Can't get a full on shake, otherwise, I get no work done.  So instead, I got the 50/50, which is a fancy way of saying Arnold Palmer.  

I got the special, BBQ Shackmeister singular burger.  It obviously has one patty, cheddar, crispy shallot (aka onion ring), barbecue sauce of course.

I will say that I've heard that during prime time they do have a line out the door.  That said, it wasn't so bad, I walked straight up and the burger came out less than 8 minutes.  They do get you in and out quick!  Plenty of seating, even though they are busy, people get up pretty quick, so no worry there.

Shake Shack

5015 Wesheimer Rd

A2411

Houston, TX 77056

281-213-0445

https://www.shakeshack.com/location/houston-galleria

Mkt Bar

The last time we went to a concert, stopped by Mkt Bar.

We're back for a repeat before a concert.  We were smart this time, arrived early and got the last table of the whole place.

Got the yummy plantain chips with the mango sauce and chimichurri yummy goodness.  

Got the Melon Cooler, which is not exactly much melon more like prosecco all the way with a slice of cantaloupe.

Got the Bayou City Slider, which is little ground chuck with bacon, cheddar, barbecue sauce and in brioche roll.  I had to skip the rolls because it was too much food.  But it was all very delicious and fresh. 

We ordered the apple baklava, wow so decadent.  It is like apple pie but add cinnamon and walnut, and cinnamon ice cream.  So good.  Thank goodness we shared it, it would've been too much otherwise.

The place is super casual, you grab a seat, if there's a concert, good luck.  The wait staff are pretty observant, they saw us sat down and brought over the menus and got our orders quickly.  Get us on to our show quickly too.  Of course, the food is good, so no complaint there.  You can call ahead and get a reservation, they are pretty good about that.

 Mkt Bar

1001 Austin St

Houston, TX 77010

832-360-2222

http://mktbar.com/

Kona

Now that I'm back working inside the mall, the food choices for lunch is way better.

Haven't been back to Kona for some time and their menu changed quite a bit.  I got the pan seared tuna slider.

Hopefully, this is a slightly better shot.  The tuna steak is full and packed, definitely worth every bite. It comes with sweet potato fries, but I couldn't finish it all between the tuna steak, bread and fries.  Definitely worth getting.

Kona Grill

5061 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77056

713-881-9191

http://www.konagrill.com/

Akashi

I was just at Akashi back in March, thought let's grab a quick lunch...

Again, during lunch in the middle of Saturday at a very busy shopping center, there was two other tables there.

Since it's Happy Hour all day long, figured try something else... got the Veggie Tempura ($4), which is nothing like the Vegetable Tempura at a normal Japanese restaurants.  They were battering up bamboo and frying them, that's all kinds of wrong, because the canned bamboo has a lot of water, which all comes out funny.  Don't get it and don't waste your calories on this.

Let's see the sushi... I got salmon, tuna, yellowtail and unagi.  The Happy Hour special is $1.95 per piece.  The Unagi and the Yellowtail are good, but if I were blindfolded and tasted the salmon and tuna, I couldn't tell the difference because they both have no taste.  Sigh...

Chop Chop Roll was a redemption for the meal.  It has crab meat in the middle, has spicy tuna and salmon on top, topped with tempura flakes and eel sweet sauce, which pour on anything tastes good.    You do get the decent taste from here, probably from the spices, otherwise, wouldn't have taste.  Overall, this was the best dish.

Service wasn't an issue, since there were not many people there.  I'm thinking they should really bill themselves as Chinese restaurant than Japanese fusion.  First of all, their Chinese food is definitely better than the Japanese dishes.  And let's face it, if you're good at that one thing, just stick with it.  Can't believe they have 7 locations in the metroplex.  Granted, those locations are not in areas where Japanese food is a rarity. 

Akashi

8216 Kirby Dr

Houston, TX 77054

713-665-8888

https://www.akashihouston.com

Grotto

Been going to Grotto a lot lately for work.  Just because it's pretty centrally located for the offices in the area.

 Got the antipasto plate again, this time we were sold by our server to get the seafood platter.  Which has calamari, shrimp with white sauce, clam, and crab legs.

 For entree, I got the sea bass, mainly because it came with the lobster ravioli.  The ravioli was good, definitely did not skim on the lobster meat.  The sea bass, amazingly is not bad either.  It was nice and well done.  Seasoned perfectly well, laying on top of a bed of spinach for balance, it was nice and not too heavy.

To top off the evening, I got the tiramisu, which I heard it on Rick Steve's NPR show, that it meant 'pick me up'.  And I know why, with the coffee and the chocolate, it should be picking you up.  It was delicious, and I sadly did not finish it.  Just too much food, but sure was delicious.

Grotto

4715 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77027

713-622-3663

http://www.grottorestaurants.com