McCormick & Schmick

Went to a Corporate Dinner at McCormick & Schmick.

Appetizers, bruschetta and stuffed mushroom.

Quick vegetable soup.

I went the light and easy route, and ordered the salmon with grilled vegetable.  It's not heavily salted and grilled nicely.

Of course, I have to get a cup of coffee after dinner to go with....

This decadent White Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry.  The cup is made up of candied thinly sliced pecan.  And yes, topped with whipped cream.  The chocolate mousse, is pretty decadent in itself, so paired with the candied bowl, it's super great pairing, the problem is that you want to eat the entire thing.

Now, this, I did not eat, but thought it's worth a mention.  It's their famous chocolate bag.  It does form a little bag, and it is filled with white chocolate mousse and topped with some fresh fruit on top. So, if you grab a friend to share, this is perfect for you.

McCormick & Schmick

791 Town & Country Rd

Houston, TX 77024

713-465-3685

http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/Locations/houston-texas/houston-texas/townandcountryboulevard/menus.aspx

Pico's

Went to Pico's for dinner this time.

I love that they have plenty of parking.

We ordered some queso it was a tad saltier than we'd like, so we asked them to take it back.  (sad face)

We also ordered guacamole, which I love that they make it table side.

Then we have this beautiful delicious mess. I'm not usually a guac fan, but this is really fresh.

Got the El Jefe and asked them to go easy on the liquor, just because I'm a lightweight.  They really have a lot to choose from and almost too many... But I know either way, you can't go wrong.

And here comes dinner.

I got the Pollo en Mole Negro Oaxaqueno which is chicken mole sauce with black mole sauce with sesame.  The dish comes with rice, beans, and veggie, it really is alot of food.  So much so that I have to take half of it home. 

Don't know about you, I love mixing the rice with the mole and mix it all in.  It does create an awesome dish.

I love coming to Picos, almost all of their servers have a decent knowledge of the wine, and of course the cocktail.  The food are delicious and they are pretty fast with the service.  I would highly recommend making a reservation ahead of time because during dinner service they do get busy.  You can probably walk-up but if you have a decent size party, you should definitely call ahead.

Pico's

3601 Kirby

Houston, TX 77098

832-831-9940

https://www.picos.net

Amaya Coffee

Originally, I was down at Finn Hall to grab a cup of yummy coffee from one of my usual place.  But they were closed down for deep cleaning.  So, walk by the other coffee place...

At first, was kinda intimidated, it looked like a place that you better know your lingo before walking up the counter type place.

To my surprise, the hipster looking barista was taking the time to explain what they have to offer and recommended his favorite.

For mornings, they have some small offerings....

I got the Rosemary Currant Scone.  I thought that sounded interesting.  I love currant, never had that with rosemary before.  Result is that it's not too sweet but not really savory scone . Pretty nice.  Now, had I warmed it up before eating, it would've been even better.

So, what did the barista recommended?  The Lavender Latte.  Which as my coworker pointed out, it's an oxymoron because lavender has calming effect but caffeine obviously have the opposite effect.  So, maybe that helps neutralizes.  For me, the lavender honey in the mix is not too over powering like some artificial flavors are.  The coffee is mild, not so in-yo-face coffee, together it makes a very nice blend.  So, definitely going back for that.

By the way, Finn Hall is now going cashless, so most stalls are only accepting electronic payment or cards.  That said, if you have cash, they won't turn you away, they will ask that you buy a gift card and then use that to pay for food.  Just keep that in mind.

Amaya Coffee

in Finn Hall

712 Main St

Houston, TX 77002

https://www.finnhallhtx.com/amaya-coffee/

Aka Sushi

Haven't been back to AKA a while...

Taking advantage of the weekend Happy Hour, of course.

My lunch comes with a salad and miso soup.

My stomach was bigger than my eyes, so here's some agadeshi tofu.  I just love the fried tofu with the soy sauce, can't even explain it.

I got the Chirashi, which I love because for the price, you get more than you would for regular ordering sushi.  On top of that, you get a wide array of protein.  Now granted, the bottom layer is all rice, it's basically sushi deconstructed.  At the end, they go to the same place, so it's ok however it come.  That said, their fish are fresh and the rice is vinegar rice, so it is actually like eating sushi without nori.

One thing I love about coming here is my server.  He's been here forever, but before that he was downtown for a long time and before that, he first worked at a place on Kirby.  He has literally been a server in Japanese restaurants since the 90s.  That said, he is always friendly, very alert of what's going on at the table, if your tea is low, if you didn't eat something do you want to swap something out and so on.  Very attentive.  Definitely how service should be and you can get that here.  Love that guy.

Aka Sushi

2390 W. Alabama St

Houston, TX 77098

713-807-7875

http://www.akasushi.net

Specialty macarons

I offered for my friend's birthday/going away to make some macs.

Honestly, it's a skill check to make sure I haven't lost the touch.

Here, for instance, I can stand to do better at the batter and the piping.

That said, they pied beautifully here...

... no complaint here...

... or here.

Going back to the piping thing... here's why.  When they're not flat, as they're supposed to, when you put the cookie together, it makes it difficult to 'lay down', and became a rolly polly.

This is even worse... it pied too high.

So, the final flavors are: Thai Tea (brown), Panda (Green), and Durian (yellow).

There's a sheen to them because they're thawing and the humidity is really not a mac's friend.

For the filling, I was debating what would work, and decided to go with a buttercream.  Thinking was that if we use the buttercream for cupcake frosting, it should hold the filling fine.  Not as good and ideal as ganache, but ever since I lost my touch on white chocolate ganache, I haven't been able to make a decent one.  While I can always do a milk chocolate one, some times, it's just not the same.

For the Buttercream frosting recipe, I tried a few and it's quite simple.  

Need: 1/2 c unsalted butter at room temperature (that's 1 stick usually)

1.5tsp of whatever flavor you're doing... I have pandan and durian.  

(The Thai Tea was already came in a spread format)

1.5c of confectioner's sugar 

(you don't have to do that much, try out the taste vs. sugar ratio) 

Food coloring if needed.  (lucky for me, neither really needed any)

Instructions: Cream the room temperature butter till fluffy, then add in the sugar until fully corporate and then add the flavor(s) and beat them together.

Then beat in the milk and then the food coloring (as desire).

Overall, they don't stand well when you put them in the fridge and harden.  That's a problem because the key to a decent mac is that you can freeze and unfreeze when you're ready to serve.  When you take it out, it started to shape shift, that's an issue because your cookie can runaway or run around from you.  So, play around with the consistency too. 

Results came out ok by my standard.  Sweet for some friends, awesome for some Brit Ex-Pats, and gained a 3 year old fan even on the durian flavor.  I can't complaint.

Trendy Dumpling

Went back to Trendy Dumpling...

... this time for a self prescribed Dumpling Night.  

Hot & Spicy Dumpling, it felt very unfair, because the dumpling itself is not spicy at all.  It's the sauce that makes it so.  It was the least favorite at the table.

3-colored dumplings, that is shrimp in yellow, beef in purple, and veggie in green.  My favorite was the veggie one, I like that one then is the shrimp one.  Definitely was doing it for the gram.

Alas, Xiao Long Bao.  So, I felt that these are more authentic than Tiger's.  You can tell that the chef is very skilled in making XLB.  You can tell by each piece.  Not too much soup but enough to have the flavor retained.  Still like mine in Chinatown, but for inner loop, this is a worthy stop.

Spun off of the Spicy Girl franchise, they kept the West U Location to keep the clientele nearby.  And true to the saying that if you see alot of Chinese people at a Chinese restaurant, you know it's a good place to try or go to.  That said, when it was Spicy Girl, I never went to this location.  They had several around town.  But I am liking this rendition of the restaurant.  The decor is lacking, the services is do-able but is the dumpling you're here for.

Trendy Dumpling

3285 Southwest Fwy

Houston, TX 77027

713-750-9398

http://www.trendydumpling.com

Common Bond - Medical Center

I love going to Common Bond in Medical Center

Plenty of parking, no lines out the door, and everyone is courteous.

I can eat everything in here, I swear...

Decided on something I don't usually see or get....

Kouign-Amann - which is like a combo of cro-nut plus stickie bun.  When you cut it open, it has multiple layer but the top is super stickie like a sticky bun.  Dubbed the most fattening cake and originated in Brittany.  David Lebovitz has a recipe from 2005.  

This is a Kugelhopf - Boston Cream version.  Popular from the Easter European region this is really their version of the bundt.  As a matter of fact, the pan that made these do look like a bundt.  This one in particular chocolate cake crumb at the bottom, cream in the center, and the cake is really a yeast based cake.  

Alright, for real brunch food... I got the lox and toast, but this is way fancier.  Slice of sunflower rye, topped with cream cheese, salmon caper, shredded egg topped the toast.  Basically, when you cut it apart, it's a mess, but it's good.  Then again, Lox and bread can't really go wrong.  It is fancy, however...

Of course, I needed to get the coffee to go, must do for my trip to CB.

Common Bond

Medical Center

2278 W. Holcomb Blvd

Houston, TX 77030

346-327-8393

https://commonbondcafe.com