Ninfa's

Came back to Ninfa's for Happy Hour. 

They now have zero proof agave tequila for any mocktails. And I can have a decent margarita that's not filled with (too much) sugar. 

Catering is so fun, you get so much on display.  You got your guac, pico, salsa, sour cream.

Two kinds of flautas - beef and chicken.  YUM!

Empanadas which has Spinach & Cheese, Chicken, or Beef. It comes with an avocado verde salsa.  It's lighter texture than the guacamole. 

Then rows and rows of quesadillas - there's mushroom and cheese, chicken, and beef.  

Not pictured: grilled shrimp and bacon wrapped shrimps.  Both are delicious.  Of course a giant vat of queso for all your yummy cheesiness needs.  No one is complaining about that. 

Since it was a private party, the service is super good, our staff totally gets the mission and took care of 20+ of us, and we all had a great time!

Parking is super convenient, the garage 2nd floor's escalator take. you straight to the front door of Ninfa's.  Plenty of parking even after work.  Definitely a fun place for happy hour. 

Ninfa's Uptown

1700 Post Oak Blvd

Houston, Tx 77056

https://ninfas.com/

 

Nori Nori Omakase

Been hearing an All You Can Eat Omakase and highly curious.

The shop is tucked in a corner shopping center. 

I got the Hibiscus Tea - it has hibiscus, passionfruit, citrus and tonic, which is not too sweet but has enough flavor. 

This is Amaebi Tai Chanh - which has spring mix, pineapple anchovy, lemon, shallot, shrimp chips to go with the flavors. 

This is oysters from PEI, Namjim (Thai spicy sauce) & Ikura (caviar) on one and ponzu & toro in the other.  Small, clean and fresh.

Ankimo - spicy ponzu sauce, masago (smelt) and negi (scallion)

Scallop Crudo - it has cucumber, leeks, puffed rice, and golden berry vinaigrette.  Light texture, not super empowering. 

This is Uni Chirashi - small bed of rice at the bottom, Hokaiddo uni, covered up by Ikura's on top. 

Toro (sushi - fatty tuna)

Fatty torów ich fried shallot to give it the crunch. 

Spicy Hokkaido scallop handroll

Salmon nigiri

This is Japanese barracuda - it wasn't marinated very well, but it was cooked well. 

Scallop nigiri with foie gras on top, which brought out the flavors over all. 

Chawamushi (egg custard) with foie gras, caviar, and chive

Yellowtail with apple slices in the roll

Spicy Tuna with pickled diakon handrail.

Uni from Hokkaido - pretty smooth going down.

Chu Toro- it melts in your mouth good.

Saba- which is mackerel with lemon on top. 

Madai with Japanese seaweed - the seaweed brought ou the saltiness of it all. 

Kanpachi (amberjack) with chive nigiri - pretty yummy.

It's funny because the menu listed 15 items, but since it's all you can eat up to 90 mins.  It's either you tap out or if you stay the full 90, they keep making stuff.  Which is very different than the other omakase, which typically save that time for when you want to order what you enjoyed most during the course.  But no complaints here, we really enjoyed the courses, the staff were super friendly.  Both our servers and the chefs that brought our food out each course. 

Reservation is highly recommended, simply because they do have seatings for 14 people each seating.  Staff is friendly.  The parking is small especially during dinner time.  Just have to keep an eye peeled.  

Nori Nori 

9938 Bellaire Blvd

Ste G

Houston, TX 77036

281-888-5302

https://www.norinorihtx.com/

 

Maison Chinoise

We saw on IG about Maison Chinoise 

It's an upscale Chinese place. 

The decor with the window seats are fancy.

Even the ceiling is fancy.

I got the Pom-Lycee Fizz - it's not too sweet.  It has Pomegranate juice, lychee, ginger, lemon, and sparkling water.  It's pretty good, has a little bit of a kick.  

The Apps & Dim Sum has arrived. 

Crispy Rock Shrimp - It's fried shrimp with a little spice, and you can pair that with basil aioli sauce or jalapeño aioli dipping sauce.  (pssst - the basil aioli is better)

Then we got the Waygu Pot Sticker, this was legit delicious . We were really worry because it's fancy that the last might not deliver, but this was surprisingly good. 

This is the lobster dumpling with caviar on top.  It was fine, wasn't as good as the other dishes. 

Xiao Long Bao - the soup is legit.  The skin is not super thick, but the meat to soup ratio is good, and it was good.  Definitely would come back for it. 

This is the Iberico Pork Char Siu - this is really a top notch char sir.  The way they marinate it is good, the pork is good. and sauce it came out was good too.  Now I just needed some rice to go with that. 

For entree, we got half a duck.  Cute presentation. 

You can pair it with either bao or pancake, and you dip either Hoisin Sauce or Mustard, with scallion, carrot, and cucumber into the wrap. 

Just for some greens, we got the XO Stir Fried Green Beans.  Even the beans is delicious.  If I had that growing up, I'd eat more veggies. 

It's birthday for one of the girls, they gave us mochi.  It has the vanilla one and a chocolate one.  Those you can tell they are not made in-house. 

Since we already got one dessert, we only got another one, this is Banana Egg Roll pair with coconut ice cream.  It's actually thin crepe wrap and the fried with cinnamon sugar, inside has banana, cream cheese and little bit of other fruits. 

The service is good for an upscale place like this.  They came back to check on us often but not so much that's disruptive.  The booth sits low, if you don't like that be sure to tell the host staff.  Obviously reservation is needed.  We've seen folks walked in and walked right back out because it was peak dining hours. 

In terms of parking, there are parking at the surface, parking lot down by Barnes & Nobles, or if you valet, they are part of Brasserie 19 & Hudson House where you pay $10 + convenience fee, and tip at your discretion. 

Maison Chinoise

1958 West Gray

#102

Houston, TX 77019

713-565-4111

https://www.maisonchinoiserestaurants.com/htx-location

 

Fu Fu Dim Sum

Went to Fu Fu for dim sum. 

The place doesn't look much on the outside, but once insides, there's so much space, you'd be impressed with how many tables and people milling around. 

Got a few staples here, Egg Tart, Har Gow, Turnip Cakes

Then we have BBQ Pork Puff, Pork Cheung Fun (rice noodle wrapped), and Sesame Ball.

We got there around Noon, and it was a pretty full house, but luckily a table was getting up.  We just had to wait for a few mins for them to clear.  We ordered our food checking off boxes on the menu sheet.  Surprisingly, some of the food that shouldn't take too long did, some we expected a little more time came out quickly.  All in all, it was good meal.  Service was good, staff were nice and efficient.  Wouldn't mind coming back here. 

Fu Fu Dim Sum

11810 Bellaire Blvd

Ste A

Houston, TX 77072

281-529-6269

 

Kata Robata

So excited to have lunch at Kata. 

Since it's holiday week, I went ahead and made a reservation, and boy, let me tell you.  That worked in our favor so hard.  There were at least 3 parties arrived before or at the same time I did, and we were able to get seated first.  Reservations for the WIN!

Since we're here for lunch, nothing too fancy.  Just got a Chirashi, or as I called it, it's sushi deconstructed. 

It came in a pretty bento box.  The top tier has the sashimi.  We have Tuna, Fatty Tuna, salmon, scallop, amberjack and madai.  So good. 

On the bottom their, it has bed or rice with seaweed, tobiko flakes, unagi, caviar, carrots, shrimp, tamago (egg).  That bed of rice is actually alot.  I would say, if you were to make sushi with each of the slices they gave you, you make a very fulfilling sushi set.  And some might argue that this is cheaper than ordering each of the sushi a la carte. 

No issue with parking there, even though the joint was jumping and spots are scarce.  No issue getting decent spot though, just bring patience. 

Kata Robata

3600 Kirby Dr

Houston, TX 77098

713-526-8858

https://www.katarobata.com/

 

North Italia

Went to North Italia for dinner.

It's been almost a year since I've last been here.  I won't lie, I came here truly for the truffle bread and the zucchini chips (not pictured), but trust me, they are as indulgent as one can get. 

I got the Spicy Vodka Rigatoni - It has Italian sausage, pancetta, garlic, basil, and sauce.  YUM! It's super flavorful, and yes I should've gotten more Parmesan cheese on there.  

Even for weekday, making a reservation for dinner helps.  We got a decent size party so I wasn't going to wing it.  Plus our server was awesome, attentive but not hovering.  All in all it's a fun night!

North Italia at City Centre

818 Town & Country Blvd

Ste 100

Houston, TX 77024

713-461-0600

https://www.northitalia.com/locations/houston-city-centre/