Casian King

What I love about local festival is that they always get some fun food truck and you can make your own smorgasbord of food line up.  Super fun!

This is the Korean BBQ Poboy... That's an interesting concept.  They used a giant Texas Toast, cut it open, and filled it with Korean marinated BBQ meat, there's some slaw at the bottom.  And they drizzled their own secret mixture of mayo and scallions.  It's pretty awesome, and TONS of food.  To say it was filling was an understatement. I just have never seen them before, and was super glad to try them out.  Next time, I'm going to try Kimchi Fries with Casian Lobster... sounded good!

Casian King

https://www.facebook.com/casiankingfoodtruck/

Wokker Texas Ranger

My friend Julia was raving about Wokker TX Ranger, it was perfect when I saw that they were at the nearby festival.

I overheard a guy having to explain to his girlfriend how they got that name.  And she has never heard of Chuck Norris, so then he had to go into explaining who that is and why is that name funny and the reference.  It was interesting to overhear that.

Here's their menu...

 Here's the Tamarind Ribs, which it tasted like they have cooked it for a long period of time, or sous vide.  Bottom line, the sauce is awesome, the marinate is great, and the meat is not dry but easily chew off.  I'm talking finger licking good.

 Then we have here, brisket egg rolls.  At first, they told me, they don't have it yet, but when my order was ready, they magically whipped up the egg rolls.  I'll take it.  It was a hit with my mom too.  The meat is nicely snugged inside the roll.

 Brisket loaded curly fries.  It's so bad but sooooo good.  The meats were large chunks of briskets marinated like the tamarind ribs, and they drizzle with the cheese and sesame mayo.  So good... let me tell you, it was very decadent, and let me tell you, I did not eat the rest of the day.

You have to catch them when they're around town.  They are well worth it.  I will say, don't eat before catching them, otherwise, you can't take advantage of the menu!

Woke Texas Ranger

http://www.wokkertxranger.com

Bistro Menil - Afternoon Tea

Quick recap of the Mother's Day Tea.  Warning photo heavy!

 Heard about their tea a few months back, was highly curious...

 The menu was full of yummy goodness, don't forget to flip to the back of the choices of tea.

 Soup du jour was a cold garlic mushroom soup.  As our server said, it was good enough to fight off vampires... it's THAT strong.

 I got the Blackberry Italian Soda, soooo good.  Not too sweet, not too creamy, just like a blackberry lemonade with fizz.

 Lovely display of our meal... wow.... good to look at and tasted good too.

 Closer look at the savory course.  How cute of them to making them this way.

We have House Cured Salmon bite with herbed horseradish mascarpone.  I liked this very much and the flavor is awesome and the flavor is awesome and well smoked.  I just don't quite care for the bread, it was a thicker toast with nuts, and I can do without the nuts.

Wild Mushroom with Walnut Pate crostini, the pate could've had more meat taste of it. Overall, it does taste good, the walnut does kick it up a notch, but nuttiness.

Here's a skewer of zucchini ribbon and Jamon Serrano, which is another name for cured ham.  It's pretty much thinly sliced of prosciutto.

Here is the mini BLT with bacon, arugula, and tomato mayo.  It is truly small and tiny.  One bite and you're done.  It's super cute and definitely fun.

 Second layer of dessert.... creme brûlée & brioche sandwich with Nutella, battered and fried.  It's very much like the HK style French Toast.  Too bad, we couldn't finish it right there and then and took it home.  It was a tad soggy by the time we ate it at home.  So make sure you eat it there.

 Chocolate Mousse with a mint cookie on top.  It was so delicious that you can taste all the little chunks of chocolate.  Very smooth and delicious.

It would be weird to have afternoon tea and not have tea.  I chose the Rose & Vanilla tea.  As the server pour it, you can smell it.  As you drink it, you can still smell it.  It was definitely refreshing and a great choice.

It was weird when we were there, looking around, we were the only people ordered the tea.  You do need to reserve and order in advance, since as you can see, they come in special size.  That said, they serve normal brunch menu, which is what I see everyone is doing.  The tea is definitely worth it, and I recommend calling in advance because on a Saturday, that is a super popular spot and may have to wait quite a bit for a table.

Bistro Menil

1513 W. Alabama

Houston, TX 77006

713-904-3537

http://bistromenil.com

Ding Ding

Went back to Ding Ding's for breakfast.

They rolled out breakfast specials, where you get these dishes for cheaper price plus drinks.  I got the rice rolls with soy sauce and sweet plum sauce.  Soy sauce stir fried noodles which typically comes with turnip cakes for $3.95 plus drinks.  That's a steal!

I went off the special, so it cost a bit more, but less than $8 for breakfast, it was a quick in and grab.  Breakfast specials starts at 8:30 till 11am.  Definitely get an early start.

Ding Ding

9398 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 

832-649-2230

https://www.facebook.com/Ding-Ding-1405400513098715/

Benjy's on Washington

Went out as a group for work plus celebrating one of the coworker's birthday.

I got the kale salad, which I think if you douse anything with lots of parmesan cheese, kale or not, I would gobble it up.  And yes, I gobbled up this one too.

This is their braised short ribs.  Oh my goodness, have you ever tasted anything so good?  Well, comparable, but rare.  You can stick your fork in and it all falls apart.  The sauce was so good, that I just use the rib and soak it up.  The horseradish cream I can do without.  But the smashed peas at the bottom was thick enough that it felt like edamame mashed.  I'm normally not a pea fan, I ate this all up.

For dessert, a few of us shared, it is a donut with vanilla cream with strawberry sauce.  This is interesting because the 'donut' is really thick like a sourdough bread, inside there's a little cream, but it's very dense.  You really have to dip with the cream to soften it up.  That said, the cream is super yummy and not too sweet, if you do all of them in one bit, it comes out very smooth.

When my one of my coworkers brought up that I have a blog, immediately people tend to offer their food for me to take a photo.  I've always have a policy that I only photograph the food that I ate instead of other people's because if I have to write about it, I'd liked to write about my experience instead of what it looks like.  Anybody can photograph a dish, a lot of people can do it much better than I in that regards.  That said, if I didn't taste it, I cannot in good conscious write something good or bad about it.  That's why I don't photograph anybody's food but my own.  Conversely, if I were to post stuff on Instagram or Snapchat, where it's really for the feast of the eye than experience, I would've photographed everyone's food.

Benny's on Washington

5922 Washington Ave

Houston, TX 77007

713-868-1311

http://www.benjys.com/

Wing Kee

Located in the same shopping center as ECK.

They've been opened since December, but we finally went back after their soft opening.  They are now rolling $5.50 lunch special.  If you're in the Westchase/Alief area, you should go check them out. 

I got the Hong Kong Styled Iced Lemon Tea. Not as sweet as I like them, but it's decent tea nonetheless.

Toss Fried Yee Mein, which is another type of egg noodles, but stir fried dried.  There's mushroom, scallion, pretty vegetarian friendly.

Ordered some veggie, just because we needed some green.  These are Chinese Broccoli, the leaves are super nutritious. 

Singapore Street Noodles, which is a bit curry with shrimp, pork, and vermicelli.  

This is an homecoming for Wing, who had retired from the Houston market for 8 years.  As a matter of fact, his former business partner is the one that started Ding Ding.  Their place used to be out on Synott & Bellaire, which was super far for me.  This location is pretty convenient, but still not close.  And since this is an reinvent of the old concept, I can only hope that they're successful in this rendition.  The food is definitely reminiscing of the old food, but can the location stand for it, that time will tell.

Wing Kee

6938 Wilcrest Dr

#B

Houston, TX 77072

281-741-7118

La Table

For my bday dinner, my friend took me to La Table.  Been hearing a lot about them...

 ... and been here many of times as its previous renditions.

 First floor is the bar and a mini market that sell their delicious looking dessert.  Of course, if you wish to dine there, you don't need to get a reservation for that.  Just go early to try your luck.

 For upstairs dining,  you do need to make a reservation.

 This is the Orchard Sangria, which has pear liquor, apple cider, and cinnamon.  You can eat those fruit out of there.... 

This is the amuse bouche, which is a tomato carpaccio.  Not a big fan, it seems like I'm drinking salsa.

 Ordered a dozen oyster.  So, nice and fresh, totally delicious, not slimy at all.  The horseradish sauce is mild and not at all in-your-face-punch.  Just a bit lemon was already refreshing enough.

 I ordered the Lobster Bisque, and they serve it, like so...

 Then they pour the soup base...

 ... and it melts the little flan looking thing together.  The soup base is very nice and thick, not to mention actually taste like it was made with lobsters.  As opposed to posers who uses scraps and add it in later.  

 I got the Hudson Valley Duck Breast, this is medium per chef recommendation.  Let me tell, that was just perfect.  Not chewy, not gamey, and it's just right.  The little bulbs in the middle are turnips.

 Then, it came with potato puree, just the fancier mashed potatoes.  It was very delicious, but by this point, I was already full.  So, had a quick taste, which was good, and I gave up on it.

Here's a hidden Mickey for you...

For Dessert, I got the macaron assortment which has Pistachio, Vanilla, Blood Orange, Chocolate, and Lemon.  I am a bit tougher on critiquing this part.  The macarons, you can taste that they frozen it and thawed it.  The shell are soft, but it was super mushy, and what's worse is that when you lift it up, the top layer shell comes off...  So, I am disappointed for that part.  What would Francois Payard going to say?!

So, definitely make a reservation.  You can use their complimentary valet or park at the back of the building.  The weather is still nice, definitely sit at the patio and enjoy a sangria.  I've seen a lot of people order their chicken, which I guess their popular item.  It's neat because the manager, and only the manager carve the chicken for you.  He first drips the juice onto the vegetable, then carve like a beautiful ballet, for you and your guest.  Oh yeah, usually good for 2-3 people.  But, just how he carved is like watching a conductor conducting the orchestra, it was THAT good.  Order that.  I also advise going early, usually you get better attention and service.

La Table 

6 BLVD Place

1800 Post Oak Blvd

Houston, TX 77056

713-439-1000

https://latablehouston.com/