instant gratification

Home: Rustic Italian Soup & Smoked Turkey Sausage

Jessica — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:30:53 +0000

I went a little bit crazy at HEB shopping for groceries, so, guess I’ll be eating at home! I occasionally calorie count just to get an idea of my normal daily intake, so here it goes.

I had a quick dinner of half a can of Amy’s Rustic Italian Soup and 1/4 of a link of smoked turkey sausage (298 calories). Yum! Guess I’ll pack the other half for lunch.

I also mixed some Pom pomegranate blueberry juice with sparkling water (100 calories). I don’t usually drink carbonated drinks and found it surprisingly filling. I bought the Pom juice for the antioxidants since I’m not so great at eating fruit normally.

I was craving dessert so I had a small piece of Ghirardelli Intense Dark chocolate (86% cacao) (125 calories).

Total: 524 calories

The Essential 38 Houston Restaurants

Jessica — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:44:10 +0000

To my two readers out there, I apologize for my extended hiatus! I haven’t updated in awhile but here I am now with my first post for 2012.

I went through “The Essential 38 Houston Restaurants” for January 2012 from EATER and found that I’ve visited 22 of the 38 listed restaurants (that’s 57.9% for you math junkies). While I’m not completely convinced that I agree with the list (I prefer Manena’s Pastry Shop and Deli over The Original Marini’s Empanada House!), there are definitely some on the list that I’d like to try and some more that I’ll look into!

Here’s the list (I italicized the ones I have visited and bolded the ones I’d like to check out):

EATER’s The Essential 38 Houston Restaurants

1. Himalaya Restaurant & Catering
2. The Original Marini’s Empanada House
3. Vinoteca Poscol
4. Giacomo’s Cibo E Vino
5. Aladdin Mediterranean
6. Fung’s Kitchen –> dim sum!
7. Vieng Thai
8. Gatlins BBQ & Catering
9. Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen –> can’t compare to NY deli’s but close enough?
10. Seoul Garden Restaurant
11. Cafe Pita+
12. Barbecue Inn
13. Xuco Xicana
14. Feast Restaurant –> cool dishes but it’s been hit or miss for me
15. Connie’s Seafood Market & Restaurant
16. Plonk Beer & Wine Bistro
17. Crawfish & Noodles –> Jolynn’s Crawfish rocks my world!!
18. Polonia Restaurant
19. Cafe Rebelais
20. Goode Company Seafood
21. Pho Binh Trailer –> bit of a trek but awesome pho
22. Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen
23. Cajun Town Cafe
24. Bombay Pizza Co.
25. The Queen Vic Pub & Kitchen
26. Rioja Spanish Tapas
27. Bubba’s Texas Burger Shack
28. Hubcap Grill
29. Pondicheri
30. The Origina Ninfa’s on Navigation –> chicken fajitas!
31. Beaver’s
32. Kata Robata Sushi & Grill –> my fav but Uchi is opening soon…
33. Huynh Restaurant
34. Shanghai Chinese Restaurant
35. La Guadalupana Bakery –> great hole-in-the-wall breakfast place
36. Happy Fatz
37. Stella Sola –> eh, not that memorable
38. Benjy’s On Washington

In fact, I’m going to Bombay Pizza Company next week! Any thoughts on the list??

Niko Niko’s

Jessica — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:58:43 +0000

February 5, 2011 | I’m definitely not new to Niko Niko’s but they recently started serving mini-gyro’s! This may not be enough food for the average person, but if you’ve eaten with me, you’d know that I actually eat rather small portions. I almost always have leftovers!

This time, however, the gyro was a perfect size for me. I actually finished my meal and it was super cheap!

Niko Niko’s
2520 Montrose
Houston, Texas
713-528-GYRO (4976)

Black Labrador

Jessica — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:05:09 +0000

February 4, 2011 | I was invited out by some friends to Black Labrador on this particular cold night. It was my first time there and I was excited to try one of their warm alcoholic drinks. I can’t remember which one I got, but it hit the spot!

For my dinner entree, I opted for the West Highland Cheese Soup, made out of an assortment of fine cheese, vegetables, and Bass Ale. Soup with cheese AND beer? Hell yeah.

The soup was good although the drink was more memorable! I’d like to return and try some of the other traditional English pub dishes.

Black Labrador
4100 Montrose Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006-4936
(713) 529-1199

Peking Cuisine Restaurant

Jessica — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:36:55 +0000

February 3, 2011 | Xin nian kuai le! That’s Chinese for “Happy New Year”! Lunar new year that is. Honestly, I don’t really know much about the traditions besides the red envelopes but my friends and I decided to go out to Peking Cuisine for a Chinese dinner– seems appropriate, right?

This wasn’t my first time at Peking Cuisine, and it certainly won’t be my last. Like the name suggests, they consistently serve an excellent peking duck! We ordered the duck, which came with a duck soup. We also ordered seafood dumplings, mapo tofu, and a whole fish.

FYI– some places use baos for wrapping the duck, but not here. They use this thin tortilla– it works. I can’t say the dumplings were particularly memorable but everything else was great! We way over-ordered and had a bunch of leftovers, haha. If you’re looking for a good place for peking duck, definitely check this place out. I would recommend calling ahead (at least a day, though I’ve been able to reserve the duck same day before) to make a reservation for the peking duck.

Peking Cuisine Restaurant
8332 Southwest Fwy
Houston, TX 77074
(713) 988-5838

Vieng Thai

Jessica — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:36:20 +0000

February 2, 2011 | I’m a fan of Yelp because it helps me discover restaurants, like Vieng Thai. The location may not be idea, but don’t let the neighborhood scare ya! The food was fantastic! We ordered a papaya salad to start with (it came highly recommended) and split a boat noodle soup. The whole purpose of us going to begin with was for a good noodle soup.

The papaya salad is definitely a keeper. The boat noodle soup was also good! I’m a huge soup noodle fan so I’m easy to please when it comes to noodle soups. Vieng Thai is close to my place, so I’ll be back. =)

Vieng Thai
6929 Long Point Road
Houston, TX 77055-2211
(713) 688-9910

Classic Kitchen

Jessica — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:00:57 +0000

January 30, 2011 | I mostly only have Chinese food in Houston when my parents visit me and this time was no different. We went to Classic Kitchen for breakfast and ordered some familiar favorites. We had beef noodle soup, this one dish (tsong yiu bing wrapped with an egg pancake– no idea what the name is), and soup dumplings.

It was all very good– the second dish being one of my favorites!! If only I could remember the name– it only has a Chinese name and I’m not very good at remembering Chinese names. I also generally prefer small soup dumplings. They’re just easier to eat.

FYI– it’s cash only!

Classic Kitchen
9888 Bellaire Blvd Ste 106
Houston, TX 77036
(713) 270-8545

Sophia

Jessica — Wed, 11 May 2011 05:35:49 +0000

January 25, 2011 | Before Suzanne asked me to go to Sophia, I had never heard of it. I’m always down to try new place so we came here for dinner on a weeknight, prepared with a http://restaurant.com coupon and a bottle of wine! Like previous reviewers have mentioned, the parking lot could use some work, but at least there’s a parking lot.

Since it was recommended by fellow yelpers, we ordered the spinach Texas goat cheese dip– my friend normally isn’t a fan of goat cheese but even she thought this was delicious. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and one entree to share. The beet bruschetta was simple but pretty damn good. I love calamari and was delighted that their version wasn’t fried! The spicy sauteed calamari comes with this habanoer-tomato broth that was very yummy. We also couldn’t resist trying the the mussels (apple smoked bacon, green apple, apple brandy sauce). The only entree we tried was the cheese ravioli & lobster– I thought it was great! The food was so enjoyable, we were giddy (ok, maybe the wine contributed to the giddiness).

It wasn’t a particularly busy night but our service was great. Yes, the decor could probably be vamped up a little but I’ve never been one to care that much about decor.

I’m surprised the other reviews on this place aren’t higher but I’m glad I didn’t let that stop me from trying out the restaurant. It’s a little pricey, but it was a steal with the coupon. I’d love to go back– that happy hour special sounds great: $5 starters from 5-7pm everyday!

Sophia
1601 W. Main St
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 942-7970

Celebrity Cupcakes

Jessica — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:00:49 +0000

January 22, 2011 | After eating at Melange Creperie, my friend and I went to Celebrity Cupcakes in Rice Village for dessert! We each got a mini-red velvet cupcake and I ordered their signature cupcake– Fleur de Sel, which is made of french cocoa cake, caramel center topped with chocolate ganache and a dash of imported french sea salt.

The mini-red velvet was the perfect portion for me! I usually find cupcakes too sweet or heavy, but I realize maybe this time I didn’t because the serving size was small. I didn’t try the Fleur de Sel until later, but OMG it was scrumptious!! The caramel center just ooozes out (I wouldn’t recommend eating this without a napkin/plate)! Mmm…

I’ll be back to try some of the other cupcakes!

Celebrity Cupcakes
2343 University Blvd, Ste B
Houston, TX 77005
(713) 667-2253

Melange Creperie

Jessica — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:49:39 +0000

January 22, 2011 | I love crepes. I can’t believe how long it took me to finally make a trip to Melange Creperie but I’m glad I did! If you’re not okay with your crepe being on the crispy side, then this isn’t the place for you.

If you’re not familiar with the place, know that it’s just a guy at a crepe stand in the parking lot of Mango’s on Westheimer. The menu will be written on a chalk board with the prices listed next to it. There’s usually one savory crepe special and one sweet crepe special each week. Here’s the guy that makes the crepes:

I can’t remember exactly what I ordered, but it had some sort of tomato paste, zucchini, and other stuff in it. It’s a pretty large serving size (for me anyway). I thought it tasted great!

There can be a wait there since there’s only one guy making the crepes, but it’s definitely something worth trying! It’s very affordable and everything is freshly made! I’d definitely like to go back and try a sweet crepe.

Melange Creperie
403 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77006
(832) 724-9464