11th Street Cafe

It's a new morning, and what better way to start than with breakfast?

It was raining hard, so instead of running at the park we ventured to the Heights for breakfast at 11th St Cafe, a little diner on a corner that I've driven by a million times but never stopped. The decor is a little cheesy-retro: not as authentic as the Yale St. Diner but not as over the top as 59 Diner.

Although we didn't partake, you get a free bottle of champagne when you order a carafe of orange juice. That in itself is reason to return. The diner fare was also good enough, but nothing to rave about. I had a Belgian waffle with a side of biscuit, my dining companions ordered breakfast staples: eggs, hashbrowns, grits, toast.

The waffle was probably the best thing we ordered, the biscuit was good enough, all the rest was average. The ambience is great and the service was friendly - when David asked for blackberry jam, the waiter brought over a special jar they keep in the restaurant for some regulars that come in every morning.

Sushi King

Sushi King is everything you expect it to be from the outside: trashy decor, bad techno music and flavorless fish.  It is to sushi what TCBY (its next door neighbor) is to ice cream: a disappointing and expensive fake.  

Lucio's

It's a nice restaurant with BYOB.  Good atmosphere, average value, nice service.   It's an excellent date spot.

FEAST

After reading this review in the New York Times, Tom, David and I decided to try out Feast for ourselves.  That adorable man on the right greeted us as we walked in the door.  So excited to meet a celebrity, I told him that I recognized him from the New York Times.  He laughed in an understated British way and then said he got that all the time.

Well, that adorable man, James Silk, ended up being our server for the evening as well.  It was such a treat! He talked us through the whole meal, from the wine selection to the ethereal dessert.  He was truly lovely and I developed a crush on him around the main course, but then we realized, as you may already have, that he is married to that woman in the center of the picture.

Every day at Feast they have a new menu.  It is printed on a plain white sheet of paper with the pig logo at the top of the page. The left side of the menu has items that are available every day; the right side lists the offerings that are specific to the day.  We had a good mix of both the "Feast Favorites" and the daily offering.  We basically ordered as much as we possibly could.

I started with lamb and juniper soup.  Juniper is a berry, James informed us, and this soup was fabulous.  The meat was ground but lean and the juniper added lightness and flavor.  David had ox heart with carrot and coriander salad.  The meat was vinegary and sour but tender, and the carrots were infused with thai flavors.  I hate to say that I had a favorite, but I fucking loved the snail fritters.  They came out looking like little chickpea patties, but tasted savory like sausage with a distinct snail flavor that I cannot compare to anything else.  Tom said they were "dense and chewy like a snail should be."  We also had some braised octopus, fennel and roasted sweet red pepper soup.  Surprisingly, this arrived with big chunks of potatoes.  I can't say anything else, because that's all my notes say.  

At this point in the evening, my note-taking became less than thorough, due to a combination of good conversation, exciting food, and generally being drunk.  I think it was about this time when I ordered the second bottle of wine.  James complemented me on the choice, which I thought was just good customer service at the time, but when I tasted it, I realized it was the perfect bottle of wine for this meal.  It was called Carzal de Roques, it is French and kinda old, and it tasted like marijuana.  It was really fantastic.

I had calf's liver for the main course. The bacon aroma smacked me in the face when James put it down in front of me, and it made me really excited.  However, it turns out, liver is liver and it has a real livery flavor that even weed-tasting wine can't fix.  Luckily, there were other delicious foods on the table.  My real favorite of the evening was the black pudding (quoting my notes "fucking awesome"), it had a charry flavor and was served with a fried egg on top.  There was also pork belly, which tasted a lot like pork but with a crispy, tough texture.  We also had the pork cheek with dandelion green salad.  Tom expressed some concern that we were ordering too much meat, and James assured him "it's a salad!"  This was truly a plate of meat with some greens tossed around in a vinegarette.  It was delicious, but a salad it was not.  These courses were all very tasty and even the dishes that were too gamey were accompanied by something nice, so I was happy with everything.

Then, dessert happened.  Tom made some really lascivious comments about the dessert.  We ordered two: the sticky toffee pudding and the ginger bread pudding.  Both were warm, but the toffee was more dense and caramel-like, the ginger bread was more like a crumbly cake.  We decided, and I told James, that the sticky toffee pudding was like really good sex, whereas the gingerbread was more like a person you really like to hang out with.  Then I blushed.

We kept that table for almost three hours and never did I feel even a bit uncomfortable.  It is a very warm place, run by genuine and thoughtful people.  Five stars, absolutely.

Kenny & Ziggy's

I went to Kenny & Ziggy's on a Friday evening, even though it is located in the worst part of Houston to be on Friday evening: the Galleria.  The Galleria, best known for its horrific traffic, is also an extremely overpriced part of town (despite the recent opening of Gallery Furniture (saves you money! today!)).  Although the traffic was light when I ventured over, this restaurant kept it real, Galleria-style, by being ridiculously expensive.  To be fair, you get an enormous amount of food (more than a pound of meat) for your $15 sandwich, so it is probably decently-priced if you are willing to share.  

The ups: one of my dining companions couldn't decide between the corned beef and the pastrami, so the waitress brought him a few slices of both to try before ordering.  That's classy.   Other things I liked included the charming shit on the wall and the old/fat/rich clientele - good people-watching.  Also, I ordered a Brooklyn Lager, which I had never seen outside of New York (this made me pretty excited, but then I went to Cafe Boheme on Saturday and discovered they also serve Brooklyn Lager, so not that big of a deal, I guess, after all).  But I digress. Finally, and perhaps the most memorable part of this place was that a friend of a friend competed in a matzo-ball-eating-contest here some time back.  I like stories about eating contests, and also stories about milk-drinking contests.

I have some interest in returning for breakfast (or even breakfast for dinner).  I would put this food up against Katz's any day of the week, and it smells better inside.  In fact, I would say that unless it is very late at night and you are very drunk, you are better off at K&Z's for Jewish food in Houston, but bring your appetite and a friend.

Van Loc

Van Loc is the best Vietnamese I have had in Houston.  It is better and cheaper than Mai's, and it has a better location.

When you go there, you must order Vietnamese egg rolls to start.  Place the piping hot fried rolls in the cool damp lettuce, fill with basil and mint, and wrap like a mini burrito.  Then dip in the sweet and sour sauce, and let the flavors all burst together inside your mouth.  It is perhaps the most delicious appetizer in the whole world.

Everything else I have ever tried on the menu has been good - from the pho to the fried tofu.  I really do not think you can go wrong here, although you are likely to run into someone you know.

Yale Street Grill

Yale Street Grill: The Heights =  Avalon Diner: River Oaks

David and I loved this breakfast place, not so much for the breakfast (although it is very solid diner food) but mostly for the clientele.  We spent a good chunk of time lamenting that neither of us had brought our cameras.  

There are tiles on the walls, I like that.  There was also a youngish old lady wearing a fur, and it wasn't even cold out!  David had a crush on one of the waitresses - he caught her name, but I forgot it already - she had a very warm smile.

There is goofy candy at the checkout, unfortunately, I gave up candy for lent and did not partake.  

Basically, what we learned is there is absolutely no reason to ever go to 59 Diner for breakfast.  Best biscuits in town are still at Avalon.