Pico's

Chiles en nogada translated literally means fucking delicious.  It is a poblano pepper stuffed with pork (or rice if you are a vegetarian aka carb freak) in a creamy walnut sauce with almonds and raisins, topped with dried cranberries.  What else can I say?

Cost was $9 on the lunch menu and it came with a random salad with iceberg lettuce and a cilantro dressing which I ignored.  But, speaking of cilantro! the red salsa at this place is loaded with cilantro: thumbs up! 

Also, I was tempted by but did not partake in $2.75 margaritas at lunch.  The reasons for this abstention are both frivolous and serious.  My dining partner was achin' from a bachelor party last night so he was no fun, but more importantly, these margaritas are potent and this restaurant is out in Bellaire.  And I don't know anyone who lives there anymore, so if I had gotten hammered (see El Pueblito), I would have had no one's house to walk to.  Jaime said that's why I should go on dates: so that my date can drive my ass around drunk.  Sounds like a recipe for date rape, I say.  

All in all: great Mex-Mex.  Some say the BEST in town.  Well well, let the games begin.

This is David now. I hacked in.... let me just show you.... this is a human head next to an out-of-this-world gianormous 'medium' margarita.

Bibas (One's A Meal) (West Gray)

Martin and I went running at Memorial, and then we treated ourselves to some yummy breakfast food at Bibas.  We tried to go to the one on Memorial, but it wasn't open.  Which makes me think it's closed for good, which would be a shame, but really, we all knew there was only one location ever worth going to anyways.

Waffle: A great blend of fluffy and crunchy, it was loaded up with buttery goodness.  They did not bring me any maple syrup (aka corn syrup) which didn't bother me in the least.  Let me just take a moment to say that the ubiquity of fake maple syrup is on my top 10 list of What Is Wrong with America.

Eggs: fine.

Martin got a bunch of shit; he said the grits were good.  I don't eat grits because I don't know what they are. Corn? Please, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

Demeris on Shepherd

I said No no no

This woman with feathery hair and a textured shirt could not take her eyes off of Peggy's necklace. She said "Is that one
necklace?" The answer was yes. It was only one necklace, not. And then she kept staring at it while she was waiting for the credit card transaction.

Years ago, I said Demeris is not good.  I still think it is not worth going to.  Go to Goode Company.

Peggy's turkey plate had green beans from a can, $10. Overpriced. The onion rings are good, but what onion ring is bad. The sandwich was fine, but why not have a better sandwich at a place with ambience.

Berryhill nachos

Nacho regular nachos!

I had a craving for nachos and it was a pleasant surprise when I ordered nachos from Berryhill since tamale is in their name
and they are known for delicious fish tacos. The nachos were large and in charge.

Large portions, tasty fajita beef and chicken, good guacamole, tomatoes, onions, cheese, beans, and jalepenos. Yum yum! Even though it is under apps it could be a meal.

I approve.

DaMarco

DaMarco: the best lunch special in town!

$25 for a three course lunch.  It was fabulous.

Course 1: I had a grilled eggplant salad which was served with warm creamy goat cheese that integrated the salad.  It was the special salad of the day.  Dining companions had a creamy corn soup which was also very good, light.  Another ordered the frisee salad with pears, which was a mound of frisee, so pretty!

Course 2: All but one of us went with the highly recommended parpadelle with rabbit.  It was really good.  I said "what does rabbit taste like?" and everyone predictably said "chicken" but that really wasn't true.  Since I've never had it before, this could be in the preparation, but the rabbit was very moist and tender and it had more flavor than chicken.  It's a flavor I don't feel confident in describing right now (I must admit that although the time stamp says otherwise, this is not live blogging from the restaurant.  Live blogging makes me want to vomit, which wouldn't be good in a restaurant.)

Course 3: The best course, as always.  2 people went with the flourless chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, a safe choice.  I tried it and it was good, the cake wasn't overwhelmingly chocolate, although it would have been too dry without the ice cream.  I had the panna cotta, what a dream.  So light and delicate, and as the waiter served it to me, he poured about half a tablespoon of aged balsamic vinegar on it.  Sounds bad, right?  It's not!  The tartness of the vinegar  cuts the sweetness of the dessert and the sweet cream highlights the sweet flavor of the vinegar (it was very very mild).  

Four stars, what a deal.  Although you might want to dress up a little, we got looks when we all went in there lookin' unemployed, which we all were (all but one of us, but she had already changed into jeans).  I am loving Houston.

Pho Sai Gon at Milam

Thumbs down! This place sucks.

But we were trying to be adventurous after going to Spec's.
Spec's First Tuesday of the Month has a wine tasting, which I give
several thumbs up, although we did not partake on this night. I was
too tired and too hungry to feel that drunk and have to fight a mob to
'taste' wine. But you pay ten dollars for a wine glass and get to taste
20 different wines. There is a report card that you get to evaluate each
wine with and you leave with all of your information and opinions, in case
you want to purchase any of these beverages.

Why Pho Sai Gon Sucks
-the lemon beef vermicelli had gristle and bones
-it just was not tasty

The Upside
-an interesting Salty Lemon Water- a little bit sweet and a lot of salt, it was tasty
-the Thai Coffee was like every coffee, yum!

People We Love
-the man in the seer sucker-white and blue stripes-suit...
he was wearing a republican elephant tie and had band aids
all over his face

---$ (minus minus minus $ = cheap!)
not worth the cheap price we paid....
you can always go to Nit Noi, even though they have upped their prices,
at least their food is good

Aka Sushi House

Aka Sushi House is great.  I went with a friend from out of town and we spent $47 for one beer, four rolls and some edamame.  Pricey, sure, but (1) if you want cheap sushi, you might as well just order food poisoning and (2) some of those rolls were really good. The highlight, I think, was the red moon roll, a reverse roll of pepper tuna, avocado and spicy salmon with wasabi tobiko. We also had a dragon roll which was delicious (grilled eel, shrimp tempura and crabmeat) but even I couldn't fit that whole thing in my mouth so it was kinda a disaster to eat.

Location: W. Alabama between Shepherd and Kirby

Something to keep in mind: Happy Hour all day Sunday!