Ouisie's Table

NoLaNative and I joined her buddy, CrabCakeLover, at Ouisie’s Table for brunch Saturday.

NoLaNative picked out the restaurant, a belated birthday gift to herself. I’d always been curious about Ouisie’s, but had never been there. It’s always seemed so River Oaksy for an everyday gal like myself. But we had a lovely time. Our late brunch in the bright, enclosed patio room was very relaxed. The service was pleasant and the bottomless mimosas the perfect ratio of OJ and champagne.

CrabCakeLover started with – surprise! – crab cakes while NoLaNative and I split a plate of cornmeal-crusted oysters. They were excellent, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and not a bit greasy. I could’ve eaten waaay more than two.

I’d heard the shrimp and grits – one of my favorite Southern dishes – are good here, but the moment my menu-scanning eyes landed on “seafood crepes,” I knew I had to get them. I’m a sucker for any kind of crepes. These were dressed with a bechamel sauce.

The crepes were nice enough, but they cried out for a little acid and kick; I should’ve request a lemon wedge and some cayenne. CrabCakeLover got a chicken dish, which didn’t excite me, seeing as I almost never order chicken (especially white meat!) anywhere except for Tapioca Express, where the pepper crispy popcorn chicken rocks. NoLaNative nabbed the shrimp and grits, which I regretted not ordering.

But that wisp of disappointment disappeared the minute I slipped a piece of tres leches cake in mouth. Oh. So. Good! (When I first tasted tres leches cake a long while ago, it was another one of those eye-opening, I’m-so-glad-I’m-in-Houston moments, right up there with boiled crawfish.) Though I had my doubts about ordering it at a very unLatin establishment, this cake was super moist and milky. No complaints. NoLaNative got the chocolate raspberry crème brulee – decent, but I’m all raspberried out since DessertFest2007 – and CrabCakeLover got the eggy house custard.

Ouisie’s, I’ll be back.

Pulcinella Ristorante

NolaNative and I stopped by Pulcinella in Katy for dinner Saturday.

Houstonians in the far-flung suburb of Katy, you ask? Happily, we were in the neighborhood of a popular Neopolitan-style pizza joint there, thanks to our shopping expedition at Katy Mills (where I gave into my usual, insatiable mall/airport craving and downed an insanely unhealthy MochaLatta Chill from Cinnabon).

Our menu:
Antipasto
Pizza Margherita
Pizza Quattro Formaggio

We chose the antipasto because neither of our pizzas contained meat, and we wanted some. The assorted cheeses, meats and olives were good, but I’m still battling a monthslong, self-inflicted prosciutto fatigue, so please don’t make me dwell on this topic…

Now I know that Neopolitan-style pies are not supposed to be drowning in cheese and toppings like their American counterparts, but I couldn’t help wishing the restaurant had been just a little more generous with the mozzarella on their otherwise tasty pizzas. At least give me a smidge of cheese in each bite of Margherita –- would that have been so hard? I also wished the four cheeses -- provolone and mozzarella, ricotta and bleu -- on the Quattro Formaggio had been better distributed, with at least two cheeses partyin’ in each bite. It’s a good thing the antipasto platter had the delicious bleu, because I never got to taste it on the pizza. And because of the hearty dollops of ricotta, NolaNative likened it to lasagna (which was fresh on her mind, since she had just baked a pan recently).

The next day, I upped the cheese-crust ratio and gobbled down three leftover slices with some melted slivers of a young, semisoft pecorino (noticeably more assertive than the aged stuff). Now that’s good eatin’.

Mardi Gras Grill

I ate a whole basket of battered and deep-fried pickles.

I didn’t mean to. I certainly didn’t start dinner Thursday night with such a thoroughly unhealthy intention. I didn’t even harbor much of an appetite and had no plans to blog about the meal. (Then again, when has lack of hunger ever prevented me from eating? Plus, it's so rare that I actually get any kind of hunger pangs!)

CabbageLover and I went to Mardi Gras Grill for boiled crawfish. (Boiled crawfish is one of my favorite things about living in Houston.) It was my third time at this joint. The first visit last year resulted in a lame, overpriced experience, when I mistakenly ordered a bland-tasting, unsatisfying entree of crab-stuffed shrimp. I remember leaving and thinking: I would’ve been so much happier with a Sourdough Jack or some Popeye’s Chicken. The second time I went, I was joined by a different crew, including LexingtonNative. We got a bunch of wonderfully seasoned crawfish and a few appetizers, among them LexingtonNative’s choice of fried pickle slices. Yum! She grew up eating the delicacy in Kentucky.

So this time, I knew what to get. CabbageLover and I started with a basket of pickles and two pounds of crawfish. We got two small red potatoes and two tiny pieces of corn on the cob with our crawfish. (I wish they’d give you more veggies, but I guess they don’t want you filling up on the cheap filler.) The pickles arrived first, with a mildly herbaceous buttermilk sauce (um, watery Ranch dressing, perhaps?). Wow! Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and not a bit oily – even better than last time! Instantly I knew these pickles would become my next food obsession. As we neared the end of our two pounds of crawfish, I proposed another pound. Then we eyed the empty pickle basket. We wanted more, but could we, in good conscience, continue this deep-fried mania?

Of course. We caved and asked for a half order. Well, Mardi Gras Grill does not do half orders, we learned, so we got a regular, full order. CabbageLover mumbled something about bringing the leftovers home, but we polished them off completely. I bet they are fantastic on a burger.

I am definitely going for fried pickles in Lexington!

t'afia

I don’t get around to many Happy Hours, but of the ones I do, t’afia’s definitely rules in my unwritten book. Fresh, fruity cocktails, at regular price but with free(!), quality bites.

My favorites on the can’t-miss menu:
- chickpea fries with curry ketchup
- pimento mac ‘n’ cheese
- rosemary biscotti with bleu cheese and honey.

I had a very girly, very refreshing Pom-tini (which included pomegranate, orange and grapefruit).

Sorry, no food/drink shots Wednesday; I'm a self-conscious photographer in darkened spaces, but working hard to shed that blog-hindering quality!

FuFu Cafe

CabbageLover and I grabbed a late dinner at FuFu Cafe at 9889 Bellaire on Friday. I was pining for xiao long bao and had heard it was on the menu.

CF first told me about xiao long bao years ago, but we could never find any in Houston. I finally had my first taste of it in 2005, at Joe’s Shanghai in New York City. I had just finished dim sum with two cousins and, as we left the restaurant, I realized we were just blocks from a location of the touristy chain. I suggested we go for its famous soup dumplings. My cousins – neither of them a regular dining partner of mine since we don’t live in the same city – thought I was crazy. Admittedly, we were all stuffed. But the sometimes-food-writer-in-me felt it was perfectly normal to visit one restaurant right after another (and another…). So they humored me and went along and we had a fun, delicious time eating too much.

My second taste was when CF and I went to Yank Sing in San Francisco in 2006. I was in town for a friend’s Berkeley wedding, but made sure I had a full day to devote to the foods of SF. It was just CF and me, but we got every piece of dim sum that appealed. I remember wishing we had ordered two portions of those dumplings; they were so good.

I knew not to get my hopes up for the xiao long bao in Houston. If they turned out to be decent enough for a quick fix, I would be happy.

They were. I do wish the dumpling wrappers had been thinner and as delicate as Yank Sing’s, but no complaints about the meat filling and savory broth inside.

CabbageLover and I also tried one of my favorite Chinese dishes, creamy honey walnut shrimp, along with pork lo mein and spicy Beijing noodles. The Beijing noodles were lacking in heat and too heavy on the peanut butter. At first glance, the roast pork and skinny egg noodles seemed utterly boring, but the broth was flavorful and the dish grew on us till the bowl was empty. The walnut shrimp were nicely cooked, but they were so heavily dressed in the mayonnaise-based sauce that I couldn’t truly enjoy the dish.

But back to my beloved dumplings. Next time I’m in L.A., I’m definitely trekking to Din Tai Fung. And you can bet that my trip to China later this year will be full of xiao long bao!

Pasha

It’s not every day I fantasize about pickled cabbage.

But that’s what I think about most when I recall my late lunch last year at Pasha, a quaint Turkish restaurant in Rice Village. I had ordered grilled baby lamb chops – good grill flavor, albeit overcooked – and ended up gobbling every last bit of the magenta side of shredded cabbage. As soon as I finished, I wanted more.

So I returned Tuesday, this time for dinner, with CabbageLover.

Our menu:
- hummus
- phyllo-wrapped feta rolls
- baby lamb chops with the cabbage, plus tomato, green bell pepper, red onion and rice
- Turkish pizza with Turkish sausage (spicy, not hot)

The calf's liver appetizer called out to me, but having had a poor liver dish a few months ago at the otherwise swell Mary'z, I couldn't justify ordering another liver dish with only one companion to share the potential artery-clogging misery. It is meant for a bigger group on a different day.

CabbageLover and I had just had Yia Yia Mary’s hummus Sunday, so we couldn’t help but compare the two versions. Pasha’s was nuttier and lacked a lemony bite. We preferred Yia Yia Mary's runnier dip, but both were good (it’s hard to go wrong with hummus, I say). I wonder: Was it a difference in restaurants or countries (or both)?

The cheese in the phyllo-feta rolls tasted more brie than feta to me. That salty kick was just not there and it had a funkiness that seemed odd for feta. Still, we ate all four pieces. Addictive? Absolutely.

The Turkish pizza arrived in the shape of a flattened football. The menu listed a “thick crust” and all I could think about – dread, really -- was if it’d be as thick as the greasy pan Pizza Hut pies of my youth. Thankfully, it was not. It was also sliced into thin strips v. wedges. I longed for some more spice and CabbageLover wanted herbs and feta sprinkled on top. The salty Turkish sausage reminded me of Spanish chorizo. It wasn't hard to grab another piece...and another after that.

I didn’t like my lamb as much this time, maybe ‘cause I specified medium-rare and the chops didn’t arrive very hot, as CabbageLover so thoughtfully noted. I loved the rice, though, which had taken on some of that great grill flavor from the lamb. So it looks like my ideal dish at Pasha is grilled lamb-flavored rice and pickled cabbage. Wonder how much that would cost?

I didn’t get as much cabbage this time, though, because I was with CabbageLover. I very graciously offered him more than half of the pickled side and, no surprise, he took it!

I will have to return without him.

(My once-fabulous camera was on the fritz again, so no food shots. Darn. I actually remembered to bring it this time, too.)

Azuma (downtown)

For lunch, SushiLover and I sauntered a block from the office to dine at the mildly trendy Azuma, a sushi and robata bar.

Our menu:
Rolls: Spicy Salmon, Spider, Unagi
Salads: Seaweed, Cucumber

I generally order the Red River miso soup here, a semi-fiery broth with shrimp, crab, fish, tofu and glass noodles. It’s big enough for two meals. But since I was with a recent convert to the delights of sushi -- who had not had sushi since Saturday and needed his fix -- we shared some rolls. It was a beautiful Houston day, perfect for dining al fresco.

SushiLover, by the way, is a food blogger’s ideal dining companion. He does not complain as you arrange and rearrange dishes to get decent shots. In fact, he helped set up a few.

Anyway, back to the fish. I’ve only had sushi at Azuma once – with SushiLover and another friend, though SushiLover did not even like sushi at the time -- and found it a bit lacking. The fish was too mushy then. Same thing happened again with my spicy salmon roll. The flavor? Fine, if not very spicy. That’s why I go the Red River route. (For lunchtime sushi, I usually head to Tropioca for a to-go tray from Cafe Japon.)

What pleased me this time at Azuma was the unagi. While trying to decide which eel roll to order, I asked the waiter about the difference between the freshwater unagi and saltwater anago. Fatty v. lean, he answered. The choice for my butter- and pate-loving palate was obvious! The unagi was rich and a tad sweet from the sauce; I would’ve been very happy eating that eel with a bowl of rice.

The rest of our food was pleasant but not memorable. More enjoyable was watching SushiLover pile on the wasabi and eventually drain half a bottle of soy sauce. He said he likes the way the wasabi hits your nose, then disappears…Like a hit of kerosene!

I had to ask: Um, have you ever had a hit of kerosene?

No, he replied.

Till our next food adventure.

By the way, my fav. Houston spot for sushi, particularly for a nice, simple piece of salmon sashimi -- and a free scoop of green tea ice cream(!) -- is the understated Osaka in Montrose.