D and I spent the entire Saturday afternoon and evening catching up with Game of Thrones. We were going out for dinner tonight but it’s the final episode of the season so we’re staying home. We’ll go out for lunch instead, with the plans of getting really stuffed so we can skip dinner and watch the final episode undisturbed. We clearly need to get a life…

In a vain attempt to seem “normal”, we searched for a good French restaurant for Sunday lunch, just like any middle-aged, middle-class, bi-racial couple would do. We used to go to this place called Thierry Andre Tellier Pastry shop in Uptown but they closed. Their other locations in Rice Village and Westheimer also closed. They offered a wonderful brunch menu and had the best princess cake. We found out that in its place, Etoile Cuisine Et Bar opened. It’s also a  French restaurant, but they don’t have pastries, ergo, no princess cake for me… But the menu looked really good so off we go.

Decor is classically French. I’m a big fan of wood planks made into walls. The light fixtures are awesome too, lighting up the bar which looked very promising.

D had option paralysis from the wide range of French wine so he settled for his usual Belgian beer, Duvel.

I have attempted to make this a dozen times. I use Julia Child’s recipe and I really can’t seem to make it well. When I started this blog, I said that I will share the best recipes that I use. Otherwise, if I’m unable to cook it, I will tell you the best place to get it. So here it is, one of the best beef bourguignon outside of France. A close second is the one at Brasserie Max and Julie — great restaurant in Montrose with the worst service, unfortunately.

I promised D that I won’t mock his steak choices in this blog anymore.  Although I would not really call it “choice” if that is all he gets each and every time….haha. But the truth is, he  really is such health food fanatic. Monday to Friday, he eats nothing but kale, barley, quinoa, oats and muesli. He packs them in little Mason jars, topped with organic fruits and almond milk. Sometimes when he feels he’s not getting enough proteins, he lets me make chicken breast dishes. Weekends are the only days he eats beef, so if he does, he wants the best kind, hence the  filet mignon.

Just as I was taking the last bite, I felt like sneezing. I sneeze when I’m full. Sounds weird but I’ve researched on it and asked my physician friends and I was assured that it’s perfectly normal. Yeah, right. Anyway…that entire meal should tide us over until tonight’s GoT final episode of the season. Can.Not. Wait.

I have been craving for Asian food. Took Beans to Pho Ben yesterday for some Vietnamese food, and while it was good, it still didn’t quite satisfy me. D isn’t much into Asian food because he thinks that everything has MSG. He gets a really bad reaction to it so I can’t really blame him. He’s very picky so I had to do my “due diligence” before I drag him into one.

Ginger and Fork came up as one of Houston’s best restaurants this summer (Thrillist, June 2016). The menu online was not vast, as opposed to the usual Asian restaurants here.  I made a quick call and spoke to the owner who assured me that their Hongkong cuisine does not have MSG. Armed with that guarantee, off we go!

Looking around, I didn’t see any Asians. I was told that the hallmark of a good Asian restaurant is when most of its patrons are Asians. I looked at the menu and I see why. Flounder for $48! No self-respecting Asian would pay that amount for fish. Not because its unaffordable, its because the idea is nuts. Anyway, there are other stuffs in the menu that are priced sanely so we stayed.

Taking into account how meticulous every dish was prepared, this is still a good restaurant. I am still curious what a $48 flounder would be like but I have a feeling that it would be worth its price, judging how everything turned out. Most importantly, I finally had my Asian food fix, and, D didn’t develop an MSG rash!