Category Archives: H-town (Houston)

Steak 48

A friend asked if I would ever do a restaurant review of vegetarian cuisine. The answer to that would be …uhh, never! Just kidding. I did have a great meal at Udipi. It’s Indian cuisine at Sugar Land and was actually featured by Anthony Bourdain. But that review would have to be at another time. It’s holiday season so it’s the peak time for foodies. I will concentrate on the calorific and carnivorous cuisine which is another name for American holiday spread (isn’t it?).

A good place to start would be Steak 48. It’s wonderfully situated at River Oak District. This is where I want to live when I grow up…it would be a parallel universe where I will be shopping all day and dining all night without getting fat nor broke…ahh dreams…Anyway,  location is great. This steakhouse ranked highest among its class for November’s Thrillist, so naturally, we had to try it. Like I always said, steakhouses in Houston are really competitive. Each time one opens, it always offers some sort of innovation. This time, steaks are wet aged for 28 days,as opposed to the usual dry aging process.

Started with pull apart bread and River Oak Rita. D had his usual Manhattan.
Started with pull apart bread and River Oak Rita. D had his usual Manhattan.
Appetizers - Rhode Island Calamari and Shrimp with Cherry Peppers. Batter is so light and crisp, absolutely delicious!
Appetizers – Rhode Island Calamari and Shrimp with Cherry Peppers. Batter is so light and crisp, absolutely delicious!
I had a New York Strip which was done a perfect medium rare. I love cutting a good piece of beef and its almost quivering, so nice and red inside, perfectly seared in the outside.
I had a New York Strip which was done a perfect medium rare. I love cutting a good piece of beef and its almost quivering, so nice and red inside, perfectly seared in the outside.
D had his usual filet mignon. He still prefers Vallone's I have to agree.
D had his usual filet mignon. He still prefers Vallone’s I have to agree.

The yellow squiggly things on the side is the mac n cheese.

For dessert we had vanilla caramel cake. It was surprisingly good.
For dessert we had vanilla caramel cake. It was surprisingly good.

Overall, it’s everything we hoped for. Is it the best? I would still go with Vallone’s. But service is impeccable and wine list is very comprehensive. If you’re ever in the area, and you still have a bunch of cash burning  a hole in your pocket after having gone shopping (unthinkable!), then this is the place to be.

For us, it was a good date night while we wait to pick up Beans from marching band. It was also a good excuse to check out how the city is already preparing for the holiday season. There’s nothing like a good meal and company to usher in a time for, well, good meals and more good company!

 

 

A Crab’s Journey

Time has certainly passed me by. I got so caught up with so many things, I barely noticed that it’s been a few weeks since I’ve uploaded a post. It’s definitely not because my food adventures have stalled. Trust me, however busy life can be, my family will always find time to eat well. It is the writing it all on a blog that I can’t easily find time to do.

As D was browsing through old pictures, he came across a picture of us in San Francisco at a restaurant called Crustacean by House of An. They serve the most sumptuous dungeness crabs that pair really well with garlic noodles.

WEst Coast crabs are really huge!
West Coast dungeness crabs are really huge!

Naturally, upon seeing the crabs, we started getting a craving.  We went out to this restaurant near his office called Pho and Crab. I called to make reservations, specifically saying we wanted dungeness crabs. When we got there, I was mildly surprised that it had a very hole-in-the wall vibe. I liked that. A lot of the best dishes I’ve had are from places looking like this. The crabs came in two flavors —- roasted garlic butter and tamarind sauce. We decided to order one of each. Our waiter had a look of panic upon hearing this. That should have been my first clue. There was a lot of back talk in Vietnamese coupled with head nodding, which to me implied an affirmative, so we sat and waited.

In about ten minutes, one  dish emerged.

Dungeness crab with Garlic Butter Sauce.
Dungeness crab with Garlic Butter Sauce.
It was followed by this plate of garlic noodles
It was followed by this plate of garlic noodles

Strangely, the second crab didn’t come out. We were so hungry so we just shared. We were almost done with the first crab and still no sign of the second one. We asked the waiter, and he said it was coming and amidst the thick accent I thought I heard the word “traffic”. Was the second crab commuting???

Anyway, after about 45 minutes , it finally came.

This is the one with the tamarind sauce. I have to say, this was definitely worth the wait!
This is the one with the tamarind sauce. I have to say, this was definitely worth the wait!

The manager came out and apologized and that was when I got the whole story. When I called, they thought I only wanted one crab. When we arrived and asked for two, they had to send someone to get the crab from their Westheimer location.  This is where the “traffic” came in. That the crab made the journey to our table in less than an hour in the midst of Houston traffic is as mind-boggling as to why one would name a restaurant Pho and Crab, then only have one single crab in the premises…..

Oh well. A good dish covers a multitude of sins. That’s what I always say when dining out. They had a good wine and beer selection which kept D fascinated and I had two glasses of pretty good Thai iced tea, so all is good.

Judging by the looks on our faces, we didn't really mind the wait.
Judging by the looks on our faces, we didn’t really mind the wait.

Overall, it was an amusing experience. Will definitely go back but would have to remember to be specific with the crab count. Judging by the size of the crab, two people could have easily shared it. Not us, though. I love D and all, but when it comes to seafood,  we don’t do the “mi crab, es su crab” nonsense…