Category Archives: H-town (Houston)

A Two-Restaurant Kind of Day

H-town (Houston), I, Me, and Myself

This has been a rough week. I had a bout of what I initially thought was flu, which I soon realized was just a  bad reaction to greasy food. When I started this blog, I wrote in my author description that my being a foodie has brought me lots of adventures, both good and bad. This was definitely a bad adventure from some breakfast place in Clear Lake which I will not name. I was throwing up for two days. On the second day, I had to leave the clinic. For those who have worked with me, THAT is a big deal. On the flip side, this puking galore made me lose three pounds. Yey!

Today is Saturday and instead of resting and sleeping in, I had to wake -up early to bring B to his Regional Band Competition. The days leading up to this event has also not been easy. There was a daily sectional practice which meant I had to bring him to school even if I felt like crap. (Welcome to the US; I am not Kim Kardashian, I don’t have a driver )And then there’s the individual practice. If you have a kid who wants to play percussion in band but you, as a human being with ears, value your sanity, then just say no. The sound of the  snare and drums and my endless retching has been anything but musical.

By noon, competition is done and B got a 1. I was told that it’s the highest score and he’s getting a medal. I should be proud but then it means he will qualify for the Divisional Round. Great, more days of  practice….I’m turning into my mother. I remember growing up when my Mom used to stop me from practicing piano because it was too loud.

B was too exhausted with his victory to go anywhere so D and I went out for lunch. I wanted some nice soup so I thought of ramen. There’s a lot of good ramen places in Houston but they usually open at 5pm. Those that open for lunch usually don’t have a bar. After Googling and calling every ramen restaurant, we settled on Kata Robata. Their bar is technically close for lunch but I was assured that they will get me whatever drink I would need.

Weekend mojito!
Weekend mojito!
Baird Kurofune Porter---dark beer with hints of chocolate and coffee
Baird Kurofune Porter—dark beer with hints of chocolate and coffee
Appetizer 1 - Salmon and Soft Shell Crab Sushi
Appetizer 1 – Salmon and Soft Shell Crab Sushi
Appetizer 2 - Seared Blue Fin Toro. This is amazing. Takes me back to my Tokyo days
Appetizer 2 – Seared Blue Fin Toro. This is amazing. Takes me back to my Tokyo days
Truffle Cold Soba with Black Truffle and Uni. This is serious truffle flavor, highly recommended.
Truffle Cold Soba with Black Truffle and Uni. This is serious truffle flavor, highly recommended.
Ox Tail Ramen!!!
Ox Tail Ramen!!!

The ramen really rejuvenated me. There’s nothing like rich broth to rejuvenate your taste buds. All the food was delicious but service was underwhelming. Appetizers and entrees were served within 5 minutes of each other. Too much of a “rookie-mistake” for a restaurant which has been around for years. The waitress was aware of the misstep and was kind enough to send us complimentary dessert before we can raise a fuss. Smart move, sister.

Green Teas Souffle with Red Bean Ice Cream
Green Tea Souffle with Red Bean Ice Cream—made more yummy because it’s free!

I had a couple of errands to run and D was nice enough to drive me around. D is great company. He makes my most mind-numbing errands exciting. This time, I needed to get something done for my sister and I had to get some stuffs from Whole Foods. Unfortunately, Whole Foods has ran out of imagination in the dessert department. We decided to stop at Truluck’s to get some carrot cake.

Truluck’s is our go-to place when we are in the mood for crabs. They also happen to have the most awesome carrot cake. When we got there, we passed a table where stone crabs were being served. So barely three hours after our ramen lunch, we sat down again to eat some crabs…. well, I DID lose three pounds…

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I had my usual sangria and D found another coffee porter
I had my usual sangria and D found another coffee porter
For "veggies" we had soft shell crab lettuce wrap
For “veggies” we had soft shell crab lettuce wrap
Warm Goat Cheese and Mushrooms
Warm Goat Cheese and Mushrooms

When we paid the bill, the waitress noticed our last name and she said that they have a special function room with the same name.

Cool!
Cool!
We were shown the interior and looking at the wine-filled wall…yep, it's aptly named Naples!
We were shown the interior and looking at the wine-filled wall…yep, it’s aptly named Naples!
So here's the carrot cake we were originally here for.
So here’s the caramel-drizzled carrot cake we were originally here for.

We had it  wrapped to-go because I already started sneezing. Whenever I’m full, I start sneezing. Just one of my very many idiosyncrasies…

Safe to say, I gained back the three pounds I lost, with interest. Life is not only good, it’s absolutely delicious! Have a great weekend!!!

 

Confessions of an Under-Achiever

H-town (Houston), I, Me, and Myself, Stuff I Cook

 

January is my laziest month. Weird, I know. Everyone else jumps on to their new year’s resolutions with so much verve, while I am spending more than half of my day in my pajamas. I always have this big Holiday hang-over. It’s because I spend so much energy the previous month — with all our three birthdays, anniversary, Christmas and New Year. January is more than half-way through and this is all I’ve done:

—–took down my Christmas decor – last weekend, D generously offered his services; that’s what he does every year. A gentle reminder that the decors have to go. He knows that I am OC about putting it all back in place, so I will have to refuse his offer and do it myself. God forbid I should need a red and gold Christmas ball and I won’t find it in the red plastic box in the second shelf on the left side of the attic.
—–survived my salad-only Holiday detox – the Lord knows I did not pass on any dish nor drink last month and my skin paid for it. Dry, dull and blotchy. Ick. I don’t do colonic cleanses, the mere thought of it terrorizes me. So i just do it the old fashioned way of drinking lots of water and consuming raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. My skin has now stopped looking like on old leather bag. Yey!
—–binge-watched Nurse Jackie Final Season, Fargo Season 2 and Homeland Season 5 – now you see why there is no need to change out of the pajamas until sundown.
—–never missed any NFL play-off game – D can’t wait for Superbowl. Once that’s done, we can spend our days like normal people again. He does not appreciate planning our days around Tom Brady’s game schedule.

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Other than those, barring going back to work (let’s not even go into how many patients I saw coz it’s kinda pathetic too), I haven’t done much…

What snapped this whole under-achieving vibe was Bean’s entry on our to-buy list. I keep one in the kitchen. I am very forgetful so if it’s not on this list, it won’t make its our way into our house. Under his entry of Gatorade grape flavor, he wrote, Real Food. Ouch! I have not cooked anything since the start of the year. I kept my family alive through nuke-n-eat FitFoods and by anyfooddelivered.com. It’s a website that allows you to order any food in the area and they charge you. So simple. I order stuff from Fat Bao. It’s Asian fusion specializing in baos. Beans likes their Big Byrd and Yummy Byrd.

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D likes their soft-shell crab bao and ahi-tuna bao
D likes their soft-shell crab bao and ahi-tuna bao

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I love their tonkatsu, but I am staying off the carbs so I just have the soup and beans gets the noodles and all the meats on it
Other than this life-saver of a restaurant, it’s all veggies and fruits . Now you see why the energy level is low. Oh, and not a drop of alcohol too. Too bad coz it’s the beginning of the quarter and all our shipments from our wine memberships are all coming in…drats.

Anyway, Beans finally got fed-up with all these foods, yummy as they are, so he requested that I cook some “real food”. Naturally, I felt guilty. I asked him he wants anything specific, he said he has missed my lemon chicken and wild rice soup. The awesome mom that I am, I immediately made some.

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I use rotisserie chicken (get one whole chicken then dice the breast part) so that this is just a one-pot dish. If you use raw chicken, you need to marinate the chicken breast with salt and lemon then sauté it. I barely got off my hiatus so the fewer dishes to wash, the better.

In a pot, add a cup of rice/wild rice combo and season with herbs. I use an italian herb mix (1 table spoon)
In a pot, add a cup of rice/wild rice combo and season with herbs. I use an italian herb mix (1 table spoon)
Add 3 cups of chicken stock and as soon as it boils, add carrots.
Add 3 cups of chicken stock and as soon as it boils, add carrots.
Add diced up chicken, cover and cook for 20 minutes
Add diced up chicken, cover and cook for 20 minutes
add juice of three lemons then cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
add juice of three lemons then cook for 5 minutes without stirring.

Sliced lemons in the picture is purely for aesthetics. And just like that, my creativity has awakened too! I have officially started what looks to be a wonderful year.

Here you go, Beans. “Real food”.