050312 –
Concepcion
819 West Alabama
Houston, TX
***
042912 –
Jester King Brewery Tour
13005 Fitzhugh Road
Austin, TX 78736
Lenoir
1807 South First
Austin, TX
Foreign and Domestic
306 E.53rd St.
Austin, TX 78751
***
033112 –
Austin Day Trip
Violet Crown Cinema for Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Easy Tiger
Drink.Well
Foreign and Domestic
***
032212 –
Oxheart. A progressive restaurant in Houston that draws from its regional roots.
There’s been a huge movement to use local ingredients and local this and local that with an ever changing menu that truly changes and progresses. There hasn’t been a restaurant that accomplished this since Rucker left Bootsie’s in Tomball. Places have tried to change their menu and use local and haven’t quite succeeded. Newcomers such as Roost have started to pick up on it and change their menu every few weeks. We now have Oxheart to throw into the mix. With a few choices in menus which start at $49 for the 4 course Late Winter Menu or the $49 4 course Garden Menu and up to the $75 7 course Tasting Menu, you definitely have some options available to fit your budget. Luckily with their options the whole table doesn’t have to commit to a single type of tasting menu. When I came with friends, they didn’t have their liquor license and were BYOB. Justin Vann was able to recommend a wonderful champagne to accompany the tasting menu that Annie and I decided to go with.
Tasting Menu. 75.
- Okame Spinach Steamed over jasmine tea, with shiro miso and grains
- Raw Amish snap peas, mushroom, creme fraiche, cured and smoked mullet roe
- Southern Hake Cooked in Milk, brassica stems and roots, potato, head lettuces
- Gulf oyster warmed in its shell, red bunching onions, young leek, brown butter
- Caramelized carrots, umpqua broccoli, avocado, kombu and sunflower seed pistou
- Oxheart roasted in beef fat, mostarda of puckled early season strawberries, heirloom beets with coffee, sunchoke
- Mousse of home made buttermilk, chocolate, garden fennel
***
Oxheart
1302 Nance Street
Houston, Texas 77002
832.830.8592
031512 –
It’s that time of the year again, when we all gather from around Houston and celebrate March aka #birthmonth. With 2012 just starting, numerous restaurants were opening up. I hoped conat would be open by this time so I could relive my 30th birthday celebration as much as I did last year, however they are still in the permitting stages and that just wasn’t going to happen. This left me with finding a place where we could get loud and drink it up and enjoy ourselves with some damn good food. With Uchi Houston as one of my top contenders, they had my favorite sake and a great party room and the food was loved by all. It’s a damn shame the reservation managers couldn’t get a grasp of what needed to happen to move on. A call from a new reservation manager a week prior to my party sealed the deal. I cancelled my reservation and scrambled to make a call to Underbelly to have a meat party.
16 top. One waiter named Chris. An extremely talented kitchen.
First thing first, Chris Shepherd calls me into the kitchen to shotgun a Karbach Weisse Versa Wheat beer with the kitchen crew. The surrounding tables were asking us what the hell was going on. I loved every second of it. This had me extremely excited for the food. Chris and I were already one high abv beer deep from Hay Merchant and the drinking continued. Jester King beer flowed and flowed, then the meat party started.
the food? excellent, loved every minute of the beer and meat party, one of my favorite new restaurants in the houston area.
***
Underbelly
1100 Westheimer Road
Houston, Texas 77006
030812 –
“Texas is About to Get Bigger”
Welcome Katsuya to Texas. On March 8th, I welcomed the newest California inspired Japanese chain to the Houston area with a nice OpenTable secured reservation at 9:30pm. Katsuya joins the ranks of Uchi, Kata Robata, Sushi King, Blue Fish, Nabi, Miyako, Azuma and other Japanese restaurants in the nearby area. Katsuya also joins the ranks of the newly constructed West Ave block of Kirby with the standout favorite Pondicheri and less popular spots in Ava, Alto and Eddie V’s.
As Annie and I made our way to Katsuya, we were already decently full from our first dinner at Feast and some cocktails at Anvil, however I wanted to check the new japanese spot out and see what LA had to offer Houston. We walked through the doors at 9:20 and were greeted to an ultra trendy, extremely faux rich vibe. Welcome to the new Washington Avenue. I felt extremely underdressed, but hell, the food should be able to stand on it’s own so I decided to order a few of their “signature” dishes.
Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno
Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna
Eggplant Robata
Enoki Bacon Robata
Okra Bacon Robata
Tomato Bacon Robata
Skirt Steak Robata
Miso Marinated Black Cod
Soft Shell Crab
Sushi Sampler
Vegetable Tempura
After putting in an order that should have showcased what Katsuya was all about we waited, and waited, and waited. I attribute the few cocktails I had at Anvil early with my patience. I can’t say the same for Annie. At the 10:20p mark, no food came to the table and I started looking around for some form of acknowledgement from the numerous management that was walking the floor or the 30 waiters or 20 food runners or 6 hostesses. A pathetic apology was given from both my waiter and management. A short while later food started to come out after they blamed their lack of service on a computer error.
The yellowtail sashimi arrived first, at first bite, the yuzu / soy sauce mixture overpowered the fish. It could have been any fish under the yuzu and I would have never known, slivers of jalapenos adorned the fish but offered zero levels of spiciness. The essential Katsuya dish arrived next. Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna was supposed to be the essential Katsuya experience and if this was the height of what Katsuya is about, I want nothing more to do with it. Rice that has spent a few minutes on the griddle top with spicy tuna and a sliver of jalapeno on top. I’ve never eaten at a Katsuya in California and I have no idea if their idea of spice starts with tobasco or starts with this pathetic sliver of jalapenos but there was zero heat level to this dish. I’ve had better spicy tuna with more spice and more flavor from HEB. At least at HEB I got 8 pieces that cost me $5 as opposed to $14 for the Katsuya version. Following this trainwreck, the robata fare started to arrive. Eggplant, Mushrooms, Okra and Tomato. The latter three arrived in wonderful bacon wrapped form and tasted as such. It’s bacon, if you screw up bacon, you should have your Texas card revoked. Luckily, they didn’t screw it up. I can’t say the same for the dry lifeless eggplant though. Skip that one, or alternatively get it wrapped in bacon. Miso Marinated Cod, Soft Shell Crab, Sushi Sampler and Veggie Tempura arrived in order. My favorite dish of the night was the Miso Marinated Cod, nice and soft texture, and the flavor was actually nice.
Avoid the sushi at all costs. Seriously. If you respect yourself, avoid the sushi.
#fail in a pretty package.
***
Katsuya
2800 Kirby Drive
Houston, TX 77098
713.590.2800
022212 –
Cocktails:Anvil
Beer:Hay Merchant
I love this place.
Southern Star Le Mort Vivant
Karbach Weisse Versa
Southern Star Blonde
Redstone Meadery Black Raspberry
Brouwerij Bockor Jacobins Rouge
Real Ale Coffee Porter
Clown Shoes Hoppy Feel 1.5
boom.
Chicken & Waffles: Crispy chicken livers over a buttermilk waffle with spicy molasses butter
Sweet & Spicy Crispy Pig Ears
Pulled Oxtail & Mushroom Gravy
Blood Sausage Queso Fundido
tasty food is tasty.
The Hay Merchant
1100 Westheimer Road
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 528-9805
022212 –
With the rampant amount of discount websites out there ranging from LivingSocial, GroupOn, DailyDeals and various small competitors I felt the need to post up some photos of the meals I get at these places that offer deep discounts. The first round takes us to The Fish Restaurant and Sushi Bar.
The Fish Restaurant and Sushi Bar used to be the new hotness on the block, it was the first sushi place that people would mention when Sushi was talked about among friends. As restaurants such as Japon, Blue Fish, 713, Zake and others started to offer happy hour coupled with the social scene everyone clamored for The Fish was left as a thing of the past. As of late, The Fish has been offering social hours in an attempt to get a much needed crowd back through the doors. I remember an all you can drink sake special for $5, people were stupid drunk on the cheap. Couple all of this with the severe lack of nearby parking and one instantly understands the need for another area around town.
GroupOn
$20 for $40 worth of food
Chicken Katsu Bento Box $9
Beef Ribeye Rolls Bento Box $12
Edamame $4
2x Salmon $4
2x Peppercorn Tuna $5
2x Chopped Scallop $4
2x Spider Hand Rolls $7
Total $45
At 1pm when we went, I was pretty surprised to see the dining area fairly empty, there were even parking meter spots available in front of the restaurants. I wasn’t expecting to be amazed but using the $20 groupon offer made the deal a nice casual lunch before heading out to The Galleria for some shopping.
***
The Fish Restaurant and Sushi Bar
309 Gray Street
Houston, TX 77002-8692
(713) 526-5294
http://fishhouston.com/site/
020412 –
Uchi Omakase Service
020212 –
Well I’m back at Uchi on their first day open and the reservations worked out perfectly and we were seated on time and everything moved smoothly. Dale, our waiter made sure we were taken care of.
Here’s what we ate..
Hama Chili: Baby Yellowtail, Ponzu, Thai Chili, Orange Supreme
Uchiviche: Salmon, Striped Bass, Tomato, Bell Pepper, Garlic, Cilantro
Brussels Sprouts: Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Lemon Chili
Machi Cure: Smoked Baby Yellowtail, Yucca Crisp, Marcona Almond, Asian Pear, Garlic Brittle
Yokai Berry: Atlantic Salmon, Dinosaur Kale, Asian Pear, Yuzu
Uchi Salad: Hydroponic Baby Romaine, Edamame Jalapeno
Edamame: Soybeans, Sea Salt
Ebi Tempura: Tiger Shrimp
Roasted Golden Beets: Skyr Yogurt, Bitter Greens, Acacia Honey
Pork Jowl: Brussels Sprout Kimchee, Romaine, Preserved Lemon Crème Fraiche
Sake Kama: Pickled Cucumber, Lemon Miso, Bonito, Negi
Brie Ringo: Tempura Fried Brie, Apple Chutney, Sweet Potato Crisp
Jar Jar Duck: Countryside Farms Duck, Kumquat, Endive, Rosemary Smoke
Bacon Tataki: Pork Belly, Black Lime, Coriander, Citrus, Espresso Fish Caramel
Dewbee Chicken: Short Grain Sweet Rice, Banana Leaf, Thai Chili Vinegar
avocado: yuzu kosho
nasu: japanese eggplant, lemon miso
sake: fresh atlantic salmon
wagyu: torch-seared beef
sake toro: salmon belly, ikura
madai: japanese sea bream
foie: seared foie gras٠quinoa
pitchfork: wagyu beef, leek crisp, avocado, yuzu kosho
ham & eggs: katsu pork belly, yolk custard, espelette
peanut butter semifreddo apple-miso sorbet
fried milk: chocolate milk, toasted milk, iced milk sherbet
lime cremeaux: chocolate croquant, thai chili meringue, cocoa, vanilla lime gel, kefir lime sorbet
lemon gelato: pistachios, white balsamic
