roflhouse

2222 Rio Grande St
Ste D116
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 469-9464
www.pluckers.com

062710 _ As the previous night’s alcohol was wearing off and the hangover was on the horizon, a group of 13 of us descended upon Pluckers on Rio Grande while the Argentina and Mexico game was underway and asked for a table for 13. Luckily, there was a single table available inside and it was for 10, we jammed a bit more dudes into the booth, but that didn’t stop us for the wing demolition that was going to inevitably occur this fine Sunday Funday.

Our stomachs guided us towards the Holy Macaroni, Fried Pickles, Waffles n Cheese, Stuffed Jalapeños, 50 Lemon Pepper Wings, 25 Buffalo Medium Wings, 25 Honey BBQ, 25 Fire In The Hole and I decided to be cutesy and order a side salad. You read that list correctly, our own wonderkid Bui decided he wanted to be on the wall. His mission was to finish what I called “the devil’s shit” that came in the form of 25 Fire In The Hole wings. Another friend commented that they instantly numbed his mouth after just sniffing and barely tasting the seasoning. I can only pray that Bui’s ass is in one piece tonight. The wings are great at this Austin staple, it’s definitely the neighborhood place to kick it when you’re cheering on your buddy or watching a World Cup game, just don’t let us Houstonian’s take over, we’ll be wooo-ing! it up in no time, and no it isn’t because your Argentina scored a goal against the Mexican team, it’s because we’re rowdy and our boy Bui finished all 25 in fine fashion. Take that Devil!

3/5: The Lemon Pepper and the cute waitress are reasons enough to commit to the Rio Grand Pluckers

801 S Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 916-4808
www.uchiaustin.com

062610 _ 5pm rolls around, we’re all done shopping at The Domain, I make some calls to friends at DrivewayAustin and 512project and they tell me the show is packing up early and everyone is heading back to the hotel to start drinking and partying. Great!? I came to Austin to come to a car show, but all I got was a trip to NoRTH and Uchi. Tough life isnt it? LOL.

5pm rolled around and we decided to head to Uchi, we came rolling 7 deep and wanting some sake, sushi, adn other amazing dishes from the kitchen. My first visit here a couple months ago had me fiending for some foie gras nigiri. (This is where I attempt to recap what we ordered..)

foie uikyo (avocado٠caramelized grapefruit٠fennel٠grilled foie gras)
foie nigiri (quinoa٠fish caramel)
machi cure (maple wood-smoked baby yellow tail with yucca chips, asian pear, marcona almonds and garlic brittle)
brie ringo (tempura fried brie with apple chutney and crisps)
bacon steakie (niman ranch pork belly water­melon radish, seasonal citrus, and thai basil)
miso shiru (miso soup with tofu and scal lions)
bond (avocado, sundried tomato, white soybean paper)
spider (soft shell crab, flying fish roe, english cucumber and white soybean paper)
shag (tempura fried bond roll with salmon and squid ink sumiso sauce)
pitch fork (wagyu beef and fresh avocado with tonburi land caviar and leek crisps)
saba shio (norwe gian mack erel grilled with parsley and preserved lemon)
japanese pumpkin tempura

… and well thats all i can remember, the only thing i truly remember is the slow melting of the foie nigiri and how much in love i was in when the piece of sushi hit the lips. Uchi is amazing, that’s all I can say about it. I’ll be back in a few weeks to visit Uchiko as well, can’t wait!

4/5: Uchi > Your Mother.

11506 Century Oaks Ter
Suite 124
Austin, TX 78758
(512) 339-4400

062610 _ I headed up to Austin this past weekend for 512project and ended up heading over to The Domain to meet up some friends at ALoft. This was the first diversion of the day since we were all hungry after the 2 hour drive from Houston. I heard some great things about NoRTH and we happily went there for some lunch duties before scouring The Domain for some shopping deals.

We were pretty much the first table there, the open kitchen, bar and decor really impressed me off the bat, we sat down and looked over the menu before ordering Crisp Calamari, Baby Arugula, Grilled Lemons, Fennel Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza, Spaghetti & Meatballs al Pomodoro, Reggiano Parmesan, and Chicken Parmesan with Fresh Tomato & Butter Rigatoni. The calamari was slightly disappointing, they should have described it as a salad with calamari, there simply wasn’t enough calamari to make it worth the $11. I opted to go the simple route with Spaghetti and Meatballs, tasty and to the point, the sauce was thick enough to coat every bite and every bite was great, a solid winner for lunch. I’ve heard some great things about their dinner menu and will have to come back to try it out.

3/5: Solid Italian at a great price point for lunch that’s located in a great shopping area.

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611 W 22nd St
Houston, TX 77246
(832) 209-7177
www.textilerestaurant.com

061810 — Last week was my father’s birthday and tomorrow is father’s day, Textile was the joint celebration for these two dates, I decided to bring mom along for the fun. The last time I was at Textile was earlier on in the year and before the shuffling of chefs to the newly appointed Ryan Hildebrand, we also had a tour of Kraftsman Bakery which gave me an over the top experience, this trip was no different.

We decided to get in on the amazing $55 Foodie Happy Hour they were offering for Friday night, arriving at 6:30 meant we were the first table there, no worries, we ordered some drinks and looked over what we’d be having for the 5 course meal that day. An egg with caviar amuse arrived to we our appetites. Next, (1) hydro bibb, forme d’ambert, onion strudel came out and as before was great, the blue cheese slice was extraordinary and melted in my mouth with great flavor. Next, (2) bacon tart, based quail egg, wilted bitter greens, balsamic. Next, (3) salmon, miatake, basil fed snails, this time around the salmon was a lot better, the skin had a great crisp and flavorful texture. Next is where this 5 course meal took a welcomed change, (4) veal wrapped in spinach with apricot topping and mashed potato. Finally, (5) Completely forgot the name of this dessert but it was pretty light. I thought that was the end of the meal until I saw a upside down cake some out courtesy of Plinio. Unfortunately, my camera decided not to commit the photo to memory. I was a bit luckier with the next desserts which consisted of campari pop rocks with a medley of fresh citrus and a ginger cake and another dessert with chocolate and some peanuts with a bit of spice.

Overall, the parents were really impressed with the presentation and flavor of the meal and even more impressed with the dessert offerings, Mom wants to come back as soon as she can, guess that means I need to save some money to take her.

4/5: Even better than I remember with some added bonuses from Plino made it an amazing night to remember

11500 Space Center Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77059
281.991.DINE
www.cullenshouston.com

0617 — In a surprise move by my awesome girlfriend she decided to take me out in fine fashion in the form of Cullen’s Upscale American Grille. As I checked in via Foursquare, I had an instant reply on Facebook asking “Is it really Upscale?”

As we drove to Cullen’s, I remembered wanting to make the trek out to the Beltway 8 and 45 area, but remembered why I didn’t make the trip until now, it’s in the middle of BFE aka the middle of no where! The building itself is fairly large since it houses some bar and grille and a live music venue. I guess you need all that area since there is no where else to go nearby unless you love palm trees and grass. As I pulled up, I dropped off the car with the valet and walked into the restaurant. To my left there were younger kids with backward caps holding bud lights and girls that were wearing dresses a size too tight to contain all the muffins. Alas, I was there for dinner with my wonderful girlfriend, we took the right hallway to the dining area. As we walked in I couldn’t help but to notice the over-abundant use of brown and otherwise dark colors int he dining room.

We sat down and looked over the menu, I ended up ordering a cucumber based cocktail whose name escapes me at the moment. The appetizers looked interesting, especially the berkshire pork based frito pie and the calamari, however I went with the Crispy Pork Belly with creamed corn, vegetable succotash and steen’s cane syrup. The dish came out looking great but disappointed quickly, 404 Crispy not found, easily forgettable. For main entree duties, Annie went with the Black Pepper and Coriander Crusted Tuna (Spring Vegetable Ragu and Cardamom Emulsion) while I went the meat route with the Bone In Rib Eye cooked rare plus (w/ Grilled Sweet Potato Fries, Mushrooms, and Sweet Onions). As if we weren’t sushi’d out enough from lunch, the Tuna was great and light and filled her up just enough to keep her content with the night. My Bone In Rib Eye saved the night for me, starting off with the pork belly was a downer but the Rib Eye quickly made me realize why Cullen’s was on the Chronicle Top 10 List last year. The rare plus preparation was almost spot on and the flavor was great, coupled with the mushrooms and onions and you have one of the best rib eye’s I’ve had in a while. We finished off the night with a Creme Brulee with fresh fruit on top, a definite solid closer to a good meal.

So going back to the original facebook question at hand, “Is it really upscale?” I’d say it has the elements of being upscale, but the sight of kids getting drunk at the bar attached to the restaurant and seeing some of them spill over to dining area was a bit disappointing. The pure distance I had to drive from Sugar Land was a real turn off as well, there isn’t anything close by that I could possibly visit before or after the meal. The area in itself isn’t a destination area for anything else aside from the aforementioned pine trees and grass.

3/5: A memorable night with my girlfriend with an equally forgettable pork belly.

15830 SW Fwy
Sugar Land, TX 77479
(281) 313-0518
www.azumarestaurant.com

0617 — I came by Azuma a few weeks ago and checked out the construction and fell in love with the dark wood decor and a nice design with both the sushi and alcohol bars. I came back today for lunch with my girlfriend and another very good car buddy of mine. My first gripe with the place was the small entry way and lack of freeway presence, I hope they have some great marketing to overcome the slightly hidden restaurant. We were seated pretty promptly considering the restaurant was near empty around 1pm. A quick look over the paper menus and we were assured that they would take care of anything that wasn’t up to par with the other Azuma establishments.

We decided to order the edamame, sunshine roll (Salmon, Avocado, Asparagus and Mango Wrapped in Marbled Konbu Paper), caterpillar roll (Eel topped with Avocado, sesame seeds and unagi sauce), Special Hamachi Sashimi atop a Hamachi Collar, Foie Gras and Scallop Nigiri, Chirashi and Sharaku Sake to wash it all down. The highlight of the meal definitely came with the Hamachi Sahimi which came served on top of a Hamachi Collar which was later taken back and grilled and returned to us. Smoooooooooth texture! I wish there was a bit more Foie Gras for $7 a piece however, not everyone can pull off the Foie Gras as Uchi in Austin does.

We wrapped up the meal with a tour of the amazing two story restaurant that overlooks the lake and houses another bar on the second floor. Azuma is a welcome addition to the Sugar Land restaurant landscape, I can’t wait to go try Post Oak Grill next door sometime soon.

3/5: Look out Japanieros, theres a new kid on the block and it’s coming to take your girlfriend.

Beaver’s for dinner for Chreeno’s Birthday!

_ knocked up, fish and grits and some beaver balls. can’t go wrong!

3412 W Lamar St
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 520-9217
www.dailyreviewcafe.com

0605 — Waking up after a great night of partying and drinking at anvil and rich’s for morgan page was something I wasn’t looking forward to but some friends wanted to get some lunch and I chose Daily Review Cafe since it was the next on my list. The fernet an campari was still kicking around in my system as we ventured into the west dallas area. My first impression wasn’t the greatest as some douchebag in a black mercedes AMG S63 pulled up with a license plate that said “SIXPT3″. Since we were all car guys we honestly wanted to correct him by breaking it to him that his motor was really a 6.2 Liter engine and his plate should in reality read “SIXPT2″. Our stomachs got the best of us and we entered the small cafe.

I was a bit surprised since the first question wasn’t regarding the size of our party but if we had a reservation for the nearly empty cafe, I thought it was a bit bizzare, bit we answered anyway. A quick look at the menu and considering the night I had, I opted for the Seafood Cobb Salad of Jumbo Lump Crabmeat, Shrimp, Avocado, Bacon, Tomato, and Queso Blanco on Romaine with Roasted Garlic Chive Dressing. The salad hit the spot, with large chunks of shrimp, bacon, avocado and crabmeat it worked well and settled my stomach (lol). My table mates ordered the pan seared Thai Fish Tacos on flour tortillas with tamarind Chipotle sauce, topped with shredded cabbage and pineapple salsa.

We all shared the same sentiment with Daily Review Cafe, a solid place that was both refreshing and hit the spot on a slightly hungover afternoon.

3/5: Great salad and patio, can’t wait to try out the rest of the menu

1658 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 523-3800
www.marks1658.com

0603 — I ventured over to Mark’s last Thursday to pop the “girlfriend” question to the girl I’ve been dating for the past month in true “romantic” fashion. She mentioned that she thought the place was great and the food looked even better. So I definitely opted to make the experience a memorable one for the both of us. I’ve been to Mark’s a few times and each time the food as been great. I love the revamped church, it definitely sets the romantic mood. As far as the food, it’s just as tasty as I remember it considering it’s been over a year since I last visited. I call Mark’s “the closer” lol. First course came in the form of the duo of foie gras (Seared Hudson Foie Gras with Spiced Pumpkin Butter & French Cherry Compote, Cinnamon & Black Pepper Scented Tourchon with Pear Butter Calvados Fuji Apples & Honey Tomatillo Compote), amazing buttery smooth and the cherry compote and pear just made it melt even more in our mouths. Main entree duties came in the form of one of their specials, Bone-In Filet Mignon rare plus with a side of potatoes, she opted for the pork option (Maple Sugar, Ginger and Coffee Roasted Kurobuta Pork Loin with Bourbon Short Rib, Petite Fingerlings, Apple Smoked Bacon, Grilled Sweet Potatoes, & Eight Jewel Fruit Compote). Service was decent, but honestly I wasn’t paying attention since the focus was on her and how nervous she was the whole night. Another great dinner at Mark’s in the books.

She said ‘yes’ to being my girlfriend if you’re wondering at all. lol.

4/5: it’s an old church, and its amazing.

Headed out to BRC Gastro Pub for a quick lunch before the Galleria on Thursday. Another great meal at BRC!