Update...

I'm back in DC -- for two weeks...so many expeditions to come! :)

[Houston] The Teahouse

Bubble tea!!! It's a refreshing drink of a tea, juice, smoothie... and paired with black tapioca balls that must be retrieved with extra fat straws.

The Teahouse had lots of choices of drinks to offer. I got the very hard-to-find sour plum tea. The most typical bubble tea is a red tea, with milk.

Also! They offer a buy five, get one free deal.

Honestly, my favorite part of this cafe was their restroom. Most modern sink ever.

[Houston] 17

First I need to straighten this out: *17 is way too fancy for me.

I went to this super chic downtown restaurant as a part of Houston's Restaurant Week, which is actually two weeks long, where participating restaurants offer 3-course prix fixed meals for $35 (http://www.houstonrestaurantweek.com/Menus-2009.htm). *17 also offered wine-pairings with each course for $25.


My meal was as follows:

Coastal Napoleon
Fried green tomato, gulf lump crab, *17 remoulade
& micro greens

Fried Quail and Waffles
Tomatoes and okra, maple reduction, pepper jelly

Masumoto Peach Soufflé
Crème Anglaise, peach chips

Also! If you happen to be in DC, the restaurant week is August 24 - 30th (http://washington.org/restaurantwk/). Many of its participating restaurants will be offering 3-course lunches as well. Lucky me, I'll be back in DC on the 23rd!

More Info: http://aldenhotels.com/17.php

[Houston] Ocean Palace

Ocean Palace - dim sum

Eight different people referred to this place as the best dim sum in Houston.

Empty stomach and pointing finger ready, we walked in at 11:30 am on a Sunday morning. Kind of early for a dim sum place. It was a gigantic room, and only half full. Also we were there before noon so we had 10% off our bill automatically. Ten minutes later, the place was packed.

Sad to say, three little asian girls can only order like five things. We really could have used the help of a few more friends to truly enjoy the variety of food offered...

[Houston] Potatoe Patch

Dear Emma,

Thanks for telling me about your favorite restaurant. They served the best free appetizers -- fried okra and green tomatoes. And before we knew it, fresh-out-of-the-oven, fluffy rolls were flying at our heads from a cheery ol' guy shouting, "hot rolls! hot rolls!," kind of like the peanuts guy at a baseball game.
And chocolate chip and blueberry muffins were landing on our plate. I ate my first chicken-fried steak ever (which gravy is better - white or brown?). The restaurant was full, and it still only took ten minutes for my food to come out. This place amazes me. Can we go back again?

Love,

Christie

P.S. The owner wouldn't give me the rolls recipe. We need to try again.

[Houston] Churrascos

Best steak ever. Esquire, Urban Spoon, City Search agree that this place is phenomenal.

Churrascos is an upper-scale South-american inspired restaurant that can be found in two locations in Houston. They specialize in

They started us off with plantain chips with two sauces: light, crisp, salty chips paired with a tangy red vinagrette and a robust pesto-like sauce.

Then we continued with taquitos. Soft, airy tortillas filled with shrimp rolled in bacon, avocado, and more.

I ordered the churrasco (clearly, since this place is named after this dish) - center cut beef tenderloin, aged and seasoned with chimichurri. I'm definitely not a steak eating type of person. But I ate every single piece of my steak. It was tender, juicy, and flavorful. I don't think I'll ever eat an American steak again. Brazilians do it so much better.

We definitely had to top off the meal with dessert. 'Delirio' is a dense chocolate cake layered with chocolate ganache and topped with flan. It is paired with a raspberry sauce and white chocolate. I will attempt at making this. (I'll keep you informed of the day I succeed.)








More info: http://www.cordua.com/

[Austin] Everything delicious.

A few of us interns headed to Austin for the 4th of july weekend. It was my first time in Austin and I think I am in love. Prime food, music, and joy. I will be back for the food trucks - aussie hand pies, crepes, gourmet sandwiches, bratwurst, fajitas...but the following restaurants were quite amazing.


Uncle Billy's Brew and Que
this may be my favorite restaurant (ever). a friend highly recommended this place. it also happened to be just down the street from Zilker Park where we disc golfed and swam in the natural Barton springs.

- epic smell. scent of caramelized wood welcomed us.
- fantastic service. i hinted that i wanted a tour of the brewery (on site) and the manager gave us a private tour!
- great facility. very homey and casual, yet sophisticated. the fans had water misters in them too.
- delicious food for a great price! offering every bbq'd meat you can think of. We had brisket, jalapeno cheese sausage, pulled pork, chicken. and the classic sides, mac and cheese & mashed potatoes. we also ordered agave wit, our waiter's choice. tastes "better than a blue moon." It's true, it tasted better than blue moon.

More info: http://www.unclebillysaustin.com/









Pluckers Chicken Wings
(This is a great post-tubing on the Guadalupe River meal.)

casual chicken wing bar. there will soon be 10 Pluckers - they are a chain started in

got the dr pepper wings. sweet and tangy. very unique.

we ate outside on the patio - there was a live band until midnight. they played classic songs to which we could not resist singing along

also, eat 25 'fire in the hole' wings to get on the wall of fame!

even more amazingly, pluckers tricked out the men's restroom. there was a built in 42" TV in the mirror. (i had to see if for myself.)

for austin-ers, they offer a $20 membership with awesome deals. our friend got us a free appetizer and dessert!

More info: http://www.pluckers.com/



Hula Hut
Mexican with a polynesian twist.
Definitely a wait.

Fresh and very very tasty tortillas made to order.

This restaurant sits on Lake Austin. We sat outside on the patio overlooking the crisp, blue water. Hula Hut is worth coming for the view.

I ordered their super unique mango, poblano quesadillas. everything was delicious - especially the shrimp rellenos.




Amy's Ice Cream
Ice Cream is a definite must. Amy prides themselves in their Mexican Vanilla ice cream. I gotta say it was pretty delicious. Not too fatty or sweet.











Food in Austin is definitely very diverse in many ways. Just in the culinary world, there are fewer chains and many more homestyle places. And unlike the majority of the places in Beaumont, not everything is fried or meat.

Oh Austin, when will we reunite?