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My fiance and I went to Houston last week to spend Christmas with his family. The first night there we went to a restaurant called Just Dinner on Dunlavy. I found it through Yelp searches. It was a restored old home and the reviews were all very positive.
This house was built in 1928. It was transformed into this cozy restaurant and opened in 2007. They source from their organic garden and shop daily for the freshest ingredients.
Just Dinner on Dunlavy
1915 Dunlavy Street
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 807-0077
www.justdinnerhouston.com
Price: $$$$
It was a small house. Very cozy when we walked in. They had dim lighting, Christmas decorations up and felt like you were going to a friend's home almost. We were seated in the front room. Our table was covered in magazine clippings. I thought that was a unique way to decorate the table, and minimize clean up, AND use up old magazines. haha. Recycle! :)
We brought a bottle of wine with us since it's BYOB. They do charge a corkage fee of $10 for every 750ml. They immediately asked if we wanted an ice bucket for our wine. We asked them if they could put it in the fridge first and it was no problem at all. The waiter brought us some waters and a little bit of their Pesto Hummus (with multigrain chips). The chips were like the store bought multigrain chips. I laughed a little when I saw it, but I actually really like these chips. The pesto hummus was really tasty. I do wish we had pita bread or something instead.
Soup of the Day: Sweet Potato Soup $7~ My fiance ordered this. I wanted to try it. The soup was silky and yummy. There were chunks of sweet potato in the soup as well but I thought they were undercooked. Slightly crunchy still.
He also wanted to try the Foie Gras Creme Caramel (pickled seasonal fruit, warm house-made brioche) $20~
He's never had foie gras. I'm not a huge fan. I mean I'll eat it, but it usually tends to be too heavy. So I was thinking he wouldn't like it. However, this was more of a sweet preparation of foie gras and I've never had it like this before. It was made more like a thick flan and it was more sweet than savory. It was pretty amazing. They served it with thin slices of brioche. Normally I love brioche but this one was basically soaked in butter. Too heavy to eat with the creamy foie gras. I ended up just eating the foie gras on its own. But I did like the pairing with the pickled fruit...although they seemed more like butternut squash or something instead of fruit. The acid from the pickled fruits definitely help cut some of the heaviness of the dish. Not the typical prep of foie gras, but delicious. I guess he'll have to try foie gras again another time to get the savory aspect of it.
Ratatouille (pickled vegetables, Belgium endive spears) $11~
My fiance's sister ordered this as her main meal. It's listed as an appetizer. Again, a very different preparation than we expected. It was served as a mound with endives on the side. And it was served cold. We all expected to be a hot dish, since it is stewed vegetables...
Pasta of the Day: Spaghetti (with meatballs and sausage).
His father got the pasta of the day. It was a huge portion! The spaghetti was cooked well. I thought the marinara was a bit more sour than I would've liked but the meatballs were good. They have pine nuts mixed into them!
Braised Boneless Short Ribs (port wine cherry sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables) $30~ My fiance ordered this. It was massive as well and the meat was very tender. He loved it.
Pan Seared Chicken Breast (wild mushroom pan sauce, blue cheese polenta, mixed vegetables) $24~
His mom wanted to try the blue cheese polenta so she order the chicken. Again, a sizable portion. She had some leftover chicken to take home. I tried a bite of the polenta. The blue cheese flavor was very mild, which is good. Sometimes blue cheese is quite overwhelming.
Stuffed Collard Rolls (quinoa, black rice, amaranth, roasted red pepper sauce) $20~
This sounded totally interesting so I ordered it. I like everything listed here. Two large rolls, it was very filling. I loved all the texture inside the collards. There was also hazelnuts (I'm pretty sure) inside... maybe a little too much. It added a nice crunch but a few bites had so many that's all I could taste. But overall, very good, and healthy! Did you know that amaranth is full of protein, iron, calcium, and triple the fiber of wheat? And it's gluten free. :) I need to find more of this.
At some point, we also got rolls. I don't think I noticed when it was served. haha. Too busy taking pictures of everything else!
Crispy Bacon Lardons Brussels Sprouts $7~ I also ordered the Brussels sprouts. Duh! If it's on the menu, I'm ordering it! It was yummy. Plus bacon, always a classic combination.
Everyone had a great time. His parents said they'd go back for sure. Really quaint setting. The service was warm and friendly and the food was good. Plus everything's seasonal so the menu changes every few months. :)
Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!
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I came across this place on Yelp while researching for places to eat in Houston. Snow ice, a Taiwanese dessert that is basically shaved flavored ice. It creates these amazing ribbon-ish shapes and it's almost like eating ice cream. But... it's ice! And probably less fattening. :P
I have it in Taiwan whenever I go back to visit. And in the past few years, Dallas started getting a few places that sell this. However, nothing is as good as what you get in Taiwan.
Hippo Ice
3737 Hwy 6
Sugar Land, TX 77478
(832) 532-7562
Price: $
I was excited because this place was close to Sugar Land where they live. Normally you'd have to go into Houston (Bellaire) to get good Asian food, so the short drive is nice.
We went on the Sunday before Labor Day, the place looked closed when we arrived, I got worried. Luckily it wasn't! We took a look at the menu and my fiance told me he was getting his own. I asked "are you sure?" since they're usually piled pretty high and he said yes. So I guess we're all getting our own! Sharing is for the weak. hahahaha. :P
I got the Genmai Matcha (Brown Rice Green Tea) $4.75~ Plus Ghiradelli Chocolate drizzle and sliced almonds +$0.50~
I love how snow ice looks, so whimsical, beautiful and weird. haha. This was yummy. I liked the dark chocolate sauce paired with the green tea. My fiance said the chocolate overwhelmed the ice flavor. For me it didn't. And the almonds were a nice added texture. It was a huge bowl. He was pretty shocked when he saw this. The texture of the ice is pretty comparable to Taiwan, although I think the one's in Taiwan is even creamier and fluffier. But this is definitely better than any of the ones I've tried in Dallas.
Genmai Matcha (Brown Rice Green Tea) $4.75~ Plus Condensed milk and red bean +$0.50~
He also wanted green tea but with different sauce and toppings. Green tea and red bean are always a winning combo. The condensed milk added another level of richness. Also very delicious.
Almond $4.75~ Plus Tapioca (boba) +$0.50~
His sister chose the almond flavor. Which was my 2nd choice. The almond flavor was strong, yet the whole thing was light and refreshing. I think that was the winner, even though they were all good.
Watermelon Basil (to-go) $4.75~
His sister was meeting up with a friend after so she got this to go. So pretty. We got to try a bite. Very interesting. You can definitely taste the basil. And super refreshing. I'm just not sure how long it would last during transport. hehe. I hope her friend was able to enjoy the fluffiness of the snow ice.
My fiance and his sister both really enjoyed it. It was their first time trying snow ice. And guess what, none of us finished it... hahaha. Snow ice - 1, Us - 0.
This place is legit, for all you people in Sugar Land. No need to fight the traffic and drive to Bellaire! Now I only wish we can get this quality in Dallas...
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This place has been bookmarked on my Yelp for awhile now. Even though we were super full from dinner, we still had to go. How often are we in Houston? And it was only like an 8 minute drive from dinner. They have rotating flavors for each season and some of them are super unique. I really had my eye set on the hazelnut miso.
Cloud 10 Creamery
5216 Morningside Dr.
Houston, TX 77005
(713) 434-6129
http://www.cloud10creamery.com/
Price: $
Unfortunately they did not have the hazelnut miso, or half of the seasonal list actually... booo. But since we're here. Still gotta try something. It's a cute place. Bright walls/decor, fun.
My fiance's sister got the Mascarpone-Blueberry Tart (almond shell, mascarpone cream, blueberry compote, pink peppercorn) $5.25~?
Very interesting looking. Although it was premade and prepackaged. It was kind of like a shortbread cookie with cream and compote inside. It was frozen so quite hard to bite through. I wonder if it would be better if it was thawed out a little. Cool looking, but eh.
I got a Small Scoop in Waffle Cone (2 flavors: nutella marshmallow and passion fruit with white chocolate). $3.85 + cone $1.35~
The small scoop comes with 2 flavors. Both of my choices were really great. I particularly loved the passion fruit. It was really refreshing yet still creamy. Still bummed they didn't have the flavors I initially wanted to try, but it was still good. Not the cheapest place though. I guess next time I will call ahead to see what flavors are available before going.
We also tried the Marzipan ice cream, which had an almond flavor. Delicious. We got a pint to take back to his parents. $10 a pint! OMG! In Dallas we can get a quart...
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Over Labor Day weekend, we went to Houston to visit my fiance's family. His parents live there and his sister from NYC also flew down. They wanted to take us out for a nice dinner to celebrate our engagement and also it was his parents' anniversary! So I started researching places to go and came across this place. I love Latin food. The menu looked delicious and we were able to get a reservation on Saturday night even though it was only a few days in advance.
Américas River Oaks
2040 W Gray St.
Houston, TX 77019
(832) 200-1492
https://www.cordua.com/
Price: $$$$
Only after I made the reservation did I discover that it was also Houston's Restaurant Week and Américas is participating! $35 a person for 3 course like in Dallas, and partial proceeds going to charity. :) They had so many choices on the RW menu. Excited!
The restaurant is located upstairs in a shopping center. As soon as we walked in, we started noticing all the decor. It was very unique! Then we saw a plaque that says Zagat's Best Decor Award in 2013. It was very whimsical. Lots of interesting shapes on the walls, chairs, lots of different textures too. I haven't seen a restaurant like this before. They had one wall with these giant popcorn all over, made with some sort of fabric? The booths' chairs were over the top and really cool.
The waiter came by to greet us, he was very nice. Took our drink orders and we got some Fried Plantains with 3 dips. All 3 were great, especially the chimichurri. I love plantains, these were fried to perfection. And with the sauces, yum! We were hooked.
My fiance's sister ordered a michelada, which is Mexican beer mixed with lime juice and assorted spices and peppers... kind of a Mexican bloody mary. Looked pretty cool, and quite spicy!
4 of us ordered from the RW menu, and his sister decided to order from the regular menu.
RW First Course:
Empanadas (flaky, golden-brown savory latin pastries): Beef (caramelized onions, cumin, malbec-soaked raisins, roasted peppers and olives with rocoto sauce); Chicken (pulled roasted chicken, red pepper, sherry, basil and candied pecans with avocado mousse).
I got one of each, and his mom got just chicken. Both were fantastic. The crust was flaky and crispy. But the sauces were the stars on both. I thought I would like the chicken better because of the avocado mousse but the rocoto sauce on the beef edged it out. It was amazing. I have no idea what rocoto is, but I can drink it!!!! Both had a ton of flavors. Definitely two thumbs up.
Cubana (black bean soup with onion-cilantro relish and provolone cheese served in a toasted sourdough bread boule).
My fiance got this. It looked so good. So cheesy and the soup was thick and full of beans. Really tasty. However, the bread bowl was hard to eat. And there was a lot of it. There really wasn't as much soup as it seemed. But that may be a good thing since this is only first course!
Fish Taco (mahi-mahi, cabbage, rocoto pepper and pico de gallo). Cute little taco. A little small compared to the other dishes but looked yummy.
Mixed Greens Salad $6.95~ His sister ordered this. Looked great with all the toppings... pickled onions, corn, etc. She said it was spicy too! Nice.
RW Second Course:
The Churrasco (6 oz. signature center cut beef tenderloin, chimichurri seasoned and chargrilled with fingerling potato, grilled vegetables and bearnaise sauce). This was "Voted Esquire Magazine's Top 20 Steaks in America". His dad ordered it and said it was really good. I didn't try it since I had steak myself.
Beef Tenderloin Brocheta (grilled beef tenderloin and shrimp with onion and poblano over chorizo caribbean rice).
This was my entree. Huge portion. The beef was super tender and the rice had so much flavor. So far everything here was a flavor explosion. It was hard to tell everything apart after awhile since all the flavors are so bold. But it was good. I shared some and still took over half of it to go, there was too much food!
Grilled Mahi Mahi (black bean and shrimp veloute, fried pickled okra). His mom ordered this. The fish was cooked well. It was good. The fried pickled okra was totally interesting and awesome.
Achiote Seared Ahi Tuna (cilantro broth, citrus salad, goat cheese snow).
My fiance got this. I didn't even consider it because of the goat cheese snow. (I don't like goat cheese as y'all know.) But you can't taste it at all. It was amazing. Best dish of the night in my opinion. The tuna was top notch and full of flavor. And such beautiful colors!
His sister got the Lobster Corndogs (house made lobster sausage, carnival style corndog batter, lemon chardonnay aioli) $12.95~
As soon as she saw they had this, that was it. It was so fun! The plating was very whimsical like their decor. And food on a stick, always fun to eat.
With all our dishes, they gave us some sides. From the top: some sort of fried yucca balls, white rice, sweet plantains, and lentils. The lentils and plantains were my favorite. Sooooo good. The yucca balls were good but quite dense. I like the yucca fries better.
We also got some additional Sides $6~ each:
Chargrilled Corn & Crispy Mushroom. Interesting flavors, we couldn't quite pinpoint what some of the spices were. I liked the crispy mushrooms for added texture.
Grilled Asparagus. Pretty standard, good with the creamy dipping sauce.
Yuca Steak Fries. No picture, sorry. But looked like normal thick cut fries. It was fried really well.
RW Third Course:
Tres Leches (soaked in sweet vanilla laced cream then topped with Italian meringue).
One of the best tres leches we've had. My fiance recently discovered this dessert and he's now pretty obsessed with it. haha. He said it was definitely the best one he's had. It was sooo moist, the meringue on top was great.
Kettle Corn Tres Leches (fresh grated corn, whipped mascarpone, caramel, and Italian meringue).
This sounded totally interesting. It was topped with caramel and kettle corn. I liked the added texture of the popcorn. But the caramel made it a tad too sweet for me. My fiance tasted mine second and he was like "omg yours is even better". And then he would eat anothe bite of his, and say that's still the best. haha. He couldn't decide, they were both amazing.
Besame con Alfajores (miniature melt-in-your-mouth dulce de leche cookie sandwiches).
His dad ordered this just so we can all try something different. These little cookies were so cute. And they really did melt in your mouth. The filling was rich and sweet. It would be great with tea or coffee.
Their normal tres leches comes with a tableside show. They light it on fire! I was a little disappointed that they didn't do it for the RW desserts. But the table next to us got one and I was able to get it on video. I'm always a sucker for tableside presentation... and FIRE! :P
Really great find. Not only great food, but an experience to discover all the little (and big) decor elements. All their door handles were these dog or mouse figures. The bathroom was trippy too, like walking into Alice in Wonderland a little bit. It was a fantastic dinner. We ate so much and it was all delicious. I definitely recommend this place. I would go back again whenever I'm back in Houston. And a big thank you to his parents for taking us out to dinner! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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