I Will Eat Anything Once...
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“It’s just like a fondue, and it’s very popular in China,” says Hong Tan, who runs the Mongolian Hot Pot, of the style of cooking they do there. “We use 30 different kinds of Chinese herbs to make our soup, and the base of the broth comes from China. It’s very healthy and nutritious and contains no MSG. All of our produce is very fresh.”
Tan is originally from Hong Kong and has been in Houston for a mere three months after moving here from Los Angeles, where he spent a few years running one of the Mongolian Hot Pot restaurants there. (There are around 700 locations worldwide, mostly in China.)
Tan explains how it all works. “The broth comes in two varieties, spicy and nonspicy or a combination of both. You choose your ingredients individually, and order your meat, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and noodles separately, then cook each piece in the hot broth, which is placed on the cooker on each table.” He adds: “Americans are not used to this cooking method, but once they try it, they really enjoy it.”
Cafe Bites tried the combination of spicy and nonspicy. A combination platter of meats, including lamb, pork and beef, arrived sliced wafer-thin, allowing each piece to cook in eight to ten seconds. We also tried the vegetable combination plate, which seemed like a mountain of food but disappeared as the evening went on. This is not a meal to rush through; in fact, we never stopped eating for the whole hour it took us to finish. It’s a wonderful meal to share with friends.
Sultan's Mediterranean Grill - Turkish
Sabrina Samemy, who moved to Houston from Turkey 20 years ago, just opened Sultan's Mediterranean Grill. "My father is Turkish, and my mother is from Afghanistan," she says. "My family used to have a restaurant in Istanbul, and we wanted to continue doing something we knew well, so we opened one in Houston." As for her food and her customers, she says, "The dishes are mainly Turkish, like adana kebab and lahmacun pide, which is like pizza, lamb shanks and traditional Middle Eastern food like hummus and tabbouleh, then some Afghani dishes like Khabuli rice. Most of the people who come here are from Turkey or the Middle East, but about one out of three is American."
Samemy can often be found hard at work preparing the dishes at Sultan's. It's a simple setup -- you order at the counter. What the place lacks in décor is made up by the food, which is very tasty. Café Bites enjoyed the Sultan's Plate, a mixture of different kinds of chicken and beef kabobs served with two sides and a veggie plate, which included hummus, spinach, beans and rice.
Hazzards Bar & Grill - Indonesian
What does the Dukes of Hazzard have to do with Indonesian food? We don't know, but Pae Wilson says she named her new restaurant, Hazzards Bar & Grill, after the show. Actually, it's not really new, since Wilson just took over the premises, which were formerly occupied by Yanti's and, more recently, by Mata Hari. Wilson kept the kitchen staff, menu, bar staff and manager, so expect the food and ambiance to be the same as before.
Debbie Muench, the manager, says the bar at Hazzards is unique. "It's made with very dark Indonesian wood and was built by the previous owners." As for the food, "We have mainly Indonesian food but also have some American food like hamburgers. We're known for our traditional riistafel, in which you get a sampling of a number of dishes…On Mondays we have a free buffet and we also have live entertainment."
A recent Café Bites visit found the bar busy but not the restaurant. This meant attentive, personalized service. The riistafel was a formidable series of dishes, ample for two hungry people.
Khun Kay Thai Café - Thai
If you are one of the countless Thai fans who mourned the closing of the Golden Room Thai restaurant on Montrose, here's good news. The restaurant was recently rebuilt from the ground up and reopened under the same ownership, with the same outstanding hospitality and kitchen staff. Even better news: Prices have gone down. That's right, down.
"The original building was almost 100 years old," says owner Supatra Yooto. "In 1982, we converted the old house into a restaurant and opened the Golden Room. We only had ten tables. In 1990, we expanded to seat 70 people. Then one day we noticed that the foundation had problems. When we got quotes to fix it, we decided it was almost cheaper to build again from the ground up. The old place was very elegant. Now we have gone modern. We have lowered the prices because we're no longer a full-service restaurant with white tablecloths. Now you order at the counter."
The place also has a new name: Khun Kay Thai Café. "'Khun' means 'madam,' and Kay is my sister-in-law, who was one of the founders of the original Golden Room," explains Yooto. "The recipes we are using are hers, so we decided to honor her by naming the restaurant after her."
The food is as good as it was before. Cafe Bites tried a delectable massaman curry with pork and a pad Thai with chicken, which was a weekly special at half price off. The casual atmosphere was pleasant, and the food took no time to arrive.
Little Bigs - Sliders
Brian Caswell and his partner Bill Floyd have lots to say about their latest venture, Little Bigs, which occupies the former location of the eclectic Ming's Chinese Restaurant on Montrose, just north of Westheimer. The two also own Reef. "We picked up the space two days before Hurricane Ike hit town," Caswell says. "I'm sure you can imagine how we felt."
They're still refining the Little Bigs concept. "Basically, we wanted to create fast, artisanal, high-quality sliders and serve specialty drinks and good wine at a reasonable price. Before we open the next one in Hermann Park, later in the spring, we need to get a better handle on the tiger we have by the tail here." What makes his mini-burgers different? "The quality. We bake the buns on premise twice a day, we grind our own beef, and we hand-cut the French fries," he says. "It's become late-night central," adds Floyd. "Since we're open until three a.m., we're getting lots of people in the trade coming in, late at night, after they get off work."
The slider concept has interesting origins. "Reef is a seafood restaurant, but one day, we had one regular customer who wanted a burger and, as we didn't have one on the menu, Brian took some rib eye and ground it up. We also had some yeast rolls that we used in another dish as well as some caramelized onions, and so we put it all together along with a spicy Sriracha remoulade. When the customer told us it was the best hamburger he'd ever had, we decided to investigate this further. When we started selling 200 a day in a seafood place, we thought that maybe we were onto something." Funny how things develop.
The day Little Bigs opened for lunch, Cafe Bites wasn't surprised to see people in line – in fact, the line always seems never-ending, no matter the time of day or night. There are three different sliders on the menu, one beef, one chicken and one mushroom and cheese. Our fave is the beef, by far, and we found the fries and the remoulade addictive, to say the least. This is a great casual spot for a quick snack, or a great place just to hang out on the patio and enjoy free wi-fi.
Anyway, here are the survey results for the Blue Nile (Ethiopia).
The survey results are pretty consistent. The service was lacking. The presentation was amazing and the food was decent to pretty good. Everybody enjoyed their experience.....but I feel that it had more to do with the chemistry of our group and less with where we were eating. However, I feel that will always be the case no matter where we go.
Alicia put it best with her additional comments.......
"Sham Wow, Honey Wine, Snake Pits...who couldn't say it was a fantastic experience?"
I will be sending out the surveys for Tradicao shortly. Also, Erin.....when you upload your pics to Picasa.....let me know and I will create another slide show for those as well.
I will try to create a survey so that all that who attend these dinners can voice their opinions.
All photos taken have and will be uploaded to Picasa. It is my understanding it is Google’s equivalent of Flickr or Photobucket. I will try to add links on this blog to my account, where you can download the pictures you want. Also, there is a slideshow gadget on the right side of the homepage. If you click on the pictures, it will automatically take you to my Picasa account.
If you have any feedback, questions or suggestions, feel free to respond to any of these entries. And answer the poll!!!!
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