Duck Confit Leg

I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to review Catalan – it’s one my favourite restaurants in Houston and I’ve been there numerous times. I think it is because each time I go there I feel like there is so much to the restaurant for me to get to know. On my recent visit, our friend Ethel from Los Angeles was visiting us in Houston for New Years. We had been thinking about going out of town to Austin or San Antonio, but we figured we’d have a better time just staying in town in Houston – so the restaurant search was on. Booking a New Years dinner a week before is a challenge, so it’s also the time I am thankful for the Amex Platinum. Every year I try to convince myself to get rid of this high fee beast, but then I find some reason to hold me back. Well… Amex came through this year and got us the booking at Catalan.

Catalan is one of those restaurants that successfully reinvented itself from what it started off as. Originally it was a tapas/Spanish restaurant; this was when Houston was going through it’s tapas fad. This fad was destined not last very long in a city where people like their plates BIG. To help things transition, entered former Brennan’s Sous-Chef, Chris Sheppard. Like his buddy and former Brennan’s Chef, Randy Evans, Chris is very much into the local farmers markets and sourcing ingredients close to home. So expect to see many season and local ingredients in the dishes. Chris’ Brenna’s background is easily noticeable in Catalan’s menu.

Black Drum Gumbo

The new menu retained many small plates to allow diners to sample various flavours in tapas size along with some of Houston’s best wine selections. Big Texas and southern flavours now proliferate the large plates to please the local palates. Constant favourites on the menu are the shrimp with goat cheese grits, Berkshire pork chop, and roasted bone marrow. If you see “sweet potato gratin” in any form on the menu, be sure to get it. Sweet potatoes and cheese are flavours I would have never thought to combine at home, but this side is buttery sweet goodness at its best -  slightly sweet and salty. You would want to order it again as dessert.

The night we visited the duck that Ethel ordered was the best dish. It was a seared confit leg and thigh – perfectly briny and a little sweet. My wife had the “black drum gumbo with hush puppies”. It had a different name on the menu, but basically it was a gumbo. The roux was robust with taste of oregano and file,  browned and tasty, but just like any other dark roux it could and did become a little too much for a night’s meal. My dish was a seared red snapper fillet over a sweet corn chowder. The chowder was in the natural corn’ starches, and not creamy, which was made for a lighter, more corn tasting dish.

Snapper over Sweet Corn Chowder

The desserts are very focused on local nuts and fruits. With pecans’ being in season at this time the sweet potato creme brulee with pecan compote, Texas apple tarts, or Pecan tarts with espresso will not disappoint. Dessert here is on the expensive side, but all are original, made in house and most of all – delicious.

We’ve been waiting for the opening of the Houston outpost of the California restaurant, Straits, for a while so we were exited to be going there. It’s located at the bottom of a hotel in front of a grassy courtyard, so good location and nice frontage.

The restaurant has a nice concept. It is part lounge, part bar, and then a modern dining room. All seating is modern and very classy. The kitchen is stainless steel, including the back splashes so it feels very clean. Most south east Asian restaurants in Houston are dives or smaller so Straits will immediately seem different. You would not know this is Singapore/Malaysian restaurant from the outside or inside decoration i.e. there’s not mask, teak wood, or kites hanging from the walls. Sitting in the dining already you can hear the DJ inspired music from the bar but the dining area continues to feel as a part of the larger space.

I don’t typically gripe about the next thing that I have to gripe about, so I will keep it short… Please loose the the dancers (or dancer outfits); it’s not necessary to make the place cool, it cheapens the experience and clashes with the “family style dining” – this is not Patpong.

We started with the lollipop chicken, which are frenched drummettes, fried, and covered in a dark caramelized soy based sauce. We liked the spice level, but thought the heavy sugar application of the sauce was a little bit too much. Once you started biting in, a rude taste of cayenne came at the same time. This dish looks beautiful, but I would not order it again.

For our mains, we ordered the rendang tamales and the Singapore chili crab. You can actually order this dish with lobster or crab. I was surprised that it was a fixed price. Usually crab or lobster is market priced. The crab was smaller than I expected but the taste was wonderful. Very well balanced spicy, with sweetness coming from the peppers, and a crab broth. I love thi dish, but at $38, arghhh.. I’ll have to think about it. The rendang tamales we actually a corn husk topped with cream maid polenta infused with keffir limes, then short rib rendang on top. I’ve been rendang for years, but never had it non-spicy. The short ribs are a good introduction for anyone new to rendang. They had all the taste of rendang without being spicy. At home I usually use boneless short rib to make rendang, so the taste was very familiar. I would have liked the dish better with some kind of sauce. Rendang does not always have a sauce, but this dry rendang on top of polenta really needs one to liaise it. A fried or grilled polenta would have been much better. Since the timing on the food is still coming together, a sauce will help to keep the dish tasty after it has cooled too much.

Rendang Tamales

The dessert has a few stand-outs, we opted for the coconut tres leches. It was nice, but needs more height and more coconut flavour – maybe roasted shredded coconut in the cake. I was surprised not to see iced kankang or a coconut pudding or jelly dessert. With all the keffir lime on the menu, maybe keffir lime pie or keffir lime ice cream. 

Our waitress was attentive and quick, but still learning the restaurant. Her friendliness more than made up for any mistakes. The waitstaff in general was helpful and professional. This restaurant is suffering from what most suffer from a week or 2 into opening… Kitchen timing, unfamiliarity with the menu, running out of ingredients, staff who has not yet tasted enough of the items on the menu. All of these can be worked out; we’ll be back in a month or 2 as we do expect improvements, but we will be recommending this place to friends. All in all, we had a great time and I think this one is a keeper – just drop the Patpong decor.

Straits

www.straitsrestaurants.com

800 West Sam Houston Pkwy N
Houston, TX 77024

Chicken Salad Sandwich Toasted

Familiar way of eating a lunch – from a brown bag, just like in elementary school. This and fresh baked sandwich breads are the allure of my favorite sandwich shop in Houston.  Ordering is simple. You pick up a clipboard which has a menu and pencil attached for your convenience. The menu is literally a brown bag on which you custom build your sandwich; your choice of fresh baked breads, Boars Head meats and cheeses, vegetables and spreads. To complete the meal there are a good selection of chips, fruits, coleslaw, and red potato salad. This counter service restaurant uses a little higher quality ingredients than most sandwich shops – such as red onions, deli pickles and cheeses, and green lettuce rather than iceberg. Their chicken salad  and tuna salad sandwiches are big on high quality, lower salt meats; and not big on mayonnaise. i.e. The over abundance of mayo and saltiness are sure signs of pre-packed salad.

There is a good selection of drinks available such as ice tea, lemonade, and premium sodas. The breads are big a part of the taste; they are made from long rising sweet sourdoughs with chewy, brioche like texture to them. This gives them a nice bite and artisan feel that you can savour without having to rip your teeth into or gnaw on. All breads are all locally sourced.

The restaurant has a little bit of an artsy, funky chic look to it with aluminum buckets and chairs for a sort of Austin feel. There is also free wi-fi at many of the locations for your studying pleasure. I am hoping that this becomes standard at all locations. While waiting for sandwich check your e-mail on one of the free computers or read one of the magazines. Note that the menu brown bag can be printed on website and filled in ahead of time. So if you have a co-worker who has to work through lunch you can get him/her exactly what they want.

The Brown Bag Deli

http://thebrownbagdeli.net/

La Brocante is a small french restaurant located on Houston ’s west side in the Royal Oaks area. The inside has an early 20th century Frech look which is surprising since it is located in a small strip mall – which is very common in Houston . The restaurant is run by well known local chef Chef George Guy and his wife; she serves as both hostess and head server. The food is presented daily on a chalkboard, with a few off the board dishes.

We were there for lunch on a Friday afternoon. Surprisingly there was only 1 other table occupied, which seems a shame since I felt like all this good food was waiting for somebody to eat it. We started with the ritelle (a sort of duck confit hash) and pate canard, which was done ia a force-meat style. I am not sure where they source their baguettes, but I would like to know; they are delicious. The ritelle was tender with nice hints of juniper berries, but think I’d pass on the pate, which was bland in taste. I ordered the duck confit, which is served with thinly sliced potatoes, rather than the traditional cassoulet. The potatoes are almost like potato chips, very crispy but tender and al dente inside. The duck confit had a thin layer of cracker meal breading on it which could have been left off. I like my duck confit with crispy skin. You know the kind that is salty, crispy, and melts in your mouth.

My companions had a duck confit and goat cheese salad and the salmon grantinee. The duck confit and goat cheese salad is a salad with an herbed vinegrette and a phyllo dough purse containing duck confit meat and soft goat cheese. The goat cheese is creamy and slightly sweet, which helps to balance the cured saltiness of the duck. Presentation and taste wise, this is a better entree to replace the duck confit.

The salmon gratinee was the star of the day. It is served cooked with potatoes, swiss cheese, and freshly house smoked salmon chunks. It is creamy but not too much so. Hints of cumin provided a delicious earthy taste which prevented the dish from taking off into the French supercream sky.

The restaurant will not thrill non-French food eaters, but could very well keep a good croud of those over 30.

La Brocante

2825 S Kirkwood Rd
Houston, TX 77082

(281) 556-0606

I’ve been coming to San Antonio since I was a kid. I’ve seen it grow from a BBQ and Tex-Mex haven to having a more diverse and eclectic restaurant scene. Even with Japanese cuisine growing ever popular, San Antonio still is not the place you expect to find good Japanese food and sushi. Sometime finding the unexpected is half the fun.

We found Zushi Sushi by pure accident. We were staying in the northwest side of the city on a weekend visit and talking about where to eat that night. The usual suspects came mind – BBQ, Tex-Mex, maybe Italian. We didn’t feel like a driving  very far and we had heard that was a good Japanese restaurant just minutes walk from our hotel; we figured to give it a try. What a find! Zushi is not traditional Japanese and its not Americanized Japanese. You will find many of the same types of items common in chic hotel and department store restaurants. If you ‘re not familiar with the Japanese food scene, know that hotel food and department store restaurants are some of the best places to dine in urban Japan . Items like kushiyaki, which are small morsels of food fried on sticks – such as chicken, sweet plantain, or tofu.

Grilled Salmon Masubi

Zushi’s layout is modern but somehow very comfortable. You’ll find both a trendy set here and families with children out for a good meal. Do expect to wait for a table on a Friday or Saturday night. The waitstaff is well trained and has personal favourites and recommendations – so do ask.  Standouts on the menu include their Soft-Shell Crab Kara Agge – we had 4 whole crabs for $7.00.; rice dishes, and various chirashi. Zushi also allows you to customize your sushi order; from having it fried, torched, or rice-less if wanted. This amount of control can seem overwhelming for some diners if you think to much about it. If you are craving smaller portions of katsu (panko coated fried meats) they now offer mini versions of their larger katsu dinners.

Zushi-Sushi has now become a family destination for us on all our visits to San Antonio .

I-10 and Wurzbach
San Antonio, TX
210.691.3332

http://www.sushizushi.com/

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Over the past few years the number of cupcake shops has grown greatly as Americans seek smaller, higher quality snacks and desserts. I’ve been debating with myself and others about whether this was a fad or something here to stay. I fall on the side of here to stay, but going the way of the bagel craze of the late 80’s and early 90’s. At that time there many different shops, most have closed. Those which remain are those with a good business model and a superior product. Since cupcakes can also be found in grocery stores, cupcake shops have to differentiated from what you can find in the grocery store for a 10th of the price.

Crave is one of Houston’s newest cupcake shops, located in the upscale Uptown park area just north of the Galleria. In the past I’ve visited Sugarbaby’s Cupcake Boutique, located on Richmond and Shepherd. Sugarbaby’s color scheme is pink, black, and white. It reminds me of a little girl’s tea room so I am not too comfortable  hanging out there. Crave is sleek, modern, and clean. It has a very un-Houston feel to it, although the company’s lone store is located here in Houston.

The cupcakes are the right level of sweet. Since cupcakes are generally topped with a sweet icing, the cake underneath should contain less sugar to compensate. I enjoyed the chocolate peanut butter and espresso chocolate cupcakes the most. The ingredients seem to be high quality – real milk, vanilla, chocolate, and sugar. The cake is moist, and does not fall apart under fork.

The red-velvet is their best seller; it is a very good good red velvet however most red-velvet cakes are good red velvets. The flavours and textures of Crave’s cupcakes are not homogeneous. You will not feel as though think you are eating cake batter shaped like a cupcake. Crave’s cupcakes are best eaten with a black coffee or a dark fresh hot tea. In true small coffee house tradition, their coffee’s are brewed to order , one cup at a time. If you say you will never spend $3.oo on a cupcake, Crave just might be the first place to go if you ever change your mind.

Houston, TX 77056
713-62-CRAVE
Crave Cupcakes

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Boat Noodles

One of my favourite home style cooking Thai restaurants. We heard Chef Lee had opened his restaurant close to our home. We knew him from his transformation of Vieng Thai into a somewhat chic restaurant. The food at Thai Lily Café has the authentic Thai taste you crave after you return from a visit to Bangkok – the herbs, spices and use of krachai and black peppercorn strings. No Chinese food disguised as Thai or American-Thai here!
My favourites include his Pad Keemao with chicken and his Pad Ped Pla “Fried Fish in Red Curry”. The Pad Keemao has a that the taste of fresh chilies, peppers, and onions that defines good drunken noodles.
The fish is accentuated with the krachai, a rhizome with no English transaction – similar to ginger. The staff is very friendly and professional.

Pad Ped Pla “Fried Fish in Red Curry

Lightly salt fish, and dust with flour, fry, then set aside.

Heat oil on medium, then cook krachai, garlic, onions, and ginger for 2 minutes. Add red curry, cook for 1 minute. Add sugar, fish sauce and stir in. Let develop. Go by smell. Maybe 3 minutes or so.

Lower heat, then add basil, chili, keffir lime, and peppercorns. cook for 5 minutes.

Add coconut milk and put on lowest heat for 5 minutes. Add water if too dry, then Pour over fish and serve with steamed rice.

Thai Lily Café

713.474.8388
2390 S Dairy Ashford St
Houston TX 77077

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Located in a small humble strip center near Houston’s Westchase District, Sasaki Japanese Restaurant is one of the few real Japanese restaurants in Houston. You will find many from Houston’s Japanese community eating lunch or dinner here.

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CLOSED

We were really looking forward to eating at Robert Gadsby’s new restaurant Bedford, in the Houston’s Heights area. Along with Montrose and the hip part of Washington Avenue, Houston’s Heights is one of the top areas for new innovative cuisine.

First Visit

We were longtime fans of Chef Gadsby’s cooking from his time at NOE. The initial entry way into the Bedford is west coast chic. The restaurant was packed so our anticipation grew even more. On our first visit, we opted for the regular seating over the Chef’s table, which looks like a sushi bar with a small kitchen in front.

Please, everyone keep in mind: Yes, there is some confusion going on among the servers. This restaurant is new and the place was packed, but the service was friendly. We already have a our favourite server – she knew the items on the menu (how they were made, what the key ingredients were), had recommendations with explanations, and took great care of us.

The restaurant’s look is acceptable, but it will definitely remind you of a hallway in a hotel-a little bare and nothing that really establishes an ambiance. The addition of a few pictures, more art with spot lighting would help to cure this. The waitstaff’s uniforms were untucked shirts reminiscent of barongs or janitorial uniforms. We were informed by our server that the uniforms would be changing. Thanks – this is a good idea.

Mimosa Salad

The food was what we expected – great. The quail was perfectly seasoned and tender. The duck pasta was so delicious – balanced flavours of duck, without the greasy taste that turns some non-duck eaters off. The top dish had to be the papaya chicken salad. If you’ve eaten Robert’s mimosa salad at NOE, you will be familiar. This one dish should be given to everyone. It is absolutely delicious!

They ran out of lamb, that night -so I missed out. Looking into the kitchen, I saw lamb dishes coming up every 5 minutes or so. The tellicherry crusted tuna was also good. I recommend avoiding the shorts ribs. They are just “ok” and you can get short rib anywhere in Houston. We ordered 2 different desserts. I especially liked the Indian cheese donuts, but the bread pudding was so-so. Cappuccinos tasted hand made and not from a coffee machine.

Duck Ravioli Salad

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Second Visit

On our second visit, we decided go for the deep tracks. We went with the Chef’s table or what Bedford calls “Table One”. I thought sitting in the bar chairs would be hard for 2.5 hours. To my surprise, they were fine – even after 4 hours.

Our meal began with an amuse-bouche of a sweet cornbread topped with a garden vegetable butter. It was a good start. I think if you are inclined to do a tasting menu, be clear on whether you want to include wine or not. The servers will assume you want wine if you do not speak up.

Recommendations

• A mixed seafood soup with broth, artichokes, striped bass, shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, potato, and lemon. This was one of the best soups I’ve ever had. Very simple taste and spirit warming.
• Steamed egg custard, with black truffles. This was the biggest surprise dish of the night. Perfect balances of earthy truffles, salty egg and kuzo.
• Duck roulade. This is a must try for duck meat lovers.
• 3 meat (bison, elk, and lamb) ravioli was flavourful and hearty. The pasta was perfectly al-dente and the meats’ tastes came together well, without and one meat overpowering the other and no gamey taste and all.
• The duck ravioli with scrambled eggs and truffles was my favourite dish. I could eat a entire meal of this. I hope this one gets on the main menu – highly recommended! I’ll be backor the duck and cooking classes.

Mako Shark

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