Sublime Spinach in the UK

So, I just got back from a trip to visit friends in Stony Stratford, England. Stony is a lovely, "typical" village just north of London (although a 30 pound return ticket, but that's another story). One of my favorite restaurants in Stony Stratford is the Mogul Palace - - - an abbey converted into a restaurant. This place has a wonderful vibe, but their Saag Paneer is incredible. My friends and I are all about the spinach, so we had two dishes: Saag Paneer and spinach with shrimp (the proper name escapes me) along with some grilled chicken and garlic (OMG yummy) naan. The Saag Paneer was NOTHING like the dish that I've had in the states. There was no cream sauce, just spinach and the homemade cheese. I'm not sure what they did to the spinach, but this was one of those dishes where I had to take a minute, close my eyes, and savor it. The best word I have to describe it would be buttery, but there was not a drop of grease. Buttery doesn't even do it justice. But, if you're ever in the area, make sure to go by. I told them that I came all the way from Texas just to have their spinach. The funny thing is, I was talking to an acquaintence about Stony Stratford, and it turns out that she had been to the Mogul Palace. Small world, isn't it?

Favorite Houston Restaurants

This is just a list, only a list. My basic criteria for a favorite restaurant is: NO Sysco products (i.e. if they have chicken fingers- - - are they homemade?). I can't stand the "microwave Mexican" philosophy where people take something off a truck, slap it in the wave, and slip it on a plate.

A beginning of a list:
Barnaby's: Fresh, sometimes organic, decently priced food (burgers, salads, yummy meatloaf)
Brown Bag Deli
Paulie's
Niko Niko's
Qin Dynasty
Kelley's: my favorite homemade chili in Houston
Poblanos: incredible homemade tortillas, great tacos al carbon
Raven: best steak around
Picnic: egg and olive salad
Cleburne Cafeteria: veggies veggies veggies
Amy's Ice Cream: Turkish Coffee Ice Cream. Need I say more?
El Meson: terrific nachos
Patrenella's: best dinner salad, best pesto
Nash D'Amicos
Buffalo Grille
Goode Co. restaurants (although of late, the parking situation at the bbq joint has been
stressful due to the insane success of the Armadillo Palace)

Disappointment!

Argh - - -
Just had a meal at El Meson, one of my favorite restaurants around. I split the Nachos Al Meson (yummy: chips with taco meat, cheese, beans, and guac) and Black Bean Soup with D. They had a new menu there and of course I have a few issues: one may no longer order half orders of nachos (the perfect "I'm not so hungry" meal) and when we got the nachos they 1) cost about $1 more than they used to and 2) there were only 8 nachos instead of the normal 12. So, now the nachos that were soggy cost about $1 a piece. For taco meat. For soggy chips. Sigh.