Oh, Raven!

D and I ran to Raven last night for a quick delicious dinner, and once again I was SO disappointed in their service. We probably eat there at least once a week and I usually have some complaint about the service or the people that work there. Sigh. I have to watch myself because I don't want to be the kEr-Azee a$$ woman who ALWAYS complains about stupid things. BUT, I do eat there all the time!

When we walked in, the place was slow on a Sunday night. I asked to sit at a table over by the window, which was not where the hostess was going to seat us. I noticed that she sat a couple at the same table about 5 minutes after we had been seated.

Ten minutes later, we had decided what we wanted to eat, but we still had no water, bread, or drinks. Did the couple who had been seated 5 minutes after us? Of course! Drinks from the bar, water, and bread were on their table. The manager on duty saw us sitting there with our menus closed (the universal signal for "We are ready to place our order"). SIX other waiters saw us with our menus closed. Yet no one chose to come by and take our order. I was getting a bit angry, so I finally went to the 16 year old hostess and told her we would like to be served. She was on it like white on rice, and appropriately mortified that we had not been served. I saw her speaking to the woman who would become our server. Yet, even after the server KNEW that we were ready to place our order she went to the table next to us FIRST. They had been seated for 10 seconds. Bye bye fantastic tip! I'm a decent tipper, and D is an EXCELLENT tipper.

We finally got our order placed, and of course the food was perfect. I highly recommend the wood fire grilled trout. So delicious.

I'll give more details about why I love Raven later, but give them a try sometime.

Canopy Houston

The birthday boy and I went to Canopy this evening. I'm extremely tired, so I'm just going to sum it up in bullet points:
* excellent calamari with a lovely harissa lime mayo
* lovely wine (Del Fin Del Mundo Malbec)
* spicy and creamy avocado soup (perfect for a hot summer day)
* the scallops: OMG fantastic
* lovely atmosphere

My complaints:
* Our waitress seemed incredibly distracted and not attentive
* The manager chose to tackle the various stains around the restaurant when there were still customers. Resolve stinks. Especially when you're enjoying your dinner.

Loved the food. I'll give the service another chance.
That's all for now.

Hank's Oyster Bar

So, I'm here in Washington, DC for the NAEYC convention. I must blog about my meal last night, though, so I won't forget!

Hal and I went to Hank's Oyster Bar (literally around the corner from his place). Hal got oysters, french fries, macaroni and cheese, and a Caesar salad(which was forgotten by our waitress). I didn't taste his oysters, but the fries and mac & cheese were definitely carb worthy.

I had the meat and two special which was chicken schnitzel. I basically had a beautiful (and tasty) flattened chicken breast sauteed in bread crumbs with sesame snow peas (oh my goodness) and garlic green beans (really, oh my goodness). It was absolutely delicious! Fresh, well seasoned, and all about the yum.

My other favorite part: they don't serve dessert, but they do bring chunks of dark delicious chocolate to the table at the end of your meal. Sigh.

Hank's was the perfect place for this tired girl to get some serious nutrition (and a lovely La Posta red).

The Sausalito Chicken Crunch Salad

at Barnaby's. Oh my. This salad is my new addiction. It actually may be an issue.

Here's the blueprint:
shredded cabbage
shredded romaine lettuce
shredded iceberg lettuce
cherry tomatoes
jicama
red onions
queso fresco
peanuts
chicken
cilantro
(there are other herbs, but I haven't been able to decipher what they are)
tortilla strips
. . . all tossed in a cumin vinaigrette.

My stars. I truly crave this salad on a regular basis. As its name implies, it does have a lot of crunch. All of the textures, though, provide a delightful salad experience. The dressing isn't too shabby either - - - it adds a very nice flavor without being too vinegary.

Huynh Restaurant

So, tonight we headed to Huynh. We actually remembered to stop off and grab a bottle of wine from Spec's before we went. Old Vine Zinfandel - - - delicious.

Anyway, Huynh is one of my very favorite places here in Houston for Vietnamese food. The owners are lovely (some say a bit pushy), and are willing to help you through the menu.

My favorite things on the menu involve the home made rice paper (made daily by the owner's mom) which include #5 (chargrilled pork and vegetables wrapped in
soft rice paper), any of the wide rice noodles lightly fried and topped with meat or seafood with vegetables(a textural delight!), #99 (combination steamed rice paper), and the kicker that I had tonight: #82 (tofu and shrimp stir fried with curry, coconut and peanut).

#82 was served on a bed on clear, perfect noodles. The flavor in this dish was incredible and fed a craving that I had for a while. I love red curry. I love coconut milk. I love peanuts in Vietnamese food (otherwise I don't care for them).

Here's the lowdown on Huynh:
912 St. Emanuel
Houston, Texas 77003
713.22.HUYNH
Monday - Saturday 10:30 - 9:00
Closed on Sundays

My Stars

It's been far too long since I've posted - - - 8 months!

I was talking to a friend after church today, and he was eating McDonald's fries. This, of course, made me think of fries that I crave (not McDonald's). Fries can be so very ho-hum to me, so when I find some that I love, they are really fantastic. For me, they MUST be carb-worthy.
I just had some from In and Out in San Francisco, and I had remembered to order mine well done/crispy. Mine were the popular fries of the table. While they were good, I still think better of several fries that are served here in Houston.
The first place that comes to mind is Little Bigs on Montrose. Their fries are fresh and right. I think what makes them so fabulous to me is the Kosher salt and their "Special Sauce". I'm pretty sure that the sauce is SriCha pepper sauce mixed into mayo. Whatever it is - - - it's yummy.

Max's Wine Dive

I had a girls' night scheduled with my peeps Tammy and Jennifer for this evening. The plan was to head to Little Big's on Montrose, but Jennifer was sick. We promised her that we would wait to try LB's until she could join us. Since Tammy had a babysitter (i.e. baby daddy), we decided to try Beaver's. Alas, they were closed, leaving me post workout and ready to gnaw off my frickin' arm. Think quick - - - close to Beaver's. We settled on Max's Wine Dive on Washington, keeping our fingers crossed on the way since it is ALWAYS crazy packed. I didn't want to wait. Max's on a Monday is good. In fact, it's terrific.
We asked the waitress about her favorites and she mentioned the two items that Tammy and were actually considering: the Kobe burger (8oz. Yama Farms Texas Kobe beef burger with Belletoielle triple cream brie, in-house pickled jalapenos, Texas tomato and organic bib lettuce on Kraftsmen brioche bun, served with Max's famous frites) and the egg sandwich (three pan fried eggs, drizzled with truffle oil and Maldon sea salt, topped with three slabs of applewood smoked bacon and Veldhuizen gruyere, organic bibb lettuce, hot house tomato, and garlic black truffle aioli - all sandwiched between two pieces of artisan sourdough bread and served with hand-cut chips).
We settled down with a bottle of red (Sincerely? I think...) after we ordered. We caught up on all of the GP news (we used to work together). When the food came, there was silence. It was absolutely heavenly. Both sandwiches were just incredible, but I think the egg sandwich was just from heaven. The bonus with it were the chips: light, truffled, and thinner than original Lay's wjith a dusting of parmesan cheese.
Happiness abounded with this food. I can't wait to try the famous mac and cheese.