Monday, July 20, 2015

Why Houston is Awesome Part 2: The Foodie Edition

The dining options in Houston are as endless as the variety of rush hour expletives. The world is your oyster when you decide to eat in Houston. The cultural makeup of the city provides infinite possibilities and even the most discriminating of food snobs will find something to satisfy their palette in H-town.

This is brunch at Union Kitchen on Bellaire. We arrived at 10 A.M.  sharp and found a patio table. Swirling fans created enough of a breeze
to make sitting outside pleasant. It was still early, so the sweat hadn't yet started to pool in the armpits.

A quick glance of the menu told me that this wasn't going to be a cheap excursion. But most is forgiven when you take into account that you're essentially eating the first two meals of the day and probably won't eat again until the evening.

Brunch does not exist without a good Bloody Mary. My eyes widened when I saw the words Bloody Mary Bar on the menu. I read that to mean that it was all you could drink and you just doctored up your drinks to your liking on each trip. I was disappointed to find out that there was no bottomless Bloody Mary. Mimosas, yes. Bloody Marys...not so much.



By the time my Eggs Benedict arrived, my
stomach was in full Wookie-growl mode. The
portion size did not disappoint. For me, the litmus test is how well the egg is poached. My recent experiences have ranged from nearly hard boiled to egg soup. No one seems to know how to get it right. I was pleased to discover that the egg was poached perfectly. The tomato, bacon, and avocado sent my taste buds into a tizzy. My normal breakfast is either plain Greek yogurt and some Cheerios or a basic banana. Needless to say, the taste buds are demanding a return trip to Union Kitchen for Sunday brunch.

That's about all I have time for now. My next post will address Tex-Mex, which may be deserving of its own blog altogether.

Update:

I never intended to disappear.  My full-time job chews up all my brain cells and spits them out on the floor. Anyway, in Houston, one cannot go more than half a mile without seeing a Mexican restaurant in some capacity. Taco Cabana is favored by many. It's fast, cheap, and, tasty with soul soothing margaritas.

A little higher on the spectrum is Cafe Adobe. The Montrose location on Westheimer used to be one of my favorite haunts. Unfortunately, it appears to be no more. There are two other locations that I know of. We recently went to the one by Edwards Theatre near 610 and 10.

It did not dissapoint. The beef fajita salad with creamy avocados and fresh tomatoes was the perfect dish.


Margaritas were spot on. Flavorful and not overly strong. Just the right amount of tequila.


I will continue to update this post with more of Houston's Tex-Mex offerings.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Why Houston is the best city in Texas - Part One

I'm finally getting back into the blogosphere because my job is not as all-consuming as it once was. It's still pretty stressful, but I can't let it dictate whether I choose to write or not. It's a paycheck, but it's not my world.


I might have gotten carried away
with my filters
Having said that, I have long wanted to post a series of articles about Houston. Why Houston? I can already see the scratching of heads and blank expressions. Mostly because it's one of the most misunderstood cities in the country. The ones who are so quick to write it off as a cesspool have probably never been here and have no idea what they're missing. Most people aren't aware that Houston offers up as much culture and food as New York City does and you could even bump into a celebrity if your timing is right.

If you've seen the movies Boyhood or Tree of Life, then you are at least aware of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The Butterfly Pavilion is fantastic and if you stay very still, you may have once of its residents land on you. Don't even think about taking one home as a pet. The volunteers will do everything short of a body cavity search and direct you to the gift shop for souvenirs.



It boasts a massive fossil display that begins with the origins of life on Earth and ends with the first humans. No genetically mutated Jurassic World dinosaurs here. The dioramas of the Texas wildlife hall are a must see as well. Everything is so lifelike that you can't help but wonder if these creatures go MMA on each other after-hours. I need to wrap this up for now. I have to get on the road to go to Dallas (ugh) for the 4th of July holiday.


Alligator from Hell





 
Just you wait...once they lock that door your ass is mine











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