jscarbor

For gulf shrimp of the fried variety and very close to med center you should certainly check out captain benny's on S Main. Also, I metnioned smoked burgers in an earlier post but the name is Guys Meat Market on Old Spanish Trail. I said guys meat market.

I have heard that Da Marco is moving to the old Marrakesh site on westheimer. That should give them a bit more room. Maybe they can have a quite area and a noisy area?=)

Oh no! I had a really avg meal here today. I hope thats not a sign. The best way to go is with a group. If its just 1 or 2 then you are going to be talked into the daily special which isn't that special IMO, usually its a couple of decent dishes but nothing to write home about.

Lili is ok, I never got the big deal there but its the only Lebanese place I have been too. I would rather get good med food than go to Lili usually. I have never been to Fadi's, no reason, just never went.

I'll have to give the place a try next time I have a long lunch, it sounds like its very good. Elie, do you like it more than Cafe Lili?

How much money can/could sang make taking all the Bourdain fans out on Vietnam excursions like this one save the motor scooter? If I was going to Vietnam I'd happily pay him for his services. Because without him my guess is a guy like me would have zero chance of experiencing stuff like he did on the show. Of course the welcomming parties from the commies probably wouldn't be waiting for me.

I thought it was foresaken that Kahns was the only place. I'm surprised by the K&Z references, they are ok but Kahns rocks the casbah.

I'd check it out. The food sounds a little intimidating for Houston but great to me. I'll give it a try. Will lunch be worth the hassle? How is Zula's lunch? I'd really like to hear more about the tasting menus. 706 Main? Which building is that?

I have to disagree about Houston competing with Chicago in fine dining. Chicago has IMO even if Trotter is overexposed has atleast 10 restaurants as good if not better than anything in houston. Lets say its 10 that are as good or better, maybe thats in line since Chicago is so much bigger than Houston? Maybe all we deserve is 5 or so? Also, I have to say that yes we do have a couple special places, I just wish we had more. Da Marco is great and Marks can be at times. After that I have a tough time putting places like Cafe Annie, tony's and Aries on the list. Aries is close but a 20% reduction in price would help. As a side note has anyone heard about De Marco moving to the old Marrekesh site?

Karen, Go kick some mother fuckin cancer ass, bitch. OK!=) Seriously, good luck, I hope these suggestions make your stay a little more enjoyable. If you would like some company post here and we'll try and set up a dinner/lunch with a few people at something really exotic or not so exotic. Whatever you want.

Pretty much great advice all around. I'll second Cafe Rebelais, Niko Niko, Miss Saigon and Langford (burgers are killer as is most of the daily lunch specials). Also add Petes fine Meats to your list during the week tues to frid for lunch and get a smoked cheese burger with a little bbq sauce. Its a really good and a little different take on the burger. petes is on Old Spanish Trail and is very close to the Med center. Oh yah, you should definately try and hit Frenchy's Creole fried chicken by Univ of Houston for great chicken. Its not really great to eat there because its hot as hell out but if you can take it somewhere and chow down than all the better.

You could try the little farmers market on weekends in fron of Tafia near downtown and maybe eat at tafia later that night? Hugos would be a nice mexican joint to try for upscale mexican. Most of the mexican here is really tex/mex, even the really mexican places ar a little more tex/mex than mex/mex. That being said I would steer you toward either Picos where you can get a very good margarita and good food or Otillas where I have never had a margarita but the food might be a little better than Picos. Another place to possibly try would be the Ninfas navigation street location only and see where the fajita craze started. thats right it pretty much began here. For seafood if you don't mind driving I would tell you to go about 40 miles south of houston to Topwater Grill in San Leon. If its later in October I would certainly give the grilled oysters a try and the fried shrimp is great. If the drive to Topwater is to long give Tampico seafood a try. The grilled shrimp is pretty good.

I noticed Vieng Thai about a year ago after eating at El Hildeguence nest door, I thought oit was brand new then. It surprises me it has been around that long.

Its been 10 years since I last ate there and I remember it being solid.

OK Maybe we need to change the title of this thread to Vieng Thai has the best Thai in town? Anyway, I hooked up with a buddy of mine who also invited about a million other people (OK it was only 10) for a lunch at Vieng Thai a couple weeks ago. Hey, the more the merrier, especially for thai, right? It was great, but we did compromise a little because of the number we had in are party. Everyone (really it was me) decided it would be better if I ordered as long as I included this or that, which was fine even if it precluded me from ordering one or two funky things. Heres what we had, sa far as I can remember: Appetizers Tod Mun Plaa Deep fried fish cakes served with cucumber and ground peanuts relish. These look like little square disks which were failry odd but the taste of the fish was pretty mild and the relish was very nice. Middle of the road dish. We had a sausage but I forget which one, it was good but not very memorable. Soups Tom Kha Gui This was a very good version of this soup. Was it better than Kanamwan's (one of the better dishes at Kan)? Maybe, it was certainly less salty. Very good dish. We had another soup but it wasn't Tom Yum, but was similar. t was ok, I would have preffered to have the Tom Yum but this sounded a little different. Salads Sum Tum This famous papaya salad with garlic, tomatoes, chilies with lime based dressing comes in two styles. Central Thai Style with dried shrimps and peanuts or Northeastern Thai/Laotian Style with salted crab. Very good dish that was a little funky for some at the table because of the dried shrimp is my guess. Top tier dish Laarb Ground meat with lime juice, chili, scallion, red onion, cilantro and mint might be the best dish here? Its a more wet version than some but not soupy. Curry Peneang Curry was very nice, could have used a bit more spice but we were a large group and peneng is generally fairly mild. This was also a top ties dish. We also had tiger cry which was very pleasant if not a pretty plain dish. I think we had a few more dishes but I can't think of them right now. But Vieng is at the top of my thai list and with the BYOB policy it makes it pretty much untouchable as far as going anywhere else for Thai. My Personal Thai ratings no look like: 1. Vieng Thai 2. Thai Corner 3. Kanamwan 4. Erawan 5. Vung Thia (except the awful buffet) 6. Thai Racha Bottom Thias 1. Nit Noi 2. Thai Spice 3. Sawadee

Spunds like airline seafood to me and even though they went through an ownership change, I think the fish is pretty good. There is another small seafood place off Holcombe to the south of Holcomb actually on a little street that usually has the best scallops I've ever purchased. Its a little street between Kirby and Buffalo Speedway as I said just south of Holcomb.

Just make it the same, my guess is it will be better than having neck bones. Okay, I have two carcasses in the freezer....how does one go about making this rich stock? I've made chicken stock from like neckbones and such many times, but never from a carcass. Is the process the same? Do you still add veggie trimmings, or just boil up the bones? And is the richness coming from letting the broth reduce a lot, or is there something about the already cooked rotisserie chicken carcasses that makes the bones breakdown and unleash their flavors better? Thanks! ←

Had another very good an too filling lunch at Himalaya today.

Hey Tammy, how about helping out someone with a breakfast for 24 people. Any ideas? I don't usually cook for that many people, so I'm kind of stumped. I will be on vacation with my wifes family next week and have 1 breakfast meal to cook which more than likely will be 2 main dishes and a side.

Thai Corner brought me back to the semelessly boring Thai food you get everywhere in houston (read nit noi, thai corner, kanamwan, ...) and Vieng Thai on Long Point will keep me going. On the legs of 1 dish (Larb) I can wholeheartedly rec this place. I have gathered a few friends and will give it a try with 3-4 other people in the next few days. That way we can get 7-8 dishes. Wooohoo!

The 14 course is actually $79.

Doing a little research I came across the website for Lola's in Dallas. I have never eaten at Lola's but it has been talked about in high regard many times. Maybe its not as good as Aries, I don't know, maybe its better? Anyway, Lola's has a little place adjacent to the restaurant called The Tasting Room. At The Tasting Room you can get a 10 course meal for $59 or a 14 course for $79 and pair it with wine for $32(it looks like you only get 4 wine pairings though). The menu looks comparable. Why so much of a difference in price?

I don't mind the portion size at all but I bet there wasn't more than 6 oz total between the duck and chicken. And if I'm wrong about the size I appologize to Aries. I completely understand the law of diminishing returns and applaud the effort and relish the oppurtunity to try others as long as there is some excitement in it. that being said, IMO, I think a fish dish should have been added, making a total of 6 dishes for $85. There is no way you couldn't do that and still make a nice profit. The meal was tomato, beans, chicken, duck, 1 little slice of peach with good ice cream, and some tapioca. Cmon, thats not a very interesting menu for $85(even though it was wonderful). Is it?

Any suggestions for a breakfast for 18 people some of which are kids during a lake vacation. Evidently we are supposed to be in charge of 1 meal per group/family. I was thinking of doing 1 or 2 different things as the main dish and a couple sides. What kind of main dish for a big mixed group?

I recently had a chance to dine at a few restaurants on the cheap because my wife was out of town and I could check them out solo. One place I went to was Aries on a Wednesday night last week. I was reserved a little table next to an air duct I had read about here although I didn't feel any effects from it, problem must have been addressed. I was offered a drink upon sitting down and decided on vodka "martini" with a twist. It was a nice cocktail. I decided on the tasting menu even though I thought it was a little pricey. I was brought a nice little amuse bouche of apple tart with fois grasspread thru ought balanced with a red wine vinegar. It was certainly a nice dish and the obvious small portion was foreshadowing the rest of the night. The first course was an excellent summer dish of frozen yellow tomato gazpacho (granita). Very simple in taste and my guess is you should be able to freeze the gazpacho also. A tasty little cracker accompanied the dish and was used as a fork/spoon while eating. This course was served with a rose wine and me not being a big wine guy (I love it, just don't know about it) I can say it wasn’t a great intro into Rose for me, it was fairly alcoholy. If what was served is what was on my menu the name is Domaine de l'Espiqouette Vin de Pays de la Principaute d'orange, 2004. For what that’s worth. The next dish was a very nice pureed Cannellini Bean Soup with Potato confit and truffles. This dish was excellent! And even though again it was tiny it was about as much as I wanted to taste because of the richness. The potato was hollowed out and stuffed with a very nice melting cheese. I nice little Voignier from Santa Barbara called Consilience, a lot of sweet pear. I was not very excited about the next dish of poached chicken but figured f a chef has the balls to put a poached chicken on an $85 meal then it must be good. Well I was right. This was hands down the best chicken dish I have had even if it was only about 2 oz of chicken. The chicken was poached in milk and served atop some "melted" leeks with a mustard foan sauce. The leeks were buttery heaven and the whole dish melted in my mouth. This was served with a chateau de Viviers, 1st Cru, Chablis, nice a crisp. This or the bean soup was my favorite Next was a duck dish. I am always a little nervous when either a non-Asian or French does duck. Most people do a very good job of screwing up duck IMO. Aries however has it down. This was a nice little (seriously little) piece of duck breast sliced thin yet was still able to keep a crispy skin. A risotto cake accompanied and might have taken a little away from the duck. Next was a dish that was said to be peaches and cream with Vanilla financier. I call it 1 small slice of roasted peach with vanilla mascarpone ice cream. Seriously, there was only 1 little slice of peach. It was a tasty bit of peach and the ice cream was very good. Then next a very tasty watermelon soup with a mint tapioca was served as a drink. I loved it. I had another glass of wine, which was supposed to be a chenin blanc, but I was served a sweet dessert wine instead because they "ran" out of the chenin blanc, which really surprises me since the menus are made daily? All in all I thought the food was great. And although I don't mind the small dishes, in fact I love them; I just don't see a great value in spending $85 bucks for 5-6oz of protein (Maybe that's not out of line, I just saw that charivari had a 6 course tasting menu for 75ish!). And the wine for an additional $55 was a little off especially with them running out of one of the selections. Will I go back? Maybe, I'm just not rushing out the door to get there.