jscarbor

Might be the other way? Or not?

That place is great...I pick up food there for a quick weekday dinner all the time. BTW, they are another branch of the Xiong's Cafe on Bellaire. ← Xiongs is the same menu right? What else have you had at Old Place? ← It is identical. I've had the in order of preference: - Pork and cilantro dumplings (best dumplings I've ever had anywhere) - Szechuan dumplings - Scallion pancakes - Spicy szechuan noodles - Spicy beef noodle soup with dark broth - dan dan noodles - Pan fried pork dumplings - pork and leek - Pork noodle soup with cabbage (this was very salty and barely edible and I never ordered it again) I forget if I've had anything else or not. Although a Chinese friend of mine highly recommends their dumplings with the broth in them...forgot the proper name for them but I've never tried them. ← Scallion pancake is good. Whats the difference in the Dan Dan and the spicy szechuan noodles? The pork and cucumber noodles are pretty good as well. Sweetbread tacos are riteous and the tripe ones are the only tripas in town that I have had that I liked.

That place is great...I pick up food there for a quick weekday dinner all the time. BTW, they are another branch of the Xiong's Cafe on Bellaire. ← Xiongs is the same menu right? What else have you had at Old Place?

Its not something new to me but it is worth mentioning. Old Place Cafe in Sugar Land/Mo City has the best dumplings in town. The place really reminds me of the old santong snacks on Bellaire but a little nicer. Its not oppulent but if you ate at Santong Snacks you know what I mean. I keep telling myself that I need to get the lamb noodle soup but never do. Next time!

I just got back from a trip drinking some really good wines (to me really good). Problem is I was drinking $10 stuff and as of now they are fairly undrinkable to me. Sure my palate might go back to my pre $70 bottle days but thought I might look for some help on some everyday drinking wines that might be available at our wine warehouse.

excuse me if this has been suggested but what about a peanut butter burger? They are my favorite burger.

Our last meal of the trip was at Pilar in downtown napa. Its a smallish restaurant next to a stir fry joint and a diner. Pleasent contemorary decor and about 15 tables inside. I brought 1 bottle of Robert Sinskey Pinot wine with me since it was the only wine I had and didn't want to take it on the plane. We ordered a couple more bottles as well and were treated with appropriate stemware for the wines. I started with some oysters with a mignenette on them and while good I really prefer our (texas oysters). I also enjoyed a chili crusted quail as a starter and my wife had an excellent dungeness crab cake wih a lemon aoili. for main I had a pork chop which I asked to be cooked medium but came out medium well. I also had some great roasted fingerlings with the dish. Although my mind is a little fuzzy I remember really liking the dish. My wife had bison steak that was really tasty. In all everyone enjoyed the food tremendously and really thought that this was the best value of all the meals we had. Martini House meal and Pilar were neck and neck with La Toque falling short. On the way home our flight was over booked so my wife and I took a bump on next plane and $400 vouchers! Nice. That pays for Park City later this month!

Is Las Gorditas Gorditas AquasCalientas. And San Tong is now SandDong Noodle House and while good it doesn't seem to be as good as the original dump.

Saturday was a little lazy, nothing planned except a little shopping in St Helena. Guys decided it would be more fun to get a beer and surprisingly good margarita at a little mexican place on the main street (hwy 29). After a couple drinks the ladies showed up with some minor purchases. We decided to hit Taylors for a burger. Taylors was pretty crowded which isn't very surprising being that the weather was amazing. The menu here is really cool, lots of good sounding semi fast food. I decided to get a burger and some fries and wife decided at last minute to skip the tuna burger and went with a blue burger. The setting is kind of 50's outdoor casual fast food joint. We picked a bench and grabbed a couple beers, my buddy chose the thick stout and I went with a hefweisan, my pick seemed a little more appropriate being that it was nearly 80 degrees but my buddies stout was very good. We waited not long and recvd the food. The burgers here are good, not great but the setting and the company made this an excellent meal. A couple of people in the group HAD to go to Ledsons so another couple and my wife decided to break off from that group. We didn't want to be antisocial but we also didn't want to sit in the car for gthe hour/hour and half for the trip to Ledson. Being a sat your choices for just stopping by a winery are limited to the ones that are open sat. So, we kind of had to go with what we knew? The sparkling at Shramsbergh got us craving a little bubbly since with the exception of shrams was Red wine. So we thought, chandon. The place looks great but the crowd was crazy, we made a quick uturn ans headed to Robert Sinskey. For some reason we did the tasting but decided to take it outside on the veranda. After we finished our first round a guy came by to pour our next flight and we started talking a little bit. He gave us the wine deal for Sinskey and then we asked about him and it was cool. He brought us a few extras which was nice and I ended up buying the late harvest zinfandel and one of the good pinots they produce. We headed off to Dariush to check the place out and got sucked into the crap tasting these sorry crooks pour. The wine was avg and the people working were not the most friendly,we slammed our 2nd to pours right there and headed off. It was then I relaized we should just order a bottle at the next place that had a tasting fee. Reguschi is a good winery and the dogs are friendly so we wenbt there and picked up a Cab and went and drank with our friends at a picnic table. We decided to head back to the hotel so that we could get ready for dinner.

Teotihuacan on Airline would be a start. Lopez near Sgar Land has been a favorite of mine for 30 years. As much as it pisses me off at times El Tiempo at times can be a revelation. Whats the place on E 74th or something off of Harrisburgh? It really good. What do you like in Austin?

Did I mention it was 75 and sunny everyday in Napa last weekend? Oh my, it was a great trip!

Next tour was to De Dotto or Del Blotto as many people said because of the copius amounts of wine they produce. So we all were a little excited to see just how much wine is poured here. The tasting is $40 per person! However you probably get that and much more in how much wine you drink. This is a drinking place not really a wine place, you go here for the experience. The tour starts off with our pompous little condescending tasting guide who was in his mind the best most knowledgeable guide we could get. I don't think there was one person in our group that liked him. That being said, we decided to take his abuse and condesending attitude and have a good time. We talked about barrells and toasting them. Then we proceeded to go through the candlelit caves with Josh Grobin music and tasted out of 15-16 different barrells. I poured 1/2 out because enough is enough already. About 2/3 the way through the tasting, the guides girlfriend shows up and joins us. Later she mentioned that this guy was acting, he's just an ahole. My wife gave her some advise. Anyway, look, even if he seemed like a prick, you can't let that stop you from having a good time. We all had a blast and we were blasted! We bought a few wines after the tour while drinking more and listening, at that time, to some Doors. The whole day we had mentioned where we were eating during the trip and EVERY person said that we should go to La Toque. The place was held in high regard with everyone. I felt bad because I had heard many things about the place earlier then something bad from a good source so I dropped our reservation. Anyway, I call that night and got a reservation for party of 8! That should have been a red flag. To say that the meal was a disaster would be innacurate. To say that the place was merely avg and that the bill was about $200 per person is really bad. I had the truffle tasting and those were the most lifeless truffles I have ever had and at $150 it was a complete ripoff! The food was good enough from what the others in the group said but I can say that Martini House and the next nights meal at Pilar were better regardless of price. The night ened with 8 very tired, wine logged people. More on day 3 later

If I could afford it I would buy a case of the Syrah and the Lone Canyon! They are great wines.

First day was travel and 1 winery. Etude was a nice first stop even if they forgot we were coming. They I guess double booked the tasting room so we had to taste at the front desk. We tried 5 different wines, 2 pinots and 3 cabs. I liked the Heirloom pinot and the Napa cab the most. One interesting thing about this winery was the fact that it is part of Fosters? I was surprised that this relatively small winery was owned by a big conglomerate. Wines were good, tasting was free and we bought a case between the 2 couples here. After Etude we met the rest of the group at the hotel and got ready for dinner at Martini House. Martini House was a really cool Napish looking place. One person described it as being very Tolstoyish. I was going to have the chefs winter tasting menu but opted to make up my own tasting. Ordered a glass of Champagne to start off then an excellent bottle of Skewis Pinot and a buddy had the John Duvall Plexus shiraz. We kinf of shared these. My first appetizer was the mushroom salad and I have to be honest here. I drank a lot so can not comment on details much but the salad was great. Earthy shrooms that really taste like, well, like good mushrooms. My next dish was sweetbreads. I remember liking them but the rest is a little foggy=). Then an ok monkfish in a zinfadel sauce with bacon. I should have gone elsewhere like the outrageously good quail stuffed with fois gras or the perfectyl executed salmon dish my wife had. The skewis and the salmon were a perfect match! I woke up friday with a raging hangover. Not looking good for me. I was really feeling bad. I was thinking (so was everyone else) what an ameteur! I drank water, coffee, more water, more coffee, aspirin, mimosa, emergan C and then one other potion. All the sudden we started talking business and I started feeling better? Was it the business adrenaline? Or was it the thousands of chemicals in my body working? Doesn't really matter, I was feeling...ok! Oh yeah, I also hit Bouchon bakery which was AMAZING! Cheese danish, criosants, chocalate dealies...All great! Driver picked us up and we started our little excursion to Shramsberg winery. I was a little skeptical of going to a winery that sells wines to my local grocery store! About 2/3 the way to Shramsburgh the driver decided to take us to the nearly complete Villa Amarossa winery which is the sister winery I guess to Villa Satui. Not the best of wines but a nice tourist spot to look and marvel at. Anyway, Villa Amarossa is an incredible building. Reproductions usually are not REALLY that imrpessive but this one is! This building was amazing, intricate stone detail, arches and much more are hear. I think it iopens in 6 months? Its probably going to be worth it to see the building? We finally hit Shramsberg which was great because I was getting parched. The $20 fee per person wasn't really fun but I was a good soldier and went along. I was glad I did. Tony a part time comedian and full time wine/sparkling drinker was our guide. The winery tour is great and if you can get Tony (I am pretty sure that is his name) then go. He is funny and very knowledgeable. He's a great guy(so important in this job) whos been in coast guard, financial world, comedian and hospitality. The tour takes you through the history of the ocation and the wine then through their amazing caves. The caves were built pre building code and do not have the gunite material, its just roack and algae. We went through the obligatoiry fermenting process then hit the tasting the was set up in the cave adorned with lit candleobras. We tried 6 full glass pours of sparkling wine. The J Shram was my favorite! Tony was fun and we all started hanging out like it was happy hour and we almost let the time slip by to where getting to our next stop, Ladera, might be tough. I ended up joining the cliub so I could aviod having to carry around my loot all weekend. I won't get exactly what I want but I have to say that all the wines we tried here were good to very good. We hit the road and made it to Ladera on time. The road up the mountain was gorgeous, and the winery itself was fantastic looking. Angie, our tour guide and the person I had been communicating with met us outside. She spead us thru the tour stuff and got us to the tasting. Background here, with the advise of Carol Tillie I really pushed for this place so I was a little scared after we had so much fun at Shramberg. No fear, Angie was great and the wine was better! I loved the lone canyon cab and the limited release syrah. One person in our group was nice enough to tell Angie that she would write a testimonial for Ladera that the Syrah was the best syrah/shiraz she had EVER had. One group buoght a case of Syrah, I joined a club and also sent a magnum of Lone Canyon to a friend, and I beilieve another couple bought 6 syrah and 6 lone canyon and then another couple bought 6-8 more? For us that was a good haul. Angie had set up a spread from Dean and Deluca of sandwiches, salad and roasted potatoes. We opened a couple of our bottles and had an amazing lunch on the ground of ladera. I want to thank Carol Tillie for insisting that I insist on this place. The tour, tasting and the food cost $20 per person. The only reason it was $20 is because of the lunch! I really believe that the free tasting is the way for these wineries to go. I am much more interested in buying a lot of wine if you don't make me pay for a taste. That being said, noone in the group knew that the tasting was free yet, Ladera had the biggest purchase from the people in our group.

Hit Las Gallitos on Murphy Rd last week and have to say it was the worse Mexican food I have had in a LONG time. Just aweful. I had the carnitas los cucus. the los cucos part is some gloopy concoction of onion pepper cheese and other crap. My wife had the enchiladas verdes and had about 4 bites b4 deciding to give up and save the calories.

Looks like we are going to be able to skip SO, however Ledson is a must stop(a lot of driving) for 1 couple. Quickly, Shramsburgh tour was great. Tour guide was top notch and we poured some excellent Sparklers. Etude had some fine Pinots, Ladera's wines smoked all the others and the picnic was a great way to end tour there. Del Dotto was a great experience despite the big price tag. Martini House very good, Bouchon Bakery great and La Toque a big downer. More to come!

Packing up right now for my trip with wife and friends to Napa tomorrow. I would like to have skipped one or 2 tours and hit a couple other more tastingd but group travel presents some challenges. After having to hear me bitch and moan about hitting a few places we decided to try and squeze in a good place late tomorrow after arrival. Etude is expecting us at 3pm but said they will hang around a little longer if we give them a call if we are running late. That was really cool of them. Etude a solid place and althought the wine is available for those who look it is not completely on the radar like shramsburgh and Silver Oak. Thursday night looks like dining at Martini House. Looking forward to that, especially if the shroom crop is looking good. Friday is our big tour day. We start off at Shramsburgh. Then we hit Ladera. Im looking forward to Ladera and having lunch at the picnic tables outside. The wine sounds great, Im looking forward to the Howell Mt Cab and the new syrah they have. After Ladera we hit De Dotto and its crazy expensive tour, despite that I am looking forward to the tour. My buddy is a big fan of this place so I am defering to him and his judgement. I like the wines, I have had a couple of the cabs from here and the tour itself with music going and cave sound great, I just hope the entertainment factor is worth the price of admission. Not dinner plans friday night because the Del Dotto tour is supposed to wear us out. I bet I find a way to try and see if French Laundry has a cancellation? It will probably only be me so what the hell? Sat is a drive up sonoma, hit a uick winery then Lunch at Market. Another couple wants to hit silver oak and although I am personally against it I think I will just go since many of the more interesting looking places either don't have tastings on sat or they are by appoint only and I don't have that luxury. After Silver Oak we are going to Ledsons. Pretty much done after that except for our meal at Pilar. I'll be sure to let you folks know how it all went.

Sounds good everyone. Will let you know how it goes.

Is there something close to Silver Oak that I could be dropped off at that is good?

Any thoughts? Gizzards in a brandy cream sauce? Wine recs to go with them would be appreciated.

No! Fight for your right -- and tell them that a number of knowledgeable people have informed you that the Silver Oak tasting is more than a waste of time. Not enough wines to warrant stopping and those that are available are young, hot, and not the classic Silver Oak of days-gone-by! Send 'em to this thread! ← I was bitching about this with my wife and she said that we will just have to go back soon. Another in the group seems to be on my side and said we will try and steer him away from Silver Oak.

Its hard to do trips with a large group, everyone has an agenda. I just found out one of the group people wants to do silver oak! F**k! I guess I will just have to lay down on this one? Skewis, Terrra V, Miner, Etude, shug and all the others look to be fine recs and certainly more wine imprtant but alas I must forego any conflict as I have already stirred the pot with some in the group. Some people just have to have comfortable/reliable things. I don't get it, I can get Shramsberg in Houston, Silver Oak is everywhere. When do you have the oppurtunity to try wines from the people that really matter? I can tell you, when you are in their backyard, thats when.

Any thoughts on boutique winery with excellent pinot between napa and sonoma?

Didnt do a curry afterall. The carrot ginger puree, just carrot and ginger? Do you cook the carrot down then puree?

Be aware that Coppola (now Rubicon Estate) now charges $25.00 per person just to get in the place. I believe this also includes a tasting of 5 wines. More on the website here. ← Heck, I'm going to a tasting that charges us $40! But I'm told its (del dotto) well worth the steep price.