Houston Chronicle's Whine and Dine

[Dignan]

In today's W&D, I chose to pick on Ms. Lamon who believes her waiter should "know" what game shoudl show on what TV and advise his patrons accordingly. Oh, but she only requires this at a sports bar.

Elie

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I gotta go with Ms. Lamon on this one, Elie. As I spend an inordinate amount of time in sports bars, there's an established protocal for tvs in a sports bar-- once a game has been put on a television and that game is being watched by someone, only in extraordinary circumstances should the channel be changed to something else. My favorite spot usually has all the tv's mapped out and assigned to games prior to broadcast.

[FoodMan]

I definitly see your point, but I did not think the waiter is the one to blame in this case, unless he changed the channel.

Elie

[Dignan]

I definitly see your point, but I did not think the waiter is the one to blame in this case, unless he changed the channel.

Elie

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Only as a conduit of the management, I agree. I took the complaint as against the sports bar and its management. When you walk into a sports bar, you sit down according to a TV, and what game that TV will be showing. And as their food was served, the game was switched. I saw it as a condemnation of Texadelphia.

[Mabelline]

What nard would change a baseball playoff game to football?

[FoodMan]

In this week's W&D, the manager at Bracino asks some smokers to clear the bar area for his non-smoking dinner crowd. What do you think about that?

Elie

[FoodMan]

This week's W&D is still pretty lame and uninteresting. However I could not help but provide my humble opinion about two of the "recommendations".

First the Zinneckers recommend Panda Garden on Weslayan. I have to say it, they are right about two things, the prices are reasonable and the portions are large, but the food ranges from crappy to mediocre. Even my 16 month old son would not eat their limp flavorless noodles. For good Chinese try out Fung's Kitchen.

Second, which is more disturbing, is Mr. Wilson who is "always looking for a good Thai restaurant" and the result is .....drum roll please......

"best so far is Thai Spice Buffet". Seriously??? this is the best?? I know taste is subjective and all, but this establishment sucks, their buffet is nothing but bad Chinese food with some coconut milk and other "Thai" seasoning thrown in the mix. It is the worst Thai (and I use the term very loosly) restaurant in the city. For a good Thai meal please head over to Nit Noi, Thai Gourmet or Arawan among many others.

What do you people think?

Elie

[jscarbor]

Nit noi is so uninteresting to me that I wouldn't put it on the list. Perhaps Thai Corner at Bellaire and B8 could be added?

Erawan looks like a contender. I will give a few more dishes a try.

[FoodMan]

Nit noi is so uninteresting to me that I wouldn't put it on the list. Perhaps Thai Corner at Bellaire and B8 could be added?

Erawan looks like a contender. I will give a few more dishes a try.

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Nit Noi could be pretty bland at times (I love their Tom Yum (sp?) soup though), but compared to Thai Spice it serves a royal Thai dinner.

Elie

[SuperLuckyCat]

80% of the people that recommend some place in W&D is based on "huge portions." Once again, I point to the argument that W&D is seldom about quality of food but more about huge portion, zero waiting time, total attention of the server who better bring the food out IMMEDIATELY, and the willingness of the restaurant to give you something free if anything goes even slightly wrong! It would be much easier for people if servers were in the parking lot and attached feedbags to people. But of course, that's just one girl's opinion..... Heh heh

[FoodMan]

It would be much easier for people if servers were in the parking lot and attached feedbags to people. But of course, that's just one girl's opinion.....

then reviewes would be based on how deep one place's feedbag is compared to another

Elie

[FoodMan]

nothing really major in today's W&D. However I thought it has a couple of interesting tidbits:

We have a complain from Ms. Hurtado that the portions in restaurants are too big, while Ms. Miles complains that they got served too little of a portion.

Going back to Ms. Hurtado's comment about recieving "rude comments" when asking for a Kid's menu. A kid's menu!? Are you kidding me, she is 26 and if she asks for a kids menu during my table-waiting days she would have gotten a no as well. Besides she claims to order salads and I've never seen a kid's menu with anything but crappy fried stuff like chicken tenders. Yeah, a waiter is going to waste an hour of his time waiting on a 26 yr old who ordered the $2.95 kid's cheese enchilada. Get over it lady and order some real food.

The last comment by Mr. Hix is also strange. Besides the fact that IMO he is dead wrong about Gran Marnier not belonging in a Margarita, what is his comment doing here? Did Mona Shoup run out of "Whines"?

Elie

[SuperLuckyCat]

I take half of salads to go, just don't goop it with dressing and they last a little bit. Order a damn appetizer and a salad if you're looking for less food. Not that I disagree about portions being way too big.

I love that comment about the restaurant staff eating Subway at a nearby table - can you imagine how mad the management will be there!

[joiei]

nothing really major in today's W&D. However I thought it has a couple of interesting tidbits:

Besides the fact that IMO he is dead wrong about Gran Marnier not belonging in a Margarita, what is his comment doing here?

Elie

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Isn't this known as a grand Margarita? Does he not put triple sec into his 'ritas?

What was that guy thinking anyway? They sure do have some strange birds down in Houston. Not that we do not have our share, I sometimes think we are overloaded for our population base.

[Kevin72]

The last comment by Mr. Hix is also strange. Besides the fact that IMO he is dead wrong about Gran Marnier not belonging in a Margarita, what is his comment doing here? Did Mona Shoup run out of "Whines"?

Elie

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Is it just a sign of how few letters they get, or how bad the letters are, that this is what makes it into their pages? Why don't they at least have an editor's response clearing this issue up?

[FoodMan]

Today's W&D has an interesting request by an anonymous reader labeled "urgent!". I thought it might be interesting for us to try and suggest a place for this guy, in case he's one of our readers . Can you think of any? The problem with his request is the "quiet" part, since as we all know even top notch restaurants in this city are not that quiet (eg. Mark's). I would think maybe Bank or 17 might be a good place for the occasion, even though I've never been to either one yet.

Elie

[LDLee]

14 years ago, I asked my wife to marry me at La Tour D'Argent. With only 4 couples that night, it was very quiet. We were just out of law school and broke. While reading the menu, she yelped "$13 for a Caeser Salad". The sound echoed for minutes. I have not been back since it reopened, but have not heard anything positive.

If he wants quiet, I would suggest going early in the week when the restaurants are less crowded. He might also want to reserve the Chef's table or the wine room. Rainbow Lodge would be a good choice for romantic with good food. They have a small private room that you can reserve for a special dinner.

Elie, do you want to start this as a seperate post?

Lindsey

Edited January 27, 2005 by LDLee (log)

[FoodMan]

Let's leave it as part of the W&D thread for now. It can be moved later if it attracts enough responses and interest.

Didn't the Chronicle have a positive review of La Tour D'Argent since it is back in the hands of the original owner?

Elie

[FoodMan]

In today’s W&D:

Mr. Scott concludes after making a dinner reservation on Valentines day of all nights and being surprised that there was a set menu, that "The next time I make a reservation at a top-rated restaurant, I will ask about the menu for the evening in question."

Well, of course you should. It’s valentine’s day dinner, one of the busiest nights of the year and most restaurants have set menus!! Another reason why I stay home on Valentine’s.

Elie

[Farming_Lassie]

Today's W&D:

Irma’s gets positive review for service

Vargo’s and Daily Review get bashed …although I’m not sure what is so wrong about adding gratuity on a table of 6 or more. Does anyone here think it’s rude?

Elie

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Not at all. It is sad that it must be done.

[SuperLuckyCat]

I know it isn't in the Wine & Dine section, but read Allison Cook's review and I must say that you would have to hold me at gunpoint to make me go to the Cupcake Cafe in Sugarland.

[FoodMan]

I know it isn't in the Wine & Dine section, but read Allison Cook's review and I must say that you would have to hold me at gunpoint to make me go to the Cupcake Cafe in Sugarland.

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Why? It is on my way to and from work and I was thinking about stopping by sometime. Maybe you should start a thread for this place and elaborate on your experience.

Elie

[SobaAddict70]

Snork! I like the Whine & Dine feature. Just too damn funny. The Wichita Eagle has a call-in "Opinion Line" where you can rant to your heart's content and see it in the paper. The nutcases that call in are always good for a chuckle. What I'd like to see, both in the Eagle and now the Chronicle, is a year-end review of all the opinions that were too whacked out to run in the column. That would be hysterical.

Chad

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I've often wondered what things would be like if the New York Times ever dared print an equivalent.

Soba

[SuperLuckyCat]

I know it isn't in the Wine & Dine section, but read Allison Cook's review and I must say that you would have to hold me at gunpoint to make me go to the Cupcake Cafe in Sugarland.

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Why? It is on my way to and from work and I was thinking about stopping by sometime. Maybe you should start a thread for this place and elaborate on your experience.

Elie

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I know this will be seen as sort of mean, but a place that caters so much to little kids being cutesy asking for a cupcake would prevent me from going there. In my experience, in places like that, parents tend to "check out" and let their kids run amok. You can sort of read between the lines that the reviewer wrote and tell she thought it was sort of annoying there.

If I want a treat like that, thank goodness we have The Chocolate Bar on Alabama.

[Jack Tyler]

Many comments in the Chronicle’s (Houston) weekly feature “Whine and Dine” are very irritating (I guess this is partly the point). Stuff like, “Oh, I cannot believe restaurants are still serving pasta and bread” or drivel like “I want to go to a restaurant on my B-Day so I can get a free meal” or one of the worst “I went to Pappasitos and it was noisy”  just to name a few. I propose we start discussing (or debating) this weekly feature in this forum, is anyone else interested?

I will start with today’s Whine and Dine and one of the dumbest comments I’ve read in weeks:

“Maria Zaborek of Houston says she can't believe people are still eating chicken-fried steak. "Ever since I moved here from Chicago in 1978, I knew that CFS is 'heart attack on a plate.' There are far more interesting and healthful things to do with round steak than CFS. Frying, including batter-covered okra, is the sign of a bad cook. Okra is now considered a fiber-healthy food. So, I don't fry it; I simmer it with onions and lycopene-enriched tomatoes!"

WOW!!! Was Maria a visionary or what back in 1978??? She always “knew” that the great delicacy is a heart attack on a plate.

Elie

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Maria Zaborek seems like she was like many northerers who moved to Houston in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Those from Detroit were most notable. They had grown up looking at us southerners as ignorant, interbred mongrels who hate minorities and eat grits to fuel our hatred. Then assembly line jobs dried in the rust belt and Detroiters moved to Houston during the oil boom expecting high paying assembly line jobs. Unable to find union assembly line jobs here, many were bitter and unable to cope with our bad food and southern accents. Acceptance of local delicacies like chicken fried steak, cream gravy, grits and collard greens is a tacit acceptance that there ARE other ways to do it, in addition to the way we did it "back home".

As far as "still on menus" is concerned, she can look for a lot of "retro" offerings in the future, as the trend is toward reviving some of the 1950's and 1960's offerings, like lettuce wedges with Thousand Island and Green Goddess dressing.

Whine and Dine in the Chronicle is many things. It's a way that anyone can be a food critic... and that's good. It's also a PR guy's dream, as they can get someone to write in a positive remark about their client.... and they do it all the time.

Jack Tyler

(who loves CFS and cream gravy and fried okra and black eyed peas and collards)

[fifi]

I remember those days well. Back then, the restaurant scene in Houston was a lot less diverse than it is now. High end wasn't nearly as common as it is now. There were a lot of local "cafes" and such that typically served Southern food and then there was Tex-Mex. Remember that we were getting "immigrants" into Houston at some absurd rate of 10,000 a month or more. (That number is probably wrong but it was big.) Regional culture lines had not begun to blur like today. Culture shock was the topic of the day. Food was a big part of it. We didn't have a Whine & Dine column but the local rags were open to editorial comment and the food thing always showed up. Some of the cafe owners that I knew because we frequented the place would complain that their new customers just didn't understand the basics, like collard greens are supposed to be cooked that way. Tex-Mex was beyond comprehension. We had two major dailies then, The Chronicle and The Post. Both often ran articles explaining the local cuisine. A friend of mine is a local historian and was actually the Society Editor for the Post for a time. I will check with her and see what she can add.