Sweet and Sour Brisket

name of recipe :: Sweet and Sour Brisket
website :: Food Network Ellie Krieger
review :: This recipe was rated easy, with prep time being 20 min and cook time 2.5-3 hours. The only problem was, I didn’t have the ingredients and it was getting late. I set out my grocery run at around five in the evening. The only item on the ingredients list I was not able to purchase was the allspice berry, which I substituted for crushed allspice. To be honest, I haven’t used my kitchen to cook in a good while, which makes me a little sad because I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but I’m glad to be back in. I paired the brisket with some salad and corn and it was a great meal.

This is a one-pot meal, which was great and clean up was a breeze. I'd recommend it for a first time dutch oven user.

rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: goose

Tradicao Brazilian Steakhouse

name of restaurant :: Tradicao Brazilian Steakhouse
address :: 6800 SW Fwy Houston, TX 77074
hours :: Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sat. 4:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
meals served :: L & D, Brunch on Sundays
prices :: $$$
dress code :: casual
reservations :: first come, first serve but reservations are taken
website :: www.tradicaobraziliansteak.com/
review :: This is the first time I've ever had a Churascaria experience. And what I've heard is true, if your card is flipped to green, they will just swarm you with meat after meat after meat.

You first start off with the salad bar. It wasn't a typical salad bar, with different salads of your choosing. There was potato salad, hearts of palm, artichoke, cucumber salad, a selection of cheeses and many more that I can't quite remember. After making my selections and heading back to the table, the card was flipped to green. I can't exactly remember all the meats I had, but I remembered there was a lot. They had varying cuts of meat, such has Filet Mignon, lamb shanks, baby beef, the house specialty, as well as sauteed shrimp. Overall, most of the meat was good, some were a bit salty and some over cooked, I like my meat well done. By the end of the meal, I was pretty stuffed. But I did save room for dessert, a cup of creme brulee. Even though I've had better elsewhere, the creaminess of the dessert and the sweetness of the sugary crust helped even out my taste buds from all the meat.

I do recommend the lemonade, free refills too. It is a blend of a whole lime, some water, sugar and condensed milk, which gives it a frothy top.

If you're looking to load yourself with meat, but don't want to spend a fortune, check out Tradicao. The waitstaff was always courteous and ready to please your needs.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: goose

Lola

name of restaurant :: Lola
address :: 1102 Yale at 11th St
hours ::
meals served :: B, L & D
prices :: $-$$
dress code :: Casual
reservations :: first come, first serve
website :: www.eatlola.com
review :: While in a bind to get my husband dinner I stopped by Lola in the Heights. He wanted a turkey sandwich so I ordered him the Day After Thanksgiving sandwich (which comes with fries or a salad). The sandwich lives up to its name. Stuffing is smeared across the bottom of the sweet, buttery bun then buried underneath a mount of thickly sliced turkey and layer of cranberry sauce. A side of brown gravy is included. We ordered it with fruit which had suspiciously super sweet grapes.

Personally I could have used more cranberry sauce since I like the sweet tang against the salty turkey and stuffing but my husband has taken to it so much he has ordered it 4 times in the week since we tried it. I give it a 4 but the husband gives it a 5. The sandwich costs around $12 after tax. I don't long for it as he does but I will certain order it again. It hits the spot.

Beware going during the busy hours. Though there is a decent amount of seating, when it gets busy you might get stuck in close proximity with strangers.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: spankypants

Oishii Japanese Restaruant

name of restaurant :: Oishii Japanese Restaruant
address :: 3764 Richmond Ave., Houston, TX 77046
hours :: M-F 11:00am - 10:00pm, Sat. 12pm - 10pm, Sun. Closed
meals served :: L & D, Happy Hour
prices :: $
dress code :: casual
reservations :: first come, first serve
website :: www.oishiihouston.com
review :: Let me start by saying, we love sushi! We always like to go to different spots just to compare and Oishii was delicious! It was our kind of place, not a chain and kind of hole in the wall. But don't let the outside fool you, the food was awesome. The prices are great, very affordable. You didn't need to spend an arm and a leg to get fresh sashimi. We were able to get 4 rolls and more than a handful of sushi and it was under $55. Every piece we ate tasted very fresh and even the rice was delectable. I didn't even have a problem chewing on the seaweed, like at most places. The only downside, I would say, is the customer service. We went at around 8:30/9:00 pm and were waited on 3 different people. Sometimes we felt like they forgot about us. Oh, be sure to hit it up during happy hour, I saw crazy good prices.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: goose

Le Mistral

name of restaurant :: Le Mistral
address :: 1420 Eldridge Pkwy, Houston, TX 77077
hours :: T-T 11am - 10pm, Fri 11am - 11pm, Sat 5pm - 11pm, Sun 11am - 10pm
meals served :: L & D, Brunch on Sunday's
prices :: $$$$
dress code :: Upscale Causal
reservations :: recommended
website :: www.lemistralhouston.com
review :: Let me first say, this is not where we would typically eat but we wanted to try it out for Houston Restaurant week. It is a beautiful, romantic restaurant where customer service was top notch.

While waiting for our dishes, we were served an assortment of fresh baked breads with butter. I am a huge fan of baked bread, so this was a winner for me.

First Course :: The Salade Le Mistral was delicious. The mix of greens tasted fresh and the blueberry vinaigrette was very unique.

Second Course :: The Poulet Fermier Roti au Jus chicken's flavor was quite tasty, however a bit salty. The mashed potatoes and gravy were smooth like butter and the peas with sauteed onions were good but a tad on the salty side.

Third Course :: Nos Trois Differents Sorbets du Mois were very refreshing, tasting like a strawberry piña colada.

Overall, the dishes were very good however I wish there was more of what I was eating. Usually a restaurant we would not consider, we were actually glad we did.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: goose

Basil Pan-Seared Scallops over Pasta

name of recipe :: Basil Pan-Seared Scallops over Pasta
website :: allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basil-Pan-Seared-Scallops-over-Pasta/Detail.aspx
review :: I often check allrecipes.com when I'm at a lost of what to cook for the night. So tonight, I decided to make the Basil Pan-Seared Scallops over Pasta since I had scallops in the freezer, courtesy of our last Costco trip. There were a few modification to the recipe I made. Instead of using bow tie pasta, I used short strand pasta. I used a mixture of lemon and lime juice. As for the garlic, I used fresh minced instead of the dry stuff and unsalted butter instead of whipped. Also, I added some Tony Sachari's to the scallop mixture because Tony's is good on everything.

If you're a one-pot type of cooker, this isn't the recipe for you. I had to use 2 pots and 1 pan for this simple recipe. While there is a lot of prep work for this particular recipe, the meal was actually pretty good. The pasta was light, despite using ever virgin olive oil and butter for the sauce. The sauce came out a bit on the salted side, even using unsalted butter, I had to add some sugar to it to even out the taste. I suggest leaving the salt portion out of the sauce.

If you're craving a light pasta dish, then this is for you.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: goose

Olivette

name of restaurant :: Olivette
address :: 111 N Post Oak Ln Houston, TX 77024-7703
hours :: Weekdays 6:30 am - 10:00 pm, Weekends 7:00 am -10:00 pm
meals served :: B, L and D
prices :: $$$
dress code :: dressy-casual
reservations :: recommended
website :: www.houstonian.com/Olivette.aspx
review :: Went in for restaurant week:

The dining environment at The Houstonian was serene. We were seated by the window where the lushly (and abnormally green) manicured lawn of The Houstonian contrasted sharply with the gray rain clouds. It was 6:30pm so there was still plenty of light through the thick clouds. It was a nice setting - felt like I was in Seattle.

First course: Little Neck Clams in Garlic, Parsley, Butter, Grilled Ciabatta. I love clams and my favorite place to go to for clams (Trulucks) does not carry them right now because they are "out of season." I've had them many a times since finding this out but Trulucks may have it right because the clams have been small in size and lacks the plumpness of a perfect clam (hopefully you lasted this long without snickering). But as you can see the clams are in a butter garlic bath so you just can't go wrong with that. Not bad but didn't blow me away.

Second Course: Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Ratatouille, Potato Croquettes, Basil. Perfect medium rare steak with flavorful hints of seasoned bell peppers, zucchini, pearl onions and carrots. My fellow foodie, Sarah, loved the pearl and little purple onions. Very good and well done in presentation and flavor.

Third Course: Chocolate Pudding Cake accompanied with Fudge Sauce, Hazelnut Ice Cream, Hazelnut Tuile. This one is interesting. The chocolate pudding cake has the consistency between mousse and barely cooked chocolate cake batter. The chocolate pudding cake was rich so I went back and forth from the cake to the hazelnut ice cream to balance out the cavity-loving richness. The sugar hazelnut garnish was a nice crunchy finish to the dessert.

Olivette was nice. Didn't really blow me away but it would be a nice place to go for celebrating occasions.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: spankypants

Quattro

name of restaurant :: Quattro
address :: 1300 Lamar Street , Houston , Texas , U.S.A. 77010-3017
hours :: M-F 6:30am - 10pm, S-S 7am - 10pm
meals served :: B, L and D
prices :: $$$
dress code :: dressy-casual
reservations :: recommended
website :: www.fourseasons.com/houston/dining.html
review :: Went in for restaurant week.

First course: Summer Melon & Prosciutto di Parma with Asparagus, Endive, Marsala Gastrique. All of the flavors perfectly complimented each element of the appetizer. Even the plainly blanched asparagus struck a balance between the sweet juiciness of the melons with the saltiness of the prosciutto.

Second course: Oven Roasted Stripped Bass on a bed of Little Neck Clams, Fregula, Grape Tomatoes, Basil-Saffron Broth. Everything was delicious and flavorful with the exception of the bass itself. The bass tasted like it had been in the freezer for a long time and the texture was dry and slightly crumbly. I didn't touch the fish after the first two bites but cleaned the plate of everything else.

Third course: Limoncello Panna Cotta topped with Peach Compote, Raspberry & Caramelized Almonds. This was amazing. I never had panna cotta before and didn't know what to expect. It had the texture of flan but a little fluffier. There was also a mildly sweet whipped topping on the panna cotta that perfectly complimented the panna cotta. The peach compote gave it a nice diversion of flavor from the panna cotta and caramelized almonds provided just the perfect amount of texture to the smoothness of this dessert.

Aside from the bass, this meal exceeded my expectations. Don't know if I would go for a nice occasion but will definitely return for next years restaurant week.
rating :: 4 forks
reviewed by :: spankypants