Nori Sushi Bistro

name of restaurant :: Nori Sushi Bistro
address :: 700 Town & Country Blvd., Suite 2400

Houston, TX 77040

hours :: Mon - Fri: 11am - 10pm

Sat - Sun: 12pm - 10pm

meals served :: Lunch & Dinner
prices :: $$
dress code :: Casual
reservations :: First come, first serve
website :: www.norisushibistro.com
review :: The main reason we picked eating at this location was the centrality of it. My family lives up north and I on the west side of town, so it was a good medium. I was able to make reservations, seeing as it was Mother's Day weekend, I didn't want to chance of waiting a long time.

When we arrived, our table was already set because of the reservation. We were promptly greeted by our waiter for our beverage order. That was about the last time we were seen promptly. The wait between our beverages, placing the order and receiving our appetizer was a bit delayed. We were also waiting a good while before getting our drinks refilled with water. I did flag down a waitress but she did not come back to fill our drinks after she said she'd be back with more water. The wait between our appetizer to entrees was a little over 45 minutes. I even turned around to one of the sushi chef's, who looked like the manager, to ask to send a waiter to our table. Needless to say, the restaurant was sorely understaffed in regards to waitstaff and hostess. Our waiter did apologize for the delay, since they were taking care of the to-go orders. Note: there were three waiters/waitresses and when I turned to get someone's attention, all three were taking care of the to-go orders, while the restaurant was filling up with people and diners were waiting on their food.

When the food did finally arrived, we were underwhelmed. With the prices of the sushi rolls, we were expecting bigger portions. Sadly to say, we received small portions with a big price tag. The sushi rolls did taste fresh, but the service and portion left me feeling hungry for something else.

Maybe we caught them at a bad time, but as far as first impressions go, I do not think I will be coming back. Which is unfortunate, because I feel that they could do so much to help with the problem that was presented.
rating :: 1 fork
reviewed by :: goose

MooYah Burgers

name of restaurant :: MooYah Burgers

address :: 23701 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Suite 140, Katy, TX 77494
hours :: Hours: 11am-10pm, 7 days a week
meals served :: Lunch and Dinner
prices :: $
dress code :: Casual
reservations :: first come, first serve
website :: www.mooyah.com
review :: I've been to MooYah Burgers twice. The first time I went, I thought the burgers were small and lacked flavor with their fries being greasy. However, that was a while ago, when they were first opened, so we decided to give them another chance.

The ordering process is fairly simple, there's a form that you fill out with your choice of burger patties and other entrees as well as your toppings. For today's meal, I ordered the junior burger (one patty) on a whole wheat bun, which had sesame seeds on both sides. As for the toppings, I chose ketchup, mustard, special MooYah sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, avocado (extra cost) and swiss cheese (extra cost). We also ordered regular sized fries and regular drink. I highly recommend the mango tea, it was quite tasty, not too sweet with the right amount of mango.

As far as burgers go, MooYah Burgers patties are fairly thin. I felt that my burger was all topping and no meat. If you were to go for the MooYah Burger, which has two patties, I'm sure that would have been equivalent to a regular burger at a different burger joint. With that being said, it was an alright burger that was reasonably priced. What I liked about MooYah Burgers was all the options I had for my burger, I just wish the patty was more meaty.
rating :: 2 forks
reviewed by :: goose

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

Lucky’s Pub

name of restaurant :: Lucky's Pub

address :: 801 St Emanuel
Houston, TX 77003
hours ::
meals served :: L, D and Happy Hour
prices :: $$
dress code :: Casual
reservations :: First come, first serve
website :: www.luckyspub.com
review :: We had the pleasure of eating at Lucky's Pub, thanks to the Great Urban Race starting and finishing there. Let me preface by saying, we did not eat anything all day. Our first meal was at Lucky's at around 4 in the afternoon. So, this review could be swayed by the fact that we would probably eat just about anything at the time.

I ordered the Lucky Burger and added Pepper Jack cheese, with a side of fries and for my hubby, he ordered the swiss and mushroom sliders with fries. I scarfed it down so fast, I think I may have forgotten to chew. The meat was pretty good, it did not taste frozen or fried. It had the right amount of juiciness to meatiness. I think the fries were the frozen variety, but they added a little bit of seasoning to it, that I didn't mind too much. As for the sliders, I only had one bite of them, but the hubby seemed to enjoy all three of them. I didn't care for the tomatoes on the bottom of the bun, but like I said, he didn't seem to mind.

For the price of the food, I think I would've gone somewhere else to enjoy a burger and fries. But, being in the moment with good friends and a great event, I didn't mind it too much.
rating :: 3 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

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

Lankford Grocery

name of restaurant :: Lankford Grocery
address :: 88 Dennis St, Houston, TX 77006
hours :: M-S 7am-3pm
meals served :: B & L
prices :: $
dress code :: casual
reservations :: first come, first serve
website :: n/a
review :: We've been hearing a lot about Lankford burgers, even rated pretty high among most critics out there. Their hours aren't always suitable for us but we were able to check it out today. The line was out the door, it was unbelievable. In this Houston heat at high noon, I was surprised people were actually waiting for a table to eat.

I ordered the old fashion cheeseburger with french fries and A&W. Also, with the request of the man behind the counter, I also tried out the Abita root beer. Hands down, the Abita was so much better than the A&W, I'm so glad that I tried it.

As for the cheeseburger, all the way with a side of fries, it was pretty large and juicy. Be sure to keep part of the burger wrapped up or you'll have all the juices dripping off your fingers. The flavor of the meat was actually bland, I was expecting a little bit more flavor. If you ordered a dry burger, I think you may be a little disappointed in the flavor. The fries weren't anything to call home about, it tasted as though it were the frozen kind.

Overall, if you'd like a good juicy burger, this little joint is for you, just be aware of their hours.
rating :: 3 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