Galveston Food & Wine Festival

We were super excited about going to this.  There were 3 ticket options, $135 for the VIP combo, $90, and $65 for the grand tasting.  It was a smaller affair than I expected, but I still had a good time.  It was hot, so it was nice to camp out under the umbrella.  Our ticket gave us access between 2-5pm but by 4pm, the food was out.  There were lots of free wine, but after a few tastings, I needed to slow down since I was the designated driver.  Janice, got to try a lot more brands than I did, however, we both agreed the Skinny Girl Cab ended up being the best thing we tried.  We didn't care for the white or rose, but the red was actually really nice.  I gotta remember to pick up some of that!  It was also nice to visit Market street in Galveston.  I hadn't been back in a while, but looks like they're totally back up and running.  It's a great town, reminds me to come visit more often.

Papas Steakhouse (Galleria)

First time.  It was a really great experience.  Steaks were phenomenal, wild mushrooms were so tasty, texture, flavor...yum!   We also got the au gratin potatoes and asparagus, and these monstrous onion rings.  Simple things like the wedge salad and bread were soooo good too.  I love bread and the bread was so so so good, I couldn't stop eating it!  The Red Velvet Brownie dessert was the best ending to a really great meal, recommended by our server.  The service was top notch!  I had an overall really great experience.  

Dua (Westheimer/Montrose)

It's the same owners as the old Mo Mong.  I have been to Mo Mong long long ago when they first opened, but haven't been back since.  For lunch today, I took my typical Simply Pho partner and he did not like the change.  Everything was so heavy.  We tried to get an order of spring rolls but our server suggested the chicken with mangos.  She was so great, but we really lean more towards the lighter foods.  Matt tried to get a pho, but instead she guided him to a noodle dish with curry and odon noodles.  I already had plans to get the garlic tofu (dau hau luc lac), as I had read in the My Table magazine it was to die for.  It was not to die for, this same dish at Cali Sandwich is the bomb!  Anyways, our overall experience was good, but just because we lean towards the lighter dishes, this will probably not be on our list of go to places for Vietnamese food.  It's a competitive world out there!

Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette

First time to this location, but not the first time to Liberty Kitchen, been to the Heights.  This River Oaks location is wow, beautiful!  Very nice.  Staff was amazingly friendly.  Today, I decided I would try an oyster for the first time in my life.  We ordered 2 trays of 12 oysters, their amazing mac and cheese and a salad.  I tried my first oyster on a cracker, with cocktail sauce, horseradish, and lemon.  That was really painless.  Next, I tried it without the cocktail sauce and still painless.  I didn't dare try it with anything less than that.  The mac and cheese is my absolute favorite, best mac and cheese in town!  The cocktails were not very good, no point in even mentioning them because honestly, I can't remember their names.  Other than that, great experience, I really like this location!  Beautiful, fun interior and nice outdoor patio.

Fat Cat Creamery (Heights)

It's cute, kind of in no man's land.  Small place.  I got 2 scoops in a cup, salted caramel and the bunny something flavor one, I forget the name.  Between the two, I did like the bunny something flavor better.  I was disappointed with the salted caramel.  It tasted watered down.  Ho hum...

Round Top Retreat

We spent the most beautiful weekend at the Round Top Retreat.  It is the cutest town and made me want to make it a regular thing to visit.  This is such a beautiful time to go too.  

Bluebonnet Time!

It is definitely a good time for pictures with Bluebonnets!  I think the best spot is at Memorial Park and as you can see my dogs had the best time playing, running through, and smelling them.   It was the best watching Lily frolic through the field like a gazelle!

Bradley Ogden Fine Diner

The first time I ever had "Kobe" beef, was at Bradley Ogden, Las Vegas.  A 1 ounce sliver cost $40 per piece...I had 4!  But, it was all really worth it!  The other thing I know about Bradley Ogden is that he's won the James Beard award...twice!  So naturally, when I saw he was coming to Houston, I was a little giddy.  

I have to say, it's a bit of an odd feel.  I mean, this shopping center doesn't quite feel like the spot to open a restaurant.  It's supposed to be "casual", but the prices are not "casual".  My Wagyu beef dinner entree cost $54!  But you know me, anytime there is Wagyu, I splurge because I absolutely love Wagyu beef!  My meal was really good, we both enjoyed our entrees very much.  My veggies were so stinking good, I mean I swear I think they must of laced it with something illegal.  So very good...my entire meal.  Matt got the Chicken dinner, which was nice.  I know he really liked it and he is very picky.  He said he liked the way it tasted and the way it was cooked.  He also loved his vegetables.  We enjoyed all of our items including the few items that were sent to our table, compliments of the chef.  Those zucchini fries were yum yum!  And lastly, I liked my pineapple upside down dessert over Matt's chocolate banana thing.   Our bill came out to $171 not including tip.  That seems a little high, but I did get a glass of wine and matt two draft beers, which he thought $9 was a bit steep.

The decor is nice, very trendy, rustic, rich colors mixed with this casual pieces, like the bench seats and the servers' plaid shirts.  I liked it all a lot!  Lots of interesting things to look at from cool light fixtures, wire lamps, black boards, kitchen through the wine racks, etc.  Neat place.  Our server was really sweet too and new to Houston.

We got to meet Chef Bradley, very nice guy.  Apparently, the Funky Chicken next door is also owned by them.  They will have 3 restaurants in Houston, after all is said and done, third one in Memorial City Mall.  Bradley lives in San Jose, his son is the executive chef at BFD and lives here in Houston.  Sorry about the blurry pictures, my settings were all off, will do better next time.

Celebrating National PBJ Day at Monster PBJ

Today is National PBJ Day!  So naturally, I decide to go to Monster PBJ food truck.  You can find their always changing location at monsterpbj.com.  I was really excited to visit and took my Ethan with me.  We walked up and I asked them if they could recommend something, I ordered a sweet and spicy.  Ethan made his own, pb, nutella and grape jam on white.  When he opened it up, it looked like a pretty regular pbj.  I asked if it was amazing or just good, he said good.  When I opened my sweet pbj, it was ginormous!  The sweet was interesting, it could probably use a little more of the good stuff inside.  It had pb, grape-like jelly, and apples.  The spicy was really different, but somehow it did taste good.  It had pb, pickles and sriacha sauce.  I know, strange.  All in all, an interesting experience.

Fellini Cafe (Rice Village)

To finish off date night, I yelped a dessert and coffee place, saw Fellini got some good reviews and there we went!  Great location and nice little outdoor patio space to enjoy beautiful days like this one.  On entering the cafe I thought, ooh, nice and modern, very chic, maybe even a little European.  We order a coffee, a vanilla soy latte, and with the help of the cashier, we get an almond cookie, a coffee eclair, a citrus powder cookie, canoli, and a tiramisu.  Wow, what a disappointment!  Other than the almond cookie, everything else was so bland, totally tasteless, or just not very good, which was fine, sometimes pastries are.  I tried my vanilla soy latte, wow...that quite possibly is the worst latte I've ever had.  The expresso was just bad.  You can always tell if a latte is going to be good by the foam and if they can do good foam art, it's a sure bet.  Their foam was a very sad attempt at a heart or maybe a fetus.  Needless to say, I took one sip, another to make sure and did not drink the rest.  However, the guys behind the counter were really great, super nice and helpful, but this cafe does not measure up to my sweet tooth standards, at all.  Minus that almond cookie, which was really good.

Local Foods (River Oaks)

Location #2 opened!  The interior is nice, really interesting, and very creative.  Is the menu the same, is always the first question.  No, it's not.  It's actually very different, although you can find some similar items as Rice's location, like the sides and the Posole soup.  Other than that, I didn't recognize anything else.  Matt did not like that they did not have the duck confit sandwich and ended up getting a Kale salad, which half way through it he decided he is not a Kale person.  I didn't mind the Kale salad, but I got the Asian salad, as was recommended by our cashier.  I like the new location and like the new menu, Matt not so much.  Guess we'll not be frequenting the new location together much.