Trinket (Portland)

Wow, this place doesn't have a ton of reviews, but is really great!  Love the decor, cozy, masculine, rustic, great interior!  And the food was really good!  I got the sweet waffle and a side of eggs, Matt got the duck bennie, both were really awesome!  I thought the waffle texture was the best, crispy!  And they toppings on it, really tasty.I normally eat with syrup but they put an orange marmalade with whip and candied pecans, yum!  His Bennie was tasty, flavorful!  And his hash browns were crispy and great!  The coffee was good too!  Really great, under the radar spot!

Mother's Bistro (Portland)

Love the atmosphere, traditional decor, nice, I like it.  Our wait they said would be 35-40mins, which we were surprised about because there were so many people waiting, but we also didn't realize the restaurant was a wide as the entire block!  Our wait time was actually an hour.I ordered the Portabella Scramble, really good.  Matt got the Eggs Benedict which he said was the best he's ever had.  We shared a French Toast, which I thought was ok and Matt really liked.  The Ruby Red Martini was tasty!

Mediterranean Exploration Company (Portland)

Wow, wow, wow!  That's all I really want to say, it's that amazing!  But I will list and go into depth about their amazing dishes that we tried...

Fennel salad was great, light, refreshing, crisp and just a hint of nice herby flavors, mm!

Eggplant flavorful and delicious.

Hummus and pita, seriously the softest, best tasting bread I have ever had and the hummus was so creamy and delish!

Lamb chops, wow can't help being so repetitive but delicious!  So flavorful and perfectly cooked!  I think best lamb chops I have ever had!

My husband thought the broccolini was the best he's ever had!

Olive cake...yumeeeee!  Wonderful flavors, different, so delicious!  Mm...what a wonderful, amazing experience!  Can't say enough!

Relish (Upper Kirby/River Oaks)

I'm a fairly new fan of Relish.  Relish had been on my to do list since they first opened on San Felipe and I finally had a chance to go maybe less than a year ago.  I loved it!  Other than the not so exciting sitting area, I loved everything else.  When I heard they were moving to Ouisie's Bird and the Bear spot, I was so excited.  I have been checking to see if they had opened yet and finally a week ago, I saw 2 reviews!  I was wondering why the review was so low, then read it and really there was only 1 bad review.  It's not enough to sway me and I guessed I'll just have to make my own opinion before I go...
I enter Relish and love it!  Love the decor!  It's counter service during the day and they say in 3 weeks they will open for dinner, full service.  I just had a baby 6 weeks ago so I'm really trying to eat better when I lunch, so this was going to be my ideal lunch spot!  They have tons of salads and tasty ones too, if I remember correctly.

As of today, I have been 3x and have tried different dishes and observed other meals and received their feedback.  My first lunch was the Kale Salad, which is still my favorite up to today.  My next salad was the Apple Salad and though I liked it, because I'm trying to eat healthy till I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, it's not the optimal choice as it has goat cheese and candied pecans, but it's tasty.  The third salad I tried was the Fig Salads, all salads I had grilled chicken with.  This was my least favorite, but it could also have been that I just had dental implant surgery and my taste buds might have been hindered.  On observations of my lunch mates meals, I've seen the Crunchy Chicken Sandwich, which I was told was good and the fries delicious, not "lack luster" as the first reviewer reported.  I've also seen the Beet Salad, which is not my favorite vegetable, but my lunch mate said it was good, I'll take her word for it.  Also, I've seen the vegetable sandwich, which was said to be good as well.  I've had the cookie, omg so good!  And the rice Krispy, also tasty.

Overall, I really liked mostly everything about this new Relish, especially the decor and atmosphere, food as well of course, but the 2 complaints I had was that when I left, I always felt a tad hungry.  I don't know if there's enough chicken in the salads or what, but it's not as super filling.  Maybe I just have a big appetite, don't know.  Also, the first time I came, I brought the baby and he decided he was going to have the biggest #2 of his life while I was there and as I rushed to the restroom, I found there was no baby changing table, so I had to change him on the floor, with a changing pad of course.  So on family friendliness I don't rate it very high, but that's not an expectation I guess.  It just would have been nice.  Other than those two things, I loved it and definitely will be back more often for the "healthier" options and the great atmosphere.  Oh, and it's also a little pricey.  Salads are already about $15 and add chicken can make your one meal $20.

Cane Rosso (Heights)

So I happen to read an article about the best pizzas in Houston, Napoletana style and not...and all the pizzas they listed I would have to agree with.  They did list Cane Rosso as well, so of course I had to go try for myself.  It's pretty casual dining.  As I am now with child, we have to consider family friendliness, so on that front, CR checked out fine.  On food, it was hard to pick, so many options!  We decided to get "THE JOAN MARIE" pepperoni, housemade mozzarella, goat cheese, roasted jalapeno pesto $16 and I always have to get a Margherita, $13, to compare.  They were both good, texture, taste, but I really didn't think the Joan Marie was that much more tastier than the Margherita, but I'm not complaining.  We also got the CAPRA salad, field greens, crispy pancetta, dried cherries, toasted pecans, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, balsamic, $7.  I have to say, this salad was really good and we got the small one, which was big enough for the 2 of us, but we're big salad eaters, so I think we could have gotten the $12 portion, which our server says feeds 4 people.  And it was better than what I have had at Pizaro's.  We definitely liked our experience, I think we'll revisit here before we go back to Pizaro's, for that salad!

Sam's Cafe (Washington Corridor)

Sam's Cafe used to be my go-to Chinese food spot, until they changed ownership.  I used to always get the Saute Green Beans, but I used to add tofu which they then named The Kim Special, after me.  But, since the ownership has changed, I went once and the food was totally different and never went back again.  Recently, they changed ownership again and their manager asked me if I would kindly remove the last review I gave, which was a 2 stars rating.  Instead of removing it, I wanted to try it first and the food wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.  The Orange Chicken was deep fried, which isn't how the original Sam's used to make it.  I wasn't that impressed with it, the others were ok actually, but might be better than the last owner.  I give it a 2.5 stars.  I may be brave and try it again...we'll see...

Etoile (Uptown Park)

You know, I had heard from a friend how he and his wife really liked this place...ok, on my radar now.  Then Gabrielle from my office, who is French, mentioned Etoile and how she liked it as well, which obviously goes along way...because she's French.  So for my baby shower luncheon I had suggested it as one of many and Jodie Stocker, my wonderful host, chose it as the place, said she loved the place.  I have to say...it was the perfect spot!  It was quaint, nice atmosphere, however, we were put in the back, private room.  We all really loved it!  It was really cozy, but more than that, the food was really great!  Everything we tried, was awesome!  I had the lemon fish, Sole “Meunière”, as did many of the gals, and it was delicious!  I don't say that easily either.  Some other dishes that were ordered was the Seafood Risotto, Risotto aux Fruits de Mer, another dish, which I got to try, was Michelle's Coq au Vin, yummy!  Karen got the mussels, not sure what the name of that dish was, but all these dishes were on the Restaurant of the Week menu.    The dessert I got was the best out of the bunch, Vacherin Aux Fraises, strawberry sorbet, vanilla chantilly, strawberry coulis...mm, light, fruity, just perfect!  I was duly impressed!

Good Dog Hot Dog (Heights)

My favorite Guac Dog! Mm mm mm...

Jonathan's The Rub

Wow, I was not impressed with the physical restaurant, but the food was quite the opposite! I mean it's sautéed spinach, how good could it be? It was real tasty, and flavorful. Mac and cheese was pretty great too. The porterhouse was pretty good, and that coconut cream pie! Not as delicious as Holley's but it was a close second! Definitely impressed by the food!

Toulouse (River Oaks)

I mean...I have no idea when this little shopping center popped up!  But, it's all up and ready and it's really posh and super nice!  A little dead on traffic and people...until you walk into Toulouse!  Gorgeous, love it, beautiful restaurant!  But, I'll make this short and sweet, the food was all just ok.  I wasn't really impressed at all.  I had the Almond Fish and it was pretty much tasteless.  I was a little shocked at how unflavorful it was.  The appetizer was pretty good, but everything beyond that was just ok, to me.  The restaurant and atmosphere were really nice.  Love this shopping center, I shall be back!  Although they say it's a little dead because it's so high end...only really luxury brands in this center.

Little Liberty

Stumbled upon this gem, knew it existed, but wasn't sure where it was...and though it was  a great spot, the food was only ok.  The cheesy grits were awesome!  The interior layout is pretty much the same as it was when it was Ruggles Cafe, but the design is different.  We both got the egg scramble and like I said, it was ok.  Maybe, I'll try it again, this time Waffles!

Trying Ginger & Fork (Washington Corridor)

A friend of mine really wanted to visit, a week later, here we are.  This used to be Pagoda, which didn't make it but since then, this has been the third restaurant occupying this space.  Nice house.  Based off of the exterior I'm not sure what to expect, high quality or low...the interior was ok...I started to notice things that made me realize it was looking like an average restaurant.  But, we were still excited to try the food.  The craft cocktails were interesting.  I'm pregnant so I got a mocktail, which was just ok, but I wasn't expecting much.  I didn't like either of the cocktails Oscar ordered, I think he thought they were ok too.  Now...about the food!  On the Happy Hour Menu we ordered, which was suggested by the owner, the Spicy Tofu Cubes, which was ok, Pork Dumplings, also ok, Cha Siu Sliders, again ok, and the Chow fun with Beef, which was the best, in my opinion.  Oh yes, we also go the Fried Rice off the main menu and Oscar thought that was the best.  Nothing we tried was bad, but nothing was very exciting...overall, I thought the food was all right and nothing special.  And...I didn't really love the interior decor either...ho hum...

Gelazzi

It's actually my first time here, I know this has been here awhile.  We just happen to have some family in town and were eating at Coltivare down the street.  It's a nice place for ice cream!  I asked for some help on the flavors and the cashier said the Pistachio and Gingerbread were top favorites.  I got the Gingerbread, not something I would normally pick, but she was right, it was really good!  I was craving coconut, so that was my second flavor.  We all really enjoyed it!  Tasty!

The Kitchen at the Dunlavy (Lost Lake Allen Parkway)

I had heard from one friend they loved it and heard from another friend the food was eh....so mixed reviews.  We decided to go Valentines weekend and what a day!  Perfect for an outdoor brunch!  Unfortunately everyone had the same idea!  The line was out the door, but a fairly quick line.  The breakfast menu is pretty small, I ordered the Avocado Toast with Scrambled eggs and picked up the Fruit, Granola over Yogurt with Chia Seeds.  Matt ordered the Breakfast Sandwich (Eggs, Bacon, Kale on English Muffin) and a coffee, and Ethan ordered 2 Cranberry Rosemary Biscuits, the Blueberry Cake and an Orange Juice.  Matt and I liked our meals, he said the coffee was good too but, Ethan only really dug into the Blueberry Cake but he thought it was too sweet.  I tried it with the icing and thought so too.  He doesn't ever want to come back.  He's a total breakfast person and their limited menu was not to his liking.  I tried his biscuits and they weren't bad.  He said his oj was good though.  I guess this will be a me and Matt place.

Neither one of us loved it, but we liked it.  The atmosphere is nice, but the overload on chandeliers was a little confusing.  The food is actually priced reasonably, but the chandeliers make it seem fancy, which is sort of conflicting.  Anyways, it's a nice place, great outdoor space, if you can find a spot.  They have heaters outside too, which made it a really comfortable spot, inside was freezing!  All in all, nice place.

Hmart Cafeteria (Spring Branch Area)

Of course Korean food is my comfort food, so when I was feeling a little under the weather and needed some simple soup, Hmart was perfect place to hit the spot!  This is the...Gom Tang from Yori Yori.  It's basically a soup with a beef base, real simple, super bland which is what I was in the mood for.  And the kimchi radish goes perfect with it!  Jay got the tofu soup from the clay pot station.  And since I always have a hard time waiting for my food, Korean Kim Bahp is a great appetizer to start off with!  

Look Who...

We ran into at our V-Day double date....the Mayor Silvestor Turner!  Also, if you've never been to Holley's Seafood, you probably have not had the best coconut cake ever!  A must must try!  Super super delicious!  And the This Fish for Two was also pretty good and the rice was tasty!

Happy Hour at State of Grace

For HH, they have $1 oysters, but most of them are not tasty.  The one that is the $3.45 option that is $1 on the happy hour menu is the edible one, in my opinion.  That Toffee Bread dessert was extra special too!  Yummers!

Breakfast at Brasil

I'm excited because it's Sunday and we missed church due to a longer than expected showing and we're headed to eat but we're a little late for brunch, at most places...but today we found Brasil who serves breakfast till 3pm on the weekends!  Now we're talking!  I mean, you would think it's normal business practice to extend breakfast or brunch on the weekends...because people love breakfast...but no, they don't...except a few places like Brasil!!  So needless to say, we're very very happy.  

Now, I noticed their weekend breakfast menu is different from their weekday.  It seems like there are more items on the weekday menu, which doesn't make sense to me.  I mean, shouldn't your weekend breakfast/brunch menu be bigger than your weekday menu?  I mean how many people get breakfast at a restaurant on the weekdays?  I know I don't!

However, we did notice the guy next to us had pancakes.  We asked how he got the pancakes and apparently they have a specials menu, we missed that.  So, definitely check out their specials menu, which is on the black board near the entry door.

On the food, we thought was good, not excellent.  But hey, I'm not complaining, just letting you all know.  It gets pretty crowded, but there is a good crowd, good for you people watchers!  Alright, that's it for now...till next tiime!

Menil Bistro (Museum District)

Had a birthday lunch here, got the seared quinoa salad and the tuna was a tad fishy, I couldn't finish it.  But, they were nice enough to bring out a little birthday treat!  I still like this place, great spot for a day lunch or coffee!

State of Grace (Upper Kirby)

The newest restaurant with a lot of buzz...a really great atmosphere, sexy and interesting decor and the food and service, excellent!  Definitely go and try!

Sorry so short, sometimes you're just not in the mood, especially when you have a lot of catching up to do on reviews...but believe me, this is a must try!  

Oh, one more thing...the lemon dessert, uh!  So so good!