Inside the loop

Woodbar (Montrose)

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From the owners of Shade and Canopy.  They have a small bar bites menu and I was told a dinner menu, but we just stopped by just for wine and cheese.  Doesn't this cheese plate look awesome?  The cheeses were ok, the bread was fantastic as well as all the other fun items, jam, nuts, honey, grapes, super great and delicious.  I got the Red Passione and loved it!  Super full bodied and fruity, I loved loved it!  It's a cute place, they also have pastries and coffee during the day.  Also, Woodbar is connected to Canopy.  I do plan to revisit for the daytime goodies!

Pandemonieum in Highland Village!

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What is this?  Who is this?  Well, this morning, this line had everyone's attention in Highland Village!  All wondering what new gadget was being unveiled at the Apple store and even for Apple it seemed like an absurdly long line.  This line started to catch eyes at Walgreens and wrapped around to West Elm, past Z Gallerie, Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret, and next to James Avery it surprisingly ended at a shop I've never seen called Lush Cosmetics.  There, there was a girl named Rachel "Bunny" Meyer who is apparently the highest earning vlogger with over $463,000 of earnings last year.  So it's not Apple, but this vlogger who commands this ridiculous never ending line of tween followers.  

Mystery solved!

Holley's Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar (Midtown)

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Amazingly delicious, from the oysters to the Blackened Grouper down to my upside down cake...I was really impressed.  I have just 3 words...mm...mm...mm!   

More specifically, our server highly recommended the grouper and man, was he right...it was so delicious!  Jodie got the gumbo, I did not try that since it had shellfish in it.  But she also tried my grouper and thought it was delish.  For dessert, the funny thing is, we told our server we were going to skip dessert because we were going to check out Dolce Delights next door.  Our server told us not to waste our time, their desserts were mediocre at best and highly recommended the upside down cake and I'm so glad he was super opinionated because it was even better than he made it out to be....mm...mm...mm...  If you're a seafood lover, you have to try Holleys!  

The Chicken Ranch (Heights)

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Ok, I lied.  I said I was done with my mission to try the best fried chicken, but after hearing about this new fried chicken joint called The Chicken Ranch, I was sucked back in.  I have not been into fried chicken since I was a child.  So, it's been awhile and there is no love lost, but still, I don't mind trying some amazing fried chicken, you know, for old-times sake.  

There's quite the hype for this small fried chicken joint.  I haven't really read any actual reviews, but lately in the last week, I have seen a lot articles, highlights, etc.  So, I make it a plan to visit today with my family, but due to work schedules, am only able to take my stepson.  He's on board with it, what 13 year old doesn't like fried chicken?  It's in the north part of the Heights.  Limited parking spots.  It looks exactly the way the photos portray it.  No frills, no pizzazz.  You come here just for some good ol fried chicken, not for the atmosphere or presentation.  

We put in our order for the Dolly Special (2 chicken breast), $10, some mac n cheese, mash potatoes, creamed corn and the okra & tomatoes.  Observing the kitchen, it's  four guys, one handling the orders and check out, one battering the chicken and dipping in a flour and a liquid concoction, one at the fryer, and one helping to put the orders together for customer pick up.  The staff is nice enough, and my curiosity is growing more and more.  We finally get our order and dig in!  Ethan takes the first bite of chicken and I ask him how it is and he says, "it's crispy".  I ask, "crispy is good, right?", he says, "it's really crispy".  I try it for myself and I think the crispiness is really nice.  I'll be honest, it's not as good as I was hoping, but it's better than most of the chicken I have tried in the last few months.  He liked the mac n cheese.  I thought the mash potatoes tasted like real potatoes, which was nice and the creamed corn was pretty good.  The okra & tomatoes weren't bad.  Overall, a decent meal.  I ask Ethan what his rating was, he said 3.5, which is higher than his rating for Birdhouse.  I give it a 3.5 as well.  Nice, decent  joint for some crispy fried chicken.  This time I think I am officially good with my fried chicken mission.  

Fluff Bake Bar (Heights)

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First and foremost, let's talk location, where it is.  In case you're like me and don't know anything about Fluff Bake Bar and use google maps...and then end up driving around in circles...it's inside Revival Market off of White Oak and Heights!

I let the gal behind the counter choose the best stuff and she loaded me up!  I could not keep up with the names, as you can see, I really did load up.  But, I will describe my favorites.  This cake-like dessert in this short plastic container was divine!  So many different things going on, tastes, textures, delish!  Also, my favorite cookie was this one to the top right (pictures on my blog).  I have no idea what it was but it tasted like it had toffee, lightly sweet, somewhat sticky, yum yum yum!  I also really loved the lemon tart pound cake!  The others were all great too, but these were my standouts!  Definitely a good spot for yous with a sweet tooth, like me!

Birdhouse (Heights)

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Formerly known as "Boil House", since crawfish season is over.  We're not so much into fried chicken, but I would like to try some amazing fried chicken once in my life.  We decided this was going to be Saturday's dinner spot.  I had sort of low expectations, but definitely hoping for the best.  It looked like most of their patrons take advantage of the drive-thru option.  There's not much seating anyways, maybe 4 tables outside.  We ordered the family pack (8 pieces of chicken) to feed us 4 and broke up the 2 large sides into 4 small ones, choosing mash potatoes, okra, bulgar salad, and coleslaw.  I thought the sides were ok, but the chicken was a little disappointing.  The skin was super crispy which was nice, but the overall taste was just ok.  We all concurred, 3 of us giving it a 3 and the 4th person gave it a 2-3.  Before this year, I hadn't had fried chicken in years, I don't even like fried chicken, never crave it.  But because of this 13 year old in the house, we have had fried chicken 3 times, and somehow I have been on this mission to have the best fried chicken!  Total fail and now all this chicken tasting has pushed me over my limit and I'm officially done with fried chicken for now.

Dosi Restaurant & Soju Bar (Korean)

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I had no plans or interest to visit this restaurant for the fact that I heard a non Korean owned it, but then I saw it advertised somewhere, heard someone mention it, and decided, ok fine, I'll give it a try with someone that's a fan of Korean food.  If anything, it'll be interesting to see what it's like, especially the food.  

I decided on a whim to visit on Friday and went ahead and called for a reservation at 8pm for 830pm and they took it!  We arrived and it was a pretty small place, but I liked the decor.  The wall of pickled jars, I thought was precious.  There were maybe 8 tables of patrons, probably  making it half full and an empty long bar-like section, maybe a community area?  

They bring out a complimentary, very small jar of Kimchi.  Surprisingly, I really liked it.  I like my Kimchi ripe and it was perfect.  Apparently, they have "aged" stuff, so I tried that too and didn't like that so much.  It didn't taste aged, but just really tart, but not spicy and tart.  The first two dishes I really enjoyed, a lot!  It was the Kale chips with tapioca & yogurt (mm...that yogurt) and the Yam Pancake, I think is what it was?  I really enjoyed all the flavors and textures, just really good and tasty.  I could have had another 2 of those dishes!  The next three dishes were ok to good, which were the Lamb Collar with Rice Cake, Street Dumplings, Black Bean Noodles.  The Street Dumplings were actually not bad, but the other two I thought didn't have enough flavor.  We also ordered the Mango Blended Soju, which was fun.  

Overall, I enjoyed my visit, it was a creative take on Korean food.  Matt liked it very much and wants to put this on the list for dinner spots...he's got almost 2 years of  Korean food experience now...he's almost an expert...not really.  I was impressed with the Kimchi and that's always hard to get right as a non Korean.  If you're looking for fun, creative, Korean inspired, do try Dosi.  If you're looking for traditional Korean food, go to Bonga!  We'll definitely be coming back for those Kale chips and Yam Pancakes!

Pax Americana (Montrose)

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We really liked it!  We felt like the food had a lot of depth, was interesting and tasted really good.  We had a great server that helped us navigate the menu.  So, for starters we got the Beef Tartare and Honeydew Melon salad.  Matt and I both thought the Tartare was good, but with the bread, perfect.  It needed it. The honeydew melon was interesting, I would never had thought to grill honeydew melons.  Matt didn't like that the melon skin was still on the melon, so he cut them off, but I liked the crunchy.  I was thinking this salad was going to be small, but it was pretty good size as you can see here.

So far so good, we're excited for the main entrees!  For our entree we got the brisket and lamb dishes.  Our server highly suggested the Lamb, but after tasting both, we both agreed that the brisket dish better, really good actually.  All I have to say is...damn!  But, you have to eat the greens with it.  It's a mixture of green onion, basil, mint, peppers, etc....really good!  

For desserts, by the time we got to the desserts, my allergies started acting up from the wine so I couldn't really taste the desserts, but Matt said the Fritters was his favorite.  I liked the texture of the figs, but I couldn't taste the flavors.  All in all, great, I have to say that brisket dish was so good, it really left an impression on me.  Other than the first bite of fat I had, which I spit out, the rest of it was marvelous!  

Hearsay Gastro Lounge (Downtown)

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Hearsay must have been on my to do list for the last few years and I'm just now visiting for the first time.  That's probably the longest check off I have to date.  The building itself has a ton of character.  It's a fairly small space, but super cute place.  I just love brick veneer on the inside of a space, especially if it's original.  For my meal, I just got a simple salad with goat cheese, add chicken.  It was fine, nothing special, but staff was great, and I hope to return soon and try something more extravagant, maybe.  The last photo is a piece I happen to observe in the stone implanted into the concrete in front of the restaurant...character.

Grace's (Upper Kirby)

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This one has been on my to do list for several month's.  It has a great thing going for it, its location!  I hadn't heard much buzz about it, but because of its location, I would always make a mental note to check it out everytime I passed it.  It's the same family as the Carrabba's family, actually an homage to Johnny Carrabba's mom, I heard.  The restaurant is supposed to give you the feel of being in her home, our server "Louis" said.  When I walked in, I told Matt it was cozy like being in someone's house!

It wasn't really that crowded for a 5 month old restaurant.  We were told there was much more traffic earlier on.  Our server was the consummate professional!  He changed our napkins to black, matching my skirt, without me even having to ask!  That is attention to detail!  He was definitely a pro, you could tell he's an experienced server, but yet very friendly and engaging.  In honesty, I think we enjoyed him more than we did the food!  However, the food was great too!

I ordered the Wagyu burger "Gracie's Burger" with the Beer Battered Fries.  Matt got the Filet with Broccolini.  I had blogged about the Wagyu beef at BFD and someone had suggested I try the Wagyu burger at Gracie's and although it was good, it wasn't great.  The fries were great because they were crispy and seasoned well and surprisingly stayed warm the entire time, how that happened is beyond me. We also ordered the Garden Salad with the alternate vinaigrette and the carrot cake.  All really good, especially that carrot cake, with that warm giz drizzled over it!  We also got to try the Godiva freeze, pretty tasty, tasted like a frozen Bailey's Irish Cream cocktail.  Our experience was excellent!  If you go, definitely ask for "Louis"!

Sorry for the blurry photos, it's been awhile since I took the old Nikon out and I'm a little out of practice!

Dog Show

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My girlfriend, Susan invites me and of course, I said yes.  Surprisingly, this is my first time!  You would think I would have been before.  It was my first time and I did not come prepared.  My allergies were acting up and it was very very uncomfortable.  It was mostly what I was expecting, dog show, booths, and even human things to shop for.  I didn't bring my dogs as I didn't know it was allowed, which is silly why I thought I couldn't bring them.  Tons of dogs, for show and not for show.  I've posted here some pictures from my phone, the cutest, most interesting, and fun dogs.  I thought there would be more neat gadgets and stuff for dogs, but nope, a few things I've had on my list, weren't here either.  One being a leash for 3 dogs.  It gets pretty tangling walking 3 dogs, so that would be a great invention!  However, I did get an ID tag for my little one, Lily.  Enjoy!

Funky Chicken (Washington/Heights)

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Same owner as BFD, Bradley's Fine Diner of the Bradley Ogden group.  I'm expecting the food to be good.  We ordered the family meal and the fried chicken was actually not bad, pretty tasty.  However, the rest of the items we got were just ok.  We got the mac & cheese and coleslaw and biscuits.  Staff was very friendly and helpful, atmosphere nice.  Overall, not bad, but not great.

Dinner at DownHouse

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I love everything I have had at Downhouse so when I was craving a burger I decided I wanted to go to Downhouse! It's my first dinner at Downhouse and at our server's suggestion I got the Kimchi burger. I thought it was pretty good, but my only complaint was the kimchi. You know being Korean, I'm going to be picky about kimchi. The average person wouldn't care, but to me the kimchi had way too much ginger, which isn't usually used in kimchi, so that was very distracting to me. If it wasn't ginger, whatever it was, was very overpowering. The one thing in the world that my mom hates is ginger, but she absolutely loves kimchi so she would not have approved. But, overall the burger was great, it was just that kimchi was a tad strong, but Matt liked it a lot. He didn't like his dish so much, Curry Fish & Chips. Ethan did like his fried chicken.

I am never disappointed with DownHouse!

Bayou City Outdoor Farmer's Market Ride

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I had posted this event on my monthly Soo & the City Newsletter and my friend, Janice , reached out and said she wanted to do it!  So, we made plans to do it this past Saturday, she came over, and we drove to the meet point at Market Square in downtown.  It was a pretty large group, maybe 50 people?  It's hot out, but it was actually fun!  I took my little Lily and learned they don't allow dogs to roam the market, so I had to tie her up and have Revival Market watch her, which they so nicely offered to do.  I would definitely do it again, loved loved it!  Next one is September 14th, 8am.

http://houston.culturemap.com/eventdetail/bayou-city-outdoors-farmers-market-ride/