Anonymous Cafe

Officially, from the website, Anonymous Bites and Coffee Bar, in a building that's part of the Baylor College of Medicine and contains medical clinics.  

Years ago there was a small Turkish restaurant in this space which I visited several times before it moved out to Sugar Land (and I visited it there too). Some years ago I read about this new place moving in and it sounded very interesting, but it has been several years before I got around to going.  

As I recall the story, the owner is a Greek chef who has/had a cooking show online; her specialty is pastry and her Ekmeck is highly touted.

I tried the Spinach Quiche on my first visit.  It was excellent - 2nd best quiche I've ever had (the eggs in most quiche are overcooked and dried out  too much, IMO).  

I also had the Chai Latte with Cinnamon and Sugar...

and also took a slice of the Meat Quiche home with bacon and sausage and cheddar cheese.  This one wasn't as appealing to me as the Spinach and was also more firmly set (I ate it at room temp, out of the fridge, without warming it up at all). 

On a second visit I had the Greek Salad - an excellent treat although the dressing was a bit too acidic from the lemon juice for my tastes these days.

This was the Soup and Salad of the day so I also had the Chicken, lemon and Orzo soup (Avgolemono) and it was by far the best version I've ever had.  In fact, I have given up on ordering this for many years since I've had so many disappointing versions.  This was very filling, containing a very generous quantity of chicken.  I had been advised when I ordered the full size version was in a very large bowl and this was the 'small.'  I would not have been able to handle a full size portion.

 Although I was fully sated by this time I had also ordered an appetizer with Dolmades, Feta and Kalamata olives but had set it aside to take home since I knew I wouldn't be able to handle everything I had ordered.  This was excellent too and of course took to being saved for a subsequent snack very well (I didn't get to take the serving piece, though). I don't see this on the menu online so I don't know the terminology.

The various pastries available are displayed in a case and tend to be quite large.  I have not tried any of them.  

The building is at 3701 Kirby at Norfolk, 2 blocks south of Richmond.  The cafe is 'in' the garage, and the entrance is in the garage just off the sidewalk along Norfolk.  The ground floor of the garage is free for clients and visitors but can be very full during typical office hours.  After hours during the week and on both Saturdays and Sundays, there's typically plenty of room.

Anonymous Cafe

Bakery Inka Havana

 

A photo of this sign on Nextdoor drew a lot of attention. When I saw it, commenters had recognized the word Havana and possibly the Cuban flag but there was little mention of the meaning of the word Inka or the second flag pictured - the Peruvian flag.  When it finally opened, many months later, the website identified a couple from Miami who had moved to Houston, the husband Cuban and the wife Peruvian.  

The menu offers many sandwiches, but there are also pastries, empanadas, sweets, even pizzas, plus daily specials.  The Peruvian Pollo a la Brasa - rotisserie chicken - is a special every Saturday, I think.  

I tried the Media Noche on my first visit.

Sandwiches are very large - this was close to a pound.  This is the interior of the second half of the sandwich showing the generous fillings

I noted a sign touting the Tamal Peruano and had to try one.  I've done quite a lot of investigating of  tamales available from many cuisines in Houston but wasn't even aware Peru had them, so I had to try this.  Per Wiki, while Peru is famous for it's potatoes and ceviche, there are 50 varieties of corn also grown there, including yellow, white and purple varieties and tamales can be made from several of them.  I tried the pork tamal and it was excellent.

From the cabinet at the far right of the counter I tried an empanada (ground beef) and yuca reina.  I had first encountered potato rellenos at a Colombian restaurant many years ago but this is the first time I had encountered the use of yuca.  Excellent also.

I liked the Pan con Bistec - steak sandwich - better than the Media Noche.  For years I have been eating beef sandwiches only involving thinly sliced roast beef from a deli and this was a pleasant change.  The steak involved is probably skirt and I was thrilled to have to do some serious masticating for a change!

I have not tried the Hamburguesa Inka Havana, which looks interesting, nor any of the breakfast or pastry offerings. 

The loaves are very large - this was almost 16 oz - made with lard and with a much lighter texture than any Cuban bread I've had or made before

The shop is located on West Bellfort just west of Chimney Rock (5361) right where the historic Westbury Square was located back in the 60s 70s and 80s.  There hasn't been a whole lot of commercial, much less restaurant, development in this neighborhood for years I think.

I have found the owners and all customers I have encountered to be very friendly.  I don't know if there is a Peruvian community in the area but Peru Gourmet is over on S. Post Oak, less than a mile away, and in the past there has been at least one Peruvian Pollo a la Brasa place further south  near Gassmer.