Arny's Bakery

9601 S. Gessner @ Bissonnet

This little Filipino bakery has opened, tucked back behind other businesses at the corner of S. Gessner and Bissonnet.

I picked up, from the left, an ensaymada, bibingka, and mamon.

The bibingka is a super-moist, dense rice cake made with coconut milk, a cross in texture with a dense rice pudding and a cake, traditionally baked in a terra cotta pot, wrapped in banana leaves.

The ensaymada, culinary descendant of the ensaimada of Mallorca, is a bun topped with finely shredded cheese and sugar.  The Mallorcan pastry was made with saim, a type of pork lard, but the Filipino version is made with butter.

The mamon is a sponge cake, a Filipino version of Angel Food cake; the name comes from Spanish slang for breast.

Both the ensaymada and bibingka were about 5" across and the bibingka weighed just over half a pound.

Not all of the items pictured were available the day I visited and there was at least one pastry and one type of bread I saw not pictured. A sign in the window also advertises kolaches which would probably make Arny's the first ever Tex-Czech-Filipino bakery, but there weren't any on display the day I was there. I plan to go back to try the Pan de Ube (purple yam) and Hopia (mung bean paste, I think), which were not available.

There were beverages available from a cooler and a coffee maker on a counter top.

EDIT TO ADD:  I HAVE SEEN BAKED GOODS FROM ARNY'S AT THE HONG KONG MARKET ON BELLAIRE IN THE READY TO EAT DEPARTMENT.

Frenchy's Gettin' Busy on the Southwest side...UPDATED 9/1/17

...opening new locations, that is.

A new store at 7903 Beechnut, just off 59, has been open for several weeks now.  It's larger than the existing store four miles away at 59 and Wilcrest in a Valero station, with room for a few tables for dine-in instead of just a shelf around the window.  It's very convenient to HBU and Memorial Hermann SW and all the associated clinics and doctor's offices.

THIS LOCATION HAS BECOME A CATFISH STATION, REPORTED ON ELSEWHERE ON THIS BLOG.

And then there's this, just one mile on my trusty odometer from the Wilcrest store, in a Shell station on the Beltway 8 frontage road at W. Bellfort.

THIS LOCATION HAS BECOME WALLA-BEES - THE STING IS IN THE WINGS.

Too soon to tell if there will be room for tables here but I'd guess so.

None of 'em, dang it, have drive-throughs for lazy bones like me.

I'm also keeping my eye on Arny's Bakery, 'Coming soon' to a strip center on S. Gessner at Bissonnet.  Hard to tell how much progress they're making since the windows are completely papered over but the business has gone up on the strip center signboard at the corner.

UPDATE:  Arny's is now open; it's a Filipino bakery offering pandesal, bibinka, mamon, ensaymada and more, not to mention kolaches.

Openings and Closings 2013 - 2014 (Edited 10/3/14)

So I don't go out for a year and a half and there are all these changes.  Who knew this was going to happen?

Around the intersection of Hillcroft and Bissonnet, which I once bragged about as one of the most diverse in Houston the kosher pizza place Aroma Pizza Cafe has closed.  It looked for a while like a pizza chain was moving in but the space is now vacant.  Tortilleria La Reyna and Birirria La Reyna, next door to each other, have merged into just the tortilleria.  Their Miercoles con Pollo Wednesday special is a cheap eats bargain - a whole rotisserie chicken, a cup of rice and half cup of a decent ranchero type salsa for just $6.  Fresh, warm, corn tortillas are extra but just $1 per pound.

Sheba Cafe has apparently become Habesha although the Sheba name remains on the building.  Sometimes it's closed when the sign says it's supposed to be open and other times a I see the Open sign lit in the window.  Next door, which long ago was Hoagies and More offering banh mi and pupusas, is now Ostioneria La Reyna.

South on Hillcroft, Istanbul Market has closed and Pollo Loco Charcoal Roasted Chicken has moved into the strip center with Pupusa Buffet.

On South Post Oak where Willow dead ends, Super Chicken offers Peruvian style charcoal roasted chicken with sides.  There's a dining room but I've never seen any one dining in the couple of times I've stopped in.    SUPER CHICKEN HAS CLOSED.
 
On Fondren at South Braeswood a shop offering cake pops, donuts, cupcakes and coffee according to signs in the windows has taken over the space formerly occupied by the Chili Bowl and before that Luke's.  There's still no sign on the building or streetside but a banner on the building now announces the Grand Opening of The Cake Fairy.  Maybe the third time will be the charm for that space.  ETA:  There is now a street-side sign, although it's mostly obscured by trees.

Shortly after I reviewed it, East Africa and Middle East Restaurant changed names to Mandi Halal and was identified online as serving Somali and Yemeni food.  Now Mandi Halal has closed but a new place has opened at 8403 Almeda at Holly Hall named House of Mandi.  Mandi is a Yemeni dish. 

Our second Afghan restaurant, Afghan Village, 6413 Hillcroft, has been open for about a year and I still haven't gotten around to going; now another Afghan place, Afghan Dastarkhwan, a word which I understand means something like smorgasbord, has opened at 6800 Southwest Freeway, back behind Lucy, which I've never been to either.  Edit to add:  a second location of Afghan Dastarkhwan has replaced Durrani's Tandoori Grill at 10581 S. Hwy 6 at West Bellfort, Sugar Land.

On Gessner between 59 and Beechnut, Taqueria Cancun has closed.  A block south of 59 Taqueria Arandas has become Don Rey Mexican Restaurant.  The huge streetside sign is new, as is the hand-painted plywood sign saying they're open.

I watched for months for the opening of Lahori Maza on Bissonnet next door to Afrikiko Ghanaian Restaurant, then I found out it was only open in the evenings or maybe only after dusk.  I still haven't checked it out.  Signs in the windows have advertised supari, bun kabob, keema paratha, samosas, tea, chess, and pool.  The other Desi game rooms I've been to, Salaam Namaste, Alpha Capri and Mehfil Grill, have more than just snacks on the menu.  The strip center parking lot up front is notorious for prostitution activities and raids

And probably the two best for last - AA Supermarket, 9896 Bellaire, is in the process of becoming an H Mart.  I read about it on Yelp and went to check it out.  There's no indication outside or in except that your receipt will show H Mart and you groceries will be in H Mart bags.  It's not a bad supermarket but it has a long way to go to match the H Mart on Blalock.  Still, I'm excited to have an H Mart much closer to home.

And Pho Binh, the acclaimed pho restaurant, has opened it's fifth location, Pho Binh Grill, in the shopping center at the corner of Gessner and the SW Fwy, between Maharaja Bhog and Peking Cuisine, making that strip center a great destination for dining.

Edit to add:  India Grocers, 6606 SW Freeway @ Hillcroft, has become Subhlaxmi Grocers.