Hoodadak Korean Fried Chicken

1645 Winding Hollow Drive @ S. Mason Road, Katy

So we've all heard Bonchon Korean Fried Chicken is coming to Katy this spring (and later, hopefully, to more of the Metro area).  But there already is a Korean Fried Chicken place in Katy - Hoodadak.

We found out about it on Hungry Onion and my friend Lambowner went out to get her first taste.  She came back with a very positive review so I had to make the trek, too.

I got the same order she did but I didn't get the complimentary pickled radish and I found the special lunch combo with just 4 wings not quite enough.

The chicken is extra crispy, the fries are excellent.  A special dipping sauce is offered for the fries and there's Heinz Sriracha Ketchup on the tables.  Extra napkins were forthcoming upon request immediately (very necessary).  There are five flavors for the fried chicken to choose from in all; I'll refrain from picking a favorite since I've tried only one.

Hoodadak is a small sitdown restaurant with table service.  The room seats only about 45 or 50 at 2 tops and 4 tops plus 3 mostly enclosed cubicle-like booths and a bar.  Missing from Lambowner's picture of the interior in her report are the bottles of wine and sake lined up at the right side of the bar, next to the register monitor; they got their license and will sell bottled and tap beers plus wine, sake and soju.  Just remember the chicken is twice-fried and not until you order it, so it does take some time

I thought Katy was Katyzuela but let the Korean fried chicken wars in Katy begin!

Hoodadak Facebook, with a link to the menu

Kasper's Meat Market

119 E. Post Office Street, Weimar, Texas

Back a couple of years ago when I was posting on one of the discussion boards about my interest in Texas sausage makers, I got a lot of suggestions for ones to check out. One good suggestion was Kasper’s in Weimar.

I’d been to Weimar before, on old US 90 just before Schulenburg, and didn't remember any meat market, but when I got around to looking into it I found Kasper’s has some very loyal fans.


Kasper’s has been in business since 1917. E. Post Office Street (which runs parallel to US 90 a block north) is also dubbed Old Sausage Avenue in honor of the town’s most famous business. Stepping inside the door is a trip back in time; the interior is time worn. there are ancient fixtures and some newer ‘country’ accouterments; the walls are lined with ancient clippings and photographs, including a framed picture of the La Grange Chicken Ranch and many of the town’s athletic heroes. Just across the meat cases which completely divide the room is the work area, giving me the feeling of being the closest I’ve ever been to being in a slaughterhouse.


I tried the ‘famous’ Weimar sausage, a beef and pork combination with natural casing. On my first visit I also picked up a jalapeno version of the same, a dry version of the same, and some of the wieners.

The sausage is unsmoked, mildly seasoned and excellent. It’s quite different in seasoning from most Texas sausages I’ve sampled and it goes right up to the very top echelon of my favorite sausages from Texas sausage makers. I was really kind of surprised I liked such a mildly seasoned sausage so much but the taste buds don’t lie.

The dry sausage likewise is excellent and is likely to replace the similar product from Patek’s Shiner Smokehouse as my favorite dry sausage. The natural casing beef and pork wieners already have done so, eclipsing the all beef but skinless Shiner Dogs from Patek’s.

One post online says that Kasper’s uses casings that have not been soaked in salt so don’t get tough when cooked. They give an excellent, slight snap when bitten into or cut.

The Wiki article on Weimar says that people flock to Kasper’s on Saturday for barbecue. Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, I made sure to schedule a trip through the area on a Saturday. I arrived just after 1 PM; there was only one parking space left on the entire block but upon entering I could neither smell nor see any barbecue being served. What I did observe was people lined up 3 and 4 deep all across the front of the meat cases, placing big orders for meats or waiting for their orders to be taken. Like what I've witnessed at Vincek’s in nearby East Bernard, Weimarians must be big meat eaters and I can imagine the meat departments of the 2 local grocery stores I saw might get pretty lonely.

I had seen a sign at a service station at the exit off I-10 (Chevron? Mobil?) that they carried Kasper’s sausages so I just headed over there to stock up on some of the ones I was familiar with but they had only a few samples of jerky; most of what the store had in its meat case was from Prasek’s in Hillje, about 40 miles south. Prasek’s is available all over this region and even in some supermarkets in Houston and I’ve had it before , though it’s been a couple of years; I think Kasper’s is better.


On yet another trip through the area I picked up more of the basic product and some more of the dried sausage, plus the liver sausage, which is excellent, like all the others I’ve tried. (I haven’t tried their boudin). One of these trips I’m also going to buy a roast or some steaks and see what their fresh meats are like.

Another fan of Kasper’s has posted a photo of the menu on the wall which also shows just a glimpse of some of the furnishings.

Kasper's


Side trip: the day there was no barbecue I needed something to eat. Rather than heading back to Schulenburg 10 miles away I went back into town and stopped at Franklin Fried Chicken, on W. Main, close to the high school, an old fashioned, small town chicken shack.


The very nice lady at the window admitted the potato salad is store bought but the slaw is home made. The potato salad was only so-so; the slaw was good, except for the texture - it was all finely minced and I like the cabbage in a larger shred or dice.


The chicken was not bad; I’d stop here again rather than try to find one of the chain outlets in Schulenburg or Columbus. The most amazing thing was the thigh meat which was darker than any thigh meat I’ve seen in a long time. Chickens are slaughtered so young these days their meat develops little flavor and it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between breast meat and thigh meat just based on color or taste. This was very good.

There’s was also a Bob’s Cookshack on W. Main that was open, serving barbecue and other items, another place to eat in beautiful downtown Weimar.

Quick Bites

Hoang Banh Mi, 3509 Elgin @ Scott

I was tooling down Elgin and spotted the sign and thought to myself ‘Wasn’t that the name of the great banh mi shop inside the decrepit Hoa Binh mall on Milam?’ (also known as the Original Givrals). I pulled in for a quick banh mi thinking I might have made a big discovery. The Thit Nuong ($2.35) was smaller than I remembered but with more of the tasty grilled pork, or maybe it was just a relative thing. The baguette was very well toasted, a little over-done, but very good. I was in a hurry and got it to go but wish I’d gotten a little sriracha. The sign says Hoang Banh Mi, the business card says University Café with ‘Hoang Sandwich’ stamped on the back. On b4-u-eat it’s listed as Givral’s Vietnamese Bistro. Aha! So it is the same place and it turns out they’ve been open there for a couple of years - I just never knew it. I’ve had some great banh mi and beef noodle soup at the old place in the past and I’m glad to know where they are.

The Nickel Sandwich Shop, 5601 Lyons, just east of Lockwood

I’ve been intrigued by the Nickel, the old nickname for 5th ward where Burt's Cajun Meat Market is located, one of my favorite eateries. The old neighborhood is long past it’s prime and has been passed by (mercifully) by the chains except for a few of the fast food places. I’ve wondered if there are some more gastronic finds to be made amongst all the small, locally owned eateries, so when I saw the signs for fried chicken in the parking lot of this sandwich shop, I pulled in. It turned out they only do wings and breast strips and I’m not interested in them in my ongoing Chicken Fried Odyssey so I opted for a catfish po’boy.


It was on a store-bought multi-grain roll that was unremarkable but the sandwich was pretty good otherwise, so hot out of the fryer it burned the roof of my mouth. The fries were over-cooked and grease-sodden. Another customer told me the Trout Sandwich is good, too, and they also have flounder, plus barbecue (smelled good but I didn’t see any) and the special of the day was a Cajun Smoked Burger which I just may have to go back to try.

El Penjamo, 6110 Lyons, near Kress

I’ve developed an interest in exploring the regional variations in Mexican cuisine and when I found out the name of this restaurant seems to refer to a municipality in Guanajato I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve noticed the crowded parking lot during the lunch hour before when I’ve been to Burt’s just down the street. The restaurant is quite small and I saw no regional specialities of Guanajato on the menu that I recognized so I decided to try the Carnitas al Penjamo (they also have Carnitas Rancheras). The chips were fresh and oily with a fiery salsa verde and a very creamy one. The dish was delivered looking like a pile of fajitas and so sizzling hot the refritos were still bubbling but it was nothing like any carnitas I’ve ever had before and would have been more appropriately named Smothered Pork Chops al Penjamo style. Maybe that’s the way they do carnitas in Guanajato? It was good, just not what I was looking for. The sides - refritos, rice, guacamole, pico - were all good but were very small portions compared to the entree.

I did see Machacado (al la Mexicana, con Huevo and a Burrito) on the breakfast menu and the waitress said breakfast was available all day so I may go back to try that. Machacado (dried beef) is originally from Nuevo Leon, I think. Both waitresses spoke Spanish as a first language but both were very fluent in English.

Taqueria Mi Lindo Huetamo, taco truck on Hillcroft, 2 blocks south of Bellaire

Robb Walsh wrote this up on his taco truck blog last year and I’ve stopped by a couple of times. They were open New Year’s Day and I got an al pastor torta with their unusual marinated radish and onion salad. It was very good; the bolillo was soft and a bit spongy and only minimally toasted, the meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender and tasty, and there was close to a cup of creamy avocado in there. I prefer the bread crustier but this place is a real winner.



Taqueria Oaxaca - taco trailer squeezed into an already cramped parking lot in front of Variedades Puebla at 1833 Richmond, near Woodhead

In line with my interest in regional Mexican fared I checked this out. On the first visit I had a taste for a burrito.


It was huge, with rice, pork (tough), refritos, lettuce, tomato, avocado, queso, crema and a very good salsa verde and a lime wedge. A whole meal for $4, but burritos are probably not a regional specialty of Oaxaca. The menu on the side of the trailer lists enchiladas, huaraches, gorditas - I couldn’t wait to go back and try an enchilada and visions of a choice of moles danced in my head but, alas, they don’t do enchiladas, or huaraches, so I settled for a gordita with beef. It was very good, the best gordita I’ve had in a long time, but, again, not a regional specialty. I think the name on the trailer must have been from a previous owner. Almost no English was spoken by the senorita. The food was okay both times (the beef on the gordito was better than the pork in the burrito) but parking is a real drawback.

Coquitos - Comida Hondurena

6121 - V Hillcroft, between Gulfton and Westward


I went to Coquitos the first time almost a year ago to try the Sopa de Caracol, the conch soup that is a Honduran specialty and is advertised in the window. The waitress said they didn’t have it the day I was there and when I asked for a recommendation suggested Sopa de Gallina, the hen soup, and that proved to be a satisfying and fortuitous choice. Steaming hot with large, bone-in pieces of white and dark meat with large chunks of carrot, yuca, plantain, potato and cabbage in a rich broth with a side of white rice and 2 thick, hand-made corn tortillas, it was very good. The vegetable pieces were so large it was almost necessary to use a knife and fork to eat the soup. I was feeling a little under the weather that day and though I hadn’t expected it the Sopa de Gallina proved to be just what the Doctor ordered. Plus with all the starch, it was very filling and a good bargain.


On a subsequent visit I tried the pastelitos for an appetizer - Honduran style empanadas made with corn meal (arepas) like those of Venezuela and Columbia. They were stuffed with a ground meat and rice mixture and almost full size but were lacking in seasoning. They were accompanied by a generous portion of a shredded cabbage salad with marinated red bell pepper, a warm tomato dressing and shredded queso. It was very good and at only $3.75, was very filling, almost enough for a whole meal. I had also ordered Casiamento con Coco, a rice and beans dish cooked in coconut milk, the Honduran version of Jamaican rice ‘n peas with the addition of onion and bell pepper and a more generous use of coconut milk. It was accompanied by some avocado and queso and corn tortillas. I was so full from the appetizer I wound up taking most of this home and discovered it’s much better reheated the next day.

Meanwhile I had seen the Pollo Frito being served and it looked very good and I planned to return to try that. I also noticed Mondongo on the menu, the Central American term for Menudo, and some other dishes that looked interesting.

I only got around to going back for the Pollo Frito recently. The restaurant has been spiffed up a bit with table cloths on some of the tables and additional seating. I was there around 2pm and the place was very busy, in part because there was only one server and one cook and they were running way behind.

The menu has also changed, or at least been reprinted and organized a little better. There are now Baleadas on the menu which I don’t recall from before. There are three to choose from with the basic one called Baleadas Regulares. I ordered just the basic Baleada as an appetizer but wished I had tried one of the ones with some add-ins; the ones I saw being served looked spectacular. I think the daily lunch specials portion of the menu is gone, too, and there are more Mariscos.

The Pollo Frito consisted of 2 small pieces, a leg and thigh. Like this dish at the other Honduran restaurants I have tried, it was overcooked, though not as badly. It was a very dark brown color; the skin and flesh of the thigh had been scored but whether that was to facilitate even cooking or easier eating I don’t know. It wasn’t quite as dried out as what I’ve had elsewhere but so well done on the exterior that it was kind of like eating a cross between chicharron and chicken. This too comes with a big pile of the cabbage salad with a simple warm tomato dressing; some online sources say is it is common in Honduran cooking that this is nothing more than canned tomato sauce. This is all served over a bed of banana chips that have been lightly sauteed to crisp them up only slightly. I’ll have to give this Pollo Frito another try before deciding where it belongs in my Chicken Fried Odyssey rankings.

Honduran food is not spicy but my main complaint here is blandness. Everything is underseasoned. As I’ve been trying to lose weight for a year and half now I’ve weaned myself off an over-dependence on salt. One of the benefits of eating lots of ethic foods is the seasonings and spices make it interesting and flavorful without the use of salt and pepper and there are many small ethnic eateries where S&P are not on the tables at all. But at Coquitos, I need to reach for the salt; just a little helps a lot. I guess if you’re actually on a salt-restricted diet, that’s good. There is Tabasco on the tables but I’ve never used it and also soy sauce - the menu for instance lists Shap Suey con Pollo o con Cameron. The food I’ve had here so far is not quite as good as at another local group of Honduran restaurants but on the other hand, you don’t have to deal with a deafening juke box at Coquitos.

One nice touch is the coffee. It’s always been prepared fresh when I’ve ordered it and may be a special Honduran variety; it’s presented with a small pitcher of warm milk.

The restaurant is clean but not fancy; not every waitress speaks English but the menu has full English translations. Parking in front is very tight. The menu and business cards and sign on the exterior read Coquitos but one sign in the window and the b4 listing is for El Coquito.

Las Hamacas

8541 Gulf Freeway @ Monroe and other locations

I first went to Las Hamacas for the fried chicken. Well, why not? I had visited another Honduran restaurant, Coquitos, and been impressed enough with the food to want to try more Honduran cuisine and read on b4-u-eat.com that the fried chicken at Las Hamacas was very good. I first went to the location on Gessner at Harwin, the one closest to me. Right away it became apparent the complaints on b4 about the loud jukebox were not just the ravings of some cranky, picky diners. The jukebox was not only loud, it got louder with each selection until it reached a point of being almost intolerable, then muted considerably on the next number. Obviously, it’s programmed to do that. The food would have to be incredible for me to return to that location.

Fortunately I’ve found the Gulf Freeway location, while it can be loud, is no were near as unpleasant and I’ve made all my subsequent visits to that location.

Back to the negatives, though. I’ve had the Pollo Frito twice now, once at the Gessner location, and both times it’s been disappointing. It is offered two ways, I recommend getting it on the bed of banana chips (tajadas). It comes covered in shredded cabbage (the Central American curtido) and a plain tomato sauce. While the tajadas were excellent the chicken was dry, having been cooked in advance, I think, and held under a heat lamp too long. On a visit to the Gulf Freeway location I got the additional arroz, frijoles and aguacate (pictured on this post) and didn’t get the tajadas. This time the breast/wing piece came out looking absolutely gorgeous, glistening with just a little bit of the oil, but the meat was terribly dry and tough, practically needing a steak knife to cut. I’ve given up on the Pollo Frito at Las Hamacas.

But everything else I’ve had there has been very good. I’ve always gotten the Baleadas Sencilla, a thick warm flour tortilla smeared with frijoles rojos and sprinkled with some grated queso duro, a hard, salty cheese very much like parmesan, then folded over. It’s a popular street food in Honduras and very satisfying - warm flour tortillas and refritos are comfort food and I can’t pass it up. You can also get a Baleadas Especiales with with meat, eggs, crema and avocado.

I’ve also tried the Bandeja Catracha, described on the menu as a Honduran casserole. Catracha is a nickname for the Honduran people and like the Bandeja Montanero of Colombian restaurants, this is a combo plate which includes scrambled eggs, refritos rojos, carne frita, arroz, aguacate, queso and tajadas de plantanos instead of bananas. This was all good except that the skirt steak the time I got it had some gristle. I prefer the banana chips over the plantanos here.

On my most recent visit I ordered entirely off the appetizer menu, getting the Mix Hondureno in addition to the Baleadas (all pictured above). This included a pastelito (Honduran meat pie, snack sized), Honduran style enchilada (very similar to a Tex-Mex tostada) and Honduran taco, basically an oversized taquito. All of this was served on a plate covered with the encurtido and sprinkled with some cheese. The flavors bear a strong resemblance to Tex-Mex. Honduran food is not spicy but there are bottles of Tabasco on every table, perhaps a sop to Texans. I haven't used any of it.

The best thing on this plate was the pastelito, made with corn dough and stuffed with a ground meat and potato mixture, probably the same one which topped the enchilada. The taco meat was chicken which I understand is first stewed then crisped up a little on a grill. The corn tortillas used for both the taco and enchilada were very thick and soaked up a lot of oil in the cooking process.

There are many more items on the menu to try, including the Sopa de Caracol (conch soup) which is supposed to be a speciality of Honduras and Sopa de Jaibas, a crab soup. As at many taquerias and Central American restaurants, the Sopas seem to be the most popular items here.

If you’re looking for a quiet dining experience, Las Hamacas is not the place to go, but if you can stand a little noise with 2 TVs on pretty constantly and occasionally a song on the jukebox, the Gulf Freeway location hasn’t been unbearable for me.

THE GESSNER LOCATION MENTIONED ABOVE HAS APPARENTLY CLOSED AND A NEW LOCATION OPENED A FEW BLOCKS AWAY ON BELLAIRE. HERE IS AN UPDATED LINK TO THE WEBSITE WITH THE LOCATION AND MENU. Updated 7/15/10

Louisiana Foods Deli

4410 W. 12th Street, in a warehouse district

UNFORTUNATELY THE DELI HAS CLOSED (SOMETIME IN THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS).

Just a word about this place - a seafood wholesaler with a hot foods deli that’s open only on weekdays from 11am until they run out. Louisiana Foods was the kitchen for the original group of Landry’s restaurants, before they were sold to the present Landry’s, Inc., and still is a seafood wholesaler supplying lots of markets and restaurants in the area.

About a half dozen menu items are available each day, including daily specials. It’s counter service only and there’s no place to eat on premises so if you don’t live in the area, as I don’t, it’s a problem. I usually head over to Memorial Park, about a mile and a half away, and lunch under the trees.

The crawfish etouffee plate is available everyday and is always good, much better than you’re going to find at any other counter-service place for a similar price. They use Louisiana crawfish, not the stringy, tasteless, imported Chinese variety. It comes with French bread and a side, which varies. Surprisingly I found the Shrimp Gumbo, also available every day by the pint or larger sizes, to be very disappointing, very thin and with frozen cocktail shrimp only. Likewise the Tuesday special of meat loaf was a disappointment so I have since stuck to the etouffee.

They are also the franchisor for this area for Krispy Krunchy Cajun Recipe Chicken and Seafood. This is one of those franchises for convenience stores and gas stations and it’s the best one I’ve tried, though I’ve only had it here. It can be quite good, but it does sit under the heat lamps so can get dried out and tough.

They also have some very good boudin balls and the chicken and boudin balls are available everyday.

This is accessible only from North Post Oak; W. 12th does not go through under Loop 610.

Louisiana Foods

Krispy Krunchy