Take-out: Carne Asada

El Escribano - grilled skirt steak topped with  sautéed fresh garlic, scallops, shrimp and Monterey cheese, with arroz, guacamole and pico de gallo, plus chips and 2 salsas, charros, and hot, fresh, hand -made thick corn tortillas.  Note steam.

From Teotihuacan, West Bellfort location

More News of the World - UPDATED 9/29

King's Chicken, known for its Pakistani dishes, naan, and fried chicken, has abandoned it's longtime place on Beechut just west of Wilcrest and moved way out on Highway 6, just north of Westheimer.  It's now a sit-down restaurant.

King's Chicken review in the Press.

The new name at the Beechnut location is Scarlotti's Eatery and Catering but except for a sign in the window advertising a 2 piece chicken deal, there's no indication what kind of food is served.

Johnathan's Grill Pampanga's in the International Food Court at the Viet Hoa Center on the West Belt at Beechnut is now La Fernandina's Grill Pampanga's.  There are still just the two Filipino places side-by-side in the food court (the other is Pinoy Fast Food).

Haveli is a new Pakistani restaurant at 5901 Hillcroft.  It's a buffet 7 days a week in a former nightclub space.

Gram's Empanadas

1410 N. Gessner

Several of our South American restaurants have Uruguayan dishes on their menus but so far as I know this is our only eatery identifying solely as Uruguayan.  There is an image of the Uruguayan flag on the menu board.

My obsession with sausages led me to try the Choripan on my first visit but I also had a beef empanada.  The Choripan - chorizo plus bread (pan) - is a sandwich found in several South American cuisines and I've read that Chorimobiles are the most popular kind of food carts in Argentina.  I have uniformly found South American chorizos to be pretty good sausages and this was no exception but it was different. Like andouille, it seemed to be made of chunks of meat rather than ground; it was split and grilled, a little over-grilled in this instance, and was tasty but the sausage was dwarfed by the bun and all that lettuce.  I have to admit I have yet to discover why these sandwiches are so popular.  None of them have been very impressive.

The beef and cheese empanada was a real winner, however.  Ground beef, minced red, yellow and green bell peppers and onion plus a gooey, stringy cheese, all in a flaky pastry crust with a creamy green sauce on the side that was just a little spicy.

On a second visit I stuck to the empanadas, going for a Leek and Cheese and a Shrimp.

The leek really wowed me.  I didn't really know what to expect but I sure didn't expect to see all that dark green part of the leek.  This one too had the minced peppers and onion and stringy cheese.  It was a bit on the salty side but I was tempted to go back up to the window and order another one and save the shrimp empanada for later.  That wouldn't have been such a bad choice, actually.  Compared to the leek, the shrimp empanada was blah; as I expected for the price point, frozen shrimp were used and they were pretty tasteless.  I understand the crab empanada uses imitation crab, a shame but understandable at the price point.

There are 14 empanadas on the menu board including several breakfast options and 2 sweets - Dulce de Leche and Sweet Potato.  There are also ten 'Meals' on another menu board, including the Choripan and a Chivito Burger and a Chivito Sandwich.  That last one is considered the national dish of Uruguay and it's on the menu of several South American restaurants around town, usually occupying a prominent place on the menu.  Gram's online menu describes theirs as flat iron steak, ham, bacon and cheese plus a fried egg.  I'm pretty sure I saw one on one of my visits and it's a very good looking sandwich.  The Chivito Burger substitutes a hamburger patty for the flat iron steak.

There are several tables on a covered porch on the south side of the little stand and a drive thru window on the opposite side.  Despite the drive-thru, Gram's is not fast food - empanadas are cooked when ordered, not sitting under a heat lamp, and it takes about 10 minutes.

A couple of real winners and more to explore sums it up.  Gram's Empanadas should definitely be on anybody's list for an Empanada Crawl.

Gram's Empanadas on GrubHub

Yaal Tiffins, South Indian Cuisine

10928 Westheimer (faces Lakeside Estate Drive)

Traditional South Indian and Sri Lankan Home-Style Cooking is what the menu proclaims.  Most of the week South Indian cuisine is featured but there are a couple of special meals each week highlighting Sri Lankan cuisine.  Is this a first for Houston?  It's a first for me anyway.

I went on a weekday for lunch where the lunch menu gives you a choice of a Veg. Thali (sic) for $6.99 or a Non Veg. Thali for a buck more.  The Non Veg. Thali offers a choice of chicken or goat.  I went for the Veg. Thali which also came with a choice of Masala Thosai or Naan and Paneer.

Across the top of the thali are dahi, kheer with paper thin sliced almonds, chutney and dahl, at 2 o'clock is a cabbage, carrot and pea poriyal (stir-fry); there are two pakoras, sambar and an onion curry.  This was some of the most mildly spiced Indian cuisine I think I've ever encountered.  The onion curry was the spiciest; I did find a dark red chilli in the chutney and eagerly bit into it but apparently all the seeds had been removed.  Nevertheless I especially enjoyed the sambar, kheer and poriyal.

A table card announced the Saturday lunch special which is a Sri Lankan Feast served on a banana leaf for just $7.99/$8.99.  I already knew about that from online reviews and this visit was no more than a preview:  I was mostly interested in sampling Sri Lankan cuisine and I made it a point to be there the next Saturday for my first taste.

I had the restaurant all to myself when I arrived, luckily, as one of the staff took the time to explain all the dishes that would be served and even a bit about how some of them are prepared.  I didn't witness any of the later patrons (and the place was full by the time I left) get such attention, but then, many of them were probably expats.

The banana leaf turned out to be real this time and the feast started with a cup of Neer Moru, the Sri Lankan version of buttermilk, with minced onion, ginger and curry leaf.  It was a very cooling, refreshing variation on the spicier Indian buttermilks I've had.

Then came the apps and a serving of one of the versions of sambol offered here, this one with a paste-like consistency.  The apps were fried chickpea fritters.

Next came puttu, wedges of Sri Lankan omelet with onion and curry leaf and a cup of rasam.   I've heard of puttu before.  An Indian correspondent has written that she loves them and always looks forward to them when she visits Kerala and I have seen the cylinders used to steam them in the housewares sections of the Indian supermarkets in Stafford but I've never encountered them on a menu here.  In Kerala they are usually made with rice and coconut but here they are made with wheat flour and coconut.  This was like a steamed, moist muffin and I can see why they're a popular breakfast food.

By this time I was ready for a second helping of the sambol which I was eating like a side rather than a condiment.   The restaurant was filling up and servers with their stainless buckets were passing by, doling out portions.  The meal is served in stages and there was never a time to get a 'big picture' of the whole meal but the next several offerings came in quick succession.

An appalam and a dahl curry were brought by.  The appalam is like the palappam of Kerala, a fermented crepe that is the bread served instead of naan.  I have enjoyed the dahls here; they are more simply seasoned than many it seems to me, allowing the pulse's flavors to shine through.

I had opted for the Non-Veg. Feast this time and the main course was a chicken kulambu or prettal, a curry, that was my favorite dish of the entire meal.  I'm not sure what the difference is between a kulambu or prettal or if those are interchangeable terms.  There was also a Sri Lankan Veg. Varai or Fry, with potatoes, a dry curry like the fries of Kerala.  I now want to learn how to make both the potatoes and the chicken curry.  There was another curry but I can't remember what was in it - it didn't make much of an impression on me.

According to the table card and the server's explanation, there was supposed to be a salad course before the chicken curry but I never received that.  Perhaps as compensation I did get a complimentary serving of the main dish for the veg. version of the feast, a pumpkin curry.  I had passed on the Veg. Feast when the server had mentioned the pumpkin curry as I am already just about pumpkin-ed out for this year, but this would have made a very satisfactory entree.  Unfortunately I neglected to take a picture of it.

The meal also included portions of steaming, puffy, Sri Lankan Red Rice and a serving of basmati rice.

If  the spice levels of Sri Lankan cuisine are disappointing to you, just grab a handful of these when they're offered.  This is a Buttermilk Chilli.  As I recall I was told the chillis are drizzled with buttermilk then dried in the sun before being fried.  I got this with a small portion of a mild mango pickle.

Then the meal ended simply with yogurt with treacle.

Portions are unlimited for this feast.  Many patrons were taking multiple portions of some of the dishes.  I asked for slightly larger portions of some items when they were originally served but the only ones I got seconds on were the sambol and the chicken.   I left very satisfied.

Service dragged a bit as the restaurant got very crowded.  Some dishes were at room temp, which is not ideal to me but not a big issue.  I imagine with a rather small kitchen it's difficult to juggle so many different items and keep them all warm, perhaps.

Next up for me will be a visit on a Thursday evening for the Sri Lanka/Kerala Dinner.

Urban Spoon has reviews dated in 2012 but YELP says the restaurant is three months old and that was confirmed by the owner.  Maybe an earlier incarnation folded, I don't know but I had never heard of this place until recently.

A flyer picked up the first week of November, 2014.  Prices, dishes and hours may vary at the restaurant.  The overwhelming majority of the menu is devoted to South Indian cuisine; a small selection of Sri Lankan dishes is available a la carte as I understand it Thursday through Sunday.   The restaurant is right across the side street from the original location of Cafe Pita +.

A Food Truck Park in Sugar Land, sorta...

on the southeast corner of Highway 6 and Bissonnet

Bansuri Indian Food Corner has set up shop in it's new location; it's parked along Bissonnet actually, barely visible from 6 behind a Conoco station.  It will be closed Sundays and Mondays.

About 75 to a hundred yards away, at the other end of the same parking lot, are four other mobile units including Big 6 Bar-B-Que, which I have visited and reported on before, BB's Beef and Hot Dogs, Yum Yum Sno Balls, and a new one, MJ Seafood.  Since they're outside the city of Houston they are parked practically bumper to bumper and can set up tables and chairs for customers.

I think BB's is the same operation that used to have a small shop on West Airport off of 59 serving Chicago style hot dogs and Italian Beef.

There's also a Mexican restaurant in the strip center and Vishala Grocery and Restaurant is just across Highway 6.

9431 Highway 6 South is the official address.

Bansuri Indian Food Corner

Big 6 Bar-B-Que

Selva Negra

3820 S. Gessner

THIS RESTAURANT HAS GONE OUT OF BUSINESS.

This is the new name of the Nicaraguan restaurant at this location, replacing Nicaragua Restaurant and before that Managua.  I never went to either of those here nor Managua at its original location but looking at the Press review from two and a half years ago, I remember that I intended to and just never got around to it. 

I was introduced to Nicaraguan cuisine a few years ago at Fritanga Nica which was unfortunately lost to most Houstonians, so far out on Synott at Bissonnet.  Nicaraguan cuisine has some differences with other Central American cuisines, among them that the Nica kitchen seems to rely more on steaming (in banana leaves, not always with masa) than other cuisines.

Selva Negra means black forest and it’s the name of a coffee estate, mountain resort and nature preserve near Matagalpa.

On my first visit I spotted the Nacatamale on the menu and immediately chose that.  That was not on the menu at Fritanga Nica when it first opened, though I think they added it later, and I had never had one, but it’s the first thing I read about that made me want to try Nica cuisine.  It’s an entree sized tamale, one is enough per person, and compared to descriptions I’ve read online, the one at Selva Negra is pretty simple - chunks of pork, unpitted green olives, raisins, a tomato slice, maybe a caper or two and some bits of onion and carrot, I wasn’t sure, and lots of lard.  The herb on top is I believe mint as indigenous mints are commonly used  in Nica cuisine.  This was presented on the banana leaf it was steamed in.  I’ve sampled a lot of tamales over the last few years, including others of this type, the huge tamale Tolimenses of Colombia which can be big enough for two people, the Hallacas of Venezuela, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Cuban tamales plus the pastele of Puerto Rico and this has to be among the best I’ve ever had.

I got an order of Tajadas to accompany this (half gone by the time I remembered to take a picture) and though the tamale proved to be solid enough to be forkable all the way to the last bite, I used the chips as scoops, an excellent pairing.

 I also got a Maracuya, a passion fruit drink.  I had also learned at Fritanga Nica that refrescoes naturales are really popular in Nicaragua and there are 14 on the menu here.  It was very sweet but very refreshing on a rather balmy Houston ‘winter’ day.

On another visit I chose yet another entree from the Traditional Plates section of the menu which  comprises only about a tenth of the menu.  I went with the Indio Viejo or Old Indian stew which had been recommended by the waitress on my first visit.  This is shredded beef (brisket, I believe) in a sauce traditionally based on sour orange juice, thickened with masa.  This version had baby corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, maybe a little bit of potato or yuca.  It was very good, among the best dishes I’ve had at any of our Central American restaurants.  It came with Gallo Pinto, the Nica version of a dish common through out the Caribbean and Central American region - rice and beans, plus plantanos maduros and ensalada.  To accompany this one I chose the Linaza, the linseed or flax refresco and it proved to be awfully sweet, quite surprisingly as I was expecting something kind of savory.  I couldn’t even tell if there was a fruit juice base or if it was just sugar water with food coloring and I couldn’t finish it because of the sweetness.  There was just a little bit of the ground flax seed in the bottom of the glass.

I've also had the Chancho con Yuca, another traditional dish consisting of well seasoned fried pork (rib meat I believe), steamed with yuca and topped with the house ensalada.  I’ve seen the salad referred to as curtido and ensalada de repollo but here they just call it ensalada - finely shredded cabbage with some tomato, always served here well chilled, crisp and with a nice acidic bite.  Compared to the vivid flavors of the pork and cabbage, the yuca was very bland and uninteresting.  But as s I often do with dishes I’m not familiar with, I took the leftovers home and found the yuca to be a delightful dish on it’s own when it had more time to soak up the flavors from the pork and ensalada. 

With the Chancho I tried the Zannahoria con Naranja refresco - carrot with orange.  Although sugar had been added it wasn’t as sweet as the Maracuya and it was delicious and this was the best of the refrescoes that I've tried.

Selva Negra bills itself as Central American cuisine instead of specifically Nicaraguan; there are a few Mexican dishes and some labeled CentroAmericano but for the most part I think the dishes are Nicaraguan.  All of the dishes I’ve had were less than $10 but there are many that go for more than that.  I have been most interested in exploring the ‘traditional plates.’

They’re open 7 days a week.  At the present time, they’re only taking cash.

Selva Negra

This Year's Hallacas Haul

Venezuelan holiday tamales

I got my first taste of hallacas last year with a sample from the El Punto Criollo cart on Beechnut at Highway 6. Of the various nacatamales I've had (Colombian, Guatemalan) I liked it best and went back to get a few more to tide me through the year. I've been hoarding my stash up until a couple of months ago when I finished off the last one, buoyed by the expectation that this year I'd be collecting specimens from the other Venezuelan places around the area.

This year I found three (in order below) - from El Punto Criollo, Tuttopane on Westheimer, and Deli's Cafe in Katy. I called Budare, also in Katy, and the Sabor Venolozano truck on Westheimer and learned they don't have them (or maybe just didn't have them the day I called? - we didn't speak each other's language so I wasn't entirely sure).



None of the samples so far this year were as impressive looking as what I had last year and I'd have to say they weren't quite as tasty, but they still were good. I like my tamales very moist and was a little disappointed in the texture of the masa in the Tuttopane and El Punto Criollo samples and decided to simmer the one from Deli's instead of steaming it. That gave it a little edge over the others, at least for me. All had diced meats (beef, pork, chicken) as opposed to the larger chunks of last year's sample. Besides the meats there are potatoes, onions, pimento, raisins and olives. The potatoes in Deli's were mashed instead of in chunks; I initially didn't think I'd like the mush-like filling but that one did end up my pick of these three while the meat-intensive sample from Tuttopane was my least favorite.

The were all about the same size; prices ranged from $7 to $7.75 with the one from Tuttopane the priciest one. They should be available until year's end or so. I'll probably be going back to get more of each.

(The h is silent in hallacas - ayacas).

Deli's and Tuttopane review on this blog.

The Deli's website is down but here is Tuttopane.

El Punto Criollo review

Big 6 Bar-B-Que

9431 Highway 6 South @ Bissonnet (and on the northeast side).

This trailer has been doing business along Highway 6 for several years but recently moved about a half mile south of it's long time location to a strip center on this corner and is parked right next to the Yum Yum Snow Ball trailer.

I'd been meaning to try it for a long time and had a taste for some barbecue so I wheeled in. The menu lists chicken, sausage and ribs before brisket and I wondered if that was a suggestion of what they think their best product is but I prefer to judge a barbecue place first by the brisket, in this case a sliced beef sandwich since I wasn't hungry enough for a plate.

It was about 8 oz of meat; they use oak and pecan and the smoke sure smelled good. The brisket on top was all from the lean part and was good and smoky and tender with a nice char but a bit dry. Fortunately there was some fatty meat in the middle of the sandwich which redeemed it. Sauce, minced onions, pickles and sliced jalapenos all came on the side, each in their own small containers. The onions were a little past prime and I decided not to use them but the real negative was the sauce, an unappealing smelling concoction to my nose. I'm anti-sauce anyway and this one did nothing to change my mind. I had to use a small amount to keep the sandwich from being too dry and fortunately the flavor of the meat itself wasn't overwhelmed by it. Sauce on the side and some fatty meat included without it being requested are all good signs at a barbecue place as far as I'm concerned.

I got a small sample of their home-made sausage, a typical East Texas fine-ground, synthetic casing product but made with pork instead of the usual beef. I thought it was very promising. They also have a home-made smoked boudin.

They've opened a brick and mortar place on the Northeast side, off of Lockwood, north of 610. It is open 7 days a week but the trailer is only open Friday-Saturday-Sunday.

Big 6 Bar-B-Que

Budare Arepa Express

402 W. Grand Parkway S (TX 99), Katy

I was heading back into town from the westerly nether regions recently and pulled off I-10 to check this place out. I'd seen it mentioned on Yelp. Katy has been called Katy-zuela because of the concentration of Venezuelan expats there but so far as I know this is one of only two brick-and-mortar Venezuelan restaurants in Katy and none of the Venezuelan mobile units I know about are located there.

Like the other place, Deli's Cafe, this one specializes in arepas, which are like Mexican gorditas, but with lots more on the menu. It's a small place but nicely appointed; most of the tables are two-tops.

There are 23 varieties of arepas on the menu; I went with the Pabellon which puts most of the ingredients of the Venezuelan national dish, Pabellon Criollo, in one of these corn pockets - carne mechada, black beans, fried plantains and cheese (queso de mano, I think).

This was by far the largest arepa I've ever encountered and I enjoyed it but, perhaps due to some medications I'm taking, everything seemed underseasoned for my taste. There is a help-yourself condiments bar with 5 different sauces available in squeeze bottles, 2 kinds of peppers, chopped jalapeno and some small peppers looking like stunted banana peppers that I'm not familiar with, and other things. Oddly, there was no guasacaca among the sauces.

My sandwich was almost ready before I spotted the poster for the Patacones, a spectacular Venezuelan sandwich which uses mashed, fried plantain for bread and which I've had before at the short-lived Pana's on Scarsdale and from the Sabor Venozolana truck on Westheimer (picture here). It is not listed on the menu board. This place is too far away for me to be a regular but next time I'm out that way I'm definitely going to go for that.

Budare

Kräftskiva at IKEA

I-10 @ Antoine, once a year

My mother was half-Swedish, on her father's side. Both his parents came over from Sweden in the 1870s and 1880s and the two families settled near each other in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But he moved away from his family to go to law school before marrying and moved his young family completely out of Michigan by the time my mother was 5. She learned to cook as a teenager from her maternal grandmother, who was of English descent, through New England, and she was never exposed to any Swedish customs or culture or cuisine, nor was I.

But I spent several years doing family genealogy and had a fascination not just with birth dates, deaths and weddings but with how my ancestors lived, what kinds of times they lived in, what were their prized possessions (revealed sometimes by wills), who were their neighbors and who did they know and what did they eat. And I've wanted to sample the foods and customs of their home countries and possibly visit there.

Our roster of Scandinavian restaurants here pretty much begins and ends with a certain home furnishings store so far as I know and I've been to the IKEA cafe a couple of times over the years. There really isn't much on the menu that's specifically Swedish, though most recently I had the smoked salmon plate, a decent meal for $6. It was a little less that ideally fresh from sitting out on the cafeteria line for too long but it was a nice, light counterpoint to this blast furnace summer we're having.

When I learned of the Kräftskiva or traditional summer crayfish party, I signed up (you had to purchase tickets in advance). I arrived early, hoping to get some shots of the buffet, and for some reason they called it a buffet rather than a smorgasbord, but hordes of my possible kinsmen had arrived early also and the gates had been let down and they were already wreaking havoc on the mounds of food while I snaked my way toward the ticket table.

Billed as all you can eat adults actually were limited to two plates of the crayfish each. It was clear some people had done this drill before and bought more than one admission ticket so they could get more but two was enough for me - there was much more on the buffet I also wanted to try. There were lots of people in the room who I suspect had only minuscule amounts of Swedish blood coursing through their veins. Crayfish or crawfish, I guess no matter how you spell it or spice it it's hard to keep Texans away when you're serving it. Swedish crayfish are served chilled, seasoned just with lemon and dill, and they were succulent and tender and delicious. Who needs cayenne and garlic? I did wish there wasn't so much more I wanted to try.


The rest of the buffet offered cold water prawns, seasoned again with lemon and dill, rolls of smoked salmon with dill sauce, boiled new potatoes with dill (no wonder I love boiled new potatoes with dill - it's in my genes), a selection of Swedish cheeses and a cucumber salad, plus hard-boiled egg with shrimp and mayonnaise. I passed over what is probably the most popular Swedish item on the regular cafe menu, Swedish meatballs with lingonberries, and there were also mashed potatoes and a tossed green salad that I remember.

Then there was a selection of Swedish breads, crispbread, crisproll and dinner roll; I've had them all before, plus the Swedish meatballs, purchased in the IKEA store. I love the crisprolls and the dinner rolls. Besides the two chocolate covered marshmallow heads pictured, made not with dense, heavy marshmallow, but almost whipped cream like texture - the dark chocolate one was the best, there were some Swedish cookies which I stuffed my pockets with before leaving.

I thought this was markedly better food than I've had in the cafe. The prawns were served cold and with shells, tails and heads intact; apparently Swedish diners are more fearless than most Americans. I observed most people laboriously picking the shells off but I just noshed away. I know there are people who claim the heads are the best part. I haven't had an 'Aha!' moment with regard to that yet but it certainly is a good way to work off some aggression and tension mandibularly, chewing on those shells. I think next time I may skip the shrimp and load up on more salmon and crayfish, though.

All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. I felt not only stuffed but also culturally enlightened just a little bit. I saw only one lady in a colorful traditional garb and I wanted to get a picture but by the time I had finished making a glutton of myself, I couldn't find her.

I've read they have done a traditional Swedish Easter smorgasbord in the past; I hope to make one of those in the future and I'm looking forward to the next crayfish party.

God it's great being Swedish.

Asturias Bakery and Cafe

3852 S. Dairy Ashford, just north of the Westpark Tollway

I have to thank alief foodie for alerting me to this place. I've driven by many times on the way up to Phoenicia or Cafe Caspian, etc., and just assumed it was another Mexican Panaderia. I guess I hadn't looked very closely in some time or I would have noticed the Bistrot 1919 umbrellas and looked into it further.

Asturias is an Argentine bakery and cafe (the menu card calls it a Confiture). It's a little larger than Manena's but about as cramped. There are serve-yourself display cases of breads (Pan Francis, Criollos, Cremonas, Libritos) and facturas (mini Danish), plus cakes, etc. There are packaged cookies on the shelves, baked in-store. I was tempted by a tray of alfajores but I'd better not have a whole dozen of those around. There are Argentine groceries including flours and mixes, ready-baked Boboli type things that I assume are meant to be used for pizza (made in house), Yerba Mate products, La Saltena products, spices, and Argentine cheeses. Frozen products include sausages and some frozen dough, half pints and pints of Trentino gelato from the company started by an Argentine ex-pat here in Houston a few years ago, and more. There are ready-made Sandwiches de Migas, the thin, crustless Argentine sandwiches that I love, in about nine different varieties including palmitos, ham, turkey, and prosciutto, and also some ready made po-boy type sandwiches. I assume you can get those made fresh.

I got a beef empanada plus three facturas and a criollo. The baked rather than fried empanada was heated up in a sandwich press. It had a juicy beef picadillo filling, savory rather than spicy, with a slice of hard boiled egg; this would be similar to the Gaucho at Marini's but not as spicy and with a much thinner, flexible crust. They also have a chicken empanada. The facturas had the typical fillings of crema pastelera, dulce de leche and dulce de membrillo . The Criollo, like the Libritos and Cremonas, is a flaky bun, similar to puff pastry.

The serve espresso and cappuccino and the like, hence the Bistrot 1919 umbrellas on the sidewalk.

The website is in a holding pattern. I've uploaded menu card scans to Urbanspoon.

H-TownstrEATS - Mobile

Get Thee some of These:


Pork Belly Taco with lightly pickled cucumber and Butternut Squash Taco with cilantro yogurt dressing. Incredible. Best street food I've had in Houston and I've had some very good stuff from the competition.

This is a very promising new truck, chef-driven as they say, with a varying menu (I've only seen these two items a couple of times). They're doing it right in my book: moving around instead of picking one spot (Montrose, Village, Greenway, for instance) and making good use of Twitter and Facebook to keep fans apprised of where they're going to be and what they're going to be offering. Not to mention serving up some great food.


I was a little less thrilled with a couple of other offerings I tried, the Korean style sirloin beef taco with onions, cilantro and queso - this was not bad but a little unimaginative, perhaps in the toppings. I was hoping for another something mind-blowing but this was not that much different from other beef tacos. And the grilled chicken burrito/wrap (forget just what they called it) - this was very promising to behold but wraps always seem to me to be less than the sum of their parts and that was the case with this.

Both of these might have benefited from the application of some of the condiments available on the truck but I had already driven away. There are several bottled condiments and a couple in squeeze bottles, plus some chopped peppers and possibly some relish?

I've seen a great looking Ancho Chili Frito Pie, a pretty regular offering I think (glad to see somebody offering chili on one of these trucks). The bacon-wrapped hot dog looked over-dressed for my taste but I plan to give it a try. When I tried to move in on someone who'd chosen those two items to get a better look, he got very protective.

If you've been holding back from trying street food for some reason, one visit to this one will likely change your mind and it's a good place to start, but there are already several others of the same caliber and there have been several new ones hit the streets in just the last few weeks.

Facebook, Twitter

El Punto Criollo revisited

I stopped by Saturday at this cart's new location on Beechnut just outside Highway 6. I guess it's the same cart as I encountered a couple of months ago up near I-10 - this one does have a menu board on the side and a completely different crew but it's the same phone number.

I knew the empanadas were good so I tried the Patacones, the Venezuelan sandwich that substitutes mashed, fried plantain for bread. This was the juiciest, most flavorful carne mechada I've had with a little bit of queso that I failed to ask the name of, maybe some refritos, I wasn't sure, and that's about it. There are bottled hot sauces on the shelf on the side of the cart but you have to ask for the guasaca, the Venezuelan guacamole sauce, and I forgot to and it wasn't offered. It would have made this a bit better. It was a pretty hefty sandwich for $1, much more filling than a typical $1 taco, but it was pretty heavy in the stomach because of all the grease soaked up by the plantain.

This place offers a plate lunch of Pabellon Criollo, the national dish of carne mechada, black beans and rice; I've got to go back and try that.

A sign in the window advertised Hallacas (ayacas), the Venezuelan holiday tamale. I've wanted to get my hands on one of these for a couple of years but missed out so I grabbed one to take home and heat up later. It was a lot smaller than I expected, about the size of 2 or 3 Tex-Mex tamales - I was expecting something like the just-one-makes-a-meal nacatamales of Colombia or Guatemala - but it was awfully good. There was beef, chicken and pork plus green olives, capers and raisins and a pimento or sweet red pepper for decoration. Also unlike those others which are about 50% masa, this was only about 20% masa - it was mostly about the fillings.

These are said to be so labor intensive they're only prepared around the holidays and people stock up on them in the freezer; I did likewise, going back a couple of days later to pick up several more.

The Hallacas will probably only be available through the end of the year and are $5 each.

Since they are outside the city limits, they have a table and a couple of chairs under an awning for your heightened dining enjoyment.

My earlier review.

Tandoori Nite

7821 Hwy 6 South

I've been wanting to try this one for a long time wondering if we might have two great Indian mobile purveyors. Why not? We certainly have quite a few very good Indian restaurants, as I have been discovering in recent months.

I've been doing a bit more cooking and eating at home of late, experimenting with Indian and Pakistani dishes in hopes of familiarizing myself with the ingredients and methods so I can better appreciate what I have when I eat out. Recently when I needed some supplies I made an evening jaunt out to the big World Foods market on Beechnut just past Hwy 6 to stock up and stopped by Tandoori Nite to pick up some food to go.

There is no menu on the sides of the truck; as you approach, you are given a menu card (below) or a sheet which lists the dishes and prices. I decided on my first visit to get the Seekh Kabab Masala. They tried briefly to talk me out of it, urging me to go for the Chicken Curry or Chicken Tikka Masala. This of course made me want the Seekh Kababs even more.


I went with the chicken as opposed to the beef but I really had no idea what Seekh Kababs were, never having had them before. Think chicken meatballs - Seekh Kababs are made with minced meats, mixed with herbs and spices, most notably in this case red pepper flakes and coriander leaf. Had I known what they were I might have passed and that would have been a mistake. Many times, it's better not to know what you're eating until after you decided if you like it.

I saw the kababs being skewered and inserted into a tandoor-like cooker in one corner of the truck, then pulled out and removed from the skewer and put in a sauce pan with some prepared curry spooned in and other ingredients added while the dish was finished off. This was excellent and quite spicy. It's a Pakistani dish and it seemed to me that in terms of intensity of flavors and complexity of flavors, this equaled some of the great dishes I've had at Himalaya. Wow, that's pretty strong. I particularly liked the minced onion and slivers of ginger, still crisp/tender, and lots of them.

I really wish I could have seen more of what was going on. If I have one gripe about this truck it's that it sits up so high that despite windows on both sides, it's impossible to see much of what these guys are doing, and they clearly know what they are doing. I'd like to see more of it. I did see one fellow in the corner, busy inserting and removing skewers from the cooker and pulling out naan, parathas and roti with a hook but I never managed to see him using a naandle nor got a look at the oven itself.

I had anticipated this would be a one time thing just so I could say I covered the base but the food was so impressive I had to go back and see if my first impressions were justified. On a second trip I tried the Chicken Saag Wala, another dish I've never had before. Bone-in, skin on pieces of chicken (a drumstick across the top, a portion of thigh in the left corner) in a rich gravy with spinach and coriander, onions, some tomato, ghee, a little bit of cream, I think, and more. This was much more savory than I expected. I had intended to eat at one of the tables under the awning (they're outside the city limits and are allowed to provide seating) but it proved to be much colder out on the prairie than in my driveway closer in and I wasn't dressed warmly enough and had to get it to go again. Dealing with the bone-in pieces of chicken was a bit of a tactical problem (I got no utensils or napkins) but not a deal breaker. While this was not quite as impressive as the Seekh Kababs it was still a very satisfying dish.

In both cases I got about 2 cups worth; what's pictured is only about 1/4 to 1/3. I tried the naan on one visit and the tandoori roti on the other and paused to remove them from the foil soon after leaving but they were already a bit soggy from the steam of being wrapped up.

I highly recommend Tandoori Nite. I'm thinking if they do this well on the less well-known dishes, they probably do very good versions of the popular dishes like Tikka Masala and Chicken Curry, too.

I understand we have another Indian or Indo/Pak truck out on the north side, listed on my Roll Call of International Mobile Vendors and one of these days, when I head out to visit an old college chum up that way (Oklahoma City), I'm going to stop by and try it. Meanwhile, Tandoori Nite and Bansuri are much more convenient to me.

Most entrees are $7.99 with the vegetable curries at $6.99. The most expensive item is the Tandoori Chicken Charga at $12.99.

All Bengal Sweets and Restaurant

13438 Bellaire Blvd.

UPDATE:  THE OWNER HAS OPENED ALL BENGAL SWEETS COFFEE SHOP, 5901 HILLCROFT IN THE HILLCROFT SHOPPING PLAZA, THAT IS GETTING VERY GOOD REVIEWS.

This restaurant has been in operation previously on Cook at High Star and only recently moved to this location. I had never heard of it before and had just gotten a glimpse of the sign passing by one time and went back to try it, not realizing I was going to be able to get anything more than sweets and snacks. The menu, however, includes a few curries, some tandoori and grill items, and three biryanis.

Space is shared with a small (2 aisle) Indo-Pak and Bangladeshi grocery store and Halal meat and fish market but the menu here says it's the 'one and only authentic Bangladeshi cuisine.'



I started with a few snacks, which were all ready-to-eat, a couple of onion pakora, a fish chop, a samosa and a dal puri. The pakora were maybe the best I've had, aromatically and taste-wise very oniony, both crunchy and chewy; it's been my experience that pakora look great but too often are more comparable to limp french fries than good, crisp ones. That's not the case here. The fish chop was interesting, sort of reminiscent of a fish croquette in a high school lunch room. The samosa was almost the equal of my favorite in town, the excellent, huge ones at Savoy on Wilcrest. This was much smaller and not quite as complexly seasoned or piquant but benefiting from some bits of potato and whole peas instead of just a puree inside. The dal puri was like others I have had, no where near as spectacular tasting as it was looking, unfortunately. With these I got a simple jalapeno 'sauce' that didn't appear to be anything more than pureed jalapeno,without much heat.

I got a Pakola with this, a Pakistani Cream soda, at least in name. It tasted nothing like any cream soda I've ever had before, completely lacking in vanilla as far as I could detect. One article online calls it an ice cream soda but the label on the can itself only calls it a cream soda with citric acid and 'cream soda flavours.' It wasn't bad but perhaps something of an acquired taste, kind of like Dr. Brown's Cel Ray Tonic is for some people. It was made with real sugar and is the color of lime jello. They also have a Pakola Lychee soda.

I took a little stroll thru the tiny grocery where every available space was filled with merchandise, there were freezers, a small produce rack with an interesting, baseball bat-sized gourd/squash, bulbous on one end, what I guessed were bitter melon and a few other items. I marveled at the list of fishes I'd never heard of on the list of available fishes on the wall of the small meat and fish department. I picked up a package of spicy Chanachur, the Bangladeshi name for Bombay Mix, and some Black Onion Seeds from the spice selection.


I asked one of the proprietors, who had shadowed me closely, answering my questions, what his best sweet was and he suggested the Chom Chom. I got one of those (on top in the photo) and another one that I thought looked awfully good which is known as Kala Jamun. That's a saucer sized plate, by the way.

These were simply incredible. I'd had Cham Cham before at another sweet shop but it was no where near as good as this one; it had held a hidden pocket of syrup that burst when I bit into it and drizzled down my chin and on to my shirt. Bangladeshi sweets are said to be characteristically 'wet' and these were but not drippingly so like that one. Biting into these or applying pressure caused the syrup to swell to the surface but it was reabsorbed when pressure was released in a nifty and intriguing display of culinary engineering. They were almost overwhelmingly sweet, as sweet as any honey-laced baklava I've ever had. The second example had an exterior layer, a thin crust if you will, providing a little more textural complexity, and a beautiful, rosy red interior which I wish I had taken a picture of. If I understand correctly, the Kala Jamun is produced by deep frying the Chom Chom. Besides these two, the only ones I've tried, the Laddu looks awfully good.

These have become my new favorite sweets from the Subcontinent and I have to practice self-restraint and moderation around them.

There is a variety of syrups and herbs and spices used to flavor these, principally rose water and saffron, I think, but more intriguing to me is what they're made of. I couldn't believe it when I came across a recipe and explanation that they're actually made of cheese! I let a portion of one dry out in the refrigerator for a couple of days and managed to convince myself that I could detect the tiny curds and a cheesy taste (yeah right) but I would never have deduced that without having read it online. I had yet another revelation on another visit when I spied a bowl of the Chom Chom behind the sweets counter, the unfinished product, and they looked just like stubby cheese sticks.

I also went in once to try one of the curries. I had read that Hilsha is the national fish of Bangladesh and also that it's very, very bony. I was also warned of that my the guy taking my order so I decided to try the Rohu Fish Curry which he said had 'some bones.' Actually, this was very bony by my standards. I wasn't very impressed by the dish, the curry wasn't bad but not very interesting; it had more tomato than any curry I've ever had I think, and a nice level of spiciness but the fish itself was the disappointment. Rohu is supposedly a variety of carp and carp is supposed to be an oily fish but the flesh was very dry, not moist and flaky. The curry came with a generous portion of plain white rice which was also presented very dry, not sticky but a little clumpy. I understand Bangladeshis eat with their bare hands so that may be the preferred way to serve it.



On another visit I had some more onion pakora and also the eggplant pakora and tried the Goat Rezala and liked it a lot more than the fish. It was a very pungent curry, actually looking much like the Rohu Fish curry but without anywhere near the amount of tomato and more piquancy. The goat was bone-in, of course, and goat is a pretty bony meat, too, and there wasn't all that much meat, actually. There was also at least one piece of organ meat, which I couldn't identify but certainly was not muscle, and possibly another, a small section of liver, so those who are off-put by offal should avoid this one. The rice on this occasion was also dry, although not as dry as before. I haven't tried any of the roti.

The chai is not bad here. They use disposable plates, cups and utensils for some items, plates, flatware and glasses for others. Unfortunately the chai is served in a disposable foam cup.





Prices and dishes may vary at the restaurant, of course.

POSTSCRIPT:  MY RUDIMENTARY UNDERSTANDING OF THIS CUISINE WAS CONSIDERABLY ENHANCED BY A POST I DISCOVERED ON ISHITA UNBLOGGED.  I POSTED IT UNDER NEWS AND ARTICLES OF INTEREST AND IT IS REFERENCED IN A COMMENT BY THE BLOGGER BELOW BUT THE LINK HAS BEEN INADVERTENTLY DELETED.  SO, HERE IT IS.

El Punto Criollo

506 Hwy 6 West (??), less than 1/2 mile south of I-10 SEE AMENDED LOCATION BELOW and a report on a revisit here.


I was on my way to check out another restaurant on the far west side when I happened to spot this one. I knew from the word criollo that this was not another taco trailer so I swung around to check it out. Cuban?, Puerto Rican?, I wondered; it wasn't until I got close enough to read the menu in the window that I discovered it serves Las Delicias de Venezuela. I had forgotten that Pabellon Criollo is the national dish of Venezuela. It's on the menu here along with arepas, empanadas, pastelitos, cachapas, tequenos, and chicha Venezolana, a rice based drink served sweetened and chilled. There are also hallacas listed on the menu and I thought I'd really lucked out. Hallacas are the Venezuelan version of a nacatamale, typically including more than one meat, capers, raisins and olives as filling and I've never been able to sample one yet but she said it should be covered up on the menu as it is only served during the holiday season, as is typical.

The lady is very friendly and cheerfully answered a lot of questions I peppered her with; she speaks pretty good English. I had more trouble communicating because of the roar of traffic on the highway than because of a language barrier.


Though I had my heart set on something at the other restaurant I decided to pick up a couple of empanadas to sample since I've been out on this stretch of Highway 6 only a handful of times and wouldn't likely be back soon. I got a beef and a chicken ($2 each) and was impressed with how hefty they were. I was offered a variety of salsas, red and green, one described as hot, but I asked about the guasaca, the Venezuelan creamy avocado dressing. She seemed pleased I knew of that and procured some from the refrigerator.

I had actually just left a dentist's office and made it all the way to 6 in amazing time; I wasn't supposed to eat anything for another quarter hour, lest my teeth self-destruct, so I hopped in the car and headed on down the road where it turned out the restaurant I had my sights on was closed; sure was a good thing I brought a spare lunch along.

Most Venezuelan empanadas I've had were snack-sized; these were close to being the largest I've ever had, about as big as a burrito, and crammed full of meat. The chicken one was the tastiest, shredded chicken breast with some red pepper and other herbs apparent, tender and juicy. The guasaca was surprisingly tart and complemented the chicken quite well. The beef empanada had tender shredded brisket and was a little more simply seasoned and not quite as interesting. The guasaca didn't go with it as well and I wished I had also taken some of the salsa. These things were big enough that two was a meal.

With the recent closure of Miguelito's I guess we now have more Venezuelan mobile units (3) than brick and mortar places (2) in the area.

Edit: now located next to the parking lot of World Food Market, on Beechnut just west of Highway 6, with an awning and table for comfort.

El Punto Criollo on Facebook

Edited 1/28/12