Eats: The Pass

Between the craziness of moving countries, having babies and living apart... my husband and I haven't had a date night in over 9 months. In fact, we can't even remember our last date night! While he was in town, I took the opportunity to make reservations at The Pass. I've always wanted to try them but, it's a little hard to eat here when one's pregnant. So yes, this dinner was my treat to myself and it didn't disappoint.

When I called to make reservation, they asked for a credit card to secure the reservation. I was determined to eat here so I never really asked what the cancellation policy was.

We chose to do the 8-course "regular" tasting. I emphasize "regular" because they also offer a vegan, gluten free tasting menu as well. You can choose to do either a 5-course or 8-course tasting from either menus. I will stop here and let the food pictures speak for itself because, while having a baby doesn't allow me much time to blog, I also lost all my notes related to this tasting when I was forced to restore my phone. Long story... Just, enjoy the pictures and know that it's worth it!

Oysters

Mushroom 1/2

Mushroom 2/2

Hamachi

Potato

Foie Gras

Lamb

Chocolate

Stilton

Petit Fours

The Pass

807 Taft St.

Houston, TX

http://passandprovisions.com/

Eats: BRC Gastropub

For some reason, I never really cared to try BRC until recently. With a girlfriend, we were supposed to go to Max's Wine Dive but, changed our minds last minute and decided to try BRC instead. I'm glad we did. Their brussel sprouts are amazing! The word "cream" kind of put me off at first but, it was light and the combination of it and their bacon jam really worked.

The sandwich that I ordered was pretty good as well. I really like their bacon jam and pickled jalapeno. If it weren't for that, it would've been just an average chicken sandwich.

As is the case with most restaurants in Washington area, the restaurant's drawback is their lack of parking. We had to circle around a few times before we could find a spot.

Brussel Sprouts
sultanas, bacon jam, cream, parsley

Fried Chicken & Cheddar Biscuits
cheddar cheese, cream gravy, bacon jam, sweet jalapeno

BRC Gastropub

519 Shepherd

Houston, TX

http://www.brcgastropub.com/index.php

Eats: River Oaks Donuts' Cro-wnut

Cronut (croissant donut) is a big hype at the moment, especially in NYC. In Houston, there are a handful of donut shops that make them, River Oaks Donuts being one. They only make about 30-40 of these a day and they sell out fast! You can call in advance to reserve them, which is what I did.

This is the first time I tried a cronut. The River Oaks Donuts' version taste like a dense donut. Personally, I'm not a fan since I like my donuts soft and pillowy. Maybe I need to fly to NYC and try the original cronut! Yea, I like that idea!

River Oaks Donuts

3601 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, TX

http://www.riveroaksdonuts.com/

Eats: Tasty Tuesday's Food Truck Meetup

The Galleria area is finally getting it's share of food truck love! Every second Tuesday of the month, several food trucks gather around Apache/Stewart Title's office complex from 11am-2pm. This month, approximately a dozen food trucks participated.

Skratch Food Truck

Honestly, there are so many food trucks popping around Houston now, I can't keep track anymore. I've never heard of Skratch before. Passing by, a sign that said "lobster roll" caught my attention. I couldn't help but to get one. Their lobster roll was pretty good for Houston standards and I like that it wasn't doused in mayo. 

Lobster Roll
Live Maine Lobster, Chives, Dill, Celery, Mayo

Golden Grill
I've actually heard of them before but, I don't always crave grilled cheese sandwich (their specialty) so I don't usually seek them out. That day, a grilled cheese sandwich sounded good. I ordered the Hamlin which had prosciutto and jalapeno jam. The jam was definitely the highlight of the sandwich! Without it, it was just an average grilled cheese sandwich.

The Hamlin
Prosciutto, american cheese, jalapeno jam

The Waffle Bus

I've been wanting to try them for some time now. I debated whether to get a savory or sweet waffle. In the end, sweet waffle won me over. I got the smores and it was really good! The only drawback was the wait time - think I waited close to half an hour for my waffle.

Smores
Chocolate ganache, graham cracker crumble, toasted marshmallow

Muiishi Makirritos
This is one of my favorite food trucks in Houston. It's the only one that I've tasted so far that puts out restaurant quality food out of a truck. My favorite things to order from them are the shwimps 'n grits, bacon jammin' biscuits, and anything with pork belly whether it's the rice bowl or sushi roll.

Shwimp 'n Grits
Spicy stone ground grits, 62° egg, tempura shrimp, sous vide pork,
fried shitake mushrooms

Pork Belly Don Juan
Sous vide pork belly, 62° egg, fried shittake and oyster mushrooms,
pickled cucumber, takuan and kim chi.

Mac 'n Cheese Eggroll
Redneck cheddar, marieke smoked gouda, ground beef, applewood bacon.

Tasty Tuesday

1990 Post Oak Blvd

Houston, TX

Eats: Three Brothers Bakery on Washington

Three Brothers Bakery on Washington is now open and they have all sorts of baked goods: breads, bagels, croissants, various cookies, cakes and cupcakes. However, it's not just a bakery - there's also a coffee bar and spacious indoor sitting area and patio. They're open until 8pm on weeknights and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Three Brothers Bakery

4606 Washington Ave

Houston, TX

http://www.3brothersbakery.com/

Eats: The Breakfast Klub

By now, most everyone knows The Breakfast Klub is a very popular place for weekend brunch. If you don't get there early enough (like 8am!), be prepared to wait in line. And that line can get very long!

One of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom is I get to come here on weekdays when it's not as packed. Sure enough, with my baby in tow, I got here around 9:30 one weekday morning and there was not a line in sight. Yes!

Once you place your order at the counter, the food comes out fast. That's also the case on weekends when they're packed.

The Breakfast Klub is popular for it's wings & waffles and catfish & grits dishes. Personally, my go-to dish is their wings & french toast. I love their french toast!! Made with Texas toast, I think it's 10x better than their waffles. They're fluffy in the middle, yet crispy around the edges. I've had their catfish & grits in the past. While their catfish was fried to perfection, I wasn't a fan of their grits - it was very bland.

This visit, since my baby was with me, I ordered the french toast with sausage patties and scrambled eggs, so he can share my food. As you can see in the picture below, their scrambled eggs were quite fluffy - the baby appreciated that. And the sausage patties they served were plain ol' greasy sausage, perfect for the baby as he hasn't quite developed liking for fancy spicy sausage just yet.

Good breakfast platter for a toddler

What's normally my go-to dish (this is an old stock picture I dug up for this post) 

The Breakfast Klub

3711 Travis (at Alabama)

Houston, TX

http://thebreakfastklub.com/

Eats and More: Breakfast at Heights General Store

I was driving along 19th St and saw that they are now open. Apparently they've been open for over a month now. With baby in tow, I decided to check out their breakfast. I apologize in advance if some of the pictures are blurry - I blame it on the wriggly baby.

Storefront

Health & beauty section

Grocery aisle

Counter service

Breakfast menu

Dining area

Pancake sandwich

Breakfast is counter service. As you can see, I ordered the pancake sandwich partly because I was curious what it was going to be like. Presentation looks good unfortunately, the whole sandwich was just mediocre at best. The pancakes were very dense, almost biscuit like consistency. Scrambled eggs was blah. Their homemade sausage was decent - not too greasy. Overall, the sandwich was very dry and not a lot of flavor to it.

I also ordered a quiche (not pictured) to go. That day, their quiche was a broccoli and squash. The chunks of veggies inside the quiche were huge and the quiche itself was dense and dry. That's two for two - I'm not impressed with their food.

While I was waiting for my food, I had a quick scan of the grocery aisle. They carry quite a variety of stuff, brands that I typically see at Central Market and Whole Foods, and some I'm never even seen before. In addition, they also stock laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, etc. Even though the brands are not necessarily "local", they carry more inventory than most general stores that's popped up around Houston in recent years, and most are either organic, gluten free or natural... definitely following today's trend and very appropriate for the area.

Unfortunately, the selection of baby food is disappointing. I don't know if they'll add more later but, for now it's only Gerber brand - no organic brands. Ironically, the selection of dog food is better - they actually carry Organix canned food.

Heights General Store

350 W. 19th St.

Houston, TX

http://www.heightsgeneralstore.com/