Breakfast Tacos at Chilosos - dos por favor

Breakfast tacos abound in Houston as do Mexican inspired breakfasts in general (a personal favorite is migas). One of our favorite spots for breakfast tacos is, of course, in our neighborhood, the Houston Heights:  Chilosos.



Two egg, potato and cheese tacos are plenty for me, served in soft, warm, homemade flour tortillas with a hearty helping of pico de gallo.  I then load up on the house green salsa. 

Egg and Potato Tacos sate a Heights morning craving for spice

 

For my favorite carnivores, fear not.  Chilosos has plenty of pork and carne to please your palette. 

We've never had to wait in line for Chilosos but it is always buzzing with activity. Seating is limited but you can also grab your tacos for the road.   As you might guess, Chilosos is also super casual.  It's not unusual to see runners loading up on carbs after a long run or folks in a semi-pajama'd state. 

Chilosos
Addy: 701 East 20th Street, Houston, TX 77008
Tel: 713/868-2273

Down House in the Heights

We often find ourselves in need of a late night bite after a movie or a performance at one of Houston's many great performing arts venues. Luckily, we have just the place in our neighborhood, the Down House in the Houston Heights.

Salads rotate as per the what's in season.  On a recent visit, I enjoyed a fresh, crispy kale salad adorned with a cheese fritter.

Another delish dish is Mushrooms on Toast, Bellweather Farms Ricotta, and Poached Egg

If you're in the mood for something a bit less healthy, try the tongue-tingling, belly-warming Curry Fries.  But word to the wise, one serving is more than enough for a table of 4-5 to share.

The Down House is pretty much open and serving food and drink all day, until midnight.  The beer list is voluminous, with a few interesting cocktails and an okay wine list that might also wet your whistle.  If you are in for just a cocktail post work, I highly recommend the forkgasmic Cold-Smoked Fried Brie and Jalapeno Jelly.  YUM! 


On our most recent visit, we noticed that the Down House is building a small patio alongside the parking lot.  That will be a great add to this funky Heights venue.  If you ride your bike, the Down House has ample space to lock up your wheels and spokes.  The demographic is always interesting and we love the comfy sofas to lounge in.  A good friend recently spent the better part of an afternoon sipping coffee and reading, whilst we have frequented the DH for brunch and the ghost pepper breakfast tacos.  

So what's your pleasure at the forkmidable Down House?

Down House in the Houston Heights
1801 Yale St
Houston, TX 77008

Rasika

I am not yet a fully fledged expert on Indian cuisine but I do frequent Houston's Little India quite a bit. South Indian street food, Gujarati cuisine, and home-cooked fare in the margins keep me coming back for more.

On a recent trip to Washington, DC, local friends highly recommended Rasika in the Penn Quarter (aka Chinatown) for a fun and tasty night out. Rasika bills its menu as "modern Indian cuisine." Our resident Indian was smitten with several of the "modern" dishes we tried.  All of our palettes were delighted with the subtle, nuanced flavors of Indian cuisine that I have come to relish.  

Vegetable Kathi Roll:  Seasonal vegetables, onions, roti, mint chutney

Malai Palak:  Spinach, garlic, green chili, and onions.  When I mentioned Rasika to various friends, this dish was the first that popped into their minds.  This crispy spinach, served with more languid tomatoes, parsley, cumin, and chili, is outstanding and unlike anything I have tried before.  Two please!  Seriously, we did order additional plates of the Malai Palak.

Warning:  The following picture and related flavors are positively forkgasmic.  Several of my fellow diners swooned over Rasika's Anjeeri Kofta. 

Anjeeri Kofta:  Fig dumplings, cashew nut, and cardamom.  This particular dish brought one of my dining companions to her knees.  Sweet and spicy, akin to flavors one might find in Indian-infused Nairobi.  The sauce in this dish should be illegal -- it calls to mind the Monsoon spice route, desserts, and savory entrees all in one spoonful.

Cauliflower Bezule:  Mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, and lemon juice.  Crispy, sultry, and fresh at the same time.  

Our table of 6 sampled the above as appetizers and mains at the same time.  In addition, we relished the classic Chicken Tikka Masala (also highly recommended by a Rasika regular) and Chicken Green Masala.  Both were spicy dishes, of the slow, lingering spice variety, but not raging infernos.  Delectable. 

The verdict?  Forkgasmic!  We will definitely be delving into Rasika's menu on future visits to Washington, DC.

Rasika has two locations in the District:  Penn Quarter (633 D St NW) and the West End (1177 22nd St NW).  Locals tell me that Penn Quarter is the best.  It is also well placed for fun pre or post dinner drinks.  We hit up an old favorite, Poste at the Hotel Monaco, for a post-dinner glass of wine in the fabulous courtyard.  FYI - reservations at Rasika are hard to come by.  We completely lucked out on a random Saturday night by popping in early (6pm), prepared to wait for a table to open up, and chanced upon a fabulous table in the front window.

Bon Appetit!

Home Cookery - Go Local!

Inspired by fresh chili peppers from a good friend / fellow Heights-er, and my burgeoning basil plant, we recently improvised for a yummy home-cooked meal, jam-packed with healthiness:  chili basil tofu alongside cumin-scented quinoa and black rice.

First up, the tofu.  We diced a block of firm tofu (organic, from Whole Foods), soaked up excess water, and tossed the cubes in a mixture of sesame oil, sriracha, turmeric, and fresh ground black pepper.  We then broiled these tofu cubes on low heat in the oven, tossing to achieve crispiness on all four sides.  Finally, I added the tofu cubes, with a spritz or 3 of Bragg's Liquid Amino to a saute pan where I had 4-5 finely diced red chili peppers (pinky finger length) simmering in a tablespoon of sesame oil.  After a minute or two, I added 3-4 sprigs of healthy-sized basil leaves, all chopped, and let the full combo mesh together.

For our accompanying grain dish, we left the recipe up to Bon Appetit for Cumin-Scented Quinoa and Black Rice.  This was the first time we had cooked with black rice.  We were rewarded with nerdy historical factoids (black rice = forbidden rice, left only for Chinese emperors to eat; quinoa is, of course, the grain of the Incan gods) and a visual feast of the purple hues of the black rice mixed with the brick red quinoa.  Bon Appetit's recipe had the foresight to include slices of avocado atop the cilantro and parsley laden grains.  Who doesn't love avocado?!  Happily, this dish also called for lemon juice, which allowed me to further localize our dish with a cube of meyer lemon juice, culled from last summer's crop of lemons from the lemon tree in my front yard.

  Chili Basil Tofu, alongside "Gods and Emperors"

Both the tofu and quinoa-black rice are served warm, alongside room temperature freshly sliced avocado.  Enjoy with a glass of your favourite vino.  Bon Appetit indeed!

Graffiato in Washington, DC Penn Quarter

Everyone's favorite and loud-mouth "cheftestant" from Top Chef, Mike Isabella, left the nest of a perennial DC favorite, Zaytinya, to open Graffiato a year or so ago.  On a recent trip to Washington, DC, I visited with two of my favorite people over prosecco, Italian inspired cuisine, and 80s rock.

Restos in DC's Penn Quarter (aka Chinatown) are fun, generally popular with a younger crowd with more of a buzz.  Graffiato tries a bit too hard with pulsating 80s hair band rock that makes any conversation lozenge-worthy.  We were happy to escape the noise downstairs for a less ear-ringing table upstairs.  Does that make me sound old? 

Prosecco on tap is a nice feature and the wine list pretty stellar.  I forget what we had but we requested a big red wine in the $40 and it was pretty awesome.  On the food front, most of the dishes we tried were good but not particularly memorable.  However, the Crispy Potato Gnocchi (with wild mushrooms, fava beans, and stracciatella) was so stellar that we ordered a second plate.  Our sweet teeth were happily rewarded with the salty, sweet, and sultry Chocolate Tart uniquely paired with a sea salt gelato, pine nuts, and olive oil.

 Burrata, with honey glazed onions, nigella

 Roasted Cauliflower, with pecorino and mint

 Broccolini, with spicy pepper relish, walnut, and feta

Greco-Roman Pizza, with eggplant, roasted peppers, kalamata, arugula, feta, capers

 Crispy Potato Gnocchi, with wild mushrooms, fava beans, and stracciatella

Chocolate Tart, with olive oil, pine nuts, and sea salt gelato

The verdict:  I'd Fork It