Special Out of Town Edition: Red Fish Grill

We were in NOLA over Memorial Day weekend for a friend's bachelorette party. The girls in the group went to Red Fish Grill for dinner on Saturday night. We got there a little early, so the hostess suggested we wait in the bar. And wait we did ...

Unfortunately, I've noticed that some servers don't take me seriously, particularly in nicer restaurants. It might be because I look young, or because I'm a female. Perhaps they think I don't have enough money to buy nice things or that I don't know proper tipping etiquette. Whatever the reason, the bartender at Red Fish Grill (like so many others before him) chose to ignore me. I made eye contact, and eventually, he did ask me what I wanted -- only to cut me off in the middle of my request (for a bottle of champagne; not exactly a difficult cocktail to mix), tell me he'd get with me in a moment, and then ask the people next to me if they wanted a refill on their drinks. That's right -- he chose to ask other customers for their order rather than take mine! Other customers who had already been served and weren't actively trying to flag him down to order something else. Strange, rude behavior, but luckily he was the last of it. We got our champagne and moved to our table, where we were greeted by a much friendlier server.

We started with a plate of their barbecued oysters. We ordered a half dozen, but were treated to a full dozen soft, succulent oysters bathed in a spicy barbecue sauce. It was a like a chicken wing with an oyster in the middle; for me that's a treat-within-a-treat, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

For my entree I ordered the crayfish and cream cheese ravioli. I was treated to this playful presentation:

I took a bite into the first little pasta puff and HOLY SODIUM BATMAN. I was blinded by salt. I took a swig of champagne and braved another and ... boom, problem solved. The rest of the dish was creamy, soothing and blessedly not over-seasoned. This was a good stick-to-your-ribs dish, suitable as a base for a night full of drinking.

Like I mentioned before, our waiter was extremely sweet, not batting an eye when we needed to split the bill. Clearly big parties are something they're used to dealing with at Red Fish. This is a nice, casual, accessible place right on Bourbon. Is it the best food I've had in NOLA? No. But that doesn't mean I won't recommend it. August is perfect for a nice date or a special family meal; Red Fish brings the party. And in NOLA there definitely is a time and place for both.

Public Service Announcement

This has NOTHING to do with food (well, unless you really want to stretch it, which I don't personally recommend). However, it feels like a teachable moment, so I want to remind my friends and family over the age of 50 to get tested for colon cancer. Don't die of something that is so preventable!

Nikko

Nikko Sushi and Sake Lounge is located in Katy, about half an hour outside of Houston. And it is a lounge, with a beautiful bar and dark red accents. I was digging the space, and the service -- our greeter had lots of helpful suggestions -- but let's face it: it all comes down to the food.

We started with a seaweed salad. In keeping with the lounge theme, it was presented to us in a martini glass. Very pretty, but the salad was fairly average.

We also got our money's worth in terms of sushi. Our host recommend the sea trout, so we had sashimi (on the right of the picture). We also tried the Crazy Crunch and the Sakura rolls. Crazy Crunch is in the middle.

The trout was something we never tried before. It had a very similar texture to salmon and a mild flavor, but with a slightly fishy aftertaste. Both of the rolls were good, but I definitely preferred the Crazy Crunch. Overall, both of these rolls are very similar to anything you can get at any higher-end sushi joint in the Houston area.

Nikko also markets itself as a sake lounge, and they certainly had a nice selection of cold sakes. I don't know much about cold sake though. I can say that the price of the hot sake was very reasonable, and we enjoyed several bottles.

Overall, Nikko is your typical sushi place, but with a very nice atmosphere. Worth a drive from Houston? No. A great choice if you're in Katy? Absolutely. 

Stamp out Hunger!

Did you know that tomorrow (May 12th) is "Stamp Out Hunger" day? Participating is easy! Gather some nonperishable foods (not packaged in glass), place them in a bag and put them in your mailbox/PO Box or bring them to your local post office. Mail carriers will collect the food and deliver it to your local food bank.

More here: http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/

Pizza Deaux

**Please note: this posting contains a frank discussion of gastrointestinal issues. Viewer discretion is advised. If you're eating a sandwich, you might want to put it down. **

Pizza Deaux advertises itself as "home of the cracker crust." I like that. My biggest complaint about Texas pizza has been that it's nothing like the pizza I grew up with in New York. Pizza Deaux isn't trying to make pizza like you would find in New York. Therefore I put my comparisons aside and enjoyed the product for what it was. And what it was was pretty good.

We tried the "Ragin Cajun", which is topped with sausage, pepperoni and jalapenos. Or I should say A LOT of sausage, pepperoni and jalapenos. Seriously, there had to be a couple of pounds of sausage crumbles on that pie. The jalapeno slices offered a ton of very pleasant heat, and I really liked the cracker crust. It wasn't the pizza I was used to, but it was spicy, hearty, crunchy and meaty. I loved it.

... Until the next day. Apparently my guts didn't enjoy being subjected to a pound of spicy sausage and jalapeno slices. I like spicy foods and I eat them fairly regularly, but this was a little much, at least going out. But the pizza tastes so good, that didn't stop me from eating a few more slices for lunch, and subjecting myself to a second round of stomach upset a few hours later. That's right -- it's so tasty that it's worth knowingly getting sick.

Azuma on the Lake

Oh Groupon, you never cease to amaze me. Our certificate for Azuma on the Lake was about to expire, so we stopped in on a quiet Tuesday night. The place was almost completely empty and very nicely decorated. There is a small rock garden, lots of wood and plain white ceramic table-settings. We kind of wanted to sit outside (the patio is located on the lake, and the weather was perfect), but the hostess didn't give us the option, and (oddly) put us way in the back of the restaurant, by ourselves.

We eschewed typical starters and went for the carpaccio. It was ... different. The beef was very thinly sliced, but definitely heartier than that in your typical Italian carpaccio. I liked the soy and ginger dressing on top; it was spicy, crunchy and bright. We finished it easily and moved on to yellowtail sashimi and hot sake. The fish and booze were typically wonderful.

Next we tried some rolls. The list is extensive, with some very interesting choices. We decided to have the Smoked Dragon (eel and cucumber, topped with smoked salmon, citrus salsa and a nori foam) and Queen of the Sea (spicy salmon and avocado, toppped with red snapper, ponzu sauce and wasabi). The Smoked Dragon was definitely the standout. Don't get me wrong, QotS was good too -- something about the texture and flavor reminded me of a really amazing seafood salad, and heat from the wasabi was nice. But Smoking Dragon's citrus salsa took that roll to a different, pleasantly sweet level. My only complaint was the foam. It was too dense, more like an aioli than a foam, and it was tasteless. I didn't know what nori was going in, and after eating this foam, I still was clueless.

We took a chance and got a dessert -- Bailey's Irish Pudding. Usually desserts at Asian restaurants aren't very good, and this was not an exception. It was very dense and didn't have any Bailey's flavor. The ice-cream it was served with was nice, but there wasn't enough of it. Then again, the whole concept didn't make sense. Bread pudding isn't an Asian dish, and Bailey's certainly is not. So yeah -- it was probably our fault for trying it.

Service was amazing. Our waitress was available without being pushy, and we certainly didn't want for anything. The prices were a little on the high side, we thought -- but then again, we did eat a lot of very fresh seafood, and we did have a Groupon. So that helped. Azuma has three locations -- two in the city, and one out in Sugarland. I completely recommend that you find the one closest to you and try it. Just skip dessert. Or replace it with some sake.

Kenny and Ziggy's

I. Love. Jewish. Deli.

I'm from NY. I can't help it; Jewish Deli is like crack to me. And let's face it -- sometimes it's hard to find a good Jewish deli in Texas. Oy vey, I was happy to find Kenny and Ziggy's!

Is it authentic? Yes. Is it delicious? Yes. Is it a little overpriced? Well, yes.

I had "Jewish penicillin" (matzo ball soup) and fried pierogies. The pierogies were standout. They were served with sour cream, apple sauce and (for some bizarre reason) s HUGE mound of onion strings.


Um, where's my food?


Oh, there it is!!

These little babies were savory, crunchy, salty and paired perfectly with both the sour cream and apple sauce. This is comfort food at it's best. Still not sure what the onion strings were about, but I'll get over it. The complimentary pickles were a much better side-dish.

Portions at Kenny and Ziggy's are ridiculous. The sandwiches (with cute names, like "Fiddler on the Roof of Your Mouth") seem pricey until you realize that you can eat off of it for about a week. Even the matzo ball soup is designed for more than one person -- they bring you enough spoons for everyone on the table. Go hungry, leave happy. It's a mitzvah!

PS: told you I'd be back ...