Mama's Cafe

Mama's Cafe is housed in a funky little building on Westheimer Avenue. Outside, an old-fashioned Coke sign advertises steak and beer. The cement floor and walkway is speckled with a dog's footprints. The place has a great ambiance, but unfortunately there's a strange sewage/sulfur smell that hangs around the front door, which is probably no fault of the restaurant but doesn't exactly inspire you to eat much.

Inside, the building is much larger than it looks from the street, and thankfully smells better too. The menu is comprised of simple, Southern-inspired foods. I went with a chicken fried steak salad, which was served with very good homemade cornbread and butter.



I'm not going to lie, the salad wasn't anything special. That's probably because of what I ordered. As my husband pointed out, there's not much you can do to mess up some greens with fried chicken on top -- and there's not much you can do to make it great either. It was fresh, filling, tasty and cheap. There's not much more I can say besides that.

Service was friendly and competent. I would -- and will -- definitely go back to Mama's, if only because it's a fun, casual place that wasn't too crowded on a Saturday. If you're looking to eat at a local joint with a great atmosphere, give Mama's a try -- but maybe hold your breath for a second on the way in.

Raising Cane's

Back in law school, Ross made me drive from Waco to College Station to get Raising Cane's. I don't remember much about the chicken, except that I wasn't sure it was worth the almost two-hour drive. I thought I would give it another try now that I have one right down the street.

We went through the drive through, which was staffed by one of the nicest employees I've ever encountered. She won me over when she said she liked my car ("the plodder"). I went with the Three Finger combo (Cane's sells its chicken almost exclusively in combo meals), which includes three chicken fingers, fries, toast, a small container of Cane's sauce, and a drink.

The chicken at Cane's is actually pretty good: all white meat, crispy breading, nice portion sizes. It holds up well against all the other fast-food chicken out there. It's the sauce which is supposed to be the selling point, however, and it's just not for me. It tastes a little bit like a mixture of Thousand Islands dressing and cajun seasoning, and it doesn't really do much for me.

As for everything else: the fries were typical, the toast was cold, and overall I'd give the entire meal a B. Still not worth an hour plus drive under any circumstances, but for 5 minutes of driving and just a couple bucks, this isn't the worst fast-food meal in the world.

Recipe: Asian Inspired Lettuce Wraps

You'll Need:

About 2 cups of cooked chicken (white and dark meat)
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 can of water chestnuts
Juice from one lime
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 small, whole roasted hot pepper, ground up
Several large leafs of lettuce for wrapping (HEB sells them ready to go)
1-2 cups soy sauce

To Do:

Place all ingredients except lettuce into food processor and process until well blended. The texture will be similar to kitty litter (I know, appetizing, but that's the best analogy I can think of).

Heat the mixture in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring once during cooking.

Scoop spoonfuls of the mixture into the lettuce leafs.

NOM!

This recipe is super simple and provides a filling meal for two or three people. Feel free to add or substitute other Asian inspired ingredients you have on hand. A little sriracha on top adds a little spice and extra moisture as well.

Fuzzy's Pizza

One of Cody's coworkers recommended Fuzzy's. I have to say, I was a little turned off by the name. If there's one thing I probably don't want my pizza to be, it's fuzzy. But I love pizza, and it's close to the house, so we took our chances and ordered a small (12") pizza with Canadian bacon to go.

The pizza was smaller than I expected. I guess I just couldn't picture what a 12" crust looks like. Two people ate it comfortably, but if you're feeding more than two (or the two you're feeding are big eaters), then you'll need to go with a large or get more than one.

The Canadian bacon topping was delicious. It was sliced very thin, which allowed the meat to get a nice crisp on the edges without burning the cheese or crust. My only complaint about the whole thing, other than it being too small, was that the sauce was too sweet. This is a common complaint I've had about Texas pizzas, and my husband (a native Texan) liked the sauce, so maybe it's a cultural thing. Or maybe I'm just too picky.

Will I get Fuzzy's pizza again? Sure. It's close and they have some interesting specials I would like to try. Is it the best pizza I've ever had? Hardly (but I'm from NY, the home of good pizza). Do I think it's the best pizza in Houston? That's hard to say. I think for now the search continues -- but Fuzzy's will be a serviceable stand-in until I find it.

Sasaki

Our friend Petey was down helping us move, so we let him choose the restaurant for dinner. He chose Sasaki. We were all a little unimpressed when we first pulled up to the store-front restaurant on Westheimer. However, the interior was nicely decorated and surprisingly spacious, and we noticed a lot of Asian people dining there, so those were both good signs. We decided to stay.

I ordered the tempura dinner. Wow, what a huge amount of food!



The tempura shrimp and vegetables were well cooked, if a little bland. I especially liked the fried potatoes and eggplant. The sauce helped a lot to beef up the flavor, and the pieces weren't greasy, the way they are at some Japanese restaurants. The miso soup was very good; salty, savory, and everything I want in a bowl of miso. I got the eggroll instead of the sashimi, which was probably a poor choice. The eggroll was fine, but my friend's sashimi looked better-than-fine.

Prices were a tad high. My meal cost $24.95, which was a little steep for fried vegetables, particularly when compared to extremely low-cost meal I had at Tony Thai. Our server was sweet and competent even though English wasn't her first language. Like Asian customers, Asian servers at an Asian restaurant are a good thing!

The Houston restaurant scene is full of surprises. Although we have some great big restaurants, there are plenty of smaller places that deserve a second glance. Some of them might look kind of low-rent, most of them offer amazing and authentic food at very affordable prices. Step out of your comfort zone and try one of them -- you might be very pleasantly surprised by what you find! And if you're not, there are plenty of other choices out there!