TQLA

TQLA is located in my husband's building, but so is The Counter, so don't think that I'm going to give it a good review solely because my husband's boss collects rent from the restaurant.

But I am going to give TQLA a good review. I liked almost everything about this restaurant. The decor is very pretty and modern; I especially like the almost-neon-orange and black bar. There are two big-screen TVs above the bar which were showing the football game on the night my husband and I were there -- a great alternative to the overcrowded sports bar down the street. Service was a little green, but our waitress was friendly, and we didn't want for anything while we were there.

Let's start with the drinks. The menu at TQLA is impressive, if predictably heavy on tequilas and tequila-based drinks. I had two cocktails. Both were very pretty to look at, plenty strong, and tasted good. One minor critique: the martini glasses that the margaritas are served in are a little bit odd, and the ice is too big and difficult to drink around. A little thing, but the experience was so close to perfect otherwise that I had to mention it.



My husband and I love to do appetizers for dinner, so that's what we did at TQLA. We had the Queso Blanco with Poblano, the Wild Mushroom Tamale and some Beef Empanadas.



This is not your typical Tex-Mex fare. TQLA tends to use some more adventurous ingredients: goat cheese, mushrooms of all kinds, toasted pumpkin. No ingredient seems wasted, however; everything is used for a purpose, and unexpected flavors melded together beautifully. We ate every bite of food and never tasted anything we didn't like. Whoever is in the kitchen at TQLA is clearly ambitious, adventurous, and very talented.

The prices, at least on the apps, were uncommonly low. To eat so well for so little money was a very pleasant surprise. This area of Washington Ave is quickly becoming a local hot spot, and TQLA is a great addition for both the lunch and late-night crowd.

Crescent City Beignets

I have to admit that I don't know much about authentic Cajun food. Etoufee, gumbo, beignets ... all of these things are really more of Ross's territory. But I know what I like. And I like the beignets at Crescent City Beignets.

Crescent City is located at 3260 Westheimer, in a strip mall in the River Oaks section of Houston. The set-up inside isn't really ideal. There is only one place at the counter where food is both ordered and picked up, which leads to back-ups in the line and forces customers to cut into the crowd when their order is up. The entire place has a crowded, rushed feel to it. I recommend either taking your order to go (like we did) or eating outside (although the small sidewalk only lends itself to two little tables).

My husband and I decided to just grab a box of beignets on our way out of town for New Years Eve. Unfortunately, neither one of us knew how big a beignet is. We knew how big the beignet strips served at Crescent City are, as some were displayed behind glass on the counter. Assuming that the beignets were smaller than the strips, because the strips are more expensive, we ordered 12 beignets. Big mistake. We ended up with enough food for four people.



What food though! The beignets are Crescent City are served piping-hot out of the deep frier, sprinkled with powdered sugar that quickly melts and then hardens into a delightful frosting/crust. They somehow were both soft and crispy, with an airy dough center. We immediately scarfed down three apiece, and wished we had room for more (or a means to heat them up for breakfast the next day).

Crescent City has a full menu of Creole and Cajun standards. All of the prices are reasonable, although I question what service is like in a place so small, crowded, and seemingly understaffed. I can't comment on any of that, though, since all we had were the beignets. And they were enough.

Christmas Recipes, from Texas with Love

My husband and I are flying to New York this week, to spend Christmas with my family. I do most of the cooking. One of the things I've picked up in Texas is candy making. It's not something that is really prominent in New York, at least not in my family, so I'm looking forward to preparing some of these recipes for them. Of course I'll also be making a big batch of my famous Jack Daniels slushies. Enjoy, be safe, and have a Happy Holiday -- I'll be back in 2011!

Christmas Trash (my nephew Grant's favorite)

You'll need: 1 box of golden grahams cereal
1 cup chopped almonds
1 lb white chocolate almond bark coating
1 large glass jar of unsalted peanuts

1) Melt the almond bark coating according to package directions.

2) Mix all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the coating over the mix.

3) Place wax paper on the counter tops. Pour the mixture onto the paper and spread it out as much as possible.

4) Let cool/set for at least an hour before breaking it into chunks. Store in an airtight container.

Rana's Sandwich Cookies (my husband's favorite)

You'll need: 1 box of Ritz crackers
1 jar of smooth peanut butter
1 pound of milk chocolate almond bark coating

1) Spread the peanut butter on the crackers, and press them together to make "sandwiches".

2) Melt the almond bark coating according to the package.

3) Cover counter tops with waxed paper.

4) Using tongs or a slotted spoon, dip the sandwiches into the chocolate, coating each completely. Place them on the waxed paper to cool.

5) Allow them to sit for an hour to cool/set. Store in an airtight container.

Jack Daniels Slushies (my grandma's recipe)

1) In a large bucket (margarita buckets work well), mix together equal parts prepared/cooled black tea and orange juice.

2) Stir Jack Daniels into the mixture. How much depends on how strong you want them -- I say 1 part JD to every 2-3 parts tea/juice, but it's up to you.

3) Place the bucket in the freezer for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.

4) To serve: scrape a large cupful of the mixture into a glass (a ladle works well for this). Top with either Sprite, Ginger Ale or Mountain Dew and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Special Out of Town Edition: Hut's Burgers

Hut's Hamburgers is an Austin staple. I was surprised to find that one reviewer said it did not have "an atmosphere to impress", because I thought this place was pretty chic for a dive. A stuffed long-horn head, lots of sports banners and bumper stickers (particularly the Atlanta Braves -- must have a fan on the staff) and signed photographs of musicians hang on the wall, pretty much imploring you to have a good time.

We went with burgers because you practically have to. I got the Hut's favorite, which happens to include all of my favorites too: mayo, tomato, lettuce, bacon and American cheese. My husband got the Alan Freed, which has BBQ sauce.* We also ordered a half order of fries and onion rings.



The burger was very good: juicy, salty and savory with fresh toppings and a nice toasted bun. I thought it was refreshing that Hut's offered a burger with ONLY my favorite toppings on it; for once, I didn't have to ask them to hold the onions or pickles. The fries were also very good.

The big disappointment was the onion rings. These rings were just too big, meaning that the onion inside was practically raw. The breading was thick and tasteless, until you bit into one of the (many, large) pieces of black pepper, in which case your entire mouth would be coated in that taste. Not my cup of tea.

Service and prices at Hut's were exactly what you would expect: competent and low, respectively.

Was Hut's the best burger I've ever had? No. That honor still belongs to Dubl-R in Waco. After that, I would say Lankford Grocery followed by Hut's, Hubcap and Kitok closely tied for third. If you're in or near any of those establishments this Christmas, or any time of year, hit up those places. Your arteries might not appreciate it, but your taste buds will.

*Word to the wise: Hut's lists all of the toppings for each burger on the menu. If it isn't listed, and you don't ask for it, you won't get it. My husband mistakenly thought that the Alan Freed would include typical burger toppings, such as lettuce and onion, even though they weren't included in the burger description. It didn't, and he was disappointed.

Cadillac Bar

An annoying thing happened to me on the way into Cadillac. I wanted to go to Spaghetti Western, which is located next door to Cadillac in a not-so-nice area of town. My husband and I parked in a large lot between the restaurants, which has three signs: "Cadillac Bar", "Saltgrass" (located across the street) and "Parking." Notably, there is no sign stating that the parking is for the Cadillac Bar only. However, the rent-a-cop who stopped us as we walked across the lot told us that it was, and we could either eat at Cadillac or move our car.

A couple of points here:

1) These pathetic parking lot Nazis weren't doing a very good job. The parking lot was full; Cadillac was not.

2) Normally this kind of behavior totally turns me off to a restaurant. However, I'm on medication this week that makes me feel sick to my stomach. Eating helps. I was very hungry and not feeling well, and rather than drive around the block another two times searching for somewhere to park where our car wouldn't be stolen, we decided to eat at Cadillac.

The food at Cadillac was fine. Generic Tex-Mex. I had the Cadillac burrito, which is stuffed with ground beef, beans, lettuce, and tomato and covered with melted cheese.



It was big, filling and tasted good, but it wasn't anything special. My husband had the carnitas, and he reported that they were a little gristly but fine.



We also had tres leches cake, which was delicious.

The staff -- except for the wanna-be law enforcement in the parking lot -- were all friendly, though service was a little slow. This wasn't a BAD place, but it was no Cafe Adobe either; it's not going to become a favorite of ours. And the way the evening started didn't help. Being chased down by two "security professionals" in a golf cart doesn't set a place up for a good review.

I have no problem with a place wanting to reserve parking. But let's be sensible about it: put a "_____ Parking Only" sign up. Don't chase people down like it's the end of the world that they parked there (particularly at 8:00 at night, when the dinner rush is more than over). And do a good job -- the last thing I want to be is harassed, only to later find that the restaurant is practically empty, and the lot is not. Otherwise you're going to offend potential customers before they even walk through the door.

Auntie Chang's Dumpling House

My husband's wonderful secretary is good at many things, including recommending restaurants. When she said she enjoyed Auntie Chang's, I knew it was worth a look. My husband and I had dinner in the very nice dining room (which is complete with a neon dragon on the back wall) on a Sunday afternoon, and we were happy to see that many of the other families eating there seemed to know the waitstaff and the menu well. Repeat customers and recommendations from friends usually means that the food is good.

That said, I wasn't blown away by Auntie Chang's. The dumplings were fantastic. We tried the fried pork, and what arrived were 8 very tasty little morsels (accompanied by maybe half a dozen various sauces to dip them in). We gobbled those up too quickly and wished we had ordered more.

I decided to try Firecracker Shrimp from the specials menu. Unfortunately, my shrimp were overcooked to the point of almost being inedible, and though the sauce contained many pieces of jalapeno, the dish wasn't at all spicy. I threw out the leftovers I brought home.

My husband got the crispy tea flavored duck off of the regular menu. I don't love duck, but the bit of skin I tried was very crunchy and not at all bad. Maybe I should start following his lead when it comes to ordering, since it seems like he usually chooses better than I do.

As you'll note from the website, Auntie Chang's is authentic; English is not the first language spoken by most of the waitstaff. However, the language barrier is easily overcome by the friendliness of everyone who works there. Auntie Chang's gets an A+ for service, if not for cuisine.

Bad Chinese food is not the end of the world. The disappointment with Auntie Chang's wasn't that the entree was unbelievably bad, but that it came on the heals of something that was really good -- the dumplings. My suggestion is to abide by the restaurant's name. Get the dumplings, many of them, and enjoy. Be careful if you order anything else.

Pie in the Sky

I like desserts. Cakes, pudding, ice cream and especially pie. Pie in the Sky is a sweet little eatery in the Heights that offers lots of delicious pies as well as some pretty decent meals.

Pie in the Sky is a very small place. The dining room can only hold 50 customers, The parking lot is far too small to accommodate that many, even if everyone carpools. Unfortunately, the space is not utilized well -- half of the store is taken up by a retail area with cookbooks, cooking utensils and other items. We didn't have to wait for a table, but the potential for a back-up is great.

Once we found a parking spot and a table things started really looking up. I was having a strange vegetable craving, so I got a fried chicken salad with ranch dressing. It wasn't anything particularly special, but it was a very pretty and tasty salad -- and big enough for two (though my fat butt didn't share).



My husband had the strawberry spinach salad, and he says it was something special. He ate every bite of it (and this is not a boy who loves vegetables). That alone is quite an endorsement.

We took the menu's advice and saved room for pie. The selection is a little overwhelming, but I would definitely recommend the vanishing blueberry we tried. It's called vanishing, I think, because that's exactly what it does -- it vanishes into your belly!



The staff at Pie in the Sky deserve a Nobel Peace Prize, they're so nice. We got the pleasure of sitting next to what can most politely be described as a "problem customer." She was (unsurprisingly) alone, taking up an entire table for over an hour while she chatted on her cell phone. She complained about her bill (I don't know why -- the prices are all very reasonable and listed on the menu); complained to a busboy about her server, who was also our server and was nothing but friendly and competent; and, to add insult to injury, she ate an entire tray of free samples left on the counter. However, I never once saw any of the staff lose their temper or even throw her a nasty look. That alone is enough to insure that they received a good tip (from us; I'm sure she didn't leave one at all) and that we will be going back.