For our inaugural visit, we ordered nasi lemak, Singapore curry laksa and char kuay teow. The dishes, surprisingly, taste a lot like those from Banana Leaf - the other Malaysian restaurant in Houston. The biggest difference between these restaurants is the interior decor. The Mamak restaurant is decidedly more upscale, with gleaming tables and stylish plate presentations. We have been back a few more times since then, and generally, have been pleased with the food and service. The one dish that I would steer clear from at this place is the Assam Laksa. While the Assam Laksa at Banana Leaf is palatable, the one from Mamak is a bowl of dull sour soup with limp disintegrating rice noodles.
Yendaloo
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Mamak, Houston
For our inaugural visit, we ordered nasi lemak, Singapore curry laksa and char kuay teow. The dishes, surprisingly, taste a lot like those from Banana Leaf - the other Malaysian restaurant in Houston. The biggest difference between these restaurants is the interior decor. The Mamak restaurant is decidedly more upscale, with gleaming tables and stylish plate presentations. We have been back a few more times since then, and generally, have been pleased with the food and service. The one dish that I would steer clear from at this place is the Assam Laksa. While the Assam Laksa at Banana Leaf is palatable, the one from Mamak is a bowl of dull sour soup with limp disintegrating rice noodles.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Things to do around Houston
Friday, June 1, 2012
Girls Trip
On the next day, J left for Calgary while the girls and I took a road trip to San Antonio. There was an accident on I10 near Brookshire and we were delayed for an hour. We made the most of it and stopped at a gas station right after to go to the bathroom, and then we also stopped at Buc-Ee's for kolaches! For those unfamiliar with Buc-Ee's, it's practically the largest highway stop you will ever find anywhere, and it has clean bathrooms. Kolaches are a must to eat while you're in Texas.
Well, we arrived, checked into the Marriott Riverwalk. It was gorgeous. We got a room on a high floor with a view of the riverwalk. The service at Marriott was awesome, the location just perfect.We had lunch by the riverwalk. We went to The Original Mexican restaurant. We should have seen the warning sign when the menu was really long, but the descriptions of the items sounded similar. The food was mediocre. We then went to the Alamo.
I told the girls that they had to go to the Alamo, it was THE thing to do in San Antonio. So we went and watched the video on the historical defeat that was suffered by the Tejanos at the Alamo and the eventual victory at the San Jacinto monument.After that, we went and had cappucinos at the Zocca at Westin riverwalk. On a warm afternoon at the riverwalk, this is one of my favourite things to do. Sit, drink cappucino and stare at the river passing by. Cappucinos at Zocca has got to be one of the best kept secrets along the San Antonio riverwalk.
Well, it was then dinner time. So, we headed over to Ostra at the Mokara hotel. The menu at Ostra sounds amazing. We ordered some cocktails and half a dozen raw oysters to start. We then shared a lobster and orzo pasta, a blackened fish and grilled broccolini. Lovely lovely dinner. The orzo and lobster was perfectly cooked, the fish was fresh and the broccolini had a charred earthy taste, which gave the vegetable a whole other dimension in taste.
The next morning, we headed to the Mercado Market in downtown San Antonio, where we saw different types of Mexican crafts, and had lunch on the patio of La Margarita. After we got back to Houston, we had dinner at Goode Company BBQ, where we enjoyed some spicy pork, bbq ribs, beans, coleslaw and jambalaya. Goode Company is absolutely THE place to be that night. It was packed, and it was delicious. The next day, T left early. A and I went shopping at the Houston Premium Outlet Malls. We arrived approximately at 9 am, just when the malls open, and shopped till nearly 2 pm when we were too hungry to keep on going. We thought about picking up something at the food court, but it was absolutely packed on a holiday Monday. So, instead, we left the outlet mall, and went to Le Viet. Her vermicelli and my hu tieu totally hit the spot that day.