Below is the list of my favorite places to eat, grouped by locations. Some do not have my comments, but I tend to fill them soon. I do not include cocktail bars or drinks here (trying to keep this page PG-13), but if you're curious, shoot me an email. Bon appetit !
Before Xochi, my impression of Mexican food/cuisine revolves around the simple but delicious street tacos from the taco trucks we have around Houston, and plates of fajitas, beans, rice, and cheese from tex-mex restaurants. Xochi introduces a more refreshing side of Oaxacan cuisine instead, incorporating greens and mole to balance out the heaviness of the traditional Tex-Mex dishes. Every dish has a depth and complexity that usually leaves me wonder how they did that.
Most popular and very solid Indo-Pakistani restaurant in Houston. Almost every recommendation will include Aga's for Indian cuisine. What to order: butter chicken/chicken makani (I can see my husband rolling his eyes :D), hara masala, grilled goat chop, chicken bihari kabob, daal, chana masala, goat shinwari.
I can't seem to get enough of Chicken Fried Steak and Baby Back Ribs at Mia's. But the one thing that makes me come back: free soft-serve.
Ambrosia is an interesting restaurant. You can find an array of Asian-influenced small plates here, from Chinese to Japanese to Korean to Indian to Thai. Some are better than the others. What I like about Ambrosia is that they update/refresh the menu items once in a while so it's always nice to see and try new dishes there.
I only order one thing at Eck: egg tarts. Eck has the best (Hongkong) egg tarts in Houston. Flaky crust, creamy custard filling. You may have to wait a little bit but the fresh hot out-of-the-oven egg tarts will make it worth it.
What to order: Jerk Chicken and Oxtails. I like the plating of the food: vegetables, rice, and main dish. The three components compliment each other very well. Jerk Chicken is very spicy, so be warned!
Hughies' makes very good pho. However, it is only available during the colder months (October/November until March). I also like their salad, shaking beef, crispy dumpling, and banhmis.
I can finish their fish curry in less than 5 minutes! Their food reminds me of home cooking. They do not go lightly on spices and seasonings, so you can taste sweet, sour, spicy all at the same time.
One thing I really love and appreciate about Houston is that it shows different aspects of a cuisine. Huong Sen is an example: it is a vegan Vietnamese restaurant. With Buddhism embedded deeply in the culture, vegan Vietnamese food is typically served in temples and somewhat forgotten (until the full moon). It is cheap, creative, and delicious. You'll be surprised what you can find at Huong Sen. My suggestions are: mango salad, spring rolls, mushroom spring rolls for appetizers, hot pot or anything from their entrees.
Whenever I read about Coltivare, it always seems like it is an overhyped restaurant. The reality is, I really enjoy their food. Their focaccia is probably one of the best-tasting breads that I've had in Houston. Their snacks and appetizers are beyond my expectation: delicious and beautifully plated. Entrees can be lackluster compared to other categories, but still decent. Vegetables are generously and creatively used in all of their creations, a nice step away from the meat-focused restaurants around town.
Han Bat is the restaurant that changed my perspective on kimchi and its role in Korean cuisine. The restaurant serves only one type of Korean soup: seolleongtang. The soup base is made from ox bones, simmered over low flame in a very long time. Its milky color reminds me of tonkotsu broth but unlike tonkotsu, seolleongtang is only seasoned with salt, topped with your choice of meats. The table setup is just as simple: a bowl of hot seolleongtang, a bowl of rice, 2 types of kimchi (cabbage and radish), and green onions. Seolleongtang on its own, although having deep and rich flavor, is very boring. This is where the kimchi comes in: it takes the soup to another level. The kimchi makes up for every flavor that is lacking in the soup: sour, sweet, and spicy. The cubed radish kimchi adds the crunch texture on top of it. Green onions adds some freshness, lightens up the somewhat heavy broth. Suddenly, something simple to the eyes becomes complex yet delicious to the tongue. One last thing, come to Han Bat on a cold day, you'll enjoy it much more. As people normally say, it warms your heart.
Like many other restaurants in Vietnam, this place serves only 1 dish: cha ca. It was my first time having it and it remains the best thing that I've ever eaten. One thing you should know: this dish has something called, mam tom, shrimp paste that is very pungent (think, fish sauce but way worse). And like many many Vietnamese dishes, cha ca comprises of many ingredients: the local river fish (filet) that is marinated, grilled, then fried at table, along with strips of onions, green onions, dills, and served with an assortments of fresh herbs, peanuts, rice vermicelli, and shrimp paste - which is diluted with the frying oil and juice of kumquat. When I had my first bite, my mind and taste bud were blown away. All I thought about was a musical ensemble where the shrimp paste is the concertmaster. On one hand, each ingredient contrasts one another: the sweetness from the fish against the pungency of onions and green onions, dill against the turmeric and galangal, the strange herbs against the nuttiness of peanuts. But then strangely, the (diluted) shrimp paste magically binds everything together.