This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it.

Nov 27, 2007

brennans

finally... another review since indika.

brennans - 3300 smith street, 713.522.9711



sunday evening, we joined the family to celebrate my aunts 70th birthday (and my cousins' "29th" birthday). weeks prior my cousin had asked me for list of restuarants to do, to pick from. i had handed off a split list of trendy and traditional, being that it was to celebrate my aunts birthday, the traditional side was favoured. once the list was widdled down to a chosen few, we had found out that most 'fancy' restaurants were closed for dinner on sunday. this actually left us with brennans, but not entirely to my disappointment though a bit to my cousins, since the menu in particular wasn't her first choice.

me and T arrived first, in a quiet part of what i think is still considered as midtown, valeted the car, and entered to a podium full of hosts. the decor was appropriate to the whole classy 'ol new orleans scene. it was a bit antique but not in the tacky grandmother sort of way. we were promptly seated and the rest of our party arrived within minutes.

me and T split a bowl of turtle soup for our appetizer. i had heard good things about it so it was the must have for my first visit. it was a bit tangy, with that creole gumbo-ish feel, and topped with a bit of sherry made it even better. and yes turtle does kind of taste like chicken. but the pieces are so small you can't really tell anyways. for my entree i was having a bit of troulbe deciding between the duck breast with foie gras or the rockfish & crab with black truffle. after asking how the foie gras was prepared (seared is the only way to go) i was 100% duck. T picked the venison. now with foie gras one can almost never ever go wrong, and this was no exception, it was delish as always, but it could have been slightly better. the searing was a bit harsh, almost burnt, but it didn't ruin the rest of the experience. it was still a melt in your mouth dream. the duck breast and the squash alongside was good, but not great, they were more like fillers after the foie gras. T's venison was quite good, but the sauce as he said was a bit too salty for him. my father on the other hand ordered the veal chateaubriand, and oh my was this a delicious piece of meat, tender to the extreme, only kobe steak could be better. we all cleaned our plates and had room for dessert. half the party ordered the banana fosters while the rest selected the creme brulee. their creme brulee is actually served on a plate, it was first time for me, i figured it was so that there was more caramelized topping and topped with fruit. The banana fosters was prepared tableside, and i think it was unanimous that the creme brulee was the better of the two, the bananas weren't quite tender enough, though i've had better creme brulee.

oh but i should mention that the service was exceptional, very attentive but not overly, one of the best since the days of scott's cellar or my first visit to aries..

the evening turned out great, but for the price, there are many more restaurants with more exotic and/or pleasing menus in houston that don't charge $30+ per entree. even though dinner was good, it was not overly exceptional meaning it doesn't quite garner a return trip any time soon. i must say i was extremely glad that it wasn't the disappointment that artista was.


Nov 26, 2007

leftovers still remain



our thanksgiving feast by chef issaface.


Nov 14, 2007

he's so lucky

a few food photos from last week...


salt toasted shrimp


beef stir fry


ribollita - tuscan bread soup


Nov 6, 2007

IM ON UR SCREEN, MAKIN U DROOL

i noticed i hadn't posted a few food photos that i had previously taken.. so enjoy!

chocolate coconut macaroons, pasta carbonara, herb/garlic split chicken breast with orzo confit and roasted pototaes, and orecchiette with bolognese sauce




Nov 4, 2007

saturday lookbook

so saturday night me and T had 'date night'. and as you can see from the photo T was very enthusiastic about it... j/k it was actually his idea. we decided to eat at dolce vita, and i have to say it was much better the second time around. i highly recommend the egg toast with black truffle (but i [heart] anything with truffle). afterwards we went home and watched gone with the wind (surprisingly also his idea, no lie).

earlier on in the day we ran errands at memorial city. so i got to pull off 2 looks in one day, and with houston's 'fall' weather i was still able to pull off the mini dress.





sushi aphrodisiac.



coworkers went for japanese for lunch on friday.. and officedad spotted something interesting on the menu. unfortunately none of the guys ordered it.


Nov 2, 2007

accidental linkage hazard!!!

i have been the victim of accidental copy/paste errors a few times before. you know, sending the wrong link/image to someone thinking that you had copied a new/different link.. but your OS pwnz you instead.
here is the encounter i had today with office bff and probably the best example:

issa says (2:31 PM): http://www.explosm.net/comics/897/
issa says (2:31 PM): WANT TO DO NOW.
issa says (2:31 PM): i remember that comic..
office bff says (2:32 PM): you want to...get a chick to take her clothes off?
issa says (2:32 PM): whoops
issa says (2:32 PM): http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/07/18/roller-coaster-chess/
office bff says (2:33 PM): ah yes
issa says (2:35 PM): i think that was the best accidental wrong link sending evar.
issa says (2:35 PM): only made better by me saying WANT TO DO.
office bff says (2:36 PM): pretty much
issa says (2:36 PM): it is almost blag worthy.
office bff says (2:37 PM): I was like, "sooo...who has the guitar? aaaand...why are you sending to me?"
issa says (2:37 PM): haha.. indeed
office bff says (2:37 PM): DO NOT WANT
issa says (2:37 PM): LOL
office bff says (2:37 PM): TROUBLE DO ENSUE


famous on teh internetz week!


it's been an interesting week.. and what a way to end the week then to be given a pat on the back for your fashion sense (for at least one outfit). i had been reading the fashion blog fabsugar for the better part of this year when a weeks ago i finally decided to make an account and on sunday.. decided to add a look to my lookbook. voila! score! Look of the day FTW!