Thursday, April 18, 2013

Taste of Offal

     Calf liver. Snails. Beef heart. When people mention these things to you, you automatically think it's disgusting and unappetizing. However, one restaurant takes these ingredients and turns them into delicious dishes. Drawing their inspiration from Mediterranean cuisine, they have created an exotic restaurant for the adventurous.

     First off, for an appetizer, try their pork fat on toast. It may sound something that will tip your cholesterol to a higher scale, but it is actually just ground pork topped with fried egg. The ground pork didn't even contain fat which was probably the reason why it was a little dry for my taste. However, the fried egg really brought the whole dish together and made it a good starter for the rest of the meal. I also ordered the traditional French dish, escargot. Pairing their garlic snails with toast, the combination is excellent, the snails being very rich while the starchiness of the bread helps add a nice crisp. Both of these simple appetizers are a great way to start off your meal.




     For the main course, however, it was just so hard to pick. After a long deliberation, I finally narrowed my choices down to two. First, there's the braised beef heart and ale pie. The stew of heart and ale is put inside a warm thick crust and cooked in the oven until the outside is golden brown. However, even though the overall flavor is good, I would have loved it more if the outside crust of the pie was soft enough to meld the crust in with the stew. However, the outside was very crunchy almost to the point of breaking your teeth. The heart was somewhat chewy, too. Other than a dentist's nightmare, it has hearty flavors, no pun intended, that make you reminiscent of a home-cooked meal.



     If you don't want a pie, then maybe some calf's liver will fix you right up. Combined with the American staple, bacon, mashed potatoes and kale, this meal takes Southern food and adds some European twists. Combining all the components together makes a great bite or two, but each part on its own is not that appealing, the liver very overpowering and the mashed potatoes somewhat dry. This is something you can get from Luby's for a third of the price. It did not impress me at all.



    Finally, for dessert (the best part of the meal), their most beloved dish is the one to get, their sticky toffee pudding. Every mouthful was so good, combining the cream and pudding makes for a very sweet, very delicious bite.  There is literally nothing bad I can say about this dessert. It is perfection!



    Feast is a restaurant that is only for the bold and daring. It offers out of the ordinary foods that people fear to try. Feast is not for the faint of heart!


For more about Feast...

http://www.29-95.com/restaurants/feast

http://www.zagat.com/r/feast-houston

Friday, April 5, 2013

Heaven In Your Mouth

Flip'N Patties is a food truck that gets it right!

        Flip'N Patties was all started when Michael Jante and Donramon Jante, 2 Filipino cousins, joined in Houston to help bring the "heaven in your mouth" experience of Filipino cuisine through their food truck. Along the way, they discovered that they loved burgers and tried to incorporate this American staple with traditional Filipino food. Since then, Flip'N Patties has gone on to make delicious food for everyone to joy, as well as allowing you to sing karaoke while you're eating.

Their Iconic Truck - Photo By Me

        Flip'N Patties has a wide range of meals that you can positively enjoy. For their traditional entree, try their Flip'N Patty. No ordinary burger, this succulent patty is stacked with lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, and a stuffed portobello mushroom all between a steamed siopao bun. This burger, due to its special spicy sauce, has a ton of flavor and heat to warm up your winter days.

The Main Dish - Photo By Me

        However, if you don't want to get too messy while eating, try their famous chicken pupu. Although it may sound disgusting, it is anything but. This Filipino version of fried chicken includes their free-range chicken marinated in their secret sauce and then battered and fried to make this sweet and savory chicken.  Honestly, it was good but it didn't wow me like any of their other dishes did.

Chicken Pupu - Photo By Me

        The perfect side to any burger is a good plate of fries. So Flip'N Patties made their own signature dish of fries, the Flip'N Fries. Combining their meat from their patties, chicken pupu, longanisa, or smoked pork butt, with their crispy fries and their house sauces, the Flip'N Fries is a great side dish to share with your friends and family. However, I wish it had more flavor and spices to make you really gasp.

Spicy Fries - Photo By Me

         And for dessert, there is nothing more perfect than the traditional Filipino dessert, halo-halo. A perfect blend of Asian tropical fruits and beans, sweet corn, vanilla and ube ice cream, a sweet leche flan, shaved ice, and condensed milk, this is truly a masterpiece. However, I couldn't eat very much because the cup was stolen from me every time I tried to get a sip. It's that good!

Sweet Sensation - Photo By Me

          Overall, Flip'N Patties is one of the good food trucks, with good food, drinks, and even some karaoke on those drunken nights. I will definitely keep going to this food truck as long as I live. Flip'N Patties is going to be yummy for your tummy!



For more about Flip'N Patties and where they're at...

http://www.flipnpatties.com/

https://twitter.com/FlipnPatties