Seemingly. Do not be alarmed we’ll be ordering copious amounts of food fully expecting leftovers.
jcostiones:
“Somebody check this place out so I’ll know if it’s worthwhile to journey so far west.”
Enjoyed a meal at Wula Buhuan this week! I thought the food was very good, maybe not QUITE as good as I recall Cooking Girl being at a HO-Down we had there a year or two ago. I specifically was hoping for Orange Chicken, recalling the candy-like dish at Cooking Girl, but alas, it’s not on the menu.
Everything on the menu is meant to be shared, and we stuck to appetizers and veg sections, ordering cucumber salad, chili oil dumplings, smoked duck and sauteed cabbage.
Mr. Lamb kept exclaiming that the cucumbers taste EXACTLY like the fresh Jewish garlic pickles he used to eat back home in Philly. Nevermind that he never lived in Philly, but he did visit sundry relatives who landed there and have lingered for generations now. This may have been my fondest dish, cold, briny and wildly garlicky, the white dots you see are fresh garlic. Whoever you are destined to spend any time with after you eat this - especially in a closed environment - should also eat it.
The appetizer smoked duck was a whole duckling whacked up, or maybe just a half duck. Definitely one leg and a portion of another were identifiable. The cabbage was mouth numbing and the dumplings were silky, but not too spicy. The online menu says to specify 1, 2 or 3 level spice, but they never really asked us what we wanted.
I’m sure we will be back. They’ve only been open a month or 6 weeks, and don’t have a booze license yet, beer and wine will be on the menu eventually.
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The Masraff family has opened a “neighborhood living room” full service bar on the west side called By Popular Demand. It features an extensive bourbon menu, including a 20 year old Pappy Van Winkle at $165/ounce. I did not order that, but I’m a bg bourbon fan and since this weekend is the running of the Kentucky Derby, I decided to stop in and check it out. Unfortunately, the bar is rented out for a private party during the actual running of the derby today.
The web site is mildly annoying, and I never found the hours on it, but Yelp says they open Monday to Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Sundays from 12 to 12.
They also offer a bar bites menu, and I enjoyed the pickle cheeseburger spring rolls and the queso was plentiful if not too cheesy. The queso is topped with a scoop of seasoned ground beef and pico to stir in, but is made with a roux and very little cheese so there’s no danger of it seizing up if you don’t eat it fast enough.
There was one server when we arrived at 4:30 ish, but he became quickly overwhelmed as regulars begain pouring in to fill the place by 5, and I noticed the regulars all stopped at the bar to place orders before sitting down, so that is the most expedient way to get service.
By Popular Demand is in the small space off Benignus and Memorial Drive vacated by the Vine Wine Room when it moved across Memorial Drive to the new certer built across from Lantern Lane which houses Union Kitchen and Total Wine. BPD is right next door to Memorial Cat Hospital in the same center as Empire Turkish Grill if that orients you.
I had a Maker’s Manhattan. I’ll sure stop in again sometime.
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Tuk-Tuk came to my attention at some point and the pictures of its signature crab dishes on yelp are amazing. I was driving by today and just snapped a photo, although it is closed on Mondays. It’s hard to tell but those two structures in front appear to be shaped like tuk tuk rickshaws.
I’ll let you know when I finally get there to eat. .
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Two years old they say, but new to me, Mint Thai Kitchen is uber convenient to my office and I am happy I found it. Hidden in a two story strip center on Waugh at Allen Parkway, it is clean with efficient service and good food. All lunches are $9, pick your protein, and $11 if you want more than one protein. Comes with a tiny salad and egg roll to start. I probably won’t order the wings again, they were fishy and overcooked, though still amazingly tender on the inside.
The original location is still located off 249 at Willobrook Mall area.
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I don’t know why that bottle of wine is in this picture group, it’s not from this restaurant and I believed I had deleted it but I guess it didn’t take. If an admin could delete it, I would be happy.
By the way, I took a picture of that wine at Antonio’s Flying Pizza because it was SO GOOD and I wanted to find it for the house. I showed it to the folks at the massive Total Wines and they said it’s an excellent wine, and they don’t carry it. Boo. If anyone knows where I might find it, let me know. I’m checking a larger Specs next. Amicone 2015, Italian.
I ask the mods NOT to delete the wine photo so that I might reference it again in the future.
Kthx.
YI was back at Mint Thai this week to sample the soup dumplings (xaio long bao or just XLB as I’ve seen it called). This is only the second time I’ve had these, the first being recently at Mein Cantonese. Here again, there was no soup in the actual dumpling, it had all leaked out I guess. I don’t really like the hard ball of pork inside either so I’ll just move on from this item. Tell me what I’m missing here!
So help me understand. XLB is a specialty dish from the Shanghai region I think.
Why would you expect good ones from a (presumably) Thai restaurant?
HERE is Yelp’s Top Ten and HERE is the Houston Press’ Best of 2019 Pick, (Editors: Wanna Bao in Midtown and Reader’s Choice: Doozoo Dumplings and Noodles in the Tunnels).
I’d love to talk you into giving them one last try. I’ll go with but you hafta drive!
Edited to Add: THESE sound good.
Edited Yet Again: I’ll bet we could get @Jaymes and maybe even the Oyster Kids as well. Heck that’s not even too very far for @brucesw if he’s still lurking around here.
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Sure, I’ll meet y’all!
I’ve had XLB at One Dragon & House of Bowls so always am up for either going back to one or both of those, or trying a new place.
I’m also lucky enough to have been several times to the indisputably best XLB restaurant in the nation, and possibly, the world, Din Tai Fung. Their lobster XLB and truffle XLB are incredible. When you walk into the restaurant there’s a big glass window into that part of the kitchen where the chefs are rolling the dumplings. It’s really interesting to watch. I took a photo of my grandkids sitting in front of the window and tried to post it but still can’t figure out exactly how. Ha did it!
.
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I’m seeing the photo so I guess you figured it out.
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Yes. Not sure how. But yes. 
Agreed, however several Yelpers called these some of the best in Houston and since it is so convenient to my orbit, it seemed prudent to try them.
The issue remains, how can they be made to retain the soup? And that accomplished, how does one lift to the mouth without tearing the delicate pasta? As detailed in another thread, I have had these at Mein (no. 5 on your list) very recently, with the same result.
Happy to join in a mission of discovery to seek an explanation.
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They make a sort of aspic - a cool, congealed form of soup. They take a bit of meat or a meat mixture or whatever, then add the glob of cool, congealed soup, and wrap it in the dumpling. When they steam the dumpling, the congealed blob heats up and turns back into soup.
There are several preferred methods of eating them but the best, I think, involve carefully lifting them with chopsticks, setting them into a spoon, adding a little sauce, and then whole thing into mouth. Or, after doing all this, instead of plopping whole thing in mouth, poke a small hole in the dumpling, let some of the soup ooze into the spoon and kinda sip and slurp.
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Can we put someone in charge of a XLB meetup? Anyone else interested?
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You would have to learn me how to use chopsticks.
Challenge accepted!
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I’m available Tuesdays and Thursdays and the whole enchilada, or both oysters Saturday and Sundays.
