The Oasis at Cafe Mawal
In the past year I have visited this little known restaurant in Houston about 4 times. Its name: Cafe Mawal.
Cafe Mawal is a small Mediterranean restaurant in the Galleria area of Houston. The food is delicious. The food has its origins from the country of Jordan. The general manager/owner, Ibrahim, started this little restaurant a couple of years ago. It has slowly gained its customers, and now is named one of the best restaurants according to HoustonPress.
The food
A four season delight
A three course meal at Quattro restaurant consisted of: antipasti, primi, and pesce. Tutto era molto delicioso!
Groupon gave me the opportunity to visit a restaurant that I have wanted to go to. Over the past two years I have attended the Italian Expo and Italian Festival. In the two places I was able to meet the executive chef to Quattro, Chef Maurizio Ferrarese. Quattro is an upscale restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston.
An elagant restaurant with fine dining. I took my opportunity and had a three course meal. It all started with the antipasti - Prosciutto di Parma e Mozzarella. One of my favorite things to eat is prosciutto. This prosciutto was paired with sweet Texas melons. I couldn’t help but to slowly savor each bite. The second course was the primi - Parppadelle con Guace di Vitello. It’s parppadelle pasta with veal and porcini mushrooms. Yummy! The third course was the pesce - Dentice. This consisted of Texas red snapper, cannellini bean ragout, butternut squash, and fig marmalade. To top it all I had a glass of wine – Montepulciano.
What made my night was not just the food, but to see the chef come out and make sure every was enjoying their meals. I did stop him and told him I 
finally made it to his restaurant. At the Italian Expo 2011 I took part in a cooking competition in which the chef made a delicious Black Truffle Risotto. At the Italian Festival I sat in his cooking class where he made another Risotto with Sausage. An amazing chef and one I would like to take a cooking class from someday.
For more reviews check out
Yummy-ness on W.Alabama – Houston
With a recent fascination with taco trucks, I’m on a quest to visit every taco truck/stand in Houston and try them out. This quest began after a group of coworkers and I visited Tacos Tierra Caliente. It has been said that this taco truck is one of the best in town. With the help on an Ipod/Iphone App I will be able to visit these other taco trucks. Have any ideas on where to visit? Leave me a comment.
Tacos Tierra Caliente has been around for years, but I recently just found it. It has been at its current location for about a year. The ladies who work the taco truck are really nice, and if it’s not busy you can talk to them. In my opinion, they have some awesome tacos! For a reasonable price, under $10, you can get a meal. These tacos are not greasy, their yummy! They’re served with enough cilantro and onions, and a couple of different homemade salsas. In the mood for pastor, chicharron, barbacoa, or lengua tacos? Then this is the place to go. Click the links below to see more reviews. This is sure to please the taco lover. The hours are great! Their open til midnight on most nights. So if you’re hungry for a late night snack, grab a couple of tacos. Located next to, on the property of the West Alabama Ice House makes for a perfect combination, symbiotic relationship. Grab a bite to eat, turn around and grab yourself a nice, cold beer.
Tacos Tierra Caliente
1919 West Alabama St.
Houston, TX 77098
Hours of Operation:
around 9am – 12 midnight.
For more reviews:
In the Lit-ul Corner – McAllen
Just returned from a trip to the Valley, Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. This is as close as you can get to the border to Mexico. The City of McAllen is a simple city. Being the center to the Foreign Trade Zone, this area has become one of the fastest growing cities in the state.
Since it’s located miles from the Mexican border, it is no surprise that population is mainly Hispanic. Some of the most popular places to eat are the many Mexican restaurants or Taco places. Taco Palenque or Tacos El Zarape are two chains with many locations where you can stop and grab a quick bite to eat. I like to eat their fajita corn tacos with cilantro, onions, and a bit of lime.
In an effort to not eat Mexican food on my visit, I found this place called Solo Empanadas tucked in a little corner of a shopping strip in McAllen. The food is great, and like the title says all they sell is empanadas, Argentinian empanadas. This food is new to the people of McAllen and so far it has had great reviews. The restaurant is a cozy, little place with music videos of Argentinian singers, bands playing in the background. Are you into soccer? They have an autographs jerseys of Messi and Maradona and others from players from Argentina. Talk to one of the workers and they could tell you about the jerseys and the person who is in all the pictures on the wall.
The prices are reasonable and the variety is great. You can eat here for less than $10 and try 3 or 4 different empanadas from the 10-12 on the menu.
- Menu @ Solo Empanadas
You’ll receive each empanada stamped with your choice of filling and a small cup of chimichurri, the sauce used to put on your empanadas. If you don’t know what they’re like, the wonderful staff are very helpful.
Here’s my review:
I have tried 4 different kinds of empanadas, and all I loved each one of them. I have been back several times since and it has not disappointed me. They’re YUMMMY! so yummy that I brought them back home to some friends and family in Houston.
Here are a couple of more reviews from
