When asked about favorite foods, people usually answer in generalities like “pizza” or “pasta”. The response is often broader, encompassing whole countries or cultures—”I like Chinese food” or “I like Mexican”. I go out to eat often, most days in a week, and am asked with regularity to recommend restaurants. But lately, especially since the closing of so many restaurants due to Covid, I have considered my favorite dishes—the foods I crave. So to answer the question of what I like, instead of answering “Vietnamese” or even with the name of a specific restaurant, I am naming dishes. And this collection is not just good food, it is a sampling of Houston’s best food—dishes that will not only amaze but make your knees buckle.
Appetizers:
Kata Robata in the Upper Kirby District makes the top five of every best Japanese restaurant list.
⊗ Kata Robata in the Upper Kirby District hits the top five of every best Japanese restaurant list. And well it should—in fact I think it should be #1. And the first dish that comes to mind as Houston’s best food is the Hamachi & Jalapeno Sashimi. Sure, it looks like a simple dish with no cooking necessary—a measured blend of thinly sliced raw yellowtail, sliced jalapenos, and yuzu olive oil sauce, but the flavors are so complex. If only you could scoop up the remaining yuzu sauce with a chopstick or even lick the little rectangular plate.
While at Kata Robata, try the Spicy Soy Ramen—no, it’s not the same as the Maruchan Ramen Noodles for 20¢ a pack on the soup aisle. An entrée soup, this Japanese culinary masterpiece is a mix of braised ground pork, chili oil, soy milk, soft-boiled egg, green onions, wakame, and micro cilantro which is mind blowing—and honestly should be featured in the forthcoming section for best soup.
Innocuously cloaked in a strip mall along the harrowing Southwest Freeway, Trendy Dumpling could be easily missed.
⊗ Xiaolongba, Soupy Buns, or Soup Dumplings is a difficult delicacy to find. This culinary tour-de-force consists of pork soup miraculously wrapped in thin dough and heated in a bamboo steamer. After dipping into Chinese black vinegar with julienned ginger, the hot soup erupts from its sheath in a mouthful of hot, saturated deliciousness.
Innocuously cloaked in a strip mall along the harrowing Southwest Freeway, just outside Greenway Plaza, Trendy Dumpling could be easily missed. But not only are Soup Dumplings on the menu, they are the best I have ever had—including in China Town, San Francisco.
Though I wondered how they get soup into a dumpling. The trick is a collagen rich pork aspic; once the gelatin sets, the soup is solid, allowing it to be folded into the delicate wrapper. When steamed the aspic returns to broth. No matter how the illusion is achieved, it is the best thing on the Trendy Dumpling menu.
Served like I have never had in Louisiana, try the Jalapeno Boudin at Captain Benny’s.
⊗ From Japanese, to Chinese, to… Cajun? As an 11th generation scion of a Louisiana pioneering family, to recommend Boudin in Houston might seem a sacrilege, but here it comes–served like I have never had in Louisiana, try the Jalapeno Boudin at Captain Benny’s. The link is scored, dusted with spices, and slid into a fiery oven, the rice crisping as it expands and breaching the scored casing. Served with garlic bread, Ça c’est good, mai cher!
For the real “still shuckin’ since 1967” experience, sit at the shrimp boat shaped bar and keep the ice cold beers flowing. Try the Baked Oysters with garlic butter & Captain’s seasoning.
This list would not be complete without the Lobster Macaroni & Cheese at Brenner’s on the Bayou.
⊗ So good it will curl your toes, this list would not be complete without the Lobster Macaroni & Cheese at Brenner’s on the Bayou. At this multi-tiered structure on the bank of Buffalo Bayou, I think this dish is an “off the menu” item—just the Smoked Macaroni & Cheese with a lobster tail, but as long as you’re spending $13 for macaroni, what’s another twenty bucks for crustacean chunks? It is a better appetizer than it is a side.
With manicured vistas and dining rooms with panoramic views, Brenner’s on the Bayou is an experiece whether happy hour or dinner. One might even witness a marriage while nibling macaroni.
Salad:
The Goi Vit at Huynh is a salad like no other. This salad will change your life.
⊗ It might sound weird, to some, to crave a salad. But just hold on. The Goi Vit at Huynh is a salad like no other. Shredded duck on a bed of cabbage and herbs is splashed with a lime, pepper, and ginger dressing. The Duck Salad will change your life. The smell of the dressing alone is even so alluring you could wear it as cologne.
Actually, the whole salad category could be devoted to this one dish.
Family owned and atop every best local restaurant list, and national lists as well, the chic BYOB eatery in China Town, east of downtown, not only elevates Vietnamese food to a high art but is healthy too. With minimal dairy and oil, Vietnamese recipes use fresh ingredients like lemongrass, mint, ginger, coriander, chili, lime, jalapeno, and basil with components such as fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy, and rice.
So many dishes on the menu are so absolutely stunning that it can be a treat to ignore the menu and just have the owner send shared dishes to the table until reaching a point of belt popping satiety.
Known as one of Texas’ top 10 spots to meet a millionaire, the atmosphere at Brasserie 19 is often a bigger selling point than the food.
⊗ Coronavirus killed Pappa’s Seafood House on Shepherd Drive and I mourn the lobster and seafood salad. Luckily there is another lobster and seafood salad that hits high notes, at Brasserie 19–perhaps another one of those “off the menu” items. This River Oaks Shopping Center eatery has been infamously noted as one of Texas’ top 10 spots to meet a millionaire so the sparkling atmosphere is often a bigger selling point than the food, though both are crazy good.
With a daily selection of oysters and a well priced wine and champagne list, the bar is a great place to ensconce one’s self for what’s been called the “hippest happy hour in town”. And I love the way the cold marble bar feels on my forearms on a hot summer day.
Soup:
The Sopa de Vegetales from La Mexicana is robust, rich, and satisfying.
⊗ A classic Seinfeld episode, The Soup (season 6, episode 7), notoriously debated whether soup is a meal. And the Sopa de Vegetales from La Mexicana will have you questioning the same. It is robust, rich, and satisfying. It is presented in one-size medium bowl, but please don’t get me started on a “medium” without a “small” or a “large”. But whether a starter or a meal, the sopa comes with diced avocado and panela cheese, both of which, along with jalapenos, I just dump on top.
Serving traditional Mexican specialties and margaritas since 1982, La Mexicana is a Montrose staple. The only restaurant serving for days after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, it looked like Studio 54 in there, a scene harkening back to the golden age of Montrose. It was so much fun we ate there twice a day. And for mole’ fans, my sister rates La Mexicana’s highly.
At Café Ginger the the egg drop soup is silky and perfect.
⊗ One soup that is definitely not a meal is Egg Drop Soup. Sure, every Chinese restaurant on God’s green earth serves egg drop which is simply eggs whipped into chicken broth. But at Café Ginger in the River Oaks area, the egg drop soup is silky and perfect–order the large bowl, not the dinky cup (as shown) that comes with a meal. Sweet and clean, I like to sprinkle it with fresh black pepper and a dollop of spicy mustard.
With mammoth Buddha statues, Ming Warriors, etched glass partitions, and over-the-top décor, Café Ginger is a Chinese restaurant straddling a fine line between ultra-glam and kitsch. But Ginger is also one of the few Chinese restaurants with a true full bar—they know how to serve a proper martini.
Entrées:
I declare without hyperbole that the best enchiladas in North America–no, the world–are the mouth-watering Cheese Enchiladas with onions at Club No Minors.
⊗ The origins of enchiladas is traced back through Mexico to the Aztec era. My personal love for enchiladas is traced back to El Charrito frozen dinners when I was a kid. And that love of enchiladas grew as I aspired to bigger cities and better Mexican restaurants. And I declare without hyperbole that the best enchiladas in North America–no, the world–are the mouth-watering Cheese Enchiladas with onions at Club No Minors. They’re good enough to make you faint.
The managers and wait staff will often recommend the Shrimp & Crab Meat Enchiladas as the house favorite. And they are indeed good, but nothing compares to the cheese enchiladas. In a list of Houston’s best food, these are special.
Opened in 1964, Club No Minors is the fabled bar side of the El Patio. Originally Club Villa Sana, specific alcohol laws had patrons paying a set liquor fee and a “No Minors” sign hung on the door to keep the kids out. As it became known as the craziest club in town, the Club No Minors name stuck. Out west on Westheimer, the club and the dining rooms serve the same menu; but without question, I prefer the linen table cloths, traditional Spanish art, and no hay niños en la cantina! After over fifty years, the frothy blue-green margaritas still pack a wallop.
A live oak cloistered oasis, Hillstone is one of the few restaurants with an enforced dress code.
⊗ Formerly Houston’s in Upper Kirby (the name was changed at some point during Coronavirus), Hillstone is a gem. With flawless service, a shady and sophisticated interior, and a martini that gives the term “three martini lunch” its gravity, it is easy to get a divine meal. Despite all the steaks, chops, and ocean fresh seafood, I am ironically selecting Hillstone for the best sandwich in Houston—the French Dip au Jus. The French Dip features thinly sliced prime rib on a house-made roll with a side of coleslaw. Don’t forget the horseradish. Achingly delicious.
And be smart. This live oak cloistered oasis is one of the few restaurants with an enforced dress code–don’t get me started on flip flops in public. They say:
To enhance the experience of all our guests we ask that you respect our Dress Code. We suggest collared shirts for gentlemen. We consider tank tops, overly provocative clothing, boldly logoed athletic attire, and flip flops too informal for the dining experience we plan to provide. We do not allow gentlemen to wear hats in the dining room. Your comfort is our priority, however we do not feel that overly casual attire is appropriate for dining in our restaurant.
I applaud an enforced dress code. And while Hillstone avows to be a family restaurant, children are also discouraged.
La Griglia is a famous neighborhood trattoria on the cuff of Houston’s swankiest neighborhood known for Italian classics.
⊗La Griglia in River Oaks Shopping Center serves fresh and clean pasta dishes. This famous neighborhood trattoria on the cuff of Houston’s swankiest neighborhood is known for Italian classics like Tagliatelle alla Vongole and Veal Parmigiana, but sometimes simpler is best. That is where the “off the menu” Spaghetti & Meatballs takes its place as one of Houston’s best foods.
Fans of my novel Drank Myself Straight might recall that a bar table at the posh eatery was an important setting in two key chapters. From Chapter One:
The walls of this culinary landmark are lined with tile mosaics and murals with dancing girls and octopi; mahogany paneling in the bar alternates with wine racks; blown glass chandeliers cascade from vaulted ceilings; and the floors are imprinted with the handprints and well-wishes of legendary Texans. The design imbues a sense of whimsy and anticipation—the eye never rests, moving from one surface to the next.
Why would I recommend the simplest pasta dish, that too many people think they can make at home, when out for fine dining? There is something truly remarkable about La Griglia’s light, garden-fresh sauce sprinkled with basil and the huge, hearty meatballs. Of course have a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese, grated tableside. Even though I dislike tomatoes, I crave this spaghetti. And just because the food is simple doesn’t mean the experience has to be. The classic Spaghetti & Meatballs from La Griglia gives the “classic” characterization real credibility.
Dessert:
With January’s coronavirus death of Dawn Wells, coconut cream pie has been on the minds of every Gilligan’s Island fan. (Jan. 2020)
⊗ With January’s coronavirus death of Dawn Wells, coconut cream pie has been on the minds of every Gilligan’s Island fan. Mary Ann made coconut cream pie a household word for my generation, even though actually finding a coconut pie in Cajun Louisiana was anything but ordinary. But it was never the island mystique of coconut cream pie that hooked me on the confectionary classic but rather the deliciousness. And my favorite coconut cream pie is found on the dessert cart at La Griglia—so please stay seated.
The coconut pie disappeared off the menu for a time but many patrons are glad it is back.
La Griglia is always a stop on my birthday where I have a slice of coconut cream pie with a sparkler. (Jan. 2021)
La Griglia is not known for baking, they surely have the desserts brought in. Admittedly, I am not a sweets person and desserts could be a whole post in any other list of Houston’s best food, but this particular pie is definitely on my radar. In fact, La Griglia is always my late night stop on my birthday where I have a slice with a sparkler.
Note that all photos here were taken with my phone, exactly as the dishes arrived to my table—a sacrifice I gladly made for TroysArt. (The actual sacrifice was taking a moment to photograph the food and not gobble it down immediately.)
There are so many restaurants in Houston that I love and would recommend. But the dishes listed sit far above others that I have had. And as a final suggestion, I leave you with my top recommendations for my best restaurants in Houston: Huynh, Kata Robata, La Griglia, and Club No Minors. So there you have it. Cheers.
Link to Kata Robata
Link to La Mexicana Restaurant
Link to El Patio/Club No Minors
Link to Brenner’s on the Bayou