Restaurant: Straits

800 West Sam Houston Pkwy N
Houston, Texas 77024

I went to Straits for the second time a couple of months ago and my experience this time around was far superior to the first time. It really is all about ordering the right dishes and what perception you are left with. Buddha was in town so he arranged a dinner for a few of us to meet up. I think he even picked up the tab so thanks guy! He and wonder woman were fighting for the check while the rest of us excused ourselves and hid in the restroom. Teehee. So many of the dishes were so good that I actually want to go back to eat there whereas that was not my feeling before. After dinner, we caroused in the lounge area for a bit. Living On A Prayer came on and wonder woman and I started singing and dancing in the middle of the crowd. Big poppa bought a round of patron shots so we all took a shot with the group and then had to leave cos we had to wake up early the next day. Ugh. What a waste of shot.

Food in order of appearance:
Indonesian Corn Croquettes
Vietnamese Beef Carpaccio
Samosa
Roti Prata
Chicken “Lollipops”
Murtabak
Banana Blossom Salad
Indian Street Noodles
Coconut Fried Rice
Chicken Curry Pot Pie
Origami Seabass
Lemongrass Grilled Skirt Steak
Fried Banana Split
“Home-made” Double-Crumbed Apple Pie, Almond Crumble and Cinnamon Ice Cream
Straits Beignet

Trippin': Chicago - Eggsperience

35 W Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60654

I love a good hearty American breakfast and when wonder woman told me about Eggsperience, all I heard was 'egg' and I was THERE. Big poppa and I ended up waking up pretty late the next morning, close to noon. We had these really thick curtains in our room that were able to block out every bit of light so I guess we had no idea what time it was and just continued to sleep and sleep. Vampire curtains. I need some in my room. But then I may never wake up. Luckily though, the marathoners hadn't made it back yet so we still had to wait for them to get back so we could meet them up for some brekkie at EGGSPERIENCE. The food there is pretty typical breakfast stuff. I really like places like that. I know Houston has Le Peep and there's this one chain that's popping up all over Houston with one recently opening in my hood called The Egg and I. Friends, be prepared for me to call you to meet me for some brekkie at The Egg and I. I think that whenever I get my new house, I'm gonna have a big photo of a sunny side up egg. Egg yolks look so dang yummy to me. Before I conclude, I want to give a HUGE congrats to the folks who completed the half marathon!

Trippin': Chicago - Quartino

626 N State St
Chicago, IL 60654

For dinner on our first night in Chicago, the entire Houston clan all finally met up at Quartino's, an Italian tapas place. I love the whole idea of tapas, which is sorta like dim sum where it's all about small plates that you share and so you get to try more things. The food here wasn't all that great but it was okay since it felt like only minutes had passed since we had loaded up on some of that saliva inducing fried chicken at Crisp. Oh my gawd I think about Crisp at least once a day. The place is really cute and super packed and it has an open kitchen which I like to see in restaurants. It was miss wonder woman's birthday that weekend so I was glad that I was there to celebrate that occasion with her. Her and her friends went out to the clubs after dinner while my group opted to call it an early night.

Food in order of appearance:
sauteed spinach
crisp calamari
chicken soup (for under the weather big poppa)
minestrone soup
beef short ribs
broccoli rabe
sea scallops
ravioli
mushroom risotto
linguini with clams in red sauce
shrimp risotto
linguini with clams in white sauce

Musik Mundi: Arcade Fire

After so many musik mundi posts, my mind is starting to get a bit muddled with trying to figure out which songs I have or have not posted. So this week I have some Arcade Fire for y'all. They're Canadians and I think the main folks behind the band are husband and wife. And that's all I really know. Hope everyone has a super week! And if my baby sistar is reading this, please know that Alfie walked all over my laptop keyboard and then my computer shut down right in the middle of me writing up this post. But he's still so cute and fat.

*photo courtesy of amazon*


Arcade Fire
Album: The Suburbs (2010)
Song: We Used To Wait