End of part 1

So, that's as far as I got with my project on this trip. Over nearly three weeks I managed to eat 27 of the hundred dishes. I also found another two to sadly no longer be available. They cost me $310 including tips. I travelled 220 miles on my quest, 127 miles by car, 13 by foot, 28 by bus and 52 by bike.

Other than the 10 pounds I put on what I take back to England with me? As you can see it was a pretty pepper heavy load. Four varieties of dried peppers in the top left, hot sauce along the bottom and chipotles in adobo between. Good Mexican and Tex Mex ingredients are hard to come by over this side of the Atlantic. I've never found a corn tortilla over here to my get sadness. With this little lot I'll be able to keep myself happy for a while though.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to restart the quest. Let's hope it's soon. Until then, happy eating!

Dish 29 - #21 Goat Buttermilk and Pecan Pie with San Leon Rum Ice Cream at Haven

For our last evening we went just a little way down the road to Haven. Robb chose the buttermilk pecan pie for the list but we had a full meal. It was restaurant week so I ordered from that menu: Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with Squash Blossom Sauce, Charred Corn Relish to start followed by Akaushi Steak, New Potatoes, 1015 Onion, Leeks, Mushrooms, Red Wine Demi with Coconut Tres Leches Bread Pudding,
Dulce de Leche Sauce, Meringue, Toasted Coconut to finish. She shared the crab cake then ordered the summer squash with quinoa and the buttermilk pecan pie which we split along with my desert.

There were some real high points and a few disappointments. The brioche that was brought out first was really good, the crab cake was good and the steak was awesome. The lady's main was really, really good. Texture, seasoning, everything about it was spot on.

On the other hand the potatoes weren't so good. They were a little underdone and the seasoning could have been better. It was the deserts that were the real let down though. Those who know me know I will always, always, always clear my plate when it's desert time. It's rare I don't eat every scrap of a savoury course but I always eat my pudding. The coconut tres leches bread pudding was so bad though that I left half of it. It was exceptionally dense and gluey and the taste was bland. The topping was good though. After that we tucked into the pie. It was much, much better than the other but if I'm honest it was probably my least favourite of all the dishes I've had from the list. The pecans were good; mid way between chewy and crunchy, the ice cream was superb although not quite as good as Hank's. The crust was pretty poor though, dry and bland, and there wasn't enough of the buttermilk filling for the taste to really come through.

I guess we just turned up on an off day for desert. Perhaps we'll go back some time and give it another shot. It's a bit of a shame that the last dish from the list of this trip was the least good. I've eaten some amazing things over the last few weeks though. The dishes from Hugo's, Indika, Feast and Ninfa's were among the very best I've ever had. There were a bunch of others were just as fine too. It was an amazing few weeks food and I can't wait for the next time I get to come back to town. I'm really excited about having some more of the delicousness contained in the list!

NRSS - Tierra caliente taco truck

All too soon it was my last day in Houston for this trip. It's really depressing to leave and know I won't see the lady again for months. I'm going to miss the city too. I love Houston. Anyway, while she was at work I headed over to the West Alabama Ice House for a beer and a bite to eat. Earlier in the trip I'd picked up an al pastor taco from the El Tierra Caliente taco truck that now parks there and been pretty disappointed; the meat was pretty dry. It was fairly tasty though. I decided to give them a second shot and was really glad I did. The barbacoa tacos I ordered were so wonderful I headed back up to grab a lengua too. The Texan beer and wonderful sunshine iced the cake. I wish they ladyfriend could have been with me. It was a lovely afternoon.

NRSS - Chapultepec Lupita

Later that night we headed over to minute maid park and watched the Astro's lose to the Braves. Bummer. By the time we left we were hungry but most places were closed. Luckily for us Chapaultepec Lupita was on the way back to the apartment and it's open til 2. I went for the carne guisada. It was a pretty huge plate; it was good though. The sides weren't amazing but the meat was great and the gravy really well spiced. You have to right around to the back to get in by the way. I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to work that out if the lady hadn't been before.

Dish 101 - Chinese barbecue at Sinh Sinh

I dropped Robb an e.mail to thank him for all his wonderful writing and let him know about my mission. Much to my suprise he invited me to tag along to a lunch he was having with a few other folks. It was an offer I couldn't refuse! The girlfriend and I rented a zipcar and headed to Sinh Sinh.

I won't say much, just that I had a really good time, it was fantastic to meet Robb and the food was pretty great too. The duck feet and tripe were particularly good. The lady ordered a tasty mixed veg dish with mushrooms and tofu skin. I was very, very happy to have had such a great opportunity!

Dish 28 - #3 Snapper on a Sizzling Comal at Tampico

We hit up Tampico just before closing time one evening with a couple of friends.

We picked out a snapper for the lady and I and got a lobster tail to go along with it. While it was on the grill we all shared some queso flameado with shrimp. It was damn good, the pico was pretty fine too.
It wasn't long until the fish arrived. It looked and smelled incredible! It tasted every bit as good as it looked too. It fell away from the bones and melted in the mouth. The lobster was slightly overdone but it was delicious too.

It was a cool place. I found the mexican / asian collision really cool. We got the fish with fried rice and there's a bottle of soy sauce on every table. It wasn't a cheap meal, about $60 for the main between us. It was totally worth it though. It just feels a little strange spending so much in a place that looks so unfancy. No question it's worth the price for that level of deliciousness though.

I'll just count my half of the main in the stats. At the end of the day I had:
eaten 26 / 100 dishes (28/100 including non-available dishes)
spent $290 (including tips)
travelled 217 miles (124 by car, 13 on foot, 28 by bus, 52 by bike)

Dish 27 - #46 Ice Cream at Hank's

There are several things that bring a tear to my eye when I think of leaving Houston. For the sake of form I'll continue ranking leaving the girlfriend behind number one. Not having access to this ice cream has leapt into the lofty highs of the list though.

It was an eight mile round trip bike ride on a day when there was a heat advisory warning. Both the lady friend and I declared it fully worth it. We agreed it was the best ice cream either of us have eaten. We're planning on being back in there within 48 hours.

We had the butter cream, caramel pecan , Texas oreo (everything's bigger in Texas, including the oreo chunks!) and the coffee oreo. Every one was was insanely out of this world delicious with the butter cream probably topping the pile.

At the end of the day I had:
eaten 25 / 100 dishes (27/100 including non-available dishes)
spent $258 (including tips)
travelled 205 miles (112 by car, 13 on foot, 28 by bus, 52 by bike)