Monthly Archives: January 2014

Date 15 – Sushi Tora

Where: Sushi Tora, 920 Studemont St, Houston, TX 77007
When: April 11, 2013

After a day managing volunteers at the HiMA career fair, I took my very good friend (and volunteer) John and called up Brenden and said we were all going on a date. I vividly recall parking at Sushi Tora at dusk and seeing the bats from the Waugh St. bridge fly overhead.

We sat inside and ate their free edamame, which came out cold and limp, but we ate it anyway. We got a giant variety of rolls and got tipsy on sake. Although we’re usually sushi purists, we took delight in this sushi, which was plenty good but not traditional. It did not take itself seriously at all and we were okay with that. We loved the decor of this place and picked out a few of our favorite concert posters on the wall. Brenden even attempted to buy one.

: Sushi Tora menu

: to friendship!

: snapped this in the ladies’ room

: Special Guest John Sanchez

: Brenden

: Edamame

We liked this place and ended up coming back a few times after this date. Then we began to learn more about the owner, Ken and his alleged engagement in illegal activities. We decided not to patronize the place anymore, which was a shame, because we had fun here.

Date 14 – Nosh Bistro

Where: Nosh Bistro, 3963 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77098 (now closed?)
When: April 6, 2013

After Alison Cook’s glowing review of Nosh, I really wanted to go to Nosh Bistro – an Indian Fusion place close to home seemed like such a neat idea. The reality paled in comparison.

We come into an empty restaurant on a Saturday night – there was another couple already dining – dressed to the nines. I was thankful I wore a dress, but still felt a little uneasy. The place was swanky inside, but almost to the point of hokey. It looked like Prince’s living room and I love Prince, but I don’t mean that in a positive light.

We looked at the menu, ordered a cheese board, a fried appetizer and a dish of steamed mussels that the waiter insisted was big enough to share.

Result: cheese board looked good, but the accouterments made it less than desirable. It was also missing something dippy… I asked for honey or mustard and the server was happy to help. I tried gjetost (a Norwegian cheese) for the first time, so that was super exciting (ALSO THE MAIN REASON I CHOSE THE RESTAURANT). The appetizer was seriously a fried mass of stuff. Awful. And the mussels came in this tiny portion, with not even enough bread to dip into the broth. We were so hungry afterward I ordered the other cheese plate on the menu.

We left broke and disappointed. But dammit, I had gjetost. I think this place is closed now anyway. Shocking.

Date 13 – Hong Kong Food Street

Where: Hong Kong Food Street, 9750 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036
When: March 28, 2013

This was a Brenden’s choice week and we drove to Chinatown to pick out somewhere new to eat. We scoured the strip malls and Brenden shouts out, “Hong Kong Street Food!!!!” and parks.

He screamed it much like this

He must be dyslexic, because it was Hong Kong Food Street. No matter, we sat inside the rather empty restaurant on a Friday night.

A little history of Nicole and Chinese food: I never ate it growing up! When I went to college there was a restaurant who delivered to my apartment complex and I found something I loved: Walnut Shrimp and White Sauce in a bird’s nest. It was basically sweet shrimp covered in mayonnaise. My friends made fun of me continuously ordering this dish and we called it “Jizzy Shrimp.” I ate it with pride, of course. I have since searched for this dish in many cities and always have a twinge of disappointment when the “white sauce” on my Almond Chicken or whatever doesn’t have that same jizzy tang (what did I just type?).

Anyhow, here we are in one of the best Chinatowns in the country and we’re looking through their endless picture menu and I SEE IT. They called it something else (pecan shrimp?) but those were pictures of walnuts and holy crap I was going to get it. A journey 15 years had come(ha) to a conclusion! Brenden decided on some spicy pepper beef dish since he didn’t want anything to do with mine and we obviously weren’t sharing.

Other things I remember about this date: The service wasn’t great, even given the empty place. The prices were really high for what it was. Brenden and I got into a very tense conversation – he had recently asked me to move in with him and I had reminded him of all the things around the house he promised to change upon my moving in. He hadn’t realized what big of a project it would be. I felt naggy and awful – such a horrible stereotype – but his place needed some drastic updating.

We decided that we definitely need to explore more Cantonese!

Date 12 – Pizaro’s Pizza

Where: Pizaro’s Pizza Napoletana, 14028 Memorial Dr. Houston, TX 77079
When: March 23, 2013

This date was a HUGE deal. 1) It was exactly one year after our first date. 2) It was pizza. 3) It was a place everyone had RAVED about.

I’d been wanting to come here for a long time, it was a special occasion and my choice, so we ventured out to a strip mall on Memorial to try this authentic pizza. I knew it was BYOB, so I brought a special beer that had been hibernating in my fridge for a year: 512 Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter.

I knew what to expect: unassuming strip mall, authentic Napoletana pizza and the oven straight from Naples. We each picked our own pizzas to share: I picked the Fino (olive oil, cured fennel sausage, goat cheese, garlic and mozzarella) and Brenden the Salsiccia e Funghi (tomato sauce, roasted crimini mushrooms, sausage, and mozzarella). What I didn’t expect: to like Brenden’s pizza much more than mine. I also thought it was a little pricey for what it was. But I got it – fancy pizza at fancy prices.

We opened my highly anticipated beer, which tasted like straight whiskey – not in a good way. Oof. I went inside to get glasses and dropped one in the restaurant. Highly embarrassing, but the staff was very kind. This date wasn’t going great. We sat outside with our disappointing beer and shrugged-off our charred pizzas and watched the SUVs of families with screaming children come and go from the Tex-Mex restaurant next door. We then realized how good we actually had it. I went inside and convinced the manager to trade the rest of my beer for a bottle of San Pellegrino and he obliged, surprisingly (I’m not sure I would!). Nice guy!

We ended the date with a hilarious tour of the awful stores in the strip mall, frozen yogurt and a rousing game of Guess Who? where we both picked the same person. Happy one year, B.