Monthly Archives: December 2017

Mastro’s Houston

I spent my birthday at work then at a high school auditorium, sitting for two hours, waiting for my son’s 20 second marimba solo—because that’s what people my age do. Adulting. I hate that word. I could have gone downtown and drunk myself to a stupor like I did in my 20’s. But I actually looked forward to hearing B’s solo, so I decided to spend it there.  I think that’s what being an adult is about—having a host of options and picking the most meaningful one.

It was late as we got home, so we just had the cake i got from Goldbely.

Raspberry Lemon cake-yum!
This cake is not big enough for all 46 candles

Nevertheless, D wanted me to have a birthday dinner, so he booked a dinner at Mastro’s for this weekend. It is chain of steakhouses all over the US. I would normally frown on anything “chain” but this is an exception. You would think, that as Houstonians, we need another steakhouse like we need another hole in our head. But this is definitely different. The food and service blows away all competitors. If there is one steakhouse I would recommend to anyone, this is definitely it.

The place is beautiful. We were seated near the water feature which is far from the loud live band.
I had the Winter Delight and D had a Saint Emilion 2011.
Alaskan King Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
My birthday Steak–Japanese A5 Wagyu
New York Steak
D had his usual Center Cut Filet
This side is tonight’s winner —Alaskan King Crab Black Truffle Gnocchi
Happy, steak-filled faces
My birthday dessert!

I eat out almost 2-3 times a week, and while it’s true that I still feel a lot of excitement when trying out a new restaurant, a steakhouse rarely does it for me. Well, this one did. The energy was vibrant, food was amazing and the exceptional service really blew me away. I’m really glad that there is more availability of good Japanese steak. There was actually a lot of sushi options on the menu but we already ordered way too much food. We will leave that till next visit because we will surely be back!

Mastro’s,   1650 W. Loop South, Houston, TX

North Italia

Today (Sunday) is a free day for me because the Patriots are not playing. They will play tomorrow. For those who know about my football obsession, my weekends primarily revolve around Tom Brady’s schedule; secondarily with that of Drew Brees (played last Thursday). Thank God Aaron is hurt and Peyton has retired. Those are a lot of people and schedules to work with. So today, we go Christmas shopping. Or so we hoped.

Galleria was a mess, I just couldn’t deal. So we decided to salvage our shopping fail with what we do best—eating out. We came across this restaurant and I honestly thought we have eaten here. I can’t believe this has been here for a while and we’ve never tried.

The appetizers were very tempting so we ordered the top two that we liked.

ARANCINI 
crispy mushroom risotto
stuffed with scamorza cheese &
served with red sauce
ITALIAN
MEATBALLS 
marinara, pecorino,
grilled bread

The drinks list was not a slouch either. A lot of good choices.

D had a really good Barolo which is expected for any self-respecting Italian joint
I had a RED SANGRIA —
brandy, blood orange,
red wine, strawberry, lime
I had too much to eat last night so I settled for pizza. FUNGHI —
roasted mushroom, cipollini onion,
smoked mozzarella
And D, as an homage to our favorite, Peyton Manning, had CHICKEN PARMESAN 
crushed tomato, aged provolone, mozzarella,
parmesan rigatoni (it tastes so good!)

As always, desserts are my favorite (along with dessert drinks).

HAZELNUT TORTA —
nutella cream, hazelnut toff ee,
salted caramel gelato
We paired it with ITALIAN COFFEE —
espresso, caff è borghetti,
amaretto, vanilla whipped cream

That lunch went very well! I’m writing this blog as D is trying to navigate away from here. We wanted to stop by Trader Joe’s but we couldn’t find parking! This day is a wash. Thank God for the Italians and their extremely comforting food, this day didn’t totally suck.

North Italia, BLVD Place
1700 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 190
Houston, Texas