Double Header – Aladdin’s & BRC

It was a waist line busting Monday for me, but oh so good!

Aladdin’s Mediterranean Cuisine

I met with a friend and her two darling little ones at Aladdin’s Mediterranean Cuisine for lunch. This place used to be an old stand by of mine but it had been quite a while since I visited. Oh, how I missed it.

For $9.99 you get a meat and three (that right three) sides. And these are no little bowl of vegetables, but a basket of bread for your heaping spoonful of hummus, a fried potato ball the size of the palm of my hand and heaping with flavor, and a mound of tabouleh. The food is fresh, the décor is kitschy north African, and it is BYOB to boot (although I didn’t partake in any during lunch…boo). I also had the spinach feta pastry that was their side special that day and it was the perfect flaky phyllo dough crust stuffed with gusto that put me over the edge. I could only eat half of my chicken kabob, which has a tangy marinade and served with a yogurt sauce. For less than $15 a person (including soft drinks) our table was as full as our stomachs were afterwards. Aladdin’s – I don’t know why I have neglected you for so long…but I will be back soon.

BRC – burger night

BRC describes itself as a Revolutionary American Gastropub – an aptly fitting title for this slightly trendy, slightly pub like, and more than slightly risqué new Shepherd restaurant. Risque you ask? The initials are BRC and there is a huge red rooster out front…you do the math. The décor also gives a nod to the provocative, but it is still very nicely done. This is my second visit and it does not fail to surprise.

We were in for the $6.50 burger night special, although since I am more inclined to shell fish, I opted for the mussels. BRC always has steamed mussels on the menu, but the sauce changes daily (I love the concept!!). Service at this restaurant is exceptionally good with the wait staff being able to offer advice on wine and beer selections. I had a Meritage that was lovely.

We ordered blue crab beignets to begin. Served hot out of the fryer the dough was sweet, the crab was flavorful, but ours came to us slightly on the burnt side. We still scarfed them while they were piping hot and they were accompanied with a sauce that as described in the menu was horseradish, but it was a pinkish color and definitely had some zip to it. They were very well paired.

The mussels last evening were done in a white wine sauce with capers, tomatoes, and TONS of garlic. I dove in. While they were very packed with flavor, the mussels were not the freshest I have had. My bad for ordering a shell fish on a Monday.

But I would not be doing BRC justice without raving about the fries. Crispy, salty, with parsley and served with a garlic cream sauce, I downed the whole basket and still looked at my tablemate’s plates hoping for some stragglers. No luck…we had finished the lot.

I will be visiting BRC for an indulgent meal of their American fare with a fun twist.

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

A group of rowdy misfits hit one of Houston’s newish establishments for a cultural adventure for our bi-weekly Wednesday night supper club. This rowdy group (minus five of the usual suspects) included two that had already imbibed copious amounts of champagne, a nursing mother who can’t have to soy or dairy, a newly turned vegetarian, and a shellfish allergy. This is quite a combination when you throw in the complete foreign concept of Mongolian Hot Pot and wait staff that speaks little to no English.

First a bit of background on the Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. This is a chain restaurant throughout China that serves the traditional hot pot. Essentially hot pot is boiling broth with raw meats and vegetables to be cooked at the table. Houston is the first city outside of California to have a franchise open up in the U.S. and we are quite proud to have it!! It speaks to the wonderful diversity we have in this city.

Ok, back to the meal. As you can imagine, ordering was a quite a process with this crew. We deciphered that you first order a broth then the items to be cooked in said broth. With vegetarian, soy, and shell fish issues in mind, we ordered two of the half and half (original one one side and spicy on the other) with one of the originals with a water based and one pot designated a shell fish free zone. We were on our way. That is until we begain ordering the dunklings. By dunklings, I mean anything from cabbage to lamb meatballs, scallops to udon noodles that you drown in the boiling broth to cook. Another 20 minute process later and we were set (although the general consensus was that we waaaaaay over ordered…par for the course.)

On to the food, the first thing I was able to try were the pork dumplings. We had two varieties at the table and both were quite good, especially when dunked in broth. Our instructions were a bit lean on the cooking times for the dunklings, so after a few raw in the middle lamb meat balls, I got the knack and they were very good as well. I had trouble waiting the entire cooling time after they were removed from the broth so my mouth was pretty scorched by the end of our meal. My favorites of the items we ordered included the scallops, beer beef, and sliced lamb, and the side of egg noodles accompanied nicely.

I stuck with cooking in the spicy broth and while it had some flavor, I couldn’t help but leave my dunklings in a bit longer in hopes they would absorb more of the spices. The broths were sparsely spiced with aromatics that I knew to avoid eating, but I think the spicy broth could have packed more of a punch.

We splattered, dipped, and slurped our way to the end of a good meal. Messy and fun, the Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot is a great for groups. I’ll definitely go again, but this time I’m ordering extra spicy and not wearing a hand wash only shirt!

Atlanta Trip - Fado's and Taqueria Del Sol

Fado’s

This Irish bar was recommended to me and I met a friend there for dinner. It is in the Buckhead area. Buckhead, while still having very wealthy neighborhoods, has recently been in decline. There is construction everywhere at the moment while they try to reclaim it’s former trendiness. My assessment, wait three years and see. Not worth having to maneuver through the construction cones.

Now on to Fado’s. I like my Irish pubs authentic. Small, dark with surly bar tenders who will scoff at you if you ask for an American beer over a dark thick ale or whiskey. Fado’s is not so. I was leery when I was required to valet in from of a very elaborately decorated building…not my idea of an Irish pub. My expectations were brought back up when I found it very nicely decorated and bottles of Bushmills on tapped awaiting a pour.

The menu has a variation from classic Irish Shepherd’s Pie to new spins on traditional classics like a fish and chips salad. I opted to try one of the boxty’s which was noted to be a house specialty. I didn’t really read the description further than that I knew that this was going to include chicken and shrimp…sounded tasty but far from Irish. Given the looks of this place, it seemed the correct route to take. So with an open mind, I was served what looked like an over sized enchilada with a plate of cream sauce and some julienned vegetables. It was intimidating to look at but with my first bite, I knew I was hooked. It was a very thin and very flavorful potato pancake wrapped around grilled chicken and shrimp. There was a spice to the cream sauce that gave the dish a great kick. Much to my waistline’s chagrin, I ate about three-quarters of this monster. I had to actually tell myself to stop. The boxty’s are a hit in my book.

I topped off the meal with an Irish coffee, my version that is…skip the cream and the bailey’s, just give me coffee and whiskey. It was the perfect ending to an indulgent meal and my trip to this trendy take on an Irish pub.

Taqueria Del Sol

I had seen a show on the Food Network about Bon Appetit best restaurant picks for different American classics. They had five categories including hamburgers, pizza, steak, BBQ and tacos. Living in Texas has taught me a thing or two about tacos so when a taco runner up was in Atlanta, I had to see if it lived up to Texas standards.

Taqueria Del Sol has three locations around Atlanta. It is known for putting fresh twists on Mexican favorites. Del Sol’s small menu has your choice of either tacos or enchiladas for the main dish with a spattering of starters.

I pulled up the Taqueria Del Sol’s Cheshire Bridge location at around 12:30. I was extremely happy to see a line outside. Lines signify food that is worth the wait so maybe this taqueria was going to give my Texas favorites a run for their money. The laid back eatery has white walls with bright “Sols” painted on them and abstract shaped lamps hung from the ceilings. It gives a very clean and beachy feel that put me in the mood for a margarita.

I started off with tortilla chips and guacamole. In my book, good guacamole = good Mexican. I was surprised to find how fresh and creamy the avocados were in this version…was I back in TX? Oh, no, I was not. There was no spice to this bland concoction but since I am an avocado fanatic, I could over look. The guac, great if you like avocado’s, but it is not authentic. The tortilla chips on the other hand were excellent. Salted perfectly and still slightly warm. I couldn’t get enough.

Being in the South, I thought I’d try the fried chicken taco. When I think of southern fried chicken, I think grease, flavor, thick breading. This was not. It was panko breaded chicken tenders with very little flavor. Definitely not flavorful enough to bring excitement the blah toppings of lettuce, tomato and mayo. The only thing that differentiated this taco from a bland chicken sandwich was the flour tortilla. I was not at all impressed.

My expectations were low when I decided move to the fish taco. The fish was fried as well but this time in a crunchy cornmeal breading. And it had some flavor packed in the form of what I conjured up to be a jalapeno tarter sauce and then topped with pickled jalapenos. Again, not as spicy as I would have liked, but this taco held my attention and I had to finish it.

All of this only cost me $8.00 and I was full. My take on Taqueria Del Sol is for the price it’s a fresh lunch that’s pretty fast, but for real taco’s, Del Sol does not hit the mark. Sorry Bon Appetit, but this foodie has to disagree with your pick for tacos. Voy a Texas para los tacos!!