Curious Notions

4700 West Guadalupe
Austin, TX 78751

(512) 323-9494
www.galaxycafeaustin.com

Friday night, Alan, his friend, and I were going to see Avatar in IMAX (it is really worth it to see this movie in IMAX; you get the ulimate experience). Alan was craving a burger and we wanted to eat somewhere close to the Bob Bullock Museum, where the IMAX is. So we chose Galaxy Cafe. All three of us had been here once before and it was our second time. Alan and I went for lunch once and the place was jam-packed. The atmosphere reminds me of a trendy cafeteria. The set up is easy, upon walking in there are menus for you to grab near the door and up near the cashier. You order and then they take it out to you. I could have gone for a burger too myself, but I was too lazy to wash my hands so I ordered their bow tie pasta with shrimp. It comes with either a salad or soup.

The Mexican lime soup reminds me of this traditional Vietnamese sour soup. It has the same tangy sour broth and tomatoes in the broth. The Vietnamese soup has catfish in it. Yum! Galaxy Cafe’s Mexican soup is tasty and light. The server who brought it out told me it was one of their most popular soups.

The bow tie pasta was tossed in a lemon cilantro butter. Lemon cilantro butter won me over when I was trying to decide what to order. I ordered mine with shrimp. Very comforting, very filling. I think I can make this.

Inside Galaxy. Not as crowded as lunch hour.

1602 Westheimer Road
Houston, TX 77006

(713) 524-7744
www.hugosrestaurant.net

Back in July, Kim and I had Hugo’s for the first time and fell in love. Sunday, we went back for brunch and fell deeper. My friend, Elizabeth saw my Hugo’s pictures on facebook and shared that not only is Hugo’s her favorite restaurant but also the tres leches cake which is served only at brunch is her favorite. This Thanksgiving weekend was my first time back in Houston since then and I had to make sure I experience their brunch and this tres leches cake. So who better to go with me than Kim?!

We each ordered the Sandia Mimosa. We love champagne in the morning. This mimosa has watermelon juice in it and aguave nectar. It was refreshing and a nice twist from the usual orange juice.

Here’s a view of my first plate from their marvelous buffet. Their buffet is nicely presented. No metal buffet tins over heat lamps here. No spit guard here! If you look to the right on my plate, that is squash pudding. It was so delicious I had to get more. Light, fluffy, sweet. I’m tempted to look up a recipe!

My second plate is pictured above. More squash pudding, a tamale, something good with fried egg on it, a cheesy spicy cauliflower, lamp chop, grilled oysters, right next to the grilled oysters is beef tongue! I never had beef tongue and was excited to try. It was super tender (a good thing). I never had my oysters grilled either. I’ve only had them fried and raw. Grilled is a nice option! It’s a nice alternative for those of you who can’t stand the slimy texture of raw oysters.

Kim commented on how adventurous I was to try beef tongue. She said they actually do look like tongues which is not aesthetically appetizing. I must agree but I talked her into eating a bit of my beef tongue and videoed her experience for your viewing pleasure.

Toasting to another good plate.

My third plate: fish enchiladas, slow roasted pork, brisket, and a stuffed pepper (stuffed with chicken). The pork was so good. Brisket falls apart in your mouth like it should. After our third plate, we gleefully agreed it was time for dessert!

My happy dessert plate. If you notice, the biggest piece of cake I got was the tres leches. Also pictured is a churro, some rice pudding, a chocolate cake, and a chocolate raspberry cake. The only thing I didn’t love was the raspberry chocolate cake and that is because I don’t like raspberry. I guess I got overexcited at the dessert table.

I washed everything down with Mexican hot chocolate. Mmmm. I’ve roped Kim into agreeing to brunching with me here every time I’m in Houston.

She agreed! Lookit the joy in her eyes.

I tried Horchata for the first this past weekend. I didn’t even know what it was before Nisreen explained.

What is Horchata?

Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of traditional beverages, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley or tigernuts. (Taken from Wikipedia.)

The Horchata I tried was at Juan in a Million. I went with Nisreen and Katambra after we did some dress alterations for Nisreen’s upcoming wedding. I was pleased to introduce Katambra to Juan in the Million and in turn, Nisreen introduced me to Horchata, Mexican style, which consists of rice milk and cinnamon. It was delicious. It reminds me of Christmas because of the cinnamon and it was nice and cold which is perfect for Texas weather. Maybe one day I’ll try making it!

Being romantic with Katambra

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August 21, 2009 – Juan in a Million

Before Alan left for Korea, he watched Man v Food obsessively. There’s a Juan in a Million episode that made my mouth water with nostalgia. I used to come to Juan in a Million in college many mornings before many nights out. It’s the perfect morning after meal. I have fond memories of Juan in a Million’s Don Juan. Here’s a short teaser of Man v Juan in a Million.

Jon’s in town for a short week from NYC and he was craving some Juan in a Million so we went yesterday for lunch.

Of course we both each got the Don Juan. He’s never had anything else there as well. Don Juan: A secret combination of potato, egg, bacon and cheese in a deliciously hot tortilla all for $3.60

We struggled through but both were victorious. I used to be able to do 1.5 of these orders without a problem back in college and Jon claimed the same thing. We’re getting old. :( At age 26, I now wear eye cream and struggle through one Don Juan.

Here you see Adam Richman of Man v. Food. He ended up not beating the skinny Asian record holder near the top of the winner wall but they added him to the wall as the celebrity record holder. Aw. What a consolation /pity prize.

Friday night, I had a date with miss Kim and we were initially going to do something crazy and try grasshoppers at the famed (and RIGHTLY so) Hugos. We ended up not going with the grasshoppers for appetizers when we got there but man was I surprised. I had no idea the best restaurant I’ve been to in Houston would be MEXICAN. First of all, I’ve never had Mexican done up like this. My experience with Mexican is pretty limited to quesadillas, fajitas, tacos, and enchiladas. Holy crap did Hugo’s open up my world to Mexican cuisine and rocked it.

Squash Blossums are apparently in season. It’s funny because I’ve only just heard of squash blossoms on the Food Network when they featured it on a show about Italy. Here there are, featured in a special menu for squash blossums.

We went with the squash blossoms crepes for appetizers. They had squash blossoms, huitlacoche (fungal delicacy that grows on ears of corn), mushrooms and cheese topped with poblano cream and gratineed. We liked. Yum. Never had huitlacoche or squash blossoms. Great first experience.

Kim ordered one of the specials that was featured Friday, soft crab and some kind of corn bread that tasted like a done up fancied up Rudy’s cream of corn. Funny, because we bought thought of Rudy’s cream of corn at the same time. The soft crab was delicious! She did good in ordering as always.

My entree: Mariscos al Aijillo.

Mine comes with rice. This makes me want to do some rice sculpting.

My entree was the Seafood plate.. or at least that’s how I translate “Mariscos al Ajillo.” Mariscos al Aijillo has shrimp, scallop, lobster, mussels, clams, oysters and octopus, sautéed in olive oil with roasted garlic, chile de arbol and lime. I’ve never had octopus. My thoughts on octopus: like squid, it’s okay the first 4 seconds of chewing, afterwards the texture really gets to me. The dish on the whole was AMAZING. There’s a little bit of sauce from the olive oil, chile and lime that served as a great broth to eat with the rice. The seafood in it was fresh and I’ve never had a scallop as big or as juicy as the scallops they had. Kim and I poked at it with our forks and oohed and aahed at its extra plump texture. The lobster tail was succulent. Seriously, this restaurant blew me away. It’s a bit pricey. Runs 40-70 dollars a person without alcohol but very much worth the money.

Our waiter suggested we have the churros because it is “very Mexican.” It’s filled with dulce de leche filling and served with chocolate icecream (always a winner) and their famed Mexican hot chocolate. I’ve never had Mexican hot chocolate, after having Hugo’s, I vow to seek out Mexican hot chocolate more often. It was a lovely treat. Don’t be too shy to dip your churro in the hot chocolate. It’s like a crisp cinnamony donut.

My lovely date. I like this picture. She’s pretty AND quirky.

Do you see how high the ceiling is? Loved the ambiance.

Next time I’m in Houston, we’re definitely going back and this time for brunch. If you ever find yourself in Houston, do yourself a big favor and make this restaurant a food priority.

Located on Greystone and Mopac. I’ve driven by this quaint place quite often and always noticed it’s packed during peak hours and the patio is always packed as well. So today we finally tried it out. From the outside it looks pretty humble and then you go in and you see it actually has a lot of pride. Here’s a couple of snapshots from Chile’s insides.

Pretty.

The waiter was GREAT. I wish I could remember his name so if you’ll ever go you’ll know who will take great care of you. We confirm that there’s another location right across the street from Clementine and Hoovers (next to East Side Cafe and Vivo). How did I miss it? All the aforementioned places are some of my favorite places. I was JUST at Clementine and Hoovers this Saturday. Here’s our food.

The salsa was made out of tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, and garlic. They roasted it to give it a smokey flavor and look. It was good.

How yummy looking is that?

These tacos ended up being a testament to how nice our waiter was. He said if the pickled cabbage wasn’t to our liking he’d be happy to replace the entree with something else. We took him up on that offer.

My order. I liked it enough. Definitely unique. Shrimp enchiladas with a chipotle sauce and a cilantro sour cream. As for shrimp enchiladas go, I prefer Hula Hut’s Spinach and Shrimp Tubular Taco.

Overall, I liked (not love) the place. Definitely unique, a nice break from the mundane.

I’d try it out again.