KIM PHAT, HOUSTON TX

KIM PHAT TIEU NAM VANG HOUSTON TX

11550 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77072
(281) 879-8010



This Houston Vietnamese restaurant scores a 9.5 out of 10. Loved it!

Delicious pho, the signature vietnamese dish, is a meat soup that is eaten by adding fresh sprouts and herbs to the broth with a squirt of lime and your choice of sauce.

Fresh spring rolls. Herbs and shrimp wrapped inside sofened rice paper.



This dipping sauce is a flavorful combination of sweet and spicy.

Greens and sauces for you pho. Freshly made limeade and hot tea to drink.

Milas Taqueria Mexico

The second and final stop on the Great Houston Taco Experiment 2009 was Milas Taqueria Mexico. The tacos al pastor are excellent here and I would say they rival actual Mexico City tacos. We would have liked to have tried more Houston taco locations but with so much great Asian cusine in Houston, we thought it wise to sample more of the healthier Vietnamese, Chinese, and Middle Eastern restaurants, than lard cooked (but delicious!) tacos.

Tacos El Mapache

The first stop on the Great Houston Taco Experiment 2009, to find the best tacos al pastor in the city. We hit up a few places that were rumored to have great tacos al pastor and Tacos El Mapache was on the list. I would describe these as having more of a roasted, rustic flavor than you find in other places. Definitely good, but not my absolute favorite. Gets a 10 out of 10 for ambiance though...a taco truck in a gas station parking lot with no seating. How great is that?! You eat your tacos standing, which provides the perfect opportunity to converse with other patrons.

They Have Got to Be Kidding

Chopstick holder, found on a the table of an Asian restaurant in Houston, reads "Work is Glory. Happiness to Everybody." So apropos for those of us returning to work after a three day weekend.

Pho #1 Atlanta Georgia and Pho 1 Houston Texas

Pho #1
4051 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30345

One of my favorite places in Atlanta to get Vietnamese vermicelli dishes. The meats have a smokey grilled flavor that really ads to the dish. The vermicelli bowl at a Vietnamese restaurant typically comes with rice noodles, herbs, peanuts, shredded carrots, and lettuce. A very healthy option that would be a great introduction to Vietnamese cuisine if you have never tried it.

Pho 1
11148 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77042
(713) 917-0351

This is probably my favorite little Vietnamese restaurant in Houston. They don't overdo the fishy flavor in the dishes and if they use any fish sauce at all, the flavor is barley detectable. All dishes are great but I especially recommend giving the do-it-yourself fresh spring rolls a try. The grilled meats, noodles, vegetables, herbs, and wrappers are brought to your table and you can add ingredients to your liking. It takes practice to roll the rice paper wrappers but even if you mess up, they still taste great.

Dine-o-meter rating: 84 % for Atlanta and 86% for Houston.

Tacos 101

Mexican taquerias seem to be springing up everywhere. I have seen them in even the smallest of towns right here in Tennessee. Taquerias offer an opportunity to try an authentic taco that is more flavorful than the Taco Bell knock-offs that most people are used to.

An authentic taco is typically served open faced with fresh cilantro and onions on top. No cheese, no lettuce. There is a wedge of lime for squeezing and maybe some radish slices on the side. Red or green salsa may also be provided.

You will be asked if you want flour (“harina” in Spanish) or corn (maiz) tortillas. Authentic tacos tend to be smaller than the Taco Bell version so you may want to order a few more than you normally would. Typically people will order a few at a time, and then a couple more if desired. Filling options include chicken (pollo), carne asada (grilled beef), chorizo (sausage), barbecue (which may be chicken or pork), carnitas (chunks of pork), or al pastor (flavorful pork cooked on a rotisserie skewer). Tacos al pastor are the ultimate taco and an art form in and of themselves. They deserve a post of their own and I shall oblige this in the future. You may also see ingredients such as lengua which is cow tongue, or tripa which is cow intestine. On the streets of Mexico City, you will see vendors selling tacos of eyes, brains, and a variety of other cow parts.

(above) A taco vender in Mexico City prepares cow head meat for tacos.

I have discovered at a few different taquerias around the Tennessee area that there may be two menus available—one in English with the typical Americanized Mexican food options such as fajitas and crunchy tacos; and one for Latin Americans with authentic tacos, tortas, and aguas frescas (juice drinks). I think that the taqueria owners assume that most gringos will not be interested in the authentic food and just want the Tex Mex version they are used to. I would encourage them to give us gringos a shot because by offering the authentic tacos, I think sales would increase.

Often at taquerias, the bill is not brought to your table but you must instead go up to the counter to pay. So, if you have been sitting, waiting patiently at your table for quite a long time after most other customers have come and gone, trying to send subliminal messages to the waiter, hoping that the check will arrive, this may be why.

I met the ultimate taco aficionados on vacation in Puerto Vallarta recently. A nice couple that seemed to know of all taco selling locations in the city and in their home city of Houston. Mention a taco location in either city and they would immediately be able to provide a full review and list of other locations with better tacos. True adventure dinners these two were, who even dropped off their suitcases at the airport and then ran across the street for one last taco fix, arriving back at the airport just in time to board the plane. They declared the taco stand across from the Puerto Vallarta airport to be the ultimate, and given their passion for all things taco, I would believe this opinion.

Freshly Made Gelato

Gelato Cup Italian Ice Cream
9889 Bellaire Blvd.
Houston Texas

Watermelon Gelato? Durian Gelato? Yes, they have those and more, all made on-site. I did finally try durian, which I am sure is more like "essance of durian" compared to the real foul smelling fruit, sometimes described as "like eating ice cream on a toilet." Durian is the food that finally brought Andrew Zimmern, the guy who eats all sorts of oddities on his Travel Channel show, to his knees. He has eaten maggots and rotten fish, and I think once animal dropping tea but drew the line at durian. I have not tried the actual fruit although I do recall the memorable smell from my trip to Thailand.

Durian gelato tasted not unlike what I would imagine rotten garlic flavored ice cream to be like. I only tried a teaspoon sized sample and then quickly ordered some non-exotic chocolate to get rid of the taste.

Eating Coconut

Eating the aforementioned coconut. It's filled with gelatin and coconut juice. Coconut jello is not my favorite but it is really fun to eat out of a coconut.

Back to the pool!

Unique Fast Food

Lee's Sandwiches, Houston TX and elsewhere

Lee's Sandwiches is a chain of Vietnamese fast food restaurants limited to the southwestern United States. Their website boasts that at 10,000 square feet, this Houston location is the largest. Their is a lively, neon ambience with large groups of people from the asian community gathered on the outdoor, misted patio, playing chess or just chatting while they sip an iced coffee. The sandwiches at Lee's are good but nothing special. The menu is lengthy and offers sandwiches ranging from the combination (which includes headcheese and pate)to a sardine sandwich, to a turkey club on croissant. The bread is made on site in the "baguette factory." Our sandwiches had an abundance of cilantro, onion, pickled vegetables and a few slices of jalapeno for good measure. We tried the sticky rice which had chinese sausage and small pieces of meat, and a tasty desert rice presented on a styrofoam tray with a fragrant coconut sauce on the side. Lee's also has a number of prepared carry out items, the most interesting of which was the whole coconut, the insides of which have been mixed with gelatin and sugar. This is on my list of things to try on my next visit as are the delicious looking meat filled puff pastries, freshly baked deli manjoo cake, and fruit smoothies that come in about 30 different flavors including the infamous durian. Lee's has a convenient drivethrough and is open 24 hours. Bottom Line: Good for a quick lunch or late night snack.

http://www.dineometer.com/browse_reviews.php?id_b=15

Houston: Vietnamese cuisine gone wrong

Kim Son Buffet, Houston Texas

This restaurant was recommended by an actual Vietnamese person so I was excited to give it a try, being a fan of authentic Vietnamese cuisine. I was disappointed. The flavor of all dishes seemed to be rather odd and not appealing to me. I tried the hot pot and many different varieties of buffet items, most of which I did not care for. Buffets often have poorer quality food and I think that maybe that was the case with this restaurant. This restaurant has two other separate parts besides the buffet--dim sum and a fine dining seafood restaurant. I might actually consider returning to try the dim sum but definitely wouldn't return for the buffet.

http://www.dineometer.com/