The great thing about staying in the one place for such a long time, is that I can actually focus on the food! When I'm travelling, I love to try the local cuisine. But you can't always find what you want when you're running around sight seeing. Luckily, we had the help of the locals this time round to help me locate all the various sterotypical American cuisines I've always wanted to try!
Chilli cheese dog
Recommended by a true Texan. Apparently its one of the better ones we could get around our office.
Whilst the chilli cheese dog was nice, there were a few things that really worried me.
1. The sausage used is kinda.....plasticky. I can see my teeth marks from where I bit through the dog...
2. The cheese on the dog......came from a trigger spray hose. CHEESE SHOULD NOT COME FROM A HOSE PEOPLE!
Chicken fried steak!
Essentially a steak fried in "fried chicken" batter. This is served with a white gravy and I got a side of green beans and mashed potatoes. The steak itself was nice, although I'm more of a fried chicken person. The white gravy was nice and spicy with the addition of lots of pepper. I think I would've liked this more if it was executed differently.
Popeyes!
I've always liked the sound of Popeyes. I'm expecting a sailor with a huge chin serving me behind the counter. Of course in my imagination, the food is anything but canned spinach! hehe I was wondering around looking for lunch one day, when my blood hound nose guided me to Popeyes with its delectable scent!
I ordered myself a spicy fried chicken set with a famous Popeyes biscuit and mashed potatoes with cajun gravy. I also got 6 nuggets, but they ended up giving me about 15 popcorn chicken looking things.
The fried chicken itself was nice. Very crispy and juicy chicken. But spice wise, I much prefer the KFC hot and spicy. The mashed potato with cajun gravy was very comforting, especially when I found bacon bits in it! haha
My favourite would have to be the biscuit and chicken nuggets. The biscuit was incredibly buttery, crumbly and fluffy all at the same time. It was like the butteriest, crumbliest but also the fluffiest scone you will ever taste! SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! The nuggets actually had alot more kick to it than the fried spicy chicken. Much more my taste.
Cheese and bacon burger with caramelised onion
I asked where can I grab a good burger for lunch, and was directed to Otto's directly below our office. I should've been a bit more specific with what I was asking, or I just didn't know what to order. But when I said burger, I meant something with meat. Not melted cheese with a side of burger!
barely squeezing the burger....
The cheese seriously made me sick. The rest of the burger was nice. Just need to cut down on the cheese. Too much cheese.....
Sausage and egg McGriddle with a hashbrown
Can't go to the US without Maccas. I couldn't decide between a sausage and egg McMuffin (my usual) and a sausage and egg McGriddle. Since you can't get a McGriddle in Australia, I just had to try it.
Innards
HmmMmmm perhaps I should've found out what a McGriddle was before I ordered it. Basically what I got was sausage, egg and cheese, inbetween 2 apple and cinamon pancakes.... It was both delicious and disgusting at the same time??
Cajun shrimp and oyster po'boy
OH MY GOD. This was one of my favourite meals in Houston. The cajun fried shrimp and oysters were amazingly flavoursome without losing the freshness of the seafood. A squeeze of lemon was all that was needed on my po'boy! Infact, I enjoyed this so much, I promised I had to visit again before I left!
Cajun fried oyster and catfish platter
I really REALLY like the cajun fried oysters. I do regret not ordering just fried oysters because......the catfish was terrible. It had that horrible muddy taste, which cannot be masked by all the tartar sauce in the world. And it wasn't just me having a bad batch. I did try catfish at other places and they all had that muddy taste. I might just stick with the oysters and shrimp in the future.
Anyone guess what this is?
Hidden in the back corner of the box was this strange object. I had no idea what it was. I gave it a few pokes with my fork when a few bits of batter fell off. Oh.....my......lord. They deep fried my corn cob....Tasted good though? Maybe because I was so severly craving veggies at this stage?
Biscuit with sausage gravy and scramble eggs
I thought I'd try something a bit different and ordered a biscuit and gravy. I assumed it would be good old brown meat juice gravy we get in Sydney, but its actually a white peppery gravy with some bits of crumbled sausage in it. This was extremely filling. I barely got through half of this. The biscuit was incredibly heavy once topped with the gravy and I found the scrambled eggs too overcooked for my liking.
Grits
My biscuit and gravy also came with a side of grits. I can't decribe how this tastes except that there is no taste. I had 2 spoonfuls and binned the rest.
Double tree choc chip cookie cheesecake
Princes burger
After my cheese overdose with the Otto burger, I tried out another burger in the Houston tunnels.
Oh my......the meat patty was incredibly juicy and beefy. It wasn't overwhelmed with cheese or sauce, which let me taste the quality of the patty. Really good burger. Really HUGE burger. I couldn't even finish my chips and onion rings (But have you noticed the size of the onion ring??).
NY Style pizza
Crabcake sandwich
I am completely addicted to crabcake sandwiches! Especially ones that are crammed with chunks of crab meat. This was one of many free lunches I got at work. It was delicious even when cold!
Deep fried oreo
Need I say more?
Mushu pork!
hahah I didn't know mushu pork had a chinese name! I always assumed it was some weird name made up for Americans. And I had no idea what Mushu pork was! Basically its shredded pork stir fry which you wrap with peking duck wrappers and some hoi sin sauce. I'm definitely going to try and make this.
Crispy shrimp tempura roll
Basically a tempura shrim roll, rolled in tempura battered bits. It can't get any better than that.
Complimentry appetiser
"Why is it white?" you ask? Because that is creamed cheese. CHEEEEEESE!!! *faints*
Chilli cheese dogRecommended by a true Texan. Apparently its one of the better ones we could get around our office.
Whilst the chilli cheese dog was nice, there were a few things that really worried me.
1. The sausage used is kinda.....plasticky. I can see my teeth marks from where I bit through the dog...
2. The cheese on the dog......came from a trigger spray hose. CHEESE SHOULD NOT COME FROM A HOSE PEOPLE!
Chicken fried steak!Essentially a steak fried in "fried chicken" batter. This is served with a white gravy and I got a side of green beans and mashed potatoes. The steak itself was nice, although I'm more of a fried chicken person. The white gravy was nice and spicy with the addition of lots of pepper. I think I would've liked this more if it was executed differently.
Popeyes!I've always liked the sound of Popeyes. I'm expecting a sailor with a huge chin serving me behind the counter. Of course in my imagination, the food is anything but canned spinach! hehe I was wondering around looking for lunch one day, when my blood hound nose guided me to Popeyes with its delectable scent!
I ordered myself a spicy fried chicken set with a famous Popeyes biscuit and mashed potatoes with cajun gravy. I also got 6 nuggets, but they ended up giving me about 15 popcorn chicken looking things.
The fried chicken itself was nice. Very crispy and juicy chicken. But spice wise, I much prefer the KFC hot and spicy. The mashed potato with cajun gravy was very comforting, especially when I found bacon bits in it! haha
My favourite would have to be the biscuit and chicken nuggets. The biscuit was incredibly buttery, crumbly and fluffy all at the same time. It was like the butteriest, crumbliest but also the fluffiest scone you will ever taste! SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! The nuggets actually had alot more kick to it than the fried spicy chicken. Much more my taste.
Cheese and bacon burger with caramelised onionI asked where can I grab a good burger for lunch, and was directed to Otto's directly below our office. I should've been a bit more specific with what I was asking, or I just didn't know what to order. But when I said burger, I meant something with meat. Not melted cheese with a side of burger!
barely squeezing the burger....The cheese seriously made me sick. The rest of the burger was nice. Just need to cut down on the cheese. Too much cheese.....
Sausage and egg McGriddle with a hashbrownCan't go to the US without Maccas. I couldn't decide between a sausage and egg McMuffin (my usual) and a sausage and egg McGriddle. Since you can't get a McGriddle in Australia, I just had to try it.
InnardsHmmMmmm perhaps I should've found out what a McGriddle was before I ordered it. Basically what I got was sausage, egg and cheese, inbetween 2 apple and cinamon pancakes.... It was both delicious and disgusting at the same time??
Cajun shrimp and oyster po'boyOH MY GOD. This was one of my favourite meals in Houston. The cajun fried shrimp and oysters were amazingly flavoursome without losing the freshness of the seafood. A squeeze of lemon was all that was needed on my po'boy! Infact, I enjoyed this so much, I promised I had to visit again before I left!
Cajun fried oyster and catfish platterI really REALLY like the cajun fried oysters. I do regret not ordering just fried oysters because......the catfish was terrible. It had that horrible muddy taste, which cannot be masked by all the tartar sauce in the world. And it wasn't just me having a bad batch. I did try catfish at other places and they all had that muddy taste. I might just stick with the oysters and shrimp in the future.
Anyone guess what this is?Hidden in the back corner of the box was this strange object. I had no idea what it was. I gave it a few pokes with my fork when a few bits of batter fell off. Oh.....my......lord. They deep fried my corn cob....Tasted good though? Maybe because I was so severly craving veggies at this stage?
Biscuit with sausage gravy and scramble eggsI thought I'd try something a bit different and ordered a biscuit and gravy. I assumed it would be good old brown meat juice gravy we get in Sydney, but its actually a white peppery gravy with some bits of crumbled sausage in it. This was extremely filling. I barely got through half of this. The biscuit was incredibly heavy once topped with the gravy and I found the scrambled eggs too overcooked for my liking.
GritsMy biscuit and gravy also came with a side of grits. I can't decribe how this tastes except that there is no taste. I had 2 spoonfuls and binned the rest.
Double tree choc chip cookie cheesecakeEssentially a gorgeous cheesecake that used a top notch choc chip cookie as the base. I've had the cookie on its own and that was eye-rolling good as it was. Used in a cheesecake was just genuis!
Princes burgerAfter my cheese overdose with the Otto burger, I tried out another burger in the Houston tunnels.
Oh my......the meat patty was incredibly juicy and beefy. It wasn't overwhelmed with cheese or sauce, which let me taste the quality of the patty. Really good burger. Really HUGE burger. I couldn't even finish my chips and onion rings (But have you noticed the size of the onion ring??).
NY Style pizzaFresh made to order NY style pizza. The base was soft and chewy, making it easy to fold and consume! I love free food at work!
Crabcake sandwichI am completely addicted to crabcake sandwiches! Especially ones that are crammed with chunks of crab meat. This was one of many free lunches I got at work. It was delicious even when cold!
Deep fried oreoNeed I say more?
Mushu pork!hahah I didn't know mushu pork had a chinese name! I always assumed it was some weird name made up for Americans. And I had no idea what Mushu pork was! Basically its shredded pork stir fry which you wrap with peking duck wrappers and some hoi sin sauce. I'm definitely going to try and make this.
Crispy shrimp tempura rollBasically a tempura shrim roll, rolled in tempura battered bits. It can't get any better than that.
Complimentry appetiserSo I went to a chinese restaurant to grab a quick bite for lunch. When I sat down, they put this plate of spring roll and fried wonton infront of me. Yes! Free food! I cut into my wonton thinking I'll take a shot of the inside. I didn't expect to see this though.....
"Why is it white?" you ask? Because that is creamed cheese. CHEEEEEESE!!! *faints*
