Merci, Côte Rôtie!

I’ve woken up many days with the wishful thinking that I can pack my bags and take a spontaneous flight to Paris - I get such feelings from time to time as I’ve mentioned before in one of my blogs: Je t’aime, mon Cafe Rolle.

(somebody take me there already, jeez!)

It’s only a matter of seconds before I peak outside my bedroom door and find my mother not exactly pardoning her french at somebody on the phone. So much for dreaming about Champs-Élysées on a beautiful Sunday morning, really. 

Even though spring has been uber kind to us this year by sticking around since December (winter whah, winter who?), we like to celebrate it in March - just ‘coz. 

My only fix to this specific day was to try out the new french cafe in town: Côte Rôtie. I had a super tough time trying to pronounce that name so I googled it and the first search that showed was How To Pronounce French Wine # Côte Rôtie.

I ended up spraying it, not saying it so I might stick to calling it “that new restaurant in Alliance Francaise”.

Anyhow, so a bunch of us walked in to a pleasant looking bistro, located exactly where the old Cafe Flo used to be. The weather was quite nice and well, the inside was completely packed, so we sat outside and a very welcoming server was immediately available to assist us. We received our brunch menu along with the regular one and within five mins, the server convinced us to order their Grilled Kale & Beetroot Salad.

I’m getting married in a few months and the first thing I order at any restaurant nowadays is a salad, just so I can feel all “healthy” and “fit”. Forget what follows, please. 

To accompany this nourishing starter, we also asked for Truffled Eggs & Gruyere (tee-he-he).

These two arrived on the table pretty soon and after many years, I understood the “art of plating”. Every time my chef brother visits us from Houston, he’s always complaining about the lack of culinary training most of the restauranteurs in this city have. However, as soon as our appetizers arrived, I knew this place was led by a chef and not just a ‘good cook’ or a businessman.

Kale & Beetroot Salad

As beautiful as it looked, the salad was absolutely delectable! There was some char-grilled sort of taste in those Kale leaves which blended in perfectly with the Beetroot, bits of Ricotta cheese and fresh figs. I could do this for a healthy meal, err day!

Don’t even get me started on the Truffled Eggs because i don’t have words to describe my happiness about having this meal in Karachi let alone trying to explain how I felt eating this wonderful variation of eggs. OMG, it was SO DAMN GOOD! Starting from breaking into it with my fork, the perfectly runny yolks that made their way through every layer of fine Gruyere cheese and rye toast, to the truffle sauce that topped this chunk of heaven was definitely love at first bite.

Truffled Eggs & Gruyere

Next up was their super fresh bread basket that totally ended my no-carb game because it was so fresh and so soft!! Nevertheless, I was consistent with my health regime and sipped on the very refreshing ABC juice (Apple Beetroot Carrot - if ya already didn’t know). Loved how well balanced the natural flavors were.

The french music that was playing in the background added to the already soothing ambience, reminded me of a french song I loved while I was in college - Les Champs-Elysées by Joe Dassin. Such a jazzy feel.

The mains arrived and again, the food was an absolute pleasure to look at. It was the kind of presentation that made you want to imagine every flavor you are about to experience.

Croque Madam

Croque Madam - definitely topping my list. I’m so glad that Côte Rôtie actually went out of the box to bring something unique to the table. Typically served with ham, this variation of Croque Monsieur was substituted with turkey and surprises you with a mustard-meets-wasabi kind of flavor in every bite. Loved the melted, quality shredded cheese over the fresh butter bread. Since I’m more into savory than sweet, the cherry in “with a cherry on top” has always been an egg for me, so this was a winner for sure! The flavors that burst through every layer was nothing less than a treat!

French Omlette with Gruyere Cheese

I bit into the French Omelette with Gruyere Cheese and wondered why and how everybody else in the city promotes their eggs when they taste nothing like this one! It was so simple, and you could tell that the chef focused on nothing but the essence of every flavor that made up the dish. A treat for the eyes and tastebuds - a rare encounter nowadays.

Scrambled Eggs with Salmon

Another item on the table was the Scrambled eggs with Salmon & Cream Cheese on toast and was definitely as good as it looked! I haven’t yet acquired the taste for salmon so I only took a bite of those rich, fluffy eggs and since scrambled eggs are my weakness, that was a party in my mouth!

Even though all of us had slipped into major food coma, after that eggs-tremely heavy meal we couldn’t have gone without a healthy dessert. You see how I always sandwich my diet in the middle somewhere?

Nora’s Got Sweet Tooth granola with homemade strawberry jam & vanilla yogurt was such a nice blend of sweet flavors. You can easily tell the top quality of all the ingredients used and it also gave me the energy I needed to get up to go home! This Nora lady has really good granola, by the way!

Nora's Got Sweet Tooth granola with vanilla yogurt and homemade jam

I wish I could say that this was the end so I could conclude this in another over dramatic paragraph, BUT, it was just so good that I had to go back next Sunday! 

Since my father has an extremely fine taste palette and knows his food as much he knows his kids, I really wanted to take him there. 

We sat inside this time and the ambience inside was even more beautiful than the last. The community table is a concept very new to Karachi so it was great to see it enter the scene. I knew there was a trained chef behind the scenes, and you could see the owner completely involved in the kitchen and also peaking out the little window to see his customers from time to time! Very cute!

Besides reordering some of the stuff from my last visit, we gave the Bresaola - Mozzarella - Pickled Chili sandwich a shot and boy oh boy, I couldn’t believe (again) that I was sitting within the boundaries of a bistro in Karachi having such good quality air dried meat. The discussion on the table for the longest time was if this meat could even be from here - it was delicious.

Bresaola - Mozzarella - Pickled Chili Sandwich

 

Like always, my dad always asks the management to suggest their best pick and his recommendation was the French Burger. Pretty risky to suggest a burger to us because we are always on a mission, any where around the world, to find the best burger in every city. This was some fine quality meat, marinated in a splendid manner, cooked to Medium perfection and served between a high-quality bun. The next time I crave a burger in this city, I’m heading straight to Côte Rôtie to satisfy my burger brain! Melt-in-the-mouth would be an understatement… to say the least.

French Burger

We ended with their Chocolate Tart and for the first time in months, I couldn’t care less about the calories I was about to consume because that pure block of chocolate with an oreo crust only promised real cocoa flavors. I gobbled down the strawberry it came with, because it’s fruit - you know… healthy and all!

Chocolate Tart

As you can tell, I had a pret-tay awesome experience at Côte Rôtie. You can feel the appreciation and passion for food in the air of that little place and I would go out of my way to acknowledge the rare places that offer top quality cuisine. 

Merci, Côte Rôtie. You made my day(s)!

Quick Recipe : Breakfast Burrito

(Note: Those who want to skip my rant can scroll down to the recipe directly)

The only thing that has the power to make me smile in the morning (even before my tea) is a hearty, delightful breakfast. I love my waffles, pancakes and parfaits but all of that comes after an “eggcelent”, “eggstravagant”, and “eggsolutely” “eggceptional” meal.

(Are you as impressed with my creativity as I am?)

Breakfast Burritos -  a favorite, yet personal and touchy dish. I get why the question “What is the perfect breakfast burrito” can stir up a lot of disagreements and conflicts. To some, it is complete with beans, sour cream and Spanish rice and to some, only the eggs can light fires!

In my opinion, a perfect breakfast burrito is the one you dream about and hope for the dream to never end. It is the one you drool for as soon as you wake up, oh, it is truly the one, which performs a synchronized ballet in your mouth with that moist, fluffy texture.

I’m lucky to be surrounded around those who care for my creepy feelings for a “breakfast burrito”. As I’ve mentioned before, I come from a line of foodies, professional chefs and home chefs – in spotlight here are my sister and brother-in-law.

These two are always on some kind of a cooking spree or a food mission. From healthy to outta control, this duo really knows their palates; in fact, my sister once had her own food recipe blog: “Never Stop Eating” – some of the recipes in here are quite amazing!

Anyhow, in order to cater to my emergency, eggly hunger pangs, my brother-in-law fixed up this super easy breakfast burrito in a span of only 11 minutes! As simple as it may look to you, this was one of the most delicious and melt-in-the-mouth egg whips I’ve ever had.

Surprise! Surprise! We have the recipe here too – woo hoo!

Watch the video (smile if you love the music):

Click here to see the video in HD.

Breakfast Burrito.

Yield: 1 portion

Ingredient	Amount (U.S)	Preparation
Eggs	2
Milk	2 Tsp (per egg)
Basil	6-8 large leaves	Ribboned (click here to see "how to ribbon basil leaves")
Cheddar Cheese	¼ Cup + 2 Tbsp	Shredded
Turkey Bacon (or any other type of bacon)	1	Pan-fried or Baked
Salsa	2 Tbsp
Butter	1 Tbsp
Flour Tortilla	1

Procedure:

•   Melt butter on very low heat.
• Beat the eggs lightly with milk and pour into the pan
• Stir the eggs very (very) slowly till they begin to appear fluffy. Note: Don’t “scramble” the eggs – the keyword is ‘stir’
• Add the ribboned basil leaves and mix in with the eggs.
• Put the pan aside and add ¼ cup cheddar cheese. Stir a little and bring it back to the stove.
• Once the eggs seem fluffy enough, keep them aside
• Heat the tortilla on a pan

Assemble:

1. Lay the tortilla flat on a plate
2. Spoon the prepared eggs down the center of the tortilla
3. Add the turkey bacon and salsa on the sides of the egg and sprinkle with approximately 2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese
4. Fold the bottom of the tortilla first, followed by each side to make it a wrap
5. Devour, moan, get emotional, smile, die – whatever the sentiment projects at the time and most importantly, thank God!

The best part about the recipe is that it can be completely modified to your preferences. The eggs can include tomatoes, more greens, seasoning or salt.

As a matter of fact, you can really play around with the filling – you can add refried beans, cilantro, more bacon, different cheeses, and sour cream!

Breakfast Burritos – FTW.

6 Must-Eat-At Restaurants in Houston

Read: You-Better-Eat-At

Howdy! (yea…..*snort*)

There’s something about the people of Texas and their food that makes you feel comfortable and at home. Nothing is quite over the top and fancy, it’s all just pretty “happy” and “genuine”.

I love coming to Houston, barring the fact that you can’t even buy toothpaste without getting on the highway (unless, of course, you live near The Galleria) but oh my God, the barbeque over here… TO DIE FOR!

Texas is primarily known as the hub of barbeque in the United States and I’ve only ever been to Houston to say this, so I can’t even imagine the hidden barbeque treasures spread out in this state!!! Dee-liii-ciouuss.

Besides BBQ, Texan food has a vast, diverse variety to offer. Southern fried chicken, crawfish, po boys, Tex-Mex, and burgers are all top cuisines here.
Check out this link: 25 Foods Texas Does Better Than Anywhere Else

Anyhow, after 9 visits to the city of Houston, I’ve finally been able to structure a list of these restaurants that you MUST eat at, no matter what (If I can cover these in 4 days, you can too) or I mean at least try to go there once … for me… please? Haha, they have become my favorites, and there’s no way they won’t become yours.

Torchy’s Tacos.

Loved this place. This, very southern and casual, Mexican restaurant specializes in soft tacos. The menu is interesting and creative with a lot of options.

We got the Chips & Guacamole for starters followed by my Baja Shrimp taco, and The Democrat.

The Baja Shrimp was phenominal! Full of flavors, saucy and tangy wrapped around a perfect proportion of veggies. I couldn’t get over this one for a while.

The Democrat used very good quality and tasteful beef. The flavor of avocado that flourished through every bite, along with some sprinkled lemon made this taco a real treat to the taste buds.

Our other order was the Trailer Park and disappeared within five minutes of it arriving, so I’m assuming it was yummy to the tummy as well.

Definitely worth a visit. Torchy's Tacos claim to have "best damn tacos in Texas" and damn right, they do!

Chips & Guacamole - Mmmmmmm

Left: The Democrat
Right: Baja Shrimp 

Location: Rice Village, 2400 Times BLVD, Houston, Texas 77005

Luigi’s Pizzeria.

You wouldn’t imagine that I’ve had one of the best pizzas of my life in Houston, right? Imagine it. It’s true.

This little place, with an exceptionally simple and basic layout, probably sells THE greatest pizza ever. We ordered, both, the hot wings and the honey barbeque wings for appetizers and I was caught licking the barbeque sauce of my finger, no jokes! The Hot Wings were way too spicy for me but very crispy with perfectly proportioned sauce.

I hope my pictures do justice to the fantabulous smack the Caprese pizza had, really one of the yummiest twists to a Margherita I've come across.

The Mexicana was a spicy one and even though I normally don’t enjoy veggie-meat filled pizzas but this one, as you would guess, I thoroughly did.

Go to Luigi’s, if you’re a true pizza lover and always on the look out to find a pizzeria that would blow your mind.

Hot Wings

Honey BBQ Wings 

Caprese Pizza

The Mexicana

Location: 3700 Almeda, Houston Texas 77004

Goode Company.

The seafood in Houston is obviously known for its quality and to experience that authentic flavor, you must head over to Goode Company. Along with food, this fun place even gives you an actual Texan feel with the (very) noisy atmosphere, chattering customers and really friendly servers.

The Shrimp Campechana De Mariscos (prawn cocktail to be less exotic) has an extremely flavorful, distinct taste to it. I’m a sucker for shrimps and I’m going to have to call it one of the bests ever.

Goode Company place is famous for its Po Boys (along with oysters and crabs). I opted for the Shrimp Po boy and boy oh boy, I don’t think you can find a sandwich as simple and good as this anywhere.

If you’re in search for seafood, this is your go-to place.

Shrimp Campechana De Mariscos

Shrimp Po Boy

These are what you call - Onion Rings

Location: 2621 Westpark Dr, Houston, Texas

Down House

I’ve already gone ga-ga over this place in my last blog: Houston Diaires : Down House – The Memorable Restaurant, but can’t get over the Kimchi Burger and so it makes this list.

Highly recommend their Kimchi Burger, Fried Portobello and Lettuce Wraps! Very different, fusion and tangy flavors. Love the casual pub layout at Down House along with the high quality food and commendable service. The chefs over there are my favorites (heart-heart).

Lettuce Wraps

Mushroom on Toast

Bistro Steak

Chicken Fried Portobello 

Kimchi Burger - Open

Kimchi Burger - Divine

Location: 1801, Yale St, Houston, Texas 77008

Sweet Paris Creperie.

Bonjour, ya’ll!

If crepes (…”crepps” or “crapes”, whichever pronunciation floats your boat) are your thing, then so is this place. Located in the middle of the hustling bustling Rice Blvd, Sweet Paris is a small place with an incredibly large variety of crepes. The crepes are made in an open kitchen, unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to make a video there otherwise it was really amusing to see how fast they were.

We ordered 5 crepes:

The Feast

Chicken Alfredo

Nordic

Le Mexicain

 Strawberry & Nutella

The Feast was exactly what its name suggests with assorted cheeses bursting flavors through each bite.

I ordered the Chicken Alfredo and requested to add scrambled eggs to it. Indeed, it was very heavy but so very worth every calorie that went inside. Perfectly creamy, and brilliant taste of Parmesan and eggs to go with it.

Why isn’t every food in this world always wrapped in a crepe? It should be.

The Nordic was an exquisite salmon-based crepe that my brother, Chef Fahd, wouldn’t stop raving about. He gobbled it down pretty quick, so it could either be that he was unnaturally hungry, or it was fantastic. Could be both, can’t say!

Le Mexicain was probably their best of the lot – imagine the Mexican specialties of Texas in crepe that clearly they excel in. Wonderful.

Nutella and Strawberry are two things that make me emotional besides my nephews and nieces. The ingredients, mixed together, have the tendency to become very powerful dishes and added inside a crepe by Sweet Paris – EEEEEEEEK!!!!

This ones a special request, you must and I mean you MUST make a visit to this tiny little French looking café.

Strawberry & Nutella

Chicken Alfredo

Nordic

Le Mexicain

This place deserved a collage

Location: 2420 Rice Blvd, Houston, TX 77005 

Rudy’s

Rightfully famous for its BBQ, Rudy’s is the winner in this restaurant spree. This is the place that defines the term BBQ for you, you may also get a heart attack for all the meat you consume there (lol, jk) but I doubt any other place can ever give you the taste Rudy’s does. My TOP favorite place!

The best part of this extremely Texan restaurant is that their quality of meat is fantastic, marinated to the core of any piece you choose to eat and that’s about it. Your affair begins and ends with pure meat, only. Of course, the Rudy’s one-of-a-kind sauce is incomparable to any you’ve ever had and it’s going to become very difficult for you to pick up any other BBQ sauce off a store shelf after this.

I think The Rudy’s (super fun and friendly) team is aware of this impact and so, they’re sweet enough to have a Rudy’s shop in all of their restaurants so you can buy very generous quantities of sauce for home!
We got the Brisket Moist and Half Chicken complemented with potato salad and the crazyyy Jumbo Smoked Potato and were good to be spoilt for life!

Everything and anything you choose from the perfectly short and comprehensive menu will be a treat.

There ain’t no Houston trip without a visit here.

Potato Salad, Jumbo Smoked Potato, Brisket Moist, Chicken, BBQ Sauce, Open Pickles

The sauce you can buy

A kind message from Rudy's

Location: 14620 Northwest Fwy, Houston TX 77040 

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I’m still discovering so please add to this list so I can try out your recommendations too!