Southeast Asia

The Pho-ndamentals

A beginner's guide to Vietnamese cuisine.

Blood Clams on the Menu Tonight at Cove

In case this week's restaurant review wasn't enough to get you in to try Cove for the first time, maybe the subtle threat of danger will be more convincing. The cockle you see above is called a blood clam. It's very rare for these to show up Houston, as importing the blood clams from Southeast Asia ... More >>

What Is Houston Cowboy?

I spend too much time on the Internet, but occasionally get rewarded for my rabbit-holing with stuff like Houston Cowboy. (And this GIF of a kitten getting slapped by a cat for wearing a dumb bowler hat.) I saw Houston Cowboy floating around in a few places yesterday and decided to figure out what t ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Lexington Grille, Pink's, 1308 Cantina and More

If you're into lunchtime trysts, the Lexington Grille is apparently a good place to schedule one. We're guessing things were not so romantic between the inspector and manager last week, when Lexington was hit with a dozen violations. But you never know -- maybe there is some potential for romance he ... More >>

CAMH Video Jam: Prince Varughese Thomas/Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas

''NeoPopStreetFunk 4''

''WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY''

Happy Memorial Day: 10 Songs To Honor Our Veterans

Memorial Day, the last Monday of May is a federal holiday originated to commemorate our country's fallen soldiers. Yes, some view it as a work holiday and a good time to barbecue, but our veterans would have to disagree. To honor our vets, we put together a playlist this day in remembrance of those ... More >>

Presidents' Sons at War: 13 Service Records, from the Mediocre to the Ultimate Sacrifice

Being the parent of someone fighting in a war is no picnic, even if you're a president. In the modern era, several future or incumbent presidents had sons in the military in wartime. Some of those sons did much, some very little, one paid the ultimate price. Let's look, building up to that ultimat ... More >>

Happy Malaria Day! A Feverish Playlist

Tuesday night, as blooming flowers filled the Spring air with a heady fragrance, Rocks Off hung a wreath made of empty insect repellant cans on our door, and gently tucked our young daughter in with mosquito netting in order to ensure Santa Carrier wouldn't visit her with his magic bag of plague. ... More >>

Banh Cuon Like They Make it in Hanoi

When I think of classic Vietnamese dishes, they are usually quite simple. There are the noodle soups such as pho, there are the rice vermicelli dishes, such as bun thit nuong, and there are rice plates like com tam bi cha thit nuong. Another dish that I grew up eating and loving is banh cuon, what I ... More >>

Google Auto-Complete Answers: Why Are My Pants...

All good questions.​Randomly typing the start to questions into Google launches a whole host of weirdness that changes depending upon the searches people type into the search engine giant. Not only are they often interesting, but down right strange? I've been sampling this phenomenon lately a ... More >>

The 11 Sexiest, Coolest-Looking Cold War Jets

The F-106: The delta wing in all its glory​Jet aircraft, particularly the fighters, represent a Freudian's play date. Long, slender, blisteringly fast, spewing bullets out the tip and, until recently, powered as much by testosterone as by kerosene (the main ingredient in jet fuel -- what a dis ... More >>

Bros Roofie'ing Bros

The Hangover Part II: Didn't we already see this movie?

This Week in Deliciousness

The one in the tiara will not be putting up with your crap today, thanks. Probably not tomorrow, either.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we've constructed a gigantic, hollow Peep with our leftover Easter Peeps and we're trying to come up with a way to lure Ni ... More >>

Top 5: Worst Restaurant Parking Lots

​Houston's got them. You know them. Here are the worst. 5. Yia Yia Mary's Greek Kitchen Maybe it's for a lack of intelligence, but I'm always in a complete state of confusion when I pull into this parking lot. In a 20-yard radius, you can park at a bank, a restaurant, a garage, various bu ... More >>

Bangkok Soft-Shell Crabs at Nidda Thai Cuisine

​Geri Maria Harris's recent post on Houston's Top 5 Thai Restaurants definitely included one of my favorites: Nidda. Geri named stir-fried eggplant and the Nidda Shrimp as standout dishes; to that list I would add the Bangkok Soft-Shell Crabs. I'm always seeking out my favorite crustacean ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Tempeh

​What is it? Due to my self-imposed hiatus on all things derived from animal products (for Lent), I'm in previously uncharted territory when it comes to cooking and eating. One fateful discovery making my journey much more enjoyable is tempeh, a fermented soybean cake that originated in Indo ... More >>

“The Whole World Was Watching: Civil Rights Era Photographs from Edmund Carpenter and Adelaide de Menil”

Ingredient of the Week: Thai Eggplant

add1sun​What is it? As you can see, they look like babies of the large, purple eggplants we're used to seeing in the grocery store. They're denser and firmer in texture than their larger, Western counterparts. The difference in texture and flavor led me to believe that these tiny eggplants w ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Thai Red Rice

​ What is it? There are several varieties of red rice. This particular bag, as far as I can tell, is just a medium grain rice with a red bran on the outside instead of brown. It is nuttier, sweeter and a bit chewier than white rice and contains more nutrients and fiber because it still contai ... More >>

The Wonton Soup at Vietnam

​With temps falling, I've had soup on the brain lately. I recently headed over to Vietnam Restaurant (605 W. 19th Street) for some wonton soup. You'd be hard-pressed to find better in the city. The beauty is in the simplistic approach the good people at Vietnam take to soup preparation.

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band: Better With Franco-Prussian War?

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off, we're trying hard to decode Houston's oddest monikers in order to find a little meaning. Alli Curtis​When Rocks Off was a small child we built a volcano as a History Fair project, and we promise i ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Chess, Driving Miss Daisy, Sleuth, The Waiting Room

Phuong Anh: New Houstonian Tells Of Her Time As Near-Slave

Photos by Paula BeltránPhuong Anh told a harrowing tale of survival​The promise of a $300-per-month job was enough to convince Phuong Anh to sell her home in Vietnam and move to Jordan. Things didn't turn out like she expected. Earlier this week a tearful Anh told her story of resilience and s ... More >>

Trying the Pitaya

​The dragonfruit, or pitaya, is known for its great health benefits, and it's touted on the side of juice bottles and energy drinks for its vitamin, fiber and mineral-rich context. Bolder distributors even state that the fruit has been used to treat everything from diabetes to asthma. Really.

Teala's Thai-Mexican Fusion: Cochinita Pibil

​It's a little known fact that Teala's Mexican Restaurant and Bar on West Dallas actually serves a Thai-Mexican fusion menu. Thai and Mexican flavors have a lot in common -- they both use lime, cilantro and very hot peppers -- so the marriage of the two cuisines is a logical pairing.

Spotlight On: The Mangosteen

​A couple months ago, I ventured out to 99 Ranch Market and saw some fresh mangosteens parked in the middle of the fruit section. Although I was curious about how they tasted, I was put off by the price ($8.99/pound) and the fact that they looked pretty tired in comparison to the surrounding a ... More >>

A Village Called Versailles

It takes a village - to kick big government in the ass

Vietnamese Banana Cake

​If Vietnam were to have a national fruit, it would probably be the banana. With so many different varieties available, there's a banana for practically every culinary need. The Vietnamese banana cake is similar to fruitcake in density and texture but is unlike fruitcake in that people love to ... More >>

Star Snow Ice's Durian Tapioca Smoothie

​Sure, the drink in this photo looks like a mild-mannered smoothie, but don't let its vanilla appearance fool you. This is a durian smoothie from Star Snow Ice (9889 Bellaire Blvd.), which is one of my favorite places for bubble tea. WARNING: This smoothie is not for the faint of heart. The ... More >>

G.I. Blues: A Soldiers' Playlist

​Today is the anniversary of one of the truly momentous occasions in popular music: On March 23, 1958, Elvis Presley reported for induction into the U.S. Army, thus opening up a thousand alternate timelines for musical historians to formulate "What if he hadn't?" scenarios. For the next few years, ... More >>

Pot au Pho

This funky trailer in South Houston is worth the drive for Vietnamese breakfast.

Remarkable Rendang

Don't miss this Chinese restaurant on Bellaire near Highway 6 — just don't order the Chinese food.

“Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea”

2,000 years worth of Vietnamese culture is on display at MFAH

Sordid Lives

Web exclusive!

Stephen Hunter

The fifth Bob Lee Swagger novel shoves it all in there

Le Viet Restaurant & Bar

Sometimes Anglo-friendly Vietnamese food does taste better than the real thing

PESCE'S

LONG ISLAND ICED TEA

Poly Siam

Damn Fine Fish Heads

Keep an open mind: Malaysian food is full of surprises

Crab Shells and Stink Beans

The most authentic Thai restaurant in Space City is a wild Asian-food ride

Thai High

Do you want your dinner "bong-hit hot" or "acid-flashback hot"?

Man Eating Mermaid

Erawan Authentic Thai Cuisine

Thai Raid

In America, Thai dishes are being toned down. The Thai government wants to step in to stop it.

Where the Home Fires Really Burn

Vung Thai Cafe serves the food your mom would make -- if she were Thai

Bloody Good

Gold Ribbon serves up an expansive spread of Filipino dishes. Just don't ask what's in them.

Going for the Gold

A pair of culinary outposts bring the taste of the Philippines to the Medical Center