Sushi King for a "princess"

My sister apparently has never been to Sushi King, so for her birthday I took her there to celebrate. Just to let you know... Sushi King is one of my favorite "high end" sushi restaurant.The food here is savory and mouth-watering. The staff definitely matches the ambiance of this place as well.

Since its my sister's birthday, I "popped" a bottle of sparkling sake. We had the Stars Kizakura Pure. This sake was fabulous! It was light, sweet, and bubbly! My sister and I polished it off by the time dessert came around.

For appetizers, wehad the Beef Ishiyaki. Omg...just typing that out is making my mouth water. This lovely (and fun) appetizer is cooked on a hot stone at your table! You get a plate of thinly sliced certified Angus beef (raw of course) and marinade. It was my first experience with Ishiyaki, so our server cooked half of it for us. The smell of the beef being seared over the stone was amazing! What's great was, it tastes just like it smells... AWESOME! This is definitely an experience one ought to try when you visit Sushi King.

For our entree, my sister ordered their Sapporo Rib Eye. This dish was yummy! The ribeye was marinated with Sapporo beer (hence the name) and was cooked to perfection (medium rare). It was served with a side of mashed yam (topped with corn) and green beans. The mashed yam was heavenly and rich. The steak itself was tender and juicy.

Now, I ordered two rolls (of course I did... its a sushi place!). I ordered their Poseidon Roll and their Cowboy Roll. The Poseidon roll is made up of blacken tuna and avocado and topped with spicy salmon. It was creamy and delish! The Cowboy roll is made up of spicy tuna, crunch tempura flakes, and avocado and its topped with blacken beef. Again, absolutely amazing!

Now, for my sister's birthday, the restaurant gave her fried banana with ice cream. It was cute... the restaurant prepared it to look like a dragon. The dessert hit the spot and ended the evening well. I'd have to say that my sister's birthday dinner was a success!

Okay, about the place itself. Sushi King honors their reservation so I highly recommend that you make one, especially during the peak hours/days. We went on a Thursday night and the place was not crowded; however, after dinner the place looked like it filled up some. What I love about this place is how there is a piano in the middle of the dining room and a pianist actually plays on it (hey now, sometimes the piano is just decor). It is definitely a place to impress someone on a first date or bring your significant other just because.

Backstreet Cafe

A girlfriend of mine was leaving town so I decided to take her to Backstreet Cafe for one of her "last meal" here in Houston. Like always, this place serves an amazing brunch! Their brunch drink menu consists of fresh fruit sangrias and also flavored mimosas. You can order it by the glass, half pitcher, or a full pitcher. The half pitcher costs about $20... so it does get a bit pricy, but its worth it!

We shared the Wild Berry Mimosa and the drink was infused with strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and fresh lime juice. The drink was garnished with fresh slices of strawberries and whole blackberries in your champagne glass. Absolutely a delightful and refreshing drink! I've also tried their Watermelon Mimosa before and that was also refreshing as well.

Another concept I like about this place is how they serve you a "muffin & scone" platter while you're waiting for your food or just waiting for your guest to arrive. This platter usually consists of one chocolate muffin, one blueberry muffin, one banana-nut muffin, and 2 scones. Last year, they also served a sun-dried tomato muffin (which was yummy), but I haven't seen it lately.

Recently, I've tried two brunch entrees here. I first had the Smoked Chicken and Potato Hash. This dish was flavorful! The entree came with stripped chicken breasts cooked with bell peppers and onion, two poached eggs (however you like them cooked), 4 slices of avocado, two HUGE homemade tortillas, and topped with tomatillo sauce. The tomatillo sauce was definitely spicy (and sooooo good!). Their tortilla was so big, I had to tear it into smaller pieces to wrap the chicken in it. Overall, this entree was absolutely delish (but a bit on the heavy side).

The second entree I tried was the Brioche French Toast. Talk about yummy! You get 3 gianormous pieces of french toast with caramel sauce on the bottom of the plate and topped with fresh berries. Each piece of toast is basically two brioche bread infused together with slices of bananas. Now, the only complaint I have is, there should be more bananas! Other than that, this dish is pretty awesome. Again, a bit heavy since it is brioche (even though the bread is soooo fluffy and soft!), but french toast is only fabulous when its made with brioche bread.

What's unique about Backstreet Cafe is, it's literally located on a backstreet of Shepard. There's no parking except for valet (and sometimes the valet person would ask if you'd like your car vacuumed and such for $20). Service here is usually pretty good. They are very attention-detail oriented and will come top off your mimosas regularly (which makes you lose count of how much you've been drinking after a while...). So if you haven't been out here, you should definitely put this place as a "must try".