Post by steve on Apr 6, 2006 21:20:26 GMT -5
I stayed near the Galleria area and tried a place that was in the shopping center where I dropped off my dry cleaning. As a complete aside, the one Chinese place at which I eat locally is in a shopping center with a dry cleaners, as is one of my favorites in New York. There must be something to that connection.
Anyway, the place that I tried was called The Red Pepper. It is on Westheimer about a mile past the Galleria. I stopped in for lunch, after using one of my tried and true techniques for identifying good Asian restaurants -- count the Asians eating there during a busy lunch rush. Here, they were plentiful, so I gave it a shot. It seemed like many of the patrons were regulars and knew most of the staff by name and some even ordered what looked like stuff that was not on the menu.
The special on the day I visited was chicken breast, jumbo shrimp, and vegetables in a thin, brown, low fat spicy sauce. The meal came with a cup of soup (I ordered the wonton), an egg roll, and steamed rice. The cost was a little high for lunch at $10.95, but it would have definitely provided for two meals for average eaters (or eaters that are not staying in a hotel room with no fridge!).
The soup was very bland. The chicken broth was almost flavorless, and the bowl included one wonton that did not have much texture. There were a good number of vegetable chunks in the broth, but no shreds of pork, as I usually find in New York-style Chinese wonton soup. They also had no crunchy noodles to submerge in the soup, which I thought was a minus.
The entree, however, made up for the soup tenfold. This meal was flat out delicious. The chicken was moist and the shrimp were tender and tasty. The sauce had just the right amount of kick, without being overbearing. Broccoli and snow peas were the primary vegetables in the dish, and they definitely added to both the presentation and the taste.
The egg roll was more like what I call a spring roll back home. It was OK -- but, I am still seeking out the one memorable egg roll that has to be found somewhere outside of the New York area.
The person who appeared to be the owner worked the register and seemed legitimately interested in everyone's dining experience. All in all, I would consider this a positive meal and I might go back there again in the future, but with the plethora of Chinese restaurants in the area, I might also be inclined to try something else, too.
Anyway, the place that I tried was called The Red Pepper. It is on Westheimer about a mile past the Galleria. I stopped in for lunch, after using one of my tried and true techniques for identifying good Asian restaurants -- count the Asians eating there during a busy lunch rush. Here, they were plentiful, so I gave it a shot. It seemed like many of the patrons were regulars and knew most of the staff by name and some even ordered what looked like stuff that was not on the menu.
The special on the day I visited was chicken breast, jumbo shrimp, and vegetables in a thin, brown, low fat spicy sauce. The meal came with a cup of soup (I ordered the wonton), an egg roll, and steamed rice. The cost was a little high for lunch at $10.95, but it would have definitely provided for two meals for average eaters (or eaters that are not staying in a hotel room with no fridge!).
The soup was very bland. The chicken broth was almost flavorless, and the bowl included one wonton that did not have much texture. There were a good number of vegetable chunks in the broth, but no shreds of pork, as I usually find in New York-style Chinese wonton soup. They also had no crunchy noodles to submerge in the soup, which I thought was a minus.
The entree, however, made up for the soup tenfold. This meal was flat out delicious. The chicken was moist and the shrimp were tender and tasty. The sauce had just the right amount of kick, without being overbearing. Broccoli and snow peas were the primary vegetables in the dish, and they definitely added to both the presentation and the taste.
The egg roll was more like what I call a spring roll back home. It was OK -- but, I am still seeking out the one memorable egg roll that has to be found somewhere outside of the New York area.
The person who appeared to be the owner worked the register and seemed legitimately interested in everyone's dining experience. All in all, I would consider this a positive meal and I might go back there again in the future, but with the plethora of Chinese restaurants in the area, I might also be inclined to try something else, too.