The Italian Cafe

Since Gratzi closed the Italian Cafe on Kuykendahl south of 2920 is the only independent Italian restaurant in the area.  It's been in its unassuming strip mall location since 2009, so now qualifies as a local institution.  I guarantee you'll have a better experience here than Olive Garden faux elegance.  We had a family dinner there and had an excellent meal.

Starting with the bread, which is garlic knots.  These are very light rolls baked crisp on the outside with parmesan and plenty of olive oil--it pools on the plate.  I like plenty of oil on my Italian bread, so I was very happy and inhaled two, but if you don't like so much oil this might put you off.

For an appetizer we had the bruschetta, which was quite delicious.  The combination of tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil was perfect on the thin-sliced bread.  I almost ruined my dinner on it.

I enjoyed the house salad--all arugula with onion and cherry tomatoes, no cheap iceberg.  The dressing has a bit of a thousand-island look to it but is very Italian and tasty.

We had several fettucini alfredo lovers in our party, and all rated it just fine.  I tried the one with Italian sausage--they say it is spicy, and they mean it.  The warmth really makes the dish.

We had a pepperoni and sausage pizza, and it's one of the best I've had at an Italian restaurant.  The pizza is New York style, with plenty of ingredients but not sloppy.  The pepperoni and sausage were both just perfect--the pizza sausage is not spicy, just pleasantly seasoned.  The crust is crisp but not brittle, with just enough salt to taste it.  A real highlight.

We also had cheese ravioli with the creamy tomato sauce.  The ravioli was done just right and ate well with the sauce.  The sauce itself was nicely savory and a great complement.  Our picky eater got it and was very happy.

Another entree we sampled was the special--short ribs in marinara sauce with penne pasta.  It's not visually appealing but was very tasty.  The pasta was overall cooked well, just slightly uneven but not offensively so.  The beef had great flavor, was just a little chewy across the grain but not bad.  The dish overall was very filling--I got three good meals out of it and was quite happy.

There were a couple of less than perfect items.  There is a healthy option on the menu for those avoiding gluten--a chicken breast with sauteed vegetables.  I can't recommend it.  The chicken was dry and overdone.  Might have been tasty otherwise, but not worth finishing.  It's very difficult to get a plain chicken breast just right, Taste of Texas is about the only place I've been that could do it.

For dessert we had a cannoli.  It was a deep brown and very firm--I had trouble breaking it with the fork.  That said, this is the direction you want to err with a cannoli, it's way better than being chewy or soft.  I enjoyed my crunchy cannoli and finished it all.

The decor is minimal, a few posters to give it that New York Italian feel.  One server does all the work for you, there are no roles.  The place is very tight inside, just like a little New York bistro--you might have to go through the server station to get in and out.  The bathrooms were similarly minimal in decor but clean and ready.  The Italian Cafe caters, and I've heard good things about the food though I have not experienced it myself.  All in all, I would go here rather than Olive Garden any time I wanted the Italian experience.

My Yelp Review

Eggcellence Cafe & Bakery

I stopped in to try this new breakfast/lunch cafe the other day.  There's a lot to like about it but also some problems.  These need to get worked out before it can really excel.

I was the only one there when I first arrived at 7:30. The service concept was carefully explained to me, so I went and grabbed a cup of coffee and settled in with the menu.  The coffee is brewed in large carafes and is OK flavor but not that hot.

I settled on the Texas Sampler, since I wanted to get a taste of as much as possible.  It came with pancakes, eggs, sausage, ham, bacon, and hash browns.  When the plate came it was very attractive, but everything was kind of separated in a way that made me think it would be a little dry and overcooked.  And some of it was.

But first the good news--the pancakes were very good, nice and fluffy.  Pancakes are fluffy when the batter is not overstirred, so they had good touch.  There was a generous portion of sausage, two large links that were glistening and salty as they should be.

The rest was somewhat on the dry side.  That happens a lot with ham sliced at 1/4 inch on a grill, and happened here.  The scrambled eggs were way done and rather dry.  The bacon seemed like it might have been cooked earlier and warmed, it was a bit chewy.

The hash browns were a separate story.  They come in a formed disk, which looks neat but not promising.  They were not very brown and a little mushy.  They were barely seasoned at all, as were the eggs.  No, you do not let customers "season to taste".

In addition to the coffee I ordered a glass of orange juice.  It's a 12 oz glass, tasted good but more than enough for something that heavy and sweet.

This place is striving to be "fast casual upscale".  The interior has the modern exposed ductwork and is in an appetizing yellow.  The light fixtures are interesting but incomplete--several bulbs were out when I was there, and one fixture had lights with cold rather than warm white light--a distracting mismatch.  Other reviewers have mentioned it being drafty--they were aware of it and shut off the vent over my table.  The bathroom was clean and ready, but some have mentioned a smell.  I couldn't smell it from the dining room, but there is some lingering sewer issue.  No complaints on service though, they are very attentive and polite.

Breakfast set me back $25 with tip, which is a lot for what I got.  It is a cute place but they need to do more to live up to that price.

My Yelp Review

Tacqueria Delicias de Gro.

Taco Truck Time!  I stopped in to try this taco truck the other day.  I ordered a fajita burrito and a carnitas taco, with a pineapple agua fresca to wash it all down.

It was a beautiful day so I ate outside under their covered picnic tables.  The service was very polite and helpful, and everything was ready in just a few minutes.

The food ate very neatly and was quite tasty.  They offer a red and green salsa--the red salsa is very spicy (I was warned) and the green has just enough heat to feel it.  Both have great flavor and taste homemade.  The tortillas were freshly warmed and tasted great.  I would say that both the meats were just a bit overdone and a little chewy, but not so much that they detract from enjoying the food.

They have a wide variety of agua frescas (most food trucks will have one or two) so you should definitely get one.  The pineapple agua fresca had great pineapple flavor and little pulp.

Overall I very much enjoyed my meal, and can recommend it.

My Yelp Review

Ichigo Curry & Ramen in Grand Parkway Marketplace

We had a family dinner here the other night.  For drinks we had Thai tea, Teahouse tea, a Pineapple cream smoothie and a banana cream smoothie.  The Thai tea was OK, rather sweet and not much tea flavor.  The Teahouse tea had more tea flavor but also had boba, which I was not expecting and don't like much.  The smoothies were quite good--The fruit taste really came through and was high quality, very enjoyable.

We had a couple of appetizers, the egg rolls and the cheese wontons.  These were both very good--fried fresh and quite hot, crunchy with good flavor.  Glad we got them.

For mains we had chicken curry, tonkatsu beef curry, wings, and ramen.  The chicken curry was OK but underwhelming.  The chicken was cooked well and the curry had a little kick, but not a lot of flavor--you could tell it was curry but seemed lacking.  The tonkatsu beef curry was excellent--a kind of chicken fried steak (you can also get chicken or pork) pounded thin and deep fried, then sliced on top of rice with sauce.  A tonkatsu sauce is served on the side, and it really made the dish.  It had very deep umami flavor which really complemented the beef.  Be warned, it has a pretty high spice level but it is worth bearing some pain if you are sensitive.  The beef itself was reasonably tender and the breading was crunchy, very good.

The wings were a disappointment.  We got the General Tso's wings, and the sauce was fine, it was recognizable.  But the wings were small, somewhat overdone, and not cut well--lots of broken, sharp bones.  The only accompaniment was plain white rice.

The ramen was interesting and tasty, we got the black garlic ramen with mushrooms and sweet onions.

The service was, well, interesting.  The counter help was very good, the server asked good questions and helped us put together a satisfying meal.  The food was delivered when ready--we all got ours at different times.  That's unusual but I've had it before, it just means you don't make people wait to eat.

The ambiance was very interesting--they put up a good fight against the usual sterility of Grand Parkway Marketplace.  There's a large urban Japan mural wall, and on the opposite wall there are little potted plants.  All the tables were clean and ready to go, as was the bathroom.  The musical ambiance is worth comment--they were playing kind of generic covers of current pop hits, like Muzak.  Maybe it was.

My Yelp Review