#8:46 Resto Bar

We got a family dinner from here the other evening to try this new place, in the location where Brazilian Joe's used to be.  The menu is mostly fried seafood but they do have a few other items.  We had the Cajun pasta, a fried fish and shrimp combo, and a burger, with sides of red beans and rice and cheese sticks.

Cajun pasta: I like my pasta al dente and this was a bit past that, but that's pretty normal.  The sauce was good and the chicken and sausage were tender and tasty.  You can add shrimp but it's a $12 upcharge, which seems like a lot.

The burger was very tasty and well-cooked, and prepared to our specifications with cheese and pickles.  The fries were slightly underdone but well seasoned and traveled OK.

The fish and shrimp combo was well-prepared.  The shrimp were in a nice crisp batter.  The fish had a good crust also, and was tender inside.

The cheese sticks were fine, nothing real unusual.  The red beans and rice were a real standout in the meal--seasoned and cooked perfectly, these are a standard other places should live up to.  Whatever else you get there, you need to get the red beans and rice.

A few overall notes:

1) The theme of the food is salt--lots of salt.  I like my food on the salty side, and since it is correctly cooked it tastes pretty good.  But the chicken and sausage in the pasta were near burning with salt, and most of the menu had it pretty heavy.  The one exception was the red beans and rice--this dish was perfectly seasoned, not too much or too little salt.

2) The portions are very generous.  The pasta would have served three people comfortably, and the burger was huge.  One piece of fish would be more than enough for most folks.

3) The food looked nice in the containers and we got everything we ordered.  That doesn't always happen.

This restaurant is definitely open but a bit hard to reach right now.  The Yelp number is the owner's personal phone and the one in Google is not working.   The hours above are also not right.  Swing by for dinner on most evenings and you're golden, and they also have Sunday brunch starting at 11.

Overall it's a pretty good choice, particularly if you like to drink beer with your food--you'll chug a little extra.

This restaurant identifies as Black-owned and LGBTQ+ friendly on its Facebook page.  The name is a reference to George Floyd.

Guasakaca

I visited this food truck the other night at its new location behind the Gosling Express convenience store.  On that night it was a one-man operation so the service was a bit slow, but not too bad.  

I had a pork pepito basket with a papelon con limon.  My fries were something of a disappointment--limp and not very many, but my friend who ordered a side of fries at the same time said hers were better.  The sandwich was pretty good--tender pork with a generous amount of a tasty dill sauce, along with cheese and some other condiments.  It's a good thing the sauce was good, because between the dill flavor and the amount it pretty much overwhelmed the rest of the flavors.  The roll was good, a nice crusty one that allowed you to pick up the sandwich easily.  I liked it fine.  My friend had the burger, which was a decent basic burger except for the cheese not melting properly.

The papelon con limon was OK--probably made with turbinado sugar.  I've had it with brown sugar and liked that better.

The truck has a very broad menu, covering Venezuelan, Tex-Mex, and even Asian dishes.  I would say it is worth a try if you are branching out.

This was my first time to visit the Gosling Express food truck court at a busier time.  The parking gets awkward--the lot was completely full and starting to get unsafe, but the tables were not really that full.  Maybe a lot of people came on their own?  There's a great choice of food--I'll be back for several more reviews--and an outdoor bar.  Unfortunately they emulate nightclubs by playing music (tonight it was electronic dance music) loud enough that you can't really talk with your party.  They could maybe start that later.

My Yelp Review

Viva La Taco

 This taco truck recently opened at the gas station near Hooks Airport.  I stopped in the other day to give it a try.  Parking is awkward here, there's really nowhere that's not in front of a gas pump or blocking someone in.  The site seems to be permanently under construction so it's not real appealing.  

The food is fine though.  I ordered a 3-taco combo with fajita, barbacoa and carnitas tacos.  The combo comes with rice and charro beans.  They have agua frescas--I got a cucumber-limeade mix.  

The tacos were fine.  The barbacoa came out in kind of big chunks but was nice and tender.  The other two tasted good, but I honestly had trouble distinguishing the fajita and carnitas tacos.  They were slightly dry but with good seasoning.  I got onions and cilantro, and red and green salsa.  That made for a powerful kick.  The salsas are both pretty hot, if that is what you're looking for.

The beans were a real standout for me, some of the best charros I have had.  Big chunks of bacon, very flavorful.  I usually find charros boring but I finished these.  The rice was fine, standard Mexican with some vegetables.

Their truck advertises "tacos de trompo" but I saw no sign of a trompo (a large skewered stack of meat that is carved off for taco filling) when I was there.  They do have the Al Pastor tacos made from it.  They have outdoor seating, but given the logistics it is hard to use.

My Yelp Review

Center Court Pizza and Brews - Gosling

We tried this location out the other day for some lunch and some pizza for later.  We got a smashball sandwich, a philly sandwich, a carnivore pizza, a spinach pizza, a small pepperoni pizza with alfredo sauce, and a turtle cheesecake for dessert.

Overall I would say the offering is somewhat elevated bar food, and successful at that.  The service was friendly and efficient, and the Woodlands location looks like a very comfortable place to take in a game.  I used the outdoor seating for my lunch.  They have a nice play area for kids and a fair amount of outside seating.  It would be easy to kick back with a meal and follow up with some drinks.

The smashball sandwich is basically a burger made with meatloaf, topped with tomato sauce and cheese on a ciabatta bun.  It was all quite successful--the patty was tasty and the bun fresh and tender.  I ordered it with tater tots.  They were not seasoned much, but were cooked just right and quite crisp.  The philly chese steak sandwich and fries was fine, not a standout but competent.

The pizzas probably would not displace your favorite franchise--they were a bit on the high side--but they would be quite fine for eating with a game.  They were somewhat greasy when fresh.  I don't consider that a problem, but some might.  The box absorbed a lot of the grease so when the pizza was reheated later it was not greasy.  The Carnivore was a good example of a meat pizza--lots of salty meat products.  The spinach and pepperoni pizzas were good as well, though the pepperoni pizza was not too generous with the pepperoni.  You will probably have to order the Ninja Turtle premium pizza (pepperoni and cheese) to get a good helping.  

The cheesecake was OK for a sweet finish.  It is presented nicely in a dish with chocolate drizzle.   But it was a bit mushy, obviously store bought.  Probably save that money for another beer.  They have a decent selection of beer, including craft beer (if you count Karbach).  

Overall a very good experience, and would be one of the better venues around for taking in a game with your food.

My Yelp Review

Local Eats - Fajita Pete's of The Woodlands

Fajita Pete's is a franchise with a new location on Gosling.  It is takeout and delivery only.  We decided to give them a try other night for a family dinner.  We got the fajita trio, which is more than enough for three people.  It's a complete dinner--beef, chicken and shrimp fajitas, with guacamole, pico, cheese and salsa.  The sides are included--we got refried beans, rice, chips and queso, and churros for dessert.  For $29.95 it's a good deal and very easy to order.

We got everything we ordered, and it was ready in about 15 minutes.  Most of the food is what I would call competent--very edible and up to standard for Tex-Mex, which is highly available in this area.  The refried beans were a bit of a disappointment--very runny, more like a somewhat thick bean soup.  Tortillas were a little chewy, but plenty of them.  The condiments were fine (no sour cream, which was missed).  The chicken fajitas were done but not overdone.  The shrimp were good and had a decent snap.  Chips were OK, and you got a lot of them--equivalent of 3 bowls.  Queso was fine, white cheese with big chunks of pepper.  The churros traveled well--crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle, with a nice honey dipping sauce.

The real standout was the beef fajitas.  Tender and juicy with great flavor.  I don't usually like beef fajitas because most places serve them tough.  Not here!  I would be back for more of those.

Overall a very generous meal for a good price, with very good service.  Glad we tried it.

My Yelp Review