Everything You Ever Wanted, by Luiza Sauma

I'm going to give this a 3.5 and round up. There's a lot to appreciate in this book. The author's description of our protagonist's (Iris Cohen) life is the perfect buildup to her decision to emigrate to Nyx. She leads an apparently privileged (she has a job that pays enough for her to live decently and party) but absolutely hellish (meaningless work, meaningless relationships, drinks hard and eats horribly because all her friends do and then feels awful later) life. She hates what she does and it seems like an endless treadmill. Her family relationships are not enough to keep her there. Though she would have liked them to be. So off she goes.

The world of Nyx seems artificially constrained in a way that makes it feel like it's fake. Sauma spends no time explaining the science at all, just says one gets there through a wormhole and briefly describes what it looks like. It's all about what Iris goes through. The participants are weirdly cut off--they can (and are required to) post about their lives on social media, but they are not allowed contact with Earth and so never get feedback on what they are doing.

[You keep waiting for the book to relent, and it never does. Nyx is not a fake.  Once the perspective shifts fully to Nyx, the situation just grinds all the participants down until everyone is dead. Iris is hopeful at the beginning, Nyx seems to strip away all the distractions that kept her from having a good life. But the social media and livestream lose support and eventually the colony goes downhill. One expects a reveal or a rescue and it never happens. At the end I reflected on the book and it made me incredibly sad. It also reminded me of the early American colonies--some ended exactly this way, and for most it was a one-way trip with little to no contact with those they left behind. (hide spoiler)].

The writing is excellent and I feel like I understand Iris. It's not a book to lift your spirits but it's worthwhile.

My Goodreads Review

Kuksu House

This food truck recently moved from Sawdust Road to La Plaza de los Food Trucks behind the Gosling Express on Gosling.  We stopped in the other night to try them out.  It's Kuksu House so I got the kuksu, and we also got the hanum.

Kuksu is an Uzbek-Korean dish--a cold noodle soup from ethnic Koreans living in Uzbekistan.  It's made with wheat noodles, rice noodles, garlic broth, pickles and beef.  For $17 they give you a great big bowl of it.  The flavors are intense and really tickle your palate.  There's a whole lot of flavor here and I couldn't eat a whole lot at once--I think it works better as an appetizer soup than a main course.  You could get 8 appetizer servings from the order.  Just for grins I warmed up some of what I took home, and it wasn't bad that way either.  One thing I found lacking was the beef--I couldn't find much.  But it's a fascinating dish if you're looking for a unique combination of textures and flavor.

Hanum is another dish from the same region.  It's a steamed dumpling with layered pastry and a meat and potatoes filling, topped with stewed tomatoes and onions.  This is a hearty, satisfying savory dish--all melts together in your mouth.  There's plenty to share or eat later, and it keeps in the fridge just fine.

We wanted to get fries but they were sold out.  Service was friendly and enthusiastic.  They do have more conventional foods--chicken thighs and Korean tacos.  But if you are tiring of Tex-Mex and want something really different, this is worth a try.

Mi Rancho The Woodlands/Gosling

This new, custom built Mi Rancho location is now open in our neighborhood. The official name is Mi Rancho--Woodlands, but it's a bit south of there bordering the Northampton neighborhood.

For an appetizer we got the corn ribs, a new item since the last time we've been to a Mi Rancho. These are absolutely amazing, a must try if you like corn at all. They take an ear of corn and split it four ways so the corn is still on the cob. It's then fried and dipped in butter sauce and garnished with Cotija cheese, and served with tajin mayo. I ate way too many. I also ate too many chips with the salsa, which is served warm. I think it's now one of the better salsas around, nice big chunks of onion and tomato.

For our entrees we got the chile relleno with beef fajita meat and the El Valiente combo plate with chicken. The El Valiente is a stuffed and fried avocado and a cheese enchilada. The avocado was great--the coating was crisp and tasty, adding a nice texture to the creamy avocado, cheese and chicken inside. The chile relleno was very good--the fajita meat was flavorful and tender. The green bell pepper was a bit firm, didn't cut with my fork too well, but was very tasty. The rice was also very good, nice flavor. Beans were fine.

I chased my food with a jamaica agua fresca. Theirs is nice and strong. The server brought an extra glass of ice so I could cut it, which was very helpful. We wanted to get the tres leches cake for dessert, but they unfortunately were out so we ended up passing on dessert.

Our server was friendly and fun. Our drink server deserves special mention. She was very attentive and observant. We were next to a baby at the stage where they throw things on the floor, including a china plate. She was on it very quickly with a cleanup team.

The setting is very attractive. Bright, appetizing colors and high ceilings set the mood. It's less noisy than their Spring location, still pretty loud on a busy evening but overall very nice. The bathrooms were clean and ready, one soap dispenser was out but not bad for a very busy evening. 

My Yelp Review

Taqueria El Rancho

This new food truck on Spring Stuebner has been in preparation for awhile. Stopped in for a to-go lunch now that they are open. We got a chicken quesadilla grande, a fajita taco on corn, a barbacoa taco on flour, an elote, and a jamaica agua fresca to finish it off.

The tacos were excellent, each good in their own way. The fajita meat was diced small and cooked until caramelized, which makes for a great bite. I like fajita tacos that way. The barbacoa taco was great also, nice and tender and full of flavor. The green salsa tasted homemade and had a nice slow burn. The chicken quesadilla was different from what you would find at other restaurants. They use white Mexican cheese instead of mozzarella like a lot of places. For me it had good flavor but ate somewhat dry.

The elote was a real standout for me. Plenty of parmesan, butter and white cheese. They gave me the chili topping on the side, which is great for me because I can't handle a lot of heat. I was able to mix in just what I wanted and it tasted great. I finished a big cup. The jamaica agua fresca was a good representation, and a generous 32 oz serving so you really have to share it or save some for later.

The front of the venue is nice, with pretty decorations and all, but there's a surprise around back--a beautiful dining area under a spreading oak tree. When I was there it was decorated for Halloween/Day of the Dead. They rent it out for parties. This place was worth the wait and I can recommend it.

My Yelp Review

Sushi Central

Sushi Central is a new Japanese place in our neighborhood. It's a Mexican chain, and this is the first location outside of Mexico. We went for a family dinner the other night and had a Sushi Tower, the Avocado Crush Roll, the Crispy Rock Roll, and the vegetable hibachi. They offer dessert, which is different for an Asian place. We got the banana tempura.

This place absolutely takes the Japanese mantra that you eat with your eyes seriously. The Sushi Tower was beautiful, a molded tower of rice, crab, avocado and tuna, drizzled with unagi sauce. Beautiful to look at, I took a minute to admire before diving in. The Crispy Rock Roll is topped with what they call Rock Shrimp, but it's more familiar as popcorn shrimp. The crispy shrimp was well cooked and very good. It was also a gorgeous dish. The Avocado Crush roll was also very attractive, but in my mind kind of one note--just avocado and cream cheese. The vegetable hibachi was quite pretty and a nice complement to the other dishes.

The menu tends to use banana and plantain interchangeably. The description of the bananas tempura dessert says it is plantain slices in tempura. And the latter is correct--it's plantain, not sweet at all. But it's very good with the vanilla ice cream.

The atmosphere of the restaurant reflects the aesthetic of the food. Lots of fixtures done in lightly finished wood. No TVs (except one over the bar) and no pictures--nothing to distract from the dining experience. The service was good, understated and in line with the decor.

It's not the absolute best sushi I've had--the flavors are mostly mild. But it all tastes great because you've been prepared by the beauty of the food. Definitely go for the visual experience.

My Yelp Review