Casa Medina

Casa Medina recently took over the location where Papa Lacho's used to be, with no break in service. We came in the other night to try out the new place, and got some of its story from the friendly and voluble manager (might be the location owner). Apparently the owners took over the location about three months ago and have been "using Papa Lacho's menu". They have now switched to the Casa Medina menu and changed the signs. The Mexican restaurant market in this area is very crowded, so this restaurant is trying hard to stand out. A couple of notable things off the top: 1) They use very little salt in their dishes. For me, I think not enough for proper seasoning but if you're trying to avoid salt it might be a good option. And you can always add some. 2) The Casa Medina menu is very large, much larger than the Papa Lacho's menu. Nice for choice if all those dishes can be executed well.

We started off with the Mexican Street elote. This is a white corn served on the cob with the traditional spices. With the lower salt level the tajin and lime stood out. A good start. The salsas with the free chips were quite good, nice depth of flavor and not real spicy. The red salsa is served warm, the green chilled.

For mains we got the Chicken Chipotle Enchiladas and the Fish y Camarones a la Diabla. The enchiladas sounded quite promising but I have to say the flavor was a little off for me. Slightly sweet with not enough salt to balance. But the food was well prepared and I would be confident in trying something else. I usually do not take a Tex-Mex place seriously when they say a dish is hot. That would be a mistake here. The fish and shrimp dish really brought the heat. For fish you have five choices--the cheaper ones are tilapia and basa. I have never had basa so gave it a try. It's an Asian whitefish that substitutes for tilapia. It had a soft texture like tilapia, if you weren't told you might not know the difference. The shrimp were cooked properly with a nice snap.

For dessert we got the sopapillas. These were nicely done, not greasy and crisp on the outside. They are served with whipped cream and honey.

For drinks we got a jamaica and an avocado martini. The jamaica is a good representation--no free refills, but the glass is very large so you wouldn't want one. The avocado martini came recommended to us by a customer of their Shenandoah location. There's just enough avocado to make the drink green and opaque. You get the creamy overtone and just a hint of avocado flavor, not too much. I liked it.

The interior is appealing, with nice representational paintings of food scenes. The bathrooms were clean and ready. Service was attentive and friendly. I'm giving it a 3.5 and rounding up. It's not perfect but definitely worth a try. It's very convenient to our house so I know we will be back.

My Yelp Review

JaK's Place

JaK's Place is a local bar that flies under the radar--it is owned by the same folks that own Cormier's Restaurant down on Louetta. Cormier's has hundreds of reviews--this is the first one for JaK's Place. They have recently started advertising their kitchen more on their sign--it is open from 12-10 every day, so is an option for lunch or dinner. I came in at lunchtime to give them a try. They have the usual options for bar food like burgers and chicken, but they also have some cajun food. I got the shrimp and chicken gumbo and a boudin ball, washed down with Karbach Hopadillo on tap.

The gumbo was quite tasty. It comes with crackers, white rice and potato salad. The gumbo has plenty of salt and great depth of flavor so I didn't really need the crackers. The white rice provided plenty of body. The shrimp was cooked properly, in general textures as well as flavors were right on. I am not enough of an expert to tell whether the roux for the gumbo was homemade, but it was a good roux. It had heat but just a little, enough to feel warmth after. The potato salad was OK.

The boudin ball was a good representation I think. Somewhat bigger than a golf ball, nice and crisp outside and very tender in the middle. It came with a dipping sauce that was quite sharp as well as bringing some heat.

JaK's Place is a bar. Lots of TVs with sports on. They allow smoking, though not cigars (probably not pipes either). This is a bonus if you're accommodating a smoker in your party. In any case be prepared for that. The restroom was clean and mostly ready (no soap). Overall I would say they have a competent kitchen so if you'd like something to eat with your drinks you could be happy ordering their food. The service and the atmosphere were quite friendly.

My Yelp Review

The Refuge Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar

This place is an institution in the Creekside area but I had not tried it out. We went for a birthday dinner. This is a detailed review. TL:DR it is a solid choice for a special experience and a great steak. I would go again.

We started off with a couple of mocktails: The Blood Orange Fizz and the mint virgin Old Fashioned. The Old Fashioned was a very tasty concoction--no alcohol burn of course but it captured the sharpness of an Old Fashioned and I really liked the mint. The Blood Orange Fizz was a mild disappointment--it had very little fizz and really needed it. Flavor was OK but not as good flat. We later got a bourbon flight, which was delivered by the bourbon sommelier and was quite fun.

For starters we got a wedge salad, the Steakhouse Meatballs, and the Bacon Wrapped Scallops. The salad was fine, a standard garden salad with nice fresh ingredients. The meatballs were excellent--a steak and pork belly blend with a blueberry pepper sauce with onion strings. Great texture, lots of umami and good salt flavor. I absolutely want these next time. Same with the bacon wrapped scallops. They come on a bed of 3-cheese grits that were wonderfully creamy. The sauce has just a little heat. The scallops and bacon were cooked just right. Their seafood entrees are served over these grits, and though we didn't get any seafood I would try some next time for the grits.

On to the mains: We had the Refuge Filet, the New York Strip, the Wood-fired Chicken, and the pork chop. The Refuge Filet was the highlight--the jalapeno, bacon and bleu cheese really complement the steak flavor. The steak was impeccably tender and done just right. The New York Strip was also very good. I am not a fan of this cut--when I cook it at home it's always tough. But their version is reasonably tender and has great flavor from the tallow butter they put on it. The steaks came with mashed potatoes that were pretty bland and ordinary.

The wood-fired chicken was tender and had good flavor. It is marinated in lemon but we couldn't really taste it except in the bed of risotto. The risotto was quite good, nice and creamy. The pork chop was complicated. It had a tender uniform texture all the way through and nice flavor. I couldn't find any grain in it, almost like it was a fine grind. The sauce was ok, a bit one-note sweet for me. Different from and perhaps better than Perry's chop, but I think I would try something else next time. These dishes came with Apple-Bacon Brussels Sprouts and roasted carrots. The Brussels sprouts were a disappointment. Might have known since it's misspelled on the menu. The Brussels sprouts were barely cooked and quite tough, with too much of the bottom stem left on, adding to the bitterness. The roast carrots were fine.

Since we had a birthday in the party we were treated to a special dessert. Birthday dessert at The Refuge has two major advantages--a nice tableside presentation of bread pudding flambe, and no annoying birthday song. Yay! Definitely tell them it's your birthday. The dessert is a banana bread pudding topped with ice cream. Rather uniform texture but good flavor and excellent with the ice cream.

The ambiance is appropriately dark and sumptuous for a fancy steakhouse. The bathrooms are upscale, with available cloth towels. Service was fine but at a pretty relaxed pace, I definitely felt ready for the next course before it came. But we at times requested things from waiters other than the one waiting our table, and they responded immediately--good teamwork. This is not a bargain place, but we got out for under $100 apiece which I actually think is pretty good for an end-to-end meal. If you go to a steakhouse for steaks, you will do well at The Refuge.

My Yelp Review

Taco Palenque

Taco Palenque is a Texas chain (with one location in Mexico) with a few locations in Houston. One took over the closed Zaxby's in our neighborhood so we stopped in for an evening meal. Got the tampiquena plate (cheese enchilada, beef fajitas, refried beans and sides) and the Matamoros tacos (sirloin with queso fresco). Added a side of charro beans, and arroz con leche and a dessert called capirotada, a bread pudding with nuts. Washed it down with a fountain drink and a jamaica agua fresca (they also had horchata but were out, a fact that was reflected on the menu). Lots of food but we wanted to sample.

The main way to order is at a touch screen near the counter. The menu was reasonable to navigate. I recommend printing your receipt--they do ask for an email at the start if you want to join the loyalty program, but don't repeat the ask at checkout. You take a number and enter it at the order screen, then go pick a table and they bring it out. While you're waiting you can get some chips and salsa from the salsa bar. The setup is cramped, there's no flow so it backed up. But the chips were very fresh and the salsas were tasty.

The food was mostly OK. The meats were tender and flavorful, above average in my estimation. The main choice was beef--that was the only kind of fajita they had, they do have chicken and fish but it is breaded and not available on plates. They do have an Impossible option if you prefer. The enchilada did not have any sort of sauce on it but was tender and tasty. Rice and beans were fine. The plates come with guacamole, which was chunky and tasted very fresh. What was not so fresh were the desserts. They all come packaged. The arroz con leche was good, lots of cinnamon and nice and creamy. The capirotada was a disappointment. The flavor was OK but it was very firm, almost hard, my plastic spoon had a tough time with it. Didn't eat much of it. The jamaica was OK, fairly strong but perhaps not quite sweet enough, I did not love the flavor.

They have not been open that long (no grand opening yet) and there were service issues. They have an option to get 1 flour and 2 corn tortillas with the plates. I asked for that, but got 3 flour. On the first pass they didn't bring the desserts. The server just asked what we ordered and brought it, which is the right thing to do, but we should have printed the receipt. The restaurant is bright and colorful inside. I would compare it to a Taco Cabana. The Tampiquena plate is over $19, seems high for fast casual but I think that's just how it is now. Next time I would get the picadillo plate--I have not seen anywhere else that offers that. Overall a solid choice and likely to make it in the location.

My Yelp Review