Sawadee Ka (Welcome) to Asia Market: Restaurant and Grocery Store

I had read and heard many good things about Asia Market, a Thai Grocery Store and small restaurant in The Heights. Today I ventured out to see what it is all about. Having been to Southeast Asia a half a dozen times and on many of the trips I visited Thailand, I am quite familiar with authentic Thai cuisine. I am use to eating street food and at low end restaurants, so when I read all the reviews I was expecting something akin to that quality.

I drove to Asia Market all excited because I was expecting a little bit of Bangkok in Houston. What I found was a very friendly Mom and Pop Thai grocery store, a small cooking area in the back and six tables for customers to eat at. It did feel a little bit like a small town store outside of Bangkok, and it had have some of the items that I buy in Thailand, both on the grocery side when I am cooking there and some of the medicine I always bring back.

There was a limited supply of food on the shelves and in the refrigerated cases, but I know that they recently got their power back after Hurricane Ike, so I expect that a stop there in another month would be enable me to better judge what they carry in the fresh and frozen area of the store.

My visit today was to take out food. I was warmly greeted by the man at the register and which is where you order your food. They have a wide variety of dishes, from Thai salads, soup, noodles, rice, curry, and stir fry. Most dishes cost between $5.95 and $7.95. With three pages of items to choose from, I decided to limit myself to two today.

I ordered B2. Tom Yum, hot and sour soup, with shrimp and C4. Kee Mao Noodle, flat rice noodles with pork, basil, garlic and chili sauce. I asked for both medium hot. The dishes were well prepared, but more on the cautious side of medium hot, which means they were not as hot as I expected (the degree of spice, obviously is personal, I would rather err on the side of not enough on my first visit.) The portions were decent but not overly generous. The food was authentic, fresh, and decently prepared but nothing spectacular – it was good enough for what it is suppose to be, that is a good value for the price.

The Tom Yum came with small shrimp and had strong overtones of lemon grass. It had a great aroma and a wonderful taste. I was reminded why I do not order that soup often, it is always more broth than ingredients to eat and I like a more “meaty” soup. My rice noodles, Kee Mao Noodle were perfectly cooked slightly chewy with sliced pieces of pork and I think some egg. I liked this dish better than the soup, which was a personal preference for the noodle dish over the soup and not reflective of the quality of one dish over the other.

They are open Tuesday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

I definitely plan to go back and try different things in the near future. The portions were decent (but not overly generous), the food was authentic, fresh, and well prepared but nothing spectacular – it was good enough for what it is suppose to be, that is a good value for the price. As I mentioned earlier they were very friendly, which is something I have enjoyed on all my visits to Thailand and that made me think about when I was heading back to that part of the world again…

Update 10/09/08: I went back and ordered for take out Laab, Papaya Salad and Stir Fried Greens. I also picked up a Mung Bean dessert. The Thai Papaya Salad and dessert were good, the rest was so-so, the best I can say about the food, is that it was fresh and cheap, $21 for the whole meal and it is enough for at least three meals for me. They are close by and friendly, which means I will keep trying things on their menu, hoping I found the best things there.

Storm Provisions

I just got back from purchasing cheese, pâté, ice, a cooler, and two bottles of Prosecco at Spec’s. I got fresh bread and a bánh mì thịt nướng (grilled pork) sandwich at the nearby Vietnamese bakery. What was interesting is that it was no busier than a normal Saturday morning – unfortunately they canceled the cheese and wine sampling at Spec’s that was scheduled for today. But as usual the help at the downtown Spec’s was outstanding which is notable since they too are concerned about the storm.

Current Favorite Coffee Fix Venue: Catalina Coffee

I never really understood modern day coffee shops. To me they were overpriced and over hyped places to go, where everyone talked about the coffee, but it rarely tasted that good. I remember being in Seattle many years ago, where Starbucks and Seattle’s Best were competitors for the best coffee. I found their coffee tasting old and stale and expensive. Fast forward to 2008 where Starbucks, owns Seattle’s Best and there seems to be a Starbucks on every corner (sometimes across the street from each other). I find Starbucks in every almost every major city I go to and the coffee still tastes tired to me. Lately Starbucks are so oversaturated in the market they are closing stores.

I have tried some of the hip independent stores in Houston; Brasil, Daily Grind, Diedrich Coffee, Inversion Coffee House, and of course Seattle’s Best and Starbucks and none of them did much for me. I also reviewed Tous Les Jours, http://foodprincessreports.blogspot.com/2008/07/bread-and-some-recipes.html which I liked, but it is a bakery with good coffee in a grocery store. In 2005 I wrote a business plan for an internet/ coffee shop. It was difficult then to see financially how to make money just selling coffee and at that time, charging for the internet connection. Fast forward, many years later and free wi-fi is the norm and most stores sell food along with their coffee.

But I just didn’t get the coffee shop model. People seemed to really like them and often I found them crowded, despite what I thought was mediocre coffee and expensive. First and foremost I wanted good coffee, which meant freshly roasted and well prepared. It is more than a good espresso, cappuccino or a variant on that model. It starts with freshly roasted and ground coffee.

I use to go to Java Coffee to get my beans – but I never got it quite right. For a while I was roasting my own beans at home, which was great, but in my new place the smoke constantly set off the smoke detector so that no longer is no longer an option. I now mainly buy my roasted beans at Central Market, they seem to have a decent turnover at the store but the beans are not dated with their roasting date.

But something happened when I walked into Catalina Coffee http://catalinacoffeeshop.com/ with my Chowhound friend JavaPeg on Saturday. It worked.

I ordered a Kenya Peaberry coffee in a small French press for $3.00. I was delivered a pot and told to wait until the timer went off. Max the owner insisted I taste it without cream and he was right because I got to really taste the flavor. This is a place that takes their coffee seriously. The beans were perfectly roasted, ground and then the French press was the right way to make it. They gave me the press, kept a timer going behind the counter and then let me know when to press down.

The stars were aligned and I was drinking the perfect cup of coffee.

On my third visit they did the pressing for me, I liked the other method much better, especially since I sat there waiting for them to tell me when to press and the coffee got cold.

Javapeg ordered a Cuban coffee and raved about it.

The stars were aligned and I was drinking the perfect cup of coffee.

But a good coffee shop starts with the coffee but keeps going. I went back three days in a row to confirm my report (of course all in the name of research.) The owner Max is charming, a small dark haired fellow, with good energy and a wonderful smile, the baristas are friendly and the place intimate and roomy at the same time. I was there on Saturday, I went back on Sunday and had a croissant with my coffee and then yesterday afternoon I met a friend for coffee in the afternoon.

These people take their coffee seriously, so do I, I am hooked.

I Love My Bread + Some Recipes

I once weighed forty more pounds then I do now. I gained all that weight after I quit smoking. It took me six years to take off thirty pounds and then I was stuck. I tried every sort of diet and nothing seemed to work, until I added bread back into my diet and then the extra ten pounds disappeared. Go figure. It is good news for me, because I love my bread.

Delicious Pastries and Bread at Tous Les Jours

Normally I eat very healthy bread, made from whole grains, preferably baked by me with very little sugar or honey. If it is going to be store bought, I buy the multigrain bread at Costco. But I really love croissants and crusty French bread.

This morning I got up early and swam. Afterwards I went over to H-Mart http://www.hmart.com/ on Blalock to have a chocolate croissant and coffee at the bakery there called Tous Les Jours http://tlj.co.kr/ . Check out the website it’s interesting, even if you do not know Korean.

At Tous Les Jours it is only $1.75 for the chocolate croissant and $1.55 for regular coffee, I was in heaven. The croissant is flakey with enough chocolate to be distinctive without being overly chocolate or to sweet. The coffee was excellent as well. Before I discovered this Korean / French bakery my favorite chocolate croissant was at kraftsmen bakery http://www.kraftsmenbaking.com/ on Montrose and cost $2.95. Quite frankly Tous Les Jours got it down pat. I have tried their apple pastry and a cheese one, which were fine, but nothing compares to the chocolate croissant. I also like their banquette at $1.99.

Recipes Made from Recent Purchases

I frequently buy things that look good and are on sale, and then I am tasked with figuring out what to make them with the ingredients. From time to time on this blog I will put a picture of something I made and give you a brief outline of the dish and how I put it together. Please do not expect that I will measure out the ingredients – it just is not going to happen.

Farmer’s Market Arugula

I bought arugula and cremini mushrooms at the farmer’s market on Saturday. I made a pasta dish with it. Ingredients For Pasta & Arugula:

• Chopped garlic
• Sliced cremini mushrooms
• Pignoli nuts
• Diced cherry tomatoes
• Arulga
• Cooked bowtie pasta
• Virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Sheared parmesan cheese.

I sautéed the garlic with the mushrooms in olive oil, then added the pignoli nuts and salt and pepper. When the pasta was done, I tossed it with the garlic, mushroom, pignoli nut mixture and the tomatoes and arugula, sprinkled it with parmesan cheese and added some fresh ground pepper. I drank a Pinot Noir with it.

Trip to H-Mart: 21-25 Count Shrimp on Sale $3.99 a Pound

The shrimp looked delcious and the price was right, so I picked up a little over a half a pound and brought it home. Now I had to figure out what to make. I decided on making what I am calling: Houston Black Bean Shrimp Salad.

Here are the ingredients:

• Zest of lime
• Lime juice (same lime I zested)
• Black beans, one can rinsed
• Cilantro
• Peeled and diced tomato
• Poblano pepper diced
• Diced scallion
• White Wine vinegar
• Cooked shrimp, peeled and deviened then cut lengthwise and in half again
• Salt and pepper

I mixed the cooked and sliced shrimp and black beans together. I mixed the remaining ingredients together and poured that over the black bean and shrimp mixture. I chilled the salad in the refrigerator for about an hour. It was yummy, but I bet the leftovers will be even better tomorrow.