Just saw the Bizarre Foods episode in Houston and he ate at two places I would be interested in trying next time I'm in town. One was an Indian Bakery and restaurant called Raja Sweet that looked like it had some awesome Indian food and then he closed at a restaurant called Underbelly eating a unique Korean beef dish made with locally raised Wagyu Beef. Have any Clutchfans eaten at either of these places and what did y'all think of the food, service, prices and atmosphere?
Underbelly is well-known in the Houston food scene. It's definitely a foodie restaurant with interesting flavor combinations. The braised goat I got was awesome. It's a bit pricey for what you get though; some of the dishes were not worth writing home about.
Tell me about it I got a burger there for lunch, it was as dry as cardboard. I don't understand how you can't cook a burger right. And no it wasn't buffalo or grass fed cow. Although the french dip was pretty good
Is this the "Blast and Cast" episode? If so, I've got that episode still sitting on my DVR, and I recorded it November 2013. lol. I guess I need to watch it. :grin:
Underbelly is one of my 3 favorite restaurants in the city, and the dish seen in the episode is probably my favorite single dish. Goat dumplings are very good too. Great beer list as well.
Raja Sweets is probably the best place in Houston to get South Asian desserts. What did he eat there? http://www.yelp.com/biz/raja-quality-restaurant-and-sweets-houston-2
I haven't eaten at either place but both are reasonably well known in town, Underbelly moreso than Raja Sweets. I've heard very good things about both. However, you have to make reservations at Underbelly several weeks in advance.
Raja Sweets is amazing. If you aren't health conscious, get the Gulab Jamun (sp?). Those are heavenly
Raja Sweets is where every Indian goes to get their yearly dosage of saturated fat. That place makes some DAMN good mithai (Indian desserts), but they are SO bad for you.
I eat at Raja frequently over the years and they make the best Pakora curry(vegetarian), If anyone's interested besides the sweets. I rarely eat sweets but chum chum is there best sweet in my opinion. Had no issues ever with the service the atmosphere just depends what time of day you go and considering they remodeled recently it is not bad for family setting or otherwise. The Korean place sounds interesting considering locally raised beef even though I don't eat meat.
Underbelly is pretty great, be adventurous. If you want bizarre foods, I found some bull penis at the Hong Kong Market.
I used to eat Underbelly for lunch a lot but it just kept getting more inconsistent and worse. I won't be returning. I have had a half dozen terrible lunches there. I haven't eaten dinner there before, which I hear is better, but I am just not impressed anymore.
Underbelly has some fantastic Asian fusion tapas options. Is also a wine bar. Owner is a Texans season ticket holder and owns HayMerchant...really cool guy. Having said that, I've been to Underbelly twice and although I loved the food my wife and I agree the service was the worst we have ever had.
He had a goat curry dish and then a selection of the deserts. He was eating with the owner's daughter who grew up in Houston and had never eaten goat until then.
Rat is mild compared to some of the stuff he's eaten. In the Cambodia episode he ate crickets, tarantulas, bats and partial developed duck eggs. The one he got was more developed than he was told and had feathers and a bill. That same episode he also got sick eating raw shellfish from the Mekong that had been sitting in the sun for awhile. His guide even told him not to eat it.
Speaking of bizarre foods at Christmas dinner last night one of my cousins who was with me in Chengdu last year and saw me eat BBQ rabbit asked me if that was the weirdest thing I had eaten. Being that I was having dinner with some relatives (by marriage) who are real whitebread Minnesotans I had to say "not even close but I probably shouldn't talk about it while the rest of you are eating."
