Houston Food Blog

​Eating Our Words recently became acquainted with and enamored with Capital Sales, a "scratch-and-dent" grocery store on the corner of Almeda and Binz. The sign out front declares discounts to 30 to 60 percent on a wide variety of goods, and once inside, you discover it's no lie. We love to stock up on their 20-cent Jumex fruit nectars there. We mix it with Topo Chico mineral water, which, at 50 cents a bottle, can't be found any cheaper anywhere else.

Capital Sales is also strong in the coffee, jam, cereal, sauce/condiment, and canned goods departments, but it doesn't offer much in the way of meat or produce, and there is no alcohol, as near as we can tell. There are some interesting items in the frozen food department - we stocked up on pot-stickers and spring rolls at a ridiculously low price. (The only meat Capital Sales peddles is frozen.)

They also sell non-food products like shampoo, toilet paper, and feminine hygiene products, at the same discount you'll find on the food.

But if you look closely enough, you'll notice that a good portion of the items are past their sell-by dates, often by weeks or months. As a person who has been living off this stuff for weeks now, shouldn't I be dead by now?

Hardly, says City of Houston Health Department spokeswoman Cathy Barton.

Photos by Robb Walsh

​In August of 2004, I asked a truck driver in the parking lot of Laredo Taqueria on Patton if he agreed that the spectacular breakfast tacos we just ate were the best in the city. "Second best," he said, "the best is Cherry Bakery." I had never heard of Cherry Bakery, and I begged the guy for the location of this El Dorado of the breakfast taco. ​The truck driver said "East of I-45 near Hobby." I have been trying to find the place ever since.

After a five-year search, I finally stumbled upon the Cherry Top Bakery and Taqueria last month. But I fear I was too late. The business appears to be in decline. The signs in the window advertise tortas, pan Mexicano, flautas, gorditas and other such goodies. But the former bakery doesn't sell any of that stuff anymore. Granted, the tacos are made on freshly-made flour tortillas and the barbacoa is stellar. But Laredo Taqueria on Patton is a much better breakfast joint.

Photo by Robb Walsh

​The small banh mi rolls are six for a dollar at the Parisian Bakery next to the giant Viet Hoa supermarket in the Asian shopping center west of Beltway 8 at the Beechnut exit. While I was filling up a bag with the Vietnamese bolillos, I noticed some fine-looking savory pastries topped with chicken, ham and barbecue. They were $2 each and since I didn't have anything planned for lunch, I grabbed one of each flavor. I asked the lady behind the counter what they were called, but she just shrugged.

The bread tasted like moist brioche. The chewy barbecue topping was excellent and chicken was pretty good too. The ham looked good, but there was lot of rubber band-like gristle in the meat that stretched out when you tried to take a bite. I really like the meat-filled pastries called pate chaud at Parisian bakery. I'll come back for more of these chicken and barbecue open-faced brioche sandwiches too.

Photos by Robb Walsh

​As we reported previously, there is a glut of cheap lobster on the market. Last Thursday, I took advantage of the weak market by picking up three sea monsters for a dinner party. The prices at Hong Kong Supermarket in Bellaire Chinatown were $8.99 a pound for big lobsters, and $6.99 for small one-clawed lobsters. (That's a long way down from the $12.99 we usually pay in Houston.) I bought a five-pounder and two three-pounders.

Eating whole lobsters gets pretty messy. And some diners who aren't veteran lobster eaters get intimidated by the claw-cracking and body-ripping thing. So I figured I needed to make a lobster dish that was easy to eat. Boulibasse was my first thought since I got a lot of top quality Spanish saffron a while back and I wanted to use it up before it dried out.

Photo by Robb Walsh

Piculit Neri, an Italian red wine made from an ancient varietal, was the first subject in a series about obscure wine grapes I started on this blog a couple of weeks ago. I was proud of myself for buying such a cool bottle of wine at Nundini's for under $20. About that post, a commenter named ragazzotexano wrote: "Phoenicia has it for $6. It makes for a great red wine at a BBQ." If I thought this smooth Italian red was a good deal at $20, I figured I better go pick up a few bottles for $6.

When I got to Phoenicia, I found myself in obscure varietal hog heaven. Winemaker Emilio Bulfon has revived several other ancient varietals besides Piculit Neri for his "Last Supper" label. Four of Bulfoni's rare varietals were on sale at Phoenicia for $6.99 each -- three for $18. Quite a bargain. Take advantage while it lasts.

As local grocery stores continue to fight over their share of your food dollars, H-E-B has started up My TexasLife, a monthly magazine to try to get more customers into its stores. The handsome publications (about 30 pages each and published by none other than Texas Monthly) offer bright food photographs, wholesome families and heads-up on such things as the rubber mulch H-E-B will start selling in the spring (it's made from recycled H-E-B truck tires).

In the May issue, what follows are health and cooking tips, recipes, a quick primer on how to plan a party, the cork vs. cap debate over how wine should be delivered, beauty tips and lots of coupons.

The June edition talks about the outstanding teacher awards H-E-B hands out every year, the power of vitamins, more recipes, more wine, cleaning tools and lots of coupons.

The monthly issues also tell you what items are on sale.   

It's a free publication (and here at the Press we're all in favor of free publications) that customers can pick up in the store. Since just ripping out a few back pages of coupons can save several dollars on a shopping trip, you might want to add it to your arsenal of survival skills while we're in recession mode.

There's a reason that Whole Foods has earned the nickname "Whole Paycheck" over the years. The grocery store, which emphasizes health foods and organic produce, tends to land squarely on the pricey side of the grocery store spectrum. Even with the introduction of its own line of packaged foods and household items, you're still far more likely to find Muffy and Chaz shopping in your local Whole Foods than the average Joe.

But with the recession now in full suck mode, it appears that the stores have taken additional steps to make their food friendlier on the wallet. You'll notice that your local Whole Foods now has a case in their prepared foods section featuring a wide and very appetizing variety of lunch items for less than $5.

While the foods offered in the case -- mini pizzas, personal-size chicken or veggie pot pies, wraps, sandwiches, salads and even a healthy version of a Lunchable with crackers, cheese, meat and fruit -- look good, we wondered: Do they taste good too?

Photo by Troy Fields

Pizza at Bistro Don Camillo

The heat is already on this summer, so take advantage of the cool air conditioning and the cool deals going on at some of your favorite restaurants.

Fleming's Steakhouse will be offering special deals starting June 23. The summer prix fixe menu features a choice of appetizers, entrees and side dishes such as chilled potato-leek soup and broiled sea scallops that are well-balanced for the steamy weather outside. The prix-fixe menu is $35.95 for three courses and will be offered through September 21.

Further outside the loop, take cool comfort in a relaxing afternoon at Bistro Don Camillo, where Chef Ryan Hildebrand will be featuring the latest in his series of French Country Wine Lunches. On June 19 at noon, Hildebrand will be serving a three-course French-Mediterranean lunch paired with three Cote du Provence wines. At only $38 per person, it's a great way to reward yourself at the end of a long week.

Photo by Robb Walsh

The Nuragus grape is the most widely grown in Sardinia. Some experts believe that the grape was brought to the island more than 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians. It is so prolific and adaptable, it has been called pagadeppidus ("pay-debts grape"), preni tineddus ("fill-up-vats grape") and ua de is paberus ("poorman's grapes"). Overproduction has made it so cheap that few wine experts take it seriously.

A friend of mine found this bottle of Argiolas S'elegas made with 100 percent Nuragus grapes in the bargain bin at Spec's warehouse for $5.99. It was probably on sale because it was from the 2003 vintage -- I have seen the 2007 vintage reviewed already.

Photo by Robb Walsh

The first time I walked into Yapa Kitchen Café in the shopping center at Buffalo Speedway and Bellaire a couple of years ago, I turned around and walked out again. There wasn't anything wrong with the prepared foods in the refrigerator case -- in fact, they looked fantastic. It was the prices I couldn't stomach. $13 for a King Ranch Casserole? $7 for a bag of chips, a soda and a pre-made tuna or chicken salad sandwich on regular whole wheat bread? No thanks.