International Cultural Exchange Food

There is a great little deli-style restaurant downstairs in the office building at 3701 Kirby, just north of I59 and Kirby.  The Turquiose Grill is owned by a Turkish immigrant who planned it all around an authentic brick oven.  Prices are very reasonable, and catering is available.  The traditional foods such as hummus, stuffed grape leaves and grilled eggplant are very good.  For an extra special treat, try the lahmajun, a pizza style meat pie with ground lamb and minced onion and garlic.  It travels directly from the brick oven to your plate!

A special thanks to Julio Cornavaca for finding this little gem….

Cafe Red Onion has one of Houston’s unique Honduran and latin culinary concepts with its “LATIN FUSION” of flavors. Offering you a non-smoking environment, top ten chefs and professional staff, it’s a perfect setting for a memorable culinary experience.

Owner and chef Rafael Galindo, a native of Honduras, not only melds many different Latin cuisines but he’s also a master of presentation, using strips of red tortilla as a decorative, edible confetti and stacking everything so neatly on the plate that you almost want to leave it undisturbed.

They have three locations:

West - Eldridge
Eldridge Enclave Parkway
1111 Eldridge Parkway
(281) 293-7500

Northwest - 290 (shown on map)
12440 NW Freeway
(713) 957-0957

Southwest Kirby
Kirby @ Norfolk
3910 Kirby #C
(713) 807-1122

Robert tells us about the Saffron Moroccan Restaurant:

Saffron Moroccan Restaurant
(713) 522-3562
2002 Lexington St
Houston, TX 77098
Cross Street: Between S Shepherd Dr and Hazard St

This trendy Moroccan restraunt has some very good dishes. The menu offers authentic Moroccan cusine, such as tagines, couscous, Moroccan chicken pie with almonds and cinnamon. Everything in the restaurant is for sale - from the carvings, umber lamps, and carved chairs. . I went during the week and for $10 a person can sample many favorites. The real couscous taste like nothing I have ever had from a prepared box and was very good. My favorite was this meat dish called Pastilla (pronounced “Baw-stilla”). It looked like a giant pie, and can be 3-5 feet in diameter. The decor is was way cool, one room looks like a shiek’s tent and something out of the movies. It’s a great place to watch people from all over the world. The chef and owner Youssef Nafaa’s owns several other chic downtown places as well.

Cafe Miami Cuban Restaurant

South West Houston in the Sharpstown Area

PS: Best black beans in Houston!

Locals find it here with such starters as avocado soup, Cuban tamals (plumper than Mexican tamales) and fried plantains, the standard appetizer of the islands. Another favorite is the empanadas, which are fried pies filled with beef, cream cheese or guava. Entrees include shredded beef in tomato sauce, breaded pork steak, Cuban-style ground beef, grilled chicken breast and a whole fried red snapper. These dinners come with black beans and rice (white or saffron-spiked yellow). You’ll want to sample the stout Cuban espresso and such juice choices guanabana, mango, papaya, mora and maracuya.

Americas
1800 Post Oak Blvd
Houston, TX 77056
(713) 961-1492

For a special evening out try America’s, South American fare with a Caribbean/Yucatan twist. I have been in this place a couple times and it always impresses me. Dishes like apple-wood-smoked, bacon-wrapped tuna or the pork tenderloin sauteed with lime, scallions and roasted peppers. I love black beans and the signature black-bean soup served in a bread boule is excellent. This is no Tex- Mex place and has been rated the #1 restaurant in Houston more than once. Save it for a special day. PS: Its in the Galleria Area.

Robert reports:

My lunch spot for good Vietnamese is PHO 95. It’s at the intersection of Gears Rd and Veterans Memorial Drive approximately 4 miles south of FM 1960. My fav is the charbroiled chicken served with rice and topped with the traditional sauce.About $5 is all you need and one has to look around to see that the place is full of local Vietnamese who eat there! Nuff Said.

Minh Nhat writes to us that:

My favourite place is a bit different because it’s actually a center with many restaurants, food stores and it is more known as the Hong Kong market on Veterans Memorial. It indeed has a food store called HongKong Super Market where I got almost anything that satisfy my Asian part (by that I mean Vietnamese ingredients guys :>). Moreover, it has several restaurant such as Pho Danh, Pho Dung (this one just opened), Pho Hoi Quan that sells tons of delicious Vietnamese cuisines (trust me, Im a Vietnamese . At a corner, there’s also a Tabiocca Drinking Place which is awesome, Janet likes it! Uhm, what else? Find out for yourself then..

(281) 537-5280

The Russian General Store is a great place to shop for Russian food supplies. It is not a restaurant but you can get all the items you need for a great Russian Meal.

They are located at 9629 Hillcroft, Houston, Texas 77096. You can also call them at 713 721 7592.

Recommended by Janet and confirmed by my Russian neighbor as the best in town.

Give them a visit and let us know what you think.

Well if you are looking for Columbian food from home look no further than on Veterian’s Memorial South of FM1960.

Well, if you already have a place that serves great food from your hometown it would great to know about it so we can share the information.

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It is that simple!

And it helps other students trying to locate some home cooking.  You can be sure they will thank you later!