Cooglife Restaurant and Dining 2017 by The Cougar

ISSUE 19

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OC TOBER 2017

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R E S TA U R A N T & D I N I N G

HOUSTON

10/17 Witt Lowry 10/21 Atlas Genius 10/22 MAX 11/5 Poppy 11/17 Jacob Banks

THE BOX OFFICE AT REVENTION MUSIC CENTER OR CHARGE BY PHONE AT 800-745-3000

All dates, acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice. A service charge is added to each ticket.

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

Letter From The Editor

THE TEAM EDITORIAL Julie Araica, Executive Editor

FOOD SMILES

If I were to list off the things in life that are most important to me, IHOP would easily be in my top five. The love affair started on the Sunday mornings of my childhood, serving as a much needed treat for sitting through hours of Sunday school. I would always get the same thing — chocolate chip pancakes with a whip cream smiley face.

As the days turned to years, and nothing in my life stayed the same, IHOP was a constant. It would go from the Sunday morning refuge to the 3 a.m. Saturday hangout, but still, it remained. But then came the freshman 15. As a lover of food, for the longest time there was nothing that seemed more ridiculous to me than the idea of going on a diet. To be fair, I dabbled in veganism for a while before switching back to vegetarianism, but there was never a time in my life where I just straight up deprived myself of one of the greatest pleasures of life. 4

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

And now here I am, on the tenth day of the first real diet in my life editing a magazine about food. I know it sounds dramatic, and it is, but my relationship with food is changing. Will I deprive myself? Never. I believe that everything is fine in moderation, and I tell myself that every day when I wonder why my diet isn’t working as quickly as I want it to. The truth is, food is such an important part of my life. Food was always a way for me to get closer to someone. Whether that meal be with my family, a friend I haven’t seen in while or an awkward first date with some guy I want to get to know.

Sharing a meal with someone is such a raw, intimate way to feel closer to them, and to share in something that makes you human. It’s also such a huge aspect of culture, and eating the food of a certain culture is often times the ﬁrst way we can become familiar with that culture. Do I think it’s important

to eat healthy? Of course, but I also think it’s important to live a little and experience diﬀerent foods. It’s one of the simpler pleasures in life, but it’s one that will always leave me with a smile on my face. And no matter how much I want them to, the smiley faces I get on my lifesum app for the food I ate that meal will never be as satisfying as the ones on my IHOP pancakes.

JULIE ARAICA Executive Editor

arts@thedailycougar.com

karin keller, Assistant Editor artsassist@thedailycougar.com

erin davis, Assistant Editor

artsassist2@thedailycougar.com

DESIGN sonny singh, Creative Director ame@thedailycougar.com

katie santana

WRITING dana c. jones

PHOTOGRAPHY erin davis matthew pak

RADIO greg fails

VIDEO REEM AL BISHAH, Producer

ADVERTISING Callista Brown, Sales Manager csmadvertising@uh.edu 713–743–5340

larissa Jimenez Muhammad ali

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

MOnday

oct

30 31

Tuesday

oct

KICK-OFF PEP RALLY/BLOCK PARTY with RHA

Thursday

nov

Student Center Plaza 7–10 PM This event will include everything from Houston themed activities to a special announcement of our 2017 Court!

HOMECOMING FIESTA with FRONTIER FIESTA Lynn Eusan Park 5–7 PM Come out to get a taste of Frontier Fiesta and celebrate two campus traditions!

HOMECOMING CONCERT with SPB Lynn Eusan Park Gates open at 7 PM Concert starts at 8 PM

CAN-STRUCTION! with MVP

A free outdoor concert and a chance to dance the night away!

Student Center Plaza 11 AM–2 PM Each Spirit Cup team will make a sculpture out of canned goods, plus special activities for students!

friday

nov

ROCK THE CAMPUS with MVP

2017171 7 201 20 STRUT YOUR STUFF Houston Room 7–10 PM

Spirit teams will showcase our theme through sketches, step shows, or performances.

wednesday

NOV

0011

RISE AND SHINE Cullen Performance Hall, Circle Drive 7–9 AM

Breakfast for our students, as well as a surprise that will “blow you away!”

WAY BACK WEDNESDAY with SPB Student Center Circle Drive 11:30 AM–1:30 PM

With throwback performances and activities, students will be able to take a trip down memory lane.

saturday

nov

Lynn Eusan Park 9 AM–12 PM

Students will spread across campus and work on several service based activities.

TRIP TO HOUSTON

Lynn Eusan Park 7–10 PM Students can experience Houston’s iconic districts, without ever leaving campus! Join us one last time as we take you around the city and create a memorable night!

UH v. E EAST AST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME TDECU Stadium TBA

Our football team will take to the field to play against East Carolina University end the week!

BED RACES

TDECU Stadium 7–10 PM

Come experience Homecoming’s newest tradition and watch Spirit Cup teams race a bed toget the ffastest astest time of the night!

@UHHOMECOMING @ UHHOMECOMING

//HOMECOMING.UH HOMECOMING.UH

UH.EDU/HOMECOMING U H.EDU/HOMECOMING

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

CONTENTs TOP 8 CHEAP RESTAURANTS DIM SUM DISASTER

HOUSTON BURGER GUIDE

BREAKFAST AROUND THE WORLD FUSION FOOD FUSS

INSIDE LOOK AT A FOOD TRUCK WHERE SHOULD YOU EAT?

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

TOP EIGHT

X houston restaraunts for dining on a budget story by karin keller

art by julie araica

Houston is widely known for its diverse and extensive cuisine. But for a student who’s trying dine on a budget, things can get expensive. Here’s a comprehensive list of places around Houston that offer the best bang for your buck.

ra sushi

One of the most popular Sushi chains in the United States of America, conveniently located in Highland Village, is a just a short 15 minute drive from campus. RA’s happy hours on Mondays through Saturdays from 3 p.m to 7 p.m and then again from 10 p.m to closing boasts a variety sushis from $5.00 to $7.00.

oishii

While Oishii may not have a blow-you- away happy hour menu, their regular lunch prices are unbeatable. Stop in before 3 p.m any day of the week and you can get a chicken, salmon or shrimp Bento Box with rice, salad, soup and two rolls for the extraordinarily low price of $8.75.

pistolero’s

For when you’re truly on a budget, make your way to Pistolero’s for Taco Tuesday where you can get any of their ten tacos for $1.00 each. Pistolero’s also has Margarita Mondays where they offer Margaritas— frozen or on the rocks— for only $3.00 (i.e the perfect place to unwind during midterm season).

punk ’s simple southern food

Although their happy hour menu might not be extensive, everything on it is $5.00 or less. Punk’s Simple Southern Food offers their Happy hour menu every Tuesday through Friday from 4 p.m to 7 p.m and every Friday though Saturday from 9 p.m to 11 p.m. Due to the extremely low pri es you can get a few of the items, like their famous frito pie, on the menu and still be under $10.00!

beer market

Some of your favorite places to get wings might have put a halt to their wing specials but Beer Market co. has not. Come by any Monday night between 2 p.m and 11 p.m and reap the benefits of their 50¢ wings and $3.00 local craft beers.

sweet paris

Right down the street in Rice Village, Sweet Paris is one of the few places in Houston you can find a variety of Crepes. While this may seem a bit fancy, everything on the menu is under $10.00 and their savory crepes are sure to fill you up. Not to mention you order at the register meaning you wont have to pay any extra in tips.

state of grace

The perfect place for a date, this charming and vintage restaurant has an incredible ambiance and menu. The menu is somewhat pricy but if you’re a fan of oysters this is your place. Every Monday through Friday from 11 a.m to 6 p.m, State of Grace offers $1 dollar oysters so you can go out fancy date without the lofty check.

caracol

Another date spot located right off of Post Oak, Caracol is an upscale Mexican restaurant owned by Chef Hugo Ortega. Their happy hour, everyday from 3 p.m to 7 p.m, includes a “todo por siete” menu of bite all for $7.00. If you do stop by, make sure to try one of their delicious and unique desserts.

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

DIM SUM DISASTER

STORY BY ERIN DAVIS // ART BY KATIE SANTANA

There’s honestly nothing more frustrating than blind-ordering when out to eat, except maybe to ﬁnd out that what you ordered is something your whole table dislikes. A good friend of mine had suggested that we get dim sum over the weekend. Beyond a basic description of “soup dumplings,” they didn’t give a clear picture of what the experience was going to be like. But as a white female raised on Americanized Asian fusion, I had unconsciously set an expectation of what dim sum was going to be like. Our dim sum was going to be a simpliﬁed caricature of the authentic thing, something that would be tailored to my tastes and something easy for us to partake in.

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COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

Dim sum is a type of a social dining experience where small portions of Chinese food is served in steamer baskets or plates. It’s traditionally served with endless tea, called yum cha, as breakfast or brunch. It has Cantonese origins that go back to travelers along the Silk Road. The items were wheeled past us on carts, the attendants told us the Chinese name of the dish, lifting up the tin lid and letting the steam clear. In spite of all the accommodations, the experience was turning out to be increasingly stressful. Our table had no idea what to do besides choosing items from the cart, after which our bill was stamped depending on the size of the dish. As the person who could see what the cart had to offer, it was my duty to try and pick something. Within the first ten minutes, we ended up with four different unknown dishes. My friend claimed the place where she had gone to before offered an English menu that told you what was in each dish, something that wasn’t available at our location. As the table descended on the mystery selections, I was met with looks of disappointment. Nothing was like what we expected, and it was me

who had chosen the wrong ones, so it was my fault that our bill kept increasing with little reward. I was frustrated and infuriated with dim sum, thoroughly displeased. Until I realized I had absolutely no right to be. It was from a point of privilege that I was trying to force dim sum into my expectation of what Asian food was supposed to be like. I didn’t want the actual traditional experience of Chinese dining, and was instead looking for it to accommodate my Americanized version of what it should have been. If I had taken the time to learn what was usually served, we would have known exactly what was on those carts, what we wanted to order, and would not have had to go through so much trial and error. To think that I could be angry over something I had brought on myself, left me looking directly at my own privilege, and where I had passed over the opportunity to learn more about a culture that I thought I was familiar with. In future dining adventures, I think it’s important to learn about the origin of the food you’re eating, how it’s prepared and what it means, instead of trying to make it into what you expected it to be. And in regards to dim sum, we’ll deﬁnitely be going again.

HoUsToN BuRgEr GuIdE STORY AND ART BY JULIE ARAICA

BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK If you want to get ﬁlled up with an entire meal for under $10, Cream Burger is the place to go. A a hole in the wall spot, everything here is under $5 but completely delicious. Be warned that this place only accepts cash, but a little will get you a long way here.

FOR EXPERIMENTERS If you’re sick of sticking to the same formula and want to try a less traditional burger, head over to Hopdoddy Burger Bar. They oﬀer an “Ahi Tuna Burger” made of tuna, teriyaki, honey wasabi, nori chips and pickled ginger.

BEST BURGER TO SPLURGE ON Kenny & Ziggy’s Deli oﬀers a monstrous burger with an $18 price tag. Is it worth it? Absolutely. The burger comes with a pool of fries and coleslaw, containing challah buns ﬁlled with meat, bacon, avocado, lettuce, pepper jack cheese and onion rings.

FOR MEAT LOVERS Boasting a total of 22 burgers on their menu, Guru Burgers & Crepes has everything to satisfy your carnivorous needs. Whether you’re in the mood for beef, buﬀalo, chicken, turkey or even salmon, this place has what you’re looking for. Not only is there variety, but also quality when it comes to their selection of meats. Everything is grass-fed or lean, and can be added to your dish. FOR VEGETARIANS While almost all of these places have some type of vegetarian option on their menu, Brasil Cafe’s black bean burger can’t be beat. It is grilled to perfection and won’t fall apart like so many other burgers do. You can also choose to veganize the burger if you’d like and they’ll remove the cheese for you.

@thedailycougar

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

Breakfast recipes from around the world STORY BY KARIN KELLER // ART BY KATIE SANTANA Ingredients: •1 tablespoon rolled oats •2 tablespoons water •1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk •2 teaspoons lemon juice •1 large or 2 small apples, grated with the skin •6 raw hazelnuts or almonds, chopped

Pastelitos // Cuba Ingredients: •1 pkg. Pepperidge Farm Puﬀ Pastry Sheets •1 bar guava paste •1 pkg. Cream cheese (optional) Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Thaw the puﬀ pastry according to package directions. 3. Use baking parchment to line your cookie sheet so the guava won’t stick. 4. Unfold one of the pastry sheets and place on pan. 5. Cut guava into ¼ inch slices and place on the pastry sheet. 6. Spread cream cheese over guava paste slices (optional). 7. Unfold second pastry sheet and place on top of guava paste. 8. Cut to desired size before baking. 9. Bake at 400 for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. 10

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

Directions: 1. In a small bowl, mix the oats and water and let them soften overnight in the refrigerator. 2. Add the sweetened condensed milk and stir. Evaporated milk, cream or regular milk can be substituted. You can add 2 teaspoons of sugar to regular milk, or try honey, agave nectar or stevia if you would like to avoid sugar. 3. Mix grated apple with lemon juice and then add it to the oat mixture. Sprinkle with raw chopped almonds or hazelnuts and serve.

Müesli // Switzerland

Mandazi // Kenya Ingredients: 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup milk 2 Tbsp. butter, melted 2 cups white flour 2 tsp. baking powder Directions: 1.Make sure all ingredients are temperature before mixing them together. 2.Mix all the ingredients together, adding more flour if necessary. Make sure the dough is soft, not sticky. 3.Roll the dough on a lightly floured board until it is about 1/4 inch think. 4.Cut into triangles and fry in hot oil. 5.Fry until both sides are golden brown. 6.Remove mandazi from oil and drain on paper towels. Serve warm. 7.Sprinkle powdered sugar on top (optional).

The fusion food fuss

The blending of foods has been appearing everywhere — from swanky restaurants to city roaming food trucks.

But, how much of this “fusion food” is real, and how much of it is just dressed up fries? Fusion food, at its core, is the blending of two or more cultures’ foods and styles to make something diﬀerent and new. For instance, the noodles in our spaghetti were inﬂuenced by Chinese noodles.

food trucks and even some of the most authentic Asian restaurants in Bellaire all sell this staple dish.

Most of the popular fusion foods are Asian-based. There is no market in Italian, Greek, Nigerian or Latin fusion food outside of dressing tacos with Asian condiments and meats.

Kimchi fries, although good, are not actually fusion. It’s fries ala Asian meat spices and kimchi.

Granted, this may be in part because other cultures are very protective of their foods. Some do not want outside forces or inﬂuences in their food because of the history and importance the food holds. That being said, if you are going to do fusion food, you still have to do it correctly.

The culture around this one fusionesque beacon is huge. Asian based

People do right it all of the time without even thinking about it. It

400+

INFINITE

BY DANA C. JONES

usually comes in the privacy of people’s own homes. Going back to spaghetti, some people down south put creole seasoned shrimp and crawﬁsh into their dishes. Others might use a pot roast in a stir fry. The concept of fusion food stems from curiosity, creativity and the love of other cultures. To create real fusion food there has to be ﬁrst be open-mindedness. The next step is letting go and allowing yourself to learn from others so you can then implement that newfound knowledge. After that, something truly new that is both fusion and still allows those two cultures to exist can be achieved.

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Your #UHSuccess is defined by you! Find out more at uh.edu/dsaes

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COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

story and photos by erin davis and courtesy of matthew pak

MEALS EN ROUTE

Approaching The Burger Joint at UH campus early Wednesday, it’s easy to hear jokes and laughter of some five-or-so employees packed into the truck. The cashier carefully slides past the two men preparing the food practically back to back. Even though it’s only 11 am, a single student is already waiting patiently for their order. Matthew Pak, the owner of The Burger Joint, has two trucks in Houston, as well as a brick-andmortar location on Montrose. He’ll be expanding to a second Houston location soon, which is no small feat in the food industry, and speaks to the success of his business. A veteran food-truck owner, Pak has spent seven years building up a business that he can be proud of. “I first opened Koagie Hots,” Pak said. “Koagie Hots was like a Korean fusion, Korean barbeque 12

COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

cheesesteak truck. I opened that, ran that and then opened another truck called The Golden Grill. We also ended up taking over a truck called Coreanos, which is still open.”

mortars, but we got to The Burger Joint, which obviously did. I think, ultimately, it’s a good way to start a business for less risk.”

Even though Koagie Hots and The Golden Grill are closed, and Coreanos was sold last year, The Burger Joint was started three years ago, and has been expanding ever since. For Pak, it’s his dream to be a restaurant owner finally realized.

Even though those looking to get into the food truck industry don’t have to worry about high overhead costs and enjoy a smaller upfront investment, there are definitely enough challenges to make up for it. Maintenance and upkeep of the trucks is often the costliest challenge, especially because the trucks are always on the go.

“I was always in the food business, my dream was to always open a restaurant, whether it was fastcasual, or fine dining,” Pak said. “Food trucks are a good way to start with a low amount of money. It’s quicker; a good way to test concepts. We tested Koagie Hots, The Golden Grill, and a bunch of different concepts. It didn’t really necessarily evolve into brick-and-

“You’re running off of like gas generators; everything requires so much maintenance and things break down and there’s traveling. A lot of food trucks do stuff in the suburbs and trucks break down on the way to big events. It’s a really high-stress business to open,” Pak said. “It’s nearly impossible to get people out there to do maintenance on a food truck last minute.”

Other issues include storing food and retaining staff, which can be especially hard in Houston. “No matter how many AC units you put in a truck, they’re not ideal working conditions in a kitchen, in a parking lot, open 12 to 15 hours a day,” Pak said. “When you open a food truck, you find yourself shopping every single day, for every single event. It’s not like all of these food trucks have restaurants to pull from. Storage is a huge issue for most for most of the trucks out there. You can only fit a day’s worth of food on the truck, if that.” In spite of the challenges, food trucks have become increasingly popular over the last several years, especially for larger corporate events and music festivals. Pak is adamant that’s where the future of food trucks lies, because people always like to have a lot of different options and variety. “For an example, like with weddings. It’s a good option versus full set-up buffet catering. You call a food truck, they don’t have to bring anything, they don’t need space. They just bring the food truck, they can park, put on their own power, everything,” Pak said. “You can bring in ten different concepts for a huge corporate event. It gives all of their tenants, staff and workers options to eat. Even older companies are bringing in food trucks.” Pak owns both a restaurant and the trucks, but in terms of regulation, sometimes the two don’t quite get along. “A regulation that I don’t agree with is trucks aren’t allowed to have seating and chairs within a 100 feet

A prospective Burger Joint customer takes a minute to order off the menu. | Erin Davis/Cooglife of the food truck, which is crazy,” Pak said. “I’m not against anything that restaurants are worried about, but if seats around the food truck are aﬀecting your business to the point that your business is failing, then it’s not the food truck aﬀecting your business; it’s your business.”

“As far as the catering side of it, the private events, the big events, I think it will stay like this forever.”

Are you watching?

Matthew Pak has ridden his food truck to success, but feels that the time to join in on the trend may have already passed due to the huge inﬂux of competition in later years. While he’s not certain the market is going to keep expanding, the way that we eat at events has been changed permanently. facebook.com/uhsvn

@uhsvn

youtube.com/channel6svn COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

WHERE SHOULD YOU EAT TODAY? What do you crave when you’re sad?

When is your favorite time to eat?

A. Dessert

B. Pizza

C. Meat

D. Soup

What is your favorite type of cuisine?

House of Pies

Open 24 hours and oﬀering a huge selection of breakfast food and deserts, this college staple never fails to satisfy for your cravings for typical southern comfort eats.

MOSTLY B

Bombay Pizza Company

If you like both pizza and Indian food, why not try the fantastic combination of both of them?

MOSTLY C

How much of a “health nut” are you?

A. American Comfort

A. What kind of nut?

B. Indian

B. I have my cheat days

C. Mediterranean

C. I think I eat pretty healthy

D. Vietnamese

MOSTLY A

D. I’m vegan

Aladdin

While it’s kind of on the pricier side, Aladdin is a great place to bring friends and indulge in huge portions of excellent Mediterranean food.

MOSTLY D

Jenni’s Noodle House

Very accommodating of vegan and vegetarians alike, Jenni’s is a great place to get ramen, pho or dumplings.

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COOGLIFE // OCTOBER 2017

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