Houston Restaurant Weeks: La Casa Del Caballo

There are restaurants you drive by a million times and never stop - for no specific reason. We finally stopped at one such place during Houston Restaurant Weeks at La Casa Del Caballo. This building has had many names, and it's known in Houston as one of those 'cursed' locations from the many restaurants it's housed, and from an infamous fire.

Once the last garishly decorated, mediocre suburban Tex-Mex shuttered after four months, the building sat again for a while. Finally, in moves a genuine Mexican steakhouse with a good pedigree: La Casa Del Caballo. The owner, a northern Mexican, would grill for family and friends in his backyard. 

While more elegant than a backyard, the authenticity is undeniable when the smell of mesquite greets you upon entering the building. It reminded me of some very old-world restaurants in Italy and Spain. Nice!

The meal was very good overall, with some pretty outstanding elements. 

The tortilla soup with crispy tortillas, fresco cheese and guahillo pepper strips offered amazingly deep chile flavor. Really rich with umami goodness. 

I hardly ever have steak, but this is a steakhouse so the 6 oz. eye of the ribeye seemed appropriate. While a bit more medium than medium-rare, the quality and flavor more than made up for it. It was simple and simply gorgeous, with four different sauces to enjoy alongside it. I liked combining the tangy red onion and creamy avocado sauces. These mesquite grilled veggies were divine - I could have had a huge mound of them.
 

 

Greg's chicken enchiladas had that amazing red chile sauce on them, and it reminded him a little bit of New Mexico - we both really enjoyed it. And the crispy tortilla housing the chicken was impressively tasty and super-crunchy. The chicken inside was fine and predictable.

 

 

For me, the chocolate and white mousse was a pleasant texture - no grainy feel - though I didn't really finish much of it (I prefer very dark chocolate).  

Greg's Caribbean dark rum cake was moist and flavorful, and that sauce was super-delish.

I'd say we give this place a strong three stars. The decor is quite nice, quality of food is quite good, and plating is unimaginative. We hope they make it as there are plenty of steakhouses, but not northern Mexican ones.

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Thanksgiving dinner for 400

Thanksgiving is upon us. That's partly why today's post is about homelessness. Wait! This isn't depressing - it's HOPEFUL. 

Often I say how lucky we are to have so much at our fingertips in Houston. But not everyone living in the city feels so fortunate. I'm referring to our thousands of homeless people who aren't thinking about art galleries, theater, festivals and fundraisers. They're thinking about whether they can feed their kids tonight. About whether the lights and heat will go out - again. About whether 'he' will come home and beat them once more. About saying no for real to the drugs and finally getting clean.

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection. It's a time when we profess and confess our blessings and hopes for now and tomorrow. Many people open their hearts as the holiday season pushes full speed ahead, and they often spend time volunteering in shelters and soup kitchens serving the homeless.

The yams were huge!

For me, contemplating homelessness doesn't happen once a year. It happens every week. I volunteer in the kitchen at the Star of Hope shelter for women and families, preparing and serving food to women and their children. The kids are heart-breakingly cute, and only know a transient life, while the women range from determinedly transitional in their outlook to desperate yet hopeful.

This week at the shelter, the amazing kitchen staff was in high gear with Thanksgiving preparations. I was fortunate enough to help prep the meal for an anticipated 400 guests. They'll have wonderful turkey, from-scratch gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, plenty of other veggies, pumpkin pie and lots more. I found it impressive that they were even roasting pumpkins to make the pie filling (I can confirm it was delicious). There's something very satisfying about dozens of pumpkin pies being staged for baking. In a shelter, the staff gets creative with menus and I have to say, working here for most of the year I've seen some pretty crazy food ideas which somehow always seem to work.

A place like Star of Hope keeps you humble and prevents you from feeling sorry for yourself for too long. After all, I have so much to be thankful for, despite an odd and challenging year. And, this Thanksgiving I'm very content with just making a side salad since I've already helped with a 400-person dinner!     

P.S. looking for volunteer opportunities in your city? Try VolunteerMatch.

      

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