CleverDonkey.com …Musings, Commentary, Opinions, and Drivel

Dragon Bowl Asian Bistro

1221 W 11th St

Houston, TX 77008

(713) 426-2750

http://www.dragonbowlbistro.com/

Dragon Bowl Asian Bistro is a new restaurant at the edge of the Heights, at the intersection of N. Shepherd and 11th. We’ve been watching them build out the space for it in the strip center and have been anxiously awaiting the opening of another nearby food choice. It finally opened recently and today we finally made it in to try it out.

All three of us got bowls, and they were pretty good. Mine was shrimp, vermicelli, assorted veggies in a citrus sauce and it was quite tasty. I had steamed dumplings as an appetizer and they were okay. The rest of the group liked their food as well, but there were no raves.

There were two issues that detracted from the dining experience. The first is that we waited over 30 minutes from

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McCain’s Market

Heights Blvd at White Oak (6th)

Houston, Texas

http://www.mccainsmarket.com

I had been waiting. The fancy new stone shopping center put up in the Heights had been empty for almost two years, except for an antiques store that came and went. Then I was watching — coffee cups and cappucino machines appeared in the window. Finally! A good coffee place in the Heights! Maybe a Starbucks? Then a few days later, a Boar’s Head deli sign on the wall was visible… clearly this place was going to be more than just a little corner coffee shop.

Finally it opened! It took us about a week to get in there, but we finally stopped in today. Wow, what a place! Gourmet spaghetti sauces, Napa Valley buttermilk pancake mix with exotic syrups (boysenberry merlot!), a great cheese case, a few choice bits of produce (shallots!), fancy teas, chocolates (fabulous dark Parisian chocolate with orange peel!)

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Jenny Jurica, Pet Sitter

281 546-5941

Jenny@wetnosenews.com

www.wetnosenews.com

We recently had the opportunity to take our I guess-it’s-gonna-be-annual cross-country road trip. While the two hounds got to romp the week away at Urban Tails, the kitties were gonna need some in-house attention. At that point, I sort of knew who Jenny was from an email she’d sent me months ago — she’d found our puppies’ web site and let me know about her petsitting service.

Boy am I glad she did… she was GREAT!! We’d used various petsitters in the past — all were competent but none made me feel like the cats were in true pet-lover hands like Jenny’s. When she came to our house for the meet-and-greet before we actually left, our dogs just went right up to her. Weagle the guard-dog Rottweiler didn’t even bark — I think that’s a first!!

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Maria Rodriguez

Home: 713 413 1659

Cell: 832 875 8115

If you’re anything like us, you like having a clean house but hate housecleaning. Or you don’t have time. Or it’s a point of marital tension — differing definitions of “clean” and differing tolerances for “dirty”. To solve any or all of these issues you might be willing to give up a portion of your otherwise “fun” money to have someone (or some service) come in and clean up your house every so often, if only…

…if only. And there’s always the trouble I’ve had. If only you can find someone you like. Someone you trust. Someone who will come into your house and do a good job, and you can trust to be in your house with your things (and your pets!) but won’t leave you feeling like your personal space has been invaded. Truly

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Shade

250 W. 19th Street

Houston, Tx 77008

713 863 7500

You can tell when you enter a new restaurant if it’s helmed by a true restaurateur or a wannabe. This place is the real deal. We went to Shade for brunch this morning, and the entire experience was perfectly crafted, start to finish. It’s definitely going to be on the repeat list.

For starters, the restaurant is located in the old location of the Kaldi Cafe, next door to Edin and October Galleries on 19th in the heart of the heavy foot traffic antique-ing district. The space has been unrecognizeably transformed from Kaldi’s dilapidated corner-of-an-antiques-shop crumbliness to an airy, soft, Asian-inspired eatery that is easily prepared to compete with Houston’s nicest bistros. (Since I believe Shade is owned by the same person who runs the Daily Review on Lamar, this doesn’t surprise me — the Daily Review is one of Houston’s nicest bistros).

Brunch menu

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So, Mynagirl and Engineerboy head out on the town for New Year’s Eve for a little food and dancing at The Mercury Room. I always fancy a chance to dress up sparkly, and Scott very gamely plays along… plus, Soul Circus was the band at Mercury Room, and they are our absolute favorite live band that we’ve heard in Houston.

The Fashion Report for the evening included a Carmen Marc Valvo dress with two layers of silk chiffon covered by a layer of beaded lace paired with a trusty set of Stuart Weitzmans and some new Christmas earrings, plus a sequined flower in the hair. The dress was actually very comfortable, and molto bene for dancing… quite twirly! Scott wore a Tallia Uomo suit with a DKNY dress shirt and a tone-on-tone Ermenegildo Zegna tie. (Ok, maybe none of you care, but I put this

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Nino’s Restaurant

2817 West Dallas

Houston, Tx 77019

713 522 5120

This year we decided to do the big evening out for New Year’s. Our daughter would be up in Indiana (instead of down here in Houston with us) and so we would be left to our own devices for evening entertainment if we so chose. Lucky for us, our favorite live band was playing at our favorite club and we decided to make a whole evening of it.

Of course, the perfect start to that type of evening has to be the just-right spot to eat. In a place like Houston, there are so many great spots to choose from, even when I limited myself to the spots near the house. I was looking for the exact right combination of ambiance, price, location, and food to fit the evening’s adventures. I knew I was going to go dressy with the outfit but I didn’t

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Ragazza

920 Studemont

Houston TX 77007

713 864 3700

We’ve been meaning to try this place since it originally opened as The Rivendell, but the Rivendell closed down so quickly we never got a chance. The new joint, Ragazza, shows the hallmarks of being a vulturous re-incarnation — the strategy is that you let the other guy pour all the money into the fixtures and furnishings and opening the place, then let him spend but not recover enough money to keep the place open, and you then swoop in and set up your own shop at rock-bottom prices without even having to hire a decorator.

The location is a bit odd and may have contributed to the Rivendell’s tough time of it — it’s in the new strip center at the Southeast corner of Montrose and Washington. The neighborhood is definitely going upscale, with the new townhomes and nice apartment houses, but the décor of

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http://www.drafthouse.com

West Oaks Mall
Westheimer & Highway 6
Houston Texas
(281) 556-0204

The Alamo Drafthouse is what I’ve long hoped for in a movie theater: a place where I can go watch a first-run movie and also have a decent meal served to me while I watch. It’s pure heaven. I can’t even describe it. If you haven’t gone, GO! Seriously. I know it’s a schlep if you don’t live over on the West side, but it is WORTH it. I know you may think you know how great it would be to get your meal brought to you during a movie, but until you’ve experienced it, you just can’t know how wonderful it is.

We’ve been twice now, once for a first run flick (Kill Bill, Vol. I) and once for a classic film (The Hustler). Both times have proven that the Alamo knows what they’re doing. Seating opens 45 minutes before the

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Garage Door Doctor

Vince Johnson

Repair Specialist

New Installation

Openers

281-578-7659

Houston, TX

I always like to give local people and places props on our website when I can, and I’m long overdue to put some good words about the Garage Door Doctor up here.

Our mid-80′s Heights garden house (think townhouse, but with no shared walls and an apron of land) is a cute almost-Victorian affair, with wood siding, fishscale details, and lots of white trim. When we bought the house, it included some very heavy custom-made wooden garage doors, which steadily deteriorated in the moist Houston humidity (so has the wood siding, but replacing it is a task for another time). Finally it got to the point that Scott wouldn’t let me walk under the doors while they were moving for fear they might finally disintegrate and fall on my head.

We finally called the Garage Door Doctor at the recommendation of our friend Bruce, and boy

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