A cliche line, but you know what they say everything is bigger in Texas…

As the 4th largest city in the United States, Houston did  justice to their a diverse and large cuisine of authentic southwestern Tex-Mex styled food. Diversity was beautifully executed by infusing different cultures, which reminded me of the foundations to building America today.

Recommended Food Stops:

1. Ambriza- Social Mexican Kitchen: If its your first time there, make sure to tell them! You don’t want to miss out on their complimentary street corn.  Serving you the finest of their finest margs! On the specialty drink menu, they have two drinks that stood out. One with Cucumbers and Jalapaneos and another Pomegranate Paradise. The cucumber and jalapaneo margarita was an award winning novelty as the best margarita in town. Not too sweet but had the perfect balance between that spicy and sweet flavor and was quite refreshing! If you’re looking for something a little bit more on the sweet side I would try the pomegranate margarita. A little too sweet for my liking but I would definitely give a sip. A classic and refreshing drink was the Caribbean Mule, you can never go wrong with this! Now coming to the food. Everything we ordered such as; Enchiladas Verdes, Enchiladas de Pato al Mole, and the Chipotle Chicken, had such decadent flavors, you could tell the chefs cared about what they were serving and wanted to do the tex-mex style food justice.
2. Velvet Taco: This place brought a nice piece of home to one of my favorite cuisines. The infusion of Indian culture into a Mexican taco bar was done so beautifully. The Spicy Tikka Chicken had to be my favorite! All the flavors were there along with the spice. It was a well thought out and balanced taco. The Fried Paneer was also a house-hold favorite. Like the chicken tikka the flavors melded together very well. Last but not least the Fish n’Chips was also a huge hit!  The batter on the outside had a nice crunch to it and was velvety soft on the inside. The slaw and curry mayo wrapped the dish together very well.
3. Peli Peli- South African: There’s a first time for everything and I’m so glad I had an amazing first time experience with South African cuisine. Something I noticed was a lot of Indian influenced spices and foods with an African twist. As an appetizer I highly recommend the South African Samosa. A samosa is a classic Indian snack made with lentils and potatoes. On this take of the samosa it was filled with a chicken stuffing and melted in your mouth with the delicious mango chutney.  A must have is the Peli Peli Curried Chicken. The chicken was so incredibly juicy and each bite melted in your mouth. It was covered in a savory sweet(almost like a bbq sauce) and fell right off the platter that was holding it up(you’ll know what I am talking about haha). The Curried Spaghetti Squash is a great vegetarian option for veggie lovers. Sometimes spaghetti squash lacks flavor and is bland, but this dish was hearty and full of flavor.

Curried Spaghetti Squash

4. Crema Espresso Stand: Looking for your friendly neighborhood coffee place, this is the place to go!