105 Cafe – Conroe, TX

Conveniently located on Highway 105 in Conroe, Texas,  the 105 Cafe has been a popular spot for a number of years. They have been turning out homestyle American breakfast and lunch dishes made with local and organic ingredients to an increasingly loyal bunch of customers. Once you taste the offerings, you’ll be a convert, too.

From brown eggs fresh off the farm, to locally grown organic produce, this place has a refreshing blend of homestyle and slightly offbeat items on their menu.

Our latest visit was for breakfast, and we found some very satisfying meals awaiting us.

Buffalo Chicken Omelette with Black Beans

 

The Irishman Skillet – corned beef with eggs, potatoes, onions, peppers and cheese.

Stop by and give them a try. It wounds trite to say but you will be glad you did.

On the 1-5 scale, 105 Cafe has earned:

Cleanliness – 5
Service – 5
Quality of food – 5
Flavor – 5
Pricing – 4
Overall experience – 4.8
105 Cafe
3010 W Davis Street
Conroe, TX 77304
(936) 539-3447
105cafe.com
Enjoy! We certainly did!

– Ann Cathey

Simple spot turning out homestyle American breakfast & lunch dishes made with organic ingredients.

More GypsyJoynt – Galveston, TX

We covered a little place called GypsyJoynt in Galveston previously. We enjoyed it so much, we have gone again a few times.

It turns out they add new things to the menu all the time, usually in the form of specials. They also still have hidden gems for us to discover and rediscover all over the regular menu. We’d like to share a few we recently ran across.

Muffeletta Pizza – olive oil base, olive relish, mozzarella, salami, ham, mortadella, Provalone and Parmesan. We thought it sounded good and decided that it tasted better than it sounded!

 

Big & Sloppy – burger smothered in housemade chili, and cheddar, sweet potato tots and housemade pickles on the side. Normally this is on a beautiful bun, but it was ordered bunless for a lower carb experience.

 

Nola Rays – Cajun BBQ shrimp and crawfish tails on Focaccia, mixed greens, tomato, and avocado sauce, with house fries on the side. The lid was lifted for this photo to give you an idea of the stuffing inside.

 

Vita Viva – Focaccia burger with bacon, cheddar, mixed greens, tomato, onion, housemade pickles and mayo, with house mac-n-cheese on the side.

 

On the 1-5 scale, Gypsy Joynt still gets:
Cleanliness – 4.5
Service – 3
Quality of food – 5
Flavor – 5
Pricing – 3.5
Overall experience – 4.2

Gypsy Joynt
2711 Market Street
Galveston, Texas 77550
409-497-2069

— Ann Cathey

Fiorella’s Cafe in the French Quarter – NOLA

My partner, I found out, had never had a real muffuletta. I decided I needed to expose him to my favorite hidden market in the French Quarter, but was saddened to find that it had been washed out by Hurricane Ike and had not been rebuilt. With a heavy sigh, we wandered about for a while before spotting a sandwich board on the sidewalk that mentioned muffulettas.

We actually glanced at each other and shrugged. We would give it a shot. Thus we found Fiorella’s Cafe, an Italian restaurant that offers my new favorite muffuletta in NOLA.

We perused the menu as good foodies will do, but there was no question as to what we would order. We decided to order a whole muff with the intent to each have a quarter and take the rest back to the hotel with us for a snack later. The size of the plate made us think we might actually pull that off.

The whole muffuletta, with seasoned fries.

A quarter cut, showing the goodness inside.

Love at first bite.

That was not to be, however. We tucked in and wound up eating whole thing. Why? It was just that good and after hiking about in the French Quarter, we were just that hungry.

Just in case you didn’t catch that, he loves the muffuletta!

On the 1-5 scale, Fiorella’s Cafe gets:
Cleanliness – 3.5
Service – 5
Quality of food – 5
Flavor – 5
Pricing – 4
Overall experience – 4.5

Fiorella’s Cafe
1136 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 553-2155

— Ann Cathey

MOD Coffehouse – Galveston TX

Founded in 2001, MOD enjoys a corner space along Postoffice Street in the heart of Historic Downtown Galveston. With a staple of Fair Trade, Organic coffee and teas, MOD strives to bring the best coffee, teas, espressos and home baked goods, and the warmest welcome every day. They also offer smoothies and Italian sodas as well as wine and beer.

MOD offers daily beer and wine happy hours, too. As of my writing this, there is not yet a menu available online, but it’s coming.

From the study loft, to the open air space with comfy chairs, to the cafe style room filled with mix and match tables and chairs, to the lovely arbor covered outdoor patio, MOD has a comfortable space for you to enjoy your drinks.

Art on the Walls is a MOD showcase for new local artists. Every six weeks a new artist is invited to display their work.

MOD hosts many more such entertaining and community-minded activities. Live music on the patio, poetry night (dates and times fluctuate), local artist and author exhibits, book groups, creative writing groups, a lovely arbor covered patio, study nooks, and free wi-fi. The folks at MOD recycle, too, having a special relationship with a local farm who takes used coffee grounds to mix into their fertilizers and soils.

Spaces are available at MOD for small group meetings (6-8) or reserve the community room for larger events (up to 50). Contact Holly at MOD 409-765-5659 for information and availability.

This is another dog friendly business, welcoming polite dogs on leashes. Bicycles are also welcome, and even have parking space available.

If you just can’t get enough of MOD, you may want to take some home to brew for yourself. They make their teas and coffees available, as seen on the website:

Organic Fair Trade coffee available by the cup or by the pound and ½ pound

         Espresso beans available by the pound and ½ pound

         Herbal teas available by the cup or in bulk

The Wandering Texans enjoy MOD as often as possible, and are pretty sure you will like it, too.

Honey Bee – vanilla honey latte

On the 1-5 scale, MOD Coffeehouse gets:
Cleanliness – 4.5
Service – 4
Quality of food – 5
Flavor – 5
Pricing – 4
Overall experience – 4.5

MOD Coffeehouse
2126 Post Office Street
Galveston, TX 77550
(409) 765-5659

— Ann Cathey

Cafe Michael Burger – Galveston, TX

The steps outside of this pylon mounted restaurant are a tad steep, but we mounted them courageously to find a super clean indoor dining area with an understated surf theme going on. At Cafe Michael Burger you pick up your laminated menu and have a seat while you decide on which offerings you want to order, and there are plenty to choose form. When you are ready, step on up to the register and tell the nice folks what you want. You are rung up at this point and given a buzzer about the size of an old cell phone. It will blink and vibrate when your order is ready. It also reminds you that it’s there when it talks to you.

Patio seating.

In the meantime, collect your drinks and pick a spot from which to enjoy the view. We sat outside on the patio, which is “screened” with side by side garage doors, most of which were up to give the best access to the scenic view of the Gulf, while the ends remained closed as a wind break. It was a rather chilly day.

Scenic view of the gulf.

Perusing the menu made decisions difficult. There are numerous burgers at the top of the list, but further down there are some German offerings that were very tempting. Burgers and German food! Can it get any better?

The burger patties are hand formed and not over spiced, though the patties seem a little thin on the bun. The buns are soft and hold up to the juiciness of the condiments and fresh veggies. All meat is cooked through, with no choice that we are aware of.

The sauerkraut is made in house, as we suspect, are the pickle spears that come with some of the sandwiches. There is a hint of sweetness to the mellow kraut, with none of the harsh bite or saltiness many of us are familiar with.

Sides are available in full or half orders, making it easy to be a pig, or to try more than one side without over stuffing yourself.

Condiments are available, though the only things on the tables are napkin dispensers, salt and pepper. Ketchup, mustard, and other items are self-serve from a unit int he main dining area.

Galvez Burger – guacamole, shredded cheddar and mayo, hold the pico de gallo on this one. Guacamole is not just mashed avocado. There’s a bit of spice and diced tomato added, among other things.

 

Bratkartoffel (German fried potatoes) are skillet fried to a crisp with onion and bacon. This stuff is potato crack!

 

 

Michael Burger – 1/3 pound beef with lettuce tomato, lots of pickles, mayo and mustard. We opted for no onion and added cheese.

 

 

 

 

Reuben – sliced corned beef with house made sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing on grilled rye. Not greasy. The kraut is very mild and slightly sweet. Served with a dill pickle spear that tasted of the same spices used in the kraut. Very tasty.

 

 

Beer Batter Onion Rings – lots of crunch! Real onion battered and deep fried.

 

 

Before you leave, bussing your own tables is appreciated.

On the 1-5 scale, Cafe Michael Burger gets:
Cleanliness – 5
Service – 5
Quality of food – 4.5
Flavor – 4.5
Pricing – 4
Overall experience – 4.6

Cafe Michael Burger
11150 Termini-San Luis Pass Rd.
Galveston, TX 77554
(409) 740-3639

— Ann Cathey

Food Porn – Episode 7

This episode of Food Porn is brought to you by places we have visited. The food photos were, as they have been in this series, culled from stock photography. I’ve added a little info about each one, though I’m told they speak for themselves.

 

 

Roast Beef Sandwich from WhichWich, Conroe, Texas

 

 

The Wicked with spinach, WhichWich, Conroe, Texas

 

 

Bronco Burrito on a whole wheat tortilla, Galveston, Texas

 

 

3 egg omelet with fried potatoes at 105 Cafe, Conroe, Texas

 

 

 

 

Swiss & Mushroom Burger at 105 Cafe, Conroe, Texas

Fried crawfish at Benno’s on the Beach, Galveston, Texas

 

Cajun Platter, including fried oysters, shrimp and fish, at Benno’s on the Beach, Galveston, Texas

Cafe Du Monde, NOLA

If the name Cafe Du Monde doesn’t ring a bell, then clearly you have not traveled to the French Quarter of New Orleans. The name should evoke thoughts of a deep, rich, satisfying cup of coffee and the best beignets to ever have passed my lips, and a wonderful people watching opportunity.

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862, and with the exception of Christmas Day and those few days when a Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans, it is open 24/7. It is a traditional coffee shop, offering dark roasted coffee and chicory, beignets, white and chocolate milk, and fresh squeezed orange juice. The coffee is served black or au lait. Au lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French-style doughnuts about the size of a man’s palm, lavishly covered with powdered sugar, and served in orders of three. Iced coffee and soft drinks were added to the menu in 1988, apparently due to rising demand.

According to the website: “The taste for coffee and chicory was developed by the French during their civil war. Coffee was scarce during those times, and they found that chicory added body and flavor to the brew. The Acadians from Nova Scotia brought this taste and many other french customs (heritage) to Louisiana. Chicory is the root of the endive plant. Endive is a type of lettuce. The root of the plant is roasted and ground. It is added to the coffee to soften the bitter edge of the dark roasted coffee. It adds an almost chocolate flavor.”

I have found the coffee at this establishment to be consistent over the years, and some of the best of it’s type I have been privileged to consume. While it is available in many grocery and specialty stores, sporting the unique yellow label, it’s never quite the same as the fresh coffee from the French Quarter.

Cafe Du Monde has branched out from the original coffee shop. There are now eight Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stands in the New Orleans Metropolitan area. They are located in the French Market, Esplanade Mall, Riverwalk Mall, Lakeside Mall, Oakwood Mall, Mandeville, Covington and 4600 Veterans Boulevard as well as a gift shop in the French Quarter.

If you are not inclined to visit the original location, or want to Christmas shop for the coffee lovers in your life, you may also visit the Cafe Du Monde Online Store.

A word of warning for those who try the beignets! Breath out before you bring this pastry near your face, open wide to take a bite, and whatever you do don’t breath or laugh while all that powdered sugar is anywhere near your face! If you think I’m kidding, try it.

 

 

 

 

Both my partner and I have experienced the hazards of breathing wrong, either taking sugar into the nose and lungs, or spraying it all over the table and everyone with us. Cafe Du Monde’s beignets are an adventure to eat, to say the least!

On the 1-5 scale, Cafe Du Mond gets:
Cleanliness – 4
Service – 5
Quality of food – 5
Flavor – 5
Pricing – 3
Overall experience – 4.4

Cafe Du Monde – French Quarter
800 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 525-4544

— Ann Cathey