Migrant

Most of our dinner reservations were made with recommendations from The Annoyer who has been to Maui now 6 times. But Migrant was a place of my choosing based on Yelp and Top Chef. The chef/owner here is none other than winner of season 10, Sheldon Simeon, the surprise dark horse who shocked many by…

Eskimo Candy

The Annoyer is pretty easy going about things. He doesn’t have a strong opinion about many things, but when it comes to Eskimo Candy, he won’t consider any other place for poke. You can try to reason that the poke at Eskimo Candy is too sweet, too saucy, too anything but he’ll argue and disprove…

Wow Wow Lemonade

I had my first and best ever acai bowl when I was on the Big Island. Ever since then, most acai bowls have fallen pretty short.  The acai is either too icy, too watery, or too sour.  The toppings are a little plain or uninspired.  Wow Wow didn’t quite live up to my first acai…

Coconut’s Fish Cafe

So after a long flight we finally arrived in Maui. The weather was a very welcome change. Not that SoCal is like Siberia or anything but I’d take 70-80 degree weather over 50-60 degrees weather any day. And it turned out that we traded a week of rain for a week of sunshine as well!…

Mike’s Pastry

Mike’s Pastry 300 Hanover St. Boston, MA 02113 Yelp mikespastry.com Aside from Boston’s famous lobster rolls, the cannolis are another must-try eat while visiting the city.  Why are cannolis so popular here?  I’m not so sure.  I’ve never been that impressed with cannolis to begin with so I was a bit baffled by the rave…

Neptune Oysters

Neptune Oyster 63 Salem St Boston, MA 02113 Yelp neptuneoyster.com I have wanted to visit Boston for a very long time.  The last time I was here was probably over 10 years ago, so well before my foodie days.  Since that time, I’ve wanted to see if Boston was as vibrant a food metropolis as…

Masraff’s

Masraff’s 1735 Post Oak Blvd. Houston, TX 77056 masraffs.com Yelp   Masraff is a seafood centric eatery in Houston.  It’s pretty nice and reminds me of a high end steak house like Mastro’s.  Dark walls and furnishings, soft lighting, waiters fully suited up, white linens, heavy leather bound menu, large wine list.  This is not…

Coltivare

Coltivare 3320 White Oak Dr. Houston, TX 77077 coltivarehouston.com Yelp I was looking for some good Italian food in Houston, but The Annoyer said it doesn’t really exist.  Coltivare is new on the dining scene so it was new for him too.  Coltivare reminded me of a Portland restaurant.  It’s small.  It had an old,…

Oxheart

Oxheart 1302 Nance St. Houston, TX 77002 oxhearthouston.com Yelp I think Houston sort of tries to elevate its own dining scene.  There’s obviously no shortage of money here, but I guess sophisticated food doesn’t always follow the money.  Oxheart is Houston’s attempt at something a little more special.  It’s supposed to be one of Houston’s…

Odd Duck

Odd Duck 1201 S. Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX 78704 oddduckaustin.com Yelp For our last meal in Austin, we wanted to brunch it up at Barley Swine’s sister restaurant.  My bad for actually missing brunch time, so we settled for lunch.  Mama H.o.P., Smooth Obturator, and The Annoyer made for a perfect party of 4.  I…

Barley Swine

Barley Swine 2024 S. Lamar Blvd Austin, TX 78704 barleyswine.com Yelp   With the little time we had in Austin, it was of utmost importance to be wise about our food choices.  Smooth Obturator left it to me to decide between Qui and Barley Swine.  Ultimately, Barley Swine won out though it was tough to…

Franklin BBQ

Franklin BBQ 900 E 11th St Austin, TX 78702 franklinbbq.com Yelp A 5 hour wait to eat food deserves a long entry… Every single “Best of BBQ” TV show or list inevitably includes Franklin BBQ as one of America’s top BBQ joints.  Enough cannot be said of its famed brisket, which is slowly smoked over…