Sunday, July 23, 2017

Crispy Or Grilled: The Closest to Halal Chick Fil A We'll Ever Have, and It's Darn Good

Food Truck: Crispy or Grilled
Address: 2220 Brazos Street, Houston, Texas
Buffet or a-la-carte: a-la-carte
Date of visit: 7/5/17



Background:
Salam/hey guys! Today I will be talking about the newest halal food truck in Houston. It is called Crispy or Grilled. The name strongly suggests that you get an option between crispy or grilled chicken, since those are the two most common ways that people enjoy chicken. I first heard about this from a food group (which I was deliberately left out off) going and trying a variety of items that they offered. It attracted a lot of fanfare, and I was also eager to try it. There were one surprising fact that I learned about this place. This place is run by the same people who run Dasman, a Mediterranean food truck. And this raised a red flag for me. I actually tried out Dasman during Super Bowl weekend and did not like it. It was basically chicken over rice for $10 served in the same thing that many restaurants use for their fries. So many of their competitors offer the same thing but with bigger quantities and better tastes for similar prices. Now they did respond professionally, but what happened next is the main reason why I did not write a review (and this move truly paid off).A lady, who is friends with the owners, set up the tasting for the food group, and had beef with me because of a cook off I did, literally lost it. And man it was ugly. Long story short, she thought I didn't know what excellent Mediterranean food is, even though I lived and grew up eating Mediterranean food in an Arab country, and she actually threatened to slap me. The biggest irony in all of this stuff is that she loves Cedar's and Abu Omar, WHICH ARE MEDITERRANEAN SPOTS THAT I LOVE GOING TO. It was without a doubt one of the funniest things I've seen in 4.5 years of doing this blog.
This place opened up during Ramadan. Since I planned to not go to any new places during Ramadan since I wholeheartedly am against restaurants upcharging just because it's Ramadan and also my preference of doing iftar at a mosque or my house, I had to wait until after Ramadan to give it a try. I got to give it a try after work one day. So I drove there and gave it a try.



Let The Experience Begin!
The food truck is located on Brazos Street in front of Little Woodrow's and parked next to Dasman. I parked behind the truck, only to find out that it costs $8 to park there. The line was not that bad when I went, although I heard can get long late at night. I went to the foot truck and decided to order.



Let's Eat!
I ordered the crispy chicken sandwich. It was basically crispy chicken with lettuec, tomatoes, and pickles in between two brioche buns. I paid $9.73 (tax included) for this. The waiting time was about 9 minutes.



Menu: Not only do they have sandwiches, they also have chicken tenders (you'll never get halal tenders at Raising Canes), tacos, and starters. It's a limited menu, which is understood because they just started.



Menu. Photo Credit:
The Sandwich



The Verdict:
When I saw the dish, I realized that they actually priced this right. Many of the good burger or sandwich places would charge similar amounts. And my goodness, this burger was insanely awesome. The Dasman people definitely redeemed themselves with this food truck. The sandwich was very filling, and the taste was just amazing. There was a lot of flavor inside the burger and everything was fresh. The chicken was very crispy. Overall, two thumbs up.
The service was great. The people were really nice, and thankfully they didn't pick on me for not liking Dasman.



Conclusion:
Even though I never had or will never have a chicken sandwich from Chick Fil A, this sandwich is one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had. I'll definitely come back and try their other options. If you want to eat something that literally comes close to a halal chicken sandwich from Chick Fil A, then this is the place to go!



Grading: 
Food: 10/10
Service: 9/10
Total: 19/20 = 95% (A)
Pricing: $$ out of $$$$



Restaurant Information:
Crispy or Grilled
2220 Brazos Street, Houston, Texas
Phone: (832) 998-5955
Website: none
Timings: Mon-Wed: 6 PM - 1 AM; Thu: 6 AM - 2 PM; Fri-Sat: 6 PM - 2:30 AM; Sun: closed
Caters: Yes

Feel free to comment below, send me a message on Facebook, or email me!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed 

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Rehla Foods: Great Filling Meals for a Very Affordable Price

Restaurant: Rehla Foods
Address: 4901 Rose Street, Houston, Texas
Buffet or a-la-carte: none
Date of visit: 7/3/17



Backround:
Salam/hey guys! Today I will be talking about a place called Rehla Foods. So what is Rehla Foods? Rehla Foods is more of a pop up place rather than a restaurant. The reason? They are inside another restaurant (The Twisted Palate) and they are open for only three days per week. All that is set to change in a few weeks as they will shift to a new place. But for now, we are just going to write about the past experience. I first heard about the place after I received an email from the owner about trying the place after they opened last year. I never got to try because of school, where I had classes on all days that it was open, and it was a lengthy drive from my old workplace. That all changed when I realized that it was only 10 minutes from my new workplace. After clocking out for lunch, I went there.



Let The Experience Begin!
The Twisted Palate is located on Rose and Durham in the Heights. Nothing much to explain, except the fact that I ordered over the phone. When I got to the place, there were other cars waiting for their food. I just waited until an employee came to my car with the food.



Let's Eat!
I ordered a single cheeseburger for myself and a boneless chicken biryani to share with my boss, since he's a big biryani fan. The cheeseburger had the basic meat, cheese, and vegetables on a challah bun. The sauces came on the side rather than inside the burger (for a good reason). The biryani was Lahori style, meaning that it is biryani that is popular in the Pakistani city of Lahore (considered to be Pakistan's food capital) I paid a total of $11.24 for that. Wow. Incredibly affordable. In many other places, the price would be at least $20.
A very important thing to note is that this is not a dine in place. They only do delivery or takeout as of right now.



Menu: http://www.rehlafoods.com/our-food
Individually, the burger was $5.69 and the biryani was $4.69. This is by far the cheapest biryani I've had in a while actually. They have a diverse selection of food. They hope to add the spaghetti soon.



Le Burger

Le Biryani

The Verdict:
Both food items looked tasty and fresh. Both had big portions as well. Regarding the burger, it was decent, but certainly not the best. There could've been more flavor in the burger. No need to worry about the seeds on the bun; they''re black sesame seeds! The biryani was completely different, It was actually excellent! Without a doubt the second biryani I have had that I actually liked. And at $4.69+ tax, it was a great value. The service was ok. Nothing to complain about.



Conclusion:
I cannot wait to go to their new location and get their biryani again, but for burgers, I'd just stick to my top spots in town. If you want to have some really good biryani in the Heights, then you should check this place out! They even deliver as well!



Grading:
Service: 8/10
Food: 7/10 (6/10 for burger and 8/10 for biryani)
Total: 15/20 = 75% (C)
Pricing: $ out of $$$$



Restaurant Information:
Rehla Foods
Address: 4901 Rose Street, Houston, Texas
Phone: (713) 340-9172
Website: http://www.rehlafoods.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RehlaFoods/
Email: helpingyou@rehlafoods.com
Timings: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays: 10 AM - 3 PM
Caters: Yes
Delivery available

Feel free to comment below, send me an email, or message me on Facebook!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed