My family has had the opportunity to travel the world.
One of the biggest reasons we travel is for the food. We love the new, unique flavors of cuisines from everywhere and experimenting with different dishes.
Even when we’re at home, we still love “traveling the world” through new restaurants and foods.
If you are looking to “travel the world” and spend time with your friends and family in the new year, these are some of my favorite restaurants with international cuisine.
Kura Revolving Sushi Bar: 8/10
This was my family and I’s first time both in this restaurant and a restaurant of this style. As soon as we walked in we were taken to a booth and a waitress explained the process of a revolving sushi bar, and then we were let loose!
We could wait for plates of sushi to come on a conveyor belt around the tables, or we could order them on a screen at our table and wait for the food to come directly to us on another conveyor belt. Each plate was $3.95, and there was a slot at each table to slide our empty plates into. Our drinks came on a little robotic drink cart by itself.
The concept was very cool, and I would 100% come back if we didn’t have an agenda and could just sit and enjoy ourselves. However, if you are planning to just wait there for the sushi to come to you, you will likely be waiting there a while, and we realized very quickly that if we wanted to eat then we were going to have to order it and wait for it ourselves. However, when it came to the food itself, most things did not disappoint. After the first few orders I stopped asking what was in each roll, but here are a few favorites:
Salmon Golden Crunchy Roll: This was the perfect balance between sweet and spicy with the perfect amount of crunchy texture. I would 100% get this again and recommend it to anyone going.
The Crunchy Roll: This was tempura shrimp and avocado, drizzled in eel sauce and then topped with a jalapeno. Although I was expecting it to be spicier because of the jalapeno, this roll still exceeded expectations, and I would likely get this again.
Kura Crispy Fries: This may be a sushi restaurant but the fries were some of the best I have eaten. They were crispy but not oily, and flavorful but not too salty. I didn’t feel like I needed ketchup or any other dipping sauce with them, and they were a perfect pair to all of the sushi that we were eating.
Taiyaki Ice Cream: I did not have high hopes for this Japanese fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste. I had tried red beans in the past, and didn’t like it, but knew that I had to try it to see if this dessert could change my mind. And it did. The pastry almost tasted like funnel cake, and the red bean paste, although not sweet, matched perfectly with the dough of the pastry. It was also served with perfectly chilled vanilla bean ice cream that seemed not to melt. My only complaint is that the Taiyaki was a little too oily for me, but most of it was offset by the ice cream.
Rumis Kitchen: 10/10
I have been here multiple times and have yet to have a bad experience or dish. While I usually order the meat dishes here, I have also gone once while fully vegetarian; either way, the dishes are amazing.
Although it is on the pricier side, this Persian restaurant has dishes that are completely worth it, as they are full of flavor and have just the right portions to share family style while being satisfied at the end of your meal. A few of my favorites are:
Corn Ribs: These are very skinny corn-on-the-cob pieces, but they are absolutely delicious. With a bit of a kick to them, they are the perfect appetizer to start off this meal.
Lamb Merguez Hummus: They have four types of hummus, two vegetarian and two meat, but this has to be our favorite. The hummus paired with the perfectly cooked and crumbled lamb, especially with the fresh warm pita the servers bring to the table as soon as you sit down, is like heaven in your mouth. The hummus lasts us through the entire meal and is a great addition to any of Rumi’s meals.
Soltani Kebab: There is no other way to phrase this dish, other than that it melts in your mouth. This dish comes with one saffron beef tenderloin and one beef koobideh kebab, as well as saffron basmati rice. Rumi’s has made its way to being one of my favorite restaurants purely because of these kebabs. They cut so tenderly and it is warm and bursting with flavor from the moment it touches the table to the moment we finish it. It is sometimes hard for me to like dishes like kebab because they can be gamey, but this dish is hard to beat.
Falafel: This is part of the appetizer menu but could make (and has for me) a whole meal in itself. These are by far my favorite falafels I have ever tried in Houston, and are the closest that I have tasted to what I feel are authentic falafels. They are soft and full of flavor, falling apart in my mouth in the best way possible. We don’t come to Rumi’s without getting this.
Lua Viet: 9/10
This restaurant very quickly became one of my family’s staples. Whether we are just craving it, it’s a cold day out, or we need a quick dinner before heading to something else, Lua Viet is not only convenient but also extremely tasty. All of their dishes are made with locally sourced ingredients from surrounding areas. Although I have tried multiple things here, I will admit this is one of the few restaurants where I do have a favorite dish that I order every time. These are some of my favorites:
Garlic Noodles: Like I said, I do have a favorite here. I always get the kids portion of this, which comes with garlic noodles, chicken, broccoli, carrots and an egg roll on the side. However there is also the full-size portion that comes with more vegetables than that. I have been getting this dish since we first went to Lua Viet. The noodles are full of garlicky goodness, with a slight tang to them. I am pleasantly surprised by the chicken every time, as I often expect it to simply be boiled chicken. Instead, it is marinated in what seems to be the same sauce the noodles are in, and then tossed in with the noodles. That chicken mixed with the sauce of the noodles has me ordering it every single time we go.
Shaking Chicken and Shaking Tofu: These are both made in the same signature Lua Viet sauce, both very flavorful with a little bit of spice to them. They are in the same category for me because they both are similar, just one is chicken and the other is a vegetarian option. This is a staple for my family when we go.
Lua Beef Soup: My family actually tried this pretty recently, and it is incredible. We went when it was slightly colder outside and this Pho just hit the spot. They have hot sauce and hoisin sauce readily available, so we added some to give it a bit of spice, but even without it, it was a really solid pho. I would 100% order this again. I would say that the portion size for this, though, is very large compared to the other dishes. However there is a kids portion available, so that is likely what I would order next time!
De Gama: 7.5/10
I have been here several times now at this point and I love it every time. With a fusion of Portuguese and Indian cuisine, this food is both flavorful and unique, hitting the spot with every meal. We have been here for birthdays, fancy events, or just because. Here are some of our favorite dishes to get here:
Vada Pao: This is a traditional Indian street snack, made with buns and then a potato pattie. However here the buns are sweet Portuguese buns, which offsets the spicy potato patties (make sure you have water) very well. It is very much a carb overload but in the best and most flavorful way possible.
Aloo Gobi Bravas: This is a mix between Aloo gobi, an Indian dish with potatoes and cauliflower, and patatas bravas, a Spanish dish with crispy potatoes in a paprika based sauce. This dish is sweet but also spicy, and the crunchiness of the cauliflower goes perfectly with the soft potatoes and crispy skin. The turmeric sauce and chutneys that it is cooked in works perfectly together, and we order this every time we go.
Kulcha: This is basically a stuffed naan. With mushrooms, paneer and mozzarella, it is flavorful but not overwhelmingly spicy. Although this is a more simple dish, it is still one of our favorites to get here.
Saag Paneer: This is one of the dishes that falls more on the Indian side, and it is fried paneer with creamy collard greens. Although that might not sound very appealing at first, it is actually one of my favorite Indian dishes. The cream that is added and the paneer itself offsets any potential bitterness from the greens, making it a simple but tasty dish to get.
Blue Nile: 8/10
This is one of the only Ethiopian restaurants I have ever tried, and it was so good that I have never needed to try another one. From the peaceful ambiance of the restaurant and the dark interior that makes the room feel intimate, to the large platters of food that taste like a home-cooked meal, this restaurant has never disappointed me. However I do have some favorites here:
Green Lentil: This consists of green lentils cooked with onions and different spices. It was the perfect amount of spice while still being manageable and flavorful. I really enjoyed getting this and would get this again.
Yemisir Wot: Instead of green lentils, this is a red lentil stew, with spices, garlic, ginger and green pepper. It also had berbere sauce, made with a traditional Ethiopian spice called berbere, which is what made this dish very unique. However, rather than being runny like a stew, this dish is a little bit more cooked down to a thicker consistency. Much like the other dishes here, it reminds me a lot of Indian dishes using the same spices, which makes me love the dish even more.
Injera: This is what the food is eaten with, the Ethiopian version of a tortilla or a naan. Although it can get a little bit heavy at times, it pairs well with the extremely flavorful dishes it comes with and is practically a staple at this restaurant.
One of the things I love about Houston is the variety of cuisines that are available in this melting pot of a city, so have fun in the new year “traveling the world” through food!
