So, I’m coming of the high of a motivational Oprah Winfrey kick in the pants “live your best life” weekend. And of course living my best life means pulling off Paleo in some of Houston’s best restaurants, before anyone even notices my slight of hand. I’m going to cover 3 restaurants and hit the highlights. Hearsay Gastro Lounge, Batanga Tapas+Drinks and Mr Peeples Steak and Seafood. Also, With a shout out to The Honeymoon Bar, they prepared a perfect charcuterie plate and replaced crostinis with veggies…perfect mid day pick me up along with my prosecco!
The HoneyMoon Bar. Colorful Cauliflower in place of Crostinis!
Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures because these were not planned reviews and truth be told my storage was full.
Batanga Tapas bar Staff was great and very willing to make substitutions, in fact one of our brunch mates had a broken jaw and they went to the trouble of tossing his meal in the Vita Mix…Yum! Between all of us, we had Ropa Viega (meat, sweet Potato, poached egg and salsa…Blended!) Zucchini Tortilla, leave off the Cream Fraiche. Chicken Skewers Cubano, very good. Grilled Avocado…you must order like 4 of these, they are that good and leave off the cheese. Albondigas (braised meatballs and tomato sauce). Eggs Benedict (house cured lomo, eggs, hollandaise…no bread!) The vibe is great in this restaurant and has live music!
Hearsay Gastro lounge I had The Byrd Burger, sans the bun and Mac n Cheese and replaced with veggies, no up-charge, always a plus!..Amazing burger!! When I asked for a “lettuce” bun, they said “oh…Paleoize it?”… Loved it! Vegetables come any way you like them. Everyone ordered The Byrd, Soooo…Thats all I have to say about the food here, however, service was very nice, AND they just opened a HEARSAY ON THE GREEN, so now you have more options when coming out of Toyota Center.
The Byrd, sans the Sweet Bun and Mac & Cheese!
Mr Peeples The Tuna Nicoise salad is always a no brainer..and exceptional! I ordered a large serving of brussels sprouts on the side that were probably the best I’ve ever had. Both Dinner mates got the Chilean Sea Bass, which was well worth blowing off the miso /no soy rule..again, probably the best I’ve ever eaten! Say No to fried rice, and of course load up on the veggies. If you are just ordering meat and veggies always have a HFO, like Avocado or EVOO, or even Butter if you can tolerate it, and if the veggies are cooked in oil, great!..bacon?…perfect! The menu is fabulous and you should have no problem following your diet to a T. Don’t be afraid to ask questions… How is Bearnaise sauce made? What is the Oscar topping on steak or fish? How is Hollandaise Sauce made? All 3 of these have a lot of butter involved… and thats ok especially if you are following a Primal or Ketogenic diet AND, if you can tolerate the butter, which btw, doesn’t have a lot of the reactive properties in it that turns our guts up-side-down, like Lactose and Casein. A Ketogenic Diet means high fat and very low carbohydrate and moderate protein. Primal is Paleo that includes dairy.
I hope you found this helpful and keep eating exciting food!
