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!

What I want you to remember is that when ever you eat out, you are looking on the menu for  #1. your meat options, #2. vegetable options and #3. healthy fat options(hfo).  It might not be a single entree, but a collection of small plates.  Lets dig in!

First of all, it’s been a week since this meal and I CAN NOT stop thinking about how amazing the food was and how easy Chef  Kevin made it to stay true to ALL dietary convictions.

Starting with the appetizers:

Beef Tartare with two fried quail eggs was exceptional.  It comes with fries and toast points…that would be a No!  But if you want to make a meal out of it, substitute vegetable and EVOO to drizzle.

Halibut Cheek Heirloom tomato pico was absolute heaven.  It was a nice size  portion for sharing.  It was lightly breaded, so if going gluten free, beware, because it doesn’t say on the menu…So Always Ask!

Grilled Oysters, Akaushi(Japanese Wagu beef) Meat Balls, Steamed Mussels and XI RAW are all fine choice’s and I’m sure delicious.

On the Light Side, the 11:11 Salad is fine, No Goat cheese.  Seafood Salad is fine, No Bread.  Steak Pailllard Salad is fine, No Yukon Potato’s or Gorgonzola Cheese dressing.  Opt for a cleaner vinaigrette.  No! to the Smoked Tomato soup, it has diary.  And, if you care enough to give the very best.. NO Pozole,  it has corn.

Ok, now for the moment I’ve been waiting for, the Main Dish!

I had the Texas “turducken”, and oh my god, it has ruined me for all other state turduckens!  Braised pork shank stuffed with Jalapeño, wrapped in bacon and stuffed inside a deboned Texas Quail..I’m weak.  Now, it is  “Flash fried” which means that Texas bird was only in the oil for a New York minute.  I deleted the heirloom tomato cream corn (double whammy) and substituted a side of grilled veggies.  Perfection!

My oh so willing “Primal”(includes dairy in his diet) companion had the Stuffed Redfish Filet..Fabulous!   Just be aware there is cream in the stuffing mix!

Most of the rest of the main dishes are good to go, it’s usually the side dish that is the bad guy.  Filet Mignon is great but  you can make a better choice than the green beans and mushroom salad, especially if getting full and staying full with out the discomfort is your goal.  Grilled asparagus, grilled Vegetables are great and filling.  Also, what I love is all the great add ons for some additional bucks, Duck eggs, bacon, shrimp, crab meat, the list goes on.

Being a chef driven, seasonally and locally sourced menu, 11:11 will be changing its menu as it officially becomes Fall.  On the chance that Turducken doesn’t make the cut, you better run, don’t walk!! your Paleo foodie butts to 11:11 ASAP.

On an end note, our super knowledgable waiter josh assured us that you are never “locked into” a meal as is and that the chef has been known to create dishes on the fly, to accommodate special needs diets.

There is a restaurant or two that touts they are Paleo, when all they are doing is “Paleoizing” junk and creating boring “healthy” dishes.  Chef Kevin doesn’t talk about it, he IS about it.   His fresh and creative meals are amazing!

http://elevenxihouston.com/

713-529-5881   607 W.Gray