Like any food-loving city worth its hot sauce, Houston inspires some classic culinary arguments, mainly concerning who cooks the best barbecue or beef chimichangas. Lately, though, natives and frequent visitors alike are also debating which chef makes the lightest masala dosa; whose banh mi is, really, just like the ones in Saigon; and chicken feet: steamed or fried?
Without much fanfare, the Asian population in Houston has more than doubled over the past decade and now accounts for 7% of the city's 2 million residents. Its robust Chinese-American community was part of what attracted basketball star Yao Ming. And Houston's fine Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese restaurants are drawing raves from even seasoned international travelers. But when you go, take a map; the best places are all within half an hour's drive of downtown, but they are scattered among the city's endless blocks of strip malls and office complexes.
If there is a first family of Asian food in Houston, Gigi Huang's might be it. Her father opened Hunan Restaurant 27 years ago in the Galleria area, which has since become the city's prime shopping district. His was one of the first restaurants to move beyond "American chop suey," Huang says, and became a favorite of Houston's oil barons. A white-tablecloth place dominated by a massive copper mural and carved teakwood partition, Hunan is where Vice President Dick Cheney, then CEO of Halliburton, once was host of a contract-signing ceremony with senior Chinese officials.
Huang hopes her new restaurant, Hunan Downtown, will fill a similar role for Houston's next generation of executives. She has ditched the tablecloths and designed a fresh, fun spot for the young people who pack Houston's downtown office buildings and high-rise apartments. The menu features faithfully prepared Hunan classics such as sesame chicken and firecracker prawns, and Huang plans to add Thai salads and Vietnamese spring rolls. Houston diners like to mix their Asian dishes but expect each one to be authentically executed. "People's palates," Huang says, "are more sophisticated now."
For evidence, check out the wall-to-wall patrons (Asian and non-Asian alike) enjoying dim sum, from chicken feet to coconut cake, at Ocean Palace, a cavernous banquet hall in the Bellaire neighborhood at the western end of Houston's Chinatown. The steamed buns filled with barbecued pork are as light as clouds; slivers of custard-soft tofu are immersed in a light ginger syrup; and the chili oil at every table is made by the chef. Waiters cruise the place with carts of delicacies; just point to the ones you want.
Lovers of fish and shellfish flock to Canton's Seafood Restaurant, close to the Greenway Plaza office complexes. There the fish tanks aren't just decorative; they hold the live rockfish, black cod and jumbo crab waiting to be fried whole, baked in spicy salt or steamed with a simple but powerful ginger-scallion sauce.