Tag Archives: retro dining Houston

RETRO DINING: SHANGHAI RIVER

Posted on by
1

Shanghai River, located at 2407 Westheimer, has been serving Szechuan and Hunan cuisine since 1970.

IMG_7545

Located in a strip shopping center, the unassuming building doesn’t hint at the retro glamour inside.

The restaurant’s cool, dark dining room, with its glossy redwood finishes, lacquered artwork,  buddhas, and giant foo dogs brings back childhood memories of many meals at Chinese restaurants in New York.  There’s a hint of mystery in the air.  My son and I visited Shanghai River on a whim, and have been back many times since.  The recipes are what I think of as old school American Chinese food — tamed to suit what are perceived to be American tastes.

We first tried Shanghai River for lunch.  With 40 choices on the special luncheon menu, we had no trouble finding dishes we liked.  Each luncheon special comes with soup (hot and sour or egg drop corn) and choice of appetizer (spring roll, crab puff, or egg foo young).  We chose the hot and sour soup, which was thick and suitably hot and sour, and came with fried wonton crisps and mustard and duck sauce for dipping:

Among the lunch specials we enjoyed were Shrimp in Hot Garlic Sauce, with a generous number of plump shrimp (although I would not call this dish spicy by any stretch of the imagination):

IMG_7540

Chicken with Peanuts (made with all white meat on request):

chicken

Hunan Shrimp:

Shredded Pork in Hot Garlic Sauce (again, not spicy):

pork

And Chicken with Cashew Nut:

IMG_7541

You’ll notice that the unifying characteristic of all of these specials is that they are varying shades of brown.  It would be nice to throw in a veggie or two just to break up the monotony of the plate, but the lack of color didn’t distract from our enjoyment of the food.

There are many more choices on the expansive dinner menu.  Just for fun, on one occasion I ordered the Pu Pu Platter with my son, which I hadn’t had, or even seen on a menu, since I was a kid.  The Pu Pu Platter came with spring roll, bar-b-q rib, shrimp toast, crab puff, skewer beef, and tempura shrimp, one of each for each person.  With its blue flame from the mini hibachi grill and giggle-inducing name (according to Wikipedia, the name has its origins in the Hawaiian language, where pū-pū signifies an appetizer or hors d’oeuvre), the Pu Pu Platter was a fun trip down memory lane.

At dinner, a complimentary dish of pickled vegetables is offered:

Dinner is served family style, accompanied by rice.  Some of the dishes we liked were Chicken with Cashew Nuts (the veggie flower garnish was a nice touch):

Beef with Snow Peas:

And Mu Shu Pork

Neither the dining room nor the bar were ever crowded on any of the occasions we visited, although there was almost always something going on in the private room.  If you’re looking for a quiet place to enjoy a meal, Shanghai River fits the bill.  I believe its longevity is likely attributable to its reasonably-priced menus, generous portions, satisfying — if not exciting — food, and brisk service.

RETRO DINING: MOELLER’S BAKERY

Posted on by
2

Moeller’s Bakery, located at 4201 Bellaire Blvd., has been serving up delectable baked goods since 1930.

011

The bakery is located in a modest, nondescript building.  What the building lacks in design, however, is made up for with the vivid seasonal murals painted on the windows, such as this Easter one:

012

And this tribute to the armed forces for Memorial Day:

004 (2)Inside, the bakery cases are filled with temptations of all kinds. There’s mouth-watering kolaches, rolls, and breakfast pastries:

005A variety of cookies next to delicate cheese straws:

008

For a special treat, there’s colorful iced cookies:

003

The themed cakes waiting to be picked up will make you want to have a party of your own:

004

Forgot to plan ahead?  There’s always a choice of cakes waiting to be decorated just for you (of course, they taste just as good unadorned):

009

But the thing for which Moeller’s is known throughout the city–maybe throughout the state–is its petit fours:

petitfours

You can choose from white petit fours:

006

Or chocolate petit fours:

007

Moeller’s petit fours consist of a rectangle of airy cake — two or three bites’ worth — enrobed in a poured fondant glaze that has the slightest crackle when you bite into it, topped with a little icing flower.  I’ve seen them at parties with custom monograms, although personally, I think the flowers are prettier.  (Monogrammed food can be kind of pretentious, don’t you think?)  The petit fours are $1.95 apiece for white, $2.35 for chocolate.  (The staff was not sure why the difference in price, just that it’s always been that way — let’s just assume it’s because they use high-quality cocoa powder.)  The bakery sells 40 to 50 dozen of these per day during the week, and 200 dozen per day on the weekends.  200 DOZEN!  Forget cupcakes and macarons — I think if anyone was paying attention, the next baking trend would be petit fours.

The secret to Moeller’s longevity is obvious to me.  Every time I enter the bakery, I become a kid again.  I want one of every cookie in the shop, and a birthday cake with my name (not my age) spelled out in bright pink icing.  I  can never decide between white or chocolate petit fours, or how many to buy, so I buy half of each and always too many, which turns out to be never enough.  I love that the ladies behind the counter call me “Honey” or “Sweetie” and are infinitely patient as I vacillate between which goodies to buy.  It’s glass display cases and white cake boxes and linoleum and baker’s twine all rolled up into a timeless Houston treasure.