Call it experience or merely sheer luck, I’ve been told I have a knack for ordering well. Who knew? Nearly any sort of restaurant will suffice, after all, I’m a very democratic diner and there’s very little I won’t try. Friends frequently ask me to order for them to circumvent the tragic “food envy” syndrome that may otherwise ensue when my appetizer/entrée/dessert arrives appearing more appealing than theirs. Pressure! To that end I’m ordering at restaurants in Houston and beyond and listing my top dish picks here, adding more as I happen upon them one meal at a time.    

RDG/Bar Annie

App: Baked potato fritters with bacon cheddar and chive dip ($10). Piping hot they’re better than almost any French fry. Moist and fluffy inside like a loaded baked potato with a crisp, thin exquisitely fried shell.  

Entrée: Wood grilled rib-eye with smoked cheddar steak sauce and slow cooked onions ($40). Of course, I can’t possibly eat the entire portion, but I’m a sucker for slow cooked onions and steak. Throw on cheddar cheese sauce and it’s like an upscale Philly cheese steak minus the hoagie. Brilliant.  

Dessert: Chocolate sundae with crumbled brownies and marshmallow cream ($10). (And I’m not even a big chocolate ice cream fan. Share it with someone you’re sweet on.)  

Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

App: Oysters. No ordinary bivalves, their North American tasting (market price) brings you chilly, briny creatures that range from a subtle sweetness to a sea salt infused raw creature plucked and shucked from the coldest waters on this continent.  

Entrée: Sea bass in a butter broth (market price). Not nearly as rich as it sounds, it’s a perfectly cooked, moist filet with a thin, crisp, pan-fried edge. If it’s not on the menu try their lemon-scented broth version.  

Dessert: Bananas Foster. I confess normally I’m not drawn to this sautéed banana concoction set ablaze tableside, but slip a decadent disc of butter cake beneath it and a scoop of Amy’s butter pecan ice cream beside it and despite the hokey theatrics (yup, flambé) this dessert made me swoon.  

Straits at the Hotel Sorella

Apps: It’s a tie between the Roti Prata ($7), warm griddled Indian flatbread with a curry dipping sauce and their chicken lollipops ($10), crispy fried chicken wings with a sweet and spicy citrus glaze.  

Entrée: Black pepper crab, to date it’s the best entrée on the menu I’ve tasted. One caveat: Its served in its hard shell. Solution: Put on a sweet smile and ask the waiter really nicely to request the kitchen remove the meat for you in the kitchen, or you’ll have one big pepper spiked mess on your hands—literally.  

Dessert: Cheesecake lollipops. Small, easy sharing plate when you just can’t face devouring a portion of anything larger.  

III Forks Steakhouse

Apps: The seafood medley ($13.95) teases you with Lilliputian tastes such as a two bite-sized crabcake, a succulent bacon wrapped sea scallop and two jumbo shrimp: one dipped in a ketchup based cocktail sauce the other a spicy remoulade. Order the signature III Forks salad ($8.95) spiked with goat cheese and pecans and I could call the whole combo a meal.  

Entrée: It’s prime grade steak any way you want it. (I prefer a marbled ribeye medium rare: fat equals flavor after all.) But the real stars are the superlative sides (all $6.95). Off-the-cob cream corn tastes exactly like its name implies, while the creamed spinach hints at the fresh, flat leaf variety wilted á la minute in the heat of a hot pan finished with a light cream sauce instead of the minced mess many others serve up under a broiled cheese cover. Don’t forget the six-cheese potatoes: a gratin of thinly sliced potatoes in a perfectly cooked custard concoction of half a dozen fine melting cheeses.  

17 at The Alden Hotel

 App: Ask for the off-the-menu app: bangers and mash ($12). It’s a wild boar sausage with celery root puree and roasted red radishes. It will bring out the Brit in you.  

Entrée: The deconstructed beef Wellington ($32). Essentially all the elements of the classic French dish only each ingredient from the mushroom duxelle (not so traditional here (absent is the tiny dice of mushrooms for a larger fungi bite), a rich bordelaise sauce, seared foie gras and medium rare beef filet. Although I adore the idea of beef Wellington, the dish has some inherent cooking flaws. By separating its core tastes this young chef has hit upon a brilliant reinvention of an old favorite.  

Dessert: The hazelnut goat cheesecake with fresh figs. Halfway between a not-too-sweet dessert and a cheese course.  

Haven

App: Shrimp corn dogs with Tabasco mash remoulade served with a tiny glass of Meyer lemonade ($13.50). As fun as it sounds and thoughtful too, the Tabasco mash is the Avery Island spicy pepper relish concoction the famous sauce was once steeped in.  

Entrée: Free-range chicken with bacon spaetzle and crispy brussel sprout leaves ($22). Who doesn’t love roast chicken when it’s done well? Throw on some spaeztle (that marvelous German/Austrian/Swiss noodle) and it’s over, I have to try the dish.  

Dessert: Buttermilk pecan pie ($8). I’m crazy about tangy buttermilk pie, a classic Southern sweet staple. Add pecans and you have a textural element without the often cloying sweetness of a traditional pecan pie. Lovely.  

Branch Water Tavern

Snack: When I’m in the mood to graze around a menu, lately this is where I head. I’d start with the crispy pork cracklins ($3) Airy, not greasy, don’t think too hard about it just order a good cold artisan beer with them and enjoy.  

App: Charcuterie with, as they write, “Too many garnishes to list.” ($12). It’s all homemade–from rough terrines and finely textured pates to the mustards and pickled vegetables served alongside. Don’t miss it.  

Entrée: Slow roasted salmon with green lentils (Puy I presume), root vegetables and grain mustard jus ($19).

Dessert: Tough one, I’m torn between the gooey peanut butter and chocolate fondant ($6), a diminutive cake with dulce de leche spread smeared to the side and the ice cream. Or the crème fraiche cheesecake ($6) topped with a changing assortment of fruits. The day I tried it (and raved) it was topped with a pear poached with hibiscus and red wine.