NOTES: Best Of

The Houston Press has updated their list of "best of" Houston dining. In the spirit of blog lists, here are my choices for some of their major categories.

Best Barbecue Restaurant - Goode Company Barbecue for being a Houston institution with good food to boot.

Best Place to Skip Dinner and Get to Dessert - Tough choice, but I'm going to have to go with Churassco's for their tres leches. It might be the best dessert in Houston.

Best Middle Eastern Restaurant - Darbands has the best kabobs.

Best Neighborhood Spot in Rice Village - Black Walnut Cafe for their large menu, stuffed chairs and cozy ambiance. There's another restaurant I would have picked, but that one wins in a bigger category.

Best Seafood Restaurant - McCormick Shmick. Fresh fish daily and a happy hour special.

Best Chinese Restaurant - Sinh Sinh for their amazing variety and authentic feel. No dignitaries here. Just Asians enjoying a variety of things.

Best Expense Account Restaurant - Noe. It might have won for best restaurant too, but the location, inside a hotel, sucks.

Best Thai Restaurant - Vieng Thai. I actually agree with Houston Press here. Three words: mango sticky rice.

Best Korean Restaurant - Sam Bo Jung. Bring bullet proof vest to this Korean institution.

Best New Restaurant - Bistro Moderne. Please eat here. I want them to survive.

Best Restaurant - Cafe Rabelais. It would have won Best Neighborhood Rice Village Restaurant, but this is a bigger category.

Best Steak House - Perry's. The only chain on this list. It's really hard to beat their lunch pork chop.

Best Atmosphere - Lucky Pot. For shear unadulterated devotion to being a hole in the wall for Chinese people.

Best Vietnamese Restaurant - Saigon Pagolac. Houston Press picked its sister, Jasmine Restaurant.