Victoria's Tru Thai Asian Cuisine: Victoria

Tonight, I am in the mood for Thai.  Two places pop up, so I decided to go with Victoria's Tru Thai Asian Cuisine.  Located in an older building on Business 59, you walk into a small clean restaurant with the sound of running water and filled with oil paintings of Thai farmers in their rice fields.

The menus are located under the plexiglass on the table, and it is not extensive.  They have a lot of curries which I will have to come back to try.  I had read that their Pad Thai was good, so of course, I move in that direction.    I order vegetarian Pad Thai: pan fried noodles with eggs, peanuts, green onions and bean sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots!  Your meat options include chicken, beef, or pork. The meal comes with soup and an egg roll, but I passed on this evening.  You can hear the owner's wife back in the kitchen clanging on the pots making your meal to order, so the excitement begins.

The only thing I can say about Victoria's Tru Thai's Pad Thai is that IT IS THE BEST PAD THAI THAT I HAVE EVER HAD!  The vegetables were super fresh.  The Noodles were wider glass noodles filled with seasoning and taste.  The bowl was huge, and it was hard to stop eating this delightful dish.  It was truly bliss.  I did have a funny eureka moment though...I thought the bigger pieces of the sponge like ingredient was tofu, but then I realized that this egg hater was actually eating chunks of egg. 

In the end, my experience was incredible.  I spoke with the owner regarding Thailand and an upcoming trip.  He was extremely friendly and provided great insight to the Country and Culture.  All the while, I could hear his wife banging away in the back for the next lucky food recipient.  When I am back in Victoria, I will definitely return to Victoria's Tru Thai Asian Cuisine, and I encourage you to give it a try too.

Victoria's Tru Thai Asian Cuisine
811 E Rio Grande St (Business 59)
Victoria, TX  77901
361/572-8851

Ramsey's: Victoria, Texas

Ramsey's has been around forever since 1948.  This diner serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's Sunday, and breakfast at the counter sounds like the plan.  This place does a booming eat in business and you should see the take out. 

As I take my perch, I decide on a cup of coffee and a short stack of pancakes with bacon.  They are known for their cinnamon rolls, so I was in luck that they had one left.  I chose pecan over raisin.

Wow, this cinnamon roll is HUGE!  It is more like a cinnamon pecan biscuit.  Finally, in the center, tons of pecans and glaze.  It was really kinda overkill and quite overwhelming. 

The short stack arrives.  Three thick cut strips of crispy bacon on top of 2 huge pancakes.  The bacon totally rocked.  The pancakes were fluffy about half an inch.  They were very good, and hit the spot.

I asked the waitress if it ever slows down, and she said this is slow.  If this is slow, then this place is a gold mine and then some!  Its also a great place to people watch and meet the friendly locals!  Definitely, check out this established, local eatery the next time you are in Victoria whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ramsey's
1403 N Navarro
Victoria
361/572-3287

Ventura's Tamales: Victoria, Texas

OK, Ventura’s Tamales claim to be “the absolute best tamales in Texas.”  They are known through out the State.  I remember seeing their location times before, but now I have a reason to stop.

For some reason, I remember their location being on Hwy 59 business, but now it is on North Navarro.  Based on their beautiful website, I was expecting a beautiful little restaurant, but I was totally shocked by the building as it looks like an old Taco Bell that has been painted.  Never judge a book by its cover.

Besides tamales, you can get the usual Tex-Mex suspects too.  Today, I opt for a dozen spicy tamales.  You can chose either regular or spicy.

First thing, I thought that the price for a dozen was a little high.  Second, when I opened up the tamales, I thought the actual tamale was even smaller for the price.  I sure hope that the taste of these tamales makes up for everything!

And, it did.  The masa was perfect in taste- not bland at all with a perfect corn taste and moist.  The spiciness was lacking.  The tamales were a little stingy on the meat which I think was pork- never saw anything on what it was.  The hot sauce was super fresh with a thinner consistency and a lot of garlic.  It actually reminded me of Elena’s in Beaumont- see that Blog earlier in the month.

The dozen was consumed over the next 3 days, and it was hard not to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Overall, I thought Ventura’s was really good.  I still think that they are pricey for the actual tamales- in size and in meat, but it is always good to find a place with yummy tamales.  It will definitely be a stop when I come to Victoria.

Ventura’s Tamales

3907 N Navarro

Victoria, Texas 77901

361/578-5161

www.venturastamales.com

Pico de Gallo: Victoria, Texas

This place was packed.  Cars were waiting on the main street for the drive thru.  The inside is tiny but booming.  This morning, a bacon, potato, and cheese breakfast taco with a cup of pico.

The tacos are HUGE.  The flour tortillas are awesome- home made- thick and just bliss.  The potatoes were so-so- very bland.  The bacon was a little burnt, but very edible.  The cheese was scarce, but the very fresh pico de gallo made up for it.  Overall, this taco was very good and very filling.  It's definitely worth a stop if you are in Victoria.

Pico de Gallo
609 E. Rio Grande
Victoria, TX 77901
(361) 578-7968

Halepaska's Bakery: Victoria, Texas

Serving Victoria since 1953, Halepaska’s claims that they “offer the FINEST QUALITY baked goods from the freshest ingredients.”  Halepaska’s Bakery is a usual stop on my trips to Victoria since I love their chocolate thumbprint cookies.

When you walk into Halepaska’s Bakery, the Loop location, it is a little overwhelming.  The coolers on the right have so much to chose from, and the ladies behind them are eager to get you your heart’s desires.

Today, I chose an array of sweets: a chocolate thumbprint cookie, a coconut macaroon, a white petit four, an apricot kolache, and a chocolate pecan chewy.  There’s nothing like a healthy breakfast to go with the pot of coffee that I just drank!

Where do we start?  My thumb obviously squashed the chocolate thumbprint as I was trying to pull it out of the sack.  This shortbread cookie was not what I remembered- I thought it was a sugar cookie.  Anyways, the shortbread cookie seemed to be pecan shortbread that was crisp, buttery, and good.  I didn’t not care for the chocolate icing for the thumbprint.  It tasted like it was typical canned icing piped onto the cookie.  Not a good start for the array.

Next: the apricot kolache: YUMMY.  It was light, buttery, not too sweet, and just really good.  

The coconut macaroon was INCREDIBLE.  It was so light and fluffy- probably from lots of egg whites (but, I will not think about that due to my aversion to eggs).  I have never had anything like it, and I will say it is the best coconut macaroon that I have EVER had. 

I am totally pushing my sugar limit and definitely over the calorie count, but I take one for the team and move onto the petit four.  I REALLY wish bakeries would make bite size petit fours.  I will say this white cake petit four was extremely good.  The cake was light and had a great butter taste while the icing was just right.  It was one of the better petit fours that I have had.

And, now the winner is- drum roll please.  The chocolate pecan chewy was the bomb.  WOW, this cookie was better than the coconut macaroon.  It was like a chocolate divinity.  Light, fluffy and melted in your mouth.  This cookie is my NEW favorite at Halepaska’s!

As you have already figured out, I am a big fan of Halepaska’s Bakery.  Out with the old favorite, and in with two new ones.  I think you are missing out if you don’t check out Halepaska’s Bakery when you are in the Victoria area.

Halepaska’s Bakery

5805 John Stockbauer Dr                                                    302 East Rio Grande St

Victoria, TX 77904                                                               Victoria, TX 77901

361/575-4715                                                                       361/573-4811

     www.halepaskasbakery.com