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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...
...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...
...lighter touch, try southwest Houston's Le Viet, which owner Tam Le opened nine months ago with a mission to make his mother's Vietnamese home cooking popular with non-Asian diners. The servers at Le Viet patiently show newcomers how to wrap rice-paper rolls around pungent shrimp paste, vermicelli and mounds of fragrant mint and cilantro, and advise which sauce goes with the fiery lemongrass tofu. "I'm young and willing to try new things," says Le, 25. "You can't serve American customers the same way as Vietnamese customers...
...staff at Miss Saigon would agree. With its bistro-style setting and fresh baguettes for banh mi (spicy grilled-pork sandwiches), the restaurant emphasizes the French influence on Vietnamese food and has won fans in the tony neighborhood near Rice University and Houston's medical center. Downtown, Mai's has a strong following for its noodle soups, chicken-coconut curry and fresh lemon soda. And it's open until 2:30 a.m. every day, a gift to restless road warriors in this early-to-bed city...
...reinterpretation. The techniques are scrupulously traditional, but every dish includes some surprise: crabmeat in the flaky samosas, fresh spinach and mustard greens in the saag paneer, and litchi juice in the margaritas. Indika's self-taught chef-owner, Anita Jaisinghani, 41, worked most recently at Cafe Annie, one of Houston's best-known restaurants. She knows when to keep things simple (a meltingly tender lamb shank) and when to experiment (puff pastry crowned with palm sugar and almonds). "I wanted to Americanize the food slightly," she says, "but just to improve...