Money Cat Brunch

11 December 2011

Money Cat Brunch

It was a fortunate that I hung out with Peter that week, or I would have missed out a change to eat at the Money Cat brunch.  Peter had been working the last few weekends in a row there, helping out his friend, Justin Yu.  Justin's dad own's a Japanese restaurant, Umai, out in Bellaire.  The restaurant was temporarily closed so Justin was taking advantage of that sabbatical to do a pop-up brunch series.

The brunch would serve as a delicious reward after working a 24-hour shift on labor & delivery for all of Saturday.  It was hard to drag myself out of bed from a glorious post-call nap, but the prospects of hot brunch called to me.  Plus, Arin, Robert and Luke were on their way to get me, so there was no staying in bed.

The four of us got the only empty table in the small restaurant when we arrived.  I proceeded to immediately order a latte which was made with Greenway Coffee.  We perused through our Money Cat coloring book which was ripe with dark humor.

The four of us like to eat "family style" when we go out for food so we ordered a bunch of different items off the menu and waited for the goods to arrive.  Peter sent out the frog with green curry and shrimp balls.  The curry was not rich & heavy the way some curries can be.  The sauce was light and the frog leg was large.  I would have liked it better if it were spicy though.

Next we got the crispy potatoes with pepper sauce, fried garlic, kewpie mayo and fried egg on top.  It was tangy and satisfying and for many of us, one of our favorite dishes.  Good solid "comfort food."

Having eaten congee many times in both China and the US, where my dad makes his own version, I had to try Money Cat's version.  The rice porridge soup was served steaming in a large bowl.  This congee was made with kobocha squash, fried soy, tapioca, shallot, brown butter and a hard-boiled egg.  The squash made the congee slightly sweet; the egg was moist and flavorful.

The hake fillet was fried from head to tail and served with a sauce containing cumin, palm sugar and tamarind.  It was sitting on top of cilantro seasoned rice with pan-fried long beans.  There was a small side of pickled sweet chilis that were a delicious addition to the dish. I picked all the good meat out of the head and chewed on the crispy tail.

We had a short intermission with the scallion biscuits with honey-sriracha glaze and honey-sriracha butter.   Butter and Sriracha are two of the best condiments, why not put them together?!  It was amazing!

The pork soup was probably my favorite dish of the morning.  The chili broth was rich and creamy, served with braised pork and slices of pig ear, topped with bean sprouts and cilantro.  The egg noodles inside were chewy and al dente.  This is the kind of soup I want to eat when its cold out.  If this place were a permanent establishment, I would be making weekly visits for that soup.  It was fun attempting to share it amongst the four of us without making a huge mess.

We were all sufficiently stuffed after all of that food.  I was sad that this would be my one and only chance to eat at Money Cat because there were still so many other items I'd love to try including their specialty cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks.  Oh well, some things are too good to last....