While eating in the tunnels of downtown Houston sounds anything but tantalizing for your tastebuds, more and more eateries are opening up for the white collar workers of Houston to avoid the traffic and enjoy a quick bite not too far from their desks.
One such restaurant is Peli Deli. It’s located on the ground floor of the Emerson Building at the corner of Travis and Rusk. It’s right above a tunnel access stairway, so it’s great for grabbing a hot meal if you don’t have a very long lunch break.
South African food is not typically on my radar. Mexican food, Italian Food, Thai food, yes, but South African? Nope. So when I saw that the Houston Food Blogger Collective was having an event there, I thought it might be a fun opportunity. You see, the HFBC is group that gets to try foods from restaurants, new menu items, and attend soft openings before the restaurants actually open. It’s a great organization to join if you’re interested in trying new foods and meeting other foodies.
So, I just joined and this was the first meetup I was able to attend. It was awesome! There were about 10 of us there and I had such a good time getting to know everyone! Want to know the best part? We ALL take pictures of our food! Hallelujah! Haha! I’m no longer “that girl”, but instead, one of the many! It’s nice to find my people!
But let’s get to why you really came – to see the food!
Naan Tacos. Let’s just talk about these for a second. First of all, instead of a tortilla, Peli uses a 4′ round naan bread as the vehicle to hold all of the deliciousness and push it towards your face. And what tastiness it was! I opted for the curried chicken tacos. It came complete with yellow rice, curry chicken, and mango chutney. But honestly, all of the other options my cohorts got looked delicious as well.
Perogen (South African Empanada). I got the curried veggie option, but I should have gotten the carni-boers (bacon) or the bobotie (sweet beef). I don’t like kale. I don’t know why I thought a restaurant could change my mind, but I just can’t do it. But maybe if you like kale, the veggie option would be good for you.
Bahn-Nini. This is a sandwich with a meat, homemade mayo, liver pate, pickled vegetables, and peppadews and cilantro. I know that sounds like a weird combination, but go with me on this one…I opted for the skirt steak bahn-nini and it was REALLY good. Add a little of their garlic sauce and you’ve got it made!
Pineapple Coleslaw. I don’t normally like coleslaw. At barbecues, I normally skip right past that side dish and load up on the dill pickle slices. But this coleslaw was pretty good! I think it was the added zing of the pineapple that I liked.
Sticky Toffee Cookies. I’m definitely someone who needs a little bit of sweetness to finish off a meal, and these were just enough. They have cranberries and dates in them, shaved white chocolate on top, and a drizzle of sticky toffee sauce generously strewn all over them. They’re not super sweet, but they’re enough to satisfy that sweet tooth that I always seem to have.
If you’re in the area, try out Peli Deli. And take a look at their website – they have other restaurants with the same South African cuisine in different parts of the city!
