MF Sushi Shines, Pizza L'Vino Has Potential and More

Chronicle critic Alison Cook awards one star to takeout oriented Pizza L'Vino. While she admires the convenience of being able to order beer or wine with pizza and the quality of the toppings, she found the crusts to be lacking. "Pizza L'Vino offers a variety of crusts, and none that I tasted exhibited that all-important vitality on a textural level. The best of the bunch was the New York crust in its white-flour version, I thought: it was well-bronzed and crisp, but its interior texture was a uniform soft breadiness with a medium crumb, with virtually no stretch, and not much of a variation between the thinnish floor and the low-rising crown." [Houston Chronicle]

Local writer Mai Pham considers MF Sushi for her turn as the Houston Press's substitue food critic; she shares Cook's opinion that the restaurant tucked into an obscure strip center west of the Galleria offers one of Houston's finest dining experiences. "Other nights, it's the nigiri sushi that shines. In fact, it's Kinjo's mastery of nigiri sushi that separates him from his peers. There is an art to the way in which he makes his rice, a craftsman's skill that takes years of practice to perfect. Kinjo himself will be the first to admit that he's still working at it every day." [Houston Press]

Over at Houstonia, features editor Katharine Shilcutt writes that the wild-game (buffalo, elk) tacos at Sammy's Wild Game Grill are an excellent addition to the wide range of meats diners can already stuff into tortillas. For his part, food editor Robb Walsh encourages fans of Blacksmith's Vietnamese steak and eggs "to try the bo ne at a Vietnamese restaurant" like b10 on Bellaire. Then he goes off the beaten path with a visit to over-the-top adult playground Top Golf. [Houstonia]

The Blogs: CultureMap tries the all mushroom menu from vegan chef German Mosquera at Restaurant Cinq. Daniel the Gluttonous Chinaman confesses that he loves the chicken and waffles at Adair Kitchen. Patty and David visit Heights institution Glass Wall. Speaking of Blacksmith, Hank on Food passes on the coffee hotspot's signature biscuits but still gives it an A. Finally, read arbitrary critic Catherine Martin's Feast write up for her always entertaining inner monologue about why making a reservation via OpenTable is so much better than picking up the phone.

[Pizza L'Vino/Facebook]