The Heights gets new Asian option.
Fast-casual spot offers affordable Asian cuisine in the Heights
THE CONCEPT
A fast-casual, affordable Heights restaurant inspired by the multicultural Asian dishes of Singapore from cook and food writer Cuc Lam and Jerry Lasco (The Tasting Room, Max’s Wine Dive).
THE SPACE
The small, 1,250square-foot restaurant has 26 seats inside and 20 on the patio. It has a minimal design with a clean palette: walls covered in bamboo flooring, a communal table made from recycled materials, simple metal chairs and a few pops of green.
THE FOOD
Lam and chef David Ramos, who has worked at Paper Co. Café and Better Luck Tomorrow, are sending out appetizers and shareable plates such as satay, Vietnamese summer slaw with shredded chicken, roti with Indian-spiced coconut curry sauce, and chili crab Rangoon (a deep-fried wonton holding cream cheese, crab and chives served with a chili crab sauce). Entrees include laksa, a Malaysian curry noodle soup; rice dishes (chicken tikka masala, fried rice with barbecue pork and shrimp); and wok-fired noodle dishes (pad Thai; Szechuan pepper cornlaced Chinese flat rice or glass noodles). About 90 percent of the restaurant’s menu is gluten free.
THE DRINKS
Wine on tap, local craft beer (Eureka Heights, 8th Wonder, Saint Arnold) and sake cocktails.
THE WORD
Sing, Lam said, was designed to have wheels: An additional nine locations are planned in Houston and surrounding communities over the next five years.
ONE MORE THING
Though she has no formal culinary education, Lam’s background includes being an English teacher; working in IT in the oil-and-gas industry; writing about food for the Houston Press; and hosting popup food events. The last, in which she cooked her specialties — Thai, Vietnamese and Cajun dishes (she grew up in Mississippi, which accounts for her Southern flair) — convinced her she could operate a restaurant. She spent a month in Singapore last year learning about the food and culture in preparation for Sing.
THE DETAILS
718 W. 18th at Lowell Street Market, 713-8089016; cravesing.com. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.