Nov. 21--Fierce civic pride often leads to rivalry and one-upmanship among Texas' major cities. For the state's food lovers, that competitive spirit particularly applies when comparing dining scenes.

But in this season, when gratitude is encouraged, let's be thankful for the piquant diversity. One example: A recent sprint through the gamut of Houston restaurants illuminated just how different its culinary canvas is from Dallas'. (Not better, mind you: different.) Houston's populous sprawl and its perch near state and national borders infuse the food culture with breadth.

Cajun and Creole traditions are nearly as ingrained as Tex-Mex and barbecue. Mexican food flourishes at all levels, from modest groceries selling take-out barbacoa to chef-driven ventures that uplift tamales and roasted pork into a fine-dining setting.

The growing Asian population has spawned a cornucopia of Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Korean restaurants.

The expansiveness of Houston's scene also invites surprise entrants. (Accomplished British cooking? Bring it on!)

Following are 10 Houston restaurants worth a detour or a hustle for reservations. They in no way reflect all of the city's celebrated chefs or destinations, but many exemplify styles or specialties that are not as prevalent in Dallas.

Catalan

The name of this broodingly romantic restaurant can hoodwink: It suggests tapas and Spanish cuisine, which is half-right. Small plates are a focal point of the menu, but the inspiration for these boldly united flavors reaches from the Mediterranean to Thailand to New Orleans.

Consider beginning with the housemade charcuterie, charred cubes of pork belly dripping with Steen's cane syrup and wild king salmon cured with Tabasco pepper mash. Then split an entree of Gulf shrimp with lush bacon and goat cheese grits.

Take the time to talk through Catalan's incredible wine list with sommelier Antonio Gianola and he'll send you on a liquid adventure.

5555 Washington Ave., Houston. 713-426-4260. catalanfoodandwine.com

Chocolate Bar

A city as sultry as Houston needs a fantastical retreat.

Chocolates are crafted in-house, and the hot chocolate is amazing (try the frozen version in summer), but the real delicacies are the ice creams.

The lauded Orange Sunrise ice cream includes whole ground Valencia oranges and free-form milk chocolate pieces. Don't scoff, dark chocolate fans: It's heady stuff. Chocolate banana pudding and root beer float flavors similarly wow.

1835 W. Alabama St., Houston. 713-520-8599. www.theoriginalchocolatebar.com

Textile

Textile, the hot newbie of the season, is the pet project of chef-owner Scott Tycer, who co-owns the beloved Houston restaurant Gravitas. In an old textile factory, the billowy interior brings renewed life to the term industrial chic.

The focus of the evolving New American menu is the $85 degustation menu, with dishes such as bacon tart with quail egg and braised veal breast with truffle hollandaise. It's an ambitious tactic in this economy, yet weekend reservations already are impossible to snag.

611 W. 22nd St., Houston. 832-209-7177. www.textilerestaurant.com

Feast

The wood-paneled, publike room sets a wholly appropriate stage for a jaunt through modern British cooking.

Sure, you can go with more familiar-sounding dishes such as fish soup and braised lamb shank. But the real adventure is daring yourself to try some of the dishes starring organ meats that make some Americans squeamish: rabbit livers, ox heart, duck neck and black (as in made with blood) pudding.

Trust chefs Richard Knight and James Silk to cook these foods correctly and appealingly. They also turn cabbage and cauliflower into amazingly sensuous experiences.

219 Westheimer Road, Houston. 713-529-7788. www.feasthouston.com

Hugo's

Chef-owner Hugo Ortega doesn't attempt strict authenticity with his take on Mexican cuisine, but he captures the independent way that serious Mexican cooks adapt standard dishes to their own sensibility.

The dinner menu roams through the country, with entrees ranging from carnitas and cabrito to cochinita pibil (Yucatan roasted pork in a banana leaf) and shrimp in garlic sauce with a cactus salad.

To get a feel for the generous spirit behind this restaurant, hit the Sunday brunch buffet. The care with which this spread is prepared puts most slipshod buffets to shame.

1600 Westheimer Road, Houston. 713-524-7744. www.hugosrestaurant.net

Indika

As with Hugo's, the preparations at Indika may not be ultratraditional, but the cooking transmits the country's essence.

Some dishes are straight-ahead Indian (a variety of poori, crisp puffs of fried dough filled with juicy ingredients); others use Indian ingredients but borrow from Western preparation and presentation (wild Texas kingfish in a sour tomato curry with bitter melon; grilled spiced lamb chops served alongside a kashmiri lamb curry).

With this skillful, delicious approach, chef-owner Anita Jaisinghani has created the kind of upscale Indian restaurant that every city needs.

516 Westheimer Road, Houston. 713-524-2170. www.indikausa.com

Irma's

This standard-bearer for homey Mexican cooking won the "America's Classic" award from the James Beard Foundation last year.

The dining room is a bric-a-brac Wonderland: a shrinelike picture of Selena near a Bud Light sign from which Christmas ornaments dangle, dolls sitting in semitidy rows, aging photos taped to every available surface. Doting servers recite the menu of what's available that day.

Don't skip the guacamole shot through with barely chopped cilantro. Tamales and spinach enchiladas both have a surprising lightness. Tres leches or banana pudding for dessert?

22 N. Chenevert St., Houston. 713-222-0767

Pizzitola's

Recommending one barbecue spot over another always incites fightin' words.

What stands out in beef-loving Texas are Pizzitola's pork spare ribs, which waffle between moist and chewy and have the shot-through-with-smoke intensity that barbecue lovers crave.

Slices of fat-rich brisket and tangy potato salad complete the spread. Don't be put off by the unwelcoming exterior: It's all warmth and cluttered comfort once you're inside.

1703 Shepherd Drive, Houston. 713-227-2283. www.pizzitolas.com

Que Huong

In a city replete with Vietnamese restaurants, more than one Houston food writer recommended Que Huong above others.

The action in the spare dining room is all on the plate. Asian customers mostly order fragrant noodle soups (not just pho) and hot pots. But other dishes warranted attention as well: tempura soft-shell crab; unusually fresh, almost-fluffy grilled ground shrimp on sugar cane; noodles with spicy beef and snow pea leaves smoky from the wok.

That's barely a beginning with more than 300 menu items, but it's easy to see what the fuss is about.

8200 Wilcrest Drive, Houston. 281-495-2814.

Reef

Crowned the best seafood restaurant in America in the December issue of Bon Appetit magazine, Reef's brilliance stems from Chef Bryan Caswell's uncanny way of integrating the many influences on Houston's culinary scene into a menu that makes graceful sense.

Dishes might include cobia served sashimi style with jalapeno-ponzu and a pickled watermelon salad, an unusually meaty crab cake and roasted grouper served with braised collards, cracklings and potlikker jus. (Don't get too attached; the menu changes frequently.) Look beyond seafood, too: The beef sliders with caramelized onions are irresistible.

2600 Travis St., Houston. 713-526-8282. www.reefhouston.com

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