Foodie Know It All

Cooking: Avocado Corn Salad!

2013-10-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to do a cooking blog entry for a while, I am not sure why I never got around to it...but hey, this will be the first one. Everything I make, I feel is pretty simple and nothing overly extravagent...Who's got time for that! I hope it will be easy to follow and YOU will try it yourself!

I brought this salad to a work pot luck of mine, and it got pretty good responses. People started asking me for recipes so I figured what better place to put it than HERE! I promise next time I will have more photos of the whole process. This was just a last minute decision.

To tell you the truth, I do not go by recipes when I cook. So there will not be actual measurements but I can definitely fill you in on the process and the ingredients I put in there.

Ingredients needed:
~"fresh" corn - please use fresh ones vs can or frozen, their texture and flavor cannot compare
~jalapeno - if you like you can definitely combine it with some spicier peppers as well, like habaneros
~cilantro
~red onions or shallots
~tomatoes
~avocadoes
~limes

Dressing:
~lemon oil
~olive oil
~black pepper
~apple cider vinegar
~honey
~salt - I prefer pink salt

Instructions:
1. Remove the corn from the stalk...here is a good way to do it (put a small bowl upside down in a large bowl. This will help catch the kernels. below is an example)

2. Bring some water to a boil and quickly blanch the kernels of corn, then drain. Let the corn air out until they cool off.
3. Dice the avocadoes and put it in a bowl and toss with plenty of lime juice to keep the avocadoes from oxidizing. I like to toss the avocadoes with some black pepper as well.
3. Dice the onions and jalapenos. Place them in a bowl and wisk in salt, apple cider vinegar, honey, black pepper, olive oil, and lemon oil (use sparingly). Let it set and marinate for a while.
4. Dice the tomatoes and chop the cilantro and set aside until everything is ready to toss together.
5. Once the corn is cooled and the dressing is ready, toss everything together and get ready to EAT!

This goes well as just a side with a steak, tacos, or just as a snack. You can also add in other seasonal ingredients like sweet red or yellow peppers, some sauteed mushrooms, or proteins like beef or shrimp or even some less starchy potatoes.

I hope you all enjoy this!

Canary by Gorgi - Restaurant Week 3, a delicious adventure

2013-09-04T17:35:00.002-07:00

On a hot Texas summer night on August 2013, what is there to do? Restaurant week! We got to enjoy this restaurant week adventure with some fantastic friends. What makes this night better? Well...Delicious food of course!

Chef Gorgi did not disappoint at all. We asked our friends to join us, so thank goodness we didn't steer them wrong =)

Canary by Gorgi's is a small, romantic, classy, restaurant but with a touch of friendliness to it. This extra touch is brought out by the smile and attentiveness of the Chef and Owner, Chef Gorgi.

We went with 6 other people. Other than myself, the other 7 people in our party ordered the wine pairing.

Our extra course is the butter poached shrimp on top with grilled chill avocado. This was free with the Central Market coupon, but we would've happily paid an extra $7 for this. It was YUMMY! The shrimp was cooked perfectly, and the grilled avocado was just ripe enough but not over done to where it is mushy. It added a great texture with some smoothness to the dish. Tomato sauce paired well and finished it off with some acidity.

The Escargot and the Seared Scallops was our appetizers.

The escargot were extremely tender and seasoned very well. They were cooked in a rich pomodoro mushroom sauce which you cannot get enough of. They came with some round toast points to pair the dish. Our friends loved it and even the people who haven't tried escargot before fell in love that night.

Sorry about the scallop photo, I think I started eating and forgot to take the first picture. The scallop dish was nicely done as well. The scallops were seared to perfection. The sugars were caramelized on top and juicy in the center. This was paired with a cucumber, tomato, dill and goat cheese salad. What a great combination. This made the whole dish light enough for you to have a few more.

Our two main dishes : Lamb T Bone with Quail and The Artic Char with Shrimp.

The chef was very attentive and came to inquire if everyones lamb was cooked to their liking. This was nice and made everyone feel extra special. And yes! Everyone had a lamb that was cooked the way they wanted. The lamb was juicy and had a great lamb flavor, the quail was also extremely flavorful and prepared well. The skin was slightly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

The Artic Char was also a great dish. The fish had its skin on, just the way I like, the skin was seared and crispy, and the fish was cooked just right. The fish was very fresh. The shrimps were butter seared and a good size. Chef Gorgi added a slightly sweet acid touch by adding some barberries and a white wine sauce to finish.

Then last but not least desserts. The Kefir Butterfly with Dates or the Chocolate Liqueur Cake with Berries.

The Kefir Butterfly was nicely done. The Kefir has a good tart flavor, velvety texture paired with wafer, honey, and dates. Personally I think this is a very sophisticated dessert, and it is not something you can get at any restaurant dessert menu.

The chocolate cake was decadent! The presentation was stunning! The cake was moist, the liqueur flavor was just right, and the right amount of sweetness. The berries helps break the richness. My friend said she would come back just for this if she needed to.

Overall a great night! Had lots of fun enjoying delicious food with friends, being able share this experience is priceless. The food was amazing! All of us agreed we would come again for dinner to try his other entrees.

Canary by Gorgi

5100 Beltline Rd

Ste 402

Dallas, TX, 75254

Domain Chandon - Enchanting Napa while pleasing the palate!

2013-09-02T20:39:00.001-07:00

Domain Chandon was definitely captivating! The scenery was like a walk into a dream with a beautiful secret garden.

The views were really breathtaking! If it was not 100 + in heat index that day we would have definitely been able to enjoy it even more.

This was by far one of the best wine tours we have ever been on and probably one of the most beautiful wineries we have seen so far.

Our tour came with a thorough explanation of the whole place, the history, their daily routines, and their interaction with the other wineries as well.

The cocktail wine tour was a pretty good deal. We got all three cocktails plus a education tour for $40, cheaper than just buying the three drinks at the bar in the winery and the tour guide offered us extras to drink! Can't beat that!

Our first drink was the summer crush. The basil and lime was a delicious combination. Very crisp and light, excellent for the hot Napa weather that day. The best part, other than sipping the champagne was getting the chance to make it yourself. They teach you how to make the flavored syrup at home and you get to put as much of it as you want.

The second drink was the rising star. This was our favorite. Sweet and tart but light enough to drink several glasses. The sweet cherries and the pomegranate flavor really shines and blends extremely well with the Chandon Brut Classic.

The third drink was the Hibiscus Romance. This was our least favorite but definitely the prettiest. The combination was not great, the hibiscus flavor was kind of covered up by the sugar syrup.

Fantastic afternoon spent at the winery. This is one tour we would go back for. The tour guide was witty and the drinks were yummy! By far one of the most memorable and tasty wine tours we have experienced here in Napa.

RN 74 in San Francisco...A foodie adventure

2013-08-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here we are in San Francisco again! Great weather, exquisite food, and lots to do. If you are a food lover....YOU MUST VISIT this grand city of foodie treasures!

Tony chose RN 74 for my birthday dinner. What a treat and a great choice as well. Michael Mina really out did himself with this place. The atmosphere was very romantic and cozy. A little bit too cozy if you ask me...it was pretty warm inside. I think they kept the heat on a little higher since it was chilly outside. We loved the decoration of the old fashioned train departure/arrival board. It displayed all the prices of special wines they carry.

We ordered 2 cocktails to start, 2 starters, 1 midi, and 2 entrees.

I forgot that we even had drinks. I recall that they were tasty and refreshing. I had a special RN74 version of a Pimm's Cup and Tony had a Moscow Mule.

The appetizer was absolute FOOD PORN 101! The Uni & Warm Main Lobster Tartine was OMG........Speechless. Too delicious for words. The uni was soft yet firm and succulent, the lobster was sweet, creamy and full of body. YUMMY! This dish was so good that we almost considered ordering this again for dinner because we couldn't get enough.

The Pate de Foie de Poulet was rich and had a great depth of flavor. The other components complimented it really well. The silky pate paired with the crispy texture of the chicken skin, the acid of the pickles, the earthiness of the greens, and the sweetness of the cherries brought it altogether.

Our Midi

Lamb Tartar was awesome! Wow, great flavors, texture was perfect...what can I say ONE MOUTH WATERING BITE! If you have never had lamb tartar...YOU are missing out.

Entrees

Polenta Crusted Sea Scallops and Heritage Pork Loin and Crispy Belly.

The Scallops were very good and large in size. Cooked perfectly! The sugars of the scallops were caramelized and wrapped in with the delightfully crispy polenta coating. The morels and the fresh creamed corn was delicious....wish there was more. A great dish!

The pork dish was MMMMMMMMM! Sometimes you think it will be really heavy but if you pair pork well they can be very tasty, The apricot and the bacon cherry vinaigrette was a perfect combo with the pork dish. Both the loin and the belly was prepared well.

What a fantastic evening. We enjoyed ALL of it! We would come here again just for the Uni and Lobster Tartine!

RN 74

301 Mission Street

SFO, CA, 94105

The French Room...old elegance - Restaurant Week 2013

2013-08-15T08:15:00.002-07:00

The Adolphus is like a step into the past in an elegant way. We loved the ambiance and the decor thoughout the place. You can't help but turn your heads to check out all the cool murals, chandlaliers, clocks, vases, and paintings around the place.

We were greeted and seated promptly. The atmosphere was quite enchanting. Our servers were all very polite and gave us explanation of our three courses (not that we needed it) but it was nice to know they knew what they were talking about.

Our starters!

Crab Cake, the best we have had! You can tell it was packed with big lumps of sweet crab meat and not fillers. The tomato jam was a great compliment and very tasty.

The Pork Belly with risotto was drool worthy. Had the rich asian touch with a creamy risotto pairing. Very similar to what we had at Morimoto Napa, but he paired his pork belly with congee vs. risotto.

Then came our fish entrees.

We ordered the Red Snapper wrapped with zucchini and Salmon with Shiitaki.

The Snapper had great caramelization on top and paired with silky mash potatoes.

The Salmon was cooked to perfection. Rare on the inside and crispy on the outside. The Shiitaki's were seasoned extremely well, we wished we had a whole bowl of it!

Our desserts were amazing!

We ordered the Grand Mariner Souffle and Key Lime Creme Brulee. Both were awesome! The souffle was fluffy and velvety, extremely flavorful! The key lime brulee was YUMMY! The key lime flavor definitely stood out and help cut down the richness. Sugar was crispy on top and lush on the bottom.

Overall a delicious experience! We cannot wait to come back and try their regular menu. For $45 per person vs what they normally charge, definitely worth the try, especially during restaurant week!

The French Room

The Adolphus Hotel

1321 Commerce Street

Dallas, TX, 75202

BRC Gastropub, a nice surprise!

2013-02-21T19:27:00.001-08:00

We met up with some friends for lunch and chose BRC Gastropub as our lunch destination. We were seated quickly which was a major plus considering everywhere else was packed and when we called they told us there would be a 30 min wait...we arrived 5 minutes later and was seated right away.

To Start we ordered some mimosa, a raspberry cocktail and another cocktail which I completely forgot so that means it was not that great. All were very refreshing and a great beginning.

We ordered deviled eggs with fried oysters and a tomaoto basil soup to start.

The deviled eggs were very tasty and the touch of fried oyster and crispy bacon paired well with the creamy center of the deviled egg.

The tomato basil soup was creamy and light, the touch of avocado oil and fresh basil gave it a nice touch.

Then comes our entrees. Shrimp with cheesy grits and two poached eggs, and foie gras sliders.

The shrimp and grits were filling and made well. The grits were a bit thick in cosistency but when you puncture the poached egg and mix the grits with it, it match well. The yoke made the grit extra creamy. The shrimps were big and lightly fried. Pretty tasty!

The foie gras sliders were YUM! How can you go wrong? It's FOIE GRAS!!! The foie gras oils soaked into the bread....DROOL! The portion was a little small so it was good that we ordered the grits.

Overall it was a great place to hang out with great friends on a Saturday. We would rate this place a 6.5/10 for price, taste, and creativity.

BRC Gastropub

519 Shepherd Dr
Houston, TX 77007

(713) 861-2233

Houston Trip...Asian

2013-02-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Dallas, Tx definitely does not have the variety of Asian cusines like Houston does. In comparison to Dallas, Houston definitely wins in flavor and diversity but Houston still has a long way to go if it wants to match up to the quality of Asian flavors San Francisco has to offer.

Here is our summary of our Asians food this time around Houston Tx.

Our first night we arrived exhausted and really needed a late night comfort to put us to sleep. Our choice was limited since it was around 12 am when we arrived. We headed out to Hong Kong Food Street since it opens until 2 am. This place offers a variety of common Hong Kong fast and comfort foods. They offer noodles, stir frys, rice dishes, congee, soups, desserts, milk teas, and honey lemon drink.

We had seafood rice soup and a brisket flat noodles to put us to sleep. The congee was very comforting with an abundance of seafood...highlight was definitely the BIG sea scallops they added! This was pretty affordable at around $6.
The brisket was made well and of good quality but the flat noodles was not as good as I expected. I am not sure if it is the quality of the flat noodle supplied here or if it was just not made well.
Overall an acceptable meal at around 1 am in the morning.

Hong Kong Food Street
9750 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77036

Crawfish! Well I forgot to take pictures of this one...*BOO*
We had crawfish as a snack....4 lbs to be exact. This one is located in a chinese market shopping center..in the food court, a very ethnic and good food court if you ask me. You can find boba tea, fresh juices, vietnamese stalls, snails, balut eggs, and more. We went to go try Crawfish and Beignets. The Crawfish were pretty good size, service was fast, well seasoned, and they provide you with condiments like mayo, chili, and butter on the side. At around $5.99lb, a much better deal than Boiling Crab in Dallas. Flavor wise, Dallas's boiling crab still wins, but quality, size, and price, Crawfish and Beignets win.

Crawfish and Beignets
11201 Bellaire Blvd
Ste A-05
Houston, TX 77072

Dim Sum time!

We tried Arco Seafood. Not bad...some were still a hit and miss but overall very fresh, because they steamed or fried the dim sum when you placed the order on the sheets. The fun roll with the fried dough on top was done really well, the skin was very soft and thin, much better than the ones offered in Dallas. The shrimp dumplings were also pretty good, the filling was plump and filled with shrimp, the only flaw was that the skin was a tad too thick.

The dim sum still has a long way to go before it can catch up to the standards in San Francisco in terms of variety, flavor, and quality.

Arco Seafood Restaurant

9896 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

(713) 774-2888

Shaved Ice!

Nu Cafe was one of the places we tried. Very soft shaved ice, we chose mango flavor, but I did not taste much mango flavor. The fresh fruits and pudding accompanied well with the soft ice and condense milk. Worth a try if you have never tasted soft shaved ice, but this is not even close to the flavor you can get in Hong Kong, so we were a little disappointed.

Nu Cafe
9889 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77036

(713) 771-7771

The second shaved ice place was Juice Box.

I personally liked this place more compared to Nu Cafe. They do not skimp on ingredients, they put mountains of fruits of your choice on your pillow of soft shaved milky ice...and of course topped with ice cream and condense milk. This was extremely refreshing! The fresh fruit tea and fresh fruit juices were also delish and worth trying.

Juice Box

9889 Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

(713) 484-8085

Last but not least...we had to pick up souvenirs for our parents!

Kings Bakery has great baked goods! Their eggs tarts were very authentic with a buttery flaky crust and a soft egg pudding center...awesome! Their breads were soft like pillows and very inexpensive. At around $1 you can get a BBQ pork bun, quite affordable. We purchased the pinapple bun, pinapple custard bun, and a sweet coconut custard bun.

Kings Bakery
9889 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77036

(713) 367-6616

Overall a fantastic trip! There is still more to come.....to be continued...

Toulouse Café and Bar, a casual French bistro

2013-01-27T10:59:00.003-08:00

What comes to mind when you think french food for dinner? Dressing up, super expensive, fancy, and must make a reservation....well at Toulouse this is not the case. This cute little restaurant is causal, homey, and no reservation needed. This restaurant is busy, you can hear people talking, laughing, and its a comfortable setting for friends to get together and enjoy come fantastic French cuisine. This was our first time and what a treat!

We started our night with 2 cocktails...Rossini on the left and Hemingway Daiquiri on the right. Oh both were so refreshing! The Rossini had a touch of sweetness from the raspberry but still let the sparkling champagne shine through. The Hemingway Daiquiri was slightly tart, clean, and prepped your palate for the food.

We then went on to our starters, lobster bisque and charcuterie maison.
The lobster bisque was rich and velvety. The lobster flavor came through and you get bites of lobster meat....scrumptious!
The charcuterie maison was pretty fantastic. The best thing on the plate was the chicken liver mousse. OMG the texture was so creamy and lush, the flavor was a punch of the livery flavor but done extremely well. They topped the mousse with a sweet jam...*drool* The duck prosciutto and the lomo was also done well.

We also chose their goat cheese tart and sea diver scallops for our entree.
The goat cheese tart was exquisite. The puff pastry was flaky and buttery, the creamy goat cheese flavor paired extremely well with the tart and sweet tomato confit, and the basil pesto gave the tart a fresh touch.
Our entree, the sea diver scallops was also delicious. The tender caramelized scallops were topped with a sweet and savory bacon tomato jam, and underneath the delicate scallops was a bed of spinach with a rich sauce (resembles hollandaise). The other part of the entree was a meyer lemon risotto which was also a surprise. The risotto had a really good lemony scent and lemon peel accent to it, it was creamy yet very light at the same time.
Overall another amazing experience. The food was awesome...didn't really find any flaws. We would rate this restaurant a 9/10 for flavor, ambiance, and preparation.

Toulouse Café and Bar
3314 Knox St
Dallas, TX 75205

Alounak, Delicious Persian Food at an Affordable Price

2013-01-19T20:01:00.002-08:00

We were skeptical going in. We didn't believe you can possibly find affordable, abundant, and delicious Persian food here in Dallas, Tx. We were wrong...YUMMY!

This is just a small restaurant with about 10 tables, 1 waitress, and 1 cook who does everything. Do not let the 1 waitress and 1 cook fool you, we received decent service, and our food arrived quickly.

First came our complimentary beet soup. The color was a vibrant purple..very pleasing to the eye. Flavor wise, it was sightly tart, strong dill flavor, and the texture was grainy because of the crushed beets. I did not like it very much but my boyfriend liked it. It was a nice gesture from the chef though.

We ordered sides of hummus and mast-o-khiar. Both were delicious, the yogurt dip was creamy and refreshing with bits of dill and cucumber. The hummus was not over whelmed with garlic like the ones you usually get at Mediterranean restaurants. Off to a wonderful start!

We ordered the lamb shank, koobideh, and shish kabob. All were very scrumptious!

The lamb shank was braised to tenderness in a carrot, potato, and onion broth. The lamb was tender but still kept a good bite to it. Our favorite thing about it is that they kept the fat, bone, and tendons. Yum..after tearing off the meat, DO NOT forget to dig the bone marrow...it is amazing! Our lamb shank came with rice and a side salad. For $10 bucks, it is a steal!

Our koobideh was also fantastic. The meat was moist and flavorful. $8 for a whole big plate of food...how can you pass this up? The plating was colorful and the smell of the koobideh taunts you.

The best thing of the afternoon was the side of shish kabob. For $6 you can get a side skewer of shish kabob....man this was awesome! The meat was so tender and cooked to perfection. The meat literally melts in you mouth....*drool*

What an affordable meal! We received mountains of food at a wonderful price...how do they do it? I have no idea. The meats were of good quality and handled with care. We would rate this place a hard 8/10 for it's value, flavor, and quality.

Alounak
7989 Belt Line Rd
Ste 146
Dallas, TX 75248

The Common Table, a casual brew and eatery

2012-12-18T19:31:00.006-08:00

We came here on a Friday night for dinner to tune down and end the work week with some good drinks and FOOD! This was our first time and it was quite pleasant. The patio is a nice place to just chill and chat it up with good friends. To be honest their drink selection is not as wide as Meddlesome Moth, but they still serve up some pretty excellent choices. Tip: check the menu ahead of time, they change their menu often.

We started out with some cocktails. Their Moscow Mule was awesome! The proportions for their mix was perfect, good quality ginger beer, hint of lime, and very smooth vodka. This was delicious so we had 2. Honestly if we didn't have to drive, we would've drank more. The other cocktail was also tasty, but I forgot the name, but not tasty enough obviously if I can't remember it.

We ordered three appetizers to curb our hunger. Fried calamari, crab cakes, and a peppered strawberry salad.

The fried calamari is just how you would imagine it, crispy and tender to the bite. The batter was a tad too thick which overpowered the calamari.

The crab cake was one of the better ones we have had before. They made it with an abundance of crab meat. Quite tasty we would say. We would have liked it to be a little bit creamier on the inside.

The peppered strawberry salad was pretty special. Have you every had peppered strawberry? We haven't! The salad was lightly dressed with a tangy and light dressing. The pepper did not cover the sweetness of the strawberries at all, in fact, it brought out more of the flavor and gave the salad a great contrast. One complaint, the piece of goat cheese on top was difficult to separate. If the goat cheese was spread out, and split up into bite size pieces, it would have incorporated into the salad a lot better. (We did this part on our own)

For our entrees we ordered the house smoked quail and the prime time sandwich.

The house smoke quail did not wow us. The quails preparation was a little bit lacking, there was no textural difference. Although it didn't have crispy skin, the meat was juicy and tender. The flavor was not very special just a normal smoky flavor. The grits was cheesy and we loved the cranberry touch to it.

The prime time sandwich was amazing and the highlight of the night. The bread was crusty, soft, and held up to the cheese and yummy meat. Everything about the sandwich was perfect, it blended so well, and it made one delicious bite!

Overall the meal was average, we loved the atmosphere, and the Moscow Mule was fantastic. We would rate this place 6.5 out of 10 for price, execution, and atmosphere.

The Common Table
2917 Fairmount St

Dallas, TX 75201

(214) 880-7414

Other great eats in Vegas

2012-11-20T15:43:00.001-08:00

Our Vegas trip was truly a gift for food lovers of all kinds. We devoured some of the most fabulous foods down our bellies and we want to share them all with you. Firefly and Monta Ramen were two of our highest rated picks but we also had some pretty amazing delicacies in Vegas and to be honest, it would be hard to choose one or two, so we have compounded them all in one post for you all to enjoy. Unfortunately, I am unable to to post some of the pictures I took from there, something went wrong with my phone and it will not allow me to extract my pictures. So here is the best of what we got.

1st pick...
Raku
We will have to say, Raku is a must try! Everything we had that night was absolutely fantastic. Raku is not on The Strip, it is actually right next to Monta Ramen, about 10 min away from The Strip in Chinatown. Raku is well worth the trip and you will not be sorry. Tip: Make your reservations well ahead of time, this restaurant is very small but always packed. We did not get reservation in until 11:30 pm that night, but waiting for this meal was worth every second! I also saw they have a tasting menu but you need to reserve 1-2 days ahead of time. I am still fantasizing about our meal while writing about this. The best thing we had that night was definitely the yakitori beef tendons. The tendon was grilled and had a very aromatic charred flavor on the outside, but the inside was soft and luscious, and we are still drooling over it. The flavor was very memorable and we are sad that we cannot share all of the Raku photo moments, but we still have some pictures to share with you all.

Homemade Tofu is one of their specialties. The tofu had a strong soy bean flavor, but of course if you are not a big tofu fan, I would not recommend this. The flavor was nothing too amazing, but it is an expected flavor for tofu lovers.

Live Uni Udon was what we truly came for. We were so ecstatic to find out we had snatched up the last order of the night! Cheers to that! This was a cold real Japanese udon, with an abundance of live uni and salmon roe garnished with scallions and seaweed. This was refreshing and a delightful beginning to our meal.

Poached Egg with Salmon Roe and Uni was creamy and fresh to the palate. The sauce did not over power the flavor of the egg or the freshness of the uni or salmon roe. The combination was perfect and heavenly to our mouths, we wanted to pick up the bowl and just drink it down.

Raku
5030 Spring Mountain Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89146

Bouchon
A restaurant of one of our beloved celebrity chefs, Thomas Keller. This place did not disappointed us. No matter if you are going there for a seafood feast or just grabbing some macaroons on the go at Bouchon Bakery, the Bouchon brand has it all and does it well.

Our salmon mousse and foie gras paste was food porn 101. The texture was delicate, velvety, and rich. The foie gras and salmon flavor was intense and really came through. You can tell these two things were made with love and care.

The seafood tower was absolutely stunning! Everything on the tower was succulent and fresh. This was the ocean brought to our table. Simplicity is the key with seafood this fresh.

Bouchon
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Wicked Spoon Buffet
We caught a deal on our first day in Vegas. We were starving when we got off the plane so we decided to go for one buffet. Normally the price ranges from $40 plus per person at Wicked Spoon for lunch, but because we went on a weekday lunch, the buffet was only $20 per person. SCORE! We had unlimited roasted bone marrow, grilled baby pig, pork belly buns, smoked salmon, unlimited gelato, and lots more! The quality was above average for a buffet and the ingredients were excellent. We also got free mimosas with our meal, bonus!

The dessert bar was beautiful. The Thai Tea gelato is a must try!

Wicked Spoon Buffet

3708 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Mesa Grill
We came here just for their appetizer Tiger Prawn Tamale and tea sweeten with their famous cactus pear syrup. The tamales was very soft and moist, the sauce was creamy with a little bit of spicy on the end note, and the shrimps were cooked to perfection. A dish done well, but we noticed the size shrunk compared to the last time we had it here. The chili oil is a nice traditional Bobby Flay sauce and garnish. Their sweet tea was all "smiles and rainbows". This is a very refreshing and satisfying ice tea. But make sure to sweeten it with the agave syrup from the bar.

Mesa Grill
3570 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Sage
This is one of the premiere restaurants in the hotel that we were staying at, the Aria. We did not plan on dining here but we were in such a hurry to catch our show and this was the closest and most convenient choice at the time with a menu we found interesting. We sat at the bar. I must give big kudos to the bar tender for being so attentive to our needs when he had the rest of bar to take care of. He knew we were in a hurry, so he kept an eye on every dish for us, but still made it so we were not just bombarded with a handful of dishes at once. This was a fantastic choice, everything we had was superb!

If you do not try anything else here at the restaurant, you must try the Wagyu Tartare. This was awesome! The most interesting touch was the savory chocolate crisp they garnished with. The chef really allowed the Wagyu to shine. Everything was a perfect compliment to the delicate Wagyu. The tied the whole dish together bringing rich and creaminess.

Grilled Octopus with White Asparagus was tasty. The octopus were soft and tender and the white asparagus was very juicy. The ingredients were excellent.

The Fried Sweet Breads with Pork Belly was fantastic. This was one of the best prepared sweet breads we have had. This is a change from the normal grilled preparations in most restaurants. This dish was also accompanied with wild Japanese mushrooms and kale which added earthiness and toned down the richness of the dish.

Sage
3732 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

We certainly experienced a lot on this trip. Hopefully we will get to go back in the near future to explore some more!

Firefly...an amazing tapas joint!

2012-11-15T18:15:00.002-08:00

This is by far one of the best tapas place we have ever been to! This place stomps all of the fancy and expensive tapas restaurants. Firefly is bustling and fun! Located about 4 minutes away from the Strip of Las Vegas, this is a gem. When we arrived, this place was PACKED! We were very impressed with the service, considering the amount of people they were serving, they were cranking out small dishes very very efficiently. We noticed a small kitchen with only a few workers, but their efficiency was equivalent to about 10 cooks. The atmosphere of the restaurant was noisy, dark, yet very inviting. We were very happy with the prices, everything we ordered was $10 or less, but you are definitely getting loads of flavor and ingredients that is worth more than $10.

We started out with what we thought was the best dish of the night...Anchovy Toast! The anchovies were delicious...very good quality. Slightly salty and perfectly paired with creamy avocado, fresh parsley, chewy baguette, and drizzled with a mildly spicy olive oil.

Skewers of spicy chorizo, shrimp, and tender steak. These skewers were delicious! All the components were cooked well and nothing was overdone. This is actually pretty difficult when you have things on a skewer that cooks at different rate. Kudos to Firefly for doing it right!

Grilled octopus with potatoes were quite tasty. The octopus was so tender and seasoned well but it didn't cover the sweetness that came from the octopus.

This was actually surprisingly good! A chorizo fondue ..wow YUMMY! This came out pipping hot...the flavor was spicy yet creamy and gooey at the same time. This was pretty addictive.

The lamb chops were excellent! Probably one of the best dish of the night and so affordable. For $10, we got 2 thick cuts of lamb chops, it cost that much usually just to buy the ingredient if not more. The lamb had a very good lamb flavor, cooked to medium rare, tender, and very juicy! We wish we had room to eat another plate =)

This last dish was the lobster escargot. So this dish is basically a new creation of garlic butter escargot, but instead of the meats being escargot, they made this with lobster nuggets. This was just as you would imagine...buttery, tantalizing garlic flavor, and savory goodness of the lobster meat. How can you possibly go wrong?

Overall this was a great FIND! This is one of the places we would hands down come back for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th meal. Firefly has a big menu so you could probably order different dishes every time This place had speedy and efficient service. I would say it's not as comfortable to sit in just because this place is always packed and there is not very much elbow room. The food is amazing and much better than any of the highly priced Tapas places we have eaten before. We would rate this place a 9 for service, flavor, creative dishes, and affordability.

Firefly
3900 Paradise Rd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 369-3971

Monta Ramen, a petite store with big flavors

2012-10-21T17:39:00.004-07:00

This was definitely a GREAT find! If you like soup noodles, soups that takes hours to make, or melt in your mouth pork belly...then this is a must try.

This place is very small with minimum seating area and a limited menu. Their main focus is their ramen and pork belly bowl, so if you do decide to make the trip out from the Strip of Las Vegas (about a 10 min taxi ride), then you have to try their Ramen and Pork Belly Bowl. Tip: Anticipate a wait due to the limited seating area. Fortunately, we were in luck...no wait! SCORE!!! The prices here are very reasonable for the portion and the flavor you receive. You are definitely getting your money worth.

We ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen and a small Pork Belly Bowl.

The Pork Belly Bowl was a small size, but it was plenty for us since we totally devoured ourselves with tons of fantastic food on our trip to Vegas. The bowl was pretty when it arrived! The bowl was decorated with pickled ginger to cut the fattiness of the pork belly and an abundant amount of scallions to give the bowl a fresh green flavor. Below the green and the red, was a pile of juicy, tender, and fatty pork belly gleaming at you.

Then our star...Tonkotsu Ramen. We added extra Chashu Pork, corn, butter, and EGG (this is a definite MUST add...super soft and melt in your mouth!) to our bowl of ramen. I have to say, this was a delight to the eye. The portion was a good size, about the equivalent of a large bowl of Pho. The flavor of the soup was deep and meaty, the noodles had a good bite to it and every bite had the yummy soup flavoring (we saw them cook the noodles in the slow cooked broth), the pork was drool worthy, the crisp sweet corn added an additional tastiness to the bowl, and the black fungus and bamboos added earthiness.

Overall a delicious experience...simple yet still makes us think about it all the time. Of course not as good as the ramen you can get in Japan, but definitely pretty good for USA. We would rate this place a 7 for flavor, price, and quality of ingredients.

Monta Ramen
5030 Spring Mountain Rd
Ste 6
Las Vegas, NV 89146

Ziziki's...a Delicious Greek Experience!

2012-09-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our Moroccan friend, we found a rather delicious Greek restaurant. This was one of our weekly dinners with our friend who loves to eat and appreciates gourmet creations as much as we do. The restaurant is pretty causal but the ambiance is very nice, you can still laugh and talk as normal, but still get that romantic dinner experience.

This restaurant has a pretty good wine and alcohol selection. We actually ordered a bottle of wine this time since we were dining with our friend who enjoys good wine with his meals. For a classy restaurant the price for a bottle of pretty good wine was reasonable.

Of course, since we had an extra person...bonus! We got to order more =)

We started our meal with Calamari, a Greek salad, and a Caprese.

The calamari was lightly breaded, tender, and well seasoned. This was standard fare and done well. What was special was the sauce that came with it. The yogurt sauce was light and tangy. Perfect with the Calamari. We decided to keep it with us for extra dipping.

The Greek salad was also what you would expect the ingredients of a Greek salad to be. The sauce on the other hand was not the usual sour and briny Greek salad dressing. The salad dressing they use was a yogurt base and good olive oil drizzled on top. This was refreshing and tasty.

The Caprese was yummy. We loved the reduced balsamic vinegar. This gave it a tangy and sweet touch. Nothing to complain about, good mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, greens on the bottom, and a sweet touch on top...definitely a good start!

Here come the entrees! Lamb Souvlaki, Stuffed Lamb Loin, and Greek Paella. Lets just say, they were all delicious!

The Lamb Souvlaki was moist lamb goodness. You could really taste the flavor of the lamb. The traditional garnish of olives, tomatoes, and onions paired really well. The pita bread soaked up all the juicy lamb juice....it was YUM!

Our Greek Paella was gorgeous! We loved the greek version made with Orzo, it gave it a fresh vibe. This was a great dish, meats were good, flavored well, and all the components worked together. The dish was not heavy at all, and you just wanted to keep going back for more.

The stuffed lamb was stunning. Also a great lamb flavor, but this one is rolled with spinach, orzo, feta, garlic, and onions which made the lamb even more flavorful than normal. The artichoke sauce was creamy, light, and tangy because it also had yogurt flare to it. The garnish that came with it was the same as the ones in the Lamb Souvlakis which we were happy about. Definitely something we will order again.

Well...our friend suggested dessert. How can we say no to tiramisu? So we didn't...we split one dessert. This was perfect for us three though since we just feasted our way through the menu. The tiramisu was velvety, rich, and satisfying. What a great way to end a fantastic dinner and week!

Overall a delicious and happy experience! We always love to have great friends with us for our weekly dinners. We had great food, lots of laughter, and fantastic conversations. This is just our way of ending and winding down the work week. I am sure we will have lots more with him =)

We would rate this restaurant a 8.5/10 for creativity, flavor, atmosphere, and price.

Ziziki's
4514 Travis St
Ste 122
Dallas, TX 75205

International Bakery, a small gem with fresh baked goods!

2012-09-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

We found this little gem on our weekly foot reflexology trip to Carrollton. What a find! This is just a small, friendly bake goods shop with lots of personality and yumminess at a low price. This place is small, but they definitely have lots to offer.

We ordered a few baked goods to try and 2 of their fresh juices.

For the baked goods we ordered the Eclair De Caramelo and the Stuffed Potato Ball. YUM!
The candied horn was so crunchy and sweet on the outside, on the inside it was cold, creamy, and rich with the cream. My goodness, what a delicacy!

The Potato Ball was a savory choice, it was hot,fluffy and stuffed with flavorful minced meat. Also something we will definitely order again.

Our two juices were also excellent. We ordered the Passion Fruit and the Lulo. You can taste the freshness in cup. It was a great addition to our snack.

At the end of the day, we couldn't hold back, we had to bring some home to our families! This is a place we will definitely visit again and can't wait to try more of what they have to offer. Next time we are going to try their famous Cuban sandwich and guava pastry at the owner's recommendation.

International Bakery
2662 N Josey Ln
Carrollton, TX 75007

Whiskey Cake, farm to kitchen american style

2012-09-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Why do we come to Whiskey Cake? Simple answer....for their Whiskey Cake!

Whiskey Cake has a woody and rustic feel to it. They have an open bar and they offer an abundance of cocktails, booze, and fresh squeeze juice blends. Whiskey Cake focuses on local ingredients so their customers can get the farm fresh goodness. We sat at the bar this time because if you wanted a table the wait was around 30 min, but if you don't mind sitting at the bar, there was no wait, and the chairs were actually pretty comfortable.

They also offer an open bloody mary bar if that is your thing. Us on the other hand, we prefer not to start our days with alcohol...so we chose two fresh squeeze juice blends instead. We chose their Little Pink Drink and the Hulk. Both were so refreshing and delightful! We just wish we had more and the cups were bigger.

We chose 2 starters, a brunch entree, 2 sides, and Whiskey Cake.

Our appetizers...Deviled Eggs and Lobster Roll.

Their Deviled Eggs vary every time. They make different kinds so you are in for a surprise. The Deviled Eggs we had that day had kind of a Vietnamese flare to it. They tasted kind of like a Bahn Mi, well the ingredients on it was what you would expect to be in your Bahn Mi. Pretty disappointing by our standards to just top a boiled egg with carrots, cilantro, and siracha.

Their Lobster Rolls were pretty good. They put an abundance amount of sweet lobster meat on the rolls and they were great with the mayo sauce. The lobster seemed a little bit over done though. If you ask us, I think the lobster roll at the Sea Breeze Market is hands down better than Whiskey Cake's.

Our brunch entree was a BIG disappointment!

The Steak Benedict Florentine was very very sad...Other than the fact we waited forever for it to come because they left our order, the preparation was lacking in skill and attention. On the menu it sounds awesome, but when we tried to poke our fork into the poblano cornmeal biscuit, it was like trying to drill through a rock! The biscuit was so overly dry and hard, it was kind of hard to believe they can still put this on the menu. They should have just gone with a simple english muffin and called it a day. Other than one of the most important ingredients, the egg, hollandaise, and the steak was good. They were what you would expect from a steak and egg benedict, nothing WOW, but definitely another disappointing part of the meal.

Our two sides were actually very good. The poblano bacon mac and cheese was delicious. The mac was just the right consistency, very buttery, and the bacon was chip crisp on top. The roasted corn succotash, you can tell it was fresh corn! The corn was crisp fresh and very sweet. These were simple yet yummy.

Oh course, what's a Whiskey Cake meal without Whiskey Cake. We rounded off out meal with a dessert. The cake was moist and had a crusty, chewy side to it. The sauce was also perfection! It kind of has a sweeten condense milk consistency to it with a great vanilla flavor, you can tell they used good vanilla beans vs. just the fake vanilla extract flavor. How can you tell? By flavor and the abundance of vanilla bean specks in the sauce. It was yummy and nothing was left on the plate.

Overall the meal was good but definitely had its low points also. The atmosphere was causal and comfortable. We would rate this place a 6.0/10 for flavor, atmosphere, price, and service.

Whiskey Cake

3601 Dallas Pkwy
Plano, TX 75093

Samar by Stephan Pyles, a final taste of restaurant week 2012!

2012-09-05T21:05:00.002-07:00

This was a last minute decision. Out of the blue we finally went to a restaurant week with just the 2 of us. A very comfortable experience, we sat outside, got serenaded by live music, had breezes of wind (yes, cool wind in Texas during August, pretty unbelieveable!), and of course FOOD.

Right in the heart of downtown, this restaurant is heavily decorated by beautiful draping and soft lighting. There are hookah pipes laying on the floor, and you hear chatting throughout the Indian/Mediterranean restaurant inside. On the outside, it was serene because people kept their chatter on low so the live music can flow.

This time we actually ordered only 1 restaurant week tasting menu and ordered several things off their regular dinner menu.

We chose 1 starter off the regular menu and 1 from the restaurant week menu.

To be honest both our starters were the highlights of the night. Our favorite, the foie gras brulee and 2nd would be the lobster fritters with coconut rice.

The foie gras brulee was to die for! Definitely FOOD PORN 101. When the brulee hits your palate you get this really rich and intense flavor of the foie gras, then the silky texture coats your mouth and lingers forever, and finally finished with some crispness from the bacon, and fresh sweetness from the peaches. This is a definite must try!

The lobster fritter with the coconut rice was pretty special. This has a Thai influence mixed with an Indian touch. The coconut rice is the Thai and the pickled mangoes was the Indian. There was just something very comforting to the rice, maybe it was the creaminess or possibly the indian spices that you got with every mouthful. The lobster fritters were very light and crispy, kind of like a tempura batter. The lobster was very fresh and succulent. The coconut rice with the sweet and sour mangoes was actually a very perfect combination. This just didn't seem like a starter course though, but it was delicious!

Then came our 2nd courses.

From the menu was the fried potatoes, chorizo and over easy egg, but what made it extra special was the tiny piece of foie gras that came on the side! When we got our plate of food, the server instructed us to mix all the ingredients together so that the potatoes are coated with the richness of the egg yoke, savory saltiness from the chorizo, and the goodness of the foie gras. A very simple potato and egg dish with a surprise and a kick.

We also ordered the optional course from the restaurant week menu, crispy fried poached egg with mushroom salad. This is what I imagine a fried poached egg to be! The egg was light and crispy on the outside...soft, running, and oozing with yoke on the inside. This was done well! The salad was light and earthy, very refreshing. We would have preferred the cheese shredded on the salad, we get the presentation factor but it didn't incorporate in the dish well enough.

Our entrees...

Tiger Prawn Bombay style with crispy okra and spiced pear chutney. This is just how you would imagine it. Fresh shrimp, we didn't really get the Bombay style but the shrimp was good. We thought the crispy okra did not live up to its name. Maybe because it wasn't crispy. The texture was kind of like stale old chips...they need another preparation method if you ask us, maybe even a double visit to the deep fryer. The pear chutney on the other hand was delicious and went really well with the shrimp.

Our 2nd entree came from the restaurant week menu, Greek style meatballs with pearl couscous. This was actually better than we thought. The meatballs were very tender, moist, and flavorful. The couscous had kind of a pesto touch to it, it was very delicious and the portion was actually a lot bigger than we had first imagined. We do like the pearl couscous over the small ones. The texture is a lot better, similar to eating a tiny pasta like orzo.

Last but not least, sear bay scallops with olive oil poached potatoes and crispy artichokes. This was very clean and had some pretty fantastic cooking techniques. We loved the crispy artichokes, and they were crispy...we were just wondering why they know how to make this crispy but not the okra. The olive oil poached potatoes was YUM! The potatoes literally melted in your mouth and was coated with a sweet olive oil flavor. They used small fingerling potatoes, purple and yellow. The scallops were small but tender and sweet. All in all a great dish, very much like a warm salad.

Our dessert was an Indian style funnel cake with cardamom ice cream. We've had this wonderful texture from the described funnel cake before at a traditional Indian wedding. The funnel cake is sweet and the peaches at the bottom cut the richness of the dessert.

This meal was overall a great experience. We had a great time, date night! We got to try things off the regular menu also and found the prices are fairly reasonable for a nice restaurant like this one. We also got live, relaxing entertainment, this made us forget we were in downtown Dallas. We would rate this place 8/10 for its atmosphere, creativity, taste, and price.

Samar
2100 Ross Ave
Dallas, TX 75201

Central 214, our 2nd restaurant week reservation!

2012-08-28T20:35:00.001-07:00

What a great night! Another tasty restaurant week to fill up our bellies with ups and downs. We think it was great because of the people we had with us that night, great conversation, met new friends, chatted it up with old friends, laughed a lot, and ate everything up.

When we walked in we noticed a dimly lit orange color bar, a brightly lit open kitchen, and some comfortable sofas if you needed to wait a bit for your reservation. The sofas we have to say were extremely comfortable!

As we looked through the menu we started out with a cocktail. We ordered one of their specials, it had lemon, honey, passion fruit, and a liqueur which we do not recall what it was. The drink looks beautiful but very very strong, we remember telling the waiter we wanted the drink to be light, but we got the opposite. One of our friends waited for her drink and never received it until we ate all of our appetizers, that was disappointing. We almost tasted the whole menu that night! Sadly, some of the entrees on the menu were sold out or was changed, and we got one of our orders wrong.

Here comes our appetizers!
The scotch egg sounded like a wonderful idea but it was not as great as the menu made it seem. To be honest it just seemed like a regular hard boiled egg with a crust. We found it under seasoned, over-cooked and probably wouldn't order it again. We left wondering what all the fuss was about when people raved about it.

The dinosaur kale on the other hand was delicious! This totally surprised us and caught us off guard amongst the appetizers. The kale was seasoned well, very tender, and the garlic flavor really came through. The ricotta gave it some creaminess, the artichoke added to texture to the dish, the watermelon radish just tied the dish together. This was much better than we expected after reading the description on the menu.

The Israeli melon with chorizo and manchego cheese was pretty awesome in its own right. The melon was super honey sweet and juicy, the chorizo was just the right amount of saltiness and gave the dish a savory touch, and the manchego cheese was nutty and rich. This was very a bright and refreshing highlight to our meal.

The star...Wagyu Carpaccio. OMG YUM! The beef literally melts in your mouth. The duck egg was smooth and soft, when you dip the beef into the broken yoke, it was like a butter sauce coating the delicate silky beef. The watercress was kind of in the way, but it gave the dish some texture and peppery notes, but to be honest the beef was so delicate, we could have done without it.

Our entrees were beautiful. We would've tried the duck too but our waiter got the order wrong..unfortunately =(
The bavette steak was cooked to perfection. The steak was moist, tender, and seasoned with just salt and pepper. Very simple preparation but cooked to perfection. The mash potatoes were rich and velvety, and the shaved fennel added texture and a brightness to the beef. Overall a solid dish of meat and potatoes.

The red fish was delicate, fresh, and exquisite. Also a very simple preparation, nicely seared fish with some herbs and the capers gave it a briny saltiness which we love. The capers definitely added points for the fish. The sauteed spinach was also cooked well, and not overcooked and mushy.

The handmade trompetti was the big entree surprise for the table, colorful and sensational in your mouth. Even though it was a vegetarian dish, the pasta was surprisingly flavorful. The pesto coated the pasta evenly, very fresh and bright. The goat cheese and the mushrooms gave the pasta a very earthy and rich tone, they basically substituted the meat in the dish. We all thought it would have been much better with some type of meat or seafood, but it was still delicious and nothing was left on the plate.

The slow cooked goat brisket was pretty tasty. To be honest some parts of it was lacking a little bit of fat, its either that, or they just did not handle the cooking temperature correctly and they just got dried out. We couldn't tell because it was coated with their sweet BBQ sauce. The parts where there is some fat left was moist and tender, but the part without the fat was kind of dry. The avocado slaw was tangy and creamy from the avocado, and the corn bread was actually not bad, still had some moisture to it.

DESSERTS MMMMMMMMMMM!
Unfortunately they ran out of the honey lemon cake, but luckily they substituted it with a delicate flan. The flan was one of the best we have had. The flan had a good egg flavor, delicate, and soft. The caramel and the pecan added texture and sweetness. The caramel was not so thick that it stuck to your fork, but light and smoothly covered the flan. The garnish was little champagne grapes which were tasty and helped cut the richness. This dessert was YUM!

The chocolate cake was a beauty. We have no idea why they called it a ugly pug chocolate cake. This was very rich and kind of hard to eat after a big meal. It was good, but compared to the flan, it did not compare. But the cake was moist, and if you really like chocolate cake, you would like this. The chocolate cake was coated with a thin chocolate shell and covered with Chantilly cream. The cake was very dense and almost an adult version of a Hostess Ding Dong.

Last but not least, the green tomato pie. A very interesting dessert if you ask us. Have you ever had a green tomato pie? Definitely worth a try. This kind of tasted like a regular green apple pie if you had your eyes closed and didn't look at the menu. The chevre ice-cream was also pretty good. A light way to end because it was sweet and tart, which didn't make it feel too heavy to eat.

Overall the food was tasty, the ambiance was nice, decor was pretty, but the service was not great at all. They got our orders wrong, ran out of several things, and at the end of the day, our checks were incorrect and the waiter looked pissed off...you would think you would get better service for a high end restaurant in a high end hotel, but we were wrong. We would rate this place a 6/10 for bad service, good food, interesting menu, and nice trendy environment.

Central 214
5300 E Mockingbird Ln
Dallas, TX 75201

The Landmark, Restaurant Week 2012

2012-08-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Restaurant Week. We have been anticipating this special week of 3 course meals at fancy restaurants for a while now. We were anxious to share this special event with special people. We brought two along with us this time! Our foodie motto is, sharing is caring =)

We were welcomed by their extensive wine selection, beautiful lighting, and a simple table setting.

We almost tried their whole menu. The only thing we didn't get to try was their pan seared striped bass and their watermelon salad. We got a snap shot of their special summer cocktails for you all to enjoy. As we waited eagerly for our food we nibbled on some of their dinner rolls. Our favorite was their rosemary dinner roll with creamy butter. We must mention that their service was not as great as we were expecting for such a nice place for restaurant week. We had to ask for the dinner rolls which should have been brought over automatically but we waited and waited, until we got impatient and just asked for it. Even for a restaurant week event, the place wasn't even close to being at capacity.

We started our with some cocktails and a complimentary amuse-bouche which was made from pureed chilled peaches. This was a very clean and sweet concoction. Then comes our starters!

We forgot to get a picture of the ceasar salad. But it was well made and our favorite part, the Parmesan crisp...we simply loved the cheesy saltiness.

The scallops were seared perfectly. They were caramelized, sweet, and tender. The pearl couscous was actually a great pair against the star scallop. The eggplant was a pretty garnish but didn't add much to the dish flavor wise.

The crispy quail was our favorite. The quail was fried to perfection, crispy and a bit sticky on the outside because of the kumquat marmalade, and moist and oozing with quail juice on the inside. The kumquat marmalade kept the dish light and made you want to eat some more. The quail paired wonderfully with the quinoa and peas. The quinoa and peas gave the dish a textural contrast.

Our entrees were all DELICIOUS!

The lamb was excellent. You can tell the lamb was of a higher grade quality. It had the good lamb flavor that all true lamb lovers love. The lamb was cooked right, pink on the inside. We didn't care much for the white bean ragu though, it kind of got lost and totally played second fiddle when compared to the lamb.

The pork belly pasta was to die for! The fattiness and plump pork belly went really well with the pasta. The freshness and earthiness of the mushrooms, basil, and sage rounded up the whole plate. The dish as a whole meshed really well together. We didn't let the sauce go to waste...we soaked our rosemary dinner roll in the sauce...DROOL! This was one sexy dish.

The short ribs was also very tasty. The cherry demi glaze kept the dish light and cut through the richness, this is just another great sweet and savory pairing. We did yearn for a bit more fattiness in the short ribs though. The mash potatoes were buttery, velvety, and smooth with a wonderful shallot flavor. We wished we had the mash potatoes with our lamb. The carrots were the fresh yellow and orange petites

Our desserts...outstanding!

The peach napoleon was awesome! The peaches were fresh, sweet, and still retained some of its crisp. The phyllo dough was a great change from the ordinary puff pastry you would expect. The phyllo dough made the peaches shine because its not covered by all the pastry. The burnt honey chevre actually gave the sweetness of the dish some savory and creaminess.

The banana creme brulee was our favorite. The top was brittle and cracked open to the touch. The inside was silky banana heaven! You can tell its full of pureed banana and not the fake banana flavoring.

The strawberry tower with Godiva chocolate cake was delightful. The chocolate wasn't too sweet, it was just right. The coconut mousse has bits of shaved coconuts in there and combines well with the strawberry sauce and chocolate cake. The strawberry sauce gave the dessert some tartness and cut through the sweetness.

Overall the meal was delicious from start to finish. We were a little disappointed with the service considering this is a high end restaurant which comes with a higher price tag but overall we had a wonderful time! We would rate this restaurant a 7.5/10 for its quality of ingredients, flavor, preparation and atmosphere.

The Landmark

3051 Oak Lawn Ave
Dallas, TX 75219

Swan Oyster Depot, a casual, no-frills joint for seafood lovers

2012-08-15T21:46:00.002-07:00

Our trip to California was driven by Anthony Bourdain's recommendations. Swan Oyster was our top pick of them all. If you want exceptionally fresh seafood...COME HERE! To be honest, this place is simple...just really fresh seafood, they have a great raw bar selection. Tip: Remember to bring CASH and expect a long wait or you can do it like us and take it to go.

We didn't make it here on our first day of arrival because they close at 5:30pm but because they are always so packed and they do plan on leaving on time, they start kicking people out with a complimentary tall glass of beer at around 5pm. You have to understand this restaurant is literally a narrow alley, there are only around 10 stool seats inside. But...we actually really loved our plan because we got to have 2 great people join us for our feast...I am talking our last meal, breakfast, which was a fantastic seafood feast, picnic style! The warm hospitality, friendly people, and the happy faces you see at Swan Oyster Depot is unmistakable. We were greeted with a complimentary freshly cracked crab claw...MmMmMmMm =) You can truly feel they LOVE their job, which makes you feel really good as a customer to know that they love serving you and they adore what they are doing.

We ordered 3 different type of raw oysters (super plump and juicy), shucked sweet crab meat (very convenient when you are eating picnic style and we watched them shuck them), and a scrumptious seafood salad packed with crab meat and shrimp.

Our star and what we truly came for was this crab head filled with crab brains...OMG drool! It has a very rich, buttery, and ocean saltiness to it that is unmistakable and irreplaceable. When you dip your sourdough bread into this pool of golden goodness...seriously you will be speechless. We all were!

Overall this place was mouthwatering. The freshness and quality of the seafood was fantastic, the price was reasonable, and the hospitality was welcoming. Other than the wait and their odd hours of operation, we really didn't find anything to complain about. We would give this place a 9/10 and we would definitely come here again if we go to San Francisco. This place is truly a foodie landmark, in a city full of foodie landmarks.

Swan Oyster Depot
1517 Polk St
(between California St & Sacramento St)
San Francisco, CA 94109

Bolsa, an ever changing menu full of surprises!

2012-08-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

Brunch...this is what we do in Dallas. Just thinking about the brunch we had the other day makes us drool. Bolsa is a very cool place, very modern, laid-back atmosphere, and a bit unique.

When the weather is cool, it is actually pretty nice to sit outside on their patio for brunch, but it is very hot in Texas right now, so we were very happy we got seated inside where its cooler and has AC. Usually when you come here, expect a wait, there usually is a line and limited parking. Remember they do not take reservations and they do not seat incomplete parties. We got lucky this time though, no wait, and got great parking!

Bolsa's menu changes every time we come and so does their drink menu. Their menu changes with seasonal ingredients. Meaning you can always expect a different variety of bruschetta tastings, you just don't know what you are going to be getting on it. They do have a limited menu selection for both their drink and food though.

We came here for brunch because we have been craving their Bruschetta tasting for the longest time. Oh my, this was satisfying and pretty! This time the combination was sweet tomato with buratta cheese and basil, then cantaloupe, white bean chorizo, and smoke salmon with creme fraiche and pickled onions on top. We liked the tomato the most (the tomatoes were super juicy and sweet), then its the salmon (its just good smoked salmon), following the chorizo (the white bean and chorizo combo was interesting), and lastly the cantaloupe (its just very clean but the cantaloupe was nothing too special). This was delicious though, fantastic start!

For our entrees we ordered the braised Berkshire pork shoulder and their steak and egg sandwich.

The steak and egg sandwich had Texas skirt, padron peppers, onions, fontina cheese, fried egg & siracha aioli. This was very savory...YUM! The ciabatta bread was soft yet chewy, perfect for soaking up all the soft egg yoke and steak juice. The pickled peppers gave the sandwich a good crunch texture and help cut through the richness. The steak was tender and dripping with steak juice. Once you pick up the sandwich, you are not going to want to put it down. The sandwich also came with a nicely dressed cranberry almond salad and freshly cut potato chips. The chips were awesome! The chips were paper thin and super crispy.

The pork shoulder was heavenly! Our mouth has been watering for more ever since. They changed it up a bit, the menu says that it was suppose to come with pickled cabbage, but instead they made it with purple corn chowder this time. Oh...this was way more surprising and much better a combination than the pickled cabbage! The purple corn was crisp, fresh, and sugar sweet! The sauce was rich and melted with the meat. The meat was perfectly cooked, pulls apart but still has a bite. And do I still need to rant about the egg? Look at the picture...its beautiful! If you get a bite with the egg, the meat, corn, and sauce...you will feel like you are in paradise.

The brunch was amazing this time. We were really lucky, like I said no wait, got great parking, and the food was just gratifying. Normally we would give this place a 6.5 just because of the limited menu and the service is just okay but today it really deserves a 7.5/10 for taste, ingredients, and no wait in line.

Bolsa

614 West Davis

Dallas, TX, 75208

Lobster rolls are good, ok to skip the rest, Sea Breeze Fish Market

2012-08-01T21:49:00.001-07:00

We think about this place when we crave lobster rolls or grilled smelts (which they did not have this time). This place has everything from crab cakes, mussels, sandwiches, to take home seafood goodies.

They do serve alcohol if you are in need of a booze. This time when we went, we couldn't help but notice the giant scallops you can buy from their fish market offerings. The atmosphere is is very relaxing and comfortable. We love this spot for a casual seafood lunch. If you are just in need of some fresh seafood to take to go, this place can also help with that. I have to warn you though its not the most affordable selection but the seafood does look fresh and the quality is probably better than what you can get at Whole Foods.

We started out with their seafood salad. We loved it. The salad had all the ingredients we both love. A generous portion of crab meat and big shrimps dressed with a creamy mayo base sauce, hearts of palm, briny capers, sweet tomatoes, purple cabbage, and crisp mix lettuce. The vinaigrette was snappy and cool, very refreshing on a hot summer day. The seafood was very fresh. Everything about this salad was delicious and definitely a great way to start.

Our main entrees was of course the Lobster Roll with hush puppies and our choice of their potato salad and rice pilaf, and their Avocado Shrimp BLT with fries and herb spaghetti squash.

The Lobster Roll was filled with luscious lobster meat in the buttery crisp roll on the out side and soft on the inside roll. Unfortunately the sides were lacking in flavor and incomparable to the goodness of the lobster roll. The rice was not a rice pilaf. It was dry, flavorless, and not worth eating. It tastes like Uncle Ben's brown minute rice. The potato salad was bland and not the creamy or smooth texture you would like. On the other hand, the hush puppies were excellent! They were loose yet crunchy but soft inside, very nicely done.

The Shrimp BLT was okay. Shrimp was fresh, bacon was crispy, and avocado was creamy as it should be. The ciabatta roll was good but the sandwich as a whole was missing something to pull it all together. We added some tarter sauce to give it some richness and flavor. The fries were well made, not too oily, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The spaghetti squash was buttery, the feel of it in your mouth was good, a different kind of crisp but still under seasoned.

Overall the meal definitely had its misses. We found many of their sides lacking in flavor and the quality of ingredients (especially the rice) is not up to par. On the other hand if you are coming for the Lobster Roll, we highly recommend, but everything else was just okay or left on the plate for us. We would give this place a 5 out of 10.

Sea Breeze Fish Market

LakeSide Market Center
4017 Preston Rd, Ste 530
Plano, TX 75093

Meddlesome Moth, a gastropub with a open patio, wide selection of alcohol, and a changing menu

2012-07-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Moth! This is a place where we always try something different. Reason being, their menu selections constantly change . Personally, we love it! Just because it always gives us a fresh feeling about food and we are always excited to see what's new on the menu. Sometimes it can be a miss, but if you don't try you'll never know. We commend these chefs because of their bold style and are thankful for their creativity.

The interior is very casual and friendly. And let's face it, its all around pretty cool. This is not a place where you will feel inferior if you are having a great laugh or chat. It's what we thought a gastropub should be. The stainless glass is a very interesting touch to the restaurant. If you are an outside patio loving person, they do have a great patio for you to enjoy a great brew or cuisine. Meddlesome Moth offers a great alcoholic selection from wine to rare bottle brews. They also offer a wide range of ales and beers on the tap.

Tonight we started our meal with their Pimms Cup and their Strawberry Ale. Both were very refreshing and easy to the mouth. Both of us are not heavy drinkers but we loved our choices. We finished both of them and they went well with our food selections.

Our salad course was their East Coast Blue Crab Salad with heirloom tomatoes and basil couscous. This was a very light and fresh start to our meal. The tomatoes were slightly roasted which brought out more of their sweetness and they were very juicy. There was an abundant amount of blue crab piled high on top, whipped with a mayo base dressing and garnished with watercress and micro greens. The couscous on the bottom was actually a very interesting touch to the salad ,it gave it a textural difference and the olive oil and basil on it made the bite very clean.

Then came our Chilled Sea Scallops with shaved vegetables and a jalapeno vinaigrette. Don't let the jalapeno vinaigrette scare you away, it was not spicy at all. The vinaigrette was actually tart and crisp. The vegetables was nicely dressed with the jalapeno vinaigrette and blended well with the chilled scallops. The scallops was a nice change from the normal seared preparation. This was tender, sweet, and cool. Very necessary on hot Texas nights. The whole plate just made you want more of it.

This is something we always come for. Veal Sweetbreads with sweet and spicy bacon jam. The bacon jam on this dish is something we both love. Its very savory, sweet, and aromatic in your mouth. I have to say, I have had it better before here in Meddlesome Moth. The sweetbreads seemed a little over cooked. They were not as tender and creamy as they usually are here, but still tasty and acceptable.

This is an improvement from the normal bacon everyone is used to. Bacon Lollipops with funnel cake and hollandaise. OMG YUM! You want to talk sweet and savory, this dish has it all. If you are a health guru I would stay away from this, but if you love pork belly SAY YES! This was not what we were expecting at all, it was even better. The texture of the bacon was fantastic. It was a cured, chewy, yet tender, pork belly heaven. The sauce and the funnel cake was awesome. The sauce was very rich and buttery, yet sweet and savory at the same time. The funnel cake was "maplelicous". You literally want to take your finger and dab it into the sweet and rich hollandaise sauce.

Our last dish for the night was their Lobster Poutine with tempura green beans and homemade ricotta. The dish has a vinegary base to it. The lobster of course was plump and succulent but the portion was kind of small but still good. The green beans were nicely fried, and their tempura batter was light. Their ricotta was creamy but we found it a little bit bland. The overall dish was a nice combo and interesting take on what a normal poutine is composed of.

Meddlesome Moth is a great place to have a friendly gathering and enjoy new creative cuisines. This is a place we always look forward to and have enjoyed every time. We would rate this place a 7/10 for consistency, price, inventiveness, and flavor.

Meddlesome Moth

1621 Oak Lawn Ave
Dallas, TX 75207

Dough, a pizzeria with diversity, so there is certainly something for everyone.

2012-07-24T23:01:00.002-07:00

If you like homemade mozzarella, crisp tossed salads, antipasti, cured meats, or freshly tossed thin crust pizza then Dough is your type of place. We came across this inviting medium sized store about a month or two ago. We thought it was pretty good last time so decided to bring a few friends back to try more of their offerings. Normally we like to sit at the pizza bar to watch them in action, but we had 6 people this time so we just sat at the tables which makes it more convenient to share. This restaurant also has a full bar with a pretty wide selection of alcoholic products.

We were starving so we ordered 3 starters, 4 pizzas, and 1 dessert to share this time. To start of course we began out with our appetizers. They were pretty fantastic last time, so we have been raving about it to our friends. They were all pretty excited to try it.

We started our with our 2 orders of Spedini and their sampler which comes with garlic flat bread.

Spedini, oven-roasted house-made mozzarella wrapped in Prosciutto di Parma. We placed 2 orders of these just because it comes with 3 skewers of mozzarella wrapped in Prosciutto so it was perfect, each person gets 1. Underneath the skewers they give you a bed of nicely dressed fine lettuce to compliment. The warm salty cured prosciutto with the chewy and creamy mozzarella is really just a simple, delicious combo. Then you take a bite of the crisp and vinegary lettuce gives it a good finish.

The sampler comes with an offering of 3 of their mozzarella creations:

Burricotti, House-made mozzarella with a herbed ricotta cheese filling and bluebonnet Farms baby greens. This was very soft and just kinda breaks in your mouth. This went great with the flat bread.
Burrata Caprese, House-made mozzarella filled with a mascarpone-ricotta-truffle oil filling and heirloom tomatoes. The tomatoes were very sweet. The mozzarella balls was made well but I didn't really taste the truffle flavor, if it was not written on the menu, I would not have known it was there.
Fior di Latte Stracciato, Creamy melted mozzarella cheese curd and a balsamic reduction with a slice of tomato to hold it up. The cheese was very creamy and the balsamic reduction gave it a touch of sweet and tart. The basil brighten it up the whole dish.

To pair these flavorful mozzarella selections, they give you a side of garlic flat bread drizzles with olive oil. The flat bread was crispy, warm, and still pulls apart with a touch of chewiness. Then you get this roasted garlic tidbits and good olive oil flavor. Take a piece of that and just dip it in the mozzarella goodness, you won't be sorry! We ordered an extra basket of flat bread at the end to soak up all the yummy olive oil left on the plate.

Then comes our pies.

Pork Love - Tomato sauce, house-made Fior di Latte, salami, sausage, pancetta & speck. We also added basil.

Margherita Pizza - Tomato sauce, house-made Fior do Latte, finished with Parmigiano Reggiano, and basil.

We also had the Pancetta Pizza and one of their specialty pizzas, the Preston Hollow which was topped with local italian sausage (which we've never heard of and are quite skeptical), tomato sauce, mozzarella, peppers, and caramelized onions.

We were all delightfully stuffed after all of this wonderful food, but we promised a fellow foodie that we would try and save room the polenta cake. He said that this dessert reduced him to grunts and moans, but we couldn't just take his word on it, we had to try it for ourselves. The Polenta cake is crisped in their wood burning oven in order to get some color and smokey flavor that made it special. We were afraid that the cake would be dry considering the main ingredient is polenta, but we were delightfully surprised at how moist and how well it mixed with the creamy and raspberry sauce that accompanied it.

Overall, Dough did not disappoint us and we were happy to be able to share this experience with our friends and guests from Oklahoma City. What more can you ask for in a pizzeria? A wide variety and good quality ingredient, a good dough base, a flavorful tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, and wonderful people to share it with. We will be back. On our scale of 1-10, we would like to give Dough a 7.5 for value, taste, and consistency.

Dough Pizzeria

11909 Preston Rd
Ste 1444
Dallas, TX 75230

A japanese restaurant that keeps you coming back for more, Hanasho

2012-07-19T20:06:00.002-07:00

Hanasho is one of the places we have been meaning to blog and brag about for a while now. If you are craving fresh sashimi, the perfect nigiri, traditional and special rolls, japanese small plates, tempura, japanese soups, or anything japanese...Hanasho has it all! At a reasonable price, you can really indulge in some homey japanese eats. We are very picky with our Japanese foods, we hold high standards, and Hanasho never disappoints.

Our favorite spot to sit is the right side of the sushi bar. This way we are right next to the "special" board and we get to chat with our friend Yuji, the sushi chef and the owner of the restaurant. He pays close attention to details, is always hospitable, and knows what's fresh for the day. We've been coming here for the past 3 years and this is the first place that someone has named any dish after us. Please ask for the Khuong Roll next time you're in. Its an off the menu delight

We started out our meal with Hanasho's happy hour dollar sushi. These are definitely a steal! The nigiris were super fresh, the fish sizes beats what you get at other sushi restaurants in the DFW which costs much more, the sweet tamago (egg) is homemade and not out of the package that you can buy at the supermarket, and the sushi rice portion and the flavor is just right. I have to mention, Yuji is super generous for giving us the salmon belly cuts. For $1 each, you really can't ask for more.

Then Yuji handed us our Spicy Crawfish Roll and the Raw Scallop with Smelt Roe. Yum! We drool just thinking about them! The Spicy Crawfish Roll has an abundant amount of crawfish. The bite is a combination of spicy from the crawfish, creamy from the avocado, then you get a little bit of chewiness and vinegar from the rice, and the popping of the masago (orange caviar). Tell me that doesn't sound good?

The Raw Scallop with the Smelt Roe is awesome! You really get the velvety texture and sweetness from the scallop, the richness from the mayonnaise, and the popping juice of the masago come through, and of course the nori and the sushi rice ties it all up into one gratifying bite.

This is one of our normal picks, the Lava Roll or Volcano Roll as its called everywhere else. This is basically a California Roll base, topped with a spicy mayo cooked with scallops and topped with masago and sesame seeds. This rolls really fills you up. The richness from the mayo covers the rolls, but you always want to keep coming for more. You really just want to smear every bit of that sauce onto the california roll if it isn't already covered with the spicy mayo sauce and abundant amount of scallops...don't worry if you have extra sauce left over it will not go to waste, you literally want to lick the plate or dab anything you can find into it.

Then we were on to our cooked dishes. We ordered the Fried Oysters and their Takoyaki (octopus balls). We really wanted to order their Hamachi Kama too but they were out that night, but if you ever go, we highly recommend this dish. The fried oysters were very crispy and light. There was not much excess oil, you get a really clean bite from it. The oyster size was good, so you still get a big bite of oyster vs. batter only. The sauce was a little bit sweet, vinegary, and with a touch of mustard.

The Takoyaki was pretty special. This is not always available so make sure you ask Yuji or call ahead if this is what you are coming for. This was made well as its suppose to. This is basically a Japanese round dumpling, made of batter, minced octopus, and pickled ginger. If you go to Japan, this is a type of their street food found all over the place. There are variations of it elsewhere, dependent on the chef. Hanasho's is brushed with their special sauce which is tangy and sweet, with a hint of BBQ essence, crispy grilled exterior, moist and chewy (from the octopus) center, and I love the wiggling bonito flakes, nori flakes, and the sweet and sour red ginger on top. I have had pretty bad, gooey, glob of just BAD Takoyaki in the States. Hanasho's Takoyaki definitely doesn't fit that definition and hits the spot every time.
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This is our Chawan Mushi. This is a steamed egg custard with seafood and chicken on the bottom. If you want to try this there, make sure you order early because it takes a while to make. But every good thing is worth waiting for. This is one of our must eats. The eggs is super delicate and steamed with a seafood broth. This just slips in your mouth, and trust me, you don't want to talk afterward. You'll be reduced to grunting. The texture is really silky and smooth, then you get bites of the shrimp and chicken at the bottom. We also really like the citrus peel as a garnished on top. It actually adds brightness to the dish.

This is the PRIZE! Our all time favorite...TORO. Pricey, but truly worth every penny. We always save the best for last. We don't want any interference with this precious nigiri. Hanasho never fails, always fresh, always fatty, and always irresistible! The flavor is seductive, fatty, buttery, meaty, melts with the warmth of your mouth, and completely coats your palate with its richness...OMG speechless!

Well, that's another one of our "fit for a king's" meal. Writing this blog has really made us realize how well we really do eat. We can't wait to share more of our delightful finds. Hope you get hungry soon and try our recommendations! Enjoy!

Based on our scale of value, quality, flavor, and most importantly consistency, Hanasho gets a well deserved 9 out of 10.

Hanasho
2938 N Belt Line Rd
Irving, TX, 75062
(972)258-0250