FLFoodie's Profile
Stephan Pyles: Samar (DAL)
The restaurant opens to the public on Thursday, October 8 for dinner.
New Mansion? anyone been?
Yes, went about two weeks ago, won't be back. The place was absolutely dead which put a major damper on the atmosphere and the food was mediocre at best. It really makes me sad, I don't know how they are going to be able to sustain themselves.
Also, in D Magazines December issue, they take a swipe at the Mansion asking "who still does eat at the Mansion?" Maybe I was just there to early and they are still working out the kinks, let's hope so...
Dean Fearing's new place...?
I was there last night. Fabulous all the way around-food, service, atmosphere. It was really busy but everything was spot-on. It is going to be the place to be for a long time to come.
Top Chef - Ep. 4
Ok, I am going to have to jump in here. Casey is one of my best friends and your comments about her are so off base. You have to keep in mind that this is a show that creates "characters" based on what the viewers want.
Casey is by far one of the most caring people that I know, she is always there for her friends when we need her, all the while serving as executive chef of a restaurant.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but keep in mind that who you are seeing on TV is not who they are in real life.
Dallas fun dinner spot
Also, Sangria over in the Knox-Henderson area is a fun place to go. They have great wines and sangria and a good patio. The menu has meat, seafood and vegetarian choices that are all very good. Each dish is about $4-15 and you can get a bunch and share.
Just Found Out Dean Fearing Is Gone......
Dean left a little over a year ago to open his own place at the new Ritz Carlton, it is set to open sometime in July-August. The Mansion is not even really open right now, they have closed down for the next 4 months for a big renovation. They do have 16 tables set up in the Promenade area where they normally serve breakfast for lunch and dinner. From what I have heard, the new American cuisine they are serving now is not up to par.
DFW - Has anyone been to the Porch?
I went last night and can say that I was definitely not impressed. I have no problem spending money on dinner but I think their prices are way above their quality by far. I had the club sandwich and a glass of wine which was $24 before tip and the club sandwich was rather thin. Service was good but at 8:00pm the place was more than half empty, not good for a restaurant that has been only open a week...
[DFW] Dallas – N9NE (Steakhouse)
They were reviewed today by the new food critic at the Dallas Morning News, didn't go so well...
http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_pageid=33,97400&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&item_id=52339
In need of lots of Spring Rolls in Dallas
Green Papaya on Oak Lawn has great spring rolls and they are big enough that you can cut them up into smaller pieces to serve.
DFW - Breakfast Spots
It is right off of Harry Hines and Northwest Hwy in a kind of old white two story house looking building. SO good!
DFW - Breakfast Spots
I must second the Mecca rec! Those cinnamon rolls make it worth getting up and making the drive for me. :)
Valentine's Day- Girl's Night (DFW)
Any suggestions on a fun place for a group of girl's to go out for Valentine's Day? Just trying to avoid a cozy, couples destination. Thanks!!
Dallas restaurant recommendations?
JCR-
Tim Byres recently signed on as the new chef de cuisine at the Mansion. Maybe he will be able to bring back some Standard favorites to the menu there.
Christmas Day Dining - Dallas
Check back at guidelive.com. It looks like they are updating every few days and there are now some more non-hotel restaurants up.
[DAL] Dinner near AA Center
Hi NYPB-
There are some good places in Uptown which is just down the road from the AAC. For sushi, definitely go to Yutaka Sushi Bistro. It is about 5 minutes away and some of the best in town. You can get Mexican right next to the AAC at the original El Fenix location. I am not a big burger person but the few I have had at Jake's burgers in Uptown have been good. Have fun at the game!
[Dallas] Dinner near the Meyerson on Sunday?
TeeGee-
I totally agree. I used to go there often but my last experience left me wondering what had happened to them. Service was less that stellar (and that was before they spilled an entire bellini on me) and our food came out cold. I really hope things change for the better, it was always a good spot.
DFW- Central 214
All right, I give up! So I decided that I needed to give it another try before I cross it off the list for good, bad idea. This time, I took a friend of mine who is a Dallas chef just so I would really know that I was not just being too harsh.
So I guess they have read all of the reviews (Chowhounds, DMN, etc) that say they used too much salt because last night there was not one ounce of salt or pepper on anything we ordered, hence no flavor. I got the grilled romaine this time, it had a weird flavor to it so I ask my friend to try it, he told me it was the flavor of the gas from the grill, but I think this salad had potential is you remove the gassy flavor. As a chef, he did say it is hard to grill lettuce, you have to do it really quick or it comes out wrong. He had the chopped salad that I had last time, the one that had so much salt it bordered on inedible, this time he said it was completely bland. I had the lamb for dinner which has great potential if you again could remove the gassy taste. He had the bone in strip which he said was good but he saw that they had cut into the bottom of the steak to see if it was done. That is fine to do when you are cooking at home, but not in a restaurant! We had the vegetable side and the mac and cheese, don't really know what the excitement is about the mac and cheese, it was rigatoni with a cheese sauce poured on it. Dessert was less than memorable considering I don't remember what it was.
SERVICE- I don't think the word awful would accurately describe it. There were major delays in service, our waiter brought the wrong water and at one point I almost asked another waiter if ours had left for the evening! Our dessert was removed with at least 4 large bites left and we weren't even asked if we were done it was just swooped up and gone, not even enough time to try and retrieve it.
All in all, it took 2 hours for dinner for 2 that cost $200. I tried to give it another chance, but I will not be back.
Best cookies in Dallas
I LOVE the cookies at JD's Chippery over by SMU in Snider Plaza. I have never shipped them though so not too sure how well they travel but I am sure the people there would know.
Trece?
Piegirl & Steven-
I second the expensive drinks! Sorry I forgot that part, be careful. I have walked out of there spending more on alcohol than I did on food. On the other hand the do have a good wine list with some reasonably priced decent wines so that might be a good route to go with a group.
-FLFoodie
Trece?
StevenT-
Trece is one of my top places to eat. Food is great, although the bar can get pack and things can get loud. Are you doing a set menu? The tableside guacamole is to die for and they will customize the spiciness for you. And you must try the warm salsa. Other good appitizers are the lobster/mango margarita, served cold with chunks of lobster and mango in a margarita glass, the lobster crepe, melt in your mouth lobter with spinach and cheese wrapped in a soft crepe. The crab cake is also good but I am not the biggest fan of the pastry the put it on top of. The gazapacho with crabmeat is my favorite, but when I was there last week they told me they were going to be taking it off the menu for the winter.
As far as entrees go, all of the skewers are excellent, the do beef (filet mignon), shrimp and chicken. If you want to splurge, the lobster tail is always good. If you are looking to step out of the box a bit the Budin Azteca, similar to a Mexican lasagna, can be fun. And be sure to try the spinach side (it's got a kick to it) and the roasted corn on the cob.
For dessert, the raspberry, peach and banana crepe is delicious. Steer clear of the chocolate cakes though the tend to be a tad over cooked.
The service can be shaky but it is mainly right on target. Enjoy!
[Dallas] Dinner near the Meyerson on Sunday?
Hi FG-
Well 3 out of 4 are closed (Lombardi's, Rosebud and Jeroboam) if that helps at all. If you are looking for a good steak, you can try Perry's, it's close by. There is also Palomino at the Crescent complex where you can pretty much get anything, food is good, service can be slow. Steel is close if you are wanting Asian Fusion. If you are wanting casual, there is the West Village (Taco Diner, Mi Cocina, Ferre, Cru)just down McKinney Ave, not fine dining by any means but convenient and always good people watching. Hope this helps!
Kobe/Wagyu in Dallas
It is also available at Yutaka Sushi Bistro, served both hot and cold.
DFW- Central 214
Yes, the server inquired when he saw that I had kind of pushed everything around and I mentioned that it was too salty for my taste and he did apologize. I used to be in the industry, so I always try and mention when things are off, I know I would want to know. Maybe I will give it some time to get off the ground and then go for another go around.
DFW- Central 214
Well, I am sad to say that this was not a good experience. Here's the recap...
DECOR: This might be the one redeeming quality of Central 214. It was a very clean, retro decor. My dining companion said on the way in, "wow, I don't feel like I am in Dallas anymore." Very cutting edge.
SERVICE: Yikes! We were seated towards the back of the restaurant at a two top table. We sat for 10 minutes before anyone offered us even water. We ordered 2 cocktails from their specialty drink menu which arrived 10 minutes later. Our waiter asked if we would like to start with anything, we choose 2 apps. They arrived 15 minutes later and then our watier seemingly disappeared. He arrived again 10 minutes after we had finished our apps to see if we were ready to order dinner (yes, I was, about 15 minutes ago). I gave up on another drink since I couldn't even get water at this point. Overall, the service was lacking, long drawn out pauses between courses and beverage refills, very disappointed.
FOOD: What started off good, ended very badly. We started with 2 apps, the fried portobellos and the chicken, cherve and carmelized onion pizza. The portobellos were chicken-fried which made them look more like "bar food" than enticing cuisine. I am more partial to tempura battered portobellos like at Kitchen 1924. The pizza was good, but nothing to write home about, but good flavor for what it was. Next, I ordered the chopped salad "central 214 style", why it was called a chopped salad, still puzzles me since nothing was chopped. It consisted of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers (the only chopped component) and artichoke hearts. Right here is when thinks went wrong, I think that there might have been a pound of salt in this salad. I am thinking whoever made the dressing has a salt hand! And I am a huge fan of Asian food, thus salt and this was just way too much for me. My companion got the roasted butternut squash soup with mascovey duck which was good and seasoned properly. Now on to entrees, I got the seafood special of the night, Nantucket Bay scallops with a roasted tomato/red pepper sauce over polenta. I guess the same person that made my salad made this dish too, once again, a pound of salt. I felt like the ocean was right there on my plate. And the polenta cake was about as hard as a brick, I didn;t even touch it since I couldn't even break through it with a fork. The other dish we had was the halibut, now the fish itself was good but the salad on the side had the other pound of salt that they couldn't fit into my dish in it. After all this and 8 glasses of water each we just couldn't do dessert, plus I was scared that something sweet would end up salty. The total for 2 people, 2 apps, 2 salads, 2 entrees and 1 drink each was $120 plus tip. I don't think I will be back anytime soon!
DFW- Central 214
Has anyone tried the new restaurant in Hotel Palomar yet? I have heard the atmosphere is great but no word on the food. I have reservations for Friday and wanted some input on good dishes!
Making sushi- in search of sushi-grade fish in DFW area
I have actually purchased sushi grade fish from Central Market and really enjoyed it. It does come frozen though, but thaws out nicely and you can thaw it in pieces if you aren't using it all at once. The variety available is different at each store, but I have had the snapper and the tuna, both good.
