Day one lunch, went to the Galleria food court and found 'la Madeleine' a little French cafe with cute decor. Wife and our friend had the fish and I had the chicken crepe riviera, check out their website for details. Overall, the dishes were satisfactory but not mind blowing. I am no expert in Fench cuisine however, so I'll defer the real review to those that are.
No pictures from the next place either, but we stopped for snacks at a cute little bakery in Highland Park Village called Celebrity Cafe and Bakery. The place was like the "Serendipity" of Dallas. Order your cookies, pastries and coffee/tea downstairs and go on upstairs to enjoy them. The cookies were excellent, not overly sweet.
Day one dinner, we went to a steakhouse that was on the list of best steakhouses in America in our Spirit in-flight magazine. I had the New York steak and wifey had the Ribeye, ordered both to our preference cooked medium-rare. Here are those steaks!:
The Ribeye
The New YorkAs you can see, the meat was cooked to perfection. As you can read on their website, they prepare their steaks with butter, salt and pepper. Simple, yet so tasty. The Ribeye was a bit over-salted, but the New York was excellent. We also had a lobster bisque that didn't turn out so good in photographs, but that tasted awesome. It had plenty of real lobster bits in it, with a slight spice to the bisque. If I were to take people to Dallas, I would definitely recommend coming here if your budget allows. It will cost you 35 dollars per steak (14-16 oz), extra for family style sides, soup and drinks. For some reason 14-16 oz here is much larger than 14-16 oz that we usually get in other restaurants in California ..... The decor inside the restaurant was simple and the lighting was left somewhat dark, typical of steakhouses. The restaurant itself is huge and there is plenty of room in-between tables and booths. Overall a good experience! 4.5/5.0 stars.
Day two was a "rest" day in terms of eating out, but I give two thumbs up to the cooking of Novita for lunch (lontong cap gomeh) and our hosts (empal + sambal terasi). Excellent dishes from the group, these Texans can cook Indo food!
Day three hung out with the Tins, lunch was had at Pappas Brothers sister establishment Pappadeaux, a seafood version of their steakhouse. We went to the one near Richardson, Texas I think. Decor was typical seafood establishment, with pictures and props resembling what might be found in the sea. Food, well the food, we will let some pictures show you:
Oysters! 12 large gulf oysters for 4 dollars! The sauces it came with included simple cocktail sauce, some Asian type sweet and sour sauce and horseradish. Tasted good, just remember they are raw!
My wife's wood baked tilapia was excellent; fresh and tasty with good sized portions. The beans were crisp and fresh also. Dish topped off shrimp!
Day two was a "rest" day in terms of eating out, but I give two thumbs up to the cooking of Novita for lunch (lontong cap gomeh) and our hosts (empal + sambal terasi). Excellent dishes from the group, these Texans can cook Indo food!
Day three hung out with the Tins, lunch was had at Pappas Brothers sister establishment Pappadeaux, a seafood version of their steakhouse. We went to the one near Richardson, Texas I think. Decor was typical seafood establishment, with pictures and props resembling what might be found in the sea. Food, well the food, we will let some pictures show you:
What is this? Chicken? Pork? Nope, its Alligator! This appetizer was an absolute delight. The lightly fried and salted alligator was tender with a texture like chicken, but with a slightly seafood type taste very unlike chicken. The fries on the side were cut thin and all were crisp and fresh.
Blackened fish po'boy was a little bit of a disappointment coming off the rest of the food here, but it was well cooked, the ingredients were fresh. It came with some gumbo which was the bigger disappointment, it was more sour than spicy. Overall, Pappadeaux impressed us, and if we are ever back around Texas, it will have to be a stop on our trip. 4.5/5 stars on this one.
In the stockyards we stopped for a snack, good old Texas fries and some fried pickles; Stuff we Californians usually taste once a year at the county fair.
That night, we were invited out to the Magic Time Machine, an interesting concept in food.... or at least in serving food. This is a large establishment that had an hour wait time on a Saturday night. We spent that hour upstairs in the lounge, inside a neon lit jail cell, chatting it up. Once we were called in, we noticed the strange decor and the outfits of the servers.
In the stockyards we stopped for a snack, good old Texas fries and some fried pickles; Stuff we Californians usually taste once a year at the county fair.
That night, we were invited out to the Magic Time Machine, an interesting concept in food.... or at least in serving food. This is a large establishment that had an hour wait time on a Saturday night. We spent that hour upstairs in the lounge, inside a neon lit jail cell, chatting it up. Once we were called in, we noticed the strange decor and the outfits of the servers.
The cast of Sesame Street joined us for dinner, watching from above; Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster were all there. Our waiter was dressed as Woody from Toy Story. The salad bar was placed on top of an old style car, not quite sure what media forum that car was from. Around the restaurant you could see a people eating in a large school bus, a crayola box, little mushroom houses. Servers were dressed as Snow White, Cinderella, Bat girl, the phantom from phantom of the opera, etc. What a fun place, would be even better with kids (as long as they weren't too young and were scared). The food?
My wife and I shared this plate of pork ribs and prime rib. Prime Rib was sub-par and the pork ribs tasted pretty good, on par with was you get at the big chain restaurants like Lucille's. If you want prime rib, stick to Lawry's, granted you would pay much more. Magic Time Machine will put you down 15-20 dollars per person before drinks, but the decor and atmosphere are well worth the "show" for that price. I would recommend going at least once here. Score this 4/5 stars for the ambiance and 3/5 stars for the food.
Last day in Texas, we had a quick stop at First Chinese BBQ Carrolton. They had roast pork/duck, and BBQ pork (char siu). The roast pork tasted good but not as crisp as the ones you would find in LA. The char siu was well cooked and tender. Wonton soup was a tad bit on the salty side. The Seafood crispy noodle was excellent as was the seafood hotpot. I'd give this place 4/5 stars for their food and quick service. Sorry no pictures of these foods, but typical Chinese food looks by all means.
Last but definitely not least, we stopped by a certain bakery 3 times over our quick trip to Dallas and it deserves to be mentioned. This bakery, called Mozart's bakery and cafe, is a bakery with internet cafe where you can get boba iced teas (tapioca balls), and delicate Korean pastries. All of their pastries that we tried were really good, the only disappointment coming from the mochi with red bean paste inside. 4.5/5 stars for this establishment. A definite must go for you dessert lovers!
Well, that was our foodie trip to Dallas, hope you all have enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures. Maybe this will help some of you choose where to go to eat in Dallas!
Last day in Texas, we had a quick stop at First Chinese BBQ Carrolton. They had roast pork/duck, and BBQ pork (char siu). The roast pork tasted good but not as crisp as the ones you would find in LA. The char siu was well cooked and tender. Wonton soup was a tad bit on the salty side. The Seafood crispy noodle was excellent as was the seafood hotpot. I'd give this place 4/5 stars for their food and quick service. Sorry no pictures of these foods, but typical Chinese food looks by all means.
Last but definitely not least, we stopped by a certain bakery 3 times over our quick trip to Dallas and it deserves to be mentioned. This bakery, called Mozart's bakery and cafe, is a bakery with internet cafe where you can get boba iced teas (tapioca balls), and delicate Korean pastries. All of their pastries that we tried were really good, the only disappointment coming from the mochi with red bean paste inside. 4.5/5 stars for this establishment. A definite must go for you dessert lovers!
Well, that was our foodie trip to Dallas, hope you all have enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures. Maybe this will help some of you choose where to go to eat in Dallas!
Hahaha The 1st Chinese BBQ u went to is like 2 miles from my house for some odd reason I was thinking you went to the one in Plano. Cool. :D
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