Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Villa-O my god its yummy!!!! :P

Went to Villa-O tonight for my Dad's early birthday celebration, since I will be in Boston this coming weekend (which I will do a Boston edition on the blog after...hehe).

Villa-O
4514 Travis St # 132
Dallas, TX 75205-5454
(214) 780-1880
www.villaorestaurant.com

Price: $$-$$$

Villa-O is located on Travis and Knox, right across the street from Trece (which is its sister restaurant). Villa-O does the same Monday night promotion as Trece...free appetizer and entree. You have to make reservations for this promotion, and I recommend calling wayyy ahead for Villa-O since it gets booked very quickly. It was packed today when we arrived and continued to have a steady flow of new customers even as we were leaving.

I had high hopes for Villa-O...I was told it was really good and from their website I was looking forward to the organic ingredients and home made pasta!!

We were warmly greeted by our waiter as we were seated. My sister and I ordered a cocktail to share. The Original "Frozen Sfuzzi" (frozen house specialty of Prosecco and white peach nectar) $8~ I love peachy cocktails so I thought we'd give it a try. And my dad ordered a beer: Moretti (an Italian beer) $5~ The Sfuzzi was soooo freaking strong. There was only a hint of peach, it was pretty much pure alcohol... Wayy too strong for me, and we ended up not really drinking it.


Once we ordered our drinks they served us some free bread. The bread was really good. Moist and full of herbs and flavor. They also had some olive oil infused with herbs and garlic on the side for dipping.






Our orders were taken after the drinks were served. The waiter was very helpful by letting us know which selections were better than others.

For starters I got the Caesar Salad (organic romaine tossed with polenta croutons) $8~

The salad was very fresh and not doused with dressing. But there was A LOT of cheese on it. There was grated parmesan as well as slices of another cheese (I'm thinking Pecorino Romano?? I'm not sure...I'm definitely not a cheese expert). I scraped off most of the cheese. The polenta croutons were interesting...I wasn't a fan of the texture but it had a tomato/herb flavor that was quite good.

My mom ordered the Organic Tomato, Onion and Cucumber Salad (tossed with organic red wine vinaigrette; served with garlic crostini) $7~ The veggies were very fresh and the colors were vibrant. It was underseasoned though. It definitely needed some salt/pepper or maybe vinegar.

The service was SOO much better than Trece. Our waiter, Michael, got upset because three of us got our Caesar Salads before my mom got hers (even though they brought her plate like 2 minutes after...) He genuinely apologized for her wait. I was like "wow...that's some service!" He was super friendly! :)

Next are the entrees...

I got the Penne Pasta with Vodka Tomato Sauce and Organic Turkey Meatballs $17~ The portions of the entrees were smaller than most Italian restaurants but it was a good size. The penne was WONDERFUL. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the turkey meatballs were one of the best meatballs I have ever had. They were so flavorful and tender! The sauce was a tomato cream, there wasn't too much of it so it wasn't too heavy. And there was just enough cheese on the top melting into the pasta to add more layers of flavor. It was a delicious dish.

My sister and dad ordered the Wagyu Beef Lasagna $15~ Wagyu beef is from several breeds of cattle that naturally have more marbling with naturally enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness. They are generally higher quality and thus more expensive. It was cooked really well and the beef had lots of flavor...and of course lots of layers of meat, sauce and cheese.

My mom got the Chicken Cacciatore with white wine Risotto $16.95~ I wasn't really sure what Chicken Cacciatore was before tonight. It is really YUM! It's basically braise chicken. Chicken cacciatore is a classic Italian dish, also referred to as hunter’s stew; with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs, often bell pepper, and sometimes wine. The chicken was sooo tender it was falling off the bone. The flavor was full and delicious. The risotto was good as well. Normally I find risotto a little too heavy, but this one wasn't. I actually think this risotto could've used a little more cheese. But without it was still really really good. I think this was the best dish of the night.

And there's no better way to end a great meal with some desserts! We ordered the Cappucino Ice Cream Pie and Vanilla Budin Carmello, which is like a light custard or flan (recommended by the waiter). Each dessert is $7~ Both desserts were delicious! The pie was chocolatey and packed a strong punch from the espresso/coffee flavors. The ice cream was nice and creamy, and really good quality. The Budin was so YUM YUM YUM. It was creamy, yet light, and had lots of flavor without being too sweet.

This was a great meal! My dad was very happy and everyone had a good time. The food was wonderful and the service was great! We all said we would definitely go back again. And get this: after the discounts of the free appetizers and entrees, the bill was only $28 for the 4 of us! O.o How freaking awesome was that? We gave a nice tip according to the original bill amount. My sister and I both agreed that ~$50 for 4 people sure as hell beats $50 a pop at Al Biernat's for Restaurant Week and MUCH better food! :P

I totally recommend this place, even if you don't go for the Monday night promotion. With the quality of the ingredients, awesome flavors, and great service, I will definitely be going back!!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value (with promotion):

Overall Experience:



~~CHOMP CHOMP~~

Monday, August 17, 2009

Restaurant Week #1 - Al Biernat's

Restaurant Week has begun!! I'm sooo excited!

Al Biernat's Steak & Seafood
4217 Oak Lawn Avenue
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 219-2201
http://www.albiernats.com/
Price: $$$$+

We started off with the "preview weekend" at Al Biernat's. Located on Oaklawn and Wycliff, Al Biernat's is known for steaks and seafood.

I had made a reservation on a friday night at 8:30pm for a party of 10. Half of us arrived a little earlier than the reservation and waited at the bar for our table to be prepped. The gentleman at the front was very nice and we were seated right around 8:30.

First impression of the restaurant...the entrance is kind of hidden so it took us awhile to find it. After entering the front doors, the noise level went through the roof. The bar area is right at the front entrance and it was packed with people. Very noisy, hard to hear people around you (I was warned of that before going to the restaurant). People were nicely dressed and the lighting was very dim.

After we were seated, we were immediately given a basket of assorted breads. It took a while before we were given our menus and then another while before the waitress came along to take our drink orders.

For the "preview weekend" the participating restaurants offer a cocktail along with the menu. Initially I thought we were getting both cocktails but then found out we had to choose one. Half of the table ordered the 'before dinner' cocktail: Watermelon Sunshine Martini (orange vodka, Grand Marnier, Watermelon, sugar rim glass). The drink was pretty but meh. Personally I like sweet cocktails so it wasn't sweet enough for me, but for others who don't like sweet...it was too sweet. haha.

Anyways, it wasn't a big hit.

So we were talking amongst ourselves and asking each other what we're ordering...most people wanted to get the 12oz Prime Rib...of course! Since we're at a steak house, plus I personally think the Prime Rib is the best cut of meat! We waited another long while before the waitress came around to take our orders. (Just FYI on restaurant week...you order every course up front.) (I'm going to write about the dishes in the order of the courses) So the first thing the waitress said before taking the orders was that the Prime Rib was sold out. T_T I wanted to cry.... I had read about them selling out of the prime rib online, but I guess I was secretly hoping it wouldn't happen to us. So half of us had to decide on a different entree.

It took a while before our appetizers came out...

OH yea, I also had a coupon for a fourth course (you can get these at Central Market...for every $25 you spend they give you a coupon to get one dish. Only some of the restaurants participate in this so make sure you find out before you go get a bunch of coupons.)

Finally its FOOD TIME!!

The fourth course came out first: Tuna Tartar Tacos (with toasted sesame, red onion, scotch Bonnet Peppers). It also came with 2 sauces: one is most definitely sriracha (can't go wrong there!) and the other tasted like wasabi
cream. This was a great starter. The tuna was very fresh and there was quite a bit of fish inside the tacos. The texture of the tuna with the crispy taco shell plus the kick of the peppers and hot sauce was great. This was probably one of the best dishes of the night. The only minor complaint is that the taco shells were a little TOO crunchy. But overall really good...great flavors!

Appetizers:

- Piri Piri Prawns (with jalapeno, cilantro, and citrus dipping sauce) First of all, these were more like shrimp, prawns are usually larger. The flavor was pretty good but not anything special. Now one of my friends appetizer came out with gigantic prawns...but only TWO instead of three. WTH?!?! And then the waitress had the nerve to say they only gave him 2 because his prawns were bigger than everyone elses. WHATTT?!?!?! He had to complain and they brought him out a 3rd prawn.

What's wrong here? 1. if the dish is suppose to have 3 pieces, then everyone should get 3 pieces, regardless of the size. And 2. the menu obviously said prawns so everyone should've gotten the larger prawns! That was a little ridiculous.

- I got the Summer Salad (mixed field greens, seasonal fruits and vegetables, raspberry-garlic vinaigrette) I was lucky yet unlucky with this dish. First of all, the restaurant is so dim that you can't really see what all is in your food....I'm not a fan of that. I like to see what I'm eating. So I passed the salad to my sister to take some first. Good thing I did that because she was like "there's mango in here"...and LOTS of it. They didn't specify which fruits would be in the salad. Now, I'm allergic to mangos (yes, I know...its sad...but its true), so if I had started on it first, I would've eaten some (since I couldn't see what they were). So she picked off most of the mangos and I attempted to eat a little bit of the salad. It's a bummer because I really liked it. There was lots of other ingredients like raspberry, avocado, apple, green peppers, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and green onion...all things that I love. And the dressing was slightly sweet and very refreshing. But I ate a couple bites and let my sister have the rest. I just couldn't chance eating too much since the mangoes were already been mixed in. :( I guess in the future I need to be more careful and ask when they say "seasonal fruit".

- The 3rd appetizer was Gazpacho (with avocado, dill, house made saltines). Gazpacho is typically a cold tomato based soup with raw vegetables. I've never had Gazpacho before but I'm not a fan of cold soups in general. My friend did not like it at all. She said it tasted like salsa. I had a taste...she was right. The avocado added some creaminess that made it slightly better, but I thought it tasted like watered down salsa with a dash of shrimp cocktail sauce. Yea. Not good. Also, from the picture you can see a layer of oil on top. BLEHH...

After the appetizers we waited a longgg time to get our entrees. By this time it was well after 10pm... :(

Entrees:

- Wasabi Crusted North Atlantic Salmon (with coconut flavored Basmati Rice and sweet shoyu (sauce)). The salmon was cooked nicely and it was a nice size. I was excited about the wasabi part since I love wasabi. But I realized what they did was basically take those wasabi covered peas and sprinkled them on top of the fish. The crumbles were very hard...I could hardly chew it...it felt like I was chewing fish scales. Bummer... My favorite part was the coconut rice. It was slightly sweet and you can totally taste the coconut, but it wasn't overpowering. It's sad when the side is better than the main protein.

- Since there was no more Prime Rib, I ordered the Brined and Grilled Pork Chop (10oz; with Arugula, chipotle, black bean papaya relish). I really liked this dish. My pork chop was cooked nicely...I ordered it medium...and had a nice seared crust on it. The marinade on the pork was slightly sweet along with the sweet papaya with the beans. They put a dash of sriracha over the plate and that gave it a nice spicy kick to contrast the sweetness. Also there was plenty of arugula so I still got to have a salad after all. But others were not so lucky. The other 2 people that got the chops didn't enjoy it as much. Theirs were overcooked and hard to cut. So they were less than impressed.

- The remainder of the table ordered the Pasta "Puttanesca" (with Bucatini pasta, Diver sea scallops, capers, olives, tomatoes). I've never had Bucatini pasta before (its like a thick spaghetti but it's hollow). It was delicious. I love thick pasta...especially when they are cooked just right, which they were. It wasn't mushy, it was al dente with just the right bite of texture. The sauce was also very delicious...not too sour like some other marinara. The scallop I tried was overcooked though...slightly rubbery. So minus the scallops, I really enjoyed the pasta dish.

The rest of us had ordered the "after dinner" cocktail: Al's Magnificent Malt (brandy, grand marnier, cointreau, dark chocolate sippin' straw). This was definitely MAGNIFICENT....soooo DIVINE. A taste of heaven in a martini glass. It tasted like a spiked icy milkshake. YUM!!

Finally it's time for DESSERT!!! The part I look forward to the most. The desserts were served soon after the 2nd cocktail.

- Grand Marnier Creme Brulee...I had a bite...it was pretty good...nice and creamy with the hard sugar shell on top. But it was like most other creme brulees I've had in the past so nothing amazing about it.

- Coconut Cream Pie...I like the taste of coconut, but I hate the texture of shredded coconut. My one bite of it was filled with shredded coconut....GROSS! It was quite sweet...my friend couldn't finish it because it was too sweet.

- Pecan Pie (with Vanilla Bean ice cream) The pie was pretty good and you can't go wrong with vanilla bean. It was also very sweet and quite dense. I'm not a fan of pie so I can't really say much more about it.

- Most of us ordered the Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding (with toffee ice cream). It was basically vanilla ice cream with toffee bits on top...but it was delicious. The bread pudding was super chocolatey...and the parts that were actually soft and moist was really good. My piece was an edge piece or something because parts of it was quite hard. The portion size was quite big...the dessert started out pretty good, but the more I ate the sweeter it became. Usually the cold ice cream cuts some of the sweetness, but because the ice cream was mixed with toffee bits, it was also really sweet. And on top of that we were drinking the creamy cocktail. I managed to eat most of my dessert but got so overwhelmed with the sugar that I quickly developed a stomach ache and I couldn't even finish my yummy drink.. :'( I think if they had made the portions smaller, it wouldn't get so sweet. And I can take sweet...desserts are my favorite, so it's saying A LOT when something is even too sweet for me!

Overall, it wasn't a bad meal...but it wasn't great either. Now if they still had prime rib, I don't know if my opinion would change. But even though most dishes tasted good, I probably wouldn't go back and pay full price for them.

Now I'm going to gripe a little bit about service. This is for restaurants in general not just directed to Al Biernats. I think it's very uncool of a place to make someone feel second rate just because they are there for a discount or promotion. If you don't want to serve people that are there paying less for Restaurant Week, then don't participate!! I felt like we were given less attention and slower service just because we were there for Restaurant Week. Now our waitress at Al Biernat's was by no means rude or mean in any way. But we saw very little of her...and food coming out of the kitchen was very slow. I think the wait staff of any restaurant should keep in mind that their tips depend on how they serve (I mean...it is their JOB to serve the customers). Don't think that people will automatically tip the normal 20% whether or not you do a good job. I really believe that if someone does not provide good service, I'm not obligated to give them more than what they deserve.

Anyways, since the restaurant was so busy that night plus I was in good company, I was more lenient and still tipped appropriately to the amount on the check.

So it kinda sucks that the first place for Restaurant Week was disappointing... I'm hoping the next one will be MUCH better!!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value (for Restaurant Week):

Overall Experience:


~~CHOMP CHOMP~~

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Restaurant Week 2009!! YAYY!! :D

Dallas Restaurant Week 2009 has OFFICIALLY kicked off!!!!!! :D

**for those of you not familiar with Restaurant Week...here are some info**
- Presented by KRLD and Central Market
- It starts sometime in August every year
- Some restaurants only participate for 1 week while others may extend it to 2 or 3 weeks
- $35 for a 3-course prix fixe dinner (part of the proceeds are donated to the North Texas Food Bank)
- Restaurants offer a special menu where you are given a few choices for appetizer, entree, and dessert.
- You must make a reservation and places usually get booked FAST!
- It's a great way to try awesome restaurants around Dallas without paying an arm and a leg. ^.~

Stay tuned for lots of yummy food pics and restaurant reviews!

These are the places I will be checking out in the next few weeks:

1. Al Biernat's - 8-14-09
2. The French Room - 8-28-09
3. Coast Global Seafood - 8-29-09
4. The Mansion on Turtle Creek - 9-4-09

I'm soooo excited!! :)


~~CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Mmmmmm....butterfish.... :P

I went back to Roy's last weekend for a friend's early birthday dinner. We chose Roy's because I had another $20 off discount. :P But also she had never been so we HAD to go try it...since Roy's is freaking awesome!

When I made the reservation, I had told them it was my friend's birthday. So when we were seated, they had decorated the table with confetti and inserted a personalized birthday message inside the menus. That was pretty cool. I've always heard Roy's was a good place for special occasions. We were definitely hoping they would give us a free dessert!

There were 3 of us so we decided to get the Summer Prix Fixe Menu and another entree to share.

They had recently changed their Prix Fixe ($35~) to the Summer Menu so it was a good opportunity to try something new AND get the chocolate souffle cake of course!!!

For the appetizer we got the Curried Ahi Tuna (Nicoise Salad, Lemon Vinaigrette). The salad was very good and it had a lot of different components. Everything was very fresh and had lots of flavor except the tuna. I definitely tasted some of the curry but I wish it could've been stronger and a bit more seasoned. There was a flavor in the vinaigrette that I couldn't quite figure out...it had a floraly scent and taste. It was different and very refreshing.

The entree was "Pulehu" Sirloin (Truffled French Fries, Roasted Shallot Jus). We ordered medium rare but the steak was a little overcooked. I'd say more like medium to medium well...a little tougher than I wanted. But the flavor was still good. The french fries were thinly sliced potatoes that were fried. They were super crispy and sooo yummy! They sprinkled some sort of seasoning on the potatoes...we couldn't stop eating them!

Lastly, the dessert was Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle (flourless chocolate cake with a molten hot center served a la mode). I have yet to try any other dessert at Roy's because I HAVE to have the chocolate souffle. It is in my top 5 of best desserts of all time!!!! It was just as good as always...and never big enough! The chocolate in the middle oozed out as we cut into it, and the vanilla bean ice cream is always a classic pairing to the chocolate. Warm, gooey, and chocolatey...one of the best combos EVER! :D

I was hoping we would be able to get the souffle with the prix fixe and that they would give us another dessert for her birthday (b/c they usually do that for birthdays). I even asked the waiter...but he was new and said he would check. I don't think he did because we never got that free dessert. He didn't even put a candle on the souffle... I was quite disappointed.

For our other entree we got another one of my Roy's favorites...Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish (bamboo steamed rice, sweet ginger wasabi infusion) $28.95~ If you ever go to Roy's, you HAVE to get the butterfish. The colors on the plate are so vibrant and fantastic. And it tastes even better than it looks! It is soooo tender that it literally melts in your mouth...no joke! It was delicious! The creaminess of the wasabi sauce with the steamed rice and the fish was just amazing. I recommend this dish to everyone when I mention Roy's. This and the souffle are MUST HAVES when you dine there. Everything else you can go back and try...gotta have these the first time you go. You won't be disappointed!!

So all in all, it was a great dinner because you can't go wrong with the dishes we ordered. But I was disappointed that they didn't do anything special with the dessert for her birthday... Oh well, the yummy food still made it a good night!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value (after discount):

Overall Experience:


~~CHOMP CHOMP~~

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Ladies Nite~~

**Update 12-29-10**
I believe Trece is no longer doing Ladies' Night...they might still have other happy hour specials though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trece
4513 Travis Street
Dallas, TX 75205-4126
(214) 780-1900
http://www.trecerestaurant.com/

Price: $ (for Ladies Night)

I went to Trece's Thursday Ladies Nite about 2 weeks ago. It goes from 4-9pm and offers $3 margaritas and $3 blueberry mojitos. They also provide complimentary chicken quesadillas/chips and salsa, as well as complimentary valet parking. What a great deal!!! (especially for the drinks since they are normally $11 a piece!) O.o The blueberry mojito has become one of my favorite drinks...although I would still never pay full price for it.

So from what was going to be a small girl's nite out turned to a full blown party! :P We found out that this awesome deal is not just for the ladies but for everyone, so then all the guys wanted to go too! hahaha. We ended up having like a group of 14 people at one point.

About the food...the blueberry mojitos were awesome just liked I remembered from the first time I had it. And at $3 a pop, I definitely had more than I should... hehe. The quesadillas were also really good, they just didn't come out fast enough.
Now for the service.....HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! The first time we were there for dinner the service was already kinda blah...but this time was down right RUDE. When I first got there the hostess came up to greet me. I asked her if we're here for Ladies Nite if we can get a table or is it only restricted to the bar area. She told me that we can get a table. Then I told her we had about 14 people and she was a little worried. She told me that might be kind of difficult...although the entire dining area was empty at the time. But I told her no hurry since most of the people weren't there yet...in the mean time we'll just hang out at the bar. After a good 15-20 minutes I told her that it was no longer 14 but 12 people. She said that was "MUCH better"...uhhh ok....I didn't think 2 additional people would make SUCH a big difference... But anyways, she was still friendly about it so I was ok with that. Finally, most of the party had arrived and the hostess said we can be seated.

As soon as we sat down she started passing out the dinner menus. Then the waiter came by and immediately asked if we wanted to start off with some guacamole. (Keep in mind from my last post that the guacamole...altho very good...was $12/order...not worth it). I mentioned to him that we were there for Ladies Nite. Guess what he did next!?! He immediately turned to the hostess and says..."oh. they're here for ladies nite...." in a really snooty tone, and turned around and disappeared. WTF!! They are obviously offering these specials..and that's why we were there... It's not like we were there to cheat them for free food. There's no need to be all arrogant about it!

So during the time we were sitting there, we saw very little of him...or any other waiters... We had to ask him numerous times for more quesadillas. Which we waited over 30 minutes to get a plate of 3 pieces. THREE!! There were 12+ of us. ALSO...half way through, he and a team of waiters came thru like a whirlwind and removed us of all our plates and silverware. They were very pushy about it...didn't say 'excuse me' or anything.

Finally we had enough, we had MUCH better service while we were at the bar. The bartender was SUPER nice! We decided to go back out to the bar area. From the bar, we were able to quickly get more drinks and food as well.

So a warning to all who goes to Ladies Nite. Do NOT sit in the dining area because they will treat you like crap. Stay in the bar area where food and drinks are wayy more accessible and more people w/ more energy. As for dining there....good luck...the waiters are not much better even when you ARE paying for your food.

As for me...I still plan on going back for Ladies Nite just because its such a great deal and the mojitos are yummy. :P I just know to stay at the bar next time!

Quality of Food:

Service:
(the 1 cookie is b/c the bartenders were great...otherwise I'd give it a ZERO!):

Cleanliness:

Value:

Overall Experience:


~~ CHOMP CHOMP~~