This past weekend I went to Meddlesome Moth for a friend's birthday dinner. I had never been there before and it was not what I had expected at all. First of all, I had the perception that it was more of a bar/restaurant than a restaurant with a bar. It was also wayyy bigger than I thought. The place looked pretty cool! I'm glad I had decided to put on a dress instead of wearing shorts. haha.
Meddlesome Moth
1621 Oak Lawn Avenue
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 628-7900
http://www.mothinthe.net/
Price: $$
We had a really large group of 22. It took a while before enough people showed up for us to be seated. Then it took forever for us to get the food because the waiters were waiting for everyone to show up. Little did we know...a few people didn't show up until over an hour later... OMG. Seriously?? :( Sooo hungry!!
We started off with drink orders. They had a wide variety of beers and you can order beer flights to taste various ones. Several people ordered the beer flights. My sister's bf got the Flights of the Moth: Texas Edition $13? I really liked the presentation.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Meddlesome Moth
So with a party that big, they had required us to pick 4-5 of their shared plates to share among the group. Basically they would bring out a couple of each of those selections across the table. Finally after over an hour the food starts coming out!!
The pre-set selections were:
Tofu Tataki (soy caramel, nori, and seven spice) $8~
This was really good but definitely not enough. The tofu had great texture and the spices on top were wonderful. The onions on the side were definitely more than just a garnish. Together the flavors really worked. We were all starving though...we were really worried that there wasn't going to be enough food!
Five Spice Pork Belly (pickled carrot and blackstrap glace) $9.50~
This was one of the dishes I was really excited to try...until they brought it out. It's NOT pork belly. It's more like pulled pork or something...on top of a mini pancake of some sort. The pancake wasn't strong enough to handle the pork and its juices. The flavor was ok, not spectacular. And the portion was so tiny. Meh...
During this time we decided to order some additional dishes since there didn't seem to be enough food. I'll mention those later in the post..
Next came the Risotto (fresh peas, asparagus, and preserved lemon) $10~
Originally when my friend made the orders, the online menu showed Butternut Squash Risotto which sounded so much better. But they had just changed to their Spring menu, so this is what we got. It looked pretty good, clean, fresh...but still the portion was pretty small. The rice turned out to be quite undercooked and it was very bland. Tasted like watered down veggies with hard rice. :( Booo...
So far it's not going that great..until this came out! Shrimp & Grits (with jalapeno gravy) $16~
OMG this was by far my favorite dish of the night. The shrimp was plump and cooked perfectly. The grits were fantastic especially with that gravy. YUM!!! Only thing is it's a little small for the price in my opinion. I would order this just for myself if I go back in the future. It's definitely not big enough to share! haha.
The last of the pre-set orders was the "Bangers and Mash" (Buffalo sausage over whipped parsnips $12.50~
This was also wonderful. I guess they were good about ending on a good note! The sausages were super flavorful but I actually thought the parsnips and the sauce were the stars! The whipped parsnips were so creamy and smooth. Paired with the sauce, which had some onions, beans, and chorizo...it was awesome!
We ordered the following in addition to share:
Prince Edward Island Mussels - Diablo (dried basil and oregano with red chile) $12~
I was very surprised with the portion of this dish. It was actually quite large! Perfect for sharing. I'm not a big mussel fan but this was delicious. The mussels were cooked well and the best thing was the broth. Just dipping the bread in the broth was delicious! We even asked for more bread so the broth didn't go to waste. haha.
Beef Bone Marrow (salsa verde with crispy capers) $9~
I wanted to order this from looking at the menu online. I've never been a fan of marrow...but usually that's eating in a Chinese dingin setting. I know my dad loves it! haha. But I thought it was interesting that they had it on their menu and I really wanted to see how they prepared it. As far as portions go...it was tiny. Basically only 1 piece of bone (because it was cut in half). Not really worth it. The presentation was cool though. There wasn't much marrow inside the bones... It had a consistency like fat, that was kind of a turn off. First I tried it on its own...it was like eating fat. Ew. But then I spread it on the bread and it was much much better. The flavors were good but I wasn't a fan of the texture overall. But at least I can say I got to try it...
There were some hits and misses, but overall I think the hits were fantastic so I'm more willing to look past the bad dishes. I'm willing to go back and try some other stuff in the future. The service overall was fine, but I kinda felt like our waiters had an attitude about them. Not in a good way. They didn't obviously give us any attitude, but just from the way they spoke to us and served the meal, it didn't give me warm, fuzzy feelings...
I think I will go back at some point, I'm not really in a hurry though.
Quality of Food:
Service:
Cleanliness:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
b.b.bop Rice Bowls~
We went to b.b.bop Rice Bowls for some real food after all those cupcakes! hehe. My friend has been wanting to go check it out for a while now and I really liked it when I went the first time.
http://bigchomp.blogspot.com/2011/04/few-weeks-ago-my-coworkers-and-i-went.html
I got basically the same thing this time but I opted for them not to lightly sautee it. I wanted to see how it is fresh/raw. If you want more flavor, sauteeing is the way to go!
My friend made his own beef bowl. He inhaled the entire thing! He loved it. haha.
He also ordered the Asian Wings (4 wing appetizer) $4.50~
For chicken wings, they were pretty big. I had to try one...they looked yummy. OMG. They are soo good! Even though it's coated with sauce, the skin was still nice and crispy. The sauce was sweet, tangy, spicy. YUM! Initially my friend said he was too full to eat them, but once he tried one...he killed the rest! hahahaha.
Service at the register was good. They were really friendly. :)
Quality of Food:
Service:
Cleanliness:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
http://bigchomp.blogspot.com/2011/04/few-weeks-ago-my-coworkers-and-i-went.html
I got basically the same thing this time but I opted for them not to lightly sautee it. I wanted to see how it is fresh/raw. If you want more flavor, sauteeing is the way to go!
My friend made his own beef bowl. He inhaled the entire thing! He loved it. haha.
He also ordered the Asian Wings (4 wing appetizer) $4.50~
For chicken wings, they were pretty big. I had to try one...they looked yummy. OMG. They are soo good! Even though it's coated with sauce, the skin was still nice and crispy. The sauce was sweet, tangy, spicy. YUM! Initially my friend said he was too full to eat them, but once he tried one...he killed the rest! hahahaha.Service at the register was good. They were really friendly. :)
Quality of Food:
Service:
Cleanliness:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Cupcake Camp Dallas!
Last weekend was the first annual Cupcake Camp in Dallas. What an awesome event! It featured local bakers both professional and amateur and benefitted the LEAP Foundation. http://cupcakecampdallas.com/ Admission was $10 for adults and you were given 5 tickets to exchange for cupcakes. For 1 ticket you can get an amateur cupcake or a mini professional cupcake. And for 2 tickets you can get a professional cupcake. That's a super good deal! Normally cupcakes run anywhere from $3-5, here you can potentially try 5 cupcakes for $10!! Also, you can purchase additional tickets for $2 a piece. They also had a cupcake contest going on. I didn't stay long enough to see the results of that though.
This was a dessert lover's dream!! I was like a kid in a candy store. haha. I would say there were roughly 12-15 amateur bakers and 10-12 professional bakers. Professional bakers seemed to be anyone that had a business or store-front in the Dallas area. Most of them I had heard of, but some I had never seen before. I was quite surprised that Sprinkles or Dimples were not there. Didn't matter, I don't particularly like their cupcakes anyways. haha.
I first made a round taking as many pictures of the various cupcakes as I can. My plan was to go back later and pick the ones I wanted to try. I was super impressed by the variety and creativity there. There were a ton of different flavors, combinations, styles, etc. Some of the amateur cupcakes looked really great...you couldn't even tell them apart from the professional ones.
There were several cupcakes in the contest that I really wanted to try...like these Dr. Pepper ones. But I didn't see any tables giving those away. :(
These are the tables and flavors of cupcakes my friends and I got:
BE PREPARED TO DROOL....
AMATEUR BAKERS:
Emily Beck:
- Key Lime Pie Cupcake
- Cinnamon Roll Cupcake
Jessica Blad:
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake with Texas Honey Frosting, Spiced Pecans & Bacon Confetti
- Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Coulis Filling & Chocolate Goat Cheese Frosting
Rachel Ray:
- Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Jessicakes by Jessica Hendricks:
- Texas Pecan Surprise (Golden butter cake and a light chocolate pecan mixture topped with cream cheese frosting, a pecan & drizzled in chocolate)
Kristie Cobb:
- Chocolate with Marshmallow Creme Filling
- Chocolate Cadbury Surprise (topped with Marshmallow Peep)
Megan Smith:
- Easter Sno-Ball (chocolate cake with marshmallow cream filling)
Kim Wickware & Cheryl Dumas:
- Very Cherry
- Honey Lavender
Kellie Blankenship:
- Banana Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream
Teresa Lin:
- Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Stephanie Cuento:
- Margarita (virgin) cupcake
- Pina Colada (virgin) cupcake
Others (didn't see bakers' names):
- Chocolate Cupcake with Nutella Frosting & Chocolate covered Strawberry
- Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Shavings
PROFESSIONAL:
The Perfect Slice:
- Texas 'Rita (Jalapeno lime cupcake)
Trailercakes:
- Mini Peanut Butter Cupcake
Nothing Bundt Cake:
- Bundtini
So out of the flavors I got to try the following (the first 4 were my personal picks with my tickets...I went for the flavors that were unique and weird. hehe.):
- Honey Lavender ^
This was the prettiest cake in the whole event, in my opinion. It was just cute perfection! The flavor was also very interesting. Very floral from the lavender and just a hint of honey. It was very light and fragrant.
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake with Texas Honey Frosting, Spiced Pecans & Bacon Confetti ^
The bacon was the thing drawing me to this one. Even though it was just small sprinkling on top of the cake, you really taste it because you have to chew the bacon bits. The cake was super moist and the frosting was just enough. It was a great combination.
- Texas 'Rita (Jalapeno lime cupcake) ^
This was the only one where I used 2 tickets for 1 cupcake. And this was my FAVORITE of the entire day. There were candied jalapeno pieces throughout the actual cake and candied jalapeno on top of the frosting. The jalapenos were actually spicy too! It was fantastic! The cake was borderline savory...kind of shortbread-y? But the frosting was sweet along with the candied jalapenos...it hit every flavor profile!
- Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Shavings ^
I had to get a chocolate one. haha. This was pretty typical as chocolate cupcakes go. It was just bigger than most of the other cupcakes! hehe. There WAS a little molten part towards the bottom of the cupcake, but not enough. It was definitely moist though.
- Margarita (virgin) Cupcake ^ (top left)
This wasn't very good. It was really pretty but tasted really artificial. I'm guessing it's probably from food coloring to do the blue frosting. And I didn't get a sense of margarita at all...
- Texas Pecan Surprise (Golden butter cake and a light chocolate pecan mixture topped with cream cheese frosting, a pecan & drizzled in chocolate) ^ (top left)
This was interesting. I liked the bit of chocolate swirled in the batter. It was definitely a nice surprise.
- Banana Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream (bottom right)
This was quite good. Lots of banana flavor and I liked the chocolate chips inside the cake.
- Key Lime Pie Cupcake (bottom left)
Very lime-y but not too tart. Didn't remind me of a key lime pie though.
- Chocolate with Marshmallow Creme Filling ^ (top)
A nice addition to normal chocolate cupcake with white icing. This was my bf's favorite out of all the chocolate ones.
- Chocolate Cadbury Surprise (topped with Marshmallow Peep) (right)
There was a whole cadbury egg inside the cake! It was pretty cool looking after I cut through it. Such a simple idea! But this was the first time I had seen it done! Tasty as well!
- Chocolate Cupcake with Nutella Frosting & Chocolate covered Strawberry (left)
I love nutella! I didn't get much of the nutella flavor on this though. It was just like a normal chocolate cupcake.
OMG. Big time Sugar Coma!!! And this was all before 2PM!! haha. Keep in mind I didn't eat the entire cupcake. I had 1 bite from every one of these though....so I guess it still adds up. haha. Overall, great event! I hope they do it again next year and I'll definitely workout even harder before I go next time. :P I was super impressed with the variety and looks of many of the bakers. So I'm scratching my head as to why I never found a good cupcake in Dallas before this!!!
Overall Event:
Next year they need a bigger venue! :)
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
This was a dessert lover's dream!! I was like a kid in a candy store. haha. I would say there were roughly 12-15 amateur bakers and 10-12 professional bakers. Professional bakers seemed to be anyone that had a business or store-front in the Dallas area. Most of them I had heard of, but some I had never seen before. I was quite surprised that Sprinkles or Dimples were not there. Didn't matter, I don't particularly like their cupcakes anyways. haha.
I first made a round taking as many pictures of the various cupcakes as I can. My plan was to go back later and pick the ones I wanted to try. I was super impressed by the variety and creativity there. There were a ton of different flavors, combinations, styles, etc. Some of the amateur cupcakes looked really great...you couldn't even tell them apart from the professional ones.
There were several cupcakes in the contest that I really wanted to try...like these Dr. Pepper ones. But I didn't see any tables giving those away. :(
These are the tables and flavors of cupcakes my friends and I got:
BE PREPARED TO DROOL....
AMATEUR BAKERS:
Emily Beck:
- Key Lime Pie Cupcake
- Cinnamon Roll Cupcake
Jessica Blad:
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake with Texas Honey Frosting, Spiced Pecans & Bacon Confetti
- Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Coulis Filling & Chocolate Goat Cheese Frosting
Rachel Ray:
- Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Jessicakes by Jessica Hendricks:
- Texas Pecan Surprise (Golden butter cake and a light chocolate pecan mixture topped with cream cheese frosting, a pecan & drizzled in chocolate)
Kristie Cobb:
- Chocolate with Marshmallow Creme Filling
- Chocolate Cadbury Surprise (topped with Marshmallow Peep)
Megan Smith:
- Easter Sno-Ball (chocolate cake with marshmallow cream filling)
Kim Wickware & Cheryl Dumas:
- Very Cherry
- Honey Lavender
Kellie Blankenship:
- Banana Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream
Teresa Lin:
- Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Stephanie Cuento:
- Margarita (virgin) cupcake
- Pina Colada (virgin) cupcake
Others (didn't see bakers' names):
- Chocolate Cupcake with Nutella Frosting & Chocolate covered Strawberry
- Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Shavings
PROFESSIONAL:
The Perfect Slice:
- Texas 'Rita (Jalapeno lime cupcake)
Trailercakes:
- Mini Peanut Butter Cupcake
Nothing Bundt Cake:
- Bundtini
So out of the flavors I got to try the following (the first 4 were my personal picks with my tickets...I went for the flavors that were unique and weird. hehe.):
- Honey Lavender ^
This was the prettiest cake in the whole event, in my opinion. It was just cute perfection! The flavor was also very interesting. Very floral from the lavender and just a hint of honey. It was very light and fragrant.
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake with Texas Honey Frosting, Spiced Pecans & Bacon Confetti ^
The bacon was the thing drawing me to this one. Even though it was just small sprinkling on top of the cake, you really taste it because you have to chew the bacon bits. The cake was super moist and the frosting was just enough. It was a great combination.
- Texas 'Rita (Jalapeno lime cupcake) ^
This was the only one where I used 2 tickets for 1 cupcake. And this was my FAVORITE of the entire day. There were candied jalapeno pieces throughout the actual cake and candied jalapeno on top of the frosting. The jalapenos were actually spicy too! It was fantastic! The cake was borderline savory...kind of shortbread-y? But the frosting was sweet along with the candied jalapenos...it hit every flavor profile!
- Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Shavings ^
I had to get a chocolate one. haha. This was pretty typical as chocolate cupcakes go. It was just bigger than most of the other cupcakes! hehe. There WAS a little molten part towards the bottom of the cupcake, but not enough. It was definitely moist though.
- Margarita (virgin) Cupcake ^ (top left)
This wasn't very good. It was really pretty but tasted really artificial. I'm guessing it's probably from food coloring to do the blue frosting. And I didn't get a sense of margarita at all...
- Texas Pecan Surprise (Golden butter cake and a light chocolate pecan mixture topped with cream cheese frosting, a pecan & drizzled in chocolate) ^ (top left)
This was interesting. I liked the bit of chocolate swirled in the batter. It was definitely a nice surprise.
- Banana Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream (bottom right)
This was quite good. Lots of banana flavor and I liked the chocolate chips inside the cake.
- Key Lime Pie Cupcake (bottom left)
Very lime-y but not too tart. Didn't remind me of a key lime pie though.
- Chocolate with Marshmallow Creme Filling ^ (top)
A nice addition to normal chocolate cupcake with white icing. This was my bf's favorite out of all the chocolate ones.
- Chocolate Cadbury Surprise (topped with Marshmallow Peep) (right)
There was a whole cadbury egg inside the cake! It was pretty cool looking after I cut through it. Such a simple idea! But this was the first time I had seen it done! Tasty as well!
- Chocolate Cupcake with Nutella Frosting & Chocolate covered Strawberry (left)
I love nutella! I didn't get much of the nutella flavor on this though. It was just like a normal chocolate cupcake.
OMG. Big time Sugar Coma!!! And this was all before 2PM!! haha. Keep in mind I didn't eat the entire cupcake. I had 1 bite from every one of these though....so I guess it still adds up. haha. Overall, great event! I hope they do it again next year and I'll definitely workout even harder before I go next time. :P I was super impressed with the variety and looks of many of the bakers. So I'm scratching my head as to why I never found a good cupcake in Dallas before this!!!
Overall Event:
Next year they need a bigger venue! :)
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Company Cafe Again!!
Potentially becoming one of my new favorite places now.. I went back to Company Cafe after just a week. It's kinda far for me to get to, so it's a pretty big deal that I went again so soon!
This time the place was a lot busier when we arrived. The weather was great so the patio seating was full. We walked in and I noticed there were no cakes in the display case! Uh-oh...I hope they are making more!
They tell us to sit wherever we'd like and gave us some menus. I was determined to get the Short Ribs this time!! haha.
There were a couple people from our group running late, but I wasn't gonna wait around for them! I need to make sure they don't run out of short ribs again! :P
The 2 of us there first decided to order. We got the Loaded Sweet Potato Fries again. They are awesome! This time the fries seemed smaller but they put more bacon and cheese! YUM!
I got the Braised Short Ribs (Served with sweet potato mash, organic baby spinach and pomegranate barbeque sauce) $16~ I substituted the mash for the sweet potato hash.
YAY! This looked AMAZING! The short rib was so incredibly tender and the flavor was great. The hash wasn't what I expected...I was thinking more like hash browns where they are crispy. But I enjoyed this a lot. It was cooked just al dente so it had a nice crunch to it. With the fork tender short rib, the crunch of the sweet potato was a nice contrast. I loved the pomegranate bbq sauce. I wish there was just a tiny bit more though. And the spinach was so fresh, it added brilliant color to the dish. Delicious! I would definitely get this again.
I also ordered a side of the Herbed Risotto $4~
This was yummy! It was thick and creamy (how I like risotto to be, but apparently the "right" way to do risotto is have it a little runny...not the way I like it! hehe). It was full of herb flavors. I could eat just a big bowl of this.
We noticed that they had changed up their chicken and waffles a little bit...the waffles seemed to be crispier this time, so my friend decided to get it again and see if it was improved. Chef Fred's Gluten-Free Chicken and Waffles (olive oil fried chicken with gluten-free waffles which are stuffed with applewood-smoked bacon and roasted jalapeno. Sided with real maple syrup) $14~
This time he asked for the syrup just on the side so the waffles don't get soft to quickly. The waffles were still not as crispy as I would've liked, but they've definitely lightened up the batter a bit. Still not fully there yet, but it's cool that they are showing improvements just after a week. The chicken was still FANTABULOUS! :) Next time we go we'll probably get it again to try the waffles again. hehe.
Finally, everyone else started showing up...haha.
One friend ordered the Chili-Rubbed Seared Ahi Tuna (served with Chimichurri rice and sauteed asparagus) $16~
This would've been my backup if they ran out of the short ribs again. hahaha. The portion seemed kinda small but I think with the rice it would still be quite filling. The tuna had a great sear on the outside and the rub had reall good flavor. It was nice and red on the inside as well...how ahi tuna should be. I liked the rice, but I liked my herbed risotto better. This is definitely a healthy dish if you are trying to be good without skimping on the flavor.
My bf ordered the Steak Sophisticate (Pan-seared 8oz. grass-fed top sirloin steak serve with red wine-shallot sauce, vegetables and cauliflower mash) $18~
He's been trying to cut down on the carbs and this was a great dish for that. The steak was cooked well at medium rare and I liked the sauce on top of it. It had a bit of acidity to it which help cut the rich meat a little. The best part of the entire dish though, was the cauliflower mash. It definitely beats mashed potatoes! It was super light and fluffy. My bf was like "we need to learn how to make this!!" haha. I'll have to try and find a recipe and test it out! I thought for the price, the portion was a bit small, but everything was cooked well and tasted good.
Towards the end of dinner, it still didn't seem like they were putting out any new cakes. :( I asked one of the waitresses about it and she said that they had just baked a ton of stuff for the Earth Day Fair downtown so they probably wouldn't be putting out anything new anymore... Booo...
So we decided to get some of their Gluten Free Brownies (topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce from Dude Sweet Chocolate) $2~ per piece.
We got 5. 1 for each person. And one of my friends actually sweet talked the waitress into giving us 2 brownies for free. Play-ah! hahaha. The brownies were pretty good...not too sweet and pretty light. You can tell it was gluten free though...it had a slightly grainier texture than regular brownies. The sauce had a hint of alcohol flavor in it, but there's no actual alcohol. I think it added a nice layer of flavor on the cream and brownies.
When we were close to wrapping everything up, one of the waitresses came to me and asked if anyone's informed me about the cakes. I was like "??" Apparently they had made some cakes in the back and decided to put them out since other people were requesting cakes as well. YAY! I was super stuffed but I decided to get a slice to go!
They all looked really good but the Mystery Cake of the Day (Gluten-free Cinnamon chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting and chocolate sauce) $5~ looked DIVINE!
The cakes didn't have time to set so the chocolate sauce on top was just oozing all over...it looked sooo delicious! The cake was really good. The texture was a little spongey...almost like a marshmallow. I guess that's because of the gluten free batter? I liked the texture. The whipped frosting was awesome and that chocolate sauce on top? O.M.G. Pure heavenly goodness!!! It was an amazing cake. I totally want to have it again. RIGHT NOW!! haha. Their cake selections change, so I hope I'll see this again some time in the future.
Another great dinner at Company Cafe. I wonder how soon I'll be back there again! haha. It IS a little more expensive for me to go this frequently though... Unless I cut back elsewhere so I can go here! haha. And I do want to try their brunch and lunch too because they have different items on there than the dinner menu.
Quality of Food:
Service:
Cleanliness:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
This time the place was a lot busier when we arrived. The weather was great so the patio seating was full. We walked in and I noticed there were no cakes in the display case! Uh-oh...I hope they are making more!
They tell us to sit wherever we'd like and gave us some menus. I was determined to get the Short Ribs this time!! haha.
There were a couple people from our group running late, but I wasn't gonna wait around for them! I need to make sure they don't run out of short ribs again! :P
The 2 of us there first decided to order. We got the Loaded Sweet Potato Fries again. They are awesome! This time the fries seemed smaller but they put more bacon and cheese! YUM!
I got the Braised Short Ribs (Served with sweet potato mash, organic baby spinach and pomegranate barbeque sauce) $16~ I substituted the mash for the sweet potato hash.
YAY! This looked AMAZING! The short rib was so incredibly tender and the flavor was great. The hash wasn't what I expected...I was thinking more like hash browns where they are crispy. But I enjoyed this a lot. It was cooked just al dente so it had a nice crunch to it. With the fork tender short rib, the crunch of the sweet potato was a nice contrast. I loved the pomegranate bbq sauce. I wish there was just a tiny bit more though. And the spinach was so fresh, it added brilliant color to the dish. Delicious! I would definitely get this again.I also ordered a side of the Herbed Risotto $4~
This was yummy! It was thick and creamy (how I like risotto to be, but apparently the "right" way to do risotto is have it a little runny...not the way I like it! hehe). It was full of herb flavors. I could eat just a big bowl of this.We noticed that they had changed up their chicken and waffles a little bit...the waffles seemed to be crispier this time, so my friend decided to get it again and see if it was improved. Chef Fred's Gluten-Free Chicken and Waffles (olive oil fried chicken with gluten-free waffles which are stuffed with applewood-smoked bacon and roasted jalapeno. Sided with real maple syrup) $14~
This time he asked for the syrup just on the side so the waffles don't get soft to quickly. The waffles were still not as crispy as I would've liked, but they've definitely lightened up the batter a bit. Still not fully there yet, but it's cool that they are showing improvements just after a week. The chicken was still FANTABULOUS! :) Next time we go we'll probably get it again to try the waffles again. hehe.Finally, everyone else started showing up...haha.
One friend ordered the Chili-Rubbed Seared Ahi Tuna (served with Chimichurri rice and sauteed asparagus) $16~
This would've been my backup if they ran out of the short ribs again. hahaha. The portion seemed kinda small but I think with the rice it would still be quite filling. The tuna had a great sear on the outside and the rub had reall good flavor. It was nice and red on the inside as well...how ahi tuna should be. I liked the rice, but I liked my herbed risotto better. This is definitely a healthy dish if you are trying to be good without skimping on the flavor.My bf ordered the Steak Sophisticate (Pan-seared 8oz. grass-fed top sirloin steak serve with red wine-shallot sauce, vegetables and cauliflower mash) $18~
He's been trying to cut down on the carbs and this was a great dish for that. The steak was cooked well at medium rare and I liked the sauce on top of it. It had a bit of acidity to it which help cut the rich meat a little. The best part of the entire dish though, was the cauliflower mash. It definitely beats mashed potatoes! It was super light and fluffy. My bf was like "we need to learn how to make this!!" haha. I'll have to try and find a recipe and test it out! I thought for the price, the portion was a bit small, but everything was cooked well and tasted good.Towards the end of dinner, it still didn't seem like they were putting out any new cakes. :( I asked one of the waitresses about it and she said that they had just baked a ton of stuff for the Earth Day Fair downtown so they probably wouldn't be putting out anything new anymore... Booo...
So we decided to get some of their Gluten Free Brownies (topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce from Dude Sweet Chocolate) $2~ per piece.
We got 5. 1 for each person. And one of my friends actually sweet talked the waitress into giving us 2 brownies for free. Play-ah! hahaha. The brownies were pretty good...not too sweet and pretty light. You can tell it was gluten free though...it had a slightly grainier texture than regular brownies. The sauce had a hint of alcohol flavor in it, but there's no actual alcohol. I think it added a nice layer of flavor on the cream and brownies.When we were close to wrapping everything up, one of the waitresses came to me and asked if anyone's informed me about the cakes. I was like "??" Apparently they had made some cakes in the back and decided to put them out since other people were requesting cakes as well. YAY! I was super stuffed but I decided to get a slice to go!
They all looked really good but the Mystery Cake of the Day (Gluten-free Cinnamon chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting and chocolate sauce) $5~ looked DIVINE!
The cakes didn't have time to set so the chocolate sauce on top was just oozing all over...it looked sooo delicious! The cake was really good. The texture was a little spongey...almost like a marshmallow. I guess that's because of the gluten free batter? I liked the texture. The whipped frosting was awesome and that chocolate sauce on top? O.M.G. Pure heavenly goodness!!! It was an amazing cake. I totally want to have it again. RIGHT NOW!! haha. Their cake selections change, so I hope I'll see this again some time in the future.Another great dinner at Company Cafe. I wonder how soon I'll be back there again! haha. It IS a little more expensive for me to go this frequently though... Unless I cut back elsewhere so I can go here! haha. And I do want to try their brunch and lunch too because they have different items on there than the dinner menu.
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