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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Second Floor @ Galleria

I went to The Second Floor at the Westin Hotel in Galleria this past Friday. I really like the decor and feel of this place and their food is pretty good! It's a little pricey though.

The Second Floor
13340 Dallas Parkway
Dallas, TX 75240
(972) 450-2978
http://www.thesecondfloorrestaurant.com/

Price: $$-$$$

So we took advantage of their happy hour which lasted until 7PM. The Friday specials are half price appetizers, $2 off cocktails and some discounts on wine and beer as well. I mainly go for the food of course! :P

The place was pretty empty when we got there. The bar had some people, but the dining room was empty. We were immediately seated.

Half of our group was running late so my friend and I decided to get a cocktail and appetizer to start. I wanted to try the Treetini (veev acai spirit, hanger one mandarin, pomegranate, blueberry) $13~ but I didn't want all of it so we were going to share it.
All the cocktails were expensive in my opinion. The reason I chose the Treetini was this line in the menu: "A tree will be planted in your honor for every treetini purchased." I thought that was pretty cool. Since I'm going to spend the money, might as well do some good too! haha. The cocktail was very fragrant and fresh. I really liked the fresh blueberries in there. It was slightly too strong for me though, so my friend finished it.

I also got the Grilled Flatbread (red pepper pesto, english pea hummus, spinach artichoke dip) $10~ The happy hour special makes it $5! That's a good deal! The flatbread was warm and soft. It went so well with all the dips. While all 3 dips were good, the red pepper pesto was my favorite and the hummus not too far behind it. The hummus also had some shaved truffles on there. Mmmm!! This was so good we eventually ordered a second one before happy hour was over. :)

The rest of the group showed up and one guys got the Fennel Sausage Pizza (wild mushrooms, marinated olives) $14~ It was a good sized pizza with plenty of toppings. The sausage was super flavorful and I loved the assortment of wild mushrooms on top. It was really delicious. Slightly expensive...but tasty.

I was already kinda full at the point but I don't know why I continued to order stuff. haha. I think partially I just wanted to try it and I also wanted some greens to balance out all the carbs.

I got the half order of the Wilted Spinach Salad (bacon, pecans, blue cheese) $5~ For the price, this was a good deal. There was plenty of pecans and blue cheese on there which can be expensive. But I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese so it was a little overwhelming and I ended up picking most of it out. The spinach was really fresh and I liked the big pieces of bacon in there. It was quite a big portion for a half salad too!

I had known before going in that I wanted to try the Roasted Corn Soup (truffles, crème fraîche) cup $4.50~ They pour the soup for you tableside so that was kinda fun. And I love corn..it sounded so good! The soup was creamy and silky but I prefer corn soups to have chunks of corn in there. I like the texture. This was lacking in texture. The corn was super sweet so maybe they can add a bit of heat to add some depth of flavor or something. It didn't meet my expectations. :( I guess I was expecting more of a corn chowder or something.

We saw their specials menu when we arrived and immediately decided we have to get the dessert. "Exclusive Creations from Chef J. Chastain": Bacon Peanut Butter Brownie Sundae (hot fudge sauce, vanilla bean ice cream, bruleed banana) $9~ BACON was the key word. haha. I totally love bacon in everything including sweets. I've written about different bacon desserts in my blog already. It's just so versatile! The dessert was quite large and looked awesome. The brownie was packed full of bacon! I think there was a layer of peanut butter brownie, then a layer of bacon, and the bottom was a chocolate brownie. It was totally interesting and I thought it was great! There were lots of different textures between the brownie, bacon, creamy ice cream, and the bruleed banana (had a nice crispy sugar shell). If you like sweet and savory, you just might enjoy this dessert!

Overall the food was pretty great. Our waitress was super nice and helpful. The bill still came out a little higher than I wanted. And I actually could've done without the soup and salad. I was soo STUFFED! Definitely had a massive food baby bump. hahaha. I'll be back for their happy hour again in the future. I really enjoy the atmosphere there. :) I just hope they get more customers so they can stay in business!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Happy Hour @ The Melting Pot

I've always wanted to go check out The Melting Pot since I've never been to a fondue restaurant. I've heard mixed reviews about the place though. So when I found out they had happy hour specials, I thought it would be a good chance for me to check it out but not shell out a bunch of moolah.

The Melting Pot
4900 Belt Line Road #200
Dallas, TX 75254
(972) 960-7027
http://www.meltingpot.com/

Price: $ (for happy hour)

Their happy hour is Sun-Fri from 5-6:30PM at the bar only. It's first come first serve like most happy hours in Dallas. Their bar isn't that big...

We went on a Sunday afternoon around 6pm. The place was pretty empty. Good for us! :) The bartenders were super cool and chatted with us while we looked over the menu options. And while they were making the fondues. Very relaxed a friendly people!

There were 4 of us so it worked out really well since the fondues were all meant for 2 people to share.

We got the Toasted Almond and Honey Brie Plate (served with crackers, sliced apples, strawberries, and grapes) $6~
I'm not a cheese and crackers person at all, but I think I'm slowly starting to be ok with it. Brie has to be one of my favorite cheeses I think. It's creamy and mild and goes really well with sweet or savory things. The brie with the honey and almonds was really good. And for $6 this was a great value for a cheese plate.

We also Cheese Fondue for 2 $7~ We added $3.50 for additional person since one friend didn't eat this. We chose the Spinach Artichoke Fondue (Fontina and Butterkase cheeses, white wine, spinach, artichoke hearts and a touch of garlic). Comes with chips, bread, veggies, and granny smith apples for dipping. The bartenders heat up and mix the fondue for us right at the bar so we get to see them put everything into the pot! :) They also added tabasco and chopped jalapenos into the mix. A nice touch! The Spinach and Artichoke fondue was really good! The cheeses were mild so it didn't overpower anything. There was lots of spinach and artichoke bits in the mix as well. It was quite tasty. And fun to do with your friends! :) AND it doesn't break the bank!!

Next was the Chocolate Fondue for 2 $8~ We picked the Dark Chocolate Fondue (served with cheesecake, brownies, pound cake, marshmallows, strawberries, Rice Krispies treats and bananas for dipping. You also have the option of milk or white chocolate fondues. The dark chocolate was delicious! Not too sweet with just a hint of that bitterness. The wide range of dipping items was cool. The actual desserts on their own though, were not that great quality. You really need to dip them in that luxurious chocolate bath! haha. My favorites were actually the fruits in the chocolate dip...

It was a lot of fun! And it was actually quite filling! I totally enjoyed it and will definitely be going back. Happy Hour saved us at least 50% of the cost too!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Flippin' Out Crepes

A new crepe place recently opened up in Addison. I was pretty ecstatic. I love crepes! And the menu looked pretty awesome.

The chef is apparently the personal chef to our very own Dallas Mavericks Tyson Chandler. There's even a crepe named after him on the menu. haha. Go Mavs!

Flippin' Out Crepes
4021 Beltline, Suite 303
Addison, TX 75001
(972) 385-6183
http://www.flippinoutcrepes.com/

Price: $

I realized after reading a few reviews that this place is tiny and is only for to-go orders. They have a drive-thru or you can go inside and order to go. Not the most ideal way to eat a crepe in my opinion... But just last week they put some picnic tables outside. Although those won't be useful until the fall when this insane heat is over..

Since its not the best idea to get a large group to try this place out, I went with 2 other friends. And we planned on taking the crepes back to my friend's apartment to chow down.

Walking in, yea... the place is TINY! The guy at the register was really friendly. And you can see the other people in the kitchen right behind him making crepes and stuff.

There were so many different ones I wanted to try. I had 3 choices for the savory crepe. I decided on the Cuban (Slow roasted pork, pickles & onion topped with Dijon mustard and Swiss cheese) $7.80~ The guy at the register said that was his favorite, so I was like "ok, I'll trust your suggestion!"
The crepes were nicely packed in a plastic container and came with mixed sweet potato and taro chips and salsa. The salsa was fantastic!! The crepe looked really good, but it was a little hard to eat. You really needed a fork and knife. I was quite disappointed. The pork had nice flavor, but was seriously overcooked. It was dry and instead of a nice crispy crust, it was hard... :( I liked the addition of the dijon and pickles but it was lacking a sauce. The entire thing was a little dry. Also, I noticed that they were making crepes ahead of time and just reheating it on the griddle when an order came in. I think that's a big mistake. The crepe is no longer fresh, and its not hot enough to melt the cheese inside. We got just random chunks of swiss cheese inside the crepe. If it was gooey and melty that would've made it soo much better. I ended up pouring all the salsa into the crepe. And the salsa was the best part of the entire dish! Sigh... not a good sign.

My friend got the Philly Cheese Crepe (thinly sliced ribeye, Provolone, carmelized onions & bell peppers) $7.90~ This was one of my top choices as well. Again...needs sauce!! It was too dry. The cheese wasn't melted. You can't have a philly cheese and not have melty cheese!! The flavors were ok, just wasn't all that spectacular. And she didn't get any salsa... booo...

I also thought the prices were a tad high. Since we are not able to dine in the store, I feel like it should be cheaper than restaurant food... Don't you think??

We also got 2 sweet crepes to share.

I chose the Tiramisu (Creamy mascarpone cheese laced with espresso topped with
chocolate and caramel sauce) $5.90~ The sweet crepe and savory crepe batters are different I believe. The savory crepes are a little softer, more pancake-y. The sweet crepes were a little harder, but since it was pre-made then reheated... it got hard instead of crispy. It was a little hard to even cut through with the weak plastic knife. I liked this cuz it was chocolatey, but if you didn't tell me it was tiramisu... I would've never guessed it. First of all, usually in a tiramisu the mascarpone/cream part is white. This one was completely mixed with chocolate so it looked more like chocolate mousse. Second, I didn't taste the espresso part...just chocolate. But you can never go wrong with chocolate, the filling was still tasty. Just didn't care for the texture of the actual crepe.

We also got the Nutella (Buttery chocolate hazelnut spread with bananas & strawberries) $4.90~ This is as standard as you can get for a crepe. I thought there was enough fruit to sauce to crepe ratio. So that was good. But again, tough crepe.. I've had much better sweet crepes than this.

Tear... I'm sad that this was so disappointing. It was such a cute little shop and interesting concept. Plus all the past reviews have been really great. Makes me wonder if they were just having an off day. But I really don't think they should pre-make the crepes. That changes the texture when they reheat them to assemble. I mean, I kinda understand since they are drive-thru that they need to get it out faster, but still...there needs to be another way.

However, their Granita (frozen Espresso) 16oz. $3.50~ is delicious. I NEVER drink coffee, but they gave me a sample and I actually ordered my first coffee drink in my entire life! :) It was like drinking melted coffee ice cream in a slushy. haha. If you like sweet coffees, you'll probably like this!

Anyways, I might give them another shot sometime in the future. Hopefully during this time they will tweak their recipes/operations a bit too... In the mean time, if you want crepes, Cafe Flair in Frisco is pretty good! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Sushi Bar

I went to The Sushi Bar this past weekend with a group of friends. I've been there several times in the past when they were located in the Clarion Hotel at 635 and Coit. They've recently moved to Preston and Campbell area. Good...cuz they are now closer to my home. Bad...cuz they are no longer across the street from my work! haha.

The Sushi Bar
17479 Preston Road
Dallas, TX 75252
(972) 248-3608
http://www.thesushibardallas.com/

Price: $$

I know the owner since we have some mutual friends...super nice guy. He'll definitely make sure you are taken care of! :)

They are currently waiting on their liquor license (I believe) so it is BYOB at the moment. We didn't know this ahead of time so we didn't take advantage of it. Oh wellz~

I also bought a Living Social coupon for The Sushi Bar awhile back so I get to use it!! Woot. I get to spend $40 on sushi!! HECK YEA!

I ordered a bunch of stuff and shared with a couple friends while other people ordered their own.

We got...
Oasis (Sashimi & Salad: Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, and Snapper?) $13.95~ I wanted a salad and my friends wanted some sashimi, so this totally worked out. It was a pretty large plate. The salad was really fresh and crisp. The sashimi was fresh as well. It was a much lighter dish than all our other orders so it helped balance things out.

Volcano Roll (California Roll topped with Scallops and baked) $14.95~ Typically I see Volcano Rolls made with thick creamy mayonnaise or something baked on top of the California Rolls so I don't tend to order it. I find it just a little too heavy. I was pleasantly surprised with their Volcano Roll. First of all, the scallops on top were nice and plump and cooked perfectly! Soooo tender! And the white sauce/cream on top was actually kind of like egg whites or something. I'm not really sure what they used but it was light and fluffy! A really nice change to the mayonnaisey stuff. It was delicious!! I would totally order this again. It was definitely one of my favorite dishes of the night!

Together Roll (2-3 different types of fish in the roll and topped with tempura flakes and different sauces) $11.95~ This was really good. They didn't skimp on any of the fish inside the rolls. The crispy flakes were awesome on top. They never got soggy or anything. I enjoyed the textural contrast between the soft fish and the crispy flakes. YUM!

Ahi Tower (Layers of rice, avocado, crab meat and spicy tuna with fish eggs and different sauces) $14.95~ I always like getting the Ahi Tower because it's interactive. Either they mix it up for you or I actually chose to do it myself. It's fun!! The components to the tower were really fresh and the colors on the plate were just so vibrant. It's a really aesthetically pleasing dish to look at. Until you mix it up that is.. hahaha. The spicy tuna had a nice kick and mixed with the creamy avocado and the slight popping from the fish eggs...it's very complex! Also I was surprised that one of the sauces on the plate is chocolate sauce!! I would've never thought to put that with sushi! But once you mix it all up it just all works together. Interesting!!

One friend ordered a Ebi Ebi Roll (Shrimp Tempura Rolls topped with Shrimp and Avocado) $11.50~ It was nicely presented the long plate. It looked really good. He ate it all!

Another friend, who doesn't eat seafood, got the Beef Katsu (lightly breaded beef cutlet served with tangy Japanese BBQ sauce with salad and steamed rice) $14.95?~ He's never had a beef katsu before...most place only offer pork or chicken. It was like Japanese style chicken fried steak. The meat was tender and the outside was nice and crispy. I think he enjoyed it! :)

I was sooo full after. It's awesome to just feast on sushi!! Everything was fresh and tasty and the presentation were all very nice as well. The sushi chef even came out to greet us and made sure everything tasted good! That was pretty cool.

Towards the end of the meal, the owner surprised us with 2 dessert on the house! Awww. THANKS!! :D

We got 2 Fried Tempura Ice Cream (red bean and green tea). They were massive!!! I've had fried ice cream before but never presented in this fashion. It was definitely pretty to look at! The ice cream were still very much frozen inside the tempura shell which is great. I really loved the addition of the fried wontons. It added an element of color as well as that sharp crunch to contrast the creamy ice cream. The tempura batter was also more cakey than the batter on like tempura shrimp and stuff. Which is good since this is a dessert. I would recommend getting the fried ice cream. Not only is it cool looking, it's really tasty as well!

Needless to say, it was a great dinner. I got to gorge on fabulous sushi, eat free dessert, and had a great time with all my friends. The service was very friendly and we didn't feel rushed at all. It was a nice, leisurely dinner. So definitely go check out The Sushi Bar, you won't be disappointed!! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Monday, July 4, 2011

LA Trip June2011 - Santoka @ Mitsuwa Marketplace

Last time I was in LA, my friend took me to Mitsuwa Marketplace for some ramen. It was one of the best ramen I've ever had. Ever. My bf wasn't able to try it that time so I really wanted to take him this time.

Mitsuwa Marketplace - SANTOKA
3760 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066
http://www.mitsuwa.com/english/

Price: $-$$

#7 Toroniku (Special Pork) Salt Ramen (regular size) $10.49~ This was the one we had last time. It was just as good as I remembered. The special pork was super tender. The ramen was cooked perfectly and the broth was great. The broth almost has a creaminess to it which I love. YUMMMMMMY!!

We also tried #100 Spicy Miso Ramen Set (with Green Onion Rice Bowl & komi Tamago) $9.98~ The ramen was cooked perfectly as well and there were big pieces of tender and juicy pork in the noodle soup. It wasn't really that spicy but it was more interesting than the normal miso ramen. I liked it, but still liked the Toroniku better. The green onion rice bowl was interesting. For some reason we thought there was going to be meat in there...but there isn't. It really needed a protein, or sauce, or both. I ended up crushing up the egg and mixed some of the soup broth in there. Pretty good!

I think this place is going to be a permanent destination whenever I visit LA for sure! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~