I went with a few friends yesterday to La Duni at Northpark Mall for some after dinner desserts.
La Duni Latin Kitchen & Coffee Studio - NorthPark Center
8687 N. Central Expy #1516
Dallas, TX
(214) 987-2260
http://www.laduni.com/northpark/index.htm
Price (for desserts): $-$$
This place has been one of our go-to places for a long time now. The food is great, the happy hour drink specials are good and their specialty desserts are delicious. However, the past few times we've been there, we've seen the service go downhill. FAST! :(
We arrived around 9PM. We walked in and told the hostess we wanted to have desserts and drinks. She said "oh, you can sit in the cafe or outside. And it's self serve. You have to order at the counter and take it to your table." Uhh... o.k.... So we walked out to the patio area. Apparently we were only allowed to sit in the outer patio area because when we sat down at a table in the paved area, the waiter came by looking confused. He asked if we were eating dinner. We said no. He asked if we wanted to self serve or have him serve us. I was confused. Obviously we came to dine with them so we expect waiter service... Why were they so adamant about this self-service thing? And why would we want to sit all the way outside and have to go inside to order and carry our food out ourselves?!?!
Anyways, we ultimately decided to move back inside because there were some bugs flying around outside. Again, we were only allowed to sit in the cafe area but this time a waiter came to us. I don't understand why we can't sit in the dining area when none of the tables are filled. Whatever... After we were seated the waiter came by to take our drink orders. I asked for a hot water with lemon (something I usually get when I dine out). He gave me a weird look and asked "do you really want that?" "Um, yes." I replied. WTF. Is he being serious?? Then he said "oh, I can't do that. The owners would think I'm crazy and ask why I wasn't serving tea." WHATTTTTT?!?!?! What does that even mean? I was shocked and annoyed by this. One, why would it be weird to serve hot water? Two, why is the waiter afraid that the owners will get mad that he's serving hot water? And three, are the owners that anal that they cannot allow their servers to accommodate the customers' wishes? And it wasn't even a crazy request! So I said "fine, I'll just have water with no ice. Is that easier?" He replied, "there are glasses and water over there for self serve." OMG. Seriously? This just gets better and better doesn't it? He couldn't serve me hot water, and now I have to get my own cold water... Fine, whatever. We made our order and went to get our own water.
We were really annoyed at this point. The whole experience was just a bit too ridiculous. My friend said that she had never heard so many "No's" said to her at a restaurant. Aren't they suppose to try their best to accommodate their customers?!?!?!
One of my friends had to go to the bar himself to get a cocktail because the waiter said he couldn't serve him one in the cafe area either. Geez....
I'll still talk about the food since this is my FOOD blog... but we didn't enjoy the desserts as much as we could have.
Warm Milk Chocolate Cake Pudding (vanilla cake baked in milk chocolate custard served with vanilla bean ice cream, homemade chocolate syrup, Arequipe caramel, raspberry sauce and pecan crocante) $8.25~
This was delicious. The cake was super moist and rich and chocolatey. It needed a lot more ice cream on top though.
Duni Banana Split (caramelized bananas, vanilla bean ice cream, homemade chocolate syrup, Arequipe caramel and crystallized toasted pecans) $8~
This was totally not worth it. The scoops of ice cream were pretty small and only 2 halves of banana for $8?? I can make this at home pretty easily I think. Or I can go to Braums and get a banana split triple the size and half the price... I mean it tasted good, but not worth it.
Even though the desserts tasted good, the entire dining experience left a bitter taste in our mouths. As we were finishing up the desserts, the waiter came by and put the check on the table. We hadn't even ask for it yet. It was like they wanted to get rid of us.
I will NOT be going back to La Duni Northpark in the future. It's unfortunate because I used to love it so much. And I will most definitely be telling other people NOT to go either. It's not worth the frustration and anger. Absolutely ridiculous!!! I hope they see this and do some SERIOUS assessment on how they do their business!
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Saturday night after all the wedding activities we drove to Fell's Point to check out the area. Parking on a Saturday night is atrocious!! OMG! It took us at least 35-40 minutes to finally find parking!
I wanted to check out Pitango Gelato because they had a lot of exotic flavors.
Pitango Gelato
802 South Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 236-0741
http://www.pitangogelato.com/
Price: $
The place was pretty tiny and there was a line! They have all the available flavors on the wall. So many interesting flavors!! Like Rhubarb, Spicy Chocolate, and Quince to name a few.
They also scooped out the gelato from these canisters, I've never seen that before. The gelato texture seemed kinda sticky too. It was cool watching them scoop it out.
I got a Large Cup (3 flavors: Spicy Chocolate, Sicilian Almond, Cardamom) $6.50~
It's definitely pricey!! :( The Spicy Chocolate had a really good kick to it. It reminded me of this Tabasco Chocolate my friend got me in the past. The heat just lingers in the back of your throat. An interesting sensation. The Almond was good but the Cardamom was my favorite out of the 3. It had that slight warmth and spice but not too much. I should've opted for something other than the spicy chocolate even though I enjoyed it because it ended up overpowering the other two flavors.
It was a new type of gelato to try and I liked all the exotic flavors, but I'm still partial to my Paciugo back in Dallas. hehe.
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Afterwards we looked for a place to chill and get some snacks. We ended up at Tapa's Adela. The sign was what attracted me since it was red and lit up.
Tapas Adela
814 South Broadway
Fells Point, MD 21231
(410) 534-6262
http://www.tapasadela.com/
Price: $-$$
I wasn't really even hungry after the massive sushi buffet we had during lunch but some of my friends wanted some "real" food (other than gelato) haha.
They ordered several dishes... (and I ended up trying all of them...of course. haha) I don't eat to satisfy hunger. I eat because I love food!
Pan Seared Diver Scallops (pistachio & sage vinaigrette, roasted cauliflower, garlic baby spinach) $10.95~
The scallops were good and my friends loved the dish but I liked the cauliflower even more. I thought that was the star of the dish.
Maryland Jumbo Lump Crabcakes (sage sofrito, citrus aioli) $14.95~
The cakes were full of crab...almost no other fillers. Which was great! I loved the flavor and the sauces. YUM!
Beef Short Rib Cocas/Flatbreads (horseradish aioli, bacon bits, shaved Manchego) $10.95~
This was meh. The flatbread was a bit dry as was the short rib. I don't recommend this.
I ended up getting Albondigas de Calamari (calamari & pork meatballs, squid ink rice, lemon aioli) $8.95~ because it sounded so interesting.
The rice was puffy and slightly crispy. I loved the texture! Almost like the crispy rice in Korean Bibimbop. That stole the show for sure. The meatballs were good. I like the crispy outside. But I actually like the combination of the crabcakes with the rice even more! hehe.
The food was pretty good, a little expensive for the portions we got. It's quite dark inside and kind of loud so it wasn't such a good place to talk. The service was eh. They were just there to take our orders and serve the food...nothing spectacular.
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My friend had a lunch wedding reception and chose Edo Sushi in Baltimore because it was where they had their first date. Awwww! :) Plus it had a great view on the water.
Edo Sushi
201 E Pratt St # 2075
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 843-9804
http://www.edosushimd.com/
It was an all you can eat sushi reception. OMG! It doesn't get better than this!!!
Miso Soup - I'm normally not a fan of miso soup but this was good!
Sesame Seaweed Salad
Age Tofu - lightly fried. so yummy!
Spicy Sauteed Mussels - the broth was very flavorful.
Unagi (fresh water eel) Sushi
Sake (salmon) Ngiri Sushi
Ebi (shrimp) Ngiri Sushi
Escolar (white tuna) Ngiri Sushi
The sashimi on the ngiri were super fresh. The salmon and white tuna were like butter. Just melted in your mouth. OMG. Delicious!!
California Roll
Soft Shell Crab
Volcano Roll
Spicy Scallop Roll
Spicy Tuna Roll
Sweetheart Maki (spicy tuna and avocado roll with fresh tuna around it in a heart shape)
The sushi roll presentation was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a prettier display of sushi. And the Sweetheart Rolls were so cute! My favorite roll by far was the Volcano Roll. The others were ok. The rice was overcooked (one of my pet peeves for sushi) but it's understandable since they are cranking out these rolls as fast as they can! Just look how amazing that is?!?!
Drool....
In addition we also got...
Seafood Yaki Udon - this was ok, I liked the veggies in it
Chicken and Vegetable Tempura - fried nicely
By this time we were all pretty stuffed... haha.
In addition to the regular sushi offerings, they also provided veggie rolls and udon for Vegetarians as well as Beef Teriyaki for non-fish eaters.
The beef teriyaki was awesome. Normally I don't care for teriyaki, but this was served on a sizzling plate and was basically a piece of steak. And it was soooo tender and not overly sweet like teriyaki could be.
We stuffed ourselves until we were sick... Literally for some of us. haha. But wait! There's cake!!!
The Wedding Cake was from Patisserie Poupon.
820 East Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 332-0390
FREAKING AMAZING. One layer was this rich chocolate hazelnut mousse cake with a layer of crispy something. Delicious! I wish I had more room in my stomach for more than one slice! The other layer was this light and fluffly lemon cake with a really light and refreshing lemon frosting. It was a good contrast with the rich chocolate cake.
Definitely go check out this bakery... I wish we had more time to do that.
So the food was fantastic and it was an amazing wedding. I'm so glad to see all my friends from high school! Plus our waiter at Edo was superb!! He made the experience THAT much better! :)
Definitely 5 cookies for the reception food and cake selections!!!!! :D
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For dinner in DC I chose a place that sounded really interesting. It's known for its Portuguese style chicken. We don't have this in Dallas so we thought it would be fun to check it out.
Nando's Peri-Peri
819 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 898-1225
http://www.nandosperiperi.com/
Price: $-$$
It was pretty full when we got there around 7:15PM so we had to wait for a table. What they do there is assign you a table, then you go order at the front counter and give them your table number. They'll bring the food out to you. But if you decide to order more food later, you can flag down one of the waiters and just order at your table. It's kind of a mix between fast food and sit down restaurant.
So obviously their specialty is chicken and the Peri-Peri sauce. Pronounced "Piri-Piri". They use all natural, never frozen chicken marinated in unique Portuguese Peri-Peri spice and then flame-grilled to order. They have different types of sauces ranging from different levels of heat (spicy).
The food came out surprisingly fast!
I got the Butternut Squash and Couscous Salad (oven roasted butternut and red onion with olives, grilled corn and couscous. Served with dressing on a bed of leaves) $7.95~
After a whole day of walking in the heat, I really wanted something light and fresh. It was a pretty big salad. Everything was fresh. I liked the butternut squash a lot. It added a sweetness to the dish. Overall it was a little bland though, but I put some of the Wild Herb Peri-Peri sauce as the dressing and it was great!
My bf got the 1/4 Chicken - Leg & Thigh +2 sides (grilled corn on the cob, Portuguese rice) $8.85~
We chose to go with the "medium" spicy level because it's been a hot day. "Medium: Tolerable heat, think typical sumer day - without the rain." It was surprisingly spicy!! I tried the Hot sauce on the side and WOOOO... it was really spicy!!! And I can eat spicy! The flavors on the chicken were really great. Lots of spices and heat! And it was really nice and tender. I especially loved the skin. I also liked the rice a lot with a bit of extra Peri-Peri sauce on it.
One of my friends got the Flame-Grilled Butterfly Chicken Breast (two chicken breasts in crispy skin) +2 sides (grilled corn on the cob, Portuguese rice) $12.85~
Also in Medium sauce. The chicken was good but the skin wasn't crispy so that was a little disappointing.
Another friend got the Flame-Grilled Butterfly Chicken Breast (two chicken breasts in crispy skin) +2 sides (Chips/"fries", garlic bread) $12.85~ With the fries she added Perinaise (a mayo/peri sauce mixture) for $0.75~
She chose the Lemon & Herb sauce (barely registers on the heat scale but full of zesty flavor). She liked the medium sauce we had better but still enjoyed her chicken. The Perinaise was fantastic. The garlic bread was nice and crusty and had lots of flavor.
It was a great experience. The flavors were different than any other chicken marinade I've had before and the sides were pretty good as well. By the middle of our meal, the line was out the door! We really got there just before the dinner rush. So keep in mind to go there earlier on a Friday night so you don't have to wait!
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This past weekend I went with my bf and 2 of my friends to Baltimore for a friend's wedding. We flew into DC on Friday to see some sights. But before we see all the famous monuments, we gotta have some lunch! hehe.
I was thrilled to find out that not too far from all the sights was Graffiato, Chef Mike Isabella's restaurant. He was on Top Chef Season 6 and also Top Chef All-Stars. As most of you may already know, I'm a die hard fan of Top Chef so this was super exciting for me. Season 6 was one of the toughest seasons because of the caliber of talent...one of the best seasons in my opinion.
Graffiato
707 6th St NW
Washington DC 20001
(202) 289-3600
http://graffiatodc.com/
Price: $-$$
Graffiato is located in Chinatown. It was cool to see all the store/restaurant signs translated into Chinese. I liked the decor of the restaurant, casual, urban yet rustic. We were warmly greeted by the hostesses and immediately seated. We could see the chefs cooking from our table. That was pretty cool. I asked the hostess if the Chef was in but she said he had just stepped out. But he was supposed to come back and she would definitely send him over if he did. I was really hoping I could meet him!!
We chose to sit downstairs because I had read about the $20 pick 3 lunch special (downstairs seating only) on Mon-Fri Noon-4PM. Graffiato is like tapas style but for Italian food. All the dishes are small but shareable with the table.
Two people ordered the $20 prix fixe...(the prices next to each item are if they are ordered individually).
Prix Fixe Combo 1:
Broccolini (spicy pepper relish, walnuts, feta) $6~ This was delicious. It was a cold dish, surprisingly. The broccolini was cooked perfectly tender and the flavors were very bright and refreshing.
Atlantic Striped Bass (potato, smoked eggplant, pine nut relish) $12~ The fish was cooked nicely and the presentation was so quaint. The smoked eggplant was really interesting. The color reminded me of squid ink.
Panna Cotta (caramel, chocolate, pretzel) $7~ I LOVED the pretzel crumble on this. It was by far the best part. The chocolate ganache/sauce was rich and dark and amazing. The panna cotta however wasn't the typical texture. It was more gelatin than creamy and the flavors were overwhelmed by the rich chocolate.
Prix Fixe Combo 2:
Charred Brussel Sprouts (pancetta, maple, egg) $7~ I love brussels sprouts and this did not disappoint. It was beautifully charred (which I haven't been able to achieve when I make it at home...) The delicate egg was an interesting touch on top. And there was a slight tanginess to the sauce which added another layer of flavor.
Jersey Shore (fried calamari, tomato, provolone, cherry pepper aioli) $16~ This was interesting. I've never had calamari on a pizza before, but how bad could fried calamari and pizza dough be together?! I liked how the pizza was lightly sauced and sprinkled with light cheese. The dough texture was great and the slight crunchiness from the calamari was a good contrast in texture. It totally worked! Yum!
Blood Orange Cheesecake (Passion fruit, basil) $7~ This was a very refreshing dessert. The fruit flavors were all very present in the dish. The blood orange cheesecake was light and fresh. My favorite part was the passion fruit sauce. It was super refreshing!
The other two of us just ordered individual dishes.
Hand Cut Spaghetti (olive oil poached cherry tomatoes, basil) $9~
This was a pretty small dish... The pasta was made in house and you could taste that. The texture was awesome. It was a very simple dish but good. My friend really enjoyed it.
Crispy Potato Gnocchi (wild mushrooms, stracciatella) $12~
I had to get the gnocchi...it's what Chef Isabella is kind of known for on Top Chef. It was a cute dish, the gnocchi were small and delicate. The flavors were simple and light. I liked the stracciatella (a type of soft mozzarella cheese) on top that tied everything together. It was also kind of small, but I'm really glad I got to try it.
The food was great and I thought it was a really good deal for lunch. Our waiter was super nice and they were very prompt about cleaning up the empty plates and refilling our waters. It was a relaxing meal. I was just disappointed that I never got to meet the Chef. :( I almost told my friends to just leave me there while they go sight seeing so I could meet him. hahaha. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to make another trip to DC in the future. We all enjoyed the lunch. I thought the style of the food and restaurant really reflected Chef Mike Isabella, casual and simple but good quality.
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