LA Burger

It's been too long since I was at LA Burger... So I decided I needed to get a good burger and meet up with some friends before I leave for my Japan/Boston trip on Saturday! I got a big group together (as always) and hit up LA Burger on Friday night.

LA Burger
10045 N MacArthur Blvd.Ste 113
Irving, TX 75063
(972) 501-9188
http://www.la-burger.com/
Price: $

We had a group of about 15 people, but we were not the only large group there. The place was packed!! Another large party was there for a birthday I think, but other people kept on walking in throughout the night. I'm so happy to see their business doing so well. And as always, it's BYOB!

I noticed a couple new things on the menu since the last time I was there. Which isn't saying much since it's been over 8 months since my last visit. haha. Time sure flies! But they added sweet potato fries and onion rings under the sides. In the burger section, they added a few new choices as well including a turkey burger.

You know me... always trying to change it up. So I ordered a LA Burger with the turkey patty instead of regular beef. LA Burger (sauteed Korean spicy cabbage, cheese, fried egg, jalapenos) $6.95~

I really liked the turkey patty. First of all, it was huge! And had so much flavor. It was almost like a turkey sausage patty. As always, I love the sauteed kimchi on top and the egg that is just cooked perfectly with the yolk oozing out. I'm not sure if they changed the bread but seemed like this time it got soggy faster... not good. Still one of my favorite burgers in Dallas though.

My bf ordered one of their newer burgers. Something Cali? It had lettuce, tomato, onions, fried egg on top of an Angus patty. He loved it. It was just a bit messy. hehe.

And since I love sweet potato fries, I asked if they could do the K-Fries with them instead of regular fries. $5.95~

Of course! They are very accommodating. It was fantastic! I loved the slight hints of sweetness from the sweet potatoes with the salty and spicy sauteed kimchi. I might have to try the "K-Onion Rings" next time. haha.

My friends brought other friends that have never been there. They all loved it. Especially raved about the K-Fries.

Another fun and delicious time at LA Burger. If you haven't gone yet, where have you been? And when you go, tell them CHOMP! sent ya! :)

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**FYI..I'm writing this as I'm sitting in the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. My first time in Japan! Stay tuned for Japan-food-awesomeness in the next few weeks!! **

NOSH Plano

I went to NOSH in Plano Sunday night for dinner. I've been wanting to go there forever!!

NOSH
4701 W. Park Blvd, Suite 101
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 612-3200
www.nosheurobistro.com/
Price: $$$

I really like the decor inside and out. It has a cool seating area around the kitchen so you can watch what they are doing in there. But the weather was pretty nice so we chose to sit outside.

Our waitress, Sarah, was really nice and informative. She was very thorough in telling us about their specials and they do have a lot of specials!

A lot of stuff looked good but she says we can't lose with the Maine Lobster Fritters (with mandarin tartar sauce) $9~ or the meatball appetizers. We went with the fritters.

It was really good. The outside was super crispy but very light. And then you bite into it and it becomes really creamy and rich. The tartar sauce had hints of orange and citrus in it to add complexity in flavors. You can see the bits of lobster in there but I wish they were a little bigger. A very good starter nonetheless.

I decided to get a Specialty Cocktail: French Fizz (Hangar One blueberry, elderflower, champagne) $11~

I had tried my friend's elderflower cocktail at Townhouse a few days earlier and really liked it. This wasn't as good though because it wasn't sweet enough for me. My bf liked it though so he finished it for me. hehe.

For the entree, it was very hard to me to choose cuz everything looked so good but Sarah helped me decide on the Grilled Bay of Fundy Salmon (sweet corn salad and smoked paprika aioli) $23~

The plate was a bit small but it was delicious. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the aioli was fantastic with it. The corn salad was a cold salad and was very refreshing. It was nice since it was still a little warm sitting outside. It was a very light entree. The flavors were simple and you can taste the ingredients themselves. I really enjoyed it.

My bf went with the Grilled Kobe Beef Bavette (tomato vinaigrette and blue cheese potato chips) $23~

It was also recommended by Sarah. The beef was cooked perfectly medium rare. It was super tender and the light seasoning allowed us to taste the beef itself. The chips were cut and fried in house. The blue cheese was also made in house. The flavors in the chips were really good. The chips could've been a little crispier though.

I love brussels sprouts so I had to get the Side of Brussel Sprouts & Bacon $6~

There was so much bacon in here it was crazy. I never imagined I would think something had TOO much bacon! haha. But I did want more brussels sprouts.

We ended the meal with the Warm Chocolate Souffle Cake (with s'more ice cream) $7~

It was small but so rich it doesn't leave you wanting more. I did want more ice cream though! The cake was so rich and chocolatey and just melted in your mouth. YUMMM!!

It was a great meal. My expectations for NOSH was exceeded. I was especially happy with the service. Sarah was great. She was informative, attentive and offered good suggestions.

So...something kind of embarrassing. The strap on my sandal broke just as we walked into the restaurant. OH NO! So I was walking around all weird trying to keep it on my feet and finally gave up and picked up my shoe. I had to do the same when I went to the restroom... I really tried to hold it but couldn't. haha. Sigh~ Half way through the meal, another waitress asked if I wanted a stapler. She must've seen me walk to the restroom earlier. hahaha. I said that would be GREAT! Sarah brought the stapler and it totally worked. I was able to keep the strap attached to at least walk out of there with some dignity. hahaha. I was really happy that they were trying to think of ways to help me instead of just laughing at me or something. The service there just elevated the food even more.

I will definitely go back again. And I will request Sarah as my server. :) Also, I've heard wonderful things about their brunch. Maybe that's what I'll do next time!!

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Addison Food Truck Festival

This past Saturday was the Addison Food Truck Festival at Vitruvian Park. I didn't even know this part of Addison existed! It was a pretty cool area with some niiiice apartments.

Vitruvian Park
3875 Ponte Ave
Addison, TX 75001

I thought I'd give this festival a try since The Belgian Waffle truck from Austin was back in Dallas for the week. They ran out before I got to try it at the TX Food Truck Festival a few weeks back so this was my chance again.

The festival was from 3-10PM. Considering everything was sold out by the time I got to the last festival around 7:30PM, this time I was determined to go earlier. I met up with a few friends there around 4:45PM. I was happy to see that there were no lines at all! But I quickly learned that it's because it was freakishly hot... Oh well, better make the most of it!

We walked down the street to see all the trucks first. There were about 12-14 trucks during the course of the festival. Most of them I've seen before but not tried.

We stopped first at The Butcher's Son. I've seen their menu online and it all looked delicious but my friends have had some bad experiences with them. I was a little weary but the menu just looked so amazing.

Especially The Dead Elvis Slider (nutella, peanut butter and bacon on a Brioche slider roll) $2.89~ We HAD to get it...this is something you don't pass up. It was amazing. I'm still dreaming about it. So simple but so delicious. The gooey, melty, creamy peanut butter and nutell with the salty and crispy bacon inside the soft buttery brioche. Everything worked together and there was just enough elements of everything. If you don't like sweet+savory, just go ahead and skip this. But if you love it, this is for you! I would eat this over and over again. I thought their pricing was a bit odd though. Why not just round up to $3 or at least $2.90?

We also got the Southern Hospitality Slider (buttermilk fried chicken tenderloin, garlic potato spread and white country gravy on a Brioche slider roll) $2.89~

This didn't compare to the Dead Elvis but was still yummy. The chicken was fried well and really juicy. There was just the right amount of mashed potato and gravy. And I always love brioche! I think it would be awesome if they made a jalapeno gravy or had the option of adding some sliced jalapenos or something.

I think they have better sliders than Easy Slider truck. The elements and flavors were better.

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I tell everyone about the Coolhaus truck. I'm always interested in seeing what crazy new flavors they have. And it was great that there were no lines because we got to sample a bunch of the different flavors.

I ended up sharing the Hot Cake Cookies (fluffy pancake with real maple bits) with cherry cheesecake ice cream $5.50~

The cookie was fantastic. We all agreed. I especially liked the crunchy maple (toffee-like) bits in the cookie. The ice cream was nice with slight tartness from the cherry. Although I ate a piece of the cherry itself and it was a little too sour for me. I can't handle sour stuff...

My other friend got Hot Cake Cookies (fluffy pancake with real maple bits) with coffee Oreo heckman ice cream $5.50~

I loved the coffee flavor with the hot cake cookie. I didn't care for the oreo bits. For one they were too big and kinda made it too sweet. Plain coffee ice cream would've been perfect.

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Nammi (Vietnamese Food Truck) 
My friend wanted the Grilled Pork Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich on 12" baguette with garlic mayonnaise, cucumbers, pickled daikons & carrots, jalapenos, cilantro) $7~

I still think Nammi has the best bang for your buck when it comes to their portions. And I like their bread a lot. But I feel like the texture of their pork is a bit off...too soft almost?

Later, another friend got the Tofu Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich on 12" baguette with garlic mayonnaise, cucumbers, pickled daikons & carrots, jalapenos, cilantro) $7~

I just tried a piece of the tofu. I actually really liked it. I thought it was better than the pork. I tasted a bit of lemongrass I think. He said it was a bit too salty though after eating the whole thing.

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I've heard great things about Ruthie's Rolling Cafe so I've wanted to try them for a while.  

We got a Build Your Own Grilled Cheese (Hippie Health bread, pepper jack cheese, chicken, caramelized onions) $8+~

OMG!! So expensive for a grilled cheese! I had really high hopes for it. But once we got it, I knew I was going to be disappointed. It was NOT worth the price at all. It was so flat! And they used deli chicken... At least use a better cut of meat or something. And for a grilled cheese, it wasn't very cheesy. I expect grilled cheese to have melty cheese gooey and oozing out the sides. This one barely had cheese in there...

And the flavors were quite one dimensional. I ended up going to the Nammi truck and put some sriracha on it. Made ALL the difference in the world!! I think I would've paid MAX $3 for this. At least now I know... :(

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Finally, I was able to get my waffle from The Belgian Waffle Truck! Initially I was going to get the Cinnamon waffle but I asked about their Chocolate Waffle thinking that it was a chocolate batter. The guy was really nice and explained that they do the chocolate waffle in 2 ways. One is traditionally Belgium with the chocolate injected into the waffle. Another option is a regular waffle with nutella on top. The traditional one sounded a lot more interesting so I changed my order to that.

Chocolate Waffle de Liege (with whipped cream) $6~

This is pretty pricey for just a piece of waffle. And I noticed that they use canned whipped cream... For the price I would think it would be fresh. The service was good but the wait for the waffle was wayyy too long. I think we waited about 10-15 minutes for our order considering there wasn't a line in front of the truck. All the people in front were waiting. Finally I got my waffle. It smelled great. And was hot straight off the griddle. But then I cut into it... The outside was overcooked and slightly rubbery while the inside wasn't cooked through. I wonder if they tried to speed up the cooking process by upping the heat but then it just ended up cooking the outside too much and not enough on the inside. Blah! The chocolate sauce was nice but it was such a disappointment. :( Next time I want a great waffle dessert, I'll just go back to Sweet Mix! (If you haven't had their waffle sandwiches, you must go!) Plus you get more there for the money.

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By about 7-7:30PM or so, the crowd started picking up and it was cooling off. It was a cool area because people living in the apartments were coming over with their coolers and blankets and stuff. I think in the future the organizing party needs to put up more shaded seating areas. It was really a beating to be out in the sun from 5-7pm... But I'd say it was a much better festival experience than the one at Valley View Mall a few weeks ago. I doubt I'll be going to much more now that we're entering summer though. haha. Until the fall...

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Townhouse @ Galleria

On Friday I went to Townhouse at the Galleria with some friends. I had purchased a Living Social coupon a while back and it's time to cash it in!

Townhouse Kitchen + Bar
13270 Dallas Parkway
Dallas, TX 75240
(972) 300-0986
http://www.townhousedallas.com/
Price: $$-$$$

I've met friends there before but didn't actually eat there. I like the decor of the place but it's so big... I wonder if they ever fill all the tables. I've heard that it's usually pretty dead. :(

We had a party of 9 and I didn't make a reservation given the reviews that they are not that busy. The hostess was really nice and told us to wait a few minutes while they put the tables together.

We got there around 6:30PM to catch the tail end of their happy hour which ends at 7PM. Happy Hour is Mon-Fri 3-7PM. We started off with some happy hour appetizer specials. (I've included the original price and happy hour prices.)

Deviled Eggs $5~ ($3)

The eggs were topped with Sriracha which was a great move for anything. I really liked it. It was creamy and spicy. But also a tad too salty... For $3, I thought it was a great deal!

BBQ Duck Quesadilla (with blueberry-lime salsa) $12~ ($6)

This was one item I really wanted to try but was disappointing. The flavors weren't that great and the texture of the duck wasn't that appetizing either. The salsa was good though, it really helped the quesadilla. My friend actually said it reminded him of something from Taco Bell. Yikes. Definitely not worth the full price if you don't go at happy hour.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus $8~ ($5)

I quite liked the hummus on the sliced cucumber. The cucumber was crisp and refreshing and the hummus had good flavor. The pita chips seemed a bit stale though.

Crispy Calamari $9~ ($5) Pretty standard calamari. The flavor was good and the batter was crispy.

For the entrees, there were so many items I wanted, but after the appetizers I was already getting full. haha. I ended up splitting the BLT Wedge Salad (with blue cheese dressing) $8~ with a friend.

This way I can still sample everything else and not totally stuff myself! haha! They were really cool and split the salad for us. (So the picture you see is only half the salad.) The salad was fresh, lettuce was crisp. There was just a bit more dressing than I preferred but overall just what I wanted as a lighter dinner.

My bf got the Pecan Pork Chops (bourbon glaze; with side of broccolini and jalapeno bacon hash browns) $21~

Originally it came with 2 other side dishes but they let him substitute. YAY! So I got to try the 2 sides I really wanted to taste. The pork chop was just a tad overcooked and so was a little dry. But with the sauce I thought it was still good. The bourbon pecan glaze was quite sweet but I love savory and sweet together. If you don't like that combo as much, then this dish is not for you. The broccolini was cooked well and I really liked the hash. A few bites with jalapeno actually had a spicy kick. I couldn't really see the bacon in there, but I definitely got the flavor. The saltiness of the hash worked well with the sweet glaze.

A few friends got the Townhouse Burger (gouda, arugula, bacon jam; with side of hand-cut fries) $13~

The bacon jam sounded interesting...and it's exactly what it was. You get bits of bacon and it's slightly sweet. I thought the burger was pretty good. I especially liked the bun...buttery...Mmmmm!

Asian Turkey Burger (pho spices, sriracha aioli; with side of hand-cut fries) $12~

We were all interested in this burger. Pho spices? I've never seen anyone use that in a burger before and can't go wrong with sriracha aioli! hehe. It was decent. The bun was more of a wheat/grain bread and it got soggy pretty quick, I wasn't a fan. The burger flavor was good but none of us could really tell the "pho" flavor. My favorite part was actually the slaw that was on top of the patty. It was crisp and refreshing and added a nice contrast of texture.

I've read many reviews where people complained about their service. I guess we got lucky then! The hostess was really nice and our waiter was great. He checked on us a lot and answered all our questions. My friend had ordered a cocktail which they served in a chilled flute and half way through the meal, our waiter brought a new chilled glass and poured the rest of her cocktail into it. That was a nice touch. :) The only thing that threw me was that he brought the check without asking us if we wanted coffee or desserts or anything. Luckily we weren't planning on ordering those anyways so it didn't bother me as much. We lingered around and chatted for a long time after that. They didn't try to get rid of us or anything so I appreciated that. And during the course of dinner, business was actually not bad. I'd say at one point 75% of the place was filled.

I would go back. There are some more items on the menu I'd like to try. Hopefully they stick around for a while.

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