Since I was out of town on a ski trip
on Valentines Day, we celebrated our
Vday this past Saturday. I had given a
few restaurant options to my bf and he
made a reservation at Oak. I've been
wanting to go there forever!!! I've
heard nothing but rave reviews about
it. I was SUPER excited!
Oak
1628 Oak Lawn Avenue
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 712-9700
http://oakdallas.com/
Price: $$$-$$$$$
Jason Maddy is the Executive Chef at
Oak and I recently read that he is one
of the 2013 James Beard Award
Semifinalists!! Congrats to him! It's a very
prestigious title to receive in the
food industry. It maked me even more
excited to be there.
It's located in the Design District. An
area in Dallas I don't frequent much
but would like to... There's some cool
places there! One thing I really liked
was that they had a pretty big parking
lot. hehe. It's always frustrating to
try and find parking downtown.
Walking around the building... I really
liked the architecture of the building.
They had big open windows and made the
place look very welcoming. Upon
entering, we were warmly greeted by the
host. I was immediately impressed by
the place. The decor was awesome. It
was classy, sophisticated, yet warm and
welcoming. The furniture was eclectic
but yet everything fit together
beautifully. We got a nice big booth
for just the 2 of us. It was very
comfortable and well lit! I don't like
it when it's so dark for "mood
lighting" that you can't even see your
food!!
Our waiter was very nice and took our
drink orders. We each got a cocktail.
Designer's Touch (veev, strawberry,
basil, sesame oil) on the left. The
Antoinette (tito's vodka, prosecco,
cointreau, blackberry puree, lemon) on
the right.
We each tried both of them.
He liked The Antoinette and I liked
Designer's Touch better! Haha! It all
works out. :P If you like blackberries
you would like The Antoinette. But I
particularly liked Designer's Touch
because of how interesting it is. It
has sesame oil in it!! I could smell
and taste the sesame oil which was
super fragrant, but totally works with
the strawberry and basil. Definitely
surprised me a little. It had a hint of
savory, but with the sugar rimmed glass
was still a sweet drink. The flavors
all worked and balanced together. YUM!
We were given their Winter 2013 menu.
If you look at their website, some of
the items have changed on the current
menu. Everything sounded awesome.
After we ordered we were given some
bread. Raisin Bread and French? bread
with cinnamon butter. Both were great
with the cinnamon butter. So far so
good!
I already knew one of the appetizers I
wanted to get. Moroccan Octopus & Pork
Jowls (aji panca, radish, cilantro)
$16~
Anything with crispy pork is good
by me! The plate was beautifully
presented. It was so colorful and clean
and delicate. It was AMAZING!!!! The
pork had just the right amount of fat
and crisped to perfection. The octopus
had great texture, although the pieces
were quite small. There were also small
dices of apple with the cilantro oil
which added a light sweetness. The
entire dish had so many complex flavors
and everything worked together so well.
I wanted 2 more plates of this! Did NOT
disappoint! I'd say it rivals the
octopus and pork belly dish at Spoon.
Although the octopus at Spoon was
better and the pork at Oak was better.
hehe.
Kabocha Squash Ravioli (winter squash,
fennel pollen, sage butter) $15~
I
absolutely love Kabocha squash. It
almost reminds me of pumpkin. When the
plate came we were a little
disappointed in the portion size. There
were only 4 small pieces of ravioli...
Although presented beautifully as well.
Again, very delicate and clean. Soooooo
good! I really wish there was more! The
pasta on the ravioli was cooked
perfectly al dente. You get the
sweetness of the kabocha filling with
the creaminess of the sage butter. All
the additional elements just made each
bite better. It's really just too
small! haha. I need MORE!!
Scottish Salmon (rapini, hedgehog
mushrooms, sauce choron) $29~
For the
entree we shared the salmon. The waiter
offered to have the dish split for us
with no charge. The half size (shown in
the picture) was so cute and small.
haha. Very nicely presented on the
plate. I liked how they offered to
split it and was still beautifully
presented. The salmon had a great
crispy skin on it. It was a tad
overcooked for me since I like my
salmon a bit pink in the middle but it
was still really good. Underneath the
salmon there were actually small dices
of radish (I think) and smoked salmon
along with the rapini. I had to google
this.. Sauce Choron is basically a
variation of Bearnaise with the addition of
tomato paste, hence the orangey color.
It was perfect with the salmon and
mushrooms. The plate was like a work of
art, as was the other dishes we've had
so far. This is one of the reasons why
I started taking pictures of food years
ago. I love seeing food presentation.
It's an artform on it's own. :)
Brussels Sprouts (panko bread crunch,
garlic) $7~
As you know, I'm obsessed
with brussels sprouts... one of my
favorite vegetables in the past few
years. I had to get this. And it was
definitely the right choice. It was
sooo good. I can just get 2 orders of
this alone and have it for my meal! It
was nicely charred and had so much
flavor and texture from the garlic and
panko topping. My bf said it might even
be better than the appetizers we had
earlier!
We cleaned every single one of our
plates. And surprisingly, we were quite
full! Initially seeing the portion
sizes, we were worried there wasn't
enough food, but turned out to be
perfect. But of course, I had to see
the dessert menu. hahaha. I've waited
too long to come here without having a
complete meal experience!!
Peanut Butter Cheesecake (chocolate,
banana, macaron) $8~
We shared this.
Surprisinly the portion of the dessert
was pretty decent! haha. It was so
pretty once again. I've been impressed
with all the presentation during this
meal. The cheesecake was creamy and
peanut buttery. The base of it was
almost like a chocolate brownie. I
loved the crunch of the tuile that
surrounded the cheesecake. The bruleed
banana had a nice crunchy sugar shell.
There was also a banana puree under the
macaron and bruleed banana. The macaron
was chocolate with peanut butter
filling. It was amazing. But we didn't
force ourselves to finish it. We took
half of it to go (which made a nice
late night snack later!!)
This has been an awesome experience. I
had high hopes for this place and it
blew it out of the water. From the
decor to ambiance to food to service,
everything was spot on! Our waiter was
great. He was friendly and attentive
enough without being intrusive. He
joked with us but didn't get too
chummy. Everything was presented in a
timely manner and explained. It's been
one of the best meals I've had in
Dallas in a while. I think the last
time I had a great meal like this was
Chef John Tesar's Spoon. And I prefer
the ambiance at Oak more. But the food
at both places are spectacular. I'm so
glad I got to go. It had been a great
day and couldn't have been a better
ending. I look forward to going back to
Oak in the future. I definitely
recommend it for foodies and special
occasions. I'm still drooling as I'm
writing about all the food!! :D
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I went to Edo Japan this past weekend.
It's my bf's favorite place for sushi so
he really wanted me to try it.
EDO Japan Steakhouse, Sushi, & Bakery
1067 Interstate 30
Rockwall, Texas 75087
(972) 722-2555
http://www.edojapantexas.com
Price (for sushi): $$
Walking up to the restaurant, it's
pretty unassuming since it was just in a
strip mall. But once we entered, it was
bigger than I expected. The decor was
really nice and modern. Red, white and
black were the dominant colors in the
sushi bar area. And there's hibachi on
the other side of the restaurant.
Our waitress warmly welcomed us and
brought us our drinks. The cocktail my
bf wanted wasn't on the menu anymore,
but they still made it for him. I got
hot tea since I was a little sick. I
liked the little teapot.
I let him order since there were
specific things he wanted me to try. I
love pretty much any kind of sushi so
I'm totaly up for trying whatever.
We started with the Stuffed Pepper
Shrimp (crab, shrimp, jalapeno, cream
cheese; tempura battered and fried)
$12?? I'm not too sure how much it
was... $12-15 probably.
It was presented
beautifully. All the different layers of
colors and textures in the peppers over
a bed of spring mix lettuce. It was
delicious but very rich. It could
totally be a meal on its own. The cream
cheese was the source of the richness
and brought everything together. The
addition of the jalapeno was nice. It
gave it that bit of spice... wasn't
actually spicy though. The tempura
batter added crunch, another layer of
texture. I really liked it, but I don't
think I can eat more than 2 pieces.
haha. Definitely a must try! But share!
:P
Scallop Volcano Roll (California roll,
scallop on top, eel sauce) $13~
I love
volcano roll with either crawfish or
scallops. This was pretty good, but not
the best I've had. There wasn't much
scallops but definitely a lot of crab.
The rolls were made well. I didn't care
for the eel sauce though. It was
different than any eel sauce I've had
anywhere else. The flavor wasn't as
robust as I'm used to and it wasn't as
dark in color either... It was still
good though.
Rockwall Roll (tuna, salmon, whitefish,
asparagus, avocado, panko deep fried,
eel sauce) $11.95~
I normally don't
prefer fried sushi because they get a
little too greasy. This one wasn't. I
really liked the panko batter which made
it crispier and lighter.
Edo Special Cucumber Roll (tuna, salmon,
white fish, yellowtail, crabmeat,
asparagus, cucumber) $12.95~
I picked
this one. It didn't have any rice in it.
I thought it would something different
to try. The colors were beautiful. And
it was very refreshing. I liked that it
was carb free after the other rolls with
rice. The cucumber added a nice crunch
to it. The fish were all very fresh as
well. I liked it a lot.
I also got a ginger salad (sorry no
picture). The portion size was pretty
good and the ginger dressing was nicely
done. They brought it out a little late and the waitress immediately said they were going to comp it. How nice! :)
We were stuffed, surprisingly...
Normally I can eat a lot of sushi, but I
wasn't too hungry to begin with. Plus
the appetizer was VERY filling! I really
wanted to try their desserts since
"bakery" is in the restaurant name. But
I figured I'd be back again in the near
future so I opted not to. Supposedly
their cheesecake is really good! Until
next time...
Our waitress was fantastic. She was
super cheerful and checked on us
frequently. It made the dining
experience even better. We had a good
time. I'll definitely be back! :)
Quality of Food:
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
It's been a while since I've been back to DaLat!! Time to go see what my friend Khanh has come up with now!
DaLat
2537 N Fitzhugh Ave.
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 827-3200
http://dalatdallas.com/
Price: $-$$
We started with some appetizers. They are all new to me! I love trying new foods.
Spam Musubi (Fried Spam with sticky rice in rice paper) $5~
This was my favorite appetizer out of the bunch. I'm not a fan of regular Spam musubi when I was in Hawaii. I thought the texture and flavor were all meh. I loved this rendition of the musubi with the sticky rice! The sticky rice added a different texture to the spam and the rice paper around it all made it easier to pick up and eat. I would totally get this again next time.
Du Du Bo Kho (green papaya salad and spicy beef jerky) $5.50~
This was pretty light in flavor but was also refreshing. I liked the spicy beef jerky on top to add complexity in texture. I wish it was a bit spicier though.
Dorito-Viche (Vietnamese cabbage salad over Doritos) $5~
This was an interesting creation. I think I like the different elements on its own, but together, I felt the flavor of the Doritos overpowered the cabbage salad. Wasn't my favorite... Some of my friends really liked it though. hehe.
Chicken Soup for the Soul (pork meatballs and chicken over rice) $8~
This was awesome for late night/after drinking. It is so warm and comforting and I always love the pork meatballs. That night they also made a batch with beef and pork meatballs (which is what I got).
Sooooo much food, but really good. Go get you some on a cold day or long night of partying! haha.
Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup) $8~ As always, I like their broth.
Been a Rough Day Shots (Jameson, Grand Marnier, Baileys; taken in succession) $14~
One of DaLat's crazy creations. You take these one after another... I didn't dare to try it! My bf did though... He actually only heard Baileys so was pretty shocked when Khanh brought out 3 shots! HA! But he said it was actually much better than he thought it would be. I think ending with the Baileys really helped round out the experience. haha.
Cheesecake $5~ Not made in house, pretty standard.
DaLat is always a nice change to the standard IHOP or Buzzbrews or something. Plus I get to visit my friend, Khanh. I like how he keeps creating things so I can always try something new.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Oh man... it's been so long since my last post. I apologize!! But things have been super hectic lately with work and school. :(
In the past month I got to go check out Maple & Motor. I've been wanting to try it for a while since a lot of people have told me that their burgers are pretty awesome. I've also heard that it's a small place and gets super crowded so my friend and I decided to go at 4pm one random weekday.
Maple & Motor
4810 Maple Ave
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 522-4400
Price: $
The place was actually bigger than I expected after hearing about it. haha. I thought it was going to be one of those standing room only places. It's a very casual place, lots of funny sayings and signs up on the walls. You order at the counter and they bring the food out to you.
My friend was the one that decided to go so I was just tagging along. I didn't really order anything for myself.
He got a Burger (half-pound ground American beef flat grilled; dressed in traditional Texas fashion with mustard, lettuce, red onion, tomato, dill pickle; served on a toasted bun) $5.85~
It's a pretty good burger. The ingredients were fresh but quite messy. The bottom bun didn't hold up very well and it fell apart after a while. Eh.. I've had better for sure.
French Fries $1.95~
I loved the fries. It was a bit oversalted, but who doesn't love salty fries?!? haha. They fried it perfectly. It was really hard not to eat all of it...
Gobs (homemade whipped buttercream stuffed between chocolatey cakes of goodness) $1.50~
This was totally an impulse buy since it was next to the register. Looked like their riff on a whoopie pie...sounded delicious. It was ok. I prefer the regular whoopie pies. The cake part was a bit dry.
I'm glad I finally got to check this out for myself, but wasn't impressed at all. It's pretty average all around. Definitely not worth driving out of my way to get it. But if you are in the area, it's not bad.
Quality of Food:
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
