Whiskey Cake

This past weekend was busy busy! My fiance's parents came to visit and we did a lot of wedding planning stuff. On Friday, they wanted to see the wedding venue and check out some nearby hotels. My parents joined us as well since they haven't seen the venue either. We were very productive and even finished everything ahead of schedule. So we planned on having dinner together at Whiskey Cake. His parents have never been, and since we were in Plano, we wanted to take them there.

Whiskey Cake
3601 Dallas Pkwy.
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 993-2253
www.whiskey-cake.com
Price: $$-$$$

This is one of our go-to places. We especially love the brunch at Whiskey Cake. And of course... the whiskey cake. hehe. No other dessert there has ever been better. I called as soon as our last hotel visit was over to get our names on the list... It was only 5:15PM at this point, and we were 5 minutes away. They actually told me the wait for 6 people was an hour! What?!? Wow... business is good! So we decided to go anyways, normally the wait is faster than what they quote you. As we pulled up, the parking lot is pretty packed and there were people waiting outside the restaurant. Uh-oh... not a good sign. We walked in and I checked in with the hostess. I also looked around to see if there's room at the bar to hang out. Nope! But then she said "if your entire party is here, we can go ahead and seat you." Wait... what? Apparently a table was no-show so we get it! Woohoo! How lucky are we?

We were seated in the side room. There were several tables still open, so I wondered if they were reserved... Our waiter, Kedus, was super friendly, and brought us some waters. Then he asked if we wanted to order drinks. My fiance is pretty picky about cocktails so he was asking a bunch of questions and whether Kedus had recommendations. Nothing too citrusy, or spicy, or strong... Kedus took it as a challenge and begin recommending stuff. Most of it got shot down.. haha. Then my fiance decided on the Hot For Teacher $11~ which is a bourbon based drink. My fiance took one sip and was like "nope". Luckily his dad really liked it so took it from him. My fiance couldn't decide on another one so told him to come back later.

Moments later, Chris, the other waiter who was helping Kedus, brought over a cool looking drink. He said he saw a challenge and decided to have their bartender (who are actually trained mixologists) come up with this concoction. Apple Cinnamon Julep. 

My fiance loved it! Chris explained it's a play on their normal mint julep. Well yay, we have a winner! My fiance felt extra special that they took their time to find something he would like. And turns out, Chris was the manager in training! Future boss man... also super friendly.

My dad decided to get a cocktail as well. He went with As You Wish (aylesbury duck vodka, jalapeno, mango, orange, cranberry, lime, agave) $9~ per Kedus' recommendation. 

My dad is a light-weight, like me, so I was a little nervous when he ordered a drink. haha. But he seemed to enjoy it. Said it had a kick to it from the jalapeno. Neither me or my mom could try it though, since we're both allergic to mango. Yea... see where I got it from?

We were off to a great start. We were given the specials of the day... which Kedus really recommended since the staff just got to try some earlier. hehe. And we finally got around to ordering.

We got Fried Green Tomatoes (remoulade, lemon zest, parsley) $6~ Usually it comes with 5 pieces, but they gave us another since we had 6 people. The tomatoes were fried nicely. I liked the remoulade, had a good tang to it.

I got the Crispy Atlantic Cod (watercress and napa cabbage slaw, tomato, zesty tartar sauce, french hoagie; served with house kettle chips) $11~ 

This thing was huge! Kind of looks like a po-boy mixed with a banh-mi. It was yummy too. Hard to eat since it was so loaded with slaw on top. Definitely messy. hehe. The fish was fried well, and still really tender on the inside. They definitely didn't skimp on the fish either. The tartar sauce was basically the remoulade from the fried green tomatoes but I like it on both dishes. I always have a fear that this type of bread is too hard... I've cut my mouth on extra toasted French bread before. This wasn't the case. The bread was soft and paired well with the fish. Although, it was so full, things kept falling out. My dad really liked my dish. He was going to order it but changed his mind... and I think he regretted that. So I gave him a few bites. :P

I also got a side of the Country Ham & Parmesan Brussels Sprouts. Of course. hehe. It was nicely charred and yummy.

Special of the Day: Arctic Char (with blue corn grits, fresno chiles, corn) $18~ Both my fiance and his dad went with the special. Arctic char looks kind of like salmon, but is generally less oily and fatty. It's a good fish, I've always liked it. His dad got it the original way. 

The blue corn grits were yummy. He really enjoyed it. My fiance wanted the same sides as the Salmon dish because he was worried that the fresno chiles would be too spicy. 

Turned out, the tumeric roasted cauliflower was spicier than the fresno chiles (which weren't spicy at all). haha. So I ate most of the cauliflower.. they were yum!

His mom went with the Live Wood Grilled Salmon (tumeric roasted cauliflower, broccoli greens, sweet corn puree, cilantro lime emulsion) $19~ She said it was really good, and finished it all.

My parent shared the Grilled Texas Striped Bass (summer vegetable stone fruit slaw, watermelon relish, sweet pea crema) $19~ 

The kitchen actually split the dish for them, so what you see here is only half portion. That was nice of them. It didn't seem as good as the other 2 fish dishes. My dad said it was just ok.

They also shared the Farm Salad (greens, cucumber, carrots, grape tomatoes, white balsamic vinaigrette) $5~ 

For a $5 salad, the portion size is really good. Everything looked fresh too. No complaints there.

And of course we can't come all this way to Whiskey Cake and not get dessert! We just got one Whiskey Cake (toffee torte, bourbon anglaise, spiced pecans, whipped cream) $8~ 

Everyone was pretty full by then, so we started with 1. Glad we did that... it was just enough. Still one of my favorite cakes in Dallas. If you haven't had it yet... what are you waiting for?

It was a great meal. All the food was good, his parents loved everything they tried. Kedus and Chris came by periodically to check on us and chat with us. It was a very nice experience. They made us feel special, especially my fiance who got a drink made just for him! :P This is probably the best service we've gotten there to date. I hope Chris sticks around, cuz he's going to make a great manager! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~