Sai Fine Asian Bistro

A couple weeks ago, I got invited out to try Chef Eddy T's new restaurant in Colleyville, Sai Fine Asian Bistro. Chef Eddy has had several restaurants open and close in the past few years... this is his latest venture. From the pictures of the food I've seen online, I had high hopes for this place. It really looks and sounds delicious. And it's an hour and 15 minute drive for us from Rockwall, so I'm really hoping for a great dinner.

Sai Fine Asian Bistro
5005 Colleyville Blvd. Suite 240
Colleyville, TX 76034
(682) 325-4050
http://sai-restaurant.com
Price: $$$-$$$$

I made it a date night with my husband. We went on a Sunday night (during Memorial Day weekend). The restaurant is tucked in the back of an unassuming center. Not really even a strip mall... it was definitely hard to see from the road. Walking in, there's a lot of Asian style decor. The restaurant has a main dining room and a separate section with the bar, which was not open at the time. We waited at the front for quite a while. Looked like they didn't have a host/hostess that night, so I just stood at the archway to the dining room in hopes that one of the waiters will see me. Finally the waitress saw me and came to greet us. She knew immediately I was there by invitation and sat us at a table right under the light. Thanks! That'll really help with the photos as the rest of the dining room was really dim. There seemed to be only 1 waitress and 1 waiter working, and there were only a few tables dining. It IS a holiday weekend so it wasn't too unusual for the sparse dining room. The waitress was super nice... gave us the menus and went to go check with the Chef on how our dinner was going to proceed. The Chef basically said we can order whatever we wanted on the menu.

The menu items all looked so good. Our server was the waiter, Grant. He was also super nice and accommodating. After asking some questions, we got some appetizers to start. I still couldn't decide from the entrees. haha.

Braised Pork Belly (Chef Eddy's signature braised pork belly with pickled daikon and pickled mustard greens) $8.88~ 

This was one of the recommended dishes. It smelled great. And I loved the flavors. It actually brought back childhood memories of eating roast pork in Taiwan. That's pretty legit imo. I also really enjoyed the combination of the pickled mustard greens and daikon to help contrast the fattiness of the pork. I really wanted a bowl of rice with this. hehe. Chinese roast pork is like one of my all time favorite things. The only complaint is that the sections of the pork that's not next to the fatty part was a bit dry. But I just made sure I had a little bit of fat with every bite of lean meat and it was fine.

Fried Brussels Sprouts (golden crisp Brussels sprouts served with chili plum sauce and crispy shallot) $7.88~ 

Just like pork belly, if I ever see Brussels sprouts on the menu, I have to order it. The sprouts were charred nicely! I thought it was too sweet though... that plum sauce overwhelmed all other flavors. My husband, on the other hand, thought it was great. He tends to eat a lot sweeter than I do.

We decided to add in a salad. I wanted more veggies. Miso Caesar Salad (romaine hearts with crostini and Parmigiano-Reggiano; served with Chef Eddy's famous miso caesar dressing) $8.88~ 

The miso addition to the dressing sounded so interesting. We both enjoyed it. The miso added an umami flavor to a standard caesar. I felt it was dressed just the right amount. I hate it when restaurants drown the salad in dressing.

For the entrees... I really couldn't decide... I wanted everything. So I ordered 2 from each section, "From the Street" and "Only at Sai". Our table was too small.... XD

Peking Duck Fried Rice (fried jasmine rice with pulled duck, onions, cherry tomatoes, eggs, soy sauce, scallions) $17.88~ This was also a recommended dish. The presentation was very nice in the Chinese style clay pot. The duck was tender and moist. It was a yummy dish.

Curry Laksa Noodles (Malaysian curry with egg noodles, baby bok choy, crispy shallot, red onions, bean sprouts, smoked chili, coconut milk) $14.88~ 

Served with chicken or tofu. I literally wanted everything with curry in it. I love any curries made with coconut milk. This was definitely one of my favorites of the night. The presentation was cool with the tower of crispy noodles on top. The curry was amazing. So much flavor, with a slight heat to it. It was rich, full of spicy, and comforting. I would order this again in a heart beat!

Massaman Short Rib (48 hour braised certified angus beef short ribs in Massaman curry with coconut milk, onions, cherry tomatoes, roasted peanuts, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes) $29.88~ 

I had my eye on this dish ever since their grand opening. It just sounds amazing. TOTALLY LOVED IT. The short rib was not fork tender but was still super tender when you put it in your mouth. Which I'm ok with... I don't want mushy meat! The curry was a different flavor than the noodles so that was a nice variety. This one was not spicy at all. At first bite, it wasn't as bold as the Laksa noodles, but as I ate more, I think I liked this sauce better... it was milder but was so well rounded. It comes with white rice which pairs great. We pretty much finished all the meat, but still asked for the rest of the sauce to go. I made fried rice with it later and it was bomb! Highly recommend!

Salmon Miso Truffle (grilled salmon with butternut squash, brussels sprouts, wild mushroom, in a miso truffle cream sauce) $27.88~ 

Initially we wanted the Five Spice Duck but it was unavailable that night. So we opted for the salmon since it was also a recommended item. Loved the presentation. That crispy skin on top was a great garnish. The fish was cooked well and I liked all the elements in it. However, it tasted a little too salty for me for some reason. I think the miso cream sauce overpowered all the vegetables. But my husband didn't think it was too salty. He gobbled up the entire dish!

We were too full to order dessert. I was a little sad, but I really could not have eaten another bite. Plus we have a longgg way home so we didn't want to be in a serious food coma. We ended up taking quite a bit of the entrees to go. They all reheated nicely so we had some good meals later too.

The Chef came out to meet us after the dinner. I told him I loved all the different Asian flavors. He definitely knows the Asian flavor profile well. It's very rare where something I eat brings me childhood memories. It was a great dinner. I can totally vouch for the food. The service was great too. Grant and the waitress were really busy since it was only the 2 of them but I think they handled everything well and always had a smile on their faces. I hope this place sticks around....but maybe they should move a little closer to us. haha. 75 min drive is a bit too far for any meal... I'm not really sure why Chef Eddy's previous ventures didn't pan out, because he makes some great food. Thanks so much for having us!!


*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*

Quality of Food: 

Service: 

Ambiance: 

Value: (comped)

Overall Experience: 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Ruggeri's in Colleyville

This past Friday I had the chance of going to Colleyville...quite far I must say. I've probably only driven through that area once or twice, never to eat. It was a group dinner with a bunch of my BF's co-workers and they decided on Ruggeri's Ristorante.

32 Village Ln # 100
Colleyville, TX 76034
(817) 503-7373
www.ruggeriweb.com
Price: $$

The restaurant is dimly lit, more of a romantic setting. They put together a couple tables for us in the back of the restaurant. There's a woman playing the keyboard to provide music in the background. It was ok until she started
singing...not a great idea. I would prefer if she just played the keyboard. haha. But after a while you kind of tune it out so it didn't bother me after that.

They gave us baskets of bread after they took our drink orders. The bread was pretty good. Had a nice crust on the outside and soft on the inside.

Some people ordered the Calamari Fritta (deep-fried squid served with marinara sauce) $6.95~ to start. (sorry couldn't take a picture...) I was able to try a little bit. The calamari had good texture and was fried nicely. However, it could've used more seasoning.

Most everyone started off with salads. My BF got Ruggeri's Caesar Salad $4.95~ The flavor of the dressing was pretty good and the lettuce was fresh. It seemed like there was a lot of dressing on the salad but it didn't taste like it was drowning in it, which was good.

I decided to get an appetizer and salad as my entree so my salad came later.


After the round of salads, they gave us a small sorbet to cleanse our pallets. The sorbet was pink but I couldn't really taste any fruit flavors...it was just like sugar ice. But it was sweet and did its job...I liked it. hehe.

I had read reviews that the seafood here was pretty good, so my BF decided on the Fettuccine Pescatore (fettuccine topped with oysters, shrimp, calamari, scallops and mussels tossed in our garlic butter) $14.95~
There was lots of seafood in the pasta. I was pretty impressed by that. The flavor was pretty light and you can really taste the different kinds of seafood. I liked the calamari a lot, but the scallops were definitely overcooked. The pasta was also overcooked...quite soft. :( The dish was also broth-ier than I had expected. I thought this dish was just ok, but my BF said he liked it.

I ordered the appetizer of Toasted Ravioli (stuffed with veal, ricotta cheese and spinach in a bed of tomato sauce) $5.95~ The ravioli was totally not what I expected. They said it was baked, but it felt /looked like it was fried. :/ I think it was overcooked. The inside was very flat, and the filling was dry...i couldn't differentiate between the veal and spinach, and I felt like there was no cheese in it. On a good note, I liked the tomato sauce. It would've probably be better as a regular ravioli dish with the marinara...no need to "bake (fry)" it.

I also got the Insalata di Spinaci Fantasia (spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, hearts of palm, tomatoes and aged Gorgonzola cheese, topped with a creamy italian dressing) $5.95~ I think they forgot my order because it came pretty late. I had to ask them about it...
I really liked this salad. The dressing was yummy. The ingredients were all pretty fresh. The spinach did not have that gritty after-feel which was good. The hearts of palm and artichoke hearts were great with the spinach and dressing. The gorgonzola on top was just icing on the cake. Everything went together very well!

Here are some of the other dishes people ordered (I didn't get to try):

- Linguine Pescatore Diavalo (fine linguine covered with oysters, shrimp, calamari, scallops, mussels and artichoke hearts in a spicy marinara sauce) $14.95~ This also had a lot of seafood in it...and seemed quite soupy. "Some guy I met" said it was really good. :P

- Stuffed Jumbo Shrimp (four jumbo shrimp stuffed with fresh lump crabmeat. topped with a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce with a side of spinach souffle) $16.95~ This was one of the dishes I read on the reviews saying it was really good. So some people took my recommendation and ordered it. They all seemed to like it. They said the spinach souffle was pretty awesome.

Overall, this place is not bad. I was a little upset because we were in somewhat of a rush so I wasn't able to get dessert. Kinda felt like the night was incomplete. :/ The food wasnt spectacular but the wait staff (and owner) were all very nice. They forgot my salad, but it wasn't a big deal. The owner was very sweet. He wouldn't let us leave until the ladies each received a long stem rose. That's a nice touch to anyone's dinner! :) If you live in that area, it's a nice place to take a date. I probably would not drive all the way out there to eat there again though.

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value:

Overall Experience:


~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~