Medina Oven & Bar

I went to go see my first ever hockey game Saturday night! It was the last game for the Dallas Stars and they were playing against the Detroit Red Wings at the American Airlines Center. I'm not a big hockey fan (obviously.. haha) but I really just wanted to see a fight! And this would've been a good game for that. So we lost... 3 to 0, but I got to see one fight AND got to try a new restaurant after for dinner! All in all a successful outing! hehehe. :P 

We decided to check out Medina Oven & Bar, which features Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine. It's just a short walk from the AAC and across Victory Park. It's a little hidden... You need to walk past Neo Pizza and it's in the next corner. 

Medina Oven & Bar 
2304 Victory Park Ln. 
Dallas, TX 75219 
(214) 979-0003 
http://www.medinadallas.com 
Price: $$$ 

It's a cute little place. The inside seating is about as big as the patio seating out front. The decor is Moroccan and intimate with low lighting and cool lamps. You can see into the front of the kitchen and the oven. I thought that was pretty cool. 

We were seated immediately, it wasn't very full at all. It took a while for us to get waters and menus but after that the service was great. The menu looked interesting and delicious, there were a ton of options I chose from. At the bottom of the menu we all saw "Sexy Drinks"...haha. They all sounded pretty good. We decided to get some and drink our hockey loss away. :P 

Sexy Drinks: 
Caramel-Fig Martini (Grey Goose, fresh lemon, roasted fig, caramel swirl) $9~ This was a pretty drink. They actually swirled caramel on the inside of the glass. There's also a roasted piece of fig at the bottom. My bf enjoyed it a lot. 

Moroccan Mojito (Bacardi Rum, brown cane sugar, fresh lime, fresh mint) $9~ I got this and asked them to make it a little sweeter for me. I like really sweet cocktails... being a lightweight and all. haha. I enjoyed it. The added sweetness made it much better for me. :) 

The Arabesque (apricot brandy, peach schnapps, fresh OJ, white cranberry) $9~ Our friend ordered this. (No pic...sorry) This turned out to be my favorite. It was the sweetest out of the 3 cocktails and it tasted like peach juice! I'd go back and order that again. hehe. 

On to the food! Can't go to a Mediterranean place without ordering some sort of dip or spread! 

We started with the Smoked Egg Plant Spread (garlic-saffron tomato confit, cilantro, white vinegar; served with oven baked pita bread) $5.50~ 

I don't like eggplant...but the Greek/Mediterranean preparation of it is the only way I'll really eat it. And I love it! The spread was chunky and light. The pita bread was nice and warm, just out of the oven. The cold spread with the warm pita bread paired very well together. 

Poached Calamari (in Ras El Hanout and drenched in shermoula tomato puree, seafood spices, garlic, cilantro, fresh lemon juice, served on mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette) $10.50~ 

I got this appetizer as my main course. It was more than enough too. Pretty big size and tons of calamari! I asked the waiter to explain Ras El Hanout and he says it's a mixture of 23 or so different spices. I can taste many different spices but overall it was very mild, in a good way. The spices did not overpower anything else. The calamari was cooked perfectly, great texture. And I got to have my salad/veggies underneath. I enjoyed it a lot. I actually took half of it to go and had it the next day as a cold dish. Being cold, it was even better in my opinion! 

My bf got the Chicken Apricot Tagine (braised marinated chicken breast in saffron cinnamon, honey, poached apricots and toasted poppyseeds; served with warm pita bread) $19~ 

Tagine is basically the dish with the lid that it came in. I liked the presentation. This was a really sweet dish... since it had honey, cinnamon, and apricots but I like sweet and savory so I enjoyed it. It's definitely not for those who don't like sweet in their food. There were some potatoes at the bottom of the dish. I don't know how they cooked them but I thought it was the best part! It was soft and creamy and gooey almost and amazing! haha. 

Our friend got the Imperial Fez Seafood Couscous (scallops and shrimp, spice mix and herbs on warm couscous with cinnamon apricots, asparagus, toasted pine nuts, golden raisins) $23~ 

I got to try a bite of the scallops which was cooked perfectly. It was also a slightly sweet dish, with the apricots and raisins. The seafood was cooked really well. But he said there was a bit too much couscous, which he left some on the dish after he ate all the seafood. haha. But it was definitely yummy. 

It was a great dinner. I haven't had many Moroccan cuisines and really enjoyed it. The ambiance was nice, our waiter was super nice and helpful. The owner or manager came by and checked on us a few times. He was super friendly as well. Plus they have cocktails I like! I will definitely go back in the future. :) 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Sunday Brunch @ Craft~

I went to brunch at Craft this past Sunday. I've heard great things about Craft's brunch so I thought it would be a fun thing to do with friends.

After a REALLY late Saturday night...haha...most of us were running late to our 12:30PM reservation. I called the restaurant to tell them we were running late and they were very nice and told me it was not a problem. Finally we arrived...it was pretty dead...just like last time we went for dinner. I guess Sunday just isn't a busy day for them.

We were given some pastries to start off, compliments of the chef! :)I'm not sure what all they were... The 2nd from the left was some sort of apple strudel muffin thing, and the 3rd from left was a cinnamon sugar pastry. They were all very good...buttery, flaky, not too sweet. A good way to start the meal.

It took us a while to look over the menu...everything sounded pretty good. I asked the waitress a couple questions on menu items as well as portion sizes. From her description, they didn't sound very filling.

I ordered the Short Rib & Shishito Pepper Hash with Two Eggs Any-Style $12~ I want to try anything with short rib. haha. It's one of my absolute favorite things. But since the portion didn't sound very big, I also got a side of Applewood-Smoked Bacon (3 strips) $5~ The hash and eggs were actually really filling. The eggs were eggs...nothing really special about it, but paired well with the hash. The short rib hash had a lot of short rib chunks in it. I was expecting more potato and less rib but it was the opposite. The short rib was fork tender...so yummy. But the dish was quite oily and salty. The eggs helped balance the saltiness a bit. The bacon was excessive and unimpressive. I expected thick cut bacon but it was normal thin strips you would find in any breakfast places. Totally not worth the money.

My BF was pretty hungry so he ordered the Open Faced Short Rib Sandwich with Horseradish & Arugula $16~ This was really good!! Like my hash, the short rib was quite salty, but paired with the bread and arugula, it was better. The short ribs were sooo tender and juicy, with the fresh and peppery arugula and the bread, there were many different textures and flavors. I liked this dish a lot.

I got to try a little of my friend's French Toast, Maple Syrup & House made preserve (Apple Butter) $11~ This was pretty good. The apple butter was really good on it. It was 4 slices of baguette instead of regular toast. The individual pieces of bread weren't very large, but it was a pretty heavy dish so I think it was plenty. Still doesn't beat the awesome french toast I had in Boston though...

Another friend of mine ordered the NY Strip, Two Eggs Any-Style & Hand Cut Fries $22~ It looked really good. He ordered it medium rare and it looked like it was cooked right. But seems like they cut the steak a little too early because there was a lot of juice on the plate. Also, going back and seeing the picture, I realized that they never gave him any fries!!!! That so totally sucks! Oh well, he also got 2 other sides so he definitely had plenty of food. haha. If the fries had been included I would have to say that this is probably the best deal for your money. Normally steaks in other restaurants are $25+ already so this was a good price.

We had a pretty good time. It was nice to just relax and chill with friends on a Sunday afternoon... I'm sure most of us would like to do that more often.

So then the waitress came with the check. One single check.... We asked her to split it for us. She said that their system does not allow split checks but if we could write our $ amounts with the separate credit cards, she could do it that way. We should've just given her total $ per card but we didn't think it would be such a big difference. We ended up writing what we ordered along with our cards. She came over and made a face....and said "It's going to take me like 20 minutes to get this done..." We kinda laughed...but she literally took 20 minutes. We weren't in a hurry so not a big deal right? But then the checks came and she messed up 4 out of the 6 checks!! Dahhh. All the items were mixed up. We had things on our checks that we didn't order. We called her over and asked her to correct them. She was very sorry and said that their system is 'archaic' and will not let her redo them once they have been entered. Sigh~~ All I have to say is Craft is definitely pulling a "Salum". hahaha. At least the waitress here did not give us attitude. So we ended up figuring it out on our own. Luckily we had cash to help us get it all straightened out.

Geez!! What's with all these expensive restaurants that don't update their systems! You would think they could afford something that can split checks. It's not really ideal to charge up the butt and then making the customer do their own math. I highly suggest Craft invest in a better system.

So overall, it was pretty good. The prices were much more affordable than dinner and the portions were enough. Just remember to bring cash if you are planning to do split checks...it's MUCH more efficient.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Valentines @ Craft :-}

Craft
2440 Victory Park Lane, Ste 100
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 397-4111
www.craftrestaurant.com
Price: $$$-$$$$

I went to Craft for a belated Valentine's Day dinner this past Sunday. Since the 14th was also Chinese New Year, there were many dinners and family stuff to do. We decided to postpone V-day to the 21st. Which was a good thing anyways because Craft was only offering special set menus the weekend of the 14th.

I've been wanting to try Craft for a really long time. I'm a huge fan of Top Chef so when I found out Tom Colicchio is the owner/chef of Craft, I knew I had to try it. Finally I got the chance to, also because I had a $25 off gift certificate. :P You know me...and savings... hehe. Always looking for a good deal.

Making the reservation at Craft took A LOT of effort... TOO much almost. I think I must've called 6-7 times before finally making the reservation. I called many times during lunch time and the phone would either keep ringing or go to automated system. I was only able to speak to an actual person about 3 out of the 7 calls. I wasn't too happy about that experience. Also, they don't take reservations more than 20 days in advance, so make sure you count out the days before calling them. And when I finally did make a reservation, they never entered it into the system. Good thing I had to call to reschedule (they did not find my original reservation in the system at all), so I was able to make a new one and have them email me a confirmation. How sucky would it have been if I never called back to change it?? Showing up and have them tell me there's no record... Whew...

I had pretty high hopes for Craft and this ordeal was quickly changing my mind.

So finally Sunday rolls around. The weather was dreary and rainy... bleh. Arrived at Craft and it was really empty...only 2 other tables. They seated us in a really big round booth. The decor was really nice. Not overly fancy, had a nice dim lighting, but not too dark. There were these lighted tubes that went up to the ceiling surrounding the booth so it made it seem more private.

Our waiter was really friendly. He gave us the menu and took our drink orders. The menu at Craft is very minimalistic. No descriptions, just the dish name and price. I usually prefer to see descriptions so I know what all is in the dish. But the entrees there did not come with sides. You had to order the sides separately...meant for sharing. Prices were pretty expensive. Average $30 per entree...and another $8-10 per side dish.


They brought us some bread and we made our order. While waiting for the food, they served us an Amuse Bouche. I can't remembered the name they said when it was presented to us...but it tasted like crispy pork skin in a slightly sweet and tangy sauce. I love crispy pork skin but this was fried a little too much...TOO crispy, and not enough of the sauce.


Right before dinner was served, they brought out a plate of Mixed Baby Lettuces & Sherry Vinaigrette $10~ They told us it was on the house! :) WOOT! I love free food! haha. We had forgo the salad to order a 2nd side so this was perfect! The salad was more than enough for 2 to share. The greens were very fresh and crisp. I also liked the vinaigrette but I think they could've put just a smidge less because it was a little tart for me. After all that food...Dinner is served!

Entrees:
Roasted Gulf Red Snapper (with carrot puree) $29~ The fish was about 5-6 ounces...I think? It wasn't very big. It was really good though. I hate carrots, but I really liked the carrot puree. It added a sweet creaminess to the fish. I would've preferred the skin of the fish to be crispier, but I guess if it's roasted, the skin doesn't crisp up that much. My bf enjoyed the fish a lot, he said it was cooked perfectly. I got the thinner half so it was just a tad dry, but still very good. I don't think it was worth $29 though...

Roasted Rack of Pork $32~ I really liked this dish. It had an Asian flavor to it. My mom makes this Chinese dish with basil and chicken, and the flavor of the pork reminded me of that. They also had a couple fried basil leaves in the dish. The pork was cooked nicely, very tender and juicy. It also had just enough fat around the sides to keep the meat moist but not greasy. There were also little chunks of thick cut bacon or something in there...added a little smokey flavor. I love pork...and they did a good job with this.

Sides:
Sauteed Swiss Chard $8~ I always see contestants use Swiss Chard on Top Chef, so I was curiou to try it. I've heard that it's similar to spinach, which I like. It was really good. I like it better than spinach, I think it has a better texture. I could really taste the vegetable, it wasn't overly seasoned or greasy. It felt clean and healthy.

Ricotta Cavatelli & Butternut Squash $10~ When I ordered this, the waiter was very excited. He said it was one of his favorites on the menu. It looked delicious. Cheesy pasta...who doesn't love that! hehe. I've never had Cavatelli before...to me it seemed like a miniture gnocchi. It has the same consistency and texture. I'm a huge fan of gnocchi so it was REALLY good! I wish the chunks of butternut squash were bigger though. I loved this dish...I can probably eat it as my main entree.

We were quite full after all the food, but of course we have to get dessert!!!

After we ordered the dessert, they gave us more free food! A pre-dessert dessert...Citrus Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Jelly. It was really cute in the little shot glasses. The panna cotta was silky and creamy and the jelly added a nice contrast with it's slight tartness. It was yummy! :)

Then our dessert came. Scharffenberger Chocolate Tart, Roasted Marshmallows, Almond Honey Ice Cream $10~ (It normally comes with coconut sorbet, but I'm not a fan of coconut so I asked if we could substitute it.) This dessert was recommended by the waiter. He described it as S'mores on steroids. haha. And it SURE was! The chocolate tart was rich and thick, almost like a thick layer of dark dark chocolate ganache. It was a slightly more bitter dark chocolate, but paired with the sweet marshmallows it was perfect. It balanced out the flavors so it wasn't overly sweet. The marshmallows had a nice crust on the outside from being roasted. And they were sooo cute on top of the tart. The almond honey ice cream paired really well with the tart as well. Not too overpowering, just added that cold, creaminess to everything. Also, the crust on the tart and the cereal-y crispies under the ice cream added 2 different types of crunch. It was a great dessert! So many combinations of flavors and different textures...all worked well together.

Now we were officially stuffed! But that's not all...more food! They gave us some after dinner snacks along with the check. It was nicely presented on a little plate. The arrangement was really dainty and cute. Caramel Popcorn & Cashews, Mini Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and House-made chocolate truffles in a cute little box. We ate a little bit, but took the chocolate and cookies to go. It was all very good. (I ate the chocolates later...both filled with chocolate ganache...YUM!)

With the $25 discount and all the free stuff they gave us, we felt like the price was somewhat justified. Plus we received really great service. The waiter was super nice, not at all snooty like what I was expecting. I think it was also good that they weren't too busy so we got some extra attention. :)

After we paid the bill, the waiter came back with more goodies. He was like, "We're not done with the presents yet!" hehe. He gave us each a chocolate banana espresso muffin, nicely packaged in a plastic bag with a Craft Restaurant sticker. Wow...I've never been to a restaurant that gives so many free little surprises throughout the meal. I ate the muffin later in the week as a snack. It was awesome. I could taste the banana and the hint of espresso. There were large chunks of chocolate throughout...soooo very tasty!

Overall it was a great night. The booth made us feel like we had our own private dining area. The lighting was very romantic. Great service throughout the meal and the food was delicious. Plus little gifts throughout the night! :D I'd say postponing V-Day dinner was a great idea! hehe.

Personally I think the prices are a little high still, so I probably won't be going back for dinner any time soon. But I've heard great things about their brunch, which is less expensive. And it IS a great place for a special occasion. So once in a while is definitely ok!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~