Rise No. 1

Sorry all, it's been a while... The last few months have been so hectic. Sick, traveling, holidays, sick again. Ugh. Plus I've just been so busy that I didn't wanna write at all... So the next few posts may be abbreviated but still with lots of yummy pictures! (That's the most important anyways, right??)

I've been wanting to take my fiance to Rise No. 1 forever. So one Friday night, I made him drive all the way out from Rockwall to meet me for dinner. Plus they had some seasonal items on the menu I really wanted to try.

Rise No. 1
5360 W. Lovers Ln.
Dallas, TX 75209
214-366-9900
www.risesouffle.com
Price: $$$-$$$$

We got started with some bread. I love the presentation with the bread cutter. 

Rise No1 Salad (baby greens, blue cheese, roasted pecans, Granny Smith apples, pecan vinaigrette) $8~ Always a good choice. Not heavily dressed, the flavors are fresh and light. LOVE the roasted pecans on top.

Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle $20~ Again, a great choice. I always order this when I go there. The smell is amazing! It's like cream of mushroom soup but fluffy!

Special: Crab Souffle (I think it had Gruyere cheese in it). First time having this. I loved the cheesy crust on top, and there were nice big chunks of crab throughout. I have to say Gruyere and souffles go together hand in hand.

Seasonal Pumpkin Souffle. 

This was only available until the end of the year, so I had to try it. You KNOW I love me some pumpkin ANYTHING! It came with a sauce... don't remember what all is in it. But the sauce helped the souffle a lot. The souffle was disappointing. Not enough pumpkin and not very satisfying. I always realize that I like savory souffles over sweet ones when I come to dine here.

But I do still love this place. Great ambiance. Very intimate, great for date night. Service was a little spotty that night but they were also really busy.

And we went to Berrynaked for more dessert after. :P Go check them out... super fresh ingredients. They make everything from scratch. It's dessert, but healthier! Loved their Fall Festival.. sweet potato!! Yum! Aren't these gorgeous?!?

 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Bin 303

Ah.. Bin 303. One of the shiny gems of Rockwall. We can always count on them to deliver a great meal. Since we finally tried their burgers, we knew we had to go back again, on a Tuesday, for their $10 burger night. In fact... we went back TWO Tuesdays in a row! haha.

Bin 303
105 Olive St.
Rockwall, Texas 75087
(972) 771-5303
http://bin303.com
Price: $$-$$$$

Their burgers are normally $14 each but on Tuesday they have a special $10 deal. Honestly, it's worth the $14, but a special deal just makes the food taste that much better. hehe.

First time back, I decided to try a different burger. (They only have 3 options.) Bin Burger (blue cheese mayo, nueske bacon, arugula, port braised onions; in a brioche bun) $14~ With side of barley salad. 

 

I was a little hesitant on the blue cheese mayo since a little blue cheese goes a longgg way. I don't like too much of it. But honestly, I could barely taste it. The braised onions and bacon were great toppings. And I love the pepperiness and slight bitterness of the arugula to kind of round off the heaviness of the meats. And again, that bun... ohhhh sooo good! It certainly holds everything together well. I think the Texican I had last time still has the edge, but only because it has guac on it. :P

My fiance stuck with the Cheese Burger (aged cheddar, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles; in a brioche bun) $14~ With side of sweet potato fries. He really enjoys this one so why mess with a good thing? And OMG, lurrrrrrv those sweet potato fries.

We also decided to try the Apricot & Cranberry Potato Hash $5~ 

It was a side dish. I think they recently updated their menu for the fall? Not sure, but it certainly sounded tasty. It was not what I expected. Usually I think of chunkier potatoes in a hash. This one was pretty much all mashed together and then seemed like it was pan fried? Either way, it was yummy.

The following week we went back with some different friends. I wasn't super hungry that day, and was trying to be good... so I opted for a salad. Gasp! I know... why am I getting a salad when there are $10 burgers?!! haha.

Crispy Avocado Salad (bed of greens, roasted red pepper vinaigrette, seasoned crab meat, jicama, pico) $15~ 

 

The waiter highly recommended this. And as he was describing the crispy avocado to me, I was like, "done, order it, do it." haha. Avocado covered with breadcrumbs and fried. What's not good about that? It was a delicious salad. There was a ton of crab meat and they were so light. The vinaigrette was super flavorful and everything was so fresh. And then you get the creaminess from the avocado. Yum. However... it did not fill me up. I guess my stomach wanted a burger. hahaha. I highly recommend this though.And my fiance got his usual Cheese Burger so I got to have a few bites. :)

It was our friends' first time there. They both loved the burgers.  AND the sides too. :)

Always a good time there. Love the ambiance of being in a cozy home setting. Service is always friendly. And the food yummy.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

III Forks - Dallas Restaurant Week 2014

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting lately. But as of tomorrow night, I will be done with school FOREVER!! Yes... after 8 long years of part-time school, I will be graduating! Woohoo! Needless to say, this last quarter has been very stressful.

I'm gonna try and get all caught up. I've got several places I need to write about!

Of course I did Dallas Restaurant Week this year. I posted about Hibiscus earlier and our second location was III Forks. I've been there twice back in 2012. I was sad to hear that my favorite waiter was no longer there. :(

As most of you know. Restaurant Week runs for anywhere from a week to 3 weeks in Dallas, depending on the restaurant. It's either $35 or $45 a person and partial proceeds go to the the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. III Forks was still $35 a person, and from what I remember, they give quite a bit of food!

III Forks
17776 Dallas Pkwy.
Dallas, TX 75287
(972) 267-1776
http://www.3forks.com/
Price (RW): $$$$

We had a pretty big group of 12 people and an early reservation at 6:15PM. I was surprised that the restaurant was already packed by the time we arrived! And if you've been to III Forks, you know the place is huge! We waited at the bar for a bit for everyone to arrive and for them to prep our table. This time we were sat "outside". It seemed like we were outside but it was covered and there was A/C, thank goodness. haha.

The waiter came by and took our drink orders and I gave him the Central Market 4th Course certificates. We had enough for everyone. Yay! (Some restaurants offer a 4th course which you can get free if you get these certificates. However, you have to spend $25 at Central Market to get one.)
Lobster & Lump Crab Shooters. 

These were interesting, I'm not sure if it's in a good way. I wasn't too impressed with them. No one could really figure out which was the lobster and which was the crab. Even though one of them had a chunk of the meat in the shooter. We think thats the crab...? The one on the right was cold, which caught me off guard. Almost like a cold tomato soup, maybe gazpacho? But no chunks of lobster or crab in that one. The other was warm. I'm not sure which one I liked better. Both were meh. Can't compete with the awesome lobster shooters at Abacus that's for sure. I dipped some bread into the soups and that was better.

First Course
III Forks Salad (green apple slices, Wisconsin blue cheese, toasted pecans and field greens with housemade vinaigrette) Pretty standard salad. Although they kinda went blue cheese happy with it. Great if you like blue cheese a lot. haha.

Heirloom Tomato Salad (UglyRipe beefsteak tomatoes, pickled onions and Bosque blue cheese) I was told this was good. I didn't get to try.

Crawfish Bisque (a rich Southern Louisiana specialty with simmered crawfish, tomatoes, cream and cognac). 

 

I knew I wanted to get this when I first saw the menu a month prior. I loveee bisque and crawfish too! It was a pretty big bowl with quite a bit of crawfish in it. However, by the time it came out, it wasn't that hot anymore, you can see the film over the top. I didn't care for this soup either. The crawfish was too fishy... And the bisque flavor needed something, either another spice or some type of crunch maybe? I didn't finish it... Hmm... maybe this is why the past two times I came here I ordered off the regular menu?

Entrees
Aged Midwestern Beef Filet Mignon (with Colbert butter and Worcestershire demi-glace). This was highly recommended by the waiter. And his recommendation was valid. The steak was cooked well and super tender.

Georges Bank Flounder (pan seared with blood oranges and fennel pollen, with basil-hazelnut pearl couscous). 

I opted for the fish. I've had their seafood before and I know it's good. I liked it over the filet. The portion was huge! The fish was flaky and buttery. I loved the sauce. And pearl couscous is probably my favorite type of couscous. And as always, their creamed corn is pretty awesome. I enjoyed my plate a lot!

USDA Prime Hanging Tender Steak (four pepper crusted, with brandy cream reduction and caramelized cipollini onions). I didn't get to try this one but from the description it sounded tasty. I heard it wasn't as good as the filet though.

I was pretty full by now. I finished my entire entree! The dessert was chef's selection so we didn't really know what we're getting. There were 2 options when we ordered and we didn't get much of a description for each.

I got the chocolate cake. 

I think it was the better choice. I loved the thick ganache layer on the top and side. It was super chocolatey and rich. The cake itself was a tad dry though. And this is nothing compared to their regular dessert menu which is amazing.

Summer Bread Pudding (cold bread pudding with berries). 

When I found out this was cold, I knew I didn't want to order it. It was strange. Bread pudding shouldn't be cold. I think if they had called it Berry Trifle or something, we would've accepted it better. haha. Someone commented that it would've been better if it was just the berries and cream. The bread part made it weird.

For the most part, everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. I was disappointed. I know for sure now I will order from the regular menu, especially for dessert. It's like night and day! The waiter(s) were nice but service was slow. We were there for almost 3 hours and some of the food came out warm instead of hot. Oh well, at least I really enjoyed my entree and got to spend time with some great people. So that ends my Dallas RW for this year. Until next time... I hope they add some new places next year!!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Uncle Uber's Sammich Shop

We had an event to go to Saturday afternoon in Deep Ellum at the Kettle Art Gallery. Naturally, I looked up food options in the area for dinner after. I saw that Uncle Uber's was just around the corner. In the past week or two, I've been hearing about this place a lot. And the pictures I saw looked really tasty.

Uncle Uber's Sammich Shop
2713 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 653-8237
http://www.uncleubers.com/
Price: $

It was surprisingly empty around 7:30PM on a Saturday night but oh well, that just means we get our food faster! You order at the register then find your own seats.

The place looks like a dive bar. Dark lighting. Lots of TVs around if you want to catch a game. And on Friday and Saturday nights they have live music. (It got kinda loud though once that started so we left soon after eating. Couldn't hear anyone else talk.)

My bf got the Shaved Ribeye Steak (angus beef topped with grilled red onions, bleu cheese crumbles, romaine lettuce, tomato, roasted garlic mayo on a warm baguette) $8.99~ 

Everyone who's had it, highly recommended it. It was one of their best sellers. I wanted to get it too but opted for something else since I always want to try different things. This didn't disappoint. The bread was toasted but not too hard. The ribeye was juicy and tender and full of flavor. I loved it. The only complaint is that I got a couple mouthfuls with too much bleu cheese. Next time I might ask them to put less or just omit the bleu cheese all together. But yea, it's legit!

I got The Cuban (slow roasted pork, Boar's Head ham, swiss cheese, pickles and Uber sauce in a hot pressed baguette) $7.29~ 

My bf wanted to try that one as well. Plus I love pressed sandwiches. The bread was nicely pressed, crisp top but still soft. The pork had tons of flavor and the pickles and mustard provided just the right amount of tang. I enjoyed it a lot and my bf ended up liking this better than the shaved ribeye. We should've switched our order! haha.

I also got to try some of my friend's Fries $1.99~ 

Pretty damn good. And you get one dipping sauce with an order of fries. Each additional sauce is 25 cents. He got the Uber's Special Sauce (mayo, bbq sauce, sriracha) and some sort of Habanero mayo sauce. Both were good but the special sauce was awesome. Paired really well with my Cuban. The habanero sauce was not spicy at all but still good.

Really good sandwiches. The hype is valid. I'll definitely go back to try more sammiches in the future.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Meddlesome Moth

Wow... it's already been 2 weeks since I was in Vegas. This month is flying by! And almost Christmas!! :) 

Last week I went with some friends to Meddlesome Moth (in the Design District). They had recently changed chefs...now currently the chef that used to be at Screen Door (which closed). Thought we'd go and check it out! 

Meddlesome Moth 
1621 Oak Lawn Ave. 
Dallas, TX 75207 
(214) 628-7900 
http://www.mothinthe.net/ 
Price: $$ 

We had to sit outside since there was a long wait inside. Luckily it wasn't too cold out... Their patio seating is quite nice. 

We got several dishes to share. 
Pig and Fig (pork belly, blue cheese grits and bbq fig) $12~ 

This sounded so good. But if you are not a fan of blue cheese, this is not for you. I can tolerate blue cheese and it was still a little stinky for me. haha. But the pork belly was fried nicely and fatty. The combination of the blue cheese grits and fig was a bit strange. Personally I wouldn't get this again, but if you love blue cheese and fatty pork, this is the dish for you! 

Nueske's Bacon Lollipops (with funnel cake and maple hollandaise) $12~ 

This was totally yummy. For those who like the sweet and savory combo. The pork belly almost had an Chinese roast pork flavor. YUM! The funnel cake was a bit too crispy but the hollandaise was amazing! Sweet from the maple and paired so well with the funnel cake. 

Zucchini Chips (Mediterranean sea salt) $8~ 

A waiter walked by with this as we were ordering. It smelled so good so we got one too. It was disappointing. The slices of zucchini were so thin that it just felt like we were eating grease. It disintegrated in my mouth as soon as I put it in there and just felt greasy. :( 

Toasted Mushroom Farro (with Grana Padano) $10~ 

I really wanted to try this. I've seen Giada make farro a lot on Food Network but I've never had it. I liked it a lot. It's kind of like a fat brown rice. It's all about the texture and I'm all about that! 

Chocolate Pecan Pie. 

My friend ordered this. I think they change their desserts daily so they didn't have a dessert menu. There was a thick layer of chocolate under the top crust. It was super yummy. I'm not a fan of Pecan pie, but if it's Chocolate pecan pie, that's another story! :P 

It wasn't as great as my first dining experience at Meddlesome Moth. But we also ordered completely different things. So I don't know... might just be hit or miss. 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~