Christmas in Houston: Just Dinner on Dunlavy

My fiance and I went to Houston last week to spend Christmas with his family. The first night there we went to a restaurant called Just Dinner on Dunlavy. I found it through Yelp searches. It was a restored old home and the reviews were all very positive.

This house was built in 1928. It was transformed into this cozy restaurant and opened in 2007. They source from their organic garden and shop daily for the freshest ingredients.

Just Dinner on Dunlavy
1915 Dunlavy Street
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 807-0077
www.justdinnerhouston.com
Price: $$$$

It was a small house. Very cozy when we walked in. They had dim lighting, Christmas decorations up and felt like you were going to a friend's home almost. We were seated in the front room. Our table was covered in magazine clippings. I thought that was a unique way to decorate the table, and minimize clean up, AND use up old magazines. haha. Recycle! :)

We brought a bottle of wine with us since it's BYOB. They do charge a corkage fee of $10 for every 750ml. They immediately asked if we wanted an ice bucket for our wine. We asked them if they could put it in the fridge first and it was no problem at all. The waiter brought us some waters and a little bit of their Pesto Hummus (with multigrain chips). The chips were like the store bought multigrain chips. I laughed a little when I saw it, but I actually really like these chips. The pesto hummus was really tasty. I do wish we had pita bread or something instead.

Soup of the Day: Sweet Potato Soup $7~ My fiance ordered this. I wanted to try it. The soup was silky and yummy. There were chunks of sweet potato in the soup as well but I thought they were undercooked. Slightly crunchy still.

He also wanted to try the Foie Gras Creme Caramel (pickled seasonal fruit, warm house-made brioche) $20~ 

 

He's never had foie gras. I'm not a huge fan. I mean I'll eat it, but it usually tends to be too heavy. So I was thinking he wouldn't like it. However, this was more of a sweet preparation of foie gras and I've never had it like this before. It was made more like a thick flan and it was more sweet than savory. It was pretty amazing. They served it with thin slices of brioche. Normally I love brioche but this one was basically soaked in butter. Too heavy to eat with the creamy foie gras. I ended up just eating the foie gras on its own. But I did like the pairing with the pickled fruit...although they seemed more like butternut squash or something instead of fruit. The acid from the pickled fruits definitely help cut some of the heaviness of the dish. Not the typical prep of foie gras, but delicious. I guess he'll have to try foie gras again another time to get the savory aspect of it.

Ratatouille (pickled vegetables, Belgium endive spears) $11~ 

My fiance's sister ordered this as her main meal. It's listed as an appetizer. Again, a very different preparation than we expected. It was served as a mound with endives on the side. And it was served cold. We all expected to be a hot dish, since it is stewed vegetables...

Pasta of the Day: Spaghetti (with meatballs and sausage).

His father got the pasta of the day. It was a huge portion! The spaghetti was cooked well. I thought the marinara was a bit more sour than I would've liked but the meatballs were good. They have pine nuts mixed into them!

Braised Boneless Short Ribs (port wine cherry sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables) $30~ My fiance ordered this. It was massive as well and the meat was very tender. He loved it.

Pan Seared Chicken Breast (wild mushroom pan sauce, blue cheese polenta, mixed vegetables) $24~ 

His mom wanted to try the blue cheese polenta so she order the chicken. Again, a sizable portion. She had some leftover chicken to take home. I tried a bite of the polenta. The blue cheese flavor was very mild, which is good. Sometimes blue cheese is quite overwhelming.

Stuffed Collard Rolls (quinoa, black rice, amaranth, roasted red pepper sauce) $20~ 

This sounded totally interesting so I ordered it. I like everything listed here. Two large rolls, it was very filling. I loved all the texture inside the collards. There was also hazelnuts (I'm pretty sure) inside... maybe a little too much. It added a nice crunch but a few bites had so many that's all I could taste. But overall, very good, and healthy! Did you know that amaranth is full of protein, iron, calcium, and triple the fiber of wheat? And it's gluten free. :) I need to find more of this.

At some point, we also got rolls. I don't think I noticed when it was served. haha. Too busy taking pictures of everything else!

Crispy Bacon Lardons Brussels Sprouts $7~ I also ordered the Brussels sprouts. Duh! If it's on the menu, I'm ordering it! It was yummy. Plus bacon, always a classic combination.

Everyone had a great time. His parents said they'd go back for sure. Really quaint setting. The service was warm and friendly and the food was good. Plus everything's seasonal so the menu changes every few months. :)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!

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An Update on DaLat - Soft Opening

Over the weekend, I went with a large group of friends to go check out DaLat, since they started their soft opening on April 18th. Initially they were only open from 10PM - 2AM, but due to the positive responses, they have recently increased their hours. You can find their weekly hours on their facebook page.

Dalat Restaurant and Bar
2537 N. Fitzhugh Ave.
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 827-3200
www.DALATdallas.com
Price: $

The restaurant is all finished and clean and I loved the massive Asian style dragon painted on the wall. Luckily it wasn't too busy then since we had a group of 14-15 people. Khanh, the owner, came by to greet us and chat with us throughout the meal. I'm so glad to hear that business is already doing well!

Since it's a soft opening, the food choices were somewhat limited and the final menus haven't been printed yet.

I got to take pictures of pretty much everything since we had such a big group. YAY! :)

To start... my friend ordered Tang $2~

Yes, Tang. The orange juice drink. If you know what I'm talking about, then I'm sure you're pretty excited. My friend said it brought back memories. haha. (And just a side note, I think they now serve something called a TangMosa.... Intrigued?? Go try it out for yourself!)

DaLat Rolls (egg roll inside a spring roll, served with house-made peanut sauce) $4~

 Interesting concept. I haven't seen it done like this before, but it didn't work for me. The eggroll kind of got soggy inside the spring roll wrapper. But don't worry, I gave some suggestions. Hopefully they are making some tweaks and changes to make it better! The eggroll flavor was good though. And the star was the peanut sauce. Homemade peanut sauce... soooo good! Khanh makes it himself!

They have a condiments/garnish bar, where you can get your own bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, onions, etc. Everyone does their pho differently. I personally love TONS of bean sprouts and basil. This way you can have it exactly how you want!

Chicken Pho $8~

I didn't try this but my friend (who was Vietnamese) said the broth was really good. There were also large pieces of chicken breast in there. You also see some pork meatballs...it's optional.

Pork Meatballs Pho $8~

They were actually running behind and was still cooking the beef pho, so the rest of the group got the meatball pho. Homemade pork meatballs. YUM! I don't think I've ever had it in other Vietnamese restaurants before. It was so tender and full of flavor. It's their newest addition... and it's a good one.

They also have KhanhWICHES (Vietnamese Banh Mi, but different...and better) $5.50~ each.

Italian (Genoa salami and peppered turkey).

This was like a regular Banh Mi with the traditional toppings but with a little Italian flair. Packed with meat and lots of flavor, I'd say this was my favorite sandwich of the night. The bread was great. It was crusty and buttery but not overly hard like some baguettes can get. They also hollow out the middle a bit to make room for more stuff and so it's not too thick to bite into. And yes, that is Doritos on the side. Not sure if that's a permanent thing or not. haha.

Albacore Tuna.

This is kinda like tuna salad with Banh Mi toppings. I liked the flavor and texture of the tuna but there wasn't enough. I made sure to let them know that as well so they can work on the portioning of the dishes. I dipped it in sriracha...double delish!

SPAM. Yes, SPAM. Out of the can.

They slice it and put it in a sandwich for ya. My friends actually asked them to grill it so it's just not straight out of the can. Look for more potential revisions to this dish in the future.

Beef Pho $8~

Khanh came over after the meal and told me that the beef pho is ready and if I wanted to try some. "It's good today," he said. I was super full but I had half a bowl. The broth is really flavorful and noodles cooked perfectly. But man, I was stuffed!!

Keep in mind it's still their soft opening so they will be working out some kinks here and there. And they definitely appreciate constructive criticism and feedback. It's definitely a cool hang out spot and I'll be going back soon to see what changes they have made and any new additions to the menu. In the mean time, they are still BYOB until they get their liquor license. :)

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Picasso's Ristorante

Yesterday I went to Picasso's Italian Ristorante for a friend's birthday. Our main reason for choosing this location is because they are BYOB. Also, online reviews say the food is pretty good! But...they also said how bad the service is. Well...it's super close to my house so I've always wanted to give it a try.

We had a party of 10+ and I was able to get a reservation the night before. Good thing I did because for a Wednesday night, the place was pretty packed!

Picasso's Italian Ristorante
3948 Legacy Dr #217
Plano, TX 75023
http://www.picassosrestaurant.us/
(972) 618-4143
Price: $$

It's a family run place so it's got that kind of homey, dated look. It could be a somewhat romantic spot.

A few of us got there a bit earlier than the reservation but we were able to get seated. We got a few appetizers to start. Just FYI...they charge $1 per glass for wine. And I apologize for not taking pics of the appetizers.

We got Garlic Bread $1.50~ and Calamari Fritte (sliced calamari steaks prepared in seasoned bread crumbs, fried and served with marinara sauce) $6.95~ The garlic bread is a really good deal. It had a nice crust on the outside. The calamari however...disappointing. The calamari pieces are in no way "steaks". They were teeny and so the breading totally overpowered it. It could've used a bit more seasoning too. Eh.

On to dinner...

My bf got the Margheritta 10 Inch Pizza (fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese) $8.50~

This isn't really a Margherita pizza in my opinion. It's typically a thin crust pizza and this is clearly not. And it could've used more toppings on top. But, I did like the dough. The texture of the crust was nice, so as a regular pizza, it's not bad!

Many of us ordered the Spaghetti (served with your choice of meatballs, meat sauce, Italian sausage, mushrooms with tomato sauce or olive oil & garlic) $8.95~

It was a good size portion. The pasta was cooked really well...al dente, just how I like it. The meatballs were very moist and tender. I didn't care for the marinara though. It was a little too sour for me, and my friend agreed.

Special of the Day: Lobster Ravioli $13.95~

This was really good. I got to try a bite. There was a good amount of lobster inside the ravioli and the cream sauce was very nice. Not super heavy but definitely filling.

Picasso's Seafood Delight (combination of mussels, shrimp, scallops sauteed with broccoli, carrots and mushrooms in your choice of wine creamy garlic sauce or zesty marinara sauce served with linguine pasta) $15.95~

This looked really good. There were lots of seafood on top and the cream sauce was definitely better than my marinara!

Vitello alla Marsala (veal scaloppini sauteed in marsala wine sauce with fresh mushrooms served with linguine pasta) $13.95~ I didn't get to try but my friend cleaned his plate. That's a good sign!

So the food overall was pretty good! But the service definitely lived up to it's reputation from online reviews. The waitress wasn't very friendly at all and she was very slow getting everything. One of my friends asked for a refill on water so the waitress took her glass and then never came back... Also, with the entrees we were supposed to get bread. None of us at the table got bread so I asked the waitress if we were supposed to get garlic bread or some sort of bread with our meal since it's stated on the menu. She just replied "It's not garlic bread, just plain. Do you want bread?" I was thinking... DUH! I just told you that we're supposed to get it with our entrees so why are you even asking me if we want it? At the end of the meal she came around and asked if we wanted anything else. And this was another thing that ticked me off... I took that chance and told her it was my friend's birthday... Normally restaurants would offer a free dessert or something for birthdays, especially Italian places. And seeing how it's a family run place that prides itself on being a "neighborhood gem" you would think they would go above and beyond with their hospitality. She just stared at me and then asked the table again if we wanted anything else. OMG! Didn't even have any sort of reaction. Even if they are not gonna give us a free dessert, at least tell my friend "Happy Birthday" or something. Nada...

We still ended up ordering one thing to try.
Tiramisu (lady fingers dipped in espresso coffee with mascarpone cheese, eggs and a touch of brandy) $5.50~

This was praised on the reviews. It was pretty good. I liked the mascarpone cream a lot but there wasn't enough lady fingers in my opinion. We also asked for a candle for this and she said they didn't have any. Sigh~

She gave us the check all together. Initially I wanted to ask her to split it for us, but then didn't bother for the frustration and ended splitting the check myself among 12 people!

All of us were a little miffed by the service. Even if the food is pretty good, I don't think it's good enough to go back and deal with the lack of service. At least we saved a bundle by bringing our own alcohol!

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Mr. Wok - Peking Duck!

I went to Mr. Wok over the weekend...finally. I've had many people tell me to go there and get the Peking Duck! So a group of my friends made a reservation and went on Saturday night.

Mr. Wok Asian Bistro
2600 14th St.
Plano, TX 75074
(972) 881-1888
http://www.mr-wok.com
Price: $-$$$$

It is a pretty small restaurant. Definitely make a reservation on Saturday nights. It was packed!! I noticed that the car that parked before we did were still waiting for a table when we were finishing up our meal!

They are known for their Peking Duck. You need to order it at least 24 hours in advance. And oh yea, its BYOB! :)

Kang's Peking Duck (2 courses) (A whole duck with crispy skin carved tableside and served with steamed pancakes, sliced scallions and hoisin sauce. The bones are then sauteed with garlic, ginger and sour mustard leaves or prepared as a soup) $32.95~ It was carved tableside and I have to say they do a good job with the carving. The skin was sliced super thin and the meat was cut separately. That's how it should be done, the skin separate from the meat. The duck was really nicely cooked. The skin was crispy and not too greasy. The meat was tender and flavorful. Personally I prefer the steamed buns instead of "pancakes" to wrap the duck. You can actually order the steamed buns for the duck. An order of 10 pieces is $5~ For the 2nd course you can choose stir-fry or soup. We went with stir-fry since the soup is usually the norm. I wanted to try something different. They basically take the rest of the duck and bones and sautee it with onions and mustard greens. I loved the stir-fry! The sour mustard greens added that sourness to contrast the richness of the duck and it was wonderful on steamed rice!

It's a Chinese restaurant so of course everything was family style.

We also got...
Ma Po Tofu (cubes of soft tofu simmered in a chili sauce) $5.95~ The price was great for the portion. The tofu was nice and soft but it was definitely not traditional Ma Po Tofu. A bit too much corn starch in the sauce in my opinion...very gooey. And it was not spicy. A big no-no for Ma Po. Some of my friends really liked it but just eh for me.

Honey Walnut Chicken (flash fried white meat chicken quickly tossed with homemade candied walnuts in a honey sauce) $8.25~ This wasn't what I expected. I was actually thinking like those chunks of battered chicken like orange chicken from an Asian fusion place or something. Which I actually like... haha. :P The dish was probably my least favorite. I only had one piece of chicken. However, it was one of my friend's favorite dish...cuz it was sweet. haha. Just depends on your preference.

Twice Cooked Pork (roast pork stir-fried with cabbage, carrots, mushrooms and bell peppers in a spicy-sweet sauce) $7.95~ This wasn't very authentic either. Twice Cooked Pork is one of my favorite Chinese dishes of all time. This just didn't measure up. :( The meat should be sliced thinner and it didn't have enough fat that it should typically have. I did like that it had lots of veggies in the dish. But again, it wasn't spicy... and it's supposed to be! Sigh~

Lastly we got a Sauteed Water Spinach (with garlic) $7.95? I love love love Water Spinach. One of my favorite veggies ever! This was pretty normal. The spinach was slightly older so it's not as tender as it should be. We don't get it enough in Dallas so I'll take it when I can! haha. I ate a lot of this.

So to sum up. Peking Duck was great, it's definitely one of the best I've had in Dallas (I try not to compare Dallas Chinese food to food in Asia..haha..it's just not fair). Everything else was just so-so. Nothing was traditional (other than the duck). I think Shabu Shabu in Plano has wayy better Twice Cooked Pork. It's a cool experience to have the duck carved tableside and might be good for a family gathering or something. For better Chinese food go to Jeng Chi Bakery or Genroku in Chinatown...

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