The Eberhard - Now serving lunch on Fridays!

The Eberhard on Henderson... typically known as a cool bar scene. They have chandeliers, leather sofas, high ceilings, and a gigantic wall of bottles. However, did you know they also have good food? I went to check out their brunch sometime last year and was pleasantly surprised by all the options and food quality. And now they've opened up lunch on Fridays only. It used to be only dinners and weekend brunch. I believe lunch runs from 11AM-4PM every Friday now. The crew at @bestfooddallas were invited to go check out the new lunch menu. They said we could go at any time, so I went last Saturday night with my husband.

I've always loved the decor here. Especially the chandeliers. Just makes you feel fancy! :P

The Eberhard
2107 N. Henderson Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 821-1100
www.theeberhard.com
Price (for lunch): $-$$$

We had an early dinner at 6PM. The place was still pretty empty. There was only one other table dining and a few people at the bar. We were immediately seated and our waitress, Barbara, came to greet us. She was super nice. Knew what we were in for and we were definitely well taken care of.

We started with some drinks.

My husband got the Knox Your Typical Old Fashion (Crown Royal, blackberry basil) $10~ He's normally super picky on drinks but he really liked this one. He actually finished it!

I normally don't drink. But I remembered a while back one of the @bestfooddallas Community Leaders went and featured a frozen cocktail with a popsicle in it. I asked if that was still available and she said yes. It's normally on the brunch menu, but I'm sure you can request it at other dining times.
Frozen Stoli Crush (Stoli orange, white wine, peach puree, tropical Red Bull, mimosa popsicle) $10~ She told me the popsicle flavor changes, but the frozen cocktail only comes in one mix. It is so cute!! And soooo delicious! I'm so glad I got it. Tasted like a peach slushie. And fresh peaches too... not just peach flavored syrup. The popsicle made it so much fun and kept it cold for a really long time. The mimosa popsicle on its own was great too. For once, I didn't need other people's help on finishing it. haha.

Our appetizers came out soon after our drinks. All of their lunch appetizers and flatbreads are $5 during lunch btw. Such a great deal.

Chef's Fancy Mac & Cheese $5~ I think Barbara said there's 5 different cheeses in here or something? It was really good. And definitely cheesy. We told ourselves not to finish it so we can have room for the other food but we ate it all... ha.

Avocado Toast (Toasted French baguette, avocado spread, roasted corn salsa, shaved asparagus, fresh radish) $5~ 

I always love avocado toast. I liked that this had a DIY element to it. You can top your toast with the corn salsa, asparagus, and/or radish. All the toppings were fresh and refreshing. I also liked that the bread wasn't super hard/crunchy. Most of the time baguettes are just too hard imo. Again... we weren't able to save any of it. haha.

For the entrees I chose the Duck Confit (confit of duck breast, savory bread pudding, butternut squash) $19~ 

My husband wanted this too but let me get it so we can try something else. (He ended up getting the better dish though. haha.) The plate was pretty. I was excited about all the elements. The portion of the duck was a little small but it's also the lunch menu. I was almost full anyways from all the appetizers. haha. The flavors were all very good, but the duck could've been seared a little more. The skin was not crispy at all. And the meat itself was a little dry, but still very tender... I also wished the bread pudding had some crispy parts. It would add a variation in texture. Overall the flavors were great but lacking in texture. I probably wouldn't order it again.

Corned Beef & Cabbage (confit of corned beef, steamed cabbage, potatoes in demi-glace) $14~ 

My husband chose this as his 2nd option. OMG. It was amazing. First of all, huge portion. And you can see the marbling in the corned beef. It was basically like thick slabs of brisket. The dish had so much flavor. I'm not sure what was on those potatoes, but they were yummy. The corned beef is made in-house and it was fork tender. Then I realized I've never actually had corned beef on its own. It's always in a sandwich or hash of some sort... But they just let the meat shine, and it was glorious! I would eat this any day. We ended up taking half of it to go because we were both full. (I made fried rice with it the next day... it was magical.)

We were stuffed! But of course... when you're checking out a new menu, you have to get dessert too. Fudge Brownie (a la mode). 

They were out of our first choice... an Oreo Brownie Bar or something. The dessert was actually the least remarkable of the whole meal. I expected the brownie to be thicker when I hear "fudge" brownie. But I did like the cookie-like crust on the bottom. That added a nice texture. It was ok. I think also we were just way too full. But I would rather get another Frozen Stoli Crush as my dessert next time. hehe.

Now... I know what you may be thinking... $19 is a bit steep for lunch. And it is... but we both ordered from the "entrees" section. They also have a "sandwich" section that has sandwiches, burgers, and wraps... all $10, which is very affordable for the quality.

My husband and I really enjoyed ourselves. It was like a little date night. And we both liked our drinks! That's a miracle in itself. haha. Get the Corned Beef. Seriously. Do it. Barbara was great. She answered all my questions, checked on us often without being too aggressive. I think the manager came around a few times too. He was in a blazer so I'm guessing he's the manager. Also super nice and made sure we're having a good time. Throughout our dinner, people started coming in. Most of them went to the side with the sofas though. Only 2 other tables were actually eating there. They have good food, people! Go eat there, but still get a drink. hehe. :)

**This was a comped meal, but all opinions are my own.**

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Smoke Plano

Over Xmas break, I got to finally go check out the new Smoke in Plano. I've always gone to the Dallas location, and only for brunch (which is fantastic btw...one of our go-to's). But this time I wanted to try dinner. I've been eyeing their Big Rib for some time now. :P

A friend of mine was back in town for the holidays so a group of us met up for dinner. It was a party of 7 adults and 2 babies. They put us at this super large table.. it was a little hard to talk to everyone cuz we were so far apart. haha. And I didn't bother taking pictures of some of the dishes that were across the table. :P

Smoke Plano
2408 Preston Rd. #704a
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 599-2222
http://smokerestaurant.com/plano
Price: $$$+

I knew I wanted to try the Big Rib... which is supposed to be massive. So I got a friend of mine to go in on it with me. When the waitress came to take our drink orders, I immediately asked if they still had any left. They have limited quantities of this so you gotta order fast! She went to go check... came back and said there's only 2 left! Yikes! I put my order in then and there. haha. The Big Rib (hominy casserole, fresh herb chimichurri) $38~ 

 

When this thing came... everyone at the table just stopped and stared. I was psyched! And shocked at the same time. MEAT FOR DAYYYYYYS!!! It was wayyyy bigger than I could've ever expected. The bone itself was longer than my forearm bone. O.O Whoa. Definitely more than enough for the 2 of us. I would say shareable for 4 people if you order sides or appetizers. Yowza. They're not playing around! We went to work attacking this thing. My friend wished that he didn't order the appetizer that came earlier. haha. This rib was spectacular. FORK TENDER, we didn't have to barely touch it to pull it off the bone. And soooo much flavor on that char. Some of the most tender bbq I've had. My friend loved it as well. And it came on a bed of hominy (basically like grits). OMG. Heavy, with the meat pairing but oh sooo good. The chimichurri added some brightness. I wish there were more veggies on the plate. The onions and parsley on top helped a little. At last, we lost. We binged ourselves to about 3/4ths of the dish. I was proud we got that far. haha. He took the rest home. So freaking awesome. I'd totally get this again, but next time share with more people. And the pictures never do it justice...just trust me when I say that is one big ass rib!!

Collard Greens. I did order a side of collards. Not sure how much it was but it was a pretty big portion. Unfortunately it was way too salty, so neither of us had much of that. I was hoping having some veggies would offset the large amount of meat. Instead we just focused on killing that rib!!

Smoke Sausage (stout beer, cabbage, spicy mustard) $11~ 

So my friend also ordered this to start. Not knowing what to expect with the Big Rib. It was ok... Not sure I like the sausage bathing in the soup. I would've preferred a drier dish... The sausage was good but nothing specials. I liked that they gave a lot of cabbage, but neither of us were fans of the beer "soup". We didn't drink it obviously, but it was a tad salty. The spicy mustard was nice. Always a good combo.. mustard and sausage. But like I said, we totally didn't need this dish. haha.

Coffee Cured Natural Beef Brisket (B&B pickles, potato salad) $22~ 

Another friend of mine got this. She subbed the potato salad for the Mac n' Cheese. And what a great choice that was. The Mac n' Cheese was on point! She originally wanted the ribs but they were out. Next time I guess. The brisket was super good as well. Thick slices and very juicy. I think she make it through about halfway of that mountain of meat. It was a lot! And I want to give a spotlight to those pickles. Fantastic. And I'm not even a huge pickle fan. I'd get this again too.

EB&D Loaded up & Truckin Burger (homemade thick and smokey bacon, sharp cheddar, frittered egg) $15~ 

2 of my friends ordered the burger. Somehow the orders got messed up and was never sent to the kitchen. So they waited forever for it. Finally it came. OMG. How do you even eat this thing?!? That frittered egg looked awesome. But do you just press down and smoosh the whole thing? haha. I think they decided to take a knife and fork to it. The burger patty itself was juicy and pretty flavorful. I got to try a bite, but was already so overwhelmed with the Big Rib that I really don't remember much. Their fries were good too from what I can remember. :P

It was a great meal. Quite epic actually. It's not everyday you eat something as big as your arm. hahaha. And always fun to catch up with friends. Other than the snafu with the orders, the service was good. And on a weeknight, I'd say their business was doing well! I'll definitely be back again for dinner. Just thinking about that Big Rib is making me drool. Just make sure to not go too late and order it fast, otherwise it'll run out!

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Fritzl's Euro Grill & Dessert Shop

It's been a crazy month... work was insane, and then I've been sick. Stupid virus, I've been out of commission for almost a week now. Definitely not digging the indecisive weather of Texas. Hot, cold, hot, cold...no wonder I've been sick twice this year already. But enough weather griping... I've still had some good food outings!

Earlier this month, we discovered another new (to us) hidden gem in Rowlett. Seems like we gotta explore Rowlett more thoroughly!

Trying to figure out where to go for dinner on a Friday night, I pulled out my trusty Yelp app. And found a Austrian hole in the wall.

Fritzl's Euro Grill & Dessert Shop
3390 Lakeview Pkwy.
Rowlett, TX 75088
(972) 412-3555
http://fritzls.com
Price: $$

We didn't call ahead or anything. Neither of us really thought there would be an issue getting a seat. Man we were wrong. It's a pretty small place and there were already 2 parties waiting in front of us. Business is booming! And looked like they were pretty short staffed. Just a waitress at the front, and a guy, I'm assuming Fritzl, manning the kitchen. He also came out to take some orders.

One group got seated, and they vacated the small bar countertop. So we plopped ourselves down to wait. Then I asked my fiance if he's ok with just eating at the bar since it doesn't seem like anything is going to open up any time soon. The place was a madhouse! The waitress is trying to get to every table as fast as she can. They ran out of menus so we had to wait for some. But wasn't a big deal for us. This is definitely a hole in the wall, and very eclectic in its decor. Random signage, pictures and lots and lots of signed dollar bills covered the walls. It was quite entertaining trying to read everything.

While waiting for the waitress, we got Fritzl's attention and asked if we could eat at the bar. No problem, he said and found some menus for us. He was running around like a crazy person. Got us some waters and zoom, he was off to the kitchen again. He seems like he's a fun person to talk to when it's not too busy in the restaurant, but they were just hauling ass that night.

I haven't had much Austrian/German food in my life. I think this may be the first real Austrian restaurant I've ever been to...and so far it seems pretty legit, since the owner is Austrian (or German...I wonder if they get offended if you called them the other??).

I ordered the House specialty: Wiener Jaeger (Wiener Schnitzel stacked and covered with Jaeger sauce - cognac, mushroom cream sauce with garlic) Half $13.99~ All Schnitzel dinners are served with Austrian roasted potatoes and sauerkraut. Red Cabbage or Spaetzle can be subbed for $0.50 extra. A Schnitzel is a tenderized and seasoned piece of porkloin, breaded and fried. And I subbed for both the cabbage and spaetzle. 

I've never had real spaetzle, but always wanted to try ever since I saw some people make it on Chopped (a cooking competition show on Food Network, for those who didn't know). hehe. And he said I lucked out because that was the last serving of spaetzle for the night! Wow...it wasn't even 8pm yet, and he was already starting to run out of things. It was delicious. The pork was thin and fried well. I totally loved the sauce... boozy, creamy and with mushrooms? What's not to like?! Spaetzle is basically fried dough... reminded me of unsweetened funnel cake maybe? Was a little salty for me but paired well with the pork. I liked the cabbage too. Everything went together very well.

Bratwurst Dinner (two grilled bratwurst) $12.99~ Served with Austrian roasted potatoes and sauerkraut. 

My fiance loved his dish. I found the bratwurst to be a tad salty for my preference but it was still tasty. I loved the potatoes. I've never been a big fan of sauerkraut, but I was ok with this one. He totally cleaned his plate... actually we both cleaned our plates. Hit the spot, he says.

When you walk in, you see a dessert display case lit up in the middle of the room. Naturally I gravitated towards that while we were waiting. All the cakes and pastries (they have homemade strudels!) looked amazing, but I noticed one cake that was unfamiliar to me. One of the customers said it was an Austrian cheesecake, and it's light and fluffy. Sounds yummy.

We decided to get an Austrian Cheesecake $7?~ 

 

Fritzl told us all the pastries were made by him from scratch (as well as all the food). Impressive. So far we've loved everything. The cake was FREAKING AMAZING!! It had flavors of lemon and poppy seeds and was so light and fluffy...the cake layers AND the cheesecake center. We fought each other for bites of the cake. And then we decided to get another slice to take home. hehe. 

When we were finishing up our cake, we noticed that they were doing the dessert service part of the evening. Plates and plates of cakes were lined up and they were doing an assembly line type process for efficiency. Plates and plates of desserts were served as we saw all the cakes were quickly disappearing before us. I'm glad we got a second piece before they were all gone!

While we were waiting for the check. A group walked in and Fritzl had to tell them they were sold out of food for the entire night. Wow... This was before 9PM. Crazy! I think we may need to go on a week night in the future, or just go super early!

Needless to say, it was a great find. And I think I can safely say it's authentic. We will definitely be back. And save room for more desserts!

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Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot

On Sunday I went to go check out the new hotpot place in Plano. Everyone has been talking about it and they don't take reservations so the wait is usually 2+ hours!

Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot
240 Legacy Drive
Plano, TX 75023
(972) 575-8887
http://www.littlesheephotpot.com
Price: $$

We decided to go at 5pm before it gets busy. We were immediately seated. There were only a few other tables there at the time. It started filling up by 6-6:30ish. And by the time we finished at 7 or so the entire front lobby was packed! WOW...

If you've never done hotpot before, here's some simple directions to get you started...
1. Order a soup base
2. Order different foods to cook in the broth
3. Cook foods in the broth. Keep in mind different things take different times to cook completely. For example, napa cabbage will take much longer than a thin slice of beef. If you are unsure, you can ask the waiters for suggestions.
4. Eat! (You can order extra dipping sauces, but the broths have flavor already so it's not necessary.)

We got the Half and Half (House original and house spicy soup bases) $8.95~ The spicy wasn't spicy enough. Both broths had a lot of spices in it and different kinds of Chinese herbs. Reminded me a bit of Chinese medicine, but in general flavors were fine. A bit too salty though. And the spicy side is usually too oily for my preference (even when eaten in Asia).

Ribeye Thin Cut $9.95~ Pretty large pieces of beef and good quality but very few slices.

Slice Pork $5.95~ Pork is my favorite protein for hotpot. Not surprising... haha. These were sliced super thin. Just the right amount of fat and meat.

We had to ask for Extra chilies!! It wasn't spicy enough! My family eats really spicy. The waiter informed us that they have to have a standard spicy level for the general public but brought us extra. It still wasn't spicy but was definitely numbing enough!

(From top left - clockwise)
Enoki Mushroom $4.95~ Always a must in hotpot in my family.
Tong Ho $3.95~ Interesting vegetable. Kind of looks like a weed. Has interesting flavor. Kind of herbal, has a spice to it. I like it. Doesn't take long too cook at all!
Napa Cabbage $3.75~ Another staple for hotpot. This takes longer to cook so I'd recommend putting it in first!
Homemade Beef Meat Ball $6.95~ I wasn't a fan of this. I only eat one kind of meat ball for hotpot and it's "Gong Wan" (貢丸). It's more Taiwanese style so since Little Sheep is more mainland style, they didn't offer it. :(
Shiitake Mushroom $4.50~ Mmmm. Love mushrooms.

Egg Dumpling $4.95~ They ran out of the fish dumpling so we just got the egg dumpling. Pretty good portion for the price. It was tasty. I think I ate 70% of the entire order. haha.

Thick Noodle $3.50~ I try to avoid carbs but my sister wanted noodles. We usually have noodles when doing hotpot at home. I'm just trying to eat less. These don't take long to cook depending on how al dente you want them to be. It had good texture.

Premium Beef Slice $6.75~ We got more beef. This time a cheaper kind. Smaller pieces and sliced super thin. Also pretty good. Next time we can skip the ribeye and just go for this. hehe.

Pork Intestine $4.95~ I love pork intestine. It's so bad for you, but so good. Not something for the weak. haha. But if you are daring, give it a try. :) The intestines come pre-cooked, so all you have to do is put them in to heat up and it's ready to eat!!

For their grand opening they did an All-You-Can eat deal for $20 a person. Unfortunately it ends today... last day of October. But just to give you an idea. All the food we ordered (and we couldn't finish it all) was for 4 of us. We were stuffed and ended up around $20 a person...

All in all it was decent. We don't have anything remotely close to this in Dallas (as far as I know) so it's something interesting to try. It pales in comparison to all you can eat hotpot places in Taiwan, but I don't think we can compare anything here to foods in Asia. haha. The ingredients were all really fresh and good quality. The waiters were very informative and very efficient. I guess they have to be with the wait they have.

If you can't make it in today for the all you can eat, still give it a try. Just make sure you go SUPER early!!

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Chicken House

Chicken House
2625 Old Denton Rd., Ste 620
Carrollton, TX 75007
(972) 242-5500
Price: $$

This past Sunday, I went with a couple of people to check out the new Chicken House in Carrollton, in the H-Mart Shopping Center (Old Denton and 191). It's located next to the new frozen yogurt place, My Cherry-o.

Initially we thought it was a Korean fried chicken place (which we got sooo excited over cuz it's SOOOO good!) but were told that it was different. Still wanted to check it out though.

Walking in, the decor was pretty cool, and every table had this giant pan/skillet thing in the middle. Not your typical Korean BBQ grills. There's also seating on one side of the restaurant where you sit on a platform...like Japanese style. :) We chose to sit there.

The menu was pretty small and located on the walls. They only offered chicken...hence this name "CHICKEN House". We weren't quite sure how things worked but we looked around and saw all the other tables cooking things in that pan. Looked sooo yummy! We let the waitress advise us on how to order. She was super nice. Initially
we thought it was charged per person (since that's what was stated on the menus), but it's actually "per order". She told us that for 4 people it was enough to get 3 orders of their Chicken Galbi $14.88~ (per order). Then we also added Rice Cakes and Sweet Potatoe $1.88~ (each order).

Usually in Korean restaurants they give you a lot of small plates. Here we only got kimchi and spicy daikon. Which is fine, since kimchee's my favorite thing anyways. We also got some lettuce leaves and bean sauce.

The waiter (I think also part owner?) showed up with a giant plate of raw ingredients: cabbage, sesame leaves, chili paste, chicken, rice cake, sweet potato, onion, and green onions. He dumped the whole thing into the pan. We waited for the pan to heat up and I started mixing all the ingredients with the giant spatulas. Man...it was hard work!! And super hot from the heat of the pan.

A few minutes later, he came back to help stir for us. While doing that, he told us that this was the first one of this kind of restaurant in the US (although I found on Google today that there's one in Hawaii...). Also, he said the pan weighs 17 kilograms. It's pretty massive. Being the professional, he was doing a much better job mixing it all than me. hahaha. Soon the flavors and colors from the sauce/paste was infused into everything and the smell was just fantastic. After about 15 minutes of mixing, he told us that the veggies and rice cakes were ready. And once the sweet potatoes were done, then the chicken is done too. Usually takes about 20 minutes for the chicken to cook through.

It was delicious. I really liked how there were so much veggies in the dish. With the lettuce wrap and bean sauce it was even better. The kimchi was also very good, nice and crisp, good flavor. When everything is almost done, they bring over a big bowl of rice with sliced veggies in it. They dump it into the pan with some more chili paste and mix it up to be fried rice. The rice gets a nice crispy crust on the pan, it was great!! (I was too busy eating to take a picture of the rice...sorries. :P)

We also tried their special cold noodles (Chun Chun noodles?). I normally don't like Korean cold noodles, but this was super light and refreshing. Really balanced the hot chicken bbq very well.

It was a great meal, and fun too! I was sooo full after. Definitely will be going back in the future. I recommend everyone to go check it out. It's something different! :)

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