NOVEMBER: Ebb & Flow

One of the most fun event I went to this year would only be fitting for my last post for 2019! My November pick is the newly opened Ebb & Flow in Deep Ellum. First of all, I loved the decor of this place. The gorgeous front covered patio has flowers all draping down the ceiling. Definite wow factor. The interior is just as pretty!

Ebb & Flow
2561 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75226
(972) 913-2322
ebb-flow-restaurant.business.site

This was a media event. The whole restaurant was closed for this private event. So fancy! I arrived a little late because traffic and parking were horrible, but I got there right when they were serving the appetizers.

My friends had already started with various cocktails. This was one aspect that impressed me a lot. Y'all know I don't drink much at all. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic, so I'm very picky when it comes to alcohol. It's only worth it if it tastes good to me. I freaking loved their drinks. I had 3 different ones (didn't finish them all cuz I'm lightweight, but still!!) Their cocktails are unique, beautiful, and the flavors are very well thought out.

Cocktails:
Velvet Butterfly (Deep Ellum vodka, Velvet Falernum, Butterfly Pea Flower, lemon, bubbles). The purple color is so gorgeous... these pictures definitely don't do it justice. Depending on the lighting they came out bluish but the 2nd picture is closer to the actual color.

Influx (Ford's gin, ginger liqueur, blood orange, lemon, Paychaud's, Aquafaba). It's SO pretty!

Undertow (vanilla vodka, Kahlua, Nobel Coyote cold brew coffee, lavender, Baileys, Almande foam). I think this is the best coffee cocktail I've ever had. Usually it's either too bitter from coffee or too much alcohol. This was perfectly blended, rich and frothy. I can probably drink the whole thing.

ElderFlow (frosecco, pear vodka, elderflower liqueur, lemon; served frozen). One of my favorites of the night. First of all, it's frozen which makes it fun. And so bright and refreshing!

Cocoloma (coconut tequila, cream of coconut, sparkling grapefruit, tajin). This wasn't my thing cuz I don't like tequila or tajin. My friend was obsessed with it though. I have to agree it's a very creative concoction. Lots of complex combinations of flavors.

Appetizers:
I think the appetizers were the best course of the night. All the dishes we had were solid and I'd happily eat any of them again.

Toasted Ravioli (beef ravioli with spicy marinara and parmesan). Each order comes with 4 pieces. The raviolis are fried and seasoned well. The sauce was a great pairing. 

Stuffed Jalapenos (jalapenos stuffed with brisket, pimento cheese, wrapped in bacon). Also four to an order. What can go wrong with bacon, jalapeno, and pimento?? Yum!

Cubano Egg Rolls (pork, ham, swiss cheese wrapped in rice paper and fried; spicy mustard, chipotle bbq sauce, pickles). My absolute favorite food of the night. It was perfection. I've had "cuban egg rolls" before and it wasn't good. The flavors were muddled and the wrapper was greasy. This was definitely WAY better than that. Perfect crispy outside, layers of flavors inside. I can taste all the elements of a Cuban sandwich in every bite. Highly recommend!!

Salads:
Sal's Salad (romaine, hard boiled eggs, crispy salami, blue cheese, cucumber, tomato, pickled red onion, avocado, chicken, house ranch). The crispy salami made this dish. A hearty salad. Lots of great ingredients and flavors.

Southwest Salad (beyond meat tossed with jicama, pico, black beans, roasted corn, avocado, salsa). Ebb & Flow serves Beyond Meat, y'all! If you haven't tried beyond meat yet, it's pretty good. Before this, I've had it in burgers and tacos and even noodle bowls. This was a nice topping to the salad. It definitely added more substance to the salad.

Handhelds:
The Burger (two 3oz akaushi beef patties with smoked cheddar, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, brioche bun). I have to be honest and say that the highlights for me were the cocktails, appetizers, and salads. Everything after was just ok... for various reasons. For example, the burger patty was lacking in seasoning. So the burger is fine but not the best. Maybe because we got smaller sample sizes of all the entrees... Hmmm. 

Mahi Mahi Wrap (blackened mahi mahi with mango pico, avocado and slaw, garlic tarragon spread). I was told this was really good but since I'm allergic to mango, I did not taste it.

Sides:
Garlic Parmesan Fries. Loved the fries but I think they were over fried, which was great for me cuz I love crispy fries. Haha. 

Tater Kegs. Basically giant tater tots. Very tasty. 

Mac & Cheese. Was more like pasta with some cheese on top. Was quite dry but pasta was cooked well.

Plates:
Stuffed Chicken Breast (whole chicken breast stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, parmesan, alfredo sauce; broccolini). My favorite element on this dish... the broccolini! So much flavor. The chicken was again, fine, but not spectacular. 

Salmon Piccata (8oz pan crusted salmon, angel hair pasta tossed in light lemon vinaigrette with caper cream sauce). This was pretty good. The salmon was cooked well and the cream sauce was tasty. I, personally, am not a huge fan of angel hair pasta.

Dessert:
Trio of Gelato (vanilla, mint chocolate chip, salted caramel). The mint chocolate chip was my favorite. They were nice colors on the side of the carrot cake.
Carrot Cake (homemade). Apparently this is an old family recipe. If you like carrot cake, you'd most likely love this one. I've heard several people say it's amazing. I don't like carrot cake though, so it was fine. :P

Despite the height of the food peaking half way through the meal, I had a blast at this event. The vibe was great, the cocktails were flowing, and to be honest, I was already full after the salads anyways. Lol. And I loved seeing all my blogger peeps! I would definitely go back and I would give them another chance on their entrees. Thanks so much for having me, Ebb & Flow!

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Dallas Restaurant Week 2013: Steve Fields' Steak & Lobster Lounge

This past Saturday was my 2nd Restaurant Week outing. It was also a celebration for my dad's 60th birthday! I chose Steve Fields' Steakhouse in Plano because it's close to home and has great food.

Steve Fields' Steak & Lobster Lounge
5013 West Park Blvd
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 596-7100
http://www.stevefieldsrestaurant.com/
Price (for RW): $$$$

Steve Fields' was one of my first ever RW experiences almost 10 years ago! I can't believe it's been a decade I've been participating in Restaurant Week. Definitely have had some great food over the years! hehe. I remember that Steve Fields' was very good. The portions were big, quality was top notch, and service was great. I hoped that 10 years later, it would still be the same!

We arrived for our reservation at 6:30PM. Most of the restaurant is already packed with people. We were seated in a smaller side room (which happened to be the room I was in 10 years ago!) haha. And it's a pretty big restaurant, so business is going strong! And considering that it's been around for almost half my life. It's definitely an establishment in West Plano.

We were greeted by our waitress who was super nice. She took our drink orders and gave us a rundown on the menu.

I had 3 Central Market 4th Course certificates so I went ahead and gave them to her at the beginning. For those of you new to RW, some restaurants offer a 4th course that you can either pay for or get for free with a Central Market Certificate. To get a certificate, you have to spend $25 at Central Market. But make sure the restaurant you are going to actually offers that before you go spending lots of $$ at Central Market! haha.
Each certificate got us Two U-12 Wild Caught Jumbo Shrimp (topped with spicy cocktail and remoulade sauce). 

The shrimp were indeed jumbo!! Cooked perfectly with 2 different kinds of sauces. Both were good but I tend to prefer remoulad in general. My sister and bf loved the cocktail sauce. It was a nice intro into the meal.

We also got some Bread (rosemary foccacia??, with whipped butter and spicy oil) during our shrimp course. 

Holy crap! They basically gave us an entire loaf of bread! haha. The bread was warm and soft in the middle, nice crust on the outside. The spicy oil had a nice kick to it without being overwhelming. Yummy. But I tried not to eat too much since it's only the beginning!

1st Course
Steve's Caesar Salad (romaine lettuce, croutons, Caesar dressing, anchovies). 

My sister's bf got this. It was fresh and had actual anchovies on it, which makes me think that they made the Caesar dressing from scratch. Traditional Caesar dressing is not the same as the stuff out of a bottle.

Baby Spinach Salad (topped with toasted pecans, tangerines, onions, blue cheese crumbles, hot bacon dressing). 

My mom got this. I liked it a lot. The spinach was fresh and tender. The bacon dressing added a lot of flavor but got a bit greasy towards the bottom. But all the different elements worked together really well.

Blue Crab & Roasted Corn Chowder (velvety stew of sweet crab, roasted corn and cream). 

The rest of the table got this, which came highly recommended. I love chowder! This was definitely velvety and creamy. Very rich and luxurious. The small cup was plenty enough. I wish there was a bit more crab in it, but it was very good overall. Definitely filled me up a little.

Next are the Entrees, which were all served with roasted garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes and seasoned grilled asparagus.
"Center Cut" Filet Mignon (6 oz. Filet Mignon seasoned and broiled to perfection). 

2 people ordered this. My mom's turned out to be more rare than med rare which she was a little afraid to eat. But the rest of us thought it was perfect. It was super tender. The crust was nicely seasoned and seared. Very good steak. We all thought she lucked out that it was more rare. hahaha.

Pan Seared Sea Bass (fish filet topped with crab meat and bearnaise sauce). 

I opted for the fish since no one else was getting seafood. The fish had a nice seared crust on it and had good flavor even without the bearnaise sauce. But the sauce and crab on top were a nice touch. It was slightly greasy towards the end though. The mashed potatos and asparagus were pretty standard. The asparagus still held some of its crispness which I liked. It was a good dish, but definitely the weakest choice of the bunch.

Roasted Prime Rib of Beef (hand carved and served with Au jus and creamy horseradish sauce). 

I wanted to get this but since half the party was gonna order it, I changed mine to the fish. The prime rib was delicious. Super tender with just the right amount of fat (in my opinion). It had great flavor on its own. I rarely use the au jus or horseradish on prime rib. It is my favorite cut of steak and my first choice at any steakhouse. Steve Fields' did not disappoint.

It was a lot of food, but pretty much everyone cleaned their plates.

Then it's time for Dessert!
Carrot Cake (topped with candied pecans). 

Half the group got this including my dad. I had told the waitress at the beginning of the meal that it was his birthday and if they could put a candle on his cake for him. They did... and they even gave him a Happy Birthday card! He was surprised and very happy. :)

The carrot cake was a good sized piece. And normally I don't like carrot cakes because I don't like carrots (and sometimes they have shredded coconut, which I don't like either. haha). This one had BOTH, but I didn't mind either of them. The cake was moist and it had just enough cream cheese frosting in the middle and on top. The frosting and candied pecans paired really well with the cake.

Key Lime Pie (with graham cracker crust). 

The rest of us got this, including me. It was SUPER tart. We all made a pucker face as we ate it. haha. Even my mom, who likes sour things said it was a bit too much. I did like the raspberry sauce on the bottom and the graham cracker crust though. The pie consistency was also very good. I guess we just got a batch of super sour limes! XP

Aside from the puckering pie, haha, we had a great meal. My dad really enjoyed his birthday celebration. Everyone loved the food. Our waitress was great, very attentive without being overbearing. The courses were all served at a timely manner. Success!! :D

By the middle of our meal, the entire restaurant had filled up too. And when we left, there were a bunch of people waiting for tables in the lobby. Wow... business sure is good! And I'm happy to see that. I think Steve Fields' will be around for a really long time. :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Dallas Restaurant Week 2013: Nonna

Week 1 of Dallas Restaurant Week is over... I went to Nonna last Friday with some friends for their last day of participation. I had never been there before, but it came highly recommended so I added it to my list of RW restaurants this year. 

**Just some brief info on Restaurant Week for those who don't know.. Restaurants across Dallas participate every August and this spans from 1 week to some places that do it for 3 weeks. It is $35 a person for a 3 course meal. Although this year a lot of the restaurants upped their prices to $45 a person (not including tax and tip). And 20% of each check goes to the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas and Lena Pope Home in Ft. Worth. It's my favorite "charity" event!! :D

Nonna
4115 Lomo Alto Dr.
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 521-1800
http://www.nonnadallas.com/
Price (for RW): $35 a person

The restaurant is pretty small. It's quite unassuming on the outside. Inside was rustic with a hint of modern. Dark mood lighting, seems like a good romantic spot. A little too dark for my preference though.

Most of us arrived on time for our 8:30PM reservation. There were people at our table so we had to stand around and wait for a little bit. The bar area was pretty small so we couldn't really all fit. We had a party of 8, and they only had 1 large table to accommodate. The table was located by the bar and right by the front door. Luckily the weather was really nice Friday night so the opening and closing of the door didn't bother us at all. I'm thinking in the winter, it'll be freezing to sit in that area...

The hostess was pretty friendly. We were seated immediately after the other party had left. We also got menus and waters very quickly.We were all chattering about what we're going to get so I didn't really pay attention to what's going on around me. But so far, I'm excited about the dinner and things are going well!

We were given some Olives for the table. 

And after our orders were taken we also got some Bread. 

The bread was yummy. It was like warm fluffy pita bread. Slightly brushed with oil (I think) and topped with some (sea?) salt. I loveeed the texture of the bread. But we all wanted something to spread or dip it into. Like hummus or tapenade or something would be cool. They kept refilling the bread btw.. we didn't really even have to ask! It might get deadly! hahaha :P

I believe the entire restaurant had the RW menu. The regular menu wasn't available for this week.

First Course
Sformatino (of Italian creamed corn with smoked prosciutto and frico). 

 

A few of us got this, including me. The creamed corn sold me on it. I wasn't super sure what a Sformatino was but oh well. Always up for trying something new. It was very interesting! In a good way. hehe. The best way I can describe it is like a corn mousse. And trust me, it tastes better than it sounds. haha. The corn mousse patty thing was seared on top (you can't see it under the frico), which I really liked. The frico was a tad salty but was nice against the light/fluffy and slightly sweet corn. The prosciutto added a level of smokiness to the dish. And then a genius idea!! I spread everything on the bread they gave us. Perfect!!! :P

Prosciutto Tasting (Americano and Italian speck with Texas fruits). A meat and fruit plate. I tried a piece of the speck by itself... very salty... My friend said the dish was good enough. haha.

Grilled Heart of Romaine (with roasted pancetta, avocado and parmigiano). Everyone else got this. The romaine had a nice char and smokiness to it. It's always good to have pancetta! Pretty good dish.

Second Course
Lasagnette (with ricotta stuffed squash blossoms and tomato sauce). 

This was my choice... mostly because of the squash blossoms. You don't see that on the menus very often. It was a very flat lasagna, hence the "nette" in the name I guess. haha. But I liked the charred/crisp edges on the pasta. The squash blossoms were stuffed full with ricotta and I really liked that. But it's definitely missing meat. If they had put some meat sauce in there, it would've been a great entree. I liked it enough though.

Pappardelle (al ragu Bolognese). This was the better pasta and my friends agreed. The pasta was freshly made, and quite delicate. The bolognese had the right amount of meat and flavor. It was delicious.

Wood Oven Roasted Halibut (with tomato, olives, capers and heirloom sweet peppers).

This was supposed to be a red snapper but they ran out or something and switched to halibut. It was a very small dish to be an entree... There was the fish and then nothing else really. The fish had a nice sear and was very tender. I thought it was pretty good. My friend thought it was just alright.
Porchetta (with Anson Mills polenta and cannellini beans). 

Porchetta is like boneless roast pork. It reminds me of pork belly with the layers of fat in it. It looked awesome. The meat was tender and, yes, fatty!!! The best kind! haha. The meat itself was a little salty, but I liked it paired with the polenta and beans a lot.

White Pizza (of littlneck clams, sweet onion, panna and fresh herbs). 

This sounded totally interesting. Clams on pizza? I haven't had that before... It was a pretty big pizza too. The crust was awesome... very similar to the bread we got. It had a hint of sweetness, not sure if it's from the onions or clams. But I didn't get any clams on the bite I got. I actually didn't really see any clams on the pizza either.. I guess it was all under the cheese. My friend said it was ok.

Dessert
Praline Nougatine Semifreddo (with pistachios and Acacia honey). 

This was one of my choices but I ended up not getting it since I could try other people's. hehe. It was the biggest dessert out of the bunch. But it was super light. Semifreddo basically means half frozen. It reminded me of frozen whipped cream. So it was super light but still creamy. I loved the pistacios inside it. And normally not a fan of honey... this honey was a perfect pairing on top. Best dessert of the night.

Sticky Toffee Pudding. 

This is what I got. I thought it was very cute. The cake reminded me of the whiskey cake at Whiskey Cake in Plano. But it wasn't as good as WC. The parts with the caramel drizzle on top was yummy but the parts that didn't seemed less moist. I liked the whipped cream pairing.

Carrot Cake. Basically a carrot cake cupcake. Not bad. I liked the frosting a lot. Not as heavy as normal cream cheese frostings on cupcakes.

Fig and Raspberry Crostata. They messed up my friend's order and had to make him a new crostata. So he sat around watching us eat our dessert and then we watched him eat his. hahaha. I didn't get to try it. Looked like a pretty basic free form tart/pie.

It was a pretty good dinner. I enjoyed everything I tried but I wasn't blown away or anything... Everything seemed good quality and fresh overall. But would I go back and pay full price? For the portion... I doubt it. Our waiter was good. He was very efficient. He didn't interrupt us at all but got everything out quickly and had no issues with anything (including splitting the check). The water glasses were always refilled without asking.

Good start to my RW this year. I'm looking forward to my next location this coming Saturday!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~