DECEMBER: Smithy on Henderson

What do you do when you have 4 hours to kill at the airport? You update your blog. Lol! Seriously though, can you guys believe January is almost over? We are one month into 2020, a new decade! Crazy!

So continuing with my monthly features... my December favorite was Smithy on Henderson! I had heard lots of good things since they opened but never got the chance to go. Then out of the blue, they invited me in! That's the best feeling. My friend and I went on a Tuesday night so it wasn't too crowded. Walking up to the restaurant, I saw that they had a really cool covered patio area. It reminded me of Ebb & Flow which I featured in Nov.

Smithy
2927 N Henderson Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 316-1984
https://smithydallas.com
Price: $$$-$$$$

The interior is really cool. I loved the art on the walls, the use of dark wood and iron... it used to be a former ironwork/blacksmith shop! Hence the name Smithy. I like that! It was bigger than I expected! They have a private party area all the way in the back of the restaurant.

We were greeted by the owner who sat down and chatted with us for a while. Did you know this is the sister restaurant to Woolworth in downtown Dallas?

To start, my friend got the Quite Frankly (frankly organic vodka, dolin blanc, strawberry, jalapeno, lemon, ginger) $11~ Served in a mason jug, it's a pretty big cocktail. And it was really good. I don't drink much but I can appreciate that you tasted all the different ingredients in this drink. The addition of heat from the jalapeno is a nice touch.

I got the Frozen Irish Cream. It looked super delicious but alas was not sweet enough for me. I also prefer sweeter drinks than the norm. 

Just FYI... During their Happy Hour (Tue-Fri 11AM-7PM), craft cocktails are $8 and frozen cocktails are $6! And YES, it starts at 11AM and basically goes all day! What a freaking good deal!

Flat Bread (heirloom cherry tomato, champagne grapes, capers, basil, arugula, EVOO, boursin cheese, feta, naan) $12~ Can be prepared vegetarian. 

This was our appetizer. It was delicious!! Using naan as the base was kind of awesome. The texture was great. I don't like it when flatbread is too thin like a cracker. The toppings were so flavorful. I can easily have this as my entree.

Truffle Fries (white truffle oil, shaved pecorino, house ketchup) $9~ Can be prepared gluten free and/or vegetarian. 

We thought this was going to be a much smaller portion but I guess the one we saw coming out of the kitchen was a side dish for a burger or something. Haha. This is definitely big enough for a group! The fries were fried well and I freaking LOVED their house-made ketchup, but the truffle flavor was lacking. Needs more.

Cedar Salmon (verlasso salmon, cedar plank, maple mustard, wood fired Brussels sprouts, bacon sherry cream) $28~ 

My friend got the salmon. Beautifully cooked and presented... sitting on a cedar plank. The Brussels sprouts were also fantastic. I've never had it like this in a cream sauce before. Definitely worth a try!

Luke's Hot Chicken (peri peri spice, local honey, gin pickles, white bbq sauce, cavatappi pasta, pancetta, four cheese sauce: gruyere, pepper jack, monterey, pecorino) $24~ 

I wanted to eat light... but then saw this on the menu. Lol. Oh well. YOLO. Haha. This is one of their crowd favorites and I can see why. Holy Crap! It was a big plate. Perfectly fried chicken stacked high on perfectly cooked pasta. The breading on the chicken was amazing. Crisp, yet light, and not overly greasy. I could not get over how awesome it was. AND, finally, a hot chicken that was actually spicy! Not super spicy but it had a kick. And that's all I want if I'm ordering a "hot" chicken. The pasta is basically like a 4 cheese mac n cheese. But it wasn't swimming in sauce. It was perfect. I loved every bite and had enough leftover for another meal. 100% would get this again.

Hula Pie (chocolate cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, espresso ganache, ghiradelli hot fudge, toasted macadamia nuts, whipped cream) $12~ 

Holy moly. We were stuffed but wanted to try dessert. This was enough for 4! The espresso ganache was to die for... my favorite element on this dessert. My friend said it tasted like the name... definitely reminded her of Hawaii.

What a fabulous meal. We also had exceptional treatment and service. I definitely want to go back and try more things. Or maybe I'll just end up getting the hot chicken again. Haha. And they also rolled out a new brunch menu last month!

Thank you so much for having us, Smithy! Hope you stick around Henderson for a really long time!

*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

District Food & Wine

I got to check out District Food & Wine in the Design District last week. I had heard positive things about the restaurant so I was definitely looking forward to it. They're open for lunch M-F, and dinner service is only Th-S, closed on Sundays. I couldn't make it out for dinner so I invited a friend that works downtown for a long lunch. :)

District Food & Wine
921 N Riverfront Blvd. #300
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 792-9729
https://districtfoodwine.com
Price: $$-$$$

The Design District is a cool place but still has a lot of opportunities for expansion/development. It's quite far out for me from home and work so I rarely go to that area. So I'd consider District Food and Wine to be a hidden gem. I think more people need to know more about this area as well.

Walking in, the restaurant was pretty empty... only a couple tables taken. But the place has floor to ceiling windows on 2 sides of the building so it had a bright and open feeling. And perfect for photos! :) The hostess grabbed the owner for us when we arrived. Jeff is one of the nicest people I've ever met. Just the first handshake and I felt like he was so genuinely happy to have us there. We were seated close to the window for optimal lighting. And Jeff proceeded to take care of us for the entire duration of the lunch.

We started with some Bread (rubbed with garlic; served with butter). It looked simple but it was freshly baked...warm and fluffy on the inside, crispy edges, and the garlic rub perfumed our noses.

Jeff gave us the run down on the menu, as well as their daily specials. 

Then he told us that he is already going to send out some of their Risotto Balls and Meatballs (tomato basil sauce). Normally the Risotto Balls are $7~ 

It was nice to get a little sampler so we're not getting too much food. The risotto balls were super cute and delicate. He explained that they are actually gluten free! They were deliciously airy and light for a fried rice ball. Without the breadcrumbs they were really able to lighten it up. Soooo yummy with the tomato sauce. The meatballs were good too but the risotto balls stole the show.

As we were waiting for our entrees, I saw that more and more people were coming in. And Jeff greeted each table himself. That's really great service and hospitality.

I chose the Grilled Salmon (Scottish salmon, grilled vegetables, jalapeno mustard sauce) $17~ 

I wanted to be a little healthier since 1) I've been eating a whole lotta fried foods last week, and 2) I wanted to get the Mac n Cheese. hahaha. He told me that they typically cook their salmon medium rare, which is perfect. And you know what? They were SPOT on with the cook temp. The fish was beautifully pink on the inside and insanely tender. And that sauce... you can see the whole grain mustard in there and it paired perfectly with the fish. It was a pretty plate. Again, everything's so simple, but extremely well executed. It was refreshing to see a place that just does good food instead of trying to be "epic" or "trendy" or whatever.

My friend got the Rigatoni (with tomato basil vodka sauce; added chicken) $10~ 

He added chicken since the original dish does not have a meat. It was really good. I love vodka sauce. I wish the chicken pieces were a tad bigger, it got lost a little bit in the dish. Other than that, no complaints!

Mac & Cheese (with truffle oil) $7~ 

I HAD to get this. I've been seeing so many posts on social media of this one dish. The truffle was so fragrant and smelled so good. It was still bubbling a little when it was brought to the table. It's not stringy cheesy like a lot of other macs (like the long cheese pull) but it definitely was not lacking any cheese! I freaking loved that crust on top. It was legit, and it definitely lived up to all the hype.

It was a great lunch. And we weren't too stuffed. But then we had to get dessert right? hehe. :P

Jeff highly highly recommended the Lemon Cake (mascarpone frosting, white chocolate curls) $7~ 

And that's the main thing I've been seeing on their Yelp page. I'm not really a huge lemon fan but I was really intrigued. I'm soooooo glad we got it. It is seriously THE BEST lemon cake I've ever had in my life. No joke! It was so light and fluffy. The frosting was made with mascarpone so it was really light as well. But was still somehow luscious. The amount of lemon was spot on. It had just the right amount of tartness... a lot of lemon desserts tend to be too sour for me. Or too sweet because they overuse sugar to cut the citrus. Both my friend and I agreed it was the best lemon dessert either of us have ever had. I wonder if I can order a whole cake for a party or something.... :P

Chocolate Cake (chocolate ganache) $7~ 

We only ordered the lemon cake, but Jeff said he was also sending out the chocolate cake. haha. I love chocolate so I wasn't gonna say no! :P The chocolate cake was also fantastic. The filling was light, and the ganache was rich... the cake was surprisingly not overly sweet. And it was super moist. Normally I would opt for chocolate, but in this case, the lemon cake still won out. Needless to say, we finished the lemon cake. haha. And actually made it through more than half of the chocolate as well.

We had a great time. Jeff was the most wonderful host. And the food was just simply delicious. I want to send everyone I know there... so GO!!! I really hope they stick around for a really long time. Thank you, District Food & Wine, for having us. I hope I will make it back in the near future. :)

*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is the latest restaurant to open in Shops at Legacy. It is the same owners as Whiskey Cake (one of my go-to places) and Velvet Taco. I've been getting notices of it's opening a couple weeks before it actually opened. Looking at the menu, I was excited to try it.

Mexican Sugar
7501 Lone Star Dr. Ste B 150
Plano, TX 75024
(972) 943-0984
mexicansugarcocina.com
Price: $$-$$$

Once it opened, it immediately became a new hot spot at the Shops at Legacy. I heard that there's a wait every night and it's been a hit. I decided to get some people to go try it on a Thursday night.

I got there around 7pm and it was packed. The hostess told me it was going to be about a 45 minute wait for 4 people... Should've reserved. Oh well, I'll know for next time! We decided to walk around the area to find something to munch on. But they sent me a text about 30 minutes later. I like the whole texting notifications for a table. This way we can leave and not be stuck just standing around.

The place is pretty big! We were seated in the back room. I liked the decor a lot. It did remind me of Whiskey Cake a bit since it was the same decorator. A bit loud with the acoustics but more energetic than annoying. I also saw a few familiar faces in the wait staff that used to be at Whiskey Cake. haha.

We were greeted by our waiter and he said 2 of them were gonna help us. We got some waters and took some time to look at the menu. We actually waited quite a long time for them to come back... And once they came back, I ordered an appetizer as my main, and I think the guy thought I was just ordering an app for the table and walked away without taking anyone else's orders. haha.. Errrrr?

I got the Arepa (griddled corn cake, ropa vieja, slaw, cilantro crema) $8~ 

 

It was 4 to an order, each corn cake was topped with shredded beef. This was really good. The beef was flavorful and great with the corn cake. The corn cake itself had nice texture. The cilantro crema rounded out the dish nicely. It ended up being the best savory dish of the night. So I ended up getting my dish first before anyone else had ordered.. eh... They need to check on us more often.

I also got a side of the Brussels Sprout Shred $3~ 

It was one of the menu items I really wanted to try since I love Brussels sprouts, but it was not what I expected at all. It was just like raw shredded veggies, some Brussels sprouts mixed with napa cabbage, onions and carrots. I expected something cooked. But I guess I just didn't ask and assumed. So I told the waiter it wasn't what I was expecting. He was nice and took it away and didn't charge me for it.

One friend ordered the Brasas Chicken Tacos (wood roasted chicken, salsa, roasted corn, pico, queso fresco, chipotle crema, macro cilantro; with side of Brussels sprout shred) $9~

 It came 3 to an order. I heard that they make the corn tortillas in house which is cool. But they were kinda soft and floppy. It didn't hold up to the liquid from the salsa very well. It got soggy quickly. The taco looked good but was pretty bland. It definitely needed more sauce or something. But then, the tortilla would probably disintegrate. haha. Meh. And I also got to try a bit of the Brussels sprouts shred. I'm glad I sent mine back. Just raw veggies, not much flavor at all.

Another friend got the Tableside Tortilla Soup (roast chicken, tomato concasse, avocado, tortilla, queso fresco) $7~ 

 

The presentation is cool since they poured it at the table. And the portion was pretty big. My friend doesn't like avocado so I got to eat all of it. haha. They had nice big chunks of avocado and tomatoes in there which I liked. But overall it was just ok. My friend and I both agreed that it could be heartier. The soup itself seemed a little thin. And I think the flavors could be bolder.

Another friend came later and ordered the Pollo Torta (roast chicken, chipotle spread, queso Chihuahua, mixed herbs, salsa duo; with side of Dos XX) $11~ 

 

It's pretty cool that you can get a side of beer. haha. But it was a pretty small glass. The torta looked really good, and it was huge. Didn't get to try it but she finished it all. Although she said the bread was too hard and might've cut the roof of her mouth. I think generally tortas have a softer type of bread? This looked kinda baguette-y.

We had another late addition. He already ate so just ordered a Chicha Sour (homemade Chicha morada ice cubes, pisco porton, lime, simple syrup). 

I think this is one of their more popular cocktails. The color was beautiful. And the homemade ice cubes were a nice touch. It was the same as the drink. So as it melts it won't water down the cocktail. It was strong!!!! But I liked the flavor. If you like sweet and fruity cocktails, this one might be for you. It was also cool when the waiter explained their draft cocktails. Yes, draft. They make a small batch of each at a time and pour it from a draft. This way it saves time and also keeps the flavors consistent, the waiter explained. I've not seen that before. Pretty neat!

Their desserts is what captured my attention the most. They didn't have many choices but all of them sounded awesome. And since they were out of the Pumpkin Flan, it made our choices easy.

Horchata 5 Leches (almond milk, rice milk, heavy cream, Mexican crema whip, goat's milk cajeta) $7~ 

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one but it's a super moist custardy/bread pudding-ish cake. It's gotta be moist with 5 milks right?! haha. It was sooo good. The Mexican crema whip on top was fluffy and heavenly. It paired perfectly with the cake. The goat's milk cajeta was a Mexican style caramel. I don't like goat's milk, and the flavor was pretty strong. I didn't like that at all. So I tried to eat the top half of the cake and not get any of the caramel that pooled on the bottom of the dish. haha. In the future I will request it without the cajeta. But delicious! Definitely recommend!

Chocolate Avocado Cake (Ancho spiced chocolate cake, cinnamon meringue, chocolate avocado mousse, ganache) $7~ 

This was rich, rich, rich, and decadent. Definitely for the chocolate lover. The addition of the avocado is what intrigued me at first, but you really can't taste any of it at all. Avocado is too milk compared to the dark chocolate and got lost. But nonetheless, it was delicious. I love anything with ganache and this cake had like 3 layers of it! :) And the layer of cinnamon meringue in the middle was a nice surprise because the meringue was slightly crunchy and added a nice textural contrast. This cake with the Mexican crema whip from the Horchata was a great blend. :P

So... pretty cool place. A little loud but definitely a hip hotspot. The food was a bit disappointing but the desserts were awesome. I'd go back just for the desserts! Waiters were nice but service was slow overall. Hopefully they just need to get more acclimated to the large crowds. I'll be going back in the future. But I'll definitely make a reservation next time!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Japan 2013: Tokyo - Tea & Desserts

We went to a few sit down places for desserts while in Tokyo. There are so many! All of them are fantastic... 

First couple of days in Tokyo, we came across this pancake place. Initially we were just expecting to get some sweet pancakes as dessert, but while waiting for a table, I noticed that they have make-your-own pancake tables. So I told the hostess that's what we wanted to do. So cool and so much fun!! 

Slappy Cakes in Shinjuku

We got the Buttermilk Batter 700Yen~. 
For the sides, we had Housemade "Nutella" +200Yen~, Hazelnuts +150Yen~, and Butterscotch Chips +150Yen~. 

 

 

One little bottle of batter didn't seem much to me at first but it made plenty of pancakes! I was so full after! Such a cool idea and great thing to do with friends or on a date! :) 

 

 

I wanted to do at least 1 afternoon tea while in Japan. I had a great recommendation from a friend and went to go check out Blue Brick Lounge in Aoyama (by Otomesando Street). They feature Yoku Moku desserts which is a pretty popular name in Japan. The decor is bright and modern. I really liked the feel of the cafe. It was such a nice and relaxing afternoon, which a vacation SHOULD be!

We both got the Cake Set which includes a cake and a beverage for 1,155Yen~ 
He got the Blueberry Cake with milk tea. 

 

 

I got the Chocolate Cake with plain black tea. 

 

 

The cakes were soooooo goood!!! The ganache on mine was rich and dark and luxurious. NOM!!!! :D We also got some Yoku Moku Biscuit Rolls. Buttery and flaky. YUM!!!! I wish we had time to do more afternoon tea... Sigh~~ 

The same place that had the best soft serve in Asakusa had these amazing looking breads. (We went there 3 times during our trip. haha) It always smelled spectacular! On our last day we went by again and it was pretty hot, so we went and sat inside to have dessert. 

Check out the MASSIVE Matcha Shaved Ice with Milk 450Yen~! 
It was like green tea flavored snow flurries. So fine and fluffy. And turned into matcha milk at the bottom of the bowl. Awwwwesome! :D 

And of course we got some bread to go. So soft and pillowy. Man, I miss Asian bread. :( 

 

 

 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~