Shell Shack - Henderson

To all the Shell Shack fans... they have moved from their Uptown location to a bigger spot on Henderson (the former Mellow Mushroom location), with more parking, and seating! And there's a patio! To those who have never been, the new space is big with a large bar area and lots of TVs for all the sports watching.

I personally have never been to Shell Shack, so I was excited to check out their preview before the new location opened on Thursday 6/21. Walking in, I immediately noticed all the chalkboard art on the walls. They showcased all the different food and drink items as well as the market prices of all the different types of seafood available that day.

Shell Shack
2326 N Henderson Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
(877) 434-1411
https://www.shellshack.com

We were greeted with drinks upon arrival. My friend grabbed the Blue Hawaiian (rum, blue curacao, real coco, pineapple juice) $12~ It looks fun! She enjoyed it.

Once the event started we were ushered into the dining room to get some appetizers. They had it set up buffet style. Can you say "ALL THE FRIED FOODS"?! Haha.

Crab Tater Tots - Big 'ol tater tots, filled with crab. What's not to like?

Fried Crawfish - I love crawfish. I thought it was fried well, but the batter was just a tad too salty.

Fried Catfish Bites - This was my favorite of the 3, I got a nice plump piece and it was so tender on the inside and fried beautifully on the outside.

I tried not too get very much cuz I knew there was more food coming!

For the dinner portion we sat down in the dining room. The owner made a welcome speech and gave us some background on the restaurant. This is replacing the old location on McKinney, just FYI. He also introduced the next course we were about to receive which is MORE appetizers. Each table got a sampler of the Buffalo Shrimp, Calamari, and another kind of Shrimp (cajun? garlic? I'm not sure of the seasoning). 

The Buffalo Shrimp was my favorite... that buffalo sauce is money! The shrimp IS fried just so you know, the other one wasn't. I dipped everything in that buffalo sauce. haha. Calamari was good. The owner noticed that it had gotten cold since they were waiting to bring it out after the speech, so he sent out fresh ones to every table. Eat it hot, y'all, it's good!

For the main attraction, we were gonna get a bit of everything... crabs, shrimp, corn, potatoes. We did NOT realize they were bringing a full bag for each individual person! WOW! That's a lotta crab! All the seafood is market price, so make sure you check out their board to see what's available! And oh yea... we all get bibs! Love it!

King Crab
Snow Crab
Bairdi Crab
Flavor: The Kitchen Sink - which is like ALL THE SPICES!

I'm a crab newbie, so I wasn't really sure what was what. I could tell the King Crab because it stabbed me in the fingers. haha. Those spikes are no joke! It was super meaty! And make sure you get that melted butter to dip in.

I'm not sure if it was Snow or Bairdi I liked better... I couldn't tell which is which, but I liked them better than the King. While King Crab is meatier, the Snow/Bairdi was more tender/delicate. And just a fun fact, Shell Shack is the only place in DFW that serves Bairdi Crabs. You may have heard of this crab if you watch Deadliest Catch. hehe.

Instead of everyone keeping their bags on their trays, my table dumped all the bags in the middle. YASSSS! That's the way to do it!!! Free-for-all! My friends also did NOT use gloves, like most of the other tables. I did... cuz I'm a noob and also don't like to touch food. haha. But 2 minutes in, the king crab spikes punctured my gloves so I still got my hands dirty. :P This was SO MUCH FUN, y'all. Definitely go with friends who don't mind using their hands and getting dirrrrty. And oh the corn!! That was probably my FAVORITE thing of the night! I wish they had given us each more than one. My friend gave me hers so I had two! I could've eaten everyone's! 

The potatoes were also perfectly awesome. I did wish we had gotten spicy though. I thing that would've made the flavor even better! But since it was a media event where they had to prepare for a bunch of people, it's safer to go with mild.

Catfish Basket & Fries $10.99~ We also had 2 hushpuppies in the basket. While we were cracking shells with our messy hands, they brought out MORE food. I thought maybe a basket for each table for us to sample, but no, a basket for EACH OF US! I'm pretty full at this point, how will I ever finish! haha. I made the mistake of taking a fry and couldn't really stop after that. I have no self control with fried foods if I start eating them. Fries were good.. I think they sprinkle sugar on it... Most of us ended up taking our baskets to go.

While everyone was slowing down, the owner said "well I hope y'all saved room for dessert!" Um. Sure! Bring it on. haha.

Bread Pudding (warm bread pudding topped with homemade Jack Daniels caramel sauce and salted caramel gelato) $6.99~ A surprisingly low bread pudding... usually they're more layered but the flavor was good, especially with that salted caramel ice cream. Good portion size I think.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake with layers of chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, chocolate sauce, and chocolate hazelnut gelato) $7.99~ Are you surprised this was my favorite? haha. You had me at ganache! It was delicious. I took most of it home because we were too full. And it was even better 2 days later because I let it soften for a bit after taking it out of the fridge. CHOCOLATE WASTED for reals!

Carrot Cake. So.. they're known for their carrot cake. Which is epically huge. However, my table was the last one to finish our crabs because we ate EVERY SINGLE PIECE, so by the time our desserts came out, they had ran out of the carrot cake. Sadness. So I don't have a picture, but we ended up snagging a piece from a neighboring table (don't worry, we knew the people, haha). They had barely even made a dent in it! It's almost a quarter of the whole cake I think. Now I'm not a carrot cake fan, but one of my friends was and she took the whole thing home. haha. So I think she liked it. I do have to say the frosting was quite luxurious.

We had a great time. This is definitely a place for friends who wanna just get down and get their hands dirty. The crabs were fresh and meaty. And just forgo the gloves... they're only gonna get punctured anyways. Plus, Shell Shack has the best hand washer ever!! You just stick your hands in it. It sprays and spins warm water and soap and gets everything off. Your hands feel nice and soft and clean after. Go check them out, it's a great place to watch a game too... TVs everywhere.

Thanks so much, Shell Shack, for having me!! And congrats on the new location!

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

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Remedy

When friends come to town, it usually means good food! My friend from NYC was here Labor Day weekend so we got a group together to go check out Remedy for dinner. I've been dying to go. I've done there brunch which is pretty good, but mainly I really really wanted one of their epic sundaes. hehe.

I'm really loving all the new places in Lower Greenville! There are so many spots I still wanna try. Just parking is quite lacking... We went on Friday night at 6:30PM. The place was already pretty packed. It's a small restaurant though, so make sure you get reservations! Some of our friends were there early so we were directed to the table as soon as we got there.

Remedy
2010 Greenville Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
(469) 294-4012
www.remedydallas.com
Price: $$-$$$$

Our waiter greeted us quickly. He was super friendly. I think his name was Christopher. Shout out to the great service! He brought us waters and ome people ordered drinks.

Old Tom Pink Lemonaid (gin, grapefruit, juice, lemon juice, sugar, soda) $10~ A pretty drink. My friend said it was pretty good. And the paper straws are super cute, but not really that functional cuz they get kinda soggy after a while.

RX Painkiller (white and dark rums, tropic thunder soda, orange juice, coconut flakes) $10~ Also looked fun. I'm not a fan of shredded coconut, but it was pretty much just decoration. The drink itself was quite tasty. My friend really liked it.

Man.. it was so hard deciding what to order. All of us wanted to try everything... After a longggg time scrutinizing over the menu, we were set.

We started with an appetizer. Jalapeno-Chive Hushpuppies (NC hot sauce butter) $9~ 

 

It had a slight kick to it. I wished it was spicier. Not the best hushpuppies I've had. I thought the outside was over-fried. It felt a little greasy to me. The flavor was ok though.

A couple of my friends brought their baby girl so they got this for her. Grilled Cheese (Cottonwood River cheddar, charred TX tomato on griddled sourdough) $11~ Choice of Hand-Cut Fries. It looked really good. I got to have a fry which was yummy.

He got the Brown Sugar-Cider Glazed Dry Aged Duroc Pork Chop (jalapeno sweet potato hash, mustard greens with roasted peanuts in hot sauce vinaigrette, crispy onion rings) $26~ A super thick, bone-in pork chop. It was cooked really well... juicy and tender. Everyone who tried it, loved it.

She got the Open Faced Beet Cured Salmon (house-cured Scottish salmon, smashed avocado, marinated cucumber, TX tomato, pickled red onion, arugula, on griddled ciabatta) $15~ with Mixed Greens. 

Another friend ordered the same but with Cream of Tomato Soup. 

Such a vibrant dish. The beet color on the salmon was amazing. I normally don't like smoked salmon, but this is nothing like it. It doesn't have that smoked flavor. The fish was very fresh, and it was quite light with the cucumber/tomato/arugula combo. The avocado added a richness to it.

I recommended this to a friend. I had it during brunch. House Filet O'Fish (panko breaded TX redfish filet, American cheese, shredded lettuce, tartar sauce on a griddled challah bun) $15~ Choice of Cream of Tomato Soup. He loved it. The fish was tender and flaky. A solid choice.

Summer Goat Cheese Dumplings (white corn broth, caramelized cipollinis, anise-pickled lemley's peaches, brown butter baby zucchini, crispy squash blossom, cilantro) $18~ This was the only dish I didn't try. The portion size seemed fairly small plus I don't like goat cheese. So it would be wasted on me. My friend enjoyed it though.

I got the Cheeseburger (Kansas City Kobe Beef, American cheese, house dill pickles, sweet onion, shredded lettuce, TX tomato, creamy mustard on a griddled challah bun) $13~ Choice of Mixed Greens. 

 

 

It was between this or the BLT, and the waiter highly recommended this. I'm glad I took his advice. A solid burger. Simple, no exotic ingredients like some gourmet burgers these days, but just good. The meat was super juicy. I especially love their challah bun... soooo soft and buttery but still holds everything together. I would definitely go back and have this again. I didn't feel greasy or heavy after eating this. And I thought I'd have leftovers, but I ate the whole thing. :P So much for saving room for dessert... ha!

We also got some sides to share for the table.

I chose the South of TX Style Creamed Corn (grilled summer corn with red and green chiles, scallions, cream, hot sauce, cotija cheese) $7~ 

Their sides are quite sizable btw... We didn't expect the portion size to be so "healthy". hehe. Loved this. So much flavor. A slight kick from the hot sauce. And not super creamy like it's doused in heavy cream. Yum!

Cheddar Bacon Grits (hickory smoked bacon, aged cheddar topped with marinated baby tomatoes, green onions) $7~ 

I already knew their grits was good from my brunch experience. Also a big portion. It's soooo good. Texture and flavors are all spot on. A big hit with the entire table. A waitress tried to take it away with one bite still left and we all basically jumped on her. hahaha. No waste!!

We were all pretty stuffed, but I was here for the dessert so I had to get some. At first we all said we were gonna share, but with this group, we love food too much and almost everyone got their own. :P

A friend and I shared The Brian Corn Luscher. Specialty Sundae. (summer corn ice cream, port-soaked blackberries, goat's milk cajeta, cornmeal shortbread cookies, whipped cream) $9~ 

I don't like goat's milk, so we asked for the cajeta, which is kinda like a caramel sauce, on the side. The sundae was massive!!!! The summer corn ice cream sounded so interesting. But it was very light. For the first half, I could barely taste the corn because the blackberry sauce and shortbread overwhelmed it. The blackberry sauce was awesome though, so I didn't mind. And the shortbread was good too, added a much needed crunch. After we ate through most of the toppings, then I was able to finally taste the corn ice cream. It's really good. We had help eating this too, but we were beaten. We could not finish... since everyone else got dessert too.

Coconut Cream Pie (sweet coconut cream, toasted meringue, candied coconut flakes, traditional flaky crust) $8~ Very pretty and tasty too.

Lemon Blueberry Pie (lemon curd swirled with fresh blueberry jam, topped with whipped cream, grape-nuts in brown sugar-oatmeal crust) $8 Plus A la Mode +$2~ Kinda pricey for a slice of pie and ice cream but they're both really good. This pie was yum-o! The lemon wasn't too tart and the pie wasn't too sweet. I especially loved the grape-nuts/oatmeal crust. Never had that before. So awesome.

Nancy's Butterscotch Pie (butterscotch cream, toasted pine nuts, caramel, rosemary-infused traditional flaky crust) $8 Plus A la Mode +$2~ This was a super rich and thick pie. A little too sweet for my friend who ordered it so I took it home for my fiance (who loooooves butterscotch). The pine nuts on top elevated the whole thing, in my opinion. It was a great combo.

It was a great dinner. Great company, delicious food, attentive service. I will surely be back soon. I need to have that cheeseburger again! We also got some complimentary mints with our checks.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Cali Trip: Anaheim Packing District

Saturday afternoon, my cousins, who are also huge foodies, recommended that we check out Anaheim Packing District for a late lunch. I've never been, but the way it sounded got me excited.

Anaheim Packing District
440 S. Anaheim Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92805
(714) 533-7225
http://anaheimpackingdistrict.com/

It's also called Anaheim Packing House apparently. Same thing, so you don't get confused. I love it!! A center full of food vendors and small shops, all flea market-esque. I love these types of places. We walked all the way around to check out all the different food options. OMG. I wanted to eat everything... but finally chose one since they were prepping the meat at the window... drool! But of course it was one of the vendors with the longest line. haha. Everyone else went off in search of other stuff.

 

The Kroft
Prochetta Sandwich (ciabatta, pork belly/loin, cracklings, salsa verde) $10~ 

 

 

 

Like I said, they had a guy at the window at the front chopping the meat and assembling the sandwiches. Looked freaking fantastic. The sandwich was packed full with pieces of pork. And oh, it was so juicy! The cracklings were amazing. Each bite had so much flavor. Legit! I totally want one right now... I ate half of it and gave the other half to my cousins/aunt/uncle to try. Everyone liked it.

Brussels Sprouts and Bacon $5~ 

I also got this as a side. It was pretty good. A little soggy/greasy but I liked the flavor. It was a bit sweet... I think there was balsamic vinegar on it.

Overall Experience:

Here's what other people got.. We had a feast going! Our table was wayyy too small.

Adya: Fresh Indian Flavors

The Chippy: Fish & Grill

I was full, but I had to get some dessert.
Han's Homemade Ice Cream 
There was no line when I walked by so, yes, this is it! They had some interesting flavors. Twinkies being one of them.

Bourbon Peach (in waffle cone) $4~ Deeeelicious. You can totally taste the bourbon without the bite. It wasn't too sweet, and there were chunks of real peach throughout.

Overall Experience:

Popbar 
This was by far the most popular vendor. The line was literally out the door the entire time we were there. But my cousin wanted to get some so I went up to the line with her. I wanted one too, but was too full. All their popsicles are made fresh daily with natural ingredients. 

 

Pistachio Popsicle (dipped in dark chocolate, topped with chopped pistachio and hazelnuts) $5~

Banana Popsicle (dipped in dark chocolate, topped with chopped pistachio and hazelnuts) $5~

They were doing an anniversary special that weekend where the dips and toppings were free, but normally those cost extra. Quite expensive for a popsicle, but they are sure yummy to look at!

It's such a fun place. I wish Dallas had something like this.. I think we may be getting something similar in Plano in the near future?? Fingers crossed!

Overall for the entire center:

Only complaint is not enough seating!

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~