Banh Shop

Earlier this month, my co-workers and I went to go check out Banh Shop for lunch. None of us had been but we wanted something Asian.

Banh Shop
5629 SMU Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 890-9776
http://banhshop.com/
Price: $-$$

We got there around noon, the place was pretty empty, which was good because we didn't have a lot of time. You order at the counter and they bring the food to your table.

I saw on Yelp that you get a Free Soup Shot or dessert if you check-in. They were out of desserts that day so I got the soup shot. It's a cute little cup of what looks like pho broth with a few stands of rice noodle. Way too sour for me, so I didn't finish it. Aside from the sourness, the rest of the flavors were not bad.

I also got the special for the day: Korean Fried Chicken Banh Mi (crispy hand dipped chicken breast in beer batter, a layer of house kimchee, a layer of house cured pickles with red pepper flakes; served with tangy Korean pepper sauce and sriracha aioli) $6.95~ 

 

I do love Korean fried chicken! And I always like trying new things. The rest of the menu items will always be there but daily specials can go away. It was a pretty big sandwich and piled quite high. The bread was toasted a bit too much in my opinion because it felt like it was going to cut the inside of my mouth. Also because the sandwich was so tall, I wasn't sure how it was going to fit in my mouth. haha. Aside from the slightly hard bread, the rest of the banh mi was great. The chicken was fried well. I loved the kimchi and pickles, and didn't have too much sauce. I hate it when things are over-sauced. It wasn't very spicy so I put sriracha on it. I quite enjoyed it. I would eat it again.

One co-worker got the Vietnamese-Style Chicken Soup (char-grilled chicken in a seasoned chicken broth with Asian spices, scallions, bean sprouts, cilantro, red onion, lime, bean thread noodles; served with a baguette) $7.50~ 

It was a large bowl of soup with thin, clear noodles in it. She said it was pretty good. I didn't try it, but I wondered if it tasted like my soup shot.

The other co-worker got the Banh Fire Bowl (stir fry of carrots, bean sprouts, red onion, scallion, cilantro, tossed in a spicy tamarind sauce and topped with peanuts, "Banh Fire" jalapeno pesto, and dollop of cooling sour cream. Served over white rice, choice of protein) $8.50~ 

He subbed rice noodles in place of the rice and chose chicken. The rice noodles were what you'd normally get in Pad Thai. I got the try a bite, the noodles were slightly overcooked and I felt there was too much sauce. But the flavors were good. i thought the addition of the pesto plus sour cream was an interesting touch. He enjoyed it.

It was a good lunch. We all liked what we got. I'm not sure if I would make a point of going back. But if I'm in the area, I wouldn't be opposed to going there. :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Hanabi Ramen & Izakaya

Last weekend, a friend and I decided to take a day trip out to Ft. Worth. Neither of us have been there much and just wanted to check out the sights, and of course, food!!

The first place I wanted to hit up was definitely Hanabi. I've heard great things about it and almost everyone who's been there has said they have the best ramen in DFW. God knows we need a good ramen place here!

Hanabi Ramen & Izakaya
3204 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth, TX
(817) 420-6703
Price: $$

Obviously I've never been, so I always imagined it to be a small place. So I was pleasantly surprised that they took reservations. I made one for 3 people on Saturday at 11:30AM. We arrived on time, and there was maybe 3 other tables there. haha. And the place is wayyy bigger than I thought. I guess the reservation is totally unnecessary. Oh well. Better safe than sorry, eh?

We were seated immediately and the waitress came to take our drink orders. We all got the hot green tea which was really good. A lot of matcha flavor. :)

We got some appetizers to start.
Squid Leg Fry (6 pcs.) $4.50~ 

6 pieces for 5 bucks is a little expensive in my opinion, but at least the pieces were big. It was yummy. It came with a side of Asian mayonnaise to dip. Loved it! The squid was cooked well, the outside was fried nicely. The mayo had a sweetness that paired well with it.

Salmon Onigiri (salmon rice ball; 1 pc.) $3~ 

This was good too, esp with the mayo as well. But these tend to have more rice than filling ratio, and this was no different. There wasn't that much salmon in the middle.

I already knew what I wanted. The dry ramen. If it's an option, I always opt for the dry. The noodles are generally thicker and chewier, which I prefer.
Kara Miso Aemen (pasta style ramen, without soup, with pork belly, egg, cabbage, carrot, chives and green onion) $11~ 

My fiance decided to get the same thing. It was a HUGE bowl. Wow.. I think we could've shared! haha. The sauce is all on the bottom so you have to mix everything together. As soon as I started mixing I realized there was chili oil... this was spicy. The name should've tipped me off "Kara" indicates spicy but I didn't even think of it. And they didn't put "spicy" anywhere on the menu... I think restaurants should indicate that, not everyone can take spice. I mean I love spicy so it's great. But my fiance can't eat spicy. It really upsets his stomach. So the waitress overheard and told him not to mix, and they would remove the bottom part with the sauce for him. I dunno, that seemed like a stupid move on their part but we didn't say anything. She brought a new bowl back with everything that was above the sauce. So basically half the noodles were gone. She told him he can add additional flavor with the soy sauce at the table... Uh... ew? He decided to just go with what he had. He didn't use the soy sauce, but just threw the squid in for extra flavor. haha. I told him he should've sent the whole thing back and gotten something else. And why didn't they offer him the broth from the dipping ramen or something?? Doesn't this ruin the flavor/experience of someone's meal? Needless to say, it was bland bland bland. But he was too nice to complain. :( 

 

Mine however, was great. The spicy sauce on the bottom had chunks of meat in it. The egg could've been a bit runnier but I didn't mind it. There were plenty of veggies, which I appreciated. And everything was finely chopped so it was easy to pick it all up with the noodles. The noodles were great. Nice chewy texture. Although I think the noodles at Wabi House was even better. Hanabi totally trumped with the flavor. It reminded me a lot of the Chinese Zha Jian Mian, which is one of my absolute favorite noodles in the world. So that was a plus. I tried to finish it all because it was really good, but couldn't. It was wayyy too much.

My friend got the Karami Tonkotsu Ramen (creamy broth made with pork bones; with chashu, egg, bamboo shoot, green onion, takana, nori; spicy) $10~ 

 

At first bite, she said "this is good!" Better than Wabi. I tried a bite or two. I felt the noodles were a tad overcooked but it was the curly kind so I still liked it better. The broth flavor was good. We both agreed that so far this has been the best in DFW.

I really enjoyed it. My friend did too. My poor fiance... not so much. I think they should've discounted his dish too, but they didn't. To pay $11 for bland noodles is not a great feeling. But he did learn to always verify spicy or not in the future. Other than the poor choice in dumping out his sauce instead of giving him something else, our waitress was very nice and attentive. I do agree with most people that it's the best in DFW. As comparison to the rest of the world tho... it's somewhere in the middle. And it's so far from Dallas still... sigh.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

2015 Austin Food + Wine Festival: Sunday

Sunday (4/25)

We showed up a little later this time. And it seems like the other attendees had the same idea. People trickled in throughout the day and there was definitely less people. It was a little cooler that day. Thank goodness!

Easy Tiger - Rye Tartlets (with Duck Romesco). The duck was great. The rye was too dry and fell apart when you bit into it. 

Cardamom Toasts (with rum syrup and brioche). So pretty. Didn't care for the bottom toast part, but the top was really good.

Bufalina - Sage Burrata (with red wine poached strawberries and brown butter crisped sage). I freaking love burrata.

The Maple Syrup Lady - Maple Pecan Baklava, Maple Candy

Tiny Pies - Mini Pecan Pies. Cute! And very good. Apparently later in the day they had key lime, which I didn't get to try... booo. :(

 

Corner - Avocado Cheesecake (with prickly pear jelly and pistachio crumble). They get the award for the most interesting dish. The presentation is amazing first of all. The colors are so beautiful. And I got to see them plate these... :) You can totally taste the avocado, it was so smooth but light. Not too sweet and just enough.

 

Knob Creek - Blackberry Peach Tea Lemonade (with Knob Creek bourbon). My fiance liked it. Too strong for me!

 

 

Fork & Vine - Asparagus Salad. It was nice to get some veggies. A little too much sauce but otherwise another great dish. It's no scallops though. haha.

Bess Bistro - Pig Face Rillette (with kimchi bbq sauce, mung bean cilantro salad, pickled strawberry vinaigrette, on a lavash cracker). Didn't care for the lavash... too hard. But the pig face... SPOT ON. So good.

Little City - Cold Brew Coffee. I thought it was cool that it comes in bottles!

Finn & Porter - Grilled Octopus. One of the favorites of the day. The octopus was amazingly tender. Grilled to perfection and was complimented so well by the fennel/radish salad on the bottom. I wish I had more stomach space to go back for more.

La Barbecue - Brisket (on a plantain chip). I've heard great things about La Barbecue for a long time now but we've never had time to check them out in Austin. Brisket... amazing. That char is awesome. I bit mine in half and then the other half fell into the grass. I was devastated... Almost applied the 5 second rule but talked myself out of it. haha. 

 

Wu Chow - Cold Noodles (with shredded chicken, in Peanut Sauce). 

 

Anise cookie (topped with Chinese BBQ Pork and Grapefruit zest). 

Definitely the best decorated stand. The fruit carving was the center of attention for all the pictures that day. It's beautifully done. The anise cookie was so interesting. You get sweet and savory and the anise flavor. The noodles were pretty standard.

Baked by Amy's - S'mores and Brown Sugar Homemade Pop Tarts. No macarons today. Darn... These were cute too. But was just ok. Needed more filling, otherwise the crust is a tad dry. 

 

La Condesa - Chicharrones. Mini Paletas (pineapple, tequila). They had two of the most interesting looking dishes. The paletas were in dry ice so you can see the cold air flying off of them. (check the Facebook page for a video) The Chicharrones had these hot sauce droppers stuck in there. Totally cool. But wasn't so tasty. 

Cafe Mueller - Brisket Taco. Good, but after La Barbecue, the brisket didn't compare.

 

Odd Duck - Fire Roasted Calf (with oven-baked bread). Roasted calf was good, the bread was tough to bite through. Their line was super long too...

 

Pass & Provisions - Corned Beef Leg with Cabbage and Rye. My favorite dish of the day by far! First of all, it's huge!! The rye "tortilla" had a bunch of seasoning in it and I loved the texture. But the star is definitely the corned beef leg. I mean... the cooking process is insane. Loved the giant leg just hanging there. I also saw them cooking it on the fire. But it was soooo freaking tender. Melt in your mouth and went so well with the slaw. I was already so full when I got to them so I thought I'd just eat a bite or two. I ended up eating about 2/3rds of it... hehe.

 

Here are some other items where I either don't know the description of the dish and/or the vendor:
Braised Pork over Sticky Rice (topped with pickled onions and watermelon radish)

 

Black and Bleu Crustini (beef tenderloin, caramelized onions, gorgonzola)

Shrimp (honey glazed?) - these went so fast... my fiance had to wait for them to put out more. But delicious!

Tekeen - Wine Cocktail

Chef Richard Blais Demo "For Goodness Steak". Top Chef contestant and Top Chef All-Stars winner. Love this guy! Known for using interesting cooking methods. His demo had liquid nitrogen and a handheld smoker.

 

Chef Tyson Cole Demo - Uchi/Uchiko - Yellowtail Handroll. Uchi has been on my list forever, but still haven't made it there. It's quite expensive. Chef Cole was the only chef demo that made food for everyone in the audience. :)

 

It was a fun weekend. Lots of delicious food, and I got to see some of my favorite chefs! Got several autographs on my CHOMP! shirt!! :) Tony Mantuano, Graham Elliot, Antonia Lofaso, Richard Blais, and Jamie Bissonnette. I'd say it was a success!!

I do wish that both of us drank more. I felt like there were at least the same amount of alcohol vendors than food, if not more. We kind of missed out on that part of the festival... So maybe we didn't fully get our money's worth. Oh well. This was on my bucket list. And now I can check it off! Next time... the Aspen Food + Wine Festival!! :D

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~