skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Part 2 of my Barley & Board experience.
I could not stop thinking about the amazing experience we had back in Feb. Especially that burger!! Plus we had gotten there too late to partake in their Sunday brunch menu. So for my birthday this year, my only wish was to go back and have brunch. I had been on a month long diet all of March to prep for the wedding, but for my birthday (4/2), I made an exception and Barley & Board was what I wanted. I also really wanted to take my then fiance to try this place...cuz I can't stop talking about it. haha.
Barley & Board
100 W Oak St.
Denton, TX 76201
(940) 566-3900
http://barleyandboard.com
Price: $$-$$$
I connected with Narciso and he said they were happy to have us come out again. He was there at the restaurant to greet me, and I even got to meet Jason Lee (one of the investors). Yes, the Jason Lee, the actor. He was super nice and chill. Just having brunch with his family in a corner booth. How cool!
We didn't go AS crazy with the ordering this time, but still ordered enough to feed a family of 4. hahaha.
He got the Sarah Brown (vodka, kahlua, maple syrup, half & half) $8~ It was yummy. Like a White Russian, but with maple syrup. It's a great brunch drink. And it matches their plates (which I totally love)! Thought that was fun.
Truffled Portobello Fries (mustard aioli) $10~ This was amazing! Super thick cut portobello fried to perfection. Can you believe this was just ONE portobello cap?!?! Them and their giant produce! haha. We wanted to finish the whole plate but had to remind ourselves that this was the first dish. hahaha.
Kind of Blue Pancake (blueberry, lemon maple, with homemade whipped cream) $12~
Narciso highly recommended this. I can't say no to pancakes. I love them. This blew our minds. Both the presentation and the flavor. This was literally a pan "cake". It was over an inch thick, sitting in a lemon maple syrup and topped with a mound of homemade whipped cream. It was so epic we could not stop staring at it. Even tables next to us were staring at it. haha. And it was so good. Nice and fluffy, I felt like I could eat the whole thing. I didn't... but I could've. :P That syrup was bomb. When they boxed up the leftover pancake, we asked them to pack us some extra syrup.
Mi Masa (masa corncake, chorizo, sunny side up egg) $12~ Another pretty dish. I love it when restaurants stack food. I realized I'm not a fan of masa tho. I've only had it a few times but it reminds me of corn tortilla, which I don't like. But the other parts of the dish was good. And it was some serious #yolkporn!
I thought their brunch items were reasonably priced. Their menu has a good range of prices. They have a lot of options under $15 each, but also has dishes around $30 a plate or so.
Sweet Pig & Angry Bird (half rack ribs, brazen quail, slaw, b&b pickles) $28~ They had just added this to the menu. I definitely wanted the quail again and this way I get to try the ribs too. The quail was great. It's good that they are consistent with their quality. It was too spicy for my fiance so all for me! :D The ribs were great. Nice and tender. And those pickles!!!!!!!!!!
B&B Burger (sweet onion, b&b pickle, house sauce, american cheese) $12~ Can't come to Barley & Board and not get their burger. It's just like I remembered. My fiance bit into it and said I didn't exaggerate on how good it is. Don't believe me? Go try it for yourself!
Another successful visit. We were stuffed and had a lot of leftovers for the rest of the weekend. Our waiter was awesome and took care of us well. Again, the meal was comped... Happy Birthday to ME! But we gave a nice tip. Sigh, if they were closer I'd make monthly, or even weekly visits. So jealous of Denton right now! XD
I love you, Barley & Board!
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value: *comped*
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
About 2 weeks ago, I met up with a couple of friends for brunch. We're all huge foodies... but just too busy to meet up all the time. :( I suggested Proof + Pantry because I recently reposted an amazing picture of their French Toast on @bestfooddallas. I really wanted to try it. haha. Luckily, they haven't been either so it's going to be a new experience for all of us!
Proof + Pantry
1722 Routh St.
Dallas, TX 75201
(214) 880-9940
http://www.proofandpantry.com/
Price (for brunch): $$-$$$
It's located in One Arts Plaza. This is a cool little area by the Winspear but it doesn't seem to hold on to it's businesses. :( The last time I was here, it was the Commissary. Then it turned into a Greek restaurant or something before Proof + Pantry.
It's a cute place. Shelves full of stuff, which I guess is the "pantry" part, a full bar, and that day there was a live DJ playing music. My friends were already there when I arrived. They were lucky and found free street parking. I parked in the lot behind the plaza for $5, I didn't want to mess with parallel parking in the street. I'd be there all day! XP I was quickly greeted by our waiter and he brought me a water.
The brunch menu is fairly small, which is not a bad thing. This gives us less temptations to order more stuff. haha. We decided to do family style.
Benedict (pork belly, spinach, English muffin) $15~
This was really good. The pork belly was thick cut and seared well. The poached eggs were nice and runny. And those potatoes were so crisp, it really added a nice texture to compliment the benedict. I'd have to say this was my favorite. I ate one by myself. :P haha.
Dutch Cakes (Jarlsburg cheese, maple syrup) $14~
I saw a couple other tables with this and it was massive (see fork for size reference). The addition of the Jarlsburg cheese was quite interesting, although it seems like it was concentrated in the middle of the cakes... they should spread it out more. But the cakes were only slightly sweet, and the cheese added a savory factor. I really liked it. The maple syrup added more sweetness which worked well with everything. It was so big, we had half left over. I took it home to my fiance. He...did not like it. :( Because it was less sweet and more savory. You really need to like that combo to order this. Needless to say, I ate all the leftovers myself. OH well! :P
Stuffed French Toast (candied apples, mascarpone, maple syrup) $14~
The French toast wasn't what the menu described. The cream in the middle also had a savoriness to it and it wasn't apple. It was like strawberry cream cheese or something... I liked it, but it was my least favorite dish of the meal. I wish they had more cream in the middle or something. The savoriness was nice... but it would've been good to just have a normal sweet French toast too.
We all enjoyed the meal. I ate the most... what else is new. haha. Our waiter was super nice and quite fun too. Every time he came around to check on us, he told us a joke. Some were quite good actually! It was an interesting twist to the normal "coming by to see what you need" thing. The jokes made us laugh and made the experience better. I'd recommend this place. But only if you are ready for some interesting flavors in your sweet dishes. hehe.
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
This is going to be my favorite post for Taiwan. We had some awesome food, but the desserts in Taiwan are insane! One is more epic than the other.. haha.
Ice Monster
This was highly highly recommended by a friend. And we just happen to walk by one day! We had to go in. The specialize in snow ice, which is this super fine shaved ice, in different flavors with different toppings. I believe the original snow ice place was in the Shilin nightmarket. But Ice Monster took it to another level. The snow ice was even more fluffy and delicate than I remembered. We went there twice during our 2 week trip.
Pearl Milk Tea Snow Ice NT$180~
Freaking humongous. And freaking amazing. It's like a deconstructed pearl milk tea. The ice was the tea, the white pudding looking thing was the milk, and pearls came on the side in a bowl of syrup. Eat everything together and it tastes like a frozen pearl milk tea. The ice is so ridiculously fluffy. We had this both times we went. Definitely a winner.
Strawberry Snow Ice NT$280~
2nd time we went, we also got the strawberry one. Strawberry overload!! Strawberry ice, sorbet, diced strawberries, and milk pudding on the side. It was good, but easily trumped by the Pearl Milk Tea ice.
Jamling Cafe
My parents had discovered this place and wanted to take us there. My mom says their pancakes are so airy and light. For someone who doesn't eat dessert/sweets, that was a big deal coming from her. So we decided to take them there to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The specialize in pancakes, but in Mandarin, it translates to "waffle". I thought that was a little weird. It's a small place, super cute decor.
We decided to try a variety of things. They had sweet and savory pancakes. The savory ones sound interesting.. I didn't know what to expect with those.
Chocolate Strawberries (chocolate cream, strawberry sauce, vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries) NT$260~ This was a featured special. 2 fluffy pancakes loaded with chocolate cream and strawberries, topped with ice cream. Pretty epic eh? The chocolate was awesome, semi-sweet so it wasn't overwhelming.
Jamling (crunchy honey butter) NT$180~ This is the "original" and probably the best sweet one because it was the most fluffy of all and not excessive. The other sweet ones were much denser because it was loaded with a bunch of stuff. It was almost like a souffle pancake. My fiance didn't like it as much though because he thought it tasted more egg-y. I'd agree, but I love eggs in any way so it make me like it even more!
Apple Cinnamon (apple, cinnamon, vanilla ice cream, slicedalmonds) NT$220~ My fiance's favorite. Also very good.
Okonomiyaki (bacon, cabbage, egg, bonito flakes) NT$240~ I was hesitant on the savory ones but this one turned out to be my favorite. The flavors and textures with the pancake worked beautifully. And they had a nice thick slice of bacon on there. Makes everything better!
We also got some drinks. Can't be afternoon tea without some tea! (and coffee.) hehe. Plus if you get a drink and pancake, it becomes a set and you get a discount for the combo.
Cafe Americano (hot) NT$110~
Japanese Green Tea Latte (hot) NT$150~
Earl Grey Tea (hot) NT$120~
18 Cafe. This was another recommendation from a friend. She said their cakes were so light. Afternoon tea set: 1 cake plus a drink for NT$250~
I got the Hazelnut Chiffon Cake.
With the Taiwanese Green Tea.This is the one my friend recommended. Initially I didn't see it in the display so I almost missed it! It was awesome. Super light and so fragrant.
He got the Black Tea Cheesecake.
With the Taiwanese Black Tea. The black tea cheesecake couldn't compete with the hazelnut chiffon, but it was still good. You can actually taste the black tea flavor which made it interesting.
Now for the grand finale!
This was one of the highlights of the trip. I took my fiance to the Dazzling Cafe. I had gone 2 years ago and it was epic!! So we skipped dinner to go here. I thought we were going to order one dessert and share but he wanted 2! Ambitious! And we flew all this way to Taipei... why not!
Caramel Honey Toast (topped with whipped cream, ice cream, white chocolate, peanut brittle, caramel sauce, and honey to drizzle on top) NT$240~
Just look at it!! Did your jaw drop?? haha. It's basically half a loaf of bread. :P The presentation is amazing here. And the waitress comes to your table and carves this for you. (I will post the video on my CHOMP! facebook page if you want to watch some food porn. hehe) So she carves the sides and rearranges everything. And it's not a simple block of bread, every piece inside is individually toasted squares. Wow. Quite labor intensive it seems. We got additional honey to drizzle on it. So good!
Hazelnut Chocolate Honey Toast (with hazelnut spread, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries) NT$290~
I've had this before and it's awesome. Not only are the pieces individually toasted, they also inject chocolate sauce into it. This one isn't carved tableside though since it comes in stacked slices. My fiance loved it. And we made it through 1 and a half, which I thought was very impressive! :P
I got a pot of Darjeeling Tea NT$160~
My fiance got the White Chocolate Matcha Latte NT$150~ We were surprised when we tasted coffee, since most matcha lattes are just matcha and milk. But this was so good. I don't even drink coffee and I loved it!
I love this place, I will go back in the future cuz I saw some waffle dish that also looked really good! ha!
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Posts
