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Sorry all, it's been a while... The last few months have been so hectic. Sick, traveling, holidays, sick again. Ugh. Plus I've just been so busy that I didn't wanna write at all... So the next few posts may be abbreviated but still with lots of yummy pictures! (That's the most important anyways, right??)
I've been wanting to take my fiance to Rise No. 1 forever. So one Friday night, I made him drive all the way out from Rockwall to meet me for dinner. Plus they had some seasonal items on the menu I really wanted to try.
Rise No. 1
5360 W. Lovers Ln.
Dallas, TX 75209
214-366-9900
www.risesouffle.com
Price: $$$-$$$$
We got started with some bread. I love the presentation with the bread cutter.
Rise No1 Salad (baby greens, blue cheese, roasted pecans, Granny Smith apples, pecan vinaigrette) $8~ Always a good choice. Not heavily dressed, the flavors are fresh and light. LOVE the roasted pecans on top.
Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle $20~ Again, a great choice. I always order this when I go there. The smell is amazing! It's like cream of mushroom soup but fluffy!
Special: Crab Souffle (I think it had Gruyere cheese in it). First time having this. I loved the cheesy crust on top, and there were nice big chunks of crab throughout. I have to say Gruyere and souffles go together hand in hand.
Seasonal Pumpkin Souffle.
This was only available until the end of the year, so I had to try it. You KNOW I love me some pumpkin ANYTHING! It came with a sauce... don't remember what all is in it. But the sauce helped the souffle a lot. The souffle was disappointing. Not enough pumpkin and not very satisfying. I always realize that I like savory souffles over sweet ones when I come to dine here.
But I do still love this place. Great ambiance. Very intimate, great for date night. Service was a little spotty that night but they were also really busy.
And we went to Berrynaked for more dessert after. :P Go check them out... super fresh ingredients. They make everything from scratch. It's dessert, but healthier! Loved their Fall Festival.. sweet potato!! Yum! Aren't these gorgeous?!?
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I was meeting up with a friend for dinner a couple weeks ago. I suggested Lekka since I've been meaning to go try it. One of my friends told me it's really good and the reviews online were also great. It's where Obzeets used to be, and they've got a pretty awesome patio. Now... we just need cooler weather!
Lekka Cafe & Gifts
17606 Preston Rd.
Dallas, TX 75252
(972) 735-8425
www.lekkashop.com
Price: $$
I was meeting my friend at 6:30PM, but I decided to go there early and do some work. I arrived around 4:30PM and decided to get dessert first. :P I've heard amazing things about their cakes and pies as well. The dessert case was pretty sparse that day, but everything they had in there looked good.
I decided to get a slice of the Banana Caramel Pecan Pie $6~ And a cup of hot tea.
An elderly gentleman at the restaurant was telling me that their desserts are the best and they don't skimp on the portions. Soon after, the waitress brought my pie, and O.M.G... it was like 2 slices of pie as one. O.O WHOA!! This thing was massive and so amazing looking. I think I almost cried! haha. And it sure was tasty! The loads of caramel made it a tad too sweet for me, but pairing it with a hot tea was great. I had to will myself to stop eating since I was still having dinner! :P
Once my friend arrived, we perused the menu. It was still Happy Hour! And she got an appetizer.
Warm Artichoke Dip (blend of cheese, spinach, artichokes; served with tortilla chips and salsa) $5~ It was a lot of food. The dip was cheesy and gooey. Can't say I've had an artichoke dip I haven't liked yet. haha.
She ordered the Veggie Tramezzini (mozzarella, spinach, artichokes, roasted red pepper) $9~
A tramezzini is a grilled Stuffed Pita Bread. All tramezzinis are served with side house salad or Ribbon Fries. My friend chose the fries since the waitress recommended it. It was a lot of food. With a huge side of fries. The tramezzini was good and so were the fries. She said it reminded her of Arby's fries. Me? I like pretty much anything fried and these fries were perfectly crispy, and can still taste the potato.
I got the Texan Tramezzini (fiesta blend, pico de gallo, guacamole, grilled chicken; served with salsa for dipping) $10~ With Side House Salad and house vinaigrette.
This is basically a loaded quesadilla. There was plenty of chicken and cheese. The outside was nice and crisp. Yum! I'd totally get this again.
We had a good time. The food portions were large and quality was good. I had half to go for my lunch the next day. The service was good too and decor is very eclectic. They have a store section where you can buy stuff, and the big, covered patio in the back.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I had a car appointment in McKinney early last week. So I took the opportunity to go back to Harvest! This time for their lunch service which only started a little over a week ago. I met up with my ex-boss (who was the one that told me about this place from the beginning), and he hasn't been there yet.
I had made a reservation, but the place was only about 30% full when we arrived at 12:30PM. Might've been the terrible rainy weather that slowed business? But I'm not sure if a lunch reservation on the weekdays is necessary.
Harvest Seasonal Kitchen
112 E. Louisiana St.
McKinney, TX 75069
(214) 726-0251
http://harvesttx.com/
Price (for lunch): $$
I still love the decor so much. It was extra smokey inside that day though. The kitchen was in a cloud of smoke... I wonder if something burned?
We started with the Deviled Eggs (Texas pecans, pickled mustard seed, pickled red onions) $5~ I loved it the first time and it's just as good the second. My boss really liked it too. Just hits all the flavors and textures. :)
We both decided on the Fall Duo (choice of two: half sandwich, half salad, cup of soup) $9~
I got the Turkey Sandwich (house smoked turkey breast, jalapeno jelly, avocado, smoked cheddar, whole grain wheat bread). $9~ if you get the full sandwich and it comes potato chips.
I laughed a little when our half sandwiches came. They looks so small! But this was so delicious!! I really wished there was more, but with the soup and the appetizer/dessert we got, I was plenty stuffed. The jalapeno jelly is what sealed the deal for me to order this. The waitress said it was pretty amazing and I took her advice. YUM! The jalapeno jelly was the cherry on top. It was sweet for the most part then I started getting a little bit of that jalapeno kick. It was perfect with the flavors of the smoked cheddar. The avocado added a richness to make the sandwich more substantial. I'd totally get this again. And I need to get my hands on a jar of that jalapeno jelly!
BLT (bacon, watercress, fried green tomatoes, sun-dried tomato aioli, Texas toast). My boss says he loves fried green tomatoes. It looked really good with that thick Texas toast. He said it was really good.
Butternut Squash Soup (cream, pumpkin seeds, paprika).
We both got a cup of the soup. One of my favorite fall vegetable.. or just in general. haha. Doesn't have to be the fall. The soup was silky and luxurious. Creamy soups are my fav! I love the pumpkin seeds in there to add texture. I could've drank a bucket of this.
Grandma's 'Tomato Soup' Spice Cake (pecans, raisins, butter cream icing) $6~
We got this to share. It sounded super interesting. The waitress was explaining to us that the chef got this recipe from the 1930's, when dairy wasn't all that available so they used tomato soup as the wet ingredient in baking. Much like the concept of using apple sauce when baking. It was yummy. And a HUGE slice! Filled with dried fruits and nuts and just enough cream cheese frosting. You can't taste the tomato soup at all. We couldn't finish it between the 2 of us. I took 1/3rd of it home!
Delicious meal once again. And our waitress was fantastic. Still love this place! Can't wait to go back again. :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Last week my awesome boss took our team to our holiday lunch. He chose The Mercury (used to be known as Mercury Grill)... which is a fantastic place. I've been once before for dinner. So I was super psyched!
The Mercury
11909 Preston Road
Dallas, TX 75230
(972) 960-7774
http://www.themercurydallas.com/
Price (for lunch): $$-$$$
The Mercury has been in Dallas for a long time and has consistently done well. For lunch, business was booming and most of the customers were well dressed.
I knew the food here was good so the hard part is just picking what I want!
After asking our waiter like a million questions about different menu items I settled on the Pearl Couscous Carbonara (with soft poached egg and black truffle sauce) $13~
It was an appetizer but just sounded awesome. And it was! Really pretty presentation. All the different colors in the white couscous contrasted by the black truffle sauce around the edges. The taste was fantastic. The creaminess you want from a carbonara and then topped of with a beautifully poached egg. There was a slight tang from the black truffle sauce which helped contrast the richness of the couscous. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it was rich enough as a lunch portion.
I also got a side of Butter Braised Brussels Sprouts $7~
You know me... love them brussels sprouts. haha. So cute in the little cast iron pot. They were cooked nicely. Still had great texture. And soaked in butter?? YES please!
My boss got the New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp (with soft cheese grits) $17~ Delicious. The sauce on the shrimp and grits was the highlight. Very bold and complex. The grits had good texture. He really liked it. And it quite a big portion for lunch!
My co-worker got the Pecan Crusted Idaho Trout (with asparagus and pepper salad) $18~ It was large piece of fish. I liked the sauce on it and the crust was nice. I felt like it should've came with some sort of side though.
We all shared a Bread Pudding (with cherry sauce, pecans and cinnamon ice cream) $8~
Different than what I expected. It was a large slice of super moist bread instead of your typical chunks of bread. It was yummy. I especially loved the pairing with the cinnamon ice cream. The cherries were a bit too sour for me, but my boss and co-worker loved it. It was just enough to round out the meal because I was so full already.
It was a delicious lunch. Which is expected since my boss is also a huge foodie. :) Kind of a pricey lunch, but with the caliber of food, it's pretty standard. The one complaint is that our waiter wasn't the friendliest and didn't really give us the time of day. No real greeting when we were given the menus or anything. I know they were super busy, but I felt like he had no time for us. But the food was fantastic so I'm willing to overlook that a bit. haha.
And just a side note... I have the best boss ever! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Wow... it's already been 2 weeks since I
was in Vegas. This month is flying by!
And almost Christmas!! :)
Last week I went with some friends to
Meddlesome Moth (in the Design
District). They had recently changed
chefs...now currently the chef that used
to be at Screen Door (which closed).
Thought we'd go and check it out!
Meddlesome Moth
1621 Oak Lawn Ave.
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 628-7900
http://www.mothinthe.net/
Price: $$
We had to sit outside since there was a
long wait inside. Luckily it wasn't too
cold out... Their patio seating is quite
nice.
We got several dishes to share.
Pig and Fig (pork belly, blue cheese
grits and bbq fig) $12~
This sounded so
good. But if you are not a fan of blue
cheese, this is not for you. I can
tolerate blue cheese and it was still a
little stinky for me. haha. But the pork
belly was fried nicely and fatty. The
combination of the blue cheese grits and
fig was a bit strange. Personally I
wouldn't get this again, but if you love
blue cheese and fatty pork, this is the
dish for you!
Nueske's Bacon Lollipops (with funnel
cake and maple hollandaise) $12~
This
was totally yummy. For those who like
the sweet and savory combo. The pork
belly almost had an Chinese roast pork
flavor. YUM! The funnel cake was a bit
too crispy but the hollandaise was
amazing! Sweet from the maple and paired
so well with the funnel cake.
Zucchini Chips (Mediterranean sea salt)
$8~
A waiter walked by with this as we
were ordering. It smelled so good so we
got one too. It was disappointing. The
slices of zucchini were so thin that it
just felt like we were eating grease. It
disintegrated in my mouth as soon as I
put it in there and just felt greasy. :(
Toasted Mushroom Farro (with Grana
Padano) $10~
I really wanted to try
this. I've seen Giada make farro a lot
on Food Network but I've never had it. I
liked it a lot. It's kind of like a fat
brown rice. It's all about the texture
and I'm all about that!
Chocolate Pecan Pie.
My friend ordered
this. I think they change their desserts
daily so they didn't have a dessert
menu. There was a thick layer of
chocolate under the top crust. It was
super yummy. I'm not a fan of Pecan pie,
but if it's Chocolate pecan pie, that's
another story! :P
It wasn't as great as my first dining
experience at Meddlesome Moth. But we
also ordered completely different
things. So I don't know... might just be
hit or miss.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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