Beto & Son

First post of 2017, y'all! I'm really going to try hard and do consistent posts this year. #newyearsresolution :P

I had the pleasure of dining at Beto & Son this past weekend with another food blogger friend of mine. I was invited through @bestfooddallas. :) The restaurant knew we were coming and we were supposed to meet with Chef Julian. Chef Beto and his son Julian opened their new restaurant in Trinity Groves just 2 short months ago. The place was packed when we arrived! They call their concept "next generation Mexican food", everything's from scratch, locally sourced, and had a "chef-to-table experience".

Beto & Son
3011 Gulden Ln #108
Dallas, TX 75212
(469) 249-8590
www.betoandson.com
Price: $$-$$$

We were warmly greeted by the hostess when we walked in. I gave them my name and that I was supposed to meet with Chef Julian. The hostess seated us quickly and sent over our waitress, Bree (sp?). She was super nice, got us our drinks and menus and gave us some info on the restaurant concept while we waited. Chef Julian showed up soon after. He was super friendly as well. We didn't really know what to expect from this visit... I was just thinking we each order and entree or something but he told us he would just send out some stuff so we can get a variety and feel of the food. And if we wanted anything else, we can just ask. He also brought out the dinner menu, which had more items so we can try everything. (We went for lunch.) The only thing we requested was one of their noodle bowls. We've both been perusing the pictures on Yelp and both wanted to try that. He mentioned the dinner menu has a Salmon Noodle Bowl and we were sold!

So we just kinda sat back and waited to see what surprised they were going to bring out! :)

We got started with some Housemade Tortilla Chips (with salsa and bean hummus). 

This is complimentary for every table. Everything is made in-house. The chips were fantastic. They were super thin and light and crispy. Chef Julian says the idea is to keep things light so people don't fill themselves up on just chips. That bean hummus though.... OMG. It was awesome and interesting. The texture reminded me of the black bean dip from Glorias which is amazing. I think I can slather this bean hummus on everything.

Chef Julian brought out 3 appetizers. He personally served every course by the way. It made us feel so special! And he explained every dish, their ideas behind it, what the elements were, and how they were made. I always love the background info on what chefs are thinking when they create something. You can definitely tell he takes pride in all their food.

Mexican Poutine (scratch crafted masa fries, chicken tinga, queso blanco, tomatillo sauce, queso fresco, pico, fried egg) $11.99~ 

Sooooooo good!!!!!!!!!! Definitely one of my favorite dishes of the meal (I had lots of favorites...haha). Totally loved the potato/masa blend of the fries. I think it created a better texture than just pure masa. So many different flavors but all blended so well. That perfectly runny egg was just the cherry on top. Yolk porn, y'all! I can totally order this as my entree.

Gulf of Mexico Ceviche Tower (shrimp, slaw, avocado, pico, mexican cocktail sauce) $14.99~ 

A play on the sushi towers you find at every Japanese restaurant. Any food in stacked form is cool I think. This was very refreshing and the Mexican cocktail sauce added just a hint of heat. The slaw was crunchy, avocado was creamy, and the shrimp was cooked well. It was a nice contrast to the Poutine which was heavier. It went really well with the tortilla chips.

Street Elote (charred shaved corn, garlic aioli, chile de arbol, queso fresco, crema cilantro) $6.99~ 

Yesss!!!! I love me some elotes. This is their take on it. Loved the charred corn with a hint of smoky flavor. The aioli and crema added the creaminess. An explosion of flavor! Another favorite!

We had to fight the urge to keep eating it all. Since we only just got started! We asked them to pack most of the appetizers away so we wouldn't be tempted. haha.

Before the entrees came, our waitress told us another table had ordered the Liquid Nitrogen Mango Margarita. It is made table-side and it's pretty freaking cool! They use liquid nitrogen to make the frozen margarita. So much smoke!! Definitely a fun thing to do when you're out with friends. :)

Time for the entrees!

Sour Cream Chicken Tinga Enchiladas (shredded chicken tinga, sour cream sauce, melted cheese, avocado, pickled slaw; served with achiote rice and charro beans) $11.99~ 

They decided to do an open faced enchilada. What a great idea because you get so much more tortilla real estate to put stuff on! They use white wine in their sour cream sauce to add a different flavor and also make it less heavy. The addition of the pickled onions and watermelon radish brightens up the entire dish and adds vibrant colors. I don't like corn tortillas so I never really order enchiladas. I liked the idea of it being stacked and I think if they did it with their bomb flour tortillas, it would be that much better!

Fajita Skillet (caramelized peppers and onions, chimichurri, calabacitas, fried onions, chile de arbol glaze; served with fresh tortillas, achiote rice, and charro beans) Chicken $15.99~ or Fajita Steak $19.99~ 

The skillet came out sizzling and the smell filled the room. Ahhhhhh. We got a combination so we can try both meats. Both the chicken and steak were tender and flavorful. The fried onions are coated with a Mexican seasoning. It is reminiscent of cajun... tons of flavor and complimented the meats well! Their housemade flour tortillas were magnificent. It just about stole the show! So light and soft but doesn't tear, however much you fill with goodies! When our meal was over, Chef Julian said he would give us each some tortillas to go. Yay! If he hadn't offered, we would've asked anyways. hehe.

Tropical Salmon Noodle Bowl (roasted fideo pasta, seared salmon, calabacitas, chipotle cream, pickled onions, avocado) $17.99~ 

Dinner menu only. This was the one thing I really wanted to try... the noodle bowls. I didn't realize they had a salmon version until Chef Julian mentioned the dinner menu. I'm so glad we got this one. The pasta is toasted first then cooked in the same stock they use to make their tortilla soup so it already has a bunch of flavor. The toasting process makes it a little nutty. And that salmon...oh the salmon. I KNEW it was going to be amazing before I even cut into it. It was cooked PERFECTLY. Pink on the inside, fork tender, and so moist it just flaked right off. One of the best pieces of salmon I've eaten to date. Not just recently, but my whole life. And I've had a lot of salmon, y'all. Highly highly recommend this dish!

What an amazing meal. I loved all the variety their menu offers. I never get Mexican food because I find it to be the same thing most of the time. Here... you have a ton of choices. I challenge you to pick just one!

Of course the meal can't end without dessert. I was hoping he would bring out the flan and he did. I love flan!
Luna de Noche Flan (chocolate cake, flan, whipped cream, cajeta) $7.99~ 

The presentation was great. I normally don't care for the half cake half flan thing. Since the flan is always so much more moist than the cake, it makes the cake feel even drier. Not the case here. The cake was just the right thickness, it melded into the flan. And that cajeta (caramel sauce)... oh man. A dessert lover's dream! The flan is a good size too, totally shareable. But if you don't, I won't judge. hahaha.

Thanks to Beto & Son for having us out. It was more than what I expected for sure. Chef Julian showed us a great time. His choices of dishes gave us a really good range of their menu. And that salmon.... ahhhhhhh! Like butter! The place has a fun vibe, but the lighting wasn't great for food photos (hence the rating). But I'll be back for sure. Food trumps lighting! haha. :P And you should definitely check it out!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Food Tour 2010 - Part I (LA)

This past weekend my bf and I took a trip..."food tour" if you will...haha. We hit up Los Angeles, CA and Nashville, TN. Random, eh?? hahaha. We had a purpose to our madness... One, to get him more miles to make executive platinum status on AA (which he's going to get! Woot!). Two, to eat at new places! And three, to see my awesome friends in LA!

I have a lot to post so I'm going to do it in 3 parts. Parts I & II will be the 2 days in LA and part III will be Nashville.

I flew in earlier on Friday and my friend took me to eat lunch at this awesome Japanese supermarket food court. Japanese food in CA is pretty bad ass!

Mitsuwa Marketplace
21515 Western Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 782-0335
http://www.mitsuwa.com/

My friend got #9. Toroniku (special pork) Salt Ramen Large $10.99~ at the Santouka Ramen counter.

This was the ramen he kept telling me about. And he's been looking forward to going there with me cuz he hasn't had it in a while. I've never had Salt Ramen before, the broth looked almost creamy... and the special pork on the side was a finer cut of meat than usual pork slices in ramen. OMG!! Sooo freaking delicious!!! If I had the choice I will never order the regular kinds of ramen again. The broth was rich and full of flavor. The noodles were cooked PERFECTLY! And the pork was definitely better...soo worth the additional cost! If you love ramen...you need to go there!

I wanted to sample some other counters too so I went to Mifune (I think?) and ordered the Chashu Ramen & Unagi Donburi Combo $7.25~ What a killer deal! Sooo much food for cheap! The bowl of ramen was pretty huge. Chashu ramen is pretty generic...the flavor was normal as most ramen I've had. But again, the noodles were cooked perfectly! :) The unagi was overcooked, but for that price, I'll take it! haha.

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We finished most of our food... Sooo FULL!! But couldn't resist the cake counter at Italian Tomato. We ended up getting a few cakes and dessert:
- Strawberry Cake $4-5~ - Strawberry Gateau $4-5~ - Green Tea Tiramisu $4-5~ - Black Sesame Pudding $3~ The Green Tea Tiramisu was my favorite. The green tea powder had a hint of bitterness that almost reminded me of cocoa powder. My friend didn't care for it so it was ALL mine!! Muahaha! My next favorite was the Gateau. It was a little hard to cut into but I liked all the different layers. One layer was like a puff pastry and added a buttery-ness to it all. The strawberry cake was my friend's favorite. It was super fluffy and light. I prefer denser cakes so it was too light for me. The black sesame pudding was interesting. It almost had a savory quality to it...maybe too much egg? But I feel like it needed wayyy more black sesame.

Inside the Supermarket, I also got:
- Milk Baumkuchen $5.99~ This was sooo cool. It was like thin sponge cake spun into a roll. So basically it was like a denser sponge cake. Slightly sweet...would pair great with tea or coffee!

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As if the lunch and cakes weren't enough... We went to another Asian bakery for more stuff!

J.J. Bakery
2370 Crenshaw Blvd
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 328-6668
http://www.jjbakeryusa.com/

This is a bakery chain I believe. Walking in, it just reminded me of Asia, and going into the bakeries there. That's what heaven must smell like! YUMMERS! We got an assortment of stuff... (from top left, clockwise)
- Hokkaido Butter Toast $2.75~
- Corn & Jerky Bread $1.15~
- Tarot Bread with Dry Buttermilk $1.30~
- Hot Dog Bread $1.20~
- Pineapple Bun with Dry Buttermilk $1.20~ - Strawberry Mochi Cake $2.85~ each...
The Strawberry Mochi Cake was a must try recommended by my friend. And he was right! OMG...never had it before. I wish we had it here in Dallas. It's like a soft creamy pillowy cloud wrapped in a thin layer of mochi. Pure deliciousness. The texture was so light. The mochi was the right thickness so it wasn't too chewy and the whipped cream and fluffy cake inside was so delicate. :D I also had the pineapple bun...not as good as the ones I have in Asia, but its pretty close. The Hokkaido Butter Toast was pretty amazing too. Hokkaido (in Japan) is known for their dairy, so their butter toast must be hella good!! Super fluffy and buttery. You don't need to put anything on the toast and the flavor is good already.

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For dinner I selected a restaurant in Hollywood.
Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-9225
http://www.animalrestaurant.com/
Price: $$-$$$

I saw this restaurant on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate." They featured the Bacon Chocolate Crunch Bar on the show. The menu seemed interesting. It had more exotic things such as veal brains, oxtail, pigs ears, etc. Being Asian...those things are not as exotic to me, but it was cool to see a Western restaurant feature them. They also use local/organic ingredients/produce, so I thought that was cool. The restaurant is really small...about 45 seats total so a reservation is a must!! It's also hard to find, because there's no sign in the front?? Weird!

For a party of 2, we were only able to get a reservation for 9PM. DANG! But my bf's flight didn't get in until after 7PM, so it all worked out. The place was packed when we arrived! And people continued to come in throughout the night. Service was pretty slow. The waiter was nice enough but wasn't too attentive.

We ordered the following...

Baby Kale (pecorino, lemon chili vinaigrette, crouton) $9~
I needed some greens after my day of carbs...haha. It was pretty expensive for a plate of greens but I really liked this dish. A little too much vinaigrette but the lemon really added a pop of flavor to the kale. Kale is a tougher green and I liked the texture of it, you had to chew it a bit more. Very fresh...just what I needed.

Barbeque Pork Belly Sandwiches (brioche and slaw) $12~ Love me some pork belly! This dish was extremely popular on yelp, plus its got one of my favorite meats so of course we had to order it. The pork belly was cooked nicely...fatty and tender. The brioche was nicely toasted and buttery. The slaw added a nice crunch to the sliders. The only complaint is there was too much bbq sauce, but overall I liked the flavors. I felt like the more I ate, the more I liked it. Expensive for 2 sliders, but I enjoyed it.

Poutine (oxtail gravy, cheddar) $15~ We decided on this last dish mainly because everything else we wanted was either tiny portions or wayy too expensive. Plus the waiter made it sound pretty good when he described it. It was basically fries topped with cheese and oxtail. A gourmet chili cheese fries if you will. hahaha. It was good though. The oxtail was super tender and even though the fries were smothered in the gravy, cheese, and oxtail, it stayed somewhat crispy and firm. That was pretty impressive. However, the gravy and cheese combo was pretty salty, so the more we ate the saltier it became. :( Not good... By the end of the meal I had a headache from all the sodium.

One thing I didn't like about this place was that they served everything separately...almost like they are different courses. So by the end with the Poutine, we had nothing to eat with it...to cut the salt. :( Plus the high prices and not so great service, I'm not too impressed with the place. We also opted not to get dessert because I saw another table with them and they were tiny...and expensive. Plus the reviews on yelp say the bacon chocolate crunch wasn't that great.

The ambiance was pretty cool, but I would say don't go out of your way to go there... LA has wayyy too many other options.

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Day 1 is over...sooo much food! But it continues the next day!! hahaha

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~