skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This past weekend was busy busy! My fiance's parents came to visit and we did a lot of wedding planning stuff. On Friday, they wanted to see the wedding venue and check out some nearby hotels. My parents joined us as well since they haven't seen the venue either. We were very productive and even finished everything ahead of schedule. So we planned on having dinner together at Whiskey Cake. His parents have never been, and since we were in Plano, we wanted to take them there.
Whiskey Cake
3601 Dallas Pkwy.
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 993-2253
www.whiskey-cake.com
Price: $$-$$$
This is one of our go-to places. We especially love the brunch at Whiskey Cake. And of course... the whiskey cake. hehe. No other dessert there has ever been better. I called as soon as our last hotel visit was over to get our names on the list... It was only 5:15PM at this point, and we were 5 minutes away. They actually told me the wait for 6 people was an hour! What?!? Wow... business is good! So we decided to go anyways, normally the wait is faster than what they quote you. As we pulled up, the parking lot is pretty packed and there were people waiting outside the restaurant. Uh-oh... not a good sign. We walked in and I checked in with the hostess. I also looked around to see if there's room at the bar to hang out. Nope! But then she said "if your entire party is here, we can go ahead and seat you." Wait... what? Apparently a table was no-show so we get it! Woohoo! How lucky are we?
We were seated in the side room. There were several tables still open, so I wondered if they were reserved... Our waiter, Kedus, was super friendly, and brought us some waters. Then he asked if we wanted to order drinks. My fiance is pretty picky about cocktails so he was asking a bunch of questions and whether Kedus had recommendations. Nothing too citrusy, or spicy, or strong... Kedus took it as a challenge and begin recommending stuff. Most of it got shot down.. haha. Then my fiance decided on the Hot For Teacher $11~ which is a bourbon based drink. My fiance took one sip and was like "nope". Luckily his dad really liked it so took it from him. My fiance couldn't decide on another one so told him to come back later.
Moments later, Chris, the other waiter who was helping Kedus, brought over a cool looking drink. He said he saw a challenge and decided to have their bartender (who are actually trained mixologists) come up with this concoction. Apple Cinnamon Julep.
My fiance loved it! Chris explained it's a play on their normal mint julep. Well yay, we have a winner! My fiance felt extra special that they took their time to find something he would like. And turns out, Chris was the manager in training! Future boss man... also super friendly.
My dad decided to get a cocktail as well. He went with As You Wish (aylesbury duck vodka, jalapeno, mango, orange, cranberry, lime, agave) $9~ per Kedus' recommendation.
My dad is a light-weight, like me, so I was a little nervous when he ordered a drink. haha. But he seemed to enjoy it. Said it had a kick to it from the jalapeno. Neither me or my mom could try it though, since we're both allergic to mango. Yea... see where I got it from?
We were off to a great start. We were given the specials of the day... which Kedus really recommended since the staff just got to try some earlier. hehe. And we finally got around to ordering.
We got Fried Green Tomatoes (remoulade, lemon zest, parsley) $6~ Usually it comes with 5 pieces, but they gave us another since we had 6 people. The tomatoes were fried nicely. I liked the remoulade, had a good tang to it.
I got the Crispy Atlantic Cod (watercress and napa cabbage slaw, tomato, zesty tartar sauce, french hoagie; served with house kettle chips) $11~
This thing was huge! Kind of looks like a po-boy mixed with a banh-mi. It was yummy too. Hard to eat since it was so loaded with slaw on top. Definitely messy. hehe. The fish was fried well, and still really tender on the inside. They definitely didn't skimp on the fish either. The tartar sauce was basically the remoulade from the fried green tomatoes but I like it on both dishes. I always have a fear that this type of bread is too hard... I've cut my mouth on extra toasted French bread before. This wasn't the case. The bread was soft and paired well with the fish. Although, it was so full, things kept falling out. My dad really liked my dish. He was going to order it but changed his mind... and I think he regretted that. So I gave him a few bites. :P
I also got a side of the Country Ham & Parmesan Brussels Sprouts. Of course. hehe. It was nicely charred and yummy.
Special of the Day: Arctic Char (with blue corn grits, fresno chiles, corn) $18~ Both my fiance and his dad went with the special. Arctic char looks kind of like salmon, but is generally less oily and fatty. It's a good fish, I've always liked it. His dad got it the original way.
The blue corn grits were yummy. He really enjoyed it. My fiance wanted the same sides as the Salmon dish because he was worried that the fresno chiles would be too spicy.
Turned out, the tumeric roasted cauliflower was spicier than the fresno chiles (which weren't spicy at all). haha. So I ate most of the cauliflower.. they were yum!
His mom went with the Live Wood Grilled Salmon (tumeric roasted cauliflower, broccoli greens, sweet corn puree, cilantro lime emulsion) $19~ She said it was really good, and finished it all.
My parent shared the Grilled Texas Striped Bass (summer vegetable stone fruit slaw, watermelon relish, sweet pea crema) $19~
The kitchen actually split the dish for them, so what you see here is only half portion. That was nice of them. It didn't seem as good as the other 2 fish dishes. My dad said it was just ok.
They also shared the Farm Salad (greens, cucumber, carrots, grape tomatoes, white balsamic vinaigrette) $5~
For a $5 salad, the portion size is really good. Everything looked fresh too. No complaints there.
And of course we can't come all this way to Whiskey Cake and not get dessert! We just got one Whiskey Cake (toffee torte, bourbon anglaise, spiced pecans, whipped cream) $8~
Everyone was pretty full by then, so we started with 1. Glad we did that... it was just enough. Still one of my favorite cakes in Dallas. If you haven't had it yet... what are you waiting for?
It was a great meal. All the food was good, his parents loved everything they tried. Kedus and Chris came by periodically to check on us and chat with us. It was a very nice experience. They made us feel special, especially my fiance who got a drink made just for him! :P This is probably the best service we've gotten there to date. I hope Chris sticks around, cuz he's going to make a great manager! :)
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I heard about the opening of Jack's a few weeks ago and have been excited about it. I was all planning to go opening week but they ended up pushing back the opening day to October 5th. :( So I didn't get to go until earlier this week.
Jack's Southern Comfort Food
1905 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 821-0900
http://www.jackssoutherncomfortfood.com
Price: $$
It's a cute little place. The decor is eclectic and homey. There's only about 10 tables or so...not a place for large parties. They have some ready made foods in display for take-outs and they also do catering. They also jar their jams for purchase.
We were there around 6:45PM on a Monday night... Only 1 other table there at the time. But the place filled up after we got there. We were given the menu.. which wasn't the same as what they posted on their website. The website menu had a lot more items than the one we got. There are also new items on our menu that wasn't on the website. I didn't like that... they need to keep things updated and consistent. It's frustrating when I go online and see something I want and then they don't have it on the menu. Just a personal pet peeve when restaurants in general don't update their websites properly. AND the prices on the menu was more than what's posted online. That's never a good surprise. :(
However, everything on the menu sounded yummy. And since we're there, might as well enjoy ourselves!
Started with the Deviled Eggs (6 pcs.) $4.95~ It was really good. The filling was nice and creamy. It was topped with some sort of relish? Added a nice tang to the rich egg yolks.
I got the BLFGT (bacon, lettuce, fried green tomato on a buttermilk biscuit with cajun remoulade) $12.95~
I mainly really wanted to try something with their biscuits, since that seemed to be something they really showcased. It was delicious. The biscuit wasn't what I expected. The look and texture is different than your typical biscuits. It was more bready and buttery. Different but good. I guess this holds up as a sandwich better than regular biscuits too. The fried green tomatoes was great. And I'm not sure if it was the tomatoes or the remoulade, but there was something tangy in the sandwich...almost like a pickle? I thought that complimented the bacon and biscuit really well. It was a pretty big plate...mostly because of the fries. haha. The fries were good, some were kind of overcooked, but I do like crispy fries. I enjoyed it.
My friend got the 2-Pc. Fried Chicken (mac & cheese, collard greens) $15.95~
Man... it seems like I've been having a lot of fried chicken and mac n cheese lately... haha. They are delicious, but so bad for my diet! :P They have some ready made fried chicken in the display cases. I've read a review saying they take those and refry it? I can definitely see that. The batter was super crispy... not in a bad way though. The chicken was still quite juicy inside. The flavors were nice. He really liked the mac & cheese...and wanted more of that. It was definitely different than regular mac & cheese, the way they topped the cheese and used penne. Not bad. I'd still go to Sissy's for fried chicken and mac & cheese though. hehe.
I was pretty full but of course we got dessert. Chocolate Bread Pudding (with banana puree, rum sauce) $5.95~
The bread pudding was pre-made and they just warm it up and top it with the rum sauce. The rum sauce is what sold it for me. But they didnt' put enough!! By the time it was served, the bread pudding had soaked up most of the sauce. I should've asked for extra sauce on the side! haha. The bread pudding had chunks of chocolate in it. It was pretty good. Would be nicer with some whipped cream or ice cream! *hint*hint* :P
So during the dinner, we saw the owner walking around the dining room refilling drinks and stuff. He would sit down and talk to some of the other tables. Never came to ours. :( What's up with that?! Like I said, the restaurant is pretty small, it's not hard to greet every table. We overheard him talking to other tables about their brunch, how they offer free mimosas (since they don't have a liquor license), etc... I felt left out. Booo...
The food was pretty good and service in general was fine. And it's a cute place. They have some kinks to work out and the prices are a tad high in my opinion. But there are still a few items on the menu I'd like to try before writing this place off. Maybe next time I'll go for brunch. They have Shrimp & Grits and a Bananas Foster French toast that sounds really good. Hopefully they actually have those items on the menu!
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
This was highly praised on other review sites. I've never heard of a Duck Po-boy so I was really interested. I was picturing fried duck in my mind though...haha. The roasted duck was pretty tender and the flavor was good. I think it would've been better if there were some crispy fried duck skin in it still. haha. I liked it, but it didn't blow my mind. The bread was a little too soft, I wish it would've had more of a crunch to it.
This was really similar to the duck one but with roasted pork instead. I also liked this one but felt the same way I did with the duck.
This was by far my favorite of the bunch. The fried green tomatoes got soggy from the remoulade and I didn't even care. The shrimp remoulade was definitely the star of the po-boy. The shrimp was
Pretty generic but nicely fried and good flavor. It was a good addition on the side since we didn't get any fried po-boys.
It wasn't really jambalaya to me...more like rice in a tomato sauce. It was good still.
The coleslaw was crisp and fresh but needed seasoning. There wasn't much flavor.
Posts
