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So... I need to preface this post by saying I've never been a huge fan of hot dogs. Not saying I don't eat them... but I don't crave them, if there are other options I usually choose the other, and the whole "mystery meat" thing just kinda makes me nervous. HOWEVER, once I tried Dog Haus, my life has been changed! I'm so glad I took the invite to go check them out. They're right across the street from my work too. I just never felt the need to go... Kinda slapping myself for that now. Check out my epic visit below!
Dog Haus Biergarten
744 S. Central Expressway
Richardson, TX 75080
(214) 935-9121
http://richardson.doghaus.com
Price: $-$$
First of all, this place is a cool place to chill. They've got a great, casual set up, and a pretty impressive outside/patio area. Too bad the night we went was cold and pouring rain. Definitely a great place to hang out once spring hits though.
We met the owner, Ron, who was super nice and gave us all sorts of great info on the business. For example, all the meat they use for the hot dogs and sausages are closely monitored and they use the best meats. Definitely NO mystery meats here! The meats are all hormone and antibiotic free. Cool tip: they are also King's Hawaiian's largest commercial customer. He also told us about the collaboration he's doing this year with some big name chefs to benefit No Kid Hungry. $1 per item sold from this special menu is donated.
I kind of squealed a little when I saw the flyer because I recognized most of the names on the list. HEAVY HITTERS! Several of these chefs have competed on Top Chef (one of my favorite cooking competitions/shows) and have WON their season. The chefs change every 2 months so you gotta keep going back to see what's new. I cannot wait for March.. Stephanie Izard is also one of my all time favorite Top Chef contestants. (She won her season AND was the first female chef to win Top Chef, btw, no big. haha!)
Currently on the collab list is the Salty Malty (salty caramel shake with salted caramel swirl, malt, dulce crispearls).
Created by Chef Brooke Williamson, an amazing chef... one of my favorites in her season on Top Chef. She was runner up that season. And she's currently back on Top Chef again! Y'all, this shake is amazeBALLS. You see, cuz it's got crunchy balls in there. haha. :P No, it's legit good. I especially like the crunchy dulce crispearls in there, adds a nice texture. The combo of sweet and savory is on point. AND you can get it gluten free by removing the malt and crispearls. :)
Dutch Chocolate Shake (made with Fosselman's soft serve) $4.99~ We also tried the chocolate shake. Almost reminds me of a Frosty, less thick, but just as delicious. The chocolate wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, but still decadent. Desserts before dinner, eh? On to the food!
Ron just told us he was sending out some stuff. I didn't realize we were getting half the menu! haha. There were only 3 of us. Needless to say, we all had a TON of leftovers to go.
ROUND 1:
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HausSausages - hormone and antibiotic free sausages served on King's Hawaiian rolls - $7.49~ each
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Porchetta 'Bout It (pork belly sausage with rosemary, fennel, garlic and lemon zest; topped with garlic aioli, giardiniera and chicharron; served on grilled King's Hawaiian rolls).
Created by Chef Bruce Kalman. This is also one of the collaborations for Jan-Feb. Chef Kalman is no stranger to food shows either, having been on Top Chef and Chopped. I've definitely heard of his restaurant, UNION, in LA. This sounded awesome, especially with those chicharrons on top. Just look at the griddle marks on those rolls! We all loved that they use Hawaiian rolls for everything. For one, it made for easy sharing, just cut along the lines! :P Plus that bit of sweetness with the savory hot dogs and sausages really elevated everything. The chicharrons added great texture. You got less than 2 more weeks to try this!
The Big "D" (smoked jalapeno cheddarwurst, chili pepper relish, chipotle aioli, cotija cheese). Tons of flavor. The sausage had a great snap to it. I thought it had a bit too much sauce so the flavors were a bit muddled though.
Reservoir Hog (polish kielbasa, haus chili, haus slaw, yellow mustard). Loved the slaw, not a fan of yellow mustard in general. Still good though.
The Love Boat (fries, haus chili, haus slaw) $3.99~ The fries were good. Again, I loved the slaw. It added some freshness to the fried potatoes.
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HausBurgers - hormone and antibiotic free beef, served on King's Hawaiian rolls - $7.99~ each
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Little Mule (fried egg, avocado, pickled jalapenos, chipotle aioli, cotija cheese, white american cheese).
Who knew a place that specializes in hot dogs would be amazing at burgers. But OMG. I think this is one of my top 5 burgers now. I freaking loved this!! It was most definitely my favorite of the night. Using Hawaiian rolls as the buns just made it even better. Super fluffy and slightly sweet. The meat patty was juicy but not greasy and I loved every single element in this burger. I've been thinking about this ever since that night. I need to go back soon!
For ROUND 2, we got The Mensch (pastrami, 1000 Island, haus slaw, white american cheese, pickles). Also great, but I liked the Little Mule better. The pastrami was a tad salty for me when paired with the patty. Also at this point we were getting full so our opinions may have been a bit skewed.
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HausDogs - hormone and antibiotic free, all beef dogs, served on King's Hawaiian rolls - $6.49~ each
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Sooo Cali (wild arugula, crispy onions, spicy basil aioli, avocado, tomato). We were getting ready to tap out, but then I found my favorite hot dog. If I had more room, I would've killed this. I discovered that I like their HausDogs better than the HausSausages. I just liked the flavor better for whatever reason. And the pairings with the toppings on this one was unique and delicious. Loved the texture from the crispy onions. Who would've thought to put arugula in a hot dog?! Loved it! I liked that it incorporated some veggies. I took most of this to go and had it the next night. Toasted it in the oven, and it was just as good!
Scott Baioli (top) (smoked bacon wrapped dog, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, cheddar cheese sauce). Thought this one was also a little too saucy. The flavors all melded together so I couldn't really get the distinction of the bacon around the dog. Again, I'm not a standard hot dog lover so my opinions will be quite different. I liked the arugula in the hot dog, haha. So the ones that are more standard weren't my favorites.
Cowboy (middle) (smoked bacon wrapped dog, bbq sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, crispy onions). Same on this one. Crispy onions were a nice touch though!
ROUND 2.5:
As if we hadn't had enough food... here are all the extras!
Cheeseburger Sliders (angus beef, mayo, white american cheese; served on King's Hawaiian rolls) $1.99~ Cute little sliders to snack on and share. The beef patty is just as good as the ones in the regular sized burgers.
Corn Dog Sliders (all beef mini dog dipped in haus made root beer batter) $4.49~ I only took one bite. Couldn't eat anymore. haha. But the batter was slightly sweet... from the root beer. I liked that.
Onion Rings $3.49~ Massive! And fried well. Great to share with your friends!
Chili Cheese Tots $4.99~ I personally like super crispy tots, so I would not order them loaded with any sort of sauce or topping. I ate the edges. haha. Definitely nice and crispy. I think I liked their fries just a little more though.
I never thought in my life that I would crave a hot dog. But it's happened. haha. I pretty much think about the Sooo Cali hot dog and the Little Mule burger at least once a day. Good thing those are on the regular menu so I can go back whenever. Hopefully soon! But I cannot wait to see what Chef Stephanie Izard has in store for us in March. In the mean time, y'all gotta get in there for that Salty Malty!!!!!!
Thank you so much, Dog Haus, for having us (and changing my thoughts on hotdogs, hehe). The quality of ingredients show through, and I love the originality of the menu items as well as their names. :P
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value: (comped)
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Earlier this month I had a chance to check out the new Don't Tell Supper Club. Now... it's a little bit of a secret so I won't give away too much. hehe. Mostly just the food parts. :P
Don't Tell Supper Club
2026 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75201
(214) 432-8282
www.donttellsupperclub.com
Price: $$$$+
Is this place a restaurant? Bar? Or nightclub? Yes. ^_~ They are only open Thursday-Saturday nights. And after 10PM, it becomes a nightclub. What I liked about this place? The decor is eclectic... a little fancy, a little fun, and a little naughty. I especially loved the caged chandeliers at the bar. You also get a show while you dine which is the concept of a supper club.
We arrived on a Saturday night at 7PM. There were 4 of us and we were seated right in front of the stage. I would've preferred to be seated farther back so we can see the stage completely... But out of the 4 seats, I had a pretty good angle to the stage. The waitress came by immediately to take our drink orders. Our waitress was Alexis (I think?), I liked her a lot. :)
(I apologize for some of the photos btw... since it's more of a mood and performance lighting, it was not great for pictures.)
All of their cocktails sounded really interesting. We asked the waitress for some recommendations on the coolest looking ones. So I started with the Most Unusual Tea (Hendrick's Gin, basil, lime juice, a touch of chamomile) $14~
I love anything with dry ice which makes a cool smoking effect. The cocktail was poured tableside on the basil leaf. I really liked this. The flavors were just right... I could taste the gin as well as the basil. Hendrick's Gin is one of my favorites... if you haven't tried it, this is a good drink to get. :)
The waitress also brought by some drinks on the house. I think she said it was like a Dreamsicle.
Trainspotting (Gosling Rum, Cana Brava Rum, lime, orange, pineapple juices with a hint of coconut) $14~ This was definitely a fun drink. I started to see that their presentation is their strong suit. The syringe was "injected" into the drink tableside. I liked that it was interactive.
Contortionist (Tito's, fresh fruit puree, lemon, topped with champagne; served with Pop Rocks) $13~ This was fun too, a pretty drink with contrasting colors of the drink and pop rocks. All topped with a fun twisty straw. However, my friends said the drink flavor wasn't too exciting.
That seemed to have been the general consensus on the cocktails. Pretty and fun, but the flavor lacks a little... whether it wasn't strong enough or the flavors were muddled, or wasn't sweet enough, etc.
While we were waiting for our drinks to come, a magician came by our table and did some tricks. I was impressed! The tricks were fun and the magician guy had a really great attitude. He later did several acts on the stage and I liked him best out of all the performers of the night. He had great energy and was just fun! (I'm not posting any more pics than this! You'll have to go and see the shows for yourself!)
We ordered the food in two rounds. All their dishes are kinda made for sharing. And again... we saw that their presentation game is strong! Every plate came with a cool decoration on the platter, and it just keeps getting more epic.
Jumbo Lump Crab Filled Eggs (tarragon, lemon, paprika panko) $14~ I loved the platter that this dish came on. The steampunk octopus was unexpected and very cool. I've never had lump crab on eggs before. I liked it a lot. The paprika panko was a nice bit of color.
Heirloom Tomato Watermelon Salad (cornbread croutons, balsamic gel, basil) $12~ Plus Grilled Shrimp +$7~ I don't like watermelon, but I ate everything else... and surprisingly this was my favorite dish of the night! The shrimp was so plump and cooked perfectly. But my favorite bite was the cornbread crouton. It had really great flavor and texture. It wasn't super crunchy like normal croutons. I would eat a whole plate with just that.
DT Castle Burgers (chipotle mayo, cabbage, cilantro, pepper jack, bacon) $16~ This normally comes with 3 sliders but we asked them to add a 4th since we had 4 people. The sliders were good. The chipotle mayo was bold and smokey. I liked it, but some didn't for that same reason. The texture of the buns were good. And the bacon is TOTALLY necessary! hehe.
Truffle Parmesan Fries. Instead of ordering the Steak and Frites, we just got the fries as a side. As it was served, you can already smell the truffle, which is a good sign. It was good...but got cold quickly. Still... I pretty much like all fries. haha.
Crispy Seared Key West Cobia (pan seared atop kale, shaved brussels sprouts, swiss red chard, soy sesame glaze) $48~ "Serves 2 to 3". I was super excited to order this. I had seen pictures of a giant WHOLE fried fish on Yelp and I thought this was it... since they only had one fish dish on the menu. Plus a giant whole fish would definitely feed 2-3 people and justify the $48 price tag. Yowza! However, when it came... we were confused. I was like "we didn't order this... did we?" It was just 2 normal filets of fish on a long plate.
The waitress confirmed that this was indeed the cobia. So I asked her about the picture I saw, and she said "oh, that's a prop!" And it was being served at another table, that's why we got the pointing hand on our platter. She asked if we wanted the fried fish prop brought over and I said yes. Might as well get some cool pictures, even though I was so disappointed that it wasn't for consumption! The fried fish prop was certainly impressive!
I mean, just look at it!! But the cobia dish itself was a disappointment. First of all, it barely feeds 2 people, unless you've ordered a lot of other dishes. The fish could've been seared more too. I wonder what justifies the price point? It's quite expensive... Is cobia an expensive fish? I don't really know. The flavors in the kale, brussels sprouts mixture was good though. You can definitely taste the soy sesame glaze.
We were getting full but wanted to try a couple more things. So here goes Round 2!
Big Eye Tuna Tartar (scallions, yuzu, togarashi, black radish) $19~ Again... a cool display with the dish. This one was especially fitting to the establishment's name. The fish...while tender, was completely overwhelmed by the spices. The flavor wasn't bad or anything, it just didn't let the fish shine.
Kobe Beef Carpaccio (shallot black pepper vinaigrette, key lime, yellow tomatoes, toast) $20~ This was good. The beef was sliced razor thin and actually fell apart when we tried to scoop it up. Flavors were good, although slightly too salty. Definitely squeeze some of the little key limes onto each bite. It makes a difference!
For dessert, they had 3 cakes available, so we just got one of each.
NY Style Cheesecake (vanilla cheesecake with a hint of lemon and orange on a graham cracker crust) $12~ The other two cakes towered over this one and I felt it got kinda lost. It was ok. I didn't get the hints of citrus very much and the texture was fine. Wasn't too impressed.
Wedding Cake (white chocolate buttermilk cake filled and frosted with Italian buttercream frosting) $12~ Pretty. Loved all the different textures on top. Flavor wise... a little bland. And the cake felt like it was just taken out of the freezer or something... didn't taste fresh and was quite hard.
Chocolate Mega Tron Cake (6 layers of chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting and crushed candies between each layer; covered with vermicelli sprinkles) $12~ This was by far my favorite out of the three. I really liked the crunch candies within the layers and it's incredibly chocolatey. But like the wedding cake, it was hard, like it was just in the freezer. I wonder if they get their cakes from a third party...? I left it alone for a while and let it thaw and it was better. And vermicelli sprinkles? We were soooo intrigued! Vermicelli is a type of really thin rice noodle often used in Vietnamese cuisine. But it was just normal chocolate sprinkles. haha. I think they used the word "vermicelli" to describe the shape.
I had a good time. The food and drinks were a little hit and miss but overall we had fun. Our waitress was great! I really enjoyed watching the magician guy. He was definitely my favorite. I won't give away too much on what he did, but he was on that stage a lot! You gotta go check it out yourself to see what kind of performances they have! This is definitely something different to do in Dallas... since it's our first ever supper club. I would recommend y'all experience it at least once. And for those who like to party it up, the nightclub part starts after 10PM!
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value: (comped)
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Last weekend I went to go check out the happy hour at the new Mockingbird Tap Room (the old Vapiano space in Mockingbird Station). It's the same owners as Townhouse in Galleria and Park Tavern in The Shops at Park Lane.
Mockingbird Taproom
5319 E. Mockingbird Lane
Dallas, TX 75206
(469) 334-0751
http://www.mockingbirdtaproom.com
Price: $-$$
They have happy hour on Mon-Fri 3-7PM and reverse happy hour on Mon-Thu 10PM-close, and all day Sunday. I don't really care about the drink specials but all starters are half price!!
We just got a bunch of stuff to share...
Suicide Fries (queso, giardiniera, chopped brisket, green onions, fried egg) $9~
This looked pretty epic. We all liked it, but it had wayy too much queso, the fries were drowning in it. But there's a ton of brisket on top and everything's better with a fried egg. haha. It needed a punch of flavor though which I fixed with Tabasco. haha.
Fried Chicken Sliders (buttermilk biscuits, chorizo gravy, maple spread, fried onions) $9~ Three pretty good sized sliders. The chicken kind of got lost in the sauces but it was ok. Nothing spectacular.
Pulled Pork Sliders (bourbon-molasses sauce, green apple slaw, fried onions) $8~ I like the pretzel rolls but it lacked flavor overall, wasn't too impressed with this. But for $4 hh... pretty good deal still.
Green Machine (chopped iceberg and spinach, tomato, red onion, cucumber, bacon, hard-boiled egg, blue cheese) $7~
My sister and I wanted some veggies so we got a salad. This wasn't included in hh. It was ok. Pretty fresh, but I've realized I really don't like chopped lettuce like that. It was a good sized salad though for the price.
Piggy Back Mac (pulled pork, bacon, jalapeno, pork rind topping) $13~
This wasn't part of hh specials but sounded so good. I really liked it but others thought it was just ok. The pasta was a bit chewy which I like and I liked the crispy pork rind topping. My sister didn't. I wish there were more jalapenos in there, but again, Tabasco solved that problem. haha. I'd say this was my favorite out of the bunch...
So the food was decent and we ordered wayyyy too much! Definitely a great deal with the happy hour special. Our waiter was a bit slow but the place was pretty full and he was super nice so it wasn't a big deal. I like the space and decor, reminds me of Park Tavern. The only complaint is that it was really dark, and at some point during our meal, they dimmed the lights even more.. :( I'd like to see my food at least a little bit! haha. I'd go back for hh again, for sure!
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value (for hh):
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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