skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I was super psyched about my visit to City Hall Bistro. Like counting down the days excited! I had seen pictures from other bloggers of the interior as well as the food and both looked amazing. I didn't even realize The Adolphus Hotel had done such an extensive renovation recently. I can't say I remember what it used to look like since the last time I was there was at least 8 years ago to dine at The French Room (which JUST reopened on 10/4, btw.) But the newly updated hotel is beautiful! Lots of deep, bold colors, and velvet. According to my friend velvet is back in? This is why I'm a food blogger, not fashion or design. haha. Anyways... I'm rambling. We arrived for dinner on a Monday night at 6PM. The restaurant was still quite empty. But oh it's so pretty! This way I was able to get interior pictures without a lot of people in it.
 |
| hotel interior |
 |
| restaurant interior |
City Hall Bistro - The Adolphus Hotel
1321 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 651-3686
http://www.cityhallbistro.com/
Price: $$$
We were seated in a big booth right across from the kitchen. I cannot get over how pretty this place is! Our waiter was Jared and he was great. Super nice and was so accommodating. He took our drink orders. My friend got the Juice of the Day (pineapple, lemon, watermelon) $6~ She really liked it. Watermelon is not my thing but it was very fresh. I stuck with water since all of the cocktails sounded too strong for me to handle. hehe.
Jared came to the table and explained the concept and menu for us. The cuisine is Southern European-Mediterranean. Yum. Seriously everything looked delicious on the menu. He also asked if there were any specific dishes we wanted to try. He said the chef will also send out anything else they thought we should try. We told him 4 dishes... and he said they were all great choices. We only got 1 dish that was not on our list. So I guess we're good at picking the best stuff, eh? :P
We started with the Atayef (savory lebanese pancake, duck confit, pear, black garlic aioli) $15~
Can't go wrong with duck confit... plus the savory Lebanese pancake sounded so interesting. This was my favorite dish of the night. I tried a bite of the pancake on its own. It's not often that I have a savory pancake! The flavor by itself was delicious. I could've just had a short stack of this on its own. I still think on a daily basis to drive back there, and just order this dish. haha. The duck had great flavor and the aioli added a richness and moisture to the whole bite. I need more of this!!!
Spanish Octopus (bell pepper, pine nut, harissa vinaigrette) $10~
I love octopus and they cooked theirs really well. No chewiness. It was tender and flavorful. You have to get a bit of every element into each bite. The frisee provides a freshness, the nuttiness and crunch from the pine nuts, and the vinaigrette was just enough, not overly dressed. I feel like the edges of the octopus could've been a little crispier, but I'm just nitpicking.
Snapper Crudo (baby heirloom tomato, pickled shishito pepper, citron salt) $11~
This was the one dish we didn't select. It was very pretty. Upon first bite, it was quite tart for me. But as I ate more, all the flavors came together. The snapper was super tender. I loved the different tomato slices and the pickled shishito pepper added a pow! to each bite.
Much Like Provence (genever, lemon, lavender sugar, club soda) $12~
My friend decided to get a cocktail half way through. It was very pretty... a subtle and simple kind of pretty just like their decor. I don't think my pictures captured it very well. It definitely tasted of lavender, but it wasn't sweet enough for her. (She likes super sweet though.) And I was right, it was quite strong.
Squid Ink Pasta (marinated squid, cilantro, garlic aioli) $17~
This was the dish we were both most excited about. I love anything squid ink. And wow oh wow... this packed so much squid ink flavor that it PUNCHES you in the face. In a good way, of course. But damn! The boldest and most potent squid ink dish I've ever had. A little goes a long way. Eating it straight was almost too much at one point, so I started mixing it with the paella... and you know what? winning combo! :D
Chef's Paella (oyster, octopus flavor, escalivada, babaganush, allepo pepper, grilled kale, dehydrated apples, shallot and mustard seed marmalade, micro cilantro and flowers) $26~
They also have a more traditional paella. This one changes daily. Jared said we should order this one. So we took his rec. And it was awwwwesome! Btw... Escalivada = onions, bell pepper, eggplant "salsa". This was a huge portion size. I think it will easily feed 4 people. I loved the crispy crust on the top of the rice. The flavors were amazing. But the most genius element was the shallot and mustard seed marmalade. You MUST mix a little of the marmalade in each bite. It makes a big difference. It was freaking fantastic. Needless to say, we could not finish this... we took more than half to-go.
We were so full. But I was told I must get the churros. So we did. Spanish Churros (saffron gelato, olive oil caramel ) $8~
It was a pretty big dessert since you get 5 churros... FIVE!! But they're light and fluffy so it didn't weigh you down. The churros were fried nicely and lightly drizzled with the caramel and some more on the side for dipping. The caramel was great, but I wish it was dipped in more cinnamon sugar.. that's how I normally like my churros. The saffron gelato was interesting. You can really taste the saffron. I wished there was another flavor mixed in though... maybe pistachio? The saffron was overpowering for me. However, we also asked for some of the Sweet Basil Ice Cream and it was delicious. So unique with the herbiness of the basil. Very refreshing and fragrant.
My friend got some Coffee (featuring Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters) $3~ For $3 that's a whole lot of coffee. Nice!
I found the price point here to be extremely reasonable for the quality of food you are getting. And I've had several things and flavor combinations that I haven't experienced before, so this place is a total gem. I highly recommend it. I actually already have a brunch reservation to go back in two weeks. Counting down!! Thank you so much, City Hall Bistro, for having us. It was a wonderful meal. Service was top notch and we enjoyed it tremendously. I cannot wait for brunch! :)
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own. Plus, always tip your wait staff even if you get a free meal!*
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value: (comped)
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Oh Santorini... it's been at the top of my travel list forever. So why not go for our honeymoon. It really is a beautiful place. You can't walk 2 steps without snapping a picture...at least I couldn't. It made our "15 min" walk from Imerovigli (where we stayed) to Fira more like 45 minutes. hahaha.
There was certainly an abundance of food. But it was so hot during the day, I didn't really have much of an appetite. So we usually just ate a big breakfast, snacked throughout the day, then have a light/normal dinner. This is one of the first times where the trip is not all about the food. :P
Most of the places we ate at were recommended by our hotel manager. I have a separate post about our hotel, which is basically paradise. It deserves it's own post.
Aegeon Restaurant - Imerovigli. This was a short walk from our hotel. Imerovigli is a small town between Oia and Fira. We liked it a lot. It was less crowded and much quieter.
Fresh Tagliatelle (from cuttlefish ink with grouper fillet) 19,80E~ Very good but was overshadowed by my salmon. hehe. I love me some squid ink pasta tho!
Grilled Salmon (with steamed vegetables, quinoa, and hollandaise sauce) 18,50E~ One of the best salmon I've ever had. Beautifully presented too. The salmon was cooked to perfection and was crispy on the outside. The entire bottom of the fish was crispy!
Lemon Meringue Tart. This was very good. Again, plating is nice. The crust wasn't super hard to cut into as I've experienced a lot with lemon tarts. It was quite large too.
Cappuccino 4,00E~
These were given to us with the check. Complimentary.
Raki - an unsweetened, anise-flavored distilled spirit. I've become a super duper lightweight since before the wedding since alcohol made me break out, so I could barely handle 2 sips of this. My husband drank it all. He really enjoyed it. haha.
Mosaiko - homemade chocolate/biscuit cake. First time having this. Sooooo good. But they don't sell it. It's homemade. So I had to look up the recipe when we got back to the states. Gotta make it sometime!
Fira:
Gelato. We went to this place twice during our trip. They had some interesting flavors. And also really yummy looking desserts. We didn't try any of those tho.
#FoodBar. This was snack one day. A cute little shop. The chairs were swings!
Pork Skewer 1,50E~ Basically pork belly on a stick. With a little salt. Deeeelish!
Pita with Pork Gyros 2,50E~ Pretty tasty!
Crepe House
Loopino (mix of milk and white chocolate, fresh banana, caramel syrup) 6,00E~ It was ok. The crepe was well made, but needed ice cream for sure!
Oia. We were headed to Ammoudi Bay for some fresh seafood, as recommended by our hotel manager. It's at the farthest end of Oia. So we got there a little earlier to check out the town. It's nice, but sooo packed. Everyone was there waiting to see the famous sunset.
We came by the Crazy Donkey - cute little cafe on the way to Ammoudi Bay. Someone had recommended it to me through FB so we went in to check it out. My husband wanted to get something refreshing to drink anyways. It's hot in Santorini. Very hot!
Watermelon Juice. As fresh as can be. My husband loved it on a hot day.
Brownie. All their desserts looked amazing. I started perusing the display case when he was looking at the menu and I HAD to get something. Even if I was to take one bite. haha. I've noticed they like to bake their brownies like a round cake and cut slices out of it. I saw it at several bakeries. It was dark, and yummy.
We also got Kataifi to go since we had the ice cream flavor in Athens. And we've never had it. Were not fans of it...haha. Too much of the hair stuff and needed more filling. The inside is like the inside of a baklava.
Ammoudi Bay. To get to this place, you have to climb down over 200+ steps. And be careful of the donkey doo-doo! People can pay to ride donkey's up the steps. So yay for those of us on foot! Watch your step! Thank goodness it was still light when we climbed down. The way back up however.... eeeeks! hahaha.
Ammoudi Fish Tavern. There was a whole bunch of restaurants along the water serving up fresh seafood. But this is the one our hotel manager recommended and had made a reservation for us.
Agioritiki Eggplant Salad (baked local flasks or white aubergines with garlic, onion, parsley, and extra virgin olive oil) 5,80E~ For someone that doesn't like eggplant, I sure love Greek eggplants. haha. We had it several times in Greece and all of them have been fantastic. This isn't much to look at, but it was so good.
Sun-dried Octopus (grilled) 14,50E~ Gotta have octopus! Again, delicious!!
Seafood Quartetto (salmon, shrimp, clams, white fish) 25,00E~ This was ok. I loved the white fish and the cream sauce, but the clams were super gritty. The view was nice though.
Lolita's Gelato. Cuz we can never have too much ice cream. This was on the way to the bus stop to head back to our hotel.
We rented an ATV one day and drove down to the Red Beach and Black Beach. It was cheaper than taking a cab or renting a car and more flexible than waiting around for buses. It was an interesting but still fun experience. hehe. My first time on an ATV!
The red beach was first. Beautiful, but super rocky. You have to take a short hike to get to the actual beach. And up close the water was quite dirty. Not a great place to hang out for a long time, so we only stayed for about an hour or so.
Headed to Perissa - Black Beach for some lunch!
Tranquilo - recommended by our hotel manager. HUGE salads for cheap she says.. She wasn't joking!
XL Caesar Salad (fresh green salad, grilled chicken, parmesan, corn, croutons, special Caesar sauce) 11,00E~ This thing is bigger than my head. We made it through 2/3rds and couldn't finish it. Cheapest meal yet! And they seem to put corn in their Caesar salads here, I can dig it. :P Sorry for the photo quality...
The black beach is totally my kind of place. A long row of restaurants and bars on one side, the beach and lounge chairs on the other. We parked ourselves in front of one of the restaurants. The waiters come to you on the beach, while you relax and lounge. That's the life!
Pistachio Milkshake
Waffle (butterscotch ice cream, caramel sauce)
We stuck around til dinner time and grabbed some food before heading back.
Pergola Restaurant - we just looked at their menu and walked in. The food prices in Perissa were significantly cheaper than Fira/Oia. The portions were bigger too and just as delicious!
Fried Calamari (with fish roe dip) 6,90E~ One of the best calamaris I've ever had. No breading but crispy and tender and so much flavor.
Caramelized Octopus (with fresh mashed eggplants) 8,50E~ The octopus was super tender. However, the caramelization made it quite sweet.. other than that it was good.
Sunset Sail with Spiridakos Sailing Cruises:
Our hotel also highly recommended doing a sail. It was a bit pricey but why not! We're in Greece! And I'm so glad we did it, it was a great experience. They provide everything, from transportation to and from hotel, give you towels, tour around the island, visit the caldera, and even cook you a feast! The meal was magnificent and I'm so impressed it was all cooked on a catamaran!
Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Shrimp, Greek Salad, Crispy Fried Shrimp, Bread, and Dips. So delicious and so much food. I was stuffed!
Last day in Fira:
We went souvenir shopping and got some snacks. Randomly walked by this little cafe...and had to stop by their dessert display...
We had one night in Athens before flying out early the next morning, so we stayed in the airport hotel, Sofitel. Went to one of their restaurants, Mesoghaia, for dinner.
The bread was free here, so we ate ALL of it. hahaha
Traditional Moussaka (slices of potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and minced beef; finalized with a "mornay" sauce) 16,00E~ I realized I haven't had a single moussaka since I've been here. And it's one of my favorite Greek dishes so I had to get it. It was beautiful. The prettiest presentation of moussaka I've ever seen, and I think one of the tastiest too! So glad I got it.
Crispy Cod (tempura style garnished with local greens, homemade mashed potato, and aioli sauce with saffron from Kozani) 16,00E~ This was another story... left a lot to be desired. Portion was pretty small too. Luckily the moussaka was huge so I shared.
I think it was a pretty good food overall. But believe me when I say the food wasn't the best part. Everyone should experience Santorini sometime. And splurge to get the nice hotels on the side of the cliff, with the cave like architecture. It's amazing!
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Posts
