Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is the latest restaurant to open in Shops at Legacy. It is the same owners as Whiskey Cake (one of my go-to places) and Velvet Taco. I've been getting notices of it's opening a couple weeks before it actually opened. Looking at the menu, I was excited to try it.

Mexican Sugar
7501 Lone Star Dr. Ste B 150
Plano, TX 75024
(972) 943-0984
mexicansugarcocina.com
Price: $$-$$$

Once it opened, it immediately became a new hot spot at the Shops at Legacy. I heard that there's a wait every night and it's been a hit. I decided to get some people to go try it on a Thursday night.

I got there around 7pm and it was packed. The hostess told me it was going to be about a 45 minute wait for 4 people... Should've reserved. Oh well, I'll know for next time! We decided to walk around the area to find something to munch on. But they sent me a text about 30 minutes later. I like the whole texting notifications for a table. This way we can leave and not be stuck just standing around.

The place is pretty big! We were seated in the back room. I liked the decor a lot. It did remind me of Whiskey Cake a bit since it was the same decorator. A bit loud with the acoustics but more energetic than annoying. I also saw a few familiar faces in the wait staff that used to be at Whiskey Cake. haha.

We were greeted by our waiter and he said 2 of them were gonna help us. We got some waters and took some time to look at the menu. We actually waited quite a long time for them to come back... And once they came back, I ordered an appetizer as my main, and I think the guy thought I was just ordering an app for the table and walked away without taking anyone else's orders. haha.. Errrrr?

I got the Arepa (griddled corn cake, ropa vieja, slaw, cilantro crema) $8~ 

 

It was 4 to an order, each corn cake was topped with shredded beef. This was really good. The beef was flavorful and great with the corn cake. The corn cake itself had nice texture. The cilantro crema rounded out the dish nicely. It ended up being the best savory dish of the night. So I ended up getting my dish first before anyone else had ordered.. eh... They need to check on us more often.

I also got a side of the Brussels Sprout Shred $3~ 

It was one of the menu items I really wanted to try since I love Brussels sprouts, but it was not what I expected at all. It was just like raw shredded veggies, some Brussels sprouts mixed with napa cabbage, onions and carrots. I expected something cooked. But I guess I just didn't ask and assumed. So I told the waiter it wasn't what I was expecting. He was nice and took it away and didn't charge me for it.

One friend ordered the Brasas Chicken Tacos (wood roasted chicken, salsa, roasted corn, pico, queso fresco, chipotle crema, macro cilantro; with side of Brussels sprout shred) $9~

 It came 3 to an order. I heard that they make the corn tortillas in house which is cool. But they were kinda soft and floppy. It didn't hold up to the liquid from the salsa very well. It got soggy quickly. The taco looked good but was pretty bland. It definitely needed more sauce or something. But then, the tortilla would probably disintegrate. haha. Meh. And I also got to try a bit of the Brussels sprouts shred. I'm glad I sent mine back. Just raw veggies, not much flavor at all.

Another friend got the Tableside Tortilla Soup (roast chicken, tomato concasse, avocado, tortilla, queso fresco) $7~ 

 

The presentation is cool since they poured it at the table. And the portion was pretty big. My friend doesn't like avocado so I got to eat all of it. haha. They had nice big chunks of avocado and tomatoes in there which I liked. But overall it was just ok. My friend and I both agreed that it could be heartier. The soup itself seemed a little thin. And I think the flavors could be bolder.

Another friend came later and ordered the Pollo Torta (roast chicken, chipotle spread, queso Chihuahua, mixed herbs, salsa duo; with side of Dos XX) $11~ 

 

It's pretty cool that you can get a side of beer. haha. But it was a pretty small glass. The torta looked really good, and it was huge. Didn't get to try it but she finished it all. Although she said the bread was too hard and might've cut the roof of her mouth. I think generally tortas have a softer type of bread? This looked kinda baguette-y.

We had another late addition. He already ate so just ordered a Chicha Sour (homemade Chicha morada ice cubes, pisco porton, lime, simple syrup). 

I think this is one of their more popular cocktails. The color was beautiful. And the homemade ice cubes were a nice touch. It was the same as the drink. So as it melts it won't water down the cocktail. It was strong!!!! But I liked the flavor. If you like sweet and fruity cocktails, this one might be for you. It was also cool when the waiter explained their draft cocktails. Yes, draft. They make a small batch of each at a time and pour it from a draft. This way it saves time and also keeps the flavors consistent, the waiter explained. I've not seen that before. Pretty neat!

Their desserts is what captured my attention the most. They didn't have many choices but all of them sounded awesome. And since they were out of the Pumpkin Flan, it made our choices easy.

Horchata 5 Leches (almond milk, rice milk, heavy cream, Mexican crema whip, goat's milk cajeta) $7~ 

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one but it's a super moist custardy/bread pudding-ish cake. It's gotta be moist with 5 milks right?! haha. It was sooo good. The Mexican crema whip on top was fluffy and heavenly. It paired perfectly with the cake. The goat's milk cajeta was a Mexican style caramel. I don't like goat's milk, and the flavor was pretty strong. I didn't like that at all. So I tried to eat the top half of the cake and not get any of the caramel that pooled on the bottom of the dish. haha. In the future I will request it without the cajeta. But delicious! Definitely recommend!

Chocolate Avocado Cake (Ancho spiced chocolate cake, cinnamon meringue, chocolate avocado mousse, ganache) $7~ 

This was rich, rich, rich, and decadent. Definitely for the chocolate lover. The addition of the avocado is what intrigued me at first, but you really can't taste any of it at all. Avocado is too milk compared to the dark chocolate and got lost. But nonetheless, it was delicious. I love anything with ganache and this cake had like 3 layers of it! :) And the layer of cinnamon meringue in the middle was a nice surprise because the meringue was slightly crunchy and added a nice textural contrast. This cake with the Mexican crema whip from the Horchata was a great blend. :P

So... pretty cool place. A little loud but definitely a hip hotspot. The food was a bit disappointing but the desserts were awesome. I'd go back just for the desserts! Waiters were nice but service was slow overall. Hopefully they just need to get more acclimated to the large crowds. I'll be going back in the future. But I'll definitely make a reservation next time!

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Mexico City: The Gourmet Taco

Sigh...been so busy lately, I've got a bunch of restaurants to post... stay tuned!

Mexico City The Gourmet Taco
6959 Arapaho Rd., Ste 101
Dallas, TX 75248
(972) 788-2891
Price: $

Starting with The Gourmet Taco, a little taco place in a strip mall on Arapaho and Hillcrest (next to the Chase Bank). I had gotten an email when it first opened, supposedly pretty authentic Mexican fare. Decided to check it out a couple weeks ago with some friends. The menu online seemed pretty affordable and it was BYOB!

The weather was super nice so we sat in the 2 tables they have outside. The waitress was pretty nice. Some of us gave her some challenges in taking our order. haha...indecisive and picky tastes. :P

Here's what we ended up getting...
**Note: Price might not be exact**

(I apologize for the pictures...the lighting was terrible and using my phone camera didn't help it at all...)

Chips (made on site) $1.50~

Normal corn chips...nothing too special.

Red/Green Salsa. I thought the red salsa was better. It was good on everything. The green salsa tasted a little weird.

Torta Zona Rosa (De Pierna - Pork Leg) $5~ It's basically a pork sandwich. Sooo good! The bread was pretty awesome and the pork was moist. Good flavors.

Torta de Albanil (Huevo y salchicha - eggs and sausage) $5~ This was an egg sandwich. Also really good! Again, the bread was great, and the eggs were kind of like an egg salad. I love eggs, this was great. I would get this again for sure.

Veggie Quesadillas $3.50~ It was filled with squash, zucchini and maybe some onions/bell peppers? I don't quite remember... This was also good. For the price, it's a great deal. I thought the portions was plenty.

Tostada (with beef) $2.50~ This was kind of like an open faced taco. It was a little small but I guess it's more of an appetizer. I didn't get to taste it but my friend ate it all.

Gourmet Taco Al Pastor (pork in flour tortilla) $2.50~ I thought this was really good. It's way bigger than the corn tacos and it also had lettuce, tomato and cheese in it unlike the corn tacos (the corn tacos were much smaller and only had meat, nothing else). The meat was super tender and the flavors were great.

Beef Fajitas (with flour tortilla, rice and beans) $7.99~ This was one of the specials of the night. The portion size was much smaller than your typical order of fajitas at other mexican restaurants, but it was still plenty, I thought. The beef and onion mix on the skillet had a lot of flavor. It was a little oily, but I thought it was really tasty!

Chicken Enchiladas (corn tortilla, rice and beans) $7.99~ This was another special of the night. I didn't really taste it, but my friend said the chicken tasted weird. :/ Yikes! Luckily no one got sick the next day!

Overall I really enjoyed most of the dishes we got. The sandwiches were definitely the front runners for me. And I liked the fact that everything is pretty cheap so you can order several things to try. I would recommend getting the gourmet (flour) tacos vs the corn tacos. It's like a dollar more but a MUCH better deal! It's worth checking out if you like Mexican ("street") food.

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Urban Taco @ Mockingbird Station

Ahhh...I have soooo much backlog for my blog. XP
This post is long over due....when I have more time I have a lot more restaurants to do...

Last month I met with one of my Quarterly Eating groups. I suggested Urban Taco in Mockingbird Station. From the website it sounded pretty interesting and yummy!

Urban Taco
5331 East Mockingbird Ln # 125
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 823-4723
www.urban-taco.com
Price: $

It's a really small place...very cute...with some outdoor seating.

So here's what I got to try:

Pick 3 Tacos (choice of 2 sides) $9.59~ (Price as a meal...the other prices are if you order the tacos on its own):
- Chicken Tinga (adobo-spiked braised chicken & potato, queso fresco & avocado lime crema) $2.75~
- Pollo con Mole (chicken, homemade mole sauce, crema, pickled red onions and queso fresco) $2.75~
- Potato, Zucchini & Poblano (poblano-spiked vegetables, rajas & queso fresco) $2.25~
For the sides we got Cebollitas (grilled green onions) & Roasted Corn con Lime Crema.
Also there's choices of Fresh Masa Corn Tortillas, Lettuce Wrap, or Flour Tortillas (additional 15 cents).



We decided to get 1 with the flour tortilla and 2 with the lettuce wrap. The tacos were pretty good, but truthfully I couldn't really tell them apart. I did think the mole was too sweet and overpowered the entire taco. The lettuce wrap idea is awesome...really good for people who are cutting back on carbs. The roasted corn side was probably my favorite of this dish. It was creamy and cheesy and full of flavor. YUM! The portion was quite filling too.

We also got a Torta (prepared on adobo grilled Mexican bread, served with yucca fries & mango jicama slaw). Or skip the bread and have any of the torta options over a bowl of poblano green rice. We had the Dos Equis Amber Barbacoa Torta (beer and chile braised tender beef, black bean & roasted corn pico, and pickled red onions) $9.99~ We decided to forgo the bread and get it on the rice and substituted mango jicama slaw for roasted corn con lime crema (since I'm allergic to mango :( ). I really liked this dish. The poblano green rice rocked....lots of flavor and was great with all the meat and corn and onions on top. I even scooped some of the roasted corn in there and mixed it all up. The yucca fries had good flavor with the cheese but some of it was kinda hard...the mayonnaise-y dip was pretty fantastic tho.

Some additional food pics:
Trio of Tacos on corn tortilla, with side of poblano green rice and roasted corn crema $9.59~ Arrachera Steak Torta with yucca fries and mango jicama slaw $10.25~

I very much enjoyed this place...I'm not a fan of Tex-Mex, but I like real Mexican food. :) It's a cool little spot to chill with friends. I would like to go back sometime for their happy hour specials....and their dessert churros!!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~