JUNE: Table 13

Now that July is almost over... I guess I need to post my June pick. Haha. I'm starting to doubt my ability to do this "one post a month" promise I made myself. The new job is great but SUPER hectic. It's hard to get anything personal done these past few weeks. Anyways... here goes!

I knew once this dinner at Table 13 started, that it would be my June favorite. It's got a great vibe with live music, creative cocktails, and amazing food. What a great find too... cuz my new job is about 8 minutes from the restaurant!

Table 13 - Addison
4812 Belt Line Rd.
Addison, TX 75254
(972) 789-9558
www.table13addison.com
Price: $$$$

Walking in, this place had an older/classic vibe. The theme is reminiscent of early 1960's, so it definitely fits. While waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, people ordered some drinks! The cocktails were pretty and had cute little animal decorations on them. Fun! We did a mini photoshoot with the drinks and lighting. Everyone else said the drinks were fantastic.

In the Pocket (Herman Marshall, HM80 whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, Malbec floater, cherries) $12~

Giggle Water (Absolut Elyx vodka, lime juice, Chareau, Martine Honey Suckle, topped with prosecco and cucumber garnish) $12~ I didn't get a cocktail, but if I had, it would probably this one.

All the Buzz (Western Son Grapefruit, Italicus Liqueur, lime, ginger beer, lime wheel) $10~

Daddy Old Fashioned (angostura bitters, Larceny Bourbon, Gomme syrup, orange twist, bing cherry) $12~ And look at the cute giraffe!

Our media dinner was in their Continental Room. Oooo, fancy! Get ready for a 7 Course Meal!

We got to meet the Executive Chef, Chef Curd. (I'll never forget his name btw, cuz it's a food. Haha.) And he went over the tasting menu with us. It sounded great. And I liked that there wasn't too many carb heavy items.

Amuse-Bouche -
Watermelon Cube (with basil chiffonade and balsamic). I don't like watermelon. It's becoming a well known fact. But... OH EM GEE, this was my favorite course of the meal. (I think) Chef Curd told us he picked the best watermelon from his farm in Rockwall and it was the best watermelon I've had in a LONG time. The pairing with the balsamic and basil was perfection. And that basil chip was kind of amazing. Anyone who can make me like watermelon is a culinary genius in my book! Wow... can't wait to try the rest of the courses!

Appetizer -
Seared Ahi Tuna (with Thai peanut sauce, Asian vinaigrette, seaweed salad, and pickled ginger). Again, LOVED! Everything just worked together so well and interestingly this was the first ahi tuna paired with seaweed salad that I've had. Makes so much sense to put them together but most restaurants don't do that combo. I can definitely have a larger portion of this as an entree.

Soup -
Lobster Bisque. Creamy, rich, and large lobster chunks. Yes!

Salad -
Greek Salad (with lemon thyme vinaigrette, crumbled feta, kalamata olives, tomato, bell pepper, and pepperocini). Yummy! Not your typical Greek salad. I think I like this version best. :)

Not on the tasting menu, but someone requested Deviled Eggs, and we got Deviled Eggs. I won't ever say no to a deviled egg. Hehe.

Entree 1 -
Petite Filet Mignon (garlic whipped potatoes; topped with truffle mushroom demi). Super tender meat. The crust on the steak was amazing. The whipped potatoes didn't look like much, but oh man, it paired perfectly. Delicious.

Entree 2 -
Red Snapper (spun vegetables al fresco). Light but full of flavor. I love that there were so many vegetables incorporated into this meal. The courses weren't heavy so I wasn't stuff yet at this point.

Dessert -
Chocolate Mousse Torte. Luscious dark chocolate. There were 2 layers... one was light and creamy, the other was dark and thick and fudgy. Freaking wonderful.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt (with fresh lemon curd). For the people who want a lighter dessert. Personally I prefer the rich chocolate, but this cake was great too.

Thanks to Table 13 and Chef Curd for a spectacular meal. I ate the whole thing without feeling like passing out. I think that's a win in and of itself! Plus the watermelon... swoon! Definitely go check this place out, y'all. They've also got a pretty great lunch menu. $13 with a lot of options and includes a complimentary glass of champagne or chef selected dessert! You bet I'll be there for this at some point!

*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*

Lemme tell you a little secret... Don't Tell Supper Club

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.*

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Wabi House 2.0

Three weeks came and went... my group went back to Wabi House for our follow up dinner. They have 2 small parking lots in the back of the restaurant now, which is nice. Parking in Lower Greenville sucks so much! We arrived at 6:30PM, the place was still pretty empty at the time and we were seated immediately.

Wabi House
1802 Greenville Ave, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75206
(469) 779-6474
www.wabihouse.com
Price: $$-$$$

I wasn't too hungry to begin with so I didn't really plan on ordering any appetizers. Plus they are so dang expensive! What place has appetizers that cost more than the entree? Sigh... Anyhoo... the rest of the group wanted appetizers so the masses win. haha. The waitress had some suggestions. And they all turned out to be really good!

Karaage (spicy aioli, shishito pepper, watermelon) $10~ 

The chicken was fried well and still juicy inside. I love the spicy aioli... which is just a fancy term for spicy mayo. hehe. Love me some spicy mayo. The watermelon was super interesting... it was a little salty and a little spicy and still sweet. I normally don't like watermelon at all but I actually ate a couple of these. It's a good dish, the lightness of the watermelon is a good contrast with the fried chicken.

Chicken Meatballs (minced chicken thigh, shallot, egg yolk tare) $9~ 

 

 

This was pretty cool. You break the egg and dip the chicken in there. The chicken had a nice texture. The flavor was a little sweet. I loved the egg yolk tare. I can just drink that up. haha. But damn... $9 for only 2 skewers? Wow...

Bone Marrow Shitake (fried shiitake mushrooms tossed in bone marrow butter) $13~ 

This came highly recommended by the waitress. It doesn't look that appetizing but it was delicious! The mushrooms were lightly fried so they weren't oily or heavily breaded. They weren't really tossed in the bone marrow butter, more like placed on top of it. The bone marrow made the butter even richer, gave it a hint of meat flavor but wasn't overpowering. I actually liked the mushrooms with the spicy aioli. It was my favorite out of the 3 but damn, $13 for fried mushrooms. I just can't get over how expensive the apps are... :(

Most people got the Tonkotsu ramen again. I got to try the broth and it was better! Everyone who had it the first time agreed. The broth seemed creamier and richer in flavor. Yay for improvement!

This time I got the Tsukemen (chashu, egg, chili strips, negi, pork belly dipping broth) $11~ Plus woodear mushroom +$1~ 

 

 

It has the same thick noodles as the Dry Garlic (dry ramen). Still legit! I freaking love their thick noodles. It's got so much texture and cooked perfectly al dente. The dipping broth had a ton of flavor. But it was a bit salty... and just kept getting saltier and saltier. By the time I finished eating, it was like I sucked on a salt brick for the last 20 minutes. I know the dipping broth generally is saltier and heavier than regular ramen broth, but it shouldn't be like just eating salt. That's easily fixable though.. just dilute with some hot water. The noodles, however, love them! 

I like the addition of the bacon too. But I think that contributed to the overall saltiness. It was a lot of food. I actually took half of it to go. FYI... they don't do to-go orders so they had to give me styrafoam cups to hold the food. hahaha. Whatever works I guess. So I had it again for lunch the next day. I poured some hot water into the broth and it was perfect! I'd have this again. And ask for hot water if it's too salty. :P

It was a better experience this time. Not saying the first time wasn't good. But I'm glad they showed significant improvement. :) Still super expensive... like $3 just for 1 extra piece of chashu (pork belly)... that's just kind of ridiculous. Doubt they'll reconsider their pricing though. ha. I guess I'll go sparingly...

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~