Mian Cuisine

I had told my family about Mian Cuisine after I went a few weeks ago. My sister has gone once since and said it was pretty good. So we decided to have our family lunch there this past weekend. 

Mian Cuisine 
121 West Spring Creek Parkway 
Plano, TX 75023 
(972) 517-1688 
http://miancuisineplano.com/ 
Price: $ 

We arrived at 1:30PM on Sunday and the place was pretty packed. Luckily we got a big table in the back. As most of our family meals go... we order a lot of food (usually too much). haha. We did everything family style of course because we want to sample everything. 

Spicy Hotpot (pork intestine, tofu, duck blood, pickled greens) $10.59~ 

My sister really wanted to try this. We all love this dish in general, and tend to get it if it's on the menu anywhere. It's definitely not for the unadventurous eater! haha. This was my favorite dish of the meal. It had bold flavors, was actually spicy, and had lots of ingredients in the hot pot. Everything was cooked well and tasty. 

Stir Fried Rice Cake & Vegetable (with pork) $6.99~ 

They have pretty big portions here. The rice cake was cooked well but overall the flavors were very mild. I didn't mind that, it's better than overly salty in my opinion. This dish was ok, not one of my favorites... 

Soup (with ginger and goji berries). We also got 2 free soups, I'm not sure which dishes it came with though. I'm not a fan of these soups but my sister is, and she finished one on her own. 

Chili Beef Noodle Soup $6.99~ 

I've had this before and I liked it. My family didn't think it was spicy enough, which I agree, but at least you can still taste the spiciness. And I love the texture of their noodles. 

Fried Bean Sauce Noodle (Zha Jian Mian) $6.99~ 

This was the main thing I wanted to try. It's one of my favorite Taiwanese style noodles of all time. I was disappointed here. The noodles were great, but there was not enough sauce, I had to ask for extra. And again, it was quite bland. I actually put some of the sauce from the hot pot and mixed it in there. Wasn't half bad! haha. I wouldn't order this here again though. 

Basil Crispy Chicken Rice $6.59~ 

This came in a bento box with a lot of stuff. I wanted the try their rice with minced pork on top since I didn't get to try it last time. I did not like it at all!! Yuck! The meat texture was weird and flavors were not right. I didn't eat anymore. Bleh.. :( The crispy chicken was ok. I prefer the one at Genroku more. 

Handmade Scallion Pancake $3.50~ 

I liked this the first time I had it. It's not as fluffy as it should be but I did like the crispiness on the outside. It was good dipping into the spicy sauce of the hot pot. hehe. 

Chives Box (fried chives dumpling, 2pcs) $4.99~ 

I'm not a fan so I didn't try. My dad says the flavors were pretty good, but it wasn't a good deal. You only get 2 and it's quite expensive! Go to JengChi Bakery for dumplings... 

All in all, it was a good meal. We still stuffed our faces as usual. The food is decent as far as Dallas standards go and the location is definitely closer to me than Chinatown in Richardson. I'll be back again. There are still other menu items I'd like to try. 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Pancake Day!

This past Saturday turned out to be "Pancake Day". haha. It was unintentional but just happened that way. :P I love pancakes...any kind. I prefer them over French Toast and waffles too! 

The day started with a late brunch at 5th Street Patio Cafe in downtown Frisco. It's a cute little house turned restaurant. The food is home-cooked and yummy. I sooo wanted to be good and get a salad or something, but the pancakes just kept jumping out at me. 

5th Street Patio Cafe
8621 5th Street 
Frisco, TX 75034 
(972) 377-3483 
http://www.5thstreetcafe.com 
Price: $ 

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes. 

My friend subbed her toast for a pancake, but I didn't think 1 was enough so I asked if they could add another one. I think that was a mistake. The pancakes are huge! haha. And neither of us were really that hungry. But guess what... I killed it. of course..  -__-  It was yummy and full of fresh blueberries. :) 

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For dinner, I ended up at Coffee House Cafe. I like this place... the service is hit or miss but their food is pretty good. Luckily our waiter this time was pretty awesome. 

Coffee House Cafe 
6150 Frankford Road 
Dallas, TX 75252 
(469) 248-0554 
http://www.coffeehousecafe.com/ 
Price: $-$$ 

Again, I wasn't too hungry and had every intention to eat well, but the waiter was telling us about their pancakes and how awesome they are so he talked my friend into ordering one. 

Buckwheat Granola Pancakes (with berries on top) 3 per order $8.25~ 

We added berries to it as recommended by the waiter. It was a good rec! The pancakes were also very large...and yummy. I loved the granola in it. So nutty and added nice texture. You almost don't need syrup! ...almost... haha. I always have to have syrup on my pancakes! :P But I did order a side salad!! So I was still able to get my veggies in for the day. hahaha. 

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It was a good day of indulgence. I'd recommend both of these places for pancakes or just any type of brunchy foods! 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Mockingbird Taproom

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! 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~