JANUARY: Nori Handroll Bar

I'm finally back from a long break from blogging! My new concept for CHOMP! is that once a month, I will be featuring my favorite dining spot from the previous month. Since today is the last day of February, I gotta hurry up and post my favorite from Jan2019! I am also removing my "cookie rating" since these will all be my favorites. It'll get boring when all of them have 5 "cookies". Haha!

Technically I've been going to Nori since October of last year... and I've wanted to write about them ever since then (but life got busy and I was a little burnt out). But it's too good not to feature, so they're kicking off my 2019! Plus I did go to Nori in January. Ha!

I've been following Chef Jimmy Park since the days of Pok the Raw Bar (still my favorite poke place in Dallas). I had one of the best meals when the raw bar opened up there. Since Chef Jimmy left Pok, I've been WAITING for him to do something else. Finally Nori Handroll Bar opened in September 2018 in Deep Ellum!! Woohoo!

Nori Handroll Bar
2814 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75226
(469) 436-6674
norihandrollbar.com
Price: $$-$$$$

I've gone numerous times since they've opened and every time the food is just fantastic. I expected nothing less from Chef Jimmy! Hands down my favorite sushi spot in Dallas, Nori has a great chef (duh!), a great team, and wonderful owners. Plus the decor (minimalist modern) and the music are great!

Chef Jimmy Park being his awesome self.

They specialize in handrolls (or "Temaki") which is a new trend in DFW. A few things to understand when eating handrolls...
1) The seaweed is very important. Nori's is custom made so it has that perfect crispness when you bite into it. Eat it quickly when they place the handroll in front of you so you can experience that perfect texture. The longer the handrolls sit, the softer the seaweed can get. (Mind you, it's still good if left sitting too long, but once you experience how it's SUPPOSED to be, you'll know what I'm talking about!)
2) The handroll chefs at Nori will wait until you have consumed one roll before making your next one. That way the handrolls are not left sitting too long.
3) This one is specific to Nori... their handrolls do not need soy sauce. AT ALL! I have never used soy sauce there because each roll is already so flavorful. I do get their wasabi relish to put on there though. YUM!

Aside from handrolls, Nori also offers complimentary tapas such as seaweed salad, octopus salad, edamame, shishito peppers, and more. 

Yes, complimentary. It's awesome. On the dinner menu, you can also find the full selection of hot dishes like their awesome brussels sprouts, hamachi kama (yellowtail cheek), etc. They have various sashimi dishes which sometimes changes depending on whatever fresh fish they have that day. They also have a sake bar at the front of the restaurant which is pretty badass looking!

Since I've been there so many times already, I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures and what they are. You can't go wrong with anything. I'd happily eat any of these again!

Yamaimo (japanese mountain yam, shisho, ume boshi) $5.50~ Gluten free and vegetarian

King Salmon (house cured ora king salmon, crushed sesame seeds, chives) $7~ Gluten free

Negitoro (fatty tuna, scallion) $9~ Gluten free

Negihama (yellowtail, scallion, crushed sesame) $7~ Gluten free

Nori Scallop (hokkaido scallop, tempura crunch, creamy spicy) $8~ This is a personal favorite.

Red Crab (red crab, garlic aioli) $9~ Gluten free

Baked crab... torched in front of you. Yum!

Baked Crab (red crab, baked avocado with creamy spicy) $9~ Gluten free. Another personal favorite.

Ebi Katsu (panko shrimp, ginger dressing) $8~ This is my absolute favorite!

Chef's Temaki Special: This changes, but I had Tamago (egg).

Lobster (lobster, butter ponzu aioli) $10~

Uni (uni, lobster roe pate, gold flake) $MKT~ Gluten free

Brussels Sprouts (fried brussels, parmesan, premium sauce, crushed sesame) $7~

Rock Shrimp Tempura (amazu ponzu or creamy spicy, yuzu) $MKT~

Hamachi Kama (yellowtail collar) $18~

Takoyaki (octopus dumplings, mentaiko sauce, bonito) $8~

Chicken Karaage (japanese fried chicken) $8~

Here are also some special bites that Chef Jimmy has made for me. I am honored to be considered his friend and can experience these wonderful creations! Disclaimer: Nori does not offer omakase (chef's tasting) on their regular menu. They may offer it on certain holidays so keep an eye out for that! They recently did one for NYE and Valentine's Day.

Hakami in homemade soy sauce

Salmon Belly nigiri

Home cured Japanese mackerel nigiri

Yellowtail in homemade wasabi soy sauce

Bluefin with ponzu

Kampachi with jalapeno dressing

Spear Squid nigiri

One last thing. Save room for dessert. It's not listed on the menu, but sometimes Nori will have this donut ice cream dessert that is just to die for. The donuts are from Detour Doughnuts in Frisco (they're seriously good at what they do) and topped with either a matcha or black sesame ice cream, with different sauces poured at the table. It's delicious. You won't wanna share. :P

Detour's custom Black Sesame donut with Black Sesame ice cream

Detour's Creme Brulee donut with Black Sesame ice cream and chocolate sauce

Thanks for always taking such great care of me, Chef Jimmy and Nori team! If this post doesn't convince you to go check them out... I don't think we can be friends. LOL! They just recently rolled out a new lunch menu btw. I'll be checking that out soon!


~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Sorry for the hiatus! Stay tuned!

Hi All. 

I apologize for the long hiatus on my blog. As most of you know, I go out to eat A LOT. And for the most part, all the places I go to are good and have the potential to be reviewed. (I still post regularly on my Instagram. Thanks to all who have followed along there!) Sometimes it can get overwhelming... If I take a short break, then the backlog of places to blog about piles up and I sometimes lose the interest to continue. 

However, I am working on getting my motivation back! 2019 will be the 10th year of my blog so I am determined to keep this going! I am working on a new concept that will hopefully keep me posting consistently. So stay tuned! Something should be coming really soon. 

Thanks to all who still read this blog! I appreciate you!! 

Irene :)

~ CHOMP CHOMP ~

Wine & Magic with Trigg Watson at Checkered Past Winery

I recently got invited to check out Wine & Magic with magician Trigg Watson at Checkered Past Winery. I love magic shows! However, I don't drink wine, so I made sure to bring a friend who did. :P This is my first time at the winery, cuz duh, I don't drink. It's a cute little place in South Side on Lamar. They have a little stage set up in the back for the show.

A little bit about Trigg Watson. I had never heard of him but he's been on several TV shows such as Penn & Teller's Fool Us, and CW's Masters of Illusion. He was also really funny! I liked that. You can find more info on Trigg and the Wine & Magic show here. The shows occur one weekend a month. The next show dates are 9/28, 9/29, and 10/20.

Checkered Past Winery
1409 S. Lamar St. #008
Dallas, TX 75215
(214) 242-0411
www.checkeredpastwinery.com
www.wineandmagicdallas.com
Price: $$+

Since I'm a food blogger... I'll be focusing on the food. I don't want to give away any parts of the show anyways... You'll have to see it to believe it yourselves!

We arrived a little early before seating. So my friend, serious about repping for the wine drinkers, hehe, starts off with a glass of Rose (Ch Vingtineres, Provence, FR) $11~ a glass. She enjoyed it, and later moved on to try several other different wines. The Malbec from Checkered Past (locally Dallas) was highly recommended by 2 other friends of mine who were also in attendance.

 

I was starving! And everything sounded good. So we started with the Walnut & Cheddar Spread (served with seasoned toasted flatbread wedges and pretzel bread) $8~ 

OMG. The breads here are spectacular. I don't know how they make the dough, but everything we had that night with dough was amazing. The texture was perfect! I loved the sliced pretzel bread too. All the slices were toasted, slightly crispy on the edges and warm! The dip was rich and creamy, and paired really well with the breads.

All 3 of my friends raved about this dish. Smoked Salmon & Herb Cream Cheese Bruschetta (smoked salmon served on seasoned toasted focaccia with cheese spread, capers) $13~ 

I'm not a fan of smoked salmon but I said I would try it if they ordered it. It's good! I wouldn't order it for myself just cuz of my preferences but the salmon was tender and overall a very good bite. Plus it looks quite sophisticated doesn't it? If you like smoked salmon, you'll love this.

Cajun Pizza (crawfish, cajun spices, fresh tarragon, fresh mozzarella) $13~ 

Available on Fridays only. I was eyeing this one. Sounded so interesting! And this turned out to be my favorite dish of the night. Again... perfect texture on the flatbread. The crawfish were nice and plump. Loved it all! I highly recommend this if you go on a Friday!

White Pizza (garlic, oregano, fresh mozzarella) $10~ 

We added Duck Salami to it. Guess it's pizza night! Cuz that's what we kept ordering. We added meat to this cuz... why not? Meats are gooood. I wished there was more meat on the pizza. It was good... but I wasn't able to tell that it was specifically duck... Plus I was still on a high with that crawfish pizza. Haha.

Rudi's Double Meat (hot capicola, pork salami, marinated tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, pesto) $13~ 

Now if you like meats, this is for you! I was full by now so I wasn't blown away, but it's a good pizza. Bold flavors and I loved the pops of tomato as you bite into it. And of course... the bread texture was ON POINT! We had SO much carbs that night. Haha.

I was full. But desserts are a must!

It happened to be National S'mores Day when we went, so natually we had to get the S'mores Pizza - $12~ for a whole. 

This thing was GOOEY AF! And SO rich! One slice was plenty for me. So if you have less than 4 people, I'd say the half order is enough. Chocolate sauce, melty sticky marshmallow.. what's not to like?

We also got the NY Style Cheesecake (with choice of topping) $8~ We got the cherry preserves on top. It's a good cheesecake. I normally don't prefer NY style cheesecakes because I find them wayyy too dense, but this one wasn't. It was a good ending to a good meal.

Now a little bit about the show... I won't give any spoilers. But WOW! We were all blown away. It was so so good. I don't think I've ever seen a magic show up close (we were sitting in the 2nd row), plus he had a GoPro and a TV to projecting certain things. I have seen plenty of magic shows on TV though. But still... it was incredible. We could guess and speculate all we want, but NO idea on how the tricks were done. And since I can't give anything away... "OMG, the thing with the thing, and then he did that thing?!?! What?!?!" hahaha. :P And Trigg was hilarious! We laughed a lot! He had a lot of interaction with the audience... asked several people to go on stage to help with certain tricks. We were certain these some of these people were planted, until... MY friend was picked for the last trick! How fun!

It was such a wonderful time. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this show... what a unique thing to do! And I would go again in a heartbeat!

**The show is $20 a person and food/beverage purchases are not included in ticket price. There are only 45 tickets per show.. it's a really intimate setting. Children over 12 years old are permitted but have to have be accompanied by an adult. There are 2 showings each night: 7PM and 9:30PM.**

Thank you SO MUCH to Checkered Past Winery for hosting us. Sandro, the owner, was the nicest man. He checked on us a lot and made sure we were having the greatest time. And shoutout to our waitress, Natalie, you're awesome! Thanks for being patient with me while I sample a bunch of wines to see if I find one I might like. hehe. And thanks to Trigg. It was such a mind blowing experience. I'm not even going to try and figure out how he did those tricks. I'll just enjoy it and marvel at the wonder.

*The whole experience was comped but all opinions are my own. Now go buy a ticket NOW!!*

Quality of Food: 

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Value: (comped)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~