Rise No. 2!

The last 2 weeks have been a blast! Full of fun, friends, and of course yummy goodness! :) I started my birthday celebration the week before my actual birthday. My awesome co-workers, and fellow L2E members, treated me to lunch at Rise No.1. They read my first post on Rise and wanted to go check it out!

It’s a little pricey for lunch in my opinion but they said it’s a special occasion so we should go! ^.~ I feel special! Hehe.

We all had the Rise No. 1 Salad (refer to the first Rise post). They had it as a starter and I had it as my lunch (because I wanted to save room for dessert!!! Of course! :P ). The salad was just I remembered it the first time, still tasty…light yet flavorful…not drowning in dressing. My co-workers really liked the salad as well.

For the entrée, J ordered the Herb & Spicy Sausage Soufflé (refer to first post) . $16~ K ordered the Truffle Infused Mushroom Soufflé. $15~ I got to have a little taste of the Mushroom Soufflé. It was super good. If you like cream of mushroom soup, you’ll totally love this soufflé because it tastes just like it. It’s creamy and flavorful, yet light and airy with a slight crust on top. YUMM!!

For my dessert I tried the Grand Marnier Soufflé. $12~ It was really really good! Better than the bread pudding soufflé I had the first time. It had the slight hint of orange flavor from the Grand Marnier with the creaminess of the soufflé. Also, they pour a sweet creamy syrup over the soufflé. The syrup adds more of the Grand Marnier alcohol flavor. If you like Grand Marnier, you will LOVE this dessert.

Needless to say, it was a great start to a series of birthday celebrations! Definitely keep Rise No.1 in mind the next time you have a special occasion!!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Roy's! Aloha~

Roy's
2840 Dallas Parkway
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 473-6263
http://www.roysrestaurant.com/locations/TX/plano.asp
Price: $$$

Recently I got a $20 gift card in the mail from Roy’s (a Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in Plano, on Tollway and Parker). What a pleasant surprise! :) I’ve only been to Roy’s once before, and I’ve always wanted to go back. It’s out of my normal eating price range (around $20-35 a plate), so this was a great opportunity to go again.

I went with 2 of my friends on a Friday night. Business was doing well that night, almost every table was filled. I was warmly greeted by the hostess as I told them we had a reservation. We were seated very quickly. The wait staff was very friendly and full of smiles. (I’ve always heard that Roy’s has great service and is very accommodating to its customers.)

While we were looking over our menus, they served us a complimentary bowl of edamame. They put a couple more spices over the edamame instead of just the regular salt. It was pretty good…had a slight spiciness to it.


After we ordered, they also served us these dumplings (compliments of the chef) that were decorated beautifully.

I loved the colors on this dish…the burst of green, orange, and red really brightened up the dish since the dumpling is pretty colorless. The sauce added a slight sweet and spicy to complement the dumpling. It was very good!

So me and a friend ordered from the Prix Fixe Menu ($35 for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert) to share. My other friend ordered from the PF Menu for himself.

We started off with our appetizers. We got the Szechwan Sirloin Satays: with Kimchee & Edamame Fried Rice (normally $9.50 ordered on its own). The presentation was not bad, the fried rice kind of fell apart, but again…the splash of color on the plate really brightens it up. The beef was very flavorful and cooked nicely. The rice was a little overcooked/too soft, but I liked the flavor. Although... the rice could’ve used a bit more kimchee flavor and I don’t remember seeing any edamame in it...

My friend got the Seafood Chowder: with Shrimp, Scallops & Fin Fish. The chowder was missing some acidity. The flavor was pretty good but it just felt like it was missing a certain something. It had big chunks of shrimp and scallops in it though, so that was nice.

Our entrée was the “Hawaii Kai” Style Beef Short Ribs: Served with a Natural Braising Sauce (and Sour Cream Chive mashed potatoes). The meat was very tender; you could cut it with a fork. It was a little dry though…just very slightly. But if you dip it in the sauce, it was very good. The mashed potatoes were one of my favorites. It was creamy and silky and complimented the meat very well.

The other entrée Tender Braised Pork Pot Roast: Served with Pork Jus & Creamed Corn Sauce (and Sour Cream Chive mashed potatoes and string beans). It was also fork tender but slightly dry. But again, paired with the creamed corn sauce, the dryness was no longer there. The pork was quite a bit larger than the beef…we should’ve ordered the pork to share. Haha.

Finally the desserts!! We both ordered the Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle: Flourless Chocolate Cake with a Molten Hot Center served a la Mode (meaning with a scoop of ice cream). :D I’ve been dreaming of having their chocolate soufflé cake ever since I had it the first time many years ago. It was just as good as I remembered it. A slightly crispy outer shell, full of gooey yummy-ness on the inside!!!! The cake was super moist, with plenty of molten chocolate in the middle. The vanilla ice cream is always a great complement to a chocolate cake. The raspberry sauce added a nice splash of color on the plate but wasn’t necessary. The tartness from the sauce added another flavor to the dessert, but if it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have missed it. Haha. The cake was definitely my favorite part. I could’ve just had 3 of the cakes and skipped the main course! :P

With that $20 off, it was a GREAT deal for good food. I would totally go back again and definitely recommend it to everyone. It’s a great place for a special occasion! Don’t forget to get the Chocolate Souffle cake…that’s a MUST! Another recommendation is the Butterfish. I had it the first time I was there. It sounds just like the name…very buttery and soft. It was sooo tender and soft that it literally melts in your mouth!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

The Mercury :D

In addition to my L2E club at work, I also have a Quarterly Dining group. We basically get together once a quarter for some good food! :)

The Mercury
11909 Preston Rd.
Dallas, TX 75230
(972) 960-7774
http://www.mcrowd.com/mercury/index.asp
Price: $$$-$$$$

This time we went to The Mercury (or The Mercury Grill) on Preston and Forest. I’ve been wanting to go for the past 2 years now, just somehow never made it there. This was a good opportunity to finally check it out.

I knew this place was upscale, but it was MUCH nicer than I had imagined. From the outside it doesn’t look that big, but it has 3 different rooms once you walk in.

While waiting for everyone to get there, they served us warm bread with butter and pate spreads. The bread was nice and warm. Crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside. I’ve never actually had pate before, and I liked it. It had a slight ‘liver-y’ after taste, but if you combine the pate and butter together on the bread, it was very good. The waiter continued to replenish the bread until we were ready to order.

(Note: I didn’t include most of the prices because I forgot to write them down. :/ I’m going to write about the dishes I tasted, then post the rest of the food pictures after.)

I knew I wanted dessert(s) so I decided to only get an appetizer, as my entree. Plus it was quite pricey so I didn’t want to spend TOO much money.

We started off with salads and appetizers. I didn’t order one, but I got to sample some of my friends’. :P First was the Crisped Foie Gras: with foie gras flan and wild mushroom ragout (which they ordered the wine pairing as well). Foie Gras is basically fattened duck or goose liver, and in most places it’s considered a delicacy. I’ve had liver before but I don’t think they were considered ‘foie gras’. This was delicious! The top layer is the crisped foie gras, then a layer of the mushrooms, all over the flan. The flan was soft and creamy, and was well paired with the crispy outside of the foie gras. There were all sorts of different textures in this dish and they all worked together wonderfully.


Next were the entrees. I ordered an appetizer as my main course...the Forty-Eight Hour Braised Short Rib (medium rare): with potato puree. $17~

The presentation was very nice and the flavor was awesome. The meat was the right tenderness. It had just the right amount of fat to keep the meat juicy. The sauce and the potato puree were delicious with the meat. I ate it ALL! Haha.

One of my friends ordered the Black Cod: with blonde miso, asparagus and pickled ginger. You can never go wrong with miso cod…it’s a wonderful combination. The cod was soft and buttery and not too sweet (which some places make it too sweet). It was delicious!

On to the DESSERTS!!! All the desserts were $8~. The one thing I’ve heard about The Mercury was their chocolate soufflés. Every time someone tells me about this place, this dessert comes up. As a chocoholic and dessert addict, I HAD to try it out. We ordered 3 chocolate soufflés! They certainly did not disappoint. The soufflés were chocolaty and fluffy. Upon serving, the waiter pokes a hole in the middle of the soufflé and pours chocolate syrup onto the dessert. Mmmmmmm!!!! Then he leaves the rest of the chocolate sauce for us to replenish as we please. :P

One friend ordered the Chocolate Lava Cake. This was my 2nd choice for dessert, so I got to try it anyways. W00t! The plate was decorated beautifully. The cake was very good. The outside was slightly crispy and the “lava” oozed out as you cut open the cake. Although I would still have to say that the lava cake at Rise No1 was just slightly better!

Another friend ordered the Chocolate Formagigoria (I know I’m not spelling that right…). It’s basically a flourless chocolate cake. Also beautifully decorated, the cake was super rich and chocolaty. YUM!

Now for the rest of the food pics:

2 salads: Marinated Pear and Gorgonzola Salad (with candied pecans and arugula) and Heirloom Tomato Salad (with blue cheese). They split the portions for us (that’s why it looks so little in the pictures).

Pan Roasted Halibut: with summer bean braise, sundried tomato pesto and pancetta chip. I tried a bite of the fish. It was slightly overcooked so was a little tough. This was probably the only disappointment of the night.

Domestic Lamb Shank: with garden vegetables, muffaletta tapenade and pomme frites. I’m not a lamb fan, but it was very tender. The “pomme frites” or fries, came in a cute little container and were very good.
These were the specials (so they weren’t listed on the menu):

Filet of Sole: with hearts of palm… $58~ (this was listed as ‘market price’ and my friend forgot to ask for the price… We were all shocked when the bill came…) Beef Dynamite: with “Dynamite” sauce with shrimp and crab. I got a bite and the beef was very flavorful and tender. It was definitely a GREAT meal with great friends!! Still a little expensive for my taste so I won’t be dining like this ALL the time. Haha. And be sure to always ask if the price isn’t listed…otherwise you would end up ordering a $58 piece of fish!! I would definitely recommend it for special occasions or a romantic date.

P.S. The service was really great here. From the moment I walked in with the hostess to the waiter for our table. Halfway through the meal, he actually brought a chilled martini glass to transfer my friend’s cocktail so that it would stay cold! First time I’ve ever seen that in a restaurant! He earned himself some bonus points there! ^.~

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~