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Dallas KRLD Restaurant Week
2008.08.17
With the ongoing promotions offered by the many restaurants participating in the Dallas Restaurant Week, I took the opportunity to get Minghao to bring me to several not-too-cheap restaurants over the weekend ;) At $35 for a three-course meal each, I thought it is a deal too good to miss :D
So, on Friday, we went to Via Real, a slightly more "atas" Mexican restaurant in a nearby neighborhood.
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With the ongoing promotions offered by the many restaurants participating in the Dallas Restaurant Week, I took the opportunity to get Minghao to bring me to several not-too-cheap restaurants over the weekend ;) At $35 for a three-course meal each, I thought it is a deal too good to miss :D
So, on Friday, we went to Via Real, a slightly more "atas" Mexican restaurant in a nearby neighborhood.
1
The food was decent, but not fantastic. I did however enjoy the huge and yummy margarita. Strangely, I don't seem to be able to hold my alcohol for cocktails/hard liquor as well as I could for wines, as I was very sleepy soon after we got home from dinner.
As the TV was showing the olympics at the bar, it was pretty fun cheering Phlephs in his 100m-butterfly race with the other diners. It was also the first time we got to see the race live in action, since, unlike most normal household, we don't have any TV network and are only watching the races from NBC delayed telecast on the internet.
Anyway, for appetizer, we had breaded scallops with mango salad. The salad was quite delightful, though the scallops were not as fresh and juicy as the ones that I had had recently in other places.
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The food was decent, but not fantastic. I did however enjoy the huge and yummy margarita. Strangely, I don't seem to be able to hold my alcohol for cocktails/hard liquor as well as I could for wines, as I was very sleepy soon after we got home from dinner.
As the TV was showing the olympics at the bar, it was pretty fun cheering Phlephs in his 100m-butterfly race with the other diners. It was also the first time we got to see the race live in action, since, unlike most normal household, we don't have any TV network and are only watching the races from NBC delayed telecast on the internet.
Anyway, for appetizer, we had breaded scallops with mango salad. The salad was quite delightful, though the scallops were not as fresh and juicy as the ones that I had had recently in other places.
2
I had the "Rancher's Special" with pork-stuffed chile, enchiladas and taco. The stuffed chile was fine, but just wasn't good enough compared to the chile en nogada (walnut sauce) served in Puebla, Mexico.
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I had the "Rancher's Special" with pork-stuffed chile, enchiladas and taco. The stuffed chile was fine, but just wasn't good enough compared to the chile en nogada (walnut sauce) served in Puebla, Mexico.
3
Minghao had the oven roasted bone-in pork loin, served with port wine poached pear. I thought it was pretty good, especially the pear, though MInghao wasn't too impressed with it.
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Minghao had the oven roasted bone-in pork loin, served with port wine poached pear. I thought it was pretty good, especially the pear, though MInghao wasn't too impressed with it.
4
A random shot from the car on our way back home :D
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A random shot from the car on our way back home :D
5
A field of sunflowers on our way to dinner on Saturday. It was a lousy and blur shot, but I wasn't allowed to stop the car by the highway to take a nice photo. I had really wanted to take a few stalks home too. Perhaps I shall try to do it along a quieter stretch of road next time, since sunflowers seem to be blossoming just about everywhere (along the roads) in Dallas.
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A field of sunflowers on our way to dinner on Saturday. It was a lousy and blur shot, but I wasn't allowed to stop the car by the highway to take a nice photo. I had really wanted to take a few stalks home too. Perhaps I shall try to do it along a quieter stretch of road next time, since sunflowers seem to be blossoming just about everywhere (along the roads) in Dallas.
6
We had dinner at Jasper's serving "gourmet backyard cuisine" at the Legacy shopping district in Plano.
My appetizer: Jumbo lump crab cake with guacamole and chips. I thought the crab cake could be juicer and with more fresh crab meat. It just wasn't as good as the one we had at Mustards, Napa Valley.
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We had dinner at Jasper's serving "gourmet backyard cuisine" at the Legacy shopping district in Plano.
My appetizer: Jumbo lump crab cake with guacamole and chips. I thought the crab cake could be juicer and with more fresh crab meat. It just wasn't as good as the one we had at Mustards, Napa Valley.
7
This is probably our favorite dish of the night: Prosciutto wrapped “shrimp ‘n’ grits”. Who would have thought grilled corn grits could be this tasty :D The grits and the thyme-lemon butter sauce was also good accompaniment to the salt-ish wrapped shrimp.
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This is probably our favorite dish of the night: Prosciutto wrapped “shrimp ‘n’ grits”. Who would have thought grilled corn grits could be this tasty :D The grits and the thyme-lemon butter sauce was also good accompaniment to the salt-ish wrapped shrimp.
8
Minghao's slow smoked baby back ribs with creamy baked potato salad. It was decent, but given all the hype about it being one of America's best ribs by various reviews plus the chef, Kent Rathbun, was supposed to have beaten iron chef Bobby Flay at the grills, it just wasn't good enough. Minghao even though that the ribs at TGIF were comparable to this!
We did really like the sour cream potato sald though...
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Minghao's slow smoked baby back ribs with creamy baked potato salad. It was decent, but given all the hype about it being one of America's best ribs by various reviews plus the chef, Kent Rathbun, was supposed to have beaten iron chef Bobby Flay at the grills, it just wasn't good enough. Minghao even though that the ribs at TGIF were comparable to this!
We did really like the sour cream potato sald though...
9
A cute little shop selling pretty cupcakes holders and expensive kitchenwares at the Legacy shopping district.
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A cute little shop selling pretty cupcakes holders and expensive kitchenwares at the Legacy shopping district.
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The pond was full of pond skaters!
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The pond was full of pond skaters!
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Taking photos with the pond skaters.
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Taking photos with the pond skaters.
12
On Sunday, we went to Nobu. Yeah, another celebrity-chef-owned restaurant :D
Luckily, unlike Jasper's, it did not disappoint.
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On Sunday, we went to Nobu. Yeah, another celebrity-chef-owned restaurant :D
Luckily, unlike Jasper's, it did not disappoint.
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Since I was treating, Minghao happily ordered an additional dish outside of the $35 set dinner. After having heard me raving so much about the yummy monkfish liver (ankimo) I had in San Francisco, he was very keen to try the ankimo with caviar on the menu.
It was yummy :D Much creamier than the one I tried in SF. Well, I supposed it is also quite a bit more expensive.
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Since I was treating, Minghao happily ordered an additional dish outside of the $35 set dinner. After having heard me raving so much about the yummy monkfish liver (ankimo) I had in San Francisco, he was very keen to try the ankimo with caviar on the menu.
It was yummy :D Much creamier than the one I tried in SF. Well, I supposed it is also quite a bit more expensive.
15
I had the broiled alaskan black cod with miso for my main. It was delicious! Haha, and I was reminded of all my previous attempts to cook this dish unsuccessfully. Maybe, it's time to try making it again.
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I had the broiled alaskan black cod with miso for my main. It was delicious! Haha, and I was reminded of all my previous attempts to cook this dish unsuccessfully. Maybe, it's time to try making it again.
16
Minghao had the tenderloin with wasabe pepper sauce. The beef was succulent and went very well with the spicy (not diluted) wasabe sauce :D The crunchy seaweed and enoki mushrooms sald by the side was just as wonderful.
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Minghao had the tenderloin with wasabe pepper sauce. The beef was succulent and went very well with the spicy (not diluted) wasabe sauce :D The crunchy seaweed and enoki mushrooms sald by the side was just as wonderful.
17
The courtyard of the Hotel Crescent where Nobu is located. I really like the architecture of the hotel. According to its website, it is supposed to resemble French chateau with a contemporary twist. Not sure what that really means, I just like the details of the metal grille.
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The courtyard of the Hotel Crescent where Nobu is located. I really like the architecture of the hotel. According to its website, it is supposed to resemble French chateau with a contemporary twist. Not sure what that really means, I just like the details of the metal grille.
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Of course, besides dining out, I also did my duty as a professional "homemaker" by cooking most of our weekday meals :)
My first attempt at making "mei cai kou rou" - preserved mustard greens with fatty meat. Given that the preparation time was fairly short and outcome fairly satisfying, I guess this dish would make its appearance at our dining table fairly often in future :)
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Of course, besides dining out, I also did my duty as a professional "homemaker" by cooking most of our weekday meals :)
My first attempt at making "mei cai kou rou" - preserved mustard greens with fatty meat. Given that the preparation time was fairly short and outcome fairly satisfying, I guess this dish would make its appearance at our dining table fairly often in future :)
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I finally found kang kong at one of my favorite grocery stores :D I absolutely miss having sambal kang kong regularly. The restaurants here just do not make kang kong the way we like it. They would simply stir-fy fresh chilles (green/red) with the veges if we request for a spicy version. And that just doesn't taste like the way it is done back home.
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I finally found kang kong at one of my favorite grocery stores :D I absolutely miss having sambal kang kong regularly. The restaurants here just do not make kang kong the way we like it. They would simply stir-fy fresh chilles (green/red) with the veges if we request for a spicy version. And that just doesn't taste like the way it is done back home.
