Belated Valentine’s Celebration at The Tasting Room at Lola February 24, 2008

Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to go out for a romantic dinner, just not on actual Valentine’s Day when the restaurants are packed.  I can just picture it.  Me, sitting in a cushy chair, looking across the candlelit table at my better half, whose eyes are watering not from my thoughtful Hallmark card but at the outrageous bill presented to him after an evening of rushed service and mediocre food.  “The extra $50 is for the ‘complimentary’ rose, honey,” I would try to comfort him.

That’s why on actual Valentine’s Day, we stayed at home and exchanged simple presents: some dreadful looking tulips from Kroger for me (he admitted they were the last ones left at the store) and a giant peppercorn-garlic crusted steak (cooked by yours truly) for him.  We sat not at a dimly lit table but rather at a television-lit couch, screaming at yet another probability and reasoning challenged contestant on Deal or No Deal (seriously, how many million dollar cases does Howie have to put up on that board until someone wins a million bucks?!?!), all the while downing a bottle of Circle S Ibello.  By 10:00pm, we’d both passed out from a long work week and the emotionally exhausting Deal or No Deal episode.

As much as two twenty-somethings can appreciate reality TV-induced drama on this commercially hyped holiday, the Saturday following Valentine’s presented a better romantic dining opportunity, an evening at the Tasting Room at Lola.  The Tasting Room is an intimate space of eight tables, where patrons enjoy ten petite courses of the chef’s selection (menu varies, sample menu here) for $69 ($79 with foie gras supplement), and if they so desire, wine pairings for the courses for $32.  The progressive menu is perfect for those seeking an adventure for their tastebuds, and the quiet cottage setting of the restaurant (a welcomed relief from the hustle and bustle of Uptown) provides the ambiance for a romantic dinner.  And yes, the valet parking is complimentary.

Immediately upon seating, we were presented with glasses of water and Bisol Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Crede, an Italian sparkling wine to complement our first three courses, and, as it turned out, a fantastic pairing to the first course, Indian Point oyster with champagne mignonette and fine herbs.

An oyster dish for a starter seems to be a signature move at the Tasting Room based on Dallas Morning News and DallasFood.org reviews and this visit.  The pristine and chilled oyster, though a seemingly daunting task for me, someone who has had less than favorable experiences with oysters in the past, impressed with its simple, clean flavors.  My concerned demeanor melted away with the sliding of the oyster down my throat, I was ready for more.

Second course: Sauteed squid with arugula, blood orange, and salsa verde.  Though the salsa verde wasn’t pronouced in this dish, the bitter arugula contrasted against the citrusy sweet blood orange provided an excellent backdrop to the meaty squid.  The only improvement that I could suggest for this dish is a tad less olive oil to really emphasize the crisp and refreshing qualities of the arugula and blood orange.  Still, it was a flavor combination not to be soon forgotten, I think my next dinner party salad will have to include some combination of arugula and citrus.

Third course: House-cured lonza with frisse and a pear/walnut vinaigrette.  Does Chef Uygur teach a salad course somewhere?  The combination of the bitter, peppery frisse with a sweet and nutty dressing was again ingenious.  House-cured Italian style lonza had a mildly spiced flavor, but couldn’t steal the show from the salad bed that it topped.

Fourth course: Cauliflower soup with creme fraiche, capers, and raisins.  This soup dish was actually my favorite course of the evening.  Given that I have a rather eccentric love for cauliflower and soup, that’s not a surprising declaration.  But that’s not the only reason, there was something eerily familiar about the combination of the caper almond raisin sauce with the nutty cauliflower cream soup… something that tasted almost like a mild curry.  I investigated the similarity with each spoonful, but alas, the bowl was fast gone before I could put my finger on the culprit ingredient invoking this familiar feeling.  With this course, we were presented with the second wine pairing of the evening intended for the next three courses, Vina Godeval Godello 2006, a citrusy Spanish white.

Fifth course: Scottish salmon with watercress, pistachio, and potato.  Though I enjoyed the texture of the crispy skin on the salmon, it was far too salty.  It’s a good thing this was a petite course, for a larger portion of the salmon would have rendered my tastebuds useless for the remainder of the evening.  The pistachio puree and the roasted potatoes helped balance the overpowering salmon skin, but still, I found myself reaching for the water glass for a little relief.

Sixth course: Cape Cod granita, or as our waiter described it, “essentially an alcoholic snow cone.”  Just as fun as the adult beverage it’s named after, with bits of grated lime zest to add some extra zing.  If the tone of the food has been serious so far, this course certainly lightened up the mood, just two adults licking some alcoholic shaved ice from a paper cone and having some hands-on fun.  And it served as an excellent palate cleanser for the subsequent meat courses.

Seventh course: Duck breast with mashed parsley root, garlic, and red wine jus served with a 2003 Fonseca Domini Douro from Portugal.  Tender slices of duck breast atop the best mashed item I’ve had all year.  If it wasn’t for the waiter’s claim that the mashed parsley root is a 6-hour cooking process, I would try to recreate this dish for Thanksgiving.  The classic flavors of the red wine sauce were lovely against the comforting bed of mash, but the duck, though tender, tasted as if the skin had been soaked in brine.  Again, too salty.

Eighth course: lamb loin with lentils and Texas Arbequina olive tapinade.  The paired wine, made from the same grape as port, was perfect in bringing out the velvety richness of the lamb.  Sweet pearl onions were delicious with the salted lentils, though the olive tapinade flavor wasn’t very pronouced.

Ninth course: The supplement seared foie gras course with roasted grapes, vincotto, and caramelized bread.  Apparently the transition from savory to sweet is often done through a foie gras with fruit course at the Tasting Room (as expressed in the DallasFood review and confirmed again on this visit).  Though I loved the decadent dish, I felt like I needed something to cut down the richness a little.  The paired 2004 Marenco Scrapona Moscato d’Asti was just a tad too sweet to serve that purpose.

Tenth course: Assortment of cheeses with medjool dates and focaccia crackers.  The cheese selection included an Oregon goat cheese, a Spanish blue cheese, and a sheep’s milk cheese from Montana.  The sweet and nutty date puree brought out the creamy sweet undertone of the goat cheese, contrasted the robust flavors of the blue cheese, and added a touch of moisture to the mild sheep’s milk cheese, a concise representation the chef’s understanding of flavor complement and contrast. 

Eleventh course: Dark chocolate fondant with fig puree, almond brittle, and vanilla bean ice cream.  A satisfactory sweet ending to a meal of many adventures, kept on the verge of exciting by the crunchy almond candy and fig puree.

Mignardise: House-made shortbread cookies, candied orange peel, and richly bitter dark chocolate truffles. 

An eleven course meal with the wine pairings (about $150 per person when tax and gratuity are added up) at the Tasting Room isn’t the cheapest meal in town, but is an excellent value considering the varied adventures your tastebuds are exposed to throughout the evening.  This meal is not a pre-show dinner or the after thought to afternoon affairs, but rather an event in itself and worth every second of the anticipation.  Sure, there are little tweaks to the dishes here and there that would make them more suitable for my taste, but the overall value of the experience, complete with impeccable but not so-formal-that-it’s-stiff service, made for an enchanting and memorable Valentine’s dinner for this food enthusiast. 

Rating: 5 / 5

The Tasting Room at Lola
2917 Fairmount St
Dallas, TX 75201

New Year’s Eve at Ferrari’s Italian Villa February 4, 2008

48 hours before New Year’s Eve, I was forced to cancel my original New Year’s Eve dinner reservation for a party of 13 due a communication hiccup with the restaurant.  It was complete social panick!  How could I, resident foodie of the group, live with ruining 13 people’s New Year’s Eve plans?  Needless to say, I was more than relieved to find Ferrari’s Italian Villa in Addison still had room for such a large party at this 11th hour. 

Fast forward to New Year’s Eve, the entire party arrived on time for our 9:00pm reservation (probably because we were all starved by this late hour), only to be herded to the bar area (which was a tough fit for 13 people) for another 30 minutes.  As I stared at the rotating upside down Christmas tree suspended from the ceiling in the center of the dining room, I wondered whether this Plan B would pan out after all.

Finally, our table was ready.  The weary group’s eyes lit up at Ferrari’s New Year’s Eve menu with its familiar, comfortable Italian cuisine.  Our dampened spirits needed to be uplifted with carbs, cream sauces, oozy cheeses, and other sins against the Atkins Diet.  We scarfed down the thin, crispy complimentary focaccia bread as we anxiously perused the entree options.

Soon, the relief of the piping hot, olive oil infused foccacia was gone as we stared at empty plates, wine glasses, and closed menus.  Where was our waiter?  Moreover, where’s the wine list? 

Someone finally took notice and the waiter came around to take entree orders.  I had to request a wine list.  Did we just look particularly young that night?  We did receive a complimentary second order of foccacia bread (second servings were $4.50 per the New Year’s Eve menu) to tie us over the long wait.

The botched service, however, did not overshadow the food when the entrees finally arrived.

Farfalle Marco Polo ($24):

Jumbo shrimp tossed in a parmesan cream sauce with fresh broccoli and tomatoes, a simple dish executed to near perfection.  Succulent shrimp was cooked just right (not dry or chewey), vibrant green broccoli walked a fine line balancing tender and crisp, sweet bits of juicy tomato provided a texture contrast against the al dente noodles, and the sauce was a guilty pleasure of creamy richness that had the perfect texture (not watery, not congealed) and seasoning (not too salty, not bland).  I honestly can’t think of anything I would change about this perfect cream sauce and pasta dish.

Pollo Valdostana ($20):

Chicken breast covered in ham, mozzarella, mushrooms, and cream sauce.  The cream sauce was again right on with the texture and the seasoning, though the chicken was a tad rubbery.  Crisp green beans and oven roasted potatoes were nicely seasoned as well.

Other dishes that won praises around the table included the Ravioli alla Stefano ($18), cheese filled ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce topped with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, and the Salmon Bella Donna ($24), topped with a white wine cream sauce and shrimp.  The Gnocchi Della Mamma ($19) received mixed reactions as the balanced sauce simply couldn’t bring the too-dense potato dumplings up to par.

The less-than-desirable service continued when we were not offered coffee or the dessert menu after dinner.  But at a quarter past 11:00pm, none of us really wanted to stay for another course.  We were full and satisfied, but it’s too bad that our memory of this grand carb and cream sauce feast will always be scarred by the erred service.

Rating: 3 / 5

Ferrari’s Italian Villa
14831 Midway Rd
Addison, TX 75001

The Search for Takoyaki (Sushi Yama) January 21, 2008

I’m a big fan of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations series, though I was late in discovering this show and didn’t become a devout viewer until two seasons ago.  Now, life just doesn’t seem right without an hour of glorious televised food porn every week.  A rerun of the Osaka episode where Bourdain nearly ate himself to death triggered my curiosity about Japanese street food, specifically, those round octopus dumplings called takoyaki.

I wasn’t a complete stranger to takoyaki when I saw the Osaka No Reservations episode.  I had them once at the Dallas Japanese Association’s Akimatsuri, or Fall Festival.  But there must be some way to satisfy this craving in between the once-a-year festivals?  While picking up a takeout order at my favorite cheap sushi joint, Seabose, I asked the clerk if she knew of a restaurant in the Dallas area that served takoyaki.  The answer was really no surprise.  Sushi Yama, she said, was the only restaurant in the DFW area that serves takoyaki. 

Sushi Yama has long been a favorite of Dallas foodies, former expats, and local Japanese with its authentic menu of noodle dishes, yakitori, sushi, and other specialties scribbled on taped-to-the-wall pieces of paper with a Sharpie.  Budget-minded diners love Sushi Yama for $1 sushi nights (Tuesdays and Saturdays, $10 minimum) and half price bento box Wednesdays ($11 buys a feast).  With late hours (open until 2:00 am), it is also rumored to be the place where local sushi chefs eat after their shifts are over. 

The restaurant is tucked away in a nondescript strip mall on Forest Lane just west of Greenville Avenue.  Sushi Yama’s sign is not visible from Forest Lane and can be tricky to find.

 

At 9:30pm on a Saturday, Sushi Yama’s small dining room is still more than half full. 

Unfortunately for us, this translated into some long delays in service.  Since it was $1 sushi night, we started off with some sushi.

From top to bottom, left to right: spicy tuna, wasabi flying fish roe, flying fish roe, and eel.

Salmon.

The sushi was all average and forgettable with the exception of the delightfully fun wasabi flying fish roe, spicy crunchy bubbles that burst with each bite.  Of course, it was my first time with wasabi flying fish roe so that added to the fascination.  I don’t usually obsess over portion size, but it’s worth noting that the sushi pieces were all small.  Perhaps, for $1/piece, you do get what you pay for.

Next up, the reason for my visit to Sushi Yama, takoyaki.

It’s amazing how cheap street food sold in masses can translate into a dainty dish of 4 octopus dumplings in a restaurant setting.  Although I’ve never been to Japan, these dumplings fit all the descriptions of takoyaki from friends, online resources, and of course, the No Reservations episode.  The spherical dumplings have a soft, somewhat spongy, mild flavored batter surrounding chewey chunks of octopus and are topped with okonomiyaki sauce, aonori (green seaweed powder), and dried fish shavings.  Pickled ginger and mayonnaise are served on the side.  It’s a mess, but a delicious mess.

Speaking of messy, we also opted for an order of okonomiyaki, or Japanese pancake.

Okonomiyaki roughly tranlates into “cooked as you like it” or “what you like, the way you like.”  In Japan, this messy pancake is a creation with customized ingredients that you pick out.  At Sushi Yama, the choice is limited to the meat in the pancake, for which we chose beef.  The griddle fried meat and batter pancake is topped with okonomiyaki sauce, nori, dried fish flakes, and pickled ginger.  The dried fish flakes, being ever so airy and light, move in the heat/steam from the pancake, giving the illusion that they are alive.  Creepy.  Having never been to Japan, I can’t judge if the okonomiyaki is authentic at Sushi Yama but thought that the abundance of the okonomiyaki sauce really overpowered the dish.  I couldn’t taste anything but the sauce.

Overall, I enjoyed my budget feast ($27 including tax and tip for two) at Sushi Yama.  The slow service at this late hour was frustrating as my starved self was in no mood to wait 45 minutes for the first plate to show up on the table.  But service issues aside, Sushi Yama is the quintessential cozy, hole-in-the-wall, authentic Japanese eatery in Dallas.  There’s definitely a reason for the loyal following, and I suspect it isn’t the $1 sushi. 

I’ll be back to explore other items on the menu, or rather, the wall, especially the ones written only in Japanese.  Anyone else up for an adventure?

Rating: 3 / 5

Sushi Yama
8989 Forest Lane
Dallas, TX 75243

Boba Tea and Fast Food for Starving Students (Bethany Boba Tea House) January 6, 2008

Caffeine and cheap grub, two basic ingredients for sustenance for the starving poor college/grad student.  Bethany Boba Tea House, located within walking distance to UT-Arlington, can provide both for under $5, and we’re not talking about coffee and donuts.  As the restaurant’s name suggests, Bethany is a destination for boba tea, also known as bubble tea, or flavored teas (sometimes with milk) with tapioca pearls.  The beverage originated in Taiwan and has been gaining popularity in the US in recent years.  For students looking for an alternative to crappy vending machine coffee sold in the library basement, Bethany can provide an energy boost via a sugary tea beverage with calories to spare (according to nutrition.com, the average boba tea has about 30 tapioca pearls and there is about 100 calories per 7 tapioca pearls).  That should be enough fuel to pull an all nighter for those dreaded midterms!  Still need more, you say?  Not to worry, Bethany also serves a mixed menu of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fast food dishes along with some not so Asian items until 10:00pm daily.

The menu ranges wildly from spicy popcorn chicken ($2.50) to cold sesame noodles ($4.25) to kastu don ($5.25) to kimchi ($2.00).  With the few exceptions like the spicy popcorn chicken, the majority of the menu consists of rice and noodle plates ranging from $4 to $7, and that price includes a boba tea!  For fast food prices, Bethany cranks out some incredibly tasty Asian street food.  Take, for example, my favorite item at Bethany, a basic bowl of beef noodle soup ($4.95 including a cup green milk tea):

It’s a monster sized bowl of steaming hot broth with al dente rice noodles, tender chunks of stewed beef, baby bok choy, and a sprinkle of finely chopped Taiwanese pickled greens for added flavor.  It’s the finest meal any poor grad student can ask for on a cold winter day for under $5, particularly when the source is within walking distance to campus.  Sure, the broth could be a tad richer.  But at 9:00pm on a rainy day while trapped on campus cramming away for finals, who am I to argue with this giant bowl of comfort?

Despite the immense popularity of the spicy popcorn chicken, I think the best items off of Bethany’s menu are the traditional fast/street foods of Chinese/Taiwanese origin (it’s not a coincidence, the owner is Taiwanese).  A simple panko-crusted, deep fried pork chop over rice ($4.99) is lovely with well seasoned crunchy batter and tender meat.  A plate of chicken curry rice ($4.95) has chunks of tender white meat chicken swimming in a curry gravy which lacked depth (guilty of one dimensional curry powder flavor).  Oyako don ($4.95, pictured below), Japanese style chicken and egg rice bowl with onions, had nice texture but was underseasoned and a bit on the bland side.

Still, even with its minor shortcomings, it’s hard to argue with what a cafe like Bethany can mean to a college/grad student.  For the simple combination of tasty sustenance plus caffeinated beverage close to campus, Bethany Boba Tea House can’t be beat.  Skip the Taco Hell and Wendy’s, Bethany is where the real value is.

Rating: 3 / 5

Bethany Boba Tea House
705 W. Park Row Dr.
Arlington, TX 76013

Pei Wei, Slightly Revamped (Secret Recipe Asian Bistro) December 28, 2007

I live in a suburban anomaly, a zipcode without any Chinese takeout places.  Zip, nada, none. 

The idea boggles the mind.  It is downright un-American.

The closest place where I can get an order of sugar-glazed sesame orange honey chicken/beef/non-threatening bite-sized boneless meat (should I ever get the craving) is Panda Express.  Though Americanized Chinese cuisine is not a regular part of my diet, I feel for my neighbors who appreciate their trusty Chinese takeout.  Life is not good when your sole choice for General Tsao’s originated in a mall.  Where do you go when you want your Broccoli Beef cooked to order and not slopped down cafeteria-style? 

Enter Secret Recipe Asian Bistro to the rescue.  Open now for about three months, Secret Recipe occupies a storefront in a shiny new strip mall on Hebron Parkway just west of Old Denton Road.  Order at the counter, grab a number, get your drinks/condiments/fortune cookies, and wait for your cooked-to-order plate to arrive at the table.  The logistical flow of the restaurant is confusing with the line at the order counter dividing the dining room into two halves, but everyone is familiar and comfortable with the routine (thanks Pei Wei for the mass training!) 

The menu is familiar, too.  It is essentially a revamped Pei Wei.  Similar pricing ($6-$9 per plate), similar options (choose the style of the dish then choose your protein from chicken, tofu, beef, shrimp, or scallops), and definitely similar customer base.  A few options from the menu venture into southeastern Asian cuisine more boldly than Pei Wei, such as the Singapore Curry Laksa Noodle Soup ($7.95) I tried on this visit:

Laksa is a Chinese-Malay fusion noodle dish popular in Singapore and Malaysia.  Of the various versions of laksa, curry laksa is the most common (laksa usually means curry laksa unless specified otherwise).  A standard bowl of curry laksa consists of a curry-coconut milk broth with bean sprouts, fried tofu puffs, slices of fish cake, shrimp or chicken, and thick rice noodles.  Sometimes sliced hard boiled egg is also added.  Secret Recipe’s rendition of Curry Laksa doesn’t skimp on any of the standard ingredients (including the sliced hard boiled egg) but utilizes an eggy wheat-based noodle instead of thick vermicelli.  The dish was a vibrant bowl of noodle soup comfort, a pleasant unexpected surprise in an all-too-familiar setup.  Though the curry-coconut flavor was evident, I could’ve done with a thicker, richer, more assertive broth.

My partner went with a dish that Secret Recipe’s kitchen probably cranks out more often, Orange Zest Beef ($8.25):

The beef was glazed nicely for a crispy exterior, but the meat was a bit chewey.  Snap peas were vividly green and crunchy, freshly grated orange zest tickled the nostrils, but the red chiles are more for decor than flavor.  Heat factor was definitely more Iowa than Texas.

Secret Recipe is a trusty neighborhood joint for takeout or casual dine-in.  Ingredients are fresh and service is polite and quick.  If it’s pan-Asian a la Pei Wei you’re looking for, Secret Recipe is a solid choice.  Try the Southeast Asian dishes if you’re tired of glazed white meat chicken, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 3 / 5

Secret Recipe Asian Bistro
1404 W Hebron Pkwy
Carrollton, TX 75010