epicureasian.com » tex-mex cuisine

Dining, January first half of 2010

epicureasian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:50:16 +0000

Blu Ginger Thai Cafe

Blu Ginger professes to be authentic Thai cuisine but too much of their menu displayed playful, gimmicky descriptions making it difficult to take them seriously. Newbie-friendly fusion seems to be the aim at Blu Ginger…which perhaps explains the hit-or-miss execution of their dishes. Their Tom Kha Gai, for example, lacked the lemongrass and fish sauce punch expected of the chicken coconut soup, rendering it bland and unmemorable. Their chicken and ginger soup however proved stellar, intensely fragrant and tasty. The Reunion, an appetizer sampler of satay chicken, wrapped shrimp, dumplings–artfully rendered and all very tasty, but terribly routine for Thai food. The Nutty Professor, Blu Ginger’s version of a peanut sauce dish, was marred by too much bean sprout filler–a disappointment. The spicy salmon curry (which our server warned us would take a longer time to prepare) first came out overcooked–the tail end of the fish came out dry and inedible. After a 2nd pass through the kitchen, the dish came out much more presentable, with a spicy sauce and prettily decorated with flash-fried basil (?) leaves. For the dessert course, Blu Ginger pleased us again, serving up 3 samplers in shot glass size: tapioca pudding, coconut custard and rice pudding–all excellent. Sadly, the high price of dinner dampened our overall satisfaction with the experience. The only area that Blu Ginger seems to surpass expectation is in presentation. Here’s to hoping for more consistency from Blu Ginger in the future.

My rating: 2.5 stars

7 Salsas

7 Salsas serves up more than 7 tasty, spicy salsas. Their menu is chock full of Tex-Mex dining options. Sitting in a nice neighborhood in North Irving (and another location in Coppell), 7 Salsas is a somewhat-upscale setting presenting tasty and reasonably-priced fare. For our visit, the endless chips and salsas came out; every one of the salsas proved mysteriously and addictively spicy. The restaurant also served up remarkably tasty chicken jalapeno poppers–moist and mildly zingy. 7 Salsas’ version of a Caesar salad turned out to be the only disappointment in the evening–I expected a Caesar constructed from scratch, but the only show came from our disinterested server tossing a few leaves, corn niblets, red peppers, with prepared dressing. The Parillada turned out to be a satisfying combo fajita meal for two; steak, chicken and shrimp on a sizzling plate with a saucer of flaming chorizo queso. The fajitas were pleasingly flavorful, though we felt the queso insufficient for our needs. Despite our server’s indifference, we found dinner a pleasant experience at 7 Salsas that we’ll be coming back to explore the rest of their menu.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Grubbin’ for fajitas and ‘que

epicureasian — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:18:03 +0000

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

1630 Valwood Pkwy
Carrollton, TX 75006
(972) 280-9191

I have to mention that ever since I’ve patronized Dickey’s begging for the “off-the-point” brisket, they have never failed me. In particular, the counter man at the Carrollton location has consistently provided me with the fattiest, juiciest, surprisingly flavorful brisket every time I’ve asked. (Even the Wylie location has delivered some moist flavorful brisket on at least 2 occasions that I remember.) Even when I’m feeling dangerously adventurous, I’ve found that their flat cut brisket has also been moist, tender and smoky. So I have to credit Dickey’s for being consistent and delivering some decent restaurant-chain barbecue. Sausage is just plain, almost grocery-store quality…and their spuds–like their sides–at times can be rather dry and forgettable. In any case, come here for the meat and you won’t have too much to complain about. Just remember how to order it.

My rating: 3.0 stars

Uncle Julio’s

190 E Stacy Rd
Bldg 3400
Allen, TX 75002
(972) 678-1001

Having heard that call-ahead seating is a requirement for Uncle Julio’s, I had the fiance set up a “reservation” at the Allen location on a Friday night. I expected it to be busy, but I also expected UJ to follow through on our seating arrangements. No such luck–we called at least 40 minutes ahead and still had to wait another 20 minutes, all the while enduring the horrendous noise and standing-room-only crowds. Definitely not a place for date night. I only hoped that the fajitas we were about to consume would make up for the uncomfortable surroundings. It almost did.

We were treated to the house special fajitas with lobster tail for our visit. However, we were disappointed by the rather frugal amount of combination steak and chicken, despite how tasty it was. There was barely any onions on the not-so-sizzling platter, and I think I managed to create 1.5 fajitas out of the platter we shared. We were pleased however to get tortillas freshly made from their machine…I began to use their tortillas as filler, dunking it in their average salsa until I discovered that it tasted better in the butter sauce accompanying our lobster. Overall, the fajitas may have tasted good but it was not our best fajita-dining experience–too little for too much dinero. One positive: our server was very prompt with refills and took care to stop by regularly to check on us, despite the tremendously busy dining room.

Perhaps next time we will remember to purchase their fajitas by the pound and just order out to avoid the crowds. Hopefully we will get more palate-pleasing bang for our buck. But for now, our best fajita hunt continues.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Adventures in Dining, August First Half

epicureasian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:22:35 +0000

Marshall’s Bar-B-Q

12895 Josey Ln
Farmer’s Branch, TX 75006
(972) 243-4901

The fellow running Marshall’s counter was decidedly jolly and chatty with this early-evening-dinner gal looking to sate her BBQ cravings. As much as he seemed attentive however, he couldn’t deliver on the promise of good brisket. The barbecue here was “just okay”. I requested some fatty (NOT LEAN) brisket…I pleaded for “off the point” and some tasty “crusty” brisket, but the cut I received was nowhere near what I asked for. Sure, it tasted of smoke and I had morsels of flavorful crust, but the brisket was fall-apart dry. When I want moist, I want to see it glisten without having to poke the meat for the heavenly juices gluing together a rich, fatty brisket. The nice surprise to the meal however were the sides…I enjoyed the mayo-mustard potato salad and devoured their unique “signature” carrot-pineapple slaw. I’d like to give Marshall’s another try again for their sides…but if only I could convince them to cut me some outstanding brisket.

My rating: 3.0 stars

Iravat India’s Bistro

240 Legacy Dr Ste 306
Plano, TX 75086
(972) 517-8200

Does it say something about the restaurant when it merits a return visit for their buffet? Ok, perhaps I may not have as discriminating a palate for Indian lunch buffets as other buffet-goers, but on 2 separate visits, Iravat did not disappoint. I enjoyed seeing a good selection of non-vegetarian dishes on their buffet line, and even partook of their naan. I do find that the tandoori chicken was overly dry (perhaps chicken drumsticks shouldn’t be the choice for this) and I found their veggie selections lacking (the veg pakoras lacked the light, crispiness that I was looking for). I also expected more heat from their curries, which I quickly resolved by ladling some of their spicy pickled carrots over my meal. I can describe the flavor of their dishes as conservative, which does not always characterize good and true Indian cooking, but what I ate of Iravat’s buffet was fairly palatable and reasonably priced. Given my distance from Pasand, Iravat is much nicer drive in prettier digs, and worth repeat visits.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Osaka Sushi

5012 W Park Blvd
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 931-8898

When the fiance pointed out “steak and grill” on the sign outside the restaurant, I wasn’t sure he was in the mood for some raw fish. But Osaka, an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet, has just the right amount of fresh and cooked food to entice even the most reluctant raw food noob. After years of visiting Osaka, I am happy to report that they are my go-to place when I’m in no mood to make the trek to Addison for Tokyo One. I like that Osaka seems more intimate, less intimidating than other Texas-sized buffets. I always manage to find unexpected gems on both the warm and cold sides of the buffet. This is the mark of a successful Asian buffet, keeping the menu interesting by remaining inventive.

My rating: 4.0 stars

La Hacienda Ranch

17390 Preston Rd
Dallas, TX 75252
(972) 248-2424

The fiance and I came to LaHa in search of the best fajitas in town…and while it was leagues better than the dessicated fajita meat we had at On The Border, LaHa fajitas did not earn any great honors from us. What did please us was that one fajita dinner plate could be shared by two, and I had no problem sharing the fajitas (a rare occurrence for me) because of the host of meat on our sizzling platter. I did wish that there had been more grilled onions on the plate, and my fondness for dipping my rolled up fajita in salsa was tempered by the mild, smokiness of that dip. I was looking for spicy heat but found none. The best part of our visit to LaHa was the sinfully sweet ending–LaHa served up a fantastic sizzling-hot pecan pie swimming in a chocolate-whiskey sauce with a side of ice cream! Marvelous!

My rating: 3.5 stars