Dallas restaurant scene

[lizziee]

I would appreciate member's input re the Dallas restaurant scene.

Is Dallas a fine dining town? Does the clientele seem to want as well as support fine dining? How would you characterize the fine dining scene i.e. steak house?, 50's Continental?, New American? French? Mediterranean? Italian? etc. What upscale restaurants have you enjoyed and why? Is an extensive wine list an important feature at a Dallas fine dining restaurant? What is the general age range of those seeking fine dining in Dallas? What type of restaurant would be a welcome addition to the Dallas restaurant scene?

I thank you in advance for as much help as you can give me.

[TexMike]

I would definitely consider Dallas a fine dining town. As of a few years ago (and it still may be right) Dallas had more 5 star restaurants than New York per capita. As for support, if it is a truly good restaurant, Dallasites will pack it. There are restaurants of every type in Dallas, especially steakhouses. Some of the more famous and great places in Dallas are the Mansion on Turtle Creek (the gold standard in Dallas), the French Room, Riviera, Nana Grill, Old Warsaw. Check out www.guidelive.com to get a feel. Good wine lists are definitely appreciated. Age depends on the type of restaurant - the Mansion draws an older crowd (45+), while Steel (newer, trendy but very good) brings in a younger crowd (late 20's, early 30's). Any good restaurant would be a welcome addition, except a steakhouse. To say that market is saturated would be an understatement. WARNING: Restaurants may be the most competitive industry in Dallas. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll be gone in no time. It's not NYC or LA, but it's not far behind.

[lizziee]

TexMike,

Welcome to eGullet and thank you so much for your reply.

Why do you feel that "restaurants may be the most competitive industry in Dallas?"

Also, what type of restaurant would you like to see added to the dining scene?

[TexMike]

I say that because I've seen many pretty good restaurants fall flat on their face. Pretty much there are so many good restaurants in Dallas that people won't look twice if they're not impressed. And it's not just the food. People want to be impresssed by the whole thing. As for opening a place, I'm not an expert, but I would say that an Asian cuisine restaurant (maybe Nobu-esque) would do well here. There are some good Japanese restaurants in Dallas, but they are all very traditional. You could go to one just like it anywhere else. Steel is the only one of the genre that I would consider "on the edge". They're more experimental w/ their food, they've done it well, and it's been a huge success. Indian food also. I can't name a single well-known Indian restaurant in Dallas. Just my two cents.

Edited January 20, 2003 by TexMike (log)

[joiei]

Have you ever been to Abacus? I had a very nice dinner there during "Restaurant Week". A must try is the lobster shooters. I will be back down Valentine's weekend for Cirque de Soleil and am looking for a place to eat and someplace to go for dessert for after the show. Trendy, cutting edge, maybe south american like brazilian. Have you ever eaten at Sapristi in Ft Worth?

[lizziee]

I know nothing about the Dallas restaurant scene, but I know a young chef who would like to try a fine dining establishment. My questions, then, are much needed advice.

[TexMike]

Abacus is great. The owner (I forget his name) really knows what he's doing. Haven't been in a while, but I would definitely recommend it.

[Lyle]

Oh, my, I can’t believe I missed this post. Well, the following quotes are provided by lizziee.

“How would you characterize the fine dining scene i.e. steak house?”

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House was founded in Dallas, and I truly love their steak. Truly. Actually, aside from their vegetables that again make me unofficially hostile to steakhouse sides and appetizers, they offer something to be proud of in both quality and service. Bob’s Steak and Chop House is where I would pin an accomplice, though. The dark masculinity of the wooden walls…good god the televisions showing sports…at least at the bar…but the meat is aged and gorgeous. The cote de boeuf is to be savored. The perfect melting meat. It's hard to get really bad steak, though, and competition allows a much easier reservation process than other "top" rstaurants. Except for Bob's

For continental try Watel’s. I have been to the Old Warsaw twice and they have an extensive menu, but I have felt more uncomfortable there than any other high-end restaurant in Dallas. Very out of place. Edit: The Old Warsaw is offering 5 courses for $49 and six for $65 thru February. Don't know what this entails, but may find out to give it another go. Paris Vendome, where I have only dined for lunch thus far, has the freshest scene of the local bistros, and is my current favorites. They have, as I suspect most cities do at this point, their ubiquitous PV burger (can't imagine the inspiration for this one) which seems an exact knockoff of the 'other' burger with short ribs and foie. It was quite good, but I sadly cannot compare it to the original. Service was different though; the burger was served WHOLE making it very difficult to eat. My wife told me it has since been "inspired" by DB even more and is now served split. However, at least at lunch, I have yet to have a poorly prepared meal and this is currently my favorite bistro in Dallas (reservations essential at lunch).

My favorite high end restaurant in dallas is the Mansion on Turtle Creek. Note this is not the most innovative menu as it has been forced to have many of its stalwarts offered daily. Ordering suggestion: MEAT. To be honest, we only eat lunch here now as to explore other Dallas options, which are dwindling recently. So few new openings. That being said, I would not hesitate to reccomend it to anybody. If the food has slipped over the past few years, the sevice has yet to. I can remember my first visit well. Sticking to the staples, I started with tortillia soup and lobster Tacos. My wife ordered a salad of some sort. I went on to tourbot...anyway, point is, my wife's salad had a tiny bit of grit on it. I didn't believe her and searched in vain, finally finding some resting on the bottom of the plate. We sort of wimpered silently (is that possible), and when the captain came by we brought it to his attention. Off the dish went. Being young......er we figured it would be comped. We were shocked when the entire meal was comped, three apologies from the chef (not Mr. Fearing) and multiple dessert courses. Mind that this is not why this is my favorite restaurant in Dallas, but it did make me want to return for another shot. I guess it worked.

Another local restaurant (mexican) that I would reccomend is Ciudad. You can get off well here ordering "small plates" and appetizers at the bar. Things like duck taquitos, salmon croquette with habanero tartar, duck chorizo, and wonderful cevice. They also have wonderful tacos. (If anybody would like to know about some authentic Taquerias, I could provide those details as well). I would not consider it high end, but it is an experience that I have not quite experienced elsewhere. Some are fans of Javier's, as am I, which sort of pioneered the idea in this area years ago, but as of just a few months ago Ciudad has them beat.

Above TexMike and Joiei laud Abacus (I don't know the name of the owner, but the chef is Kent Rathburn) and it is currently the best New American seafood in the city. It is by most I think regarded as asian fusion simply because of the sushi menu, but many dishes seem based far, far away. I think this is simply mr. Rathburn's own litle concept...along with the concepts of lots and lots of $ from others. On the suggestion of friends, I dined there three times and, against the advice of said friends, ordered on the first trip an entree. It was good but it could not stand up to the starters. I reccomend structuring a dinner at Abacus around starters and dessert...or just starters. Actually, we about three weeks ago decided to attend his tasting menu:

Sweet Soy and Sesame Crab Cone

Similar to Kellar's cone, which I have not consumed, with strong crab flavors and a much crunchier cone than expected. Somewhat dissapointing.

Pan Seared Diver Scallop with Goat Cheese Orzo Pasta

My favorite dish. My wife, who does not eat scallop and was substituded with john dory, tasted the buttery salty scallop and nearly cried (probably because I was stabbing her under the table...it may not always be a good idea to dine with me). It melted in my mouth.

Cedar Smoked King Salmon with Purple Potato Cream Cheese Whippers and Orange Butter

More woody than I anticipated and the whippers were very sweet and I cannot place the source. Overall, though, a good dish.

Wood Grilled Black Sea Bass with Prosciutto Scalloped Potato and Lobster Butter

Probably the worst dish as voted by all 3 in attandance. The potatoes were not only very cold, but oily and, again, too sweet.

Intermezzio: Mango Coconut Sorbet

Pipestone Pork Tenderloin with Ancho Orange Barbecue Sauce and Jim Beam Corn Saute

My wife's favorite dish. The pork had a rare consistency (!) and the barbecue sauce was appropriately mild. I say appropriately because this was amazingly flavorful pork.

Grilled Cervena Venison with Black and White Barley Risotto and Logan Berry Demi Glaze

My second favorite dish. I am a pushover for good venison, and that it was, but I am now a pushover for that creamy-yet-light-let-flavorful (how on earth can I do that in my kitchen) risotto.

Tasting of Artisan Cheeses

Disappointing. Memory fails me. But I do remember disappointing. Miniscule portion for 3 diners.

Chocolate Passion Fruit Macadamia Tart with Coconut Sorbet

Disappointing.

So I would reccommend eating at Abacus, but not the tasting menu as yet. I believe I will give the tasting menu another chance, though. Until then, order lots and lots of small plates (I have not tried their sushi).

Many have enjoyed Sharon Hague's (sp?) York St., but I have had two dissapointing meals there, one on an important anniversary (they're only important if I say they are ). I just think there is more interesting new American going on in this city. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe...

I feel I've left alot out, so I will probably post on a later date about other restaurants. However I'm running short of time (sorry about spelling and punctuation, as well as format) and I must leave for an important dinner date (they're only important if she says they are )

I think Dallas has the proper financial base for an exciting dining arena, and it compares favorably to Houston and San Antonio (Austinites, I do not know your city well , but have much family down there...hopefully soon!!). This year has seen the closing of Salve, my favorite Italian restaurant and Voltaire, the $4.5 million fusion experiament on the tollway that lasted only a year. Nothing HUGE is opening, making way for bistros and places like York St. (hugely popular, just so far not me. Mabye it's just their space). Gee, even my two favorite sushi places closed in the last two weeks!! I guess that gives me motivation to go to Steel (they have good fusion small plates as well)

If anybody has any questions about specific restaurants or others I missed (many due to time), I'll gladly answer them. If you are staying in Dallas and want some more casual suggestions around your hotel, ask me and I'll see what I can do. Anyway, in order to stave off the inevitable fight....gotta jet.

[joiei]

Lyle, thanks for the input. Do you know anything about Hattie's. It was recommended to my companion who lives in Ft Worth as a possibility. Although structuring a dinner based on small plates at

Abacus sounds like fun. Maybe start with the Lobster shooter.

[lizziee]

Lyle,

Thank you so much for your comprehensive overview of the Dallas restaurant scene. I greatly appreciate the time and effort it took.

If you would, would you play an "I wish game" and let me know what you think is lacking in the Dallas scene and what you wish would open? Do you favor tasting menus over a la carte? What do you consider a fair price for a tasting? Is an extensive wine list important to you? What is the general level of service at a fine dining restaurant? What cuisine is under-represented in Dallas? Does Dallas seem to be ignored as a fine dining city?

Thank you in advance for helping with my many, many questions.

[foodie52]

Lyle: when you come to Austin, make a point of eating at Vespaio on South Congress and ask for Aaron to be your waiter. They do take reservations but I try to get there as soon as they open ( 5:30) so that I won't have to wait for a table. I'm very fussy about Italian food , having lived there, and Vespaio delivers.

Another nice Italian is La Traviata on 4th and Congress. The food isn't as innovative or exciting as Vespaio, but it's reliably delicious.

For Chinese, try T&S Seafood on North Lamar. Order from the back of the menu.

Even better, let us know ( on the Austin egullet thread ) when you are in town, and you can join us at our monthly getogether! ( Any excuse to nosh with friends!)

Any of you eaten at Lonesome Dove Bistro in Ft. Worth? Tim Love is a fabulous chef.

[Lyle]

Lizziee said "What [do] you think would do well in the Dallas scene and what [do] you wish would open?"

I thought about this, but I think TexMike hit it on the head. Indian cuisine is lacking (I only discovered this after my first NY visit) as is creative Japanese. TexMike, have you ever eaten at Citizen? It really is the only restaurant in that class, and we could use more. Also, have you eaten at Kalachandji's, the Hare Krishna place in Oak Cliff? It's just a small buffet no menu, but fun and I think much better than India Palace. I never made my way to Voltaire before they closed, and I have no desire to dine at it's replacement Bambo Bambo, if not for the name alone (is this the same ownership group?). I was about to make the mistake of stating that 'in fact the entire Asian region is poorly represented', but there are many good restaurants within their own ethnic neighborhoods. Definitely go to Chef Hsu for Chinese, but be warned; Chef Hsu just left!! Hopefully they won't dumb down the eclectic menu.

Lizziee says "Do you favor tasting menus over a la carte? What do you consider a fair price for a tasting?"

As a rule, I do prefer tasting menus, at least after I've gotten a feel for the place (i.e. had a drink at the bar ). Dallas is a difficult town for tasting menus, though. As an example, one of the many things I've learned from that brilliant a**hole Steve P (just kidding Steve ) is the concept of letting a chef know you want him/her to just 'cook' for you. I don't think there are many places in Dallas that would fly. It may work at someplace like York St. (I know I panned it earlier, but so many people love it), but that would take lots of work cultivating a relationship with that restaurant, and it is my belief it would not work at many others. Take the tasting menu at Abacus listed above. Most of those dishes are already on the menu, simply portioned down. Now I don't think it's a lack of technical expertise amongst the better chefs in Dallas, I think is is simply the lack of a market. I used to order almost exclusively a la carte. I then saw the beauty of what a tasting menu could be at Cafe Boulud. On return, I sought out tasting menus at various upper tier locals and they simply didn't exist. Most local restaurants (somebody PLEASE prove me wrong on this point) offer tasting menus as promotional items for, say, a 2 week period and then back to a la carte for another 5 months. And most, if not all, of these tasting menus are stagnant. Not really the beauty it could be.

As for prices, well, the menu at Abacus was $65 without wine. I think that was fair. I really have difficulty answering this question as it depends on the restaurant. I don't think I will ever visit ADNY, but I also don't think I have seen a price point anywhere else in the U.S. that is out of my league. We will (hopefully reservations ) go to the French L this summer and, at least from what I've seen and read and heard, I think that is a fair price. But I don't know anywhere locally where that price would be fair.

Lizziee said " Is an extensive wine list important to you?"

Pointedly, no. I am not a wine guy. I will order what I know (limited) and fly with it. I can say the 'fine-dining' restaurants that I've been to in Dallas do have extensive lists when compared to other restaurants I've been to elsewhere, but I could not attest to the fact that they are well selected or priced simply out of ignorance.

Lizzie said "What is the general level of service at a fine dining restaurant?"

That's sort of a funny question to me as I answered it similarly to some friends, at least on a lower level of restaurant, leaving NY to come back to visit Texas with money to eat (wife is an actor, we lose lots of actor friends to NY this way ). I think generally all across Texas (a few high-end experiences in Houston and one in San Antonio) the service as I describe it is "Howdy-professional". I had been weaned on professional service that was also hyper-friendly. When I then, for the first time, dined in the north I was very put off at how 'rude' the service was. I realize they weren't treating me any differently than other diners (I hope!!); it's just a coloquial thing. I can say that I prefer "Howdy-professional" to professional any day of the week.

Lizzie Said "What cuisine is under-represented in Dallas?"

Indian and progressive Asian (Japanese). See above. Oh yes, and BBQ. The hill country (Austin and outlying areas) has us beat by a mile.

Lizzie said " Does Dallas seem to be ignored as a fine dining city?"

I don't know. Does it? I live here and I don't ignore it . I don't consider Dallas by any means to be a food city. Most of your chains (chili's, TGI Friday's, etc) are based here and that sort of cuts into the middle choices for interesting dining. As a matter of fact, I soon plan to sell my soul and try getting a different job at one of these mammoths in order to be 'somewhat' in the food industry. Well, maybe not soon But, to the point, I think on the high end Dallas holds up well and is the best in TX.

Edited February 7, 2003 by Lyle (log)

[Lyle]

How long does one have to edit a post? I can't edit my first post on this thread for spelling, caps, format. I guess that will have to be my rambling legacy...

[Lyle]

Foodie52, I saw your previous thread about Lonesome Dove Bistro and, no, I have not eaten there. We seldom eat in Ft. Worth. Don't get me wrong, with the exception of food and perhaps gainful employment Ft W has Dallas beat by a mile, we just seldome make the treck.

Thanks for the restaurant adivce. We are in the Austin area a few times a yr. but seldom eat out because we are always rushed and in town on holiday (40 drunk family members trying to sing as I misplay the piano). We have resolved, though, next time we are there (La Grange this summer most likely) we will break free and eat around ourselves.

[Richard Kilgore]

I am bringing this one back up. What's the fine dining look like today in Dallas? Any restaurants we have lost recently that you miss? New openings that you have tried?

[Lyle]

Hello Richard. After a near month long vacation this summer I've been in work hell and haven't been able to cyber-gullet much at all, but after seeing DFW polluting the top of the West/Southwest forum, I thought I'd add something approatching two cents. As for "interesting" dining, I haven't done much for the past month. Lots of take out from Eatzi's and every Gene Street restaruant threefold for office eating, two meals a day . I will, however share my recent re-discovery.

I used to live near the intersecton of Forest and Greenville which, besides being very close to one of the best "catch-all" Asian markets I've ever visited (in Richardson), holds my favorite Italian restaurant in Dallas that has managed not to close it's doors, Momo's Italian Specialties. The menu is near encyclopedic. We popped in two weeks ago for dinner having not been there since changing residences two years ago. It's still BYOB, and as the menu is approaching 30 pages with full descriptions of the origions and technique used for each dish, the staff is paitent and has always guided us to their "favorites", which really do change from server to server. Excellent salumi, which I really need to source sometime. I didn't know I would miss eating here pseudo-regularly as much as I do now.

Other than that, the area near where I now reside has gone from my restaurant hell to a nice safari. Little Korea around the intersection of Royal Ln. and Harry Hines holds many, many surprises that I have yet to find mentioned in any of the local English language press. As a matter of fact communication can be a big problem (I once had to describe something I needed in Spanish to a busboy who went back to get it for me...can't remember what it was though) Just walking along the storefronts and peering into the windows was the only way I learned what each business was. Not a warning, just a head's up: if the sign is in pink neon, it's probably a, uh, sauna. Not alot to eat in there, although I think there was a thread on that a while back. The place I continue to return to though (restaurant, not sauna) is Soul Garden, west of Harry Hines on the north side of Royal. No English sign, but a few English-like menus. I really love this place and almost every condiment appears house-made (in that it differs from most other area restaurants which seem by taste to source from the Korean market on the east side of Harry Hines north of Royal...nice market though).

In about two months I should be on a more convenient dining schedule and should be "getting out" more. If you haven't been, definitely give The Mansion a try. Still my favorite. Room rates can be reasonable as well for a nice "get away" from the dying grass. If money is a major concern, go for lunch. Their $25 three-course menu is about the greatest bargain in the city IMO.

Richard, what do you really enjoy about DFW dining? What do we need more-of better-of? Other than bbq, of course.

[MatthewT]

For excellent food, service, and decor Nana in the wyndam anatole is your best bet. the chef and kitchen staff are top notch using the best of ingredients. fois gras and truffles are scattered on the menu like just another ingredient. for a truly great dining experience order the chef's tasting menu which are cleverly paired with sleek wines. it is perched on the 33rd floor where you can also enjoy the dallas skyline.

abacus is also a fun place. the menu has an asian touch to it. it is an upscale place where you can feel comfortable while dining

[Richard Kilgore]

Hello Matthew and Lyle. Thanks for your updates and recommendations.

While I have eaten at The Mansion, I am most interested currently in exploring the neighborhood "ethnic" restaurants. (My "ethnic" is your home cooking.) My impression is that there has been an explosion of small places (perhaps mostly Asian - Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Chinese) in strip malls all over the metroplex. Lyle, your Korean restaurant discovery, Soul Garden, is the kind of place I want to find. (I drove through that area a year or so ago and thought that everything might be a "sauna". I read something recently in the Morning News about the police shutting down several places over there...and I don't think it was a complaint about the food that did it.) I am also on the hunt for small Mexican places that serve regional Mexican food rather than Tex-Mex.

Any suggestions for small neighborhood ethnic restaurants? Perhaps we should start a separate thread for this.

[bhoward]

I am unbelievably surprised that no one mentioned Lola in this thread. It is, in my opinion, now far and away the best restaurant in Dallas. There are really two restaurants there--the regular restaurant and the Tasting Room. The only restaurant in Texas that comes close is Le Reve in San Antonio. By the way, I second the Vespaio suggestion for Austin diners.

[Richard Kilgore]

Welcome bhoward. Thanks for mentioning Lola.

Care to start a thread on East Texas restaurants, cafes, or BBQ joints?

[ExtraMSG]

Here's a report I'm moving over from Chowhound. Hope it helps:

Spent 5 days in Dallas focusing on food during my trip visiting a local friend. Here's a basic rundown with in depth notes on each day to follow:

Went to top-end places for dinner. In order of preference, here's where we went: The Tasting Room at Lola, The Mansion at Turtle Creek, Abacus, The French Room. Lola was impressive. Not a bad course out of 15, all with wonderfully simple but pleasing presentations, and only $65. Excellent service. Nice atmosphere. No jacket required. We would have never gone to this if it wasn't for Chowhound (and Doc, who, btw, they remembered). Mansion was very good, but it didn't blow my socks off. And damned expensive. One of our entrees, the bison with pozole was a true winner, though. Abacus was decent, but a little too noisy/chic for me. The dishes were all good, but not especially interesting and a little weaker in the finer points than Mansion (eg, poor seasoning and weak flavors on sides and some meats). Still good, though. The French Room, however, was rather disappointing to me. First of all, it was really the most expensive. Then they made us wait almost a half hour after we got there. Then they rushed us through ordering. Annoying. But the thing that was really lacking, imo, was the food. It was generally boring and uninspired. And the worst items were on the tasting menus (we got both the chef's and the vegetarian menus, plus ordered off the normal menu). It's the one place of the four I would have no desire to return to. It's the one place where I would feel confident randomly selecting menu items from any of the top 5-10 restaurants here in Portland, OR, and putting them head to head (and you'd pay half the price at most here).

Much more ecelectic choices for lunch and snacks. Harder to put in order of preference, so I'll just go through them by days. Went to Taqueria Lupita and got tacos. Not that great. Salsa verde was weak and all but the carne asada was rather flavorless. The pollo was dry. Don't like the yellow corn tortillas either. Prefer the white corn style you get in Mexico or taquerias up here. Also kind of crappy chips. Then went to Cuquita's and got gorditas. Better. The sides are weak and so are the salsas, but the gorditas are pretty good, especially the puerco which has an excellent red sauce. Did Liberty Noodles. We split 3 power lunches (had them served family style). Everything was good. Especially liked the soups (the beef udon was my favorite, others preferred the curry soups). The green tea ice cream was also a stand-out. Very slow service, though. Later went into North Dallas/Richardson and toured a couple Indian places. Went to Taj Mahal Imports and ate some interesting ice creams. Chikoo (sp?) was a favorite. The quality of the ice cream sucked, but the flavors were good. Also tried some sweets. Interesting flavors again, though they could be made better. Looked around FunAsia. That place looks awesome. Went nuts the next day. Started by going to The Mozzarella Company and trying every cheese in the place, and then again, and then again. I especially liked the chevre, the fetas, the smoked mozzarella, and the queso oaxaca. Then the Farmer's Market where peaches were in season. Lots of big blackberries, ripe mangoes, and baskets of cheap peppers. A little repetitive and not a lot that you can't find at the supermarket, but still a place I would visit a lot if I lived in Dallas. Afterwards we started overeating. First chicken tenders at Bubba's. Tasty and juicy and crunchy. Very good. Then got some sausages, beef sticks, etc, and tried some bloodwurst and other cold cuts at Kuby's. That's a cool place. Then went over to Holy Smokes and split a 3 meat combo that they gave us 4 meats on -- sausage, ribs, pulled pork, and beef brisket. The pulled pork was excellent. Ribs and sausage were good. Some good sides, too. Then we hit Sonny Bryan's for some ribs and onion rings. The ribs were okay and the onion rings were good. I think I've been spoiled by places my friend has taken me in Texas before for bbq, like the Salt Lick, which kicks either of these places ass, imo. I think our top bbq places here in Portland are right there or even better on some things than either of these places (in my friend's defense, he's pretty cool on Sonny Bryan's and doesn't understand the national hype it gets). The next day, my last, we did Zaguan for breakfast. Split a cachapa, which was great. A must have, I'd say. And cheap. There were several other things that looked good. Then we hit Ciudad for brunch. I wish they had more stuff off their normal menu. Had the beef mole omelette and the duck flautas. Flautas were a little burnt and not that great anyway, imo. The sauces for the beef in mole were very good. Had some pretty good desserts, too. Then we went to Cuba Libre for lunch. Had a couple tacos. The pork asado was very good. A lot of food for the price, too. Their fries are quite tasty as well. Not very authentic Cuban food, but still very good and probably one of the best values on the trip.

Well, that was it, and I'm stuffed. Thanks, Dallas and Chowhound. Good food, good trip, lighter wallet, heavier belly.

*******************

IN DEPTH NOTES

*******************

Here's a day by day in depth report.

Wed

---

MANSION AT TURTLE CREEK: Three of us for dinner. We all ordered separately, none getting the tasting menu, but all tasted each other's dishes. For the amuse we were brought a spinach-artichoke "dip" with a fried pasta "chip" drizzled with reduced balsamic. This was excellent. Far beyond the Applebee's version of the same. The pasta chip was salty and crumbly with an interesting texture. The balsamic lit up the creamy spinach-artichoke concoction. I could have eaten a whole bowl of that. They brought out a couple breads, one of which was a nice honey-glazed roll. For appetizers, we had the soup of the day, a cream of eggplant and roasted garlic with yellow and red tomatoes, sliced beef, and several other bits. It reminded me of a babaghanooj, but creamier with a more subtle eggplant flavor and other pockets of flavor from the "bits". Everyone agreed it was excellent and the best of the appetizers. We also got the tortilla soup, one of their signature dishes. Very good, but I wouldn't say it was significantly better than good tortilla soups I've had in Mexico and even in low-price U.S. Mexican restaurants. Lastly, we got the crispy orange quail in "pot sticker" wraps on ginger barbequed duck with sesame cucumber salad. Again, definitely tasty.

Entrees were also very good. We got the roasted double lamb chops smothered with vintage sherry onion sauce on creamed mustard spinach (and dried tomatoes) and maytag blue cheese potato tart. The star of this was the potato tart. Yum. The spinach was also good. The sauce for the lamb was decent, but nothing special, as was the lamb. We also got the Alberta, Canada, duck breast with foie gras wild leek gravy on sage butternut squash custard and warm sald of cherry pheasant, caramelized apples and parsnip peelings. The duck breast was very good, though the sauce could have been more apparent. The squash custard was a bit flavorless, definitely less so than just whipped butternut squash with butter would have been (maybe that was there point, but if so, I don't get it). The salad was nice and the parsnip peelings were especially good; I'd like a bag of those fried parsnips. The best entree, easily (and we paid for it at $55), was the North Dakota buffalo filet with toasted pasilla cherry glaze on south of the border pozole pot roast with smoked crawfish enchilada and crispy squash blossom. Everything was excellent on the plate. The buffalo was easily the best I've had and I've had it at top places in Wyoming where they raise it, at Charlie Trotter's, and here at home. It was great with an excellent glaze. The pozole was a little rich for me, but it wasn't really a soup or even a side so much as something to extend the flavor of the buffalo and as that it was awesome. I wouldn't want to eat a bowl of it because of how rich it was, but in the amount they gave, it was probably perfect. Even the crawfish enchilada was very good, something I expected to disklike (not a big water bug fan). And the squash blossom was interesting and great tasting; I could eat a bag of those, too.

We got a good mix of desserts. We got the creme brulee with raspberry sauce, which was probably one of the better brulees I've tasted. It was much creamier than most, not as custardy. Not something that wowed me, but quite good. We also got peach empenadadas with cinnamon ice cream in and on top of meringue; it also came with some sort of caramel corn and cherry sauce. Very good. The peaches in the empenadada were a little sour for me, but were still good. The cinnamon ice cream was very tasty and the caramel corn was a nice touch. Very good dessert. Our last dessert was the bananas foster with banana bread pudding and rum ice cream. The bananas foster was just so-so, I guess decent for what it was, but the banana bread pudding was really good, an excellent texture with good flavor, and the rum ice cream went perfectly and was wonderful.

They finished our meal with petit fours: shortbread cookies, chocolate-covered candied orange zest, and dark chocolate truffles. All were good. I especially liked the chocolate-covered orange zest. The truffles were a little dark for me.

The Mansion is a very good restaurant. I think Mobil is right to give it **** and judging from the one ***** restaurant I've been to, Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, I would say that it is not a ***** restaurant. (I will be going to two more in San Francisco next month, The French Laundry and Gary Danko's, and will be a better judge then.) The restaurant is beautiful, but a bit noisy. I don't know that the service is significantly above most high quality restaurants (unlike Trotter's, which had just phenomenal service right down to offering us a tour of the kitchen).

Thu

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TAQUERIA LUPITA: This was my friend's favorite taqueria, though he hadn't been there in over a year. I would say it was mediocre at best. I got four tacos: carne asada, barbacoa, pollo, and carnitas. I would say that only the carne asada was decent and that the pollo was actually bad, quite dry. I also didn't like the chips or salsa. I also don't like the yellow corn tortillas for this sort of thing. Much prefer the white corn tortillas you get at the taco stands in Mexico (or here in Portland where I live).

CUQUITA'S: Got two gorditas. Came with beans and rice. They also gave flour tortillas, chips, and salsa. The gorditas were pretty good. Like the crispy masa on the opening side. I got picadillo for one and guiso de puerco for the other. The picadillo wasn't very good. Just ground beef or pork with some peas or something. Not very flavorful. The puerco was quite tasty, though. The red sauce the pork was in was very good and the pork was juicy and tender. The beans and rice were mediocre. The salsas weren't very good, about supermarket quality.

ABACUS: The first thing you notice is the chic design. When I found out later (reading an article on the opening of Jasper's that was submitted on Chowhound) that it was designed by a San Francisco design firm I could believe it. It's the type of interior people just don't spend the money for here in Portland. Quite noisy, too, which also reminded me of California restaurants.

We did things a little differently this time between the three of us. One ordered two appetizers instead of an entree. So we essentially got 5 appetizers between us. We got cured king salmon nigiri off teh sushi menu. I didn't have any but it looked decent enough. But then, it's nigiri, there's not really much to it but the quality of the fish. We also got the spicy tomato soup with smoked chicken, shrimp, and sourdough croutons. Nice mixture of flavors. The shrimp really took this the extra step, too, adding a sweet meatiness to go with the spicy soup. It had all the elements I really enjoy in a soup: a solid flavorful base with a few contrasting flavors, in this case smoky and sweet meats, and then something to contrast the texture, in this case the crunchy croutons. Very nice. We also got the roast duck shiitake potstickers with lychee dipping suace. The potstickers were decent, but the lychee dipping sauce was the star and would have made most things good. Also got the soy grilled chicken spring rolls with thai basil and cashew dipping sauce. I thought they were decent, but nothing special, nothing more than I would expect at a decent Thai restaurant. And I've had better. Lastly, we got the ahi tuna tartare with ancho-orange puree and jalapeno-pepita potato chip. It sounds like more and better than what I tasted. But it wasn't my dish so maybe I missed something. It was decent tartare, but the texture was lacking. I would have expected it to be less mushy. And the flavors could have been more....flavorful.

The entrees were pretty good, probably at least met my high expectations, though the sides were disappointing. We got the grilled pipestone pork tenderloin on truffle demi and chanterelle mushroom-potato hash. The pork was excellent -- well-seasoned, perfectly cooked. The hash was a good idea with a good mix of flavors, but the flavors just weren't strong enough. It needed more salt, for one thing, but also more seasoning (and remember, there's no salt on the table by default). The bacon and chanterelles were very good, but there needed to be more to kick up the flavors. We also got the wood grilled prime filet on red wine butter and portabella whippers. The meat, again, was cooked perfectly. It was tender and tasty. The portabella whippers, though, were weak. Needed more seasoning, again (everyone agreed on this, btw), and maybe more flavor (though it's hard to tell without adequate seasoning on a starch).

The desserts might have been the best part of the meal and they certainly didn't skimp on presentation. We got the Valrhona chocolate and peanut butter tart which was quite tasty. We also got the chocolate taste with a chocolate pudding cake, rocky road ice cream sandwich, and a chocolate cherry malt. Very nice. My dessert, and I was so so very glad it was my dessert, was the "Jungle Fever". It came with coconut tempura bananas, crispy coconut ice cream, and pineapple caramel sauce. Yum. There's only one other place, a Thai restaurant in Eugene, Oregon, where I've had tempura bananas I truly loved, and this place exceeded those. The bananas were had a light, very crisp shell around them with the fried coconut shavings making the bananas look like some sort of spiny tropical fruit. They were ultra creamy inside and the texture contrast was fabulous. The coconut ice cream was really good, but what made it special was the crispiness that came from honey-coated puffed rice. The sauce was excellent as well and made everything better. After the meal we received some tasty truffles.

I think Abacus is a very good restaurant. My friend said they were a little below par that night, but they were still quite good. The service was probably a little lacking, but it was adequate. It's probably a little too much of a "scene" for me, but it's a nice place with very good food.

Fri

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LIBERTY NOODLES: We split three "Power Lunches" between us, had them served up family style. We started out with two appetizers, the chicken and curried potato fried dumplings and vegetable dumplings. Both were good, though everybody seemed to like the fried dumplings more. They were both good, but nothing special.

Next we were given three soups. The first was a Japanese beef noodle soup (udon noodles). Excellent. The hearty noodles were perfect for the hearty broth and strong beef flavor. Lots of flavor. The meat wasn't just cooked and tossed in either. It had a lot of flavor. It was tender and tasty. It was my favorite of the soups, but just barely, all were so good. The next was a spicy duck soup in red curry. Again, the meat was cooked perfectly with more flavor than could be gotten just by cooking up some quality duck meat. The curry was very good and there were rice noodles in the soup. Very good. The last of the soups was a coconut chicken curry soup. More sweet than the duck soup but still with lots of flavor. I only liked the duck soup more because of the duck vs chicken. I could have had three courses of just the curry soups. By far the best part of the meal, imo.

For the entrees, we were given three stir fries. We got a shrimp pad thai that was pretty weak and probably the weakest dish of the whole meal. Kind of an interesting flavor, but just too much of it. There were just two large shrimp and not much else but noodles in the dish. We didn't even get close to finishing it and no one wanted to take it home. The other two stir fries were much better, though I can't remember them as well (great, I remember the crappy food). One was a spicy chicken and noodle stir fry. The other was a chicken and sausage stir fry. The sausage were....different. In a good way, I think. Added a sweetness. Both were decent, though like the appetizers, nothing special.

For dessert we made a request (the people I went with had been there many times): ice cream. Apparently they often serve a trio of ice creams, coconut, chocolate, and green tea, that they all love. They were out of coconut, unfortunately, and instead gave us strawberry, which no one really ate. The green tea ice cream was excellent though and made me wish, even more, they had had the coconut ice cream.

Good place with decent prices and great portions, though the service is very, very slow. The two people I went with who'd been there a lot were pretty disappointed that we didn't get a salad for an appetizer or a curry for an entree. I think every dish was good, though, except maybe the pad thai (and the strawberry ice cream just didn't go with the rest). By far, the best things were the soups, though, every one of them was excellent.

TAJ MAHAL IMPORTS: Indian market up north of Dallas, Richardson area. Quite large with dal and spices galore, interesting bagged snacks, a chaat window in the back, and a large counter of sweets. Got some ice creams, one called chikoo or something like that that was very interesting. Another had cashew and raisin and some other flavor. And one was another flavor, more sweet, I couldn't identify. They were in little cartons in a freezer in the back. Lots of unique flavors. The ice cream itself wasn't good, but the flavorings were. I'd like to have a recipe for the flavorings so I could make my own ice creams here at home. We also got some sweets, a variety of things that I have no idea what they were. But a lot of them were good. Lots of mixtures of savory and sweet flavors. The pastry part of the sweets was low-grade, but many of the flavorings, again, were good.

FUNASIA: Went and checked this place out, though they weren't serving food at the time. Looks awesome. There weren't many people there at the time. I hope they stay alive for the next time I come down to Dallas. Huge banquet hall. I imagine they'll get some Indian weddings. I do wonder if the movies they show have subtitles. It'd be nice for us non-Indians.

THE TASTING ROOM AT LOLA: 15 courses (actually 16, I'll get to that later) and the best way to handle it is probably just to take them one at a time.

Cool cucumber soup with peeky toe crab and salad burnet: Probably my least favorite of the dishes, which is good that it was first. It was still decent and I think that anyone who likes crab (it's possibly my least favorite flavor in the world) would have liked it. The crab flavor really wasn't very strong and I drank all mine. (It was served in a little, tall cup.) The cucumber soup was nice and refreshing. A nice subtle way to open a dinner. The crab was really mainly present in its aroma and as a flavor after the cucumber nectar left your tongue. Amazing how deep green and thin the soup was. I wonder what they used to keep it so green. Usually I use cilantro.

Winterpoint oyster with champagne mignonette and horseradish: Not a fan of oysters (or most shellfish), but this was nice. No off taste whatsoever. It was served in shell and the horseradish flavor was subtle but nice.

Scottish salmon tartare and sevurga caviar with sorrel and meyer lemon dressing: Another nice seafood dish, something that I wouldn't be inclined to like, but did. Better than the tuna tartare at Abacus the night before. The caviar added a nice saltiness and was balanced perfectly.

Salad of red and yellow beets with bacon and horseradish foam: This was the first course that really made me go wow. Not only the flavors, but the presentation. You had these alternating stacks of half-dollar-sized yellow and red beet slices with a walnut mousse on top (not listed on the menu). Off to the side there were dots of red beet reduction, a little pile of minced bacon, and some foamy horseradish flavored liquid. There were red micro beet "greens", I believe, also. It was a perfectly balanced dish with surprising flavors. You got that sweet beety flavor with the firm texture contrasting the nutty, creamy mousse. Then the bacon added a salty-sweet element and the horseradish foam gave it a high note. Excellent. Truly excellent.

Butter poached turbot with potato and oyster gratin and asparagus veloute: Only now, reading back through the menu, do I realize why I was so impressed with the potato gratin. It tasted good, essentially a small dollup of mashed potatoes with a layer of crispy, salty flavors on top. I thought it was just bread crumbs or something with interesting seasoning. Now I realize it was some sort of oyster concoction and I understand why I couldn't figure out what those flavors were. All I knew then was that it was good. The fish was good as well. The sauce could have had a little more flavor, but it was tasty and had a nice light green appearance giving color to an otherwise colorless course.

Crispy skin loup de mer with butter braised baby fennel and parsley puree: Here's a dish, like the cucumber soup, that didn't fit my palate well, but I admired a lot. The fish, especially with the skin, was just too fishy for me. My mother would have loved the flavor, but not me. I did love the texture, though. How they got that skin so light and crispy I do not know, but it was perfect. It made me wish I liked that fish flavor. The fennel, however, was excellent, and actually had the effect of balancing out the fish quite well, so much so that when I ate the two together I could finish the fish, if it didn't have the skin, and enjoy it.

Sauteed skate wing with fondant, turnip, spinach and salcornia beurre noisette: Yum, this skate wing was good. The butter sauce was excellent and the spinach more interesting than normal spinach. A nice flavor. Again, well-balanced.

Risotto with littleneck clams, butter, and chives: A little over salted, but the texture was dead on. Not too soupy and with a decent bite. The flavor was quite good, too. The clams didn't do too much for the dish, I don't think, but it was nice to find something meaty at the bottom of the little pile of green-specked, milk-white risotto.

Roasted quail with a ragout of pancetta, pearl onions, and sugar snap peas: The quail was a tiny bit overdone. It wasn't dry, just a tiny bit tougher than it could have been. But the sauce -- oh the sauce -- what a wonderful sauce. Salty, smoky, sweet with the crispy pancetta and the small peas that popped in your mouth as you bit down releasing their sweet goodness. Great. Nice colors, too, with the red-brown sauce and the green peas.

Veal cheek, braised in milk with polenta and a broccoli puree: Another great course. They felt like they just kept getting better. The sauce on the last one was excellent, but on this one everything was excellent. The veal cheek met my palate perfectly. It was like the most tender and juicy pot roast you can imagine glazed in a rich, meaty sauce. The polenta was like a creamy micro-muffin with a quenelle of green broccoli puree next to it. You could eat each separately and be happy, or could mix and match any of them in the same bite and bring the flavors to a new level. Truly fabulous. Perfectly balanced, perfectly executed.

Loin of colorado lamb en persillade with braised artichokes: Another excellently balanced dish. I don't know how they seared the little piece of lamb so perfectly. It was medium-rare with no blood throughout from about a 1/4" inch from the side straight through. Then you have the persillade on top adding texture, saltiness, and flavor. The artichokes were good as well, with some sort of creamy dressing, possibly a mayonnaise-lemon mixture. I was surprised how well it went with the lamb.

Seared Hudson Valley foie gras with poached cherries and pain au lait: Okay, along with the beets, this is probably the dish I will remember 30 years from now. I've had foie gras at nice restaurants. Never liked it. This course makes me want to order foie gras in the future even though in less adept hands it will probably suck. You had a little silver dollar-sized toast layer, thin and crunchy. Then the seared foie gras. Off to the side was the cherries, so red and delightful. When you put all three together it was bliss: crunchy toast, rich, meaty foie gras, sweet and sour cherries. The cherries dominated the flavor with the foie gras adding richness and a hint of that liver flavor. The pan au lait was all about texture. Perfect. This is one I'll imitate whenever I get whole duck and am thinking of what I can do to the liver.

Goat brie with cider-glazed cippolini onions and micro cress: I only sort of remember this course, probably because it was packed between so many great courses. I do remember the onions for some reason. I really enjoyed that tangy sweetness with them.

Buttermilk panna cotta with rhubarb and black pepper tuille: Panna cotta usually bores me. But this had a wonderful flavor. But again, it was about the balance of flavors. I could have eaten the panna cotta by itself and been pleased, maybe with some berries or something. But the rhubarb, still crispy, with its tang gave both a perfect flavor and texture contrast to the panna cotta (plus the red on the white). Then you had the crunchy, peppery tuile on top. All were great together. This gave life to panna cotta.

Chocolate fondant with almonds, fleur de sel, and caramel: I have to admit. This one was about as perfect a match for my dessert palate as they could have picked. But it wasn't just that. It was excellent. It was the little things that made it transcend your typical turtle flavors at a fine restaurant. The salt, for instance, "kicked-up" the chocolate and caramel. There were cacao nibs with the almonds that added depth. And the balance and execution was perfect again. What a finish!

Petit Fours: 9 little jelly candies in 3 flavors. Tasted like maybe grapefruit, cantaloupe, and watermelon or something like that. Good for what they were and a good after dinner finish.

Now, what was it Doc said? "Why am I not there now?" Oh, how I agree. I am so glad that we were looking for another dinner and happened upon Doc's recommendation. This was easily my favorite meal of the trip. Not only was it a great value with 15 courses for $65, but each course was excellent, not a mediocre one in the bunch, imo. Honestly, this may be the best meal I've had on any of my food trips yet, including places like Charlie Trotter's. If French Laundry tops this in San Francisco next month, my belly is going to be quite happy.

The place is nice, too. In contrast to the noisy Lola in the other room, this place let you talk in a near whisper if you wished. I never felt like the people at other tables were eaves-dropping either. It was an elegant room served very well by only one waiter. There are only 8 tables total and they only serve one dinner per table per night, so only 3 or 4 tables had people while we were there and my water staid pretty much full the entire time, and if my bread was gone, I was soon asked if I'd like another (and they had nice breads). The waiter was pleasant and willing to serve. He answered annoying foodie questions from me with aptitude. Even though neither me nor my co-foodie drink, our dishes were perfectly timed. I never wondered where the next one was and I never felt like I was holding them up. They came out regularly and quickly. Quite impressive, really. And then to top it off, when we were finished the waiter asked if there was anything else, yadda, yadda, yadda, and we told him we were just joking about wishing we had another of that last dessert. He promptly headed off into the kitchen. We figured, cool, we're going to get to split another dessert. When we went to Trotter's in Chicago, we joked with our captain (still the best service ever) that we wish we had 80 more of the little truffles they served at the end of the meal. He promptly returned with 30, saying sorry he couldn't give us 80 but that's all he had. And that's the level of service we got. A few minutes later, our waiter returned from the kitchen with not one, but two desserts, one for each of us, still impeccably presented, still the same portion. And they were excellent (and that guy got a $40 tip for a $130 meal). And like I said, that's the best meal I've had, maybe ever. One more thing: no jacket required, which is a real bonus in my book. Hell, I even had my polo shirt inside out until halfway through dinner when my friend pointed it out to me. (Maybe the food was so good it knocked me for a loop and the shirt ended up inside out.)

My real worry is that the next time I come down either it will not have gotten enough business or it will have gotten so much business they jack up the prices, or worse, expand and lower quality in the pursuit of quantity. So, my suggestion is get a reservation while you can. They overhaul the menu every 3 weeks, btw.

Sat

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THE MOZZARELLA COMPANY: We actually went in Friday afternoon also, but my friend's favorite person manning the counter wasn't there and it just wasn't the same. Definitely go in Saturdays when she's there (I wish I could remember her name). She really enjoys every cheese and wants you to enjoy them, too. It's cool to be able to see the people making the cheese as you're tasting it. Some of my favorites: smoked mozzarella, queso oaxaca, chile caciotta, mexican marigold mint caciotta, cow and goat's milk fetas, queso blanco, and the chevre (I think they just call it fresh goat cheese). They also make pizzas taht you can buy frozen and they looked quite good. Also sell their own butter and creme fraiche. Very cool. I'll be bugging a couple markets that buy specialty cheeses here in Portland to try them out.

THE FARMER'S MARKET: A decent-sized market with a very different style from the ones I'm used to here in Portland. Here, they require the vendors to be from local farms if they're selling raw goods. And the other vendors, those who are selling cooked foods, flowers, crafts, etc, must be local as well. Thus, there's a lot more diversity in our farmer's markets. A lot of stuff you wouldn't find in the supermarkets, too, like heirloom vegetables, wild mushrooms of all kinds, etc. A lot of it is organic. That sort of thing. However, you'd often find better prices on many items in the supermarkets. There's not the competition between the vendors because not as many are selling the same items. Most everyone in the Dallas farmer's market is selling similar sets of items and few of them are things you wouldn't find at the supermarket. But the prices were great and I'd say the average quality was above the supermarket, especially on things that were especially in season, like peaches. And everyone's willing to give you a taste. There are tons of vendors, too, so you can price compare and haggle. I think it's something I'd definitely take advantage of it if I lived in Dallas, but I don't know that the term "farmer's market" applies as well as it does here.

KUBY'S: A very cool meat market. The focus here seems to be on the deli meats and sausages, although they did have some nice beef, including USDA prime, in the back. I tried a bunch of things, including the bloodwurst, andouille, polish sausage, and several dry salamis and beef sticks. It was all good. A great place for anyone on the Atkin's diet. You'd never go hungry here.

BUBBA'S: Mmmm. Chicken tenders. The sides were fine -- crisp, lemon-pepper-seasoned fries, hot rolls with honey, mashed potatoes and cream gravy. All good. But those chicken tenders are fantastic. Tender and juicy with a nice light crispness on the outside. If McDonald's or Burger King had food like that I might eat cheap a lot more.

HOLY SMOKES: Had to get some bbq while I was down here. I went on a bbq binge in Portland before I came down trying all the best places so that I could adequately prepare. The friend I was visiting thinks Holy Smokes is the most consistent all around in Dallas, liking other places better for somethings, but overall enjoying this place best. I can see why. Only one item disappointed, the beef brisket. It had a nice flavor but was dry. The ribs were nice and tender and juicy with a good dry rub. The sausage was very good as well. The best thing there, though, was the pulled pork. I think I can almost stil taste it. They also had good sides including the baked beans with sausage and the southern potatoes with bacon and cheese. Apparently they have a mountain of ribs you can eat called something like the Aporkalypse. If you eat it all you get your picture on the wall. Next time I'm down, you'll be able to see my picture (if I can fit in the frame afterwards).

SONNY BRYAN'S: My friend's not too keen on Sonny Bryan's but I wanted to try it since it always makes national bbq lists. I can see why he's not too keen on it. It was just okay. I got the ribs and sausage and onion rings. The onion rings were good (though they could use some seasoning). We have a place here in Portland, Ringside Steakhouse, that makes similar ones. But neither the ribs nor the sausage was in the same league with that at Holy Smokes. And it was a far cry from a couple of the bbq places my friend took me the last time I visited, including The Salt Lick, which, though it has its detractors, is still the best bbq I've ever eaten even on its bad days. The funky little schoolhouse shack (yes, I did go to the original) is kind of cool, but that's no substitute for good ribs.

THE FRENCH ROOM: Thank goodness I ate a lot that day because this turned out to be the worst meal, easily, and the only one that wasn't good overall. There were three of us and one got the chef's menu, one the vegetarian tasting menu, and one ordered off the regular menu. I'll go through them by meal rather than course.

First, though, I guess I should mention the "courses" we shared -- the amuse, the palate cleanser, and the petit fours. The amuse was a glass with cranberry and apple jello layers, then a layer of almonds, and then a layer of foie gras. Proof that foie gras is only good when handled with skill, because here it failed. On top of the whole thing was a thin layer of cream. It wasn't a good way to start. Halfway through we received a nice sorbet, an orange-grapefruit sorbet that was good and effective. With the check, we were given some nice little treats including a pistachio-amaretto truffle, a ginger cookie, a shortbread cookie, a white chocolate candy of some sort, a peanut butter chocolate, a dark chocolate truffle, and a marbled chocolate with banana cream inside. They were all pretty good.

The Chef's Menu was the worst of the three, imo. It only had one good course, I thought, the first one. It was smoked rabbit loin with fresh herb mascarpone cheese ravioli and rosemary garlic sauce. It was tasty. Nothing spectacular, but tasty. Following that was a chilled spring vegetable terrine with a carrot-ginger gelee and a caviar lobster salad. Yuck. No one liked the terrine. Maybe we just don't have sophisitcated enough palates (but lets face it, vegetable aspic in large amounts is kind of gross). The vegetables inside were okay, but just cold vegetables. There wasn't any real cohesion or interesting flavors. The salad, what there was of it, was decent according to the person who ate it. Next was a duo of ahi tuna and salmon, sauteed spinach with horseradish whipped potatoes and an ugly ripe tomato coulis as a sauce for the salmon. This was decent, but kind of lacking. The potatoes and spinach were good enough and the salmon was fine, though the sauce didn't really add anything to the dish, imo. It was just sort of there. And the tuna was without a sauce or much seasoning, just sort of sitting there seared. Next was a lame cheese course with crackers from a package and slices of three good-enough cheeses just laying on a plate. Not exactly like the cheese course at Tru in Chicago where they wheel a cart in with about 30 different cheeses ordered in rows of goat, cow, and sheep, aligned from least pungent to most pungent, with the optional apple slices, housemade crackers, etc, to eat them with. Even one of the mediocre French places here in Portland would have added some fruit and maybe nuts. The chef's menu finished with a spumoni semifreddo with pistachio cream sauce. I thought it was mediocre without much flavor, and too much of the rather flavorless semifreddo in relation to other possible flavors.

The vegetarian tasting menu was next in quality, imo. It began with its best course as well: sauteed cremini mushrooms, barley, japanese eggplant in a little won-ton shell with red pepper coulis and a parmesan crisp. The little salad was good, but the red pepper coulis made this dish. The parmesan chip was nice too and added a needed salty element. Next was a salad of baby arugula, hearts of palm, haricot vert, tomatoes, with champagne lemon caper vinaigrette. This was decent. No where near the first course, but decent. It had a nice presentation, too, with a disk of overlapping tomatoes as the base. Next was a kalamata-onion potato tart, carrot puree, baby bok choy, root vegetables, and warm tarragon red onion olive oil. Essentially this was crispy fried hash browns with some sauteed root vegetables and a couple sauces. The sauces needed more punch, especially when they're supposed to lend flavor to a starch. The most disappointing course was the dessert. It was also the course I was most looking forward to on the vegetarian menu. It was a frozen cheesecake mousse with cranberry-orange compote and citrus sugar cookie crust. The sauce was decent, but the frozen mousse was bad. It was like frozen cool whip, that kind of flavor, too. And there was so much of it in comparison to the compote. The compote probably should have been a topping flowing over the sides to balance out the flavorless but creamy frozen mousse.

The best of the dinners went to the person that chose her own three courses. First was a sweet spring english pea soup with mint and rock shrimp dumpling. It was a tasty soup. Not spectacular, but tasty. Next was the provini tenderloin of veal, french goat cheese polenta, roasted cipollini onions, and a peppery morel cabernet sauce. The veal was nicely cooked and tender. The sauce was very good. The morels seemed to be infused with meat stock and the sauce added bright and deep flavors with a strong peppery element as well. The polenta was tasty and creamy. It all went together nicely. Definitely the best course of all the courses. A french Valrhona guanaja hot chocolate cake followed with vanilla bean ice cream and roaste pineapple sauce. Easily the best dessert of the three. A very good dessert. Not great, but very good. I made sure I had a taste of this one last because the other two desserts sucked.

Two of the three dinners weren't very good and they had the bulk of the courses. So overall, the dinner wasn't very good. I would feel confident randomly choosing courses off any of the top restaurants in Portland and doing better. (I'd be willing to do the same at Abacus or Mansion and feel confident I'd come up with better food than at The French Room.) It's an immaculate room, but the food and service don't match. btw, the service was another very weak point. First of all, we had to wait 20-30 minutes before being seated. Then when seated we were rushed through ordering. Then our captain obviously wasn't as familiar with the dishes as she should have been, saying the wrong ingredients and even forgetting entirely what a dish was and giving courses to the wrong people. Also, when I went to the bathroom no one showed me where it was. This is something that often doesn't matter to me at a restaurant but is just a nicety (something they did do at Lola). But at the French Room, the bathroom is way out in the lobby. I had a hard time finding it from the directions the waiter gave. And it wasn't that nice of a bathroom, either. Overall, very disappointing. Lucky for them I wasn't in charge of the tip.

Sun

---

ZAGUAN: This is a cool place. Makes even me want breakfast. Had the cachapa, which I'm going to have to learn how to make. Sweet, moist corn crepe with rich shredded meat inside. Yum. Lots of other things looked good to me, including churros that reminded me of ones I've had in Mexico City's El Morro and fresh juices.

CIUDAD: Had brunch here. I wish they had more of their dinner items since I'm not much of a breakfast person, but it was still a good way to introduce myself to their food. Had the duck flautas, which I didn't think were that good (though they did come with the nice omni-present fruit pico), and the beef in red mole omelette, which was pretty good. The flautas were burnt, but I didn't think the insides were very tasty either. The red mole was tasty and the beef nice and tender. It also came with a creamier sauce that reminded me of a enchilada sauce I sometimes make with pepitas. Pretty good. Had desserts, too. Had the corn cake with fruit pico, rum ice cream, and fruit sauce. Also had the warm cookie pudding cake with a cream and fruit sauce and cajeta. I preferred the former dessert, but my friend preferred the latter. Both were good, though, I just thought the corn cake had a lot more flavor and a lot more interesting flavor. The latter could have also used a lot more cajeta.

CUBA LIBRE: Had lunch here. Not really what I think of as authentic Cuban, but it's still good food with good portions. We had a pressed pollo noche, a pressed, grilled sandwich with jerk-seasoned chicken, pork asado, and melted cheese. It came with seasoned fries. The sandwich was tasty and the fries were very good, crispy and well-seasoned with an interesting seasoning. We also had an order of two tacos, the pork asado taco and the portabella taco. It came with beans and rice. The portabella taco was decent enough, but nothing too interesting. The pork asado was very good though and that made the taco very good. The beans and rice were just mediocre.

[Raynickben]

Hey ExtraMSG: I've "talked" with you on the Portland restaurants board where I live now and tomorrow I move back to Dallas where I lived for 12 years so I enjoy reading your posts!

I love Abacus, Ciudad, and Liberty Noodles so I'm glad you got to experience them. I likewise had a bad experience at The French Room for much of the same reasons. There are a few other restaurants I would have sent you to had I read your post on Chowhound but you did a VERY good job making the grand tour. There are some restaurants here in Portland that I really enjoyed but I've got to be honest...Dallas restaurants rule. I think the size of the city and the competive nature of restauranteurs and Texans in general really equate to some outstanding dining.

Thanks so much for your very detailed post. You have me heading to Lola ASAP!

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks for posting your very detailed report on your ExtraMSG Dallas Tour 2003. Please do tour again.

Raynickben -- welcome back to Dallas. Let us know about your dining experiences here.

[ExtraMSG]

There are a few other restaurants I would have sent you to had I read your post on Chowhound but you did a VERY good job making the grand tour.  There are some restaurants here in Portland that I really enjoyed but I've got to be honest...Dallas restaurants rule.  I think the size of the city and the competive nature of restauranteurs and Texans in general really equate to some outstanding dining. 

Luckily I have a friend, Scott on Chowhound, who does the legwork for me ahead of time. He's who I visit -- a college buddy. Next trip will probably be to Lockhart for some BBQ even though I'm not a big fan of even the best beef bbq.

Portland and Dallas have different sorts of food scenes. Dallas certainly has more in quantity and also more haute cuisine. But I think the top places here and the top places there are comparable in quality. We definitely have less showmanship, though. Dallas is much more in the vein of SF, Chicago, and NY where it's not enough for the food to taste good, it has to be cool looking, in a cool looking venue, and have pretty people around. A nice thing about Portland is that I can go get great food in business casual or less. A bad thing about Portland is that haute cusine not only flounders but is looked down on. Everyone wants to be Chez Panisse but no one wants to be French Laundy. In Dallas terms, everyone wants to be York Street, but no one wants to be Abacus. I think it's just a northwest thing. Seattle's not much different. There's probably less attempt at innovation here, too. I just think it's the market. I don't know that a restaurant that tried to be clever like The French Laundry or cerebral like Trio (in Chicago) would be smiled on or well-regarded. I think they'd be looked at as pretentious. Personally, I like both styles. Day in and day out, I may prefer slow food, classic dishes, and the like. But once a month I would like to be able to have a dining experience that was as much about the experience as abuot the dining. You can get that in Dallas to some extent. You can definitely get that in NY, Chicago, and SF. I don't think you can get that at all in Portland.

[misstenacity]

Thank you everyone, and especially bhoward, for recommending Lola.

I had the 10 course menu Wednesday night, and it was the best meal that this neophyte has ever had. My first experience with both a tasting menu AND oyster.... and it was all fabulous.

I expected that at least one item on the list would be, well, weird. But when the very first course of "Wellfleet oyster with champagne mignonette and horseradish" went down easily and with all the great flavor of salty ocean-ness, I felt much better. After all, everything else on the list was *cooked*. ;-)

I did not have the wine pairings - that would have been 5 full glasses of wine in about 2 hours. My tolerance ain't that good. Forget trying to drive - I wouldn't have been able to make it out the front door to the CAB!

So, I ordered 2 glasses separately, one of which was on the pairings 'menu' anyway, and one that was not.

(What is currently listed on the website is not correct - it has been outdated for at least a week - I hear they change the menu every month or so: http://www.lola4dinner.com/tastingmenu.htm)

Here is what I had:

*no amuse bouche

Wellfleet oyster with champagne mignonette and horseradish - being a virgin, I couldn't quite shoot it. I used the fork. Still, a delightful texture and flavor.

Beets with boquerones and cress - I love beets. These were baby white and red.

Vegetables in bagna cauda - actually cooked veg! Yay for non al dente.

Poached monkfish with savoy cabbage

Leek soup with smoked haddock - one of my favorites. the salty haddock played nice with the completely obliterated leeks.

Seared terrine of pork trotter and agilot - I finally just put the pieces together on this one. It was perfectly squared off and rectangular - what meat is cut that way? But then I remembered the whole terrine thing, and then later on, the whole trotter thing. Anyway, it was a tiny bit too salty, but despite that incredibly delicious - crispy on the top, and the meat nicely done inside.

Onglet and braised short rib with mousserons and watercress - The onglet was rare, the short rib not, and both were tender and flavorful.

Grapefruit sorbet - I know its a palate cleanser, but I could have done with more than 3 bites of it. Yum.

Three American farmstead cheeses with quince and almonds - no idea what kinds of cheeses they were, but one was soft, one was blue, and one was semisoft. All were excellent.

Apricot mousse with a pistachio croquant - very nice as well.

*assortment of petit fours, cookies, and fruit jellies - this was brought out before I received the check, not part of the 10 courses.

I only mention the lack of the amuse because this is the first time I have been to a restaurant of this stature that I did not receive one. For a tasting menu, is that normal?

Bill with wine (not tax & tip) was $70. A great meal for the money. Fantastic.

Miss Tenacity

...in Albuquerque