Food Feedback Friday

Posted on February 24th, 2012 9:00am by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Food Feedback Friday, Uncategorized

Dishers, where did you dine and what did you eat this week? Here is what you reported last week.

22 comments

  1. I had a lovely meal last week at Fearings! The company could have been better or at least better looking, but the Chocolate Cajeta was to die for!

    @ 9:07 am on February 24, 2012

  2. GREAT meal at Malai kitchen. i was skeptical because a) they feature vietnamese and thai, jack of 2 trades is rarely master of them both and b) it is in west village.

    food was fantastic and well priced. service was attentive and friendly. atmosphere was, well west village but can’t help that.

    highly recommend.

    @ 10:23 am on February 24, 2012

  3. If anyone is heading to San Antonio, we (two chefs and their spouses) had a wonderful dinner at Bin 555 on Saturday night. It was everything you’d want in a chef owner/operated restaurant. We also dined at the popular La Fogata (no wait time for lunches!), and had a cheap but delicious breakfast at tiny Losoya’s, in the same shopping strip as Magnolia Pancake House (which was unfortunately on a 1 hour wait). 10 hour drive, 3 wonderful meals, 24 hour trip. Vacation.

    @ 11:02 am on February 24, 2012

  4. What’s the scoop on Oak? Thinking of dropping in soon.

    @ 11:51 am on February 24, 2012

  5. Lunch, Nosh in Plano. We sat at the bar, the service, food and drinks were excellent. They make one mean sidecar! We started with the Escargot; it was tender, flavorful and piping hot. Next French onion soup, it had a nice deep rich broth that was not even at tad bit salty. For entrees we had the Croque Monsieur and the Crispy Duck Confit. Both dishes were wonderful except I preferred the old menu of the confit being served over cauliflower mash with cherry sauce vs. the current root vegetable hash.

    Off Site Kitchen, Congrats to Nick btw for being nominated! JMO one of our most under loved chefs in the Big D. We tried multiple items, everything was served up with little waiting time it was fresh and seriously hit. We started with the “do it Murphy Style” hamburger the roasted jalapeño’s smoked bacon relish serious work well together. The burger itself was moist a nice texture (i.e. not to mashed) and perfectly cooked. We tried the Crispy Sloppy Taco, wow who knew, this alone was worth the drive from Frisco! Last sandwich was the Chicken Royal with Ham and cheese and a side of fresh cut French fries. You know a fry is perfect when you need to add no dipping sauce and no salt.

    Words of warning for OSK get there early, we no more arrived and the lunch crowd poured in.

    @ 12:07 pm on February 24, 2012

  6. Ditto for all that was said above about Off Site Kitchen. Not only was the food sensational (I had the green chile patty melt and fries) but their attentive staff has to be the friendliest and most welcoming in Dallas!
    I could see Nick and staff hard at work in the open kitchen.

    @ 12:15 pm on February 24, 2012

  7. Tried Goodfriends last night. Went with some good friends, sat on the great patio, the place has a good atmosphere (gotta love the East Side Hipsters), and pretty good service. We ordered chips and queso (aka the Dippity Do Da) and after we finished the bowl of chips, we kindly asked for a refill. I ordered the Black Bean burger and asked if I could get some sliced tomatoes. When the bill came, noticed that they charged us $1 extra for the additional bowl of chips and 25cents for my 2 tomato slices. Just thought it was interesting. Not that we couldn’t fork over the extra $1.25 but when a table of four is eating, drinking and when your bill is $85, the extra charge for chips and tomato slices just seems petty.

    @ 12:29 pm on February 24, 2012

  8. Is OSK open on Saturdays? Dying to try it.

    @ 12:58 pm on February 24, 2012

  9. Weekender, yes on Saturdays.

    @ 1:05 pm on February 24, 2012

  10. @spoon18 Ok, but those charges are thought over and created as part of a well thought out system. It’s not meant to apply perfectly to each and every case, but to work as well as possible across the board. To allow that $1.25 to affect your experience seems petty to me.

    @ 1:56 pm on February 24, 2012

  11. @Mark, I appreciate the feedback. I think my comment clearly (maybe not?) stated that I liked Goodfriends and just wanted to point out the extra charges. I found it interesting since I haven’t encountered this too many times around Dallas area restaurants.

    @ 2:03 pm on February 24, 2012

  12. Had Murph Burger and fries at Off Site Kitchen…yes it’s awesome, staff is super friendly and helpful. Fast service and burger was not a giant gut bomb that made you regret it later. Can’t wait to try breakfast.

    @ 2:29 pm on February 24, 2012

  13. @Mark – I think any system that requires someone who is already spending $85 at a restaurant to pay an additional $1.25 for chips and tomatoes (and therefore paint a negative brush-stroke over an otherwise positive experience) cannot be considered “well though out.”

    @ 3:22 pm on February 24, 2012

  14. @spoon I guess I just got the feeling that you would have enjoyed everything else more had the up-charges not been applied. I apologize for acting harsh. For the record, I do think tortilla chips ought to have a free refill, like fountain soda. Although, they may have high quality chips that make that harder to provide. We use to up-charge for tomatoes as well. We felt it was fair because they were at a higher cost than the item that was substituted. However, we decided to change that rule and suffer a higher cost on a few substitutions. We wanted to have a clearly priced menu with little to no surprises. I understand why they made that decision though, and wouldn’t hold it against them.

    @ 3:31 pm on February 24, 2012

  15. @acrow Ok, but where does that stop. Would it also be fair to then say “hey, I’m dropping twenty bucks on beer, I should get a free soda as well”? Also, what about the multitude of people asking for a refill of chips knowing it’s free, and then leaving behind most of the second batch. Maybe that added cost for the chips is a tool to discourage waste.

    @ 3:37 pm on February 24, 2012

  16. By the way..sorry for hijacking the thread..

    @ 3:46 pm on February 24, 2012

  17. @Mark – I agree that restaurants cannot provide everything for free. However, at least for me personally, I think the negative phychological effect of an up-charge generally outweigh its benefit. To me, it seems it would be better to charge an extra 10 cents for each burger across the board, and give the tomatoes away for free.

    @ 4:14 pm on February 24, 2012

  18. @Mark, I understand your perspective, but personally take particular offense when my gut tells me I’m being nickeled and dimed. Maybe my gut is wrong. The worst offense to me is to stay at a luxury hotel, pay several hundred dollars for the night, and then have to pay 7 to 15 dollars extra for internet. Don’t get me started on certain valet practices….

    @ 4:27 pm on February 24, 2012

  19. $85 for dinner and drinks among – what, four people? seems pretty cheap by conventional dining standards. i don’t get why people expect free anything. if you’re at a Tex-Mex place where you’re paying $7 for cheese enchiladas, then you’re ultimately paying for your “free” chips

    @ 8:42 pm on February 24, 2012

  20. Had steaks (from the ranch) and cornbread at Star Brand Ranch in Kaufman. If you have to do the corporate retreat thing, this is the place to do it. The Wynne’s make it fun for locals and Finn’s alike.

    @ 9:01 pm on February 24, 2012

  21. [...] Dishers, where did you dine and what did you eat this week? Here is what you reported last week. [...]

    @ 9:00 am on March 2, 2012

  22. Nanette, I also agree that OSK is wonderful but it seems that it is at the expense of Neighborhood Services at Preston Royal. With Nick not seen much at NS the quality has really dropped off the past few months. that along with the “velvet rope’ policy at the host stand make it easy to choose other restaurants to dine in the area. Just 2 weeks ago while waiting for a table a couple comes in and apologizs for not calling ahead to get their name on the wait list. Just like that the hostess says not to worry and she proceeds to immediately seat them at a booth near the bar while other patrons waited their turn. That type of hospitality will not endear them to local diners.

    @ 9:14 am on March 2, 2012