Recently discovered a new place to grab lunch.  Urban Eatz in Richardson is amazingly, and unexpectedly, delicious!  They have artisan sandwiches without some of the pretentiousness that you’d get at some other bistro-like restaurants.  It’s like if Panera served french fries.

(Pictured above) I got a Southwest Chicken sandwich, which is probably my favorite thing I’ve had there.  Sliced grilled chicken breast with avocado, roasted tomatoes, Swiss cheese, chipotle mayonnaise, and mixed greens on toasted ciabatta bread.  It’s comfort food with a touch of class.  The fries are so delicious.

I’ve also tried their Tuna Salad, which is pretty tasty.  And the Hubby has gotten their Pulled Pork sandwich (above middle), which he said has a bbq sauce that tastes just like the bbq sauce they use on the McDonald’s McRib.  So, if you’re looking for something with actual meat and that’s probably tons healthier for you (plus, without the fake grill marks), then you’re better off ordering one of these at Urban Eatz.  He’s also had their Club, which he said was also yummy.

Even though there’s a Panera in the same shopping center, we’ve been drawn more and more to Urban Eatz for lunch on weekends.  Can’t wait to go back!

Been on a bit of a Groupon kick lately.  The other day there was a Groupon deal for buy one, get one free for Dimassi’s Mediterranean Buffet in Richardson, TX.

It was ok.  I still prefer Ali Baba’s, or possibly even Fadi’s.  I can pretty much sum this up in one sentence: Big selection, average taste.  There’s a lot to choose from, and it even has some more American items on the buffet line (like fried chicken) in case you’d like a little more variety, or you’re dining with people who are not particularly adventurous eaters.

All in all, it was a great deal with the Groupon.  But, I probably won’t be back.  Even though Ali Baba’s is a little more expensive, I like the food there better.

So far, this place has been the best Dim Sum we’ve found in the Dallas area.  If anyone knows of a better place, let me know!

We got all our usual favorites (believe me, the picture above does not show everything we got, it just shows everything we got while my fingers were still clean enough to take a picture).  We did get something new this time that I’ve been wanting to try for a while.  The Hong Kong style waffle.  I’ve been eyeing it, but never got around to actually ordering one.  It pretty much just tastes like a belgian waffle, but with big nodes of dough.  So, like a weird cross between a munchkins doughnut and a waffle.  It would probably have been really good with a side of honey or syrup for dipping.

Now the hard part, I’ve got to clean the house from top to bottom and make a ton of food.  In Chinese culture, you have to clean your house spic and span to rid it of all the bad mojo from the previous year.  It makes room for all the good mojo for the start of the year.  And you’re not supposed to clean on New Year’s Day because you might sweep away all your good luck.

You’re also not supposed to cook on New Year’s Day either, so I’ve got to make enough food to last tomorrow.  And, since I’m Korean, I’m gonna try and make some Ddukguk, which is traditional to eat in on New Year’s Day in Korean culture.  Whew!  Lots to do!

I love Chipotle, and now I love it even more since I can get brown rice.  And no, it doesn’t taste that much different, but it makes me feel just a tiny bit healthier when I have it with brown rice instead of white.  The nutritional difference is probably miniscule, but hey, whatever.

First up, my trip back to Maryland for Christmas.

So, I finally got a chance to check out Teaism down in Penn Quarter (Washington, DC).  My sister and the Hubby both got Buffalo Burgers.  My sister wasn’t very impressed, but the Hubby said that it had nice flavor.

I chose the Seitan Stir Fry.  It was quite yummy!  I was a little hesitant since it had large macadamia nuts in it, but they ended up adding a nice crunch.  I got the Berry Beauty Tea, which I was kind of disappointed with.  It pretty much just tasted like the Celestial Seasonings Very Berry Zinger.  The Dark Hot Chocolate with Chipotle, on the other hand, was delicious!  I choked a little since I inhaled the chipotle dust. LOL.

We tried to have lunch at Chipotle on Christmas Eve, but apparently they closed at 3pm (yeah, it was a pretty late lunch), so we ended up going next door to the Cosi’s.

I had the Pesto Chicken Melt, which was actually pretty good.  I was craving Chipotle pretty bad, but I wasn’t disappointed that I had this instead.  I’d definitely order this one again.

My sister ended up getting a personal pizza with sausage and pepperoni.  She didn’t share any with me (*ahem) so I can’t tell you if it tasted good or not.  But, she finished it all, so I’m going to assume that it was tasty.

Of course, not trip back to our hometown would be complete without a dinner at Asian Court in Ellicott City, MD.

Had a lovely dinner here with a very good friend.  We ordered the Spicy Wontons; Salt and Pepper Squid, Scallops, and Shrimp; and some Sauteed Snow Pea Tips.  We also ordered the Beef Chow Fun (not pictured).  There’s just something about the Salt and Pepper Squid, Scallops, and Shrimp at this place that just makes me crazy.  It’s so friggin’ good!  I could just eat that with the some rice and be happy.

Have I mentioned how crazy Koreans are?  Cause they’re seriously crazy.  I mean, why else would they open their stores ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

We went to go visit my grandmother, and my dad wanted to stop and get some snacks for her.  I was convinced that nothing would be open, but my dad assured me that if it’s a Korean shop that it’ll be open.  Sure enough, Bon Appetit in Ellicott City, MD was open on Christmas Day.  And extremely busy to boot.

I picked up a funky looking Manju shaped like a pig and also this adorable sweet potato cake with some chickies to take to my Hubby’s family gathering later in the evening.  The sweet potato cake was actually not what I expected.  I’ve had sweet potato cake from Mozart Bakery (another Korean bakery), and it was just slightly sweet.  This one actually had pureed sweet potato.  Pretty tasty, if I do say so.

And that was my very short trip back home.  I’ll try to catch up on my other postings in the new year.

A few weeks ago the Hubby and I took a trip up to Chicago for my brother’s engagement ceremony.  His fiancee is Vietnamese and comes from a very traditional family.  So, our whole immediate family went to Chicago to participate in the ceremony.

My parents still had to work on Friday, so my sister, hubby, and I landed in Chicago first.  After we landed, my brother and his fiancee took us to Pequod Pizza for some authentic Chicago Deep Dish.

I have to say, pretty tasty.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy it to the full extent because I had just gotten braces on that week.  (Yes, I’m a tad old for braces, but my dentist recommended them and they’re only on for 6 months, so I said “what the hell.”)  Anyways, so I had to cut my pizza up into small bite size pieces.  I ordered a small deep dish of all three of the hot peppers on their menu–ooooo, spicy!  It was eye-wateringly good.  The wimps at the table opted for a sausage and mushroom combination.

The next day, we went over to the fiancee’s house.  After the whole ceremony, which involved our family carrying gifts throughout the whole house and then placing them on an altar, we had a homemade lunch made by her family.

It was pretty awesome.  All traditional Vietnamese dishes, which I do not know the names of.  Her family used to own and run a restaurant, so I approve this engagement.  Especially if I get to eat more yummy food.

After lunch, my brother took us on a tour of Chicago.  It’s a very pretty city.  I can see why it’s kind of an architect’s mecca.  I wish we had had more time to explore the city more.  Especially the food!

We did find this great little bao (bun) place that was connected to our hotel.  It’s called Wow Bao.  We had a spicy thai bao, which was pretty yummy, but I have to say the coconut custard bao is by far my favorite!  I’ve never thought of bao as something that could be a sweet dessert, but this definitely worked.  The chocolate one I had later was also delicious.

After the tour of Chicago, and some obligatory shopping, we got ready for dinner with the fiancee’s family.  They took us to a vietnamese/chinese restaurant and ordered three whole peking ducks! I don’t know if these are better than the one’s we get from Mr. Wok, but they were still really good.

All that was left was a good night’s sleep and then breakfast in the morning.  We ended up just eating the buffet that was in our hotel.  Then we hopped the train to the airport and headed back to Dallas.

When we finally do go back to Chicago for the wedding next year, I’m definitely going to see about staying longer so we can explore the city a little more.  And eat that deep dish pizza without braces on!

Ahhhhh!  It’s been super busy lately!  Work has just been insane and, even though we got back from Baltimore over 2 weeks ago, I’m just now getting caught up.  Why were we in Baltimore?  Well, if it’s summer then that means–Otakon!

What is Otakon?  Well, it’s only the largest anime convention on the east coast.  The picture above is of people lining up to see the premiere of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie–The Sacred Star of Milos.  The room could only seat 3,000 and they had to turn people away.  Crazy!

Anyways, a trip back to Baltimore means that I get to indulge in good seafood; something that is rather lacking in the DFW area.

So, the first night we were there, we wandered over to Fell’s Point and visited Bertha’s.  Which, the trip there was a bit of an adventure since a lot of the streets have been ripped up/blocked off to get ready for the Indy race around Labor Day.  We had seen this place on the Food Network, and had been wanting to try it.  They’re apparently famous for their mussels, and now I know why!  The mussels were absolutely to-die-for!  They were so fresh and cooked to perfection and you have your choice of sauces.  We opted for a Guinness and Old Bay sauce that was really tasty.

My sister ordered a plate of steamed shrimp (which I totally wanted to steal from her).  And we got a plate of crab cakes to share.  These crab cakes were mostly lump crab and very little breading, which was awesome.

And, of course, what trip to Baltimore would be complete without dining at Phillip’s?  I got the soft shell crab sandwich (which I pretty much just ate the soft shell crab and ignored the bread), my sister got the surf and turf, and the Hubby got the scallops.

In keeping with tradition, we also ate lunch at Frank and Nic’s one of the days of the convention.  We found out about this place a few years back when I had lunch with my ex-coworkers in Baltimore.  This place is a great little restaurant that’s on the bottom floor of an apartment complex in the city.  Since it’s right next to the Hilton that’s connected to the Baltimore Convention Center, it’s really convenient for when you’re in the mood for something better than just vending machine food at the con.

I had this killer BLT with fried tomatoes and avocado.  It was really delicious!  And the Hubby had the special of the day, Shrimp Tacos, and these shrimp were huge!  He said it was very tasty.

The convention was amazing, as it always is, and while I’m gonna miss it, it’s good to be back in my home in Texas.

Ahhhhhh!  Vacation.  Was there ever a nicer, more relaxing, word?  Since we had a three day weekend, the Hubby and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip down to South Padre Island, TX.  We had never been before, and I was missing the beach after 3 years of living in Texas.

So, we left early Saturday morning and started on our long 9 hour drive down to the beach.  After about 5 hours of driving, we were getting hungry and decided to stop in the town of Luling to see if we could find some grub.

We found a little restaurant called the Coffee Shop.  The inside was cute, kind of like coffee shop meets saloon.  We ordered some fried green tomatoes for a starter (very yummy!) and the Hubby got the fried catfish with grilled veggies and I got a southwestern turkey sandwich.  The catfish was in long strips, almost like a chicken tender.  It was cooked perfectly, and the breading on it was really tasty.  The Hubby really liked the seasoning on the veggies.  My sandwich was also good, though a tad on the greasy side.

We also got a Watermelon Smoothie, which is what was advertised in their window.  I think a lot of counties are having some sort of watermelon festival, or it’s watermelon season.  Seemed like every town we passed through had tons of watermelon.  The smoothie itself was more like a slushie, and it tasted exactly like a watermelon jolly rancher!  Not bad.  It was refreshing.

When we finally got into town 6 hours later, we checked into our hotel and then went out to find something to eat.  After some deliberation, we decided to try Gabriella’s.  Wow, this place is amazing.  We went at 9pm, and it was packed!  The wait was still an hour!  When we were finally seated, I started by ordering a cream soda with peach flavoring.  I LOVED it!

And it just got better!  They brought out the bread and olive oil, and it was amazing.  We ordered the mussels and bruschetta for appetizers and they blew my mind.  The mussels were so fresh and yummy, and the sauteed peppers, onions and prosciutto sauce it came in was delicious.  The Hubby had kind of been wanting pizza, and he said that this dish with the garlic bread satisfied that craving.  My only complaint is that they handled the mussels a little too roughly cause I kept getting little pieces of shell.

Gabriella’s will let you split a dish for a charge of $3.  Which is good cause their portions are ginormous!  We split a Shrimp fra Diava and ate the whole thing.  The shrimp was cooked perfectly and the pasta (which they make in house) was amazing.  We had just a bit of bruschetta leftover, which we packed up to snack on the next day.  Our waiter was extremely impressed that we ate so much of our meal and gave us, “major props.”  This is seriously the best Italian I’ve had since getting to Texas.  I’ve found great Italian places are not nearly as plentiful here as they are in the north east.

Breakfast the next day was a bit late.  We headed over to BadaBing Bagels, which boasts some real authentic New York bagels.  The Hubby got the cinnamon bagel with apricot spread; and, because I was craving something more substantial, I got the Bronx.  It’s turkey with lettuce, tomato, swiss, and onions with an in-house scallion caper spread.  I got it on a multi-grain bagel and it was heaven.  The wait was a bit long here, but as a post-it on their counter reads, “Fast food is not good.  Good food is not fast.”  There’s something about a New York bagel that is just fantastic.

After an educational jaunt at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center, we were ready for lunch.  We stopped by the quaint Zeste Cafe and Gourmet Market. We started with some venison empanditas which were okay, and I got a cup of chicken tortilla soup and the southwestern crab cake with grilled zucchini.  The crab cake had a nice kick to it, and the zucchini had a nice balsamic glaze that I really liked.  The Hubby got some Thai peanut chicken sandwich thing, which he said was good.

This carrot cake was calling my name after lunch, so I had to get it.  It was huge!  But, oh sooooo tasty.  Zeste’s has kind of a Whole Foods feel to it.  Even a lot of the food options they offer remind me of Whole Foods.  The cafe is located inside along with other market items.  I particularly liked their selection of artisan chocolates.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing on the beach and chasing after our beach umbrella that would not stay grounded.  After washing up at the hotel, we headed out to dinner at the Sea Ranch Restaurant.  The nifty thing about this restaurant is that they will also cook what you catch.

We started with the South Padre Poke, which is ahi tuna marinated in sesame oil and soy sauce, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and served layered with avocado and pico de gallo.  The dish itself was scrumptious.  The chips were not.  They were extremely hard.

I ordered the filet mignon and gulf shrimp.  The filet was cooked well, though a tad over the medium I had ordered, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly.  My only complaint is that the shrimp was a tad over salted.  The Hubby got the Pirate Dan’s, which is delicately broiled seafood combo of gulf flounder, gulf shrimp, and scallops.  The Hubby had the same complaint about his shrimp, but he said the scallops were very good.

We had a lovely stay in South Padre Island.  The next day we packed up to head home.  We stopped for breakfast at Ted’s. It was a little confusing at first since it was seat yourself.  But the wait staff was very attentive and friendly.

I ordered the “Our Specialty” which was fajita meat with eggs, potatoes and bread.  The Hubby ordered pancakes with pecans.  Despite how they look, he said they were fluffy and tasty.  The fajita meat tasted like they had marinated it in A-1 sauce, which I like, so I thought it was good.

Then it was a long 9 hour drive back to Dallas.  We definitely enjoyed our time in South Padre Island, but next time, we might get a condo for a week.  If only to eat at Gabriella’s every night!

We’ve eaten here quite a few times since their Soon Du Bu is really good.  They’ve also got a pretty traditional Korean feel to the whole place. If you’re not familiar with Soon Du Bu, it’s a spicy Korean stew that is made with tofu and other ingredients.

I was feeling a little adventurous and so I decided to order one of their specials that day – Beef Intestine Soon Du Bu.  It was actually pretty tasty.  Kind of almost like eating tripe at a Pho place.  Very chewy.

The Hubby ordered the dweji (pork) Soon Du Bu, which is what I usually get.  The Soon Du Bu is served with rice, and the rice comes out in these piping hot stone bowls.  Because the bowl is so hot and the rice is steaming, the rice gets burnt onto the the sides of the stone bowl.  The server then scoops the rice into a metal bowl for you and then pours some water into the stone bowl to loosen the burnt on rice.  Once it’s loosened up a bit, you scrape the rice off the sides of the stone and mix it with the water to eat.

My dad loves the stone bowl/rice thing.  He says it reminds him of being back in Korea since they used to eat it that way a lot.  Me, I prefer to have the rice burn a little more on the stone and eat it crispy.

The Hubby and I started ballroom dancing lessons before our wedding, and we liked it so much we’ve stuck with it.  So, the night before, we asked our teacher to give us some moves we could use on the dance floor at Gloria’s.

Armed with our new dance moves, we headed out to Gloria’s in search of good food and some hot Latin dancing.  We arrived around 9 pm and we were told that it would be a half hour wait for a table.  The place was absolutely packed!  I hadn’t eaten since 12 noon, so I was about ready to pass out.  I left to use the restroom, and apparently the Hubby decided to ditch me!  Not really, but when I came out of the restroom he was gone.  I waited there for another 15 – 20 minutes, and when he didn’t turn up, I went looking for him (thinking he went to use the men’s room).  Being unfamiliar with the place, it took a while to find the men’s room, and he wasn’t there.  I turn around and he’s waving at me from a table!  Turns out the hostess had come to seat us right as I left for the restroom.

Course, I threw a tiny hissy fit and chastised him for not coming to get me since I had been waiting at the front.  Sometimes, I just don’t know what goes through his head.  How can a person be so smart and yet so clueless?  Anyways, we ordered our food, and it literally came out 5 minutes after we ordered!  Man, they were super fast!

The Hubby ordered the Lechon Asado (Grilled pork tenderloin, marinated and cooked to perfection, served in a chile ancho sauce with Argentinian sausage, plantain, yucca, black beans and rice), I was still glaring at him during dinner, but I did sneak a bite of the sausage and it was pretty tasty.  I ordered the Carne Asada (Steak, marinated and cooked to perfection, served with black beans, rice and guacamole) and I have to say that I was disappointed.  The portion is very reasonable, but I was absolutely starving and since we didn’t eat until 10 pm it was just not enough food for me.  Plus, the steak was very thin and the marinade was nothing to cheer about.  I’ve had better carne asada, so I wouldn’t really recommend this if you’re looking for something amazing.

However, the chocolate flan we ordered for dessert, that’s another story!  So dense and chocolatey, this was truly plate licking good.

So, we ate and then sat at our table waiting for the dancing to start.  The staff cleared away the tables and the band got set up.  We headed to the floor and attempted to get our groove on.  But, alas, the restaurant is not that big, and there were a ton of people there.  We were packed like sardines.  I’m not a fan of crowded places.  I don’t like having my personal space invaded and we kept getting bumped into.  We still had fun, but the band played about 5 songs and then it switched from salsa to techno club music.  Still fun, but not what we had come for.  We danced for a bit longer and then left a little after midnight–ears ringing.

What did I learn?  Well, for one thing, I think we’re too old to go clubbing. The music was too loud, and the crowd was just insane.  But, I did like learning club salsa, so maybe we’ll just stick to dancing by ourselves at home.  ^_^