The Dallas Roundup

Dallas Restaurant Reviews:

Teppo Yakitori and Sushi Bar
Bread Winners Bakery and Cafe - Uptown
Chocolate Secrets
Fearing's
ChoSun KalBi Restaurant

Other Recommendations:
Stephan Pyles
La Duni
Craft

Chosun Kalbi BBQ

We went to Chosun Kalbi to have Korean bbq one of the nights I was in Dallas per an invitation.
We started with some yummy radish soup. I think this was complementary but you had to get up and get it yourself from a buffet table. The soup was flavorful and has a nice texture/body.

At Chosun you have to order everything a la carte, and they actually have two options for the meat: marinated and unmarinated. We opted for the unmarinated meat. They think this way you normally get better quality meat (since you can't hide the quality with the sauce).

I think it worked. The meat that came look very nice and lean:

We threw some onions onto the grill and started cooking. The meat came out very nice. Good quality meat indeed.

You dip the cooked meat in some sesame oil+ salt. I admit I do really like the normal sweet kalbi marinade, but having it this way is not bad sometimes. Especially when you get better meat.

Chosun Kalbi Restaurant
2560 Royal Ln
Dallas, TX 75229
(972) 406-0087

Testing Fearing's - Living Up to Its Name?

I've been hearing a lot of hype about the new kid in town, Fearing's at the Ritz Carlton, so I decided to give it a try one night. I came with high expectation due to all the good things I've heard about it.

Our server was very courteous, knowledgeable and had recommendations for us, which was good. Throughout the night I noticed the service there (at least from our server) was impeccable. Although I did hear someone else dropping some silverware at the other end of the restaurant, so maybe the other servers are not as good ...

The amuse bouche was very interesting- something I've never had before. Langoustine with Quinoa -- with what? This was the first time I've heard of Quinoa, which apparently is a crop grown in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
My appetizer was a thoroughly amazing dish. Foie gras with caramelized pear on the left. It happens to be one of the best foie gras dishes I've had. The caramelized pear adds an outstanding touch and really brought the dish to a whole different level. The scallop was very well prepared, fresh plump and juicy, and the papaya salad adds a unique flavor.
The other appetizer we got was the Tsukiji market yellowtail, which was good and was definitely good fish but we thought the preparation was nothing special. And the portion is small for the price. The foie gras was a much better deal.
For the main course I ordered the prime rib:The piece of meat itself was very high quality. Better than Lawry's I must say. I had asked for medium rare, and while this was just fine for me, it was a little on the cold side and my companion called our server. We stated that the meat was too rare and cold and it should normally be served on a warm plate to keep the meat warm while we're eating. Our server took it back and heated it up, and gave it back to us warm.

Oh, I should mention, the croquette was outstanding!

The other main entree was the steak and chicken-fried-lobster.

So at the end, they let us order two desserts on the house, as an apology for the cold prime rib, which was nice of them. I will not hesitate to say that the service we received was excellent.

The pecan pie was good. Also had the pear cinnamon cake, which tasted good but was a bit dry.

Fearing's
Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
2121 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: 214-922-4848

Secrets I Won't Keep

When I was in Dallas last time, we decided to stop by this place called "Chocolate Secrets" as we were passing it by on the way home after dinner. The place looked cute and interesting and we were in need of dessert.

Upon entering you see that the place is actually pretty big, with cafe-type seating on your left, chocolate case in the center, and a wine cellar to your right. The nooks and corners are filled with cases displaying jewelries and other things.

The loose chocolate pieces on display were:1) some local chocolates (made in Dallas) mainly American style truffles, nuts clusters, etc 2) some Fauchon chocolates, and 3) Michel Cluizel chocolates and truffles.
They also had some super cute cakes and cupcakes, and they also serve crepes, which we didn't try this time.

We opted for a cup of hot chocolate, fresh fruit fondue, and a few chocolate pieces. I also bought the 99% Noir Infini Chocolate by Michel Cluizel as a christmas present :)

The fresh fruit fondue was a plate of fresh strawberries, and the melted chocolate was very good! They were using high quality chocolate (probably the local Dallas one?).

Same with the cup of European style hot Chocolate, which was made with real milk. Very good indeed, it was chocolatey enough for my taste (can't beat Angelina's, but who can?).

The local dallas made chocolates were actually very good. I especially enjoyed the walnut clusters. We got a dark chocolate Fauchon piece, and a dark chocolate Michel Cluizel. I think we both preferred the Michel Cluizel one ...

This place was such an awesome find! I really loved it and would definitely come back, for dessert, to buy chocolates, or have a nice sit-down conversation with a cup of hot cocoa. Makes me want to open my own in LA ...

Chocolate Secrets
3926 Oak Lawn Ave
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 252-9801

A Bread Winner

Review in progress

At the table, the Bread Winners Cafe & Bakery serves you an assortment of their freshly baked bread. The ones we had included apricot, cheese, ginger spice. It was a great way to both please the customers and induce them into taking home a loaf on the way out :)
Although I got a bit full even before my order arrived ...

Had the smoked salmon benedict, which was good, although nothing terribly special. The eggs, hollandaise sauce, and english muffins were good, but I was expecting/wanting smoked salmon that was cold smoked. Also, I didn't like how they put the fruit garnish right on top of the potatoes. I always eat the oranges, and this made it warm, which was kinda disgusting.

For dessert we ordered the "Meep Meep Souffle" from the special menu (apparently they were honoring some employee's that is leaving Dallas." Not really a souffle, but it was an amazing amazing dessert. They are after all a bakery, and the dessert is much much more notable than their entrees. More like a bread pudding, surrounded by blueberry compote. It isn't too sweet like some bread pudding may be, yet decadent and you just can't stop eating it. It has the perfect moistness and richness.
Bread Winners Cafe and Bakery
3301 McKinney Ave
Dallas, TX
214-754-4940

Hip Yakitori Bar - Oxymoron?

Unlike other yakitori places I've been to, Teppo in Dallas has that "hip bar" ambiance - dim lighting, modern furnitures, hip music, and well-dressed Dallas personas. But yakitori? Hip? With the smoke (and smoky sell) from the grill? You would still come out of the place with that smell on your clothes. To me it seems an odd concept, but the place was busy so I guess people like it. And the food is supposed to be good.

We did not have reservations, so we had to wait for a table. They told us 10-15 minutes, but the wait was in fact longer than that, since the table that was to be ours was being occupied by some people celebrating a birthday and they chatted for quite some time. Teppo also has a sister bar/lounge next door (Moosh) and some customers are waiting for a table there and the maitre'd keeps going back and forth fetching customers, making the whole thing takes even longer. I should have waited at the bar also ...

But we finally got a table and placed our order.

The quail eggs were okay, but nothing special. They were also on the small side compared to other quail eggs I've had at other yakitori places.

We also ordered some sushi for good measure. Omega-3s and all that. The sushi was fine, nothing special. Definitely cannot be compared to LA sushi.

The beef tongue was rather disappointing. I only remember beef tongue the way my mom would cook it at home: very tender and juicy. The beef tongue here was very tough, and tastes just like regular beef meat. I refuse to believe it was tongue at all.
The scallops on the other hand, were great. Big, plump and juicy with flavorness of the bacon that's wrapped around it.

The dark meat yakitori, was amazing. It was one of the juiciest and tender chicken meat I've ever had.
The chicken meatballs were also yummy, and the yolk dipping was a first for me and was a pleasant surprise. It complements the garlic meat ball flavor very well.

The duck breast filet was excellent. Tender, tasty, and cooked just right. Too bad we were full at this point and couldn't enjoy it as much. It was definitely one of my favorites for the night!

For desserts we ordered the flan, the tofu ice cream, and the chestnut panna cotta. The tofu ice cream was fine, but a bit icy for my taste, not creamy enough. The chestnut panna cotta was ... weird. I did not like it very much. Strange milky taste, but not very sweet. The flan was the best dessert we had, IMO.

Teppo Yakitori & Sushi Bar
2014 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 826-8989
www.teppo.com