Gosh it feels strange to be writing this again, it's been so long since I last wrote a trip update. Did you guys miss me? =P
Well my traveling seems to be starting again. At the end of January it was to Dallas for an AICPA ITEC meeting. This month it was again to Dallas (actually this time Iriving, TX which is right next to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, 20 minutes from Dallas).
My travels started off last week Thursday with a direct overnight flight from Honolulu to Dallas-Fort Worth. All things considered it as a good flight. The thing that sucked was leaving Honolulu at 7:30 pm and getting to Dallas at 7:40 am (7 hour flight + 5 hour time difference), but that is definitely better than having to stop in LA or SF and then transferring planes.
From the airport I drove directly to the conference hotel. Dallas is actually a pretty easy place to drive in. The freeways make sense and the freeway signs are pretty well organized. I found my hotel with no problem and jumped immediately into conference.
SMB Summit 2008 (http://www.smbsummit.com)
This conference is the SMB (Small and Mid-sized Business) Summit, focused on Microsoft technologies for the SMB market—most of the people attending are also small businesses, ranging from sole practitioners to larger companies. From talking to the people there, with 23, my company was probably one of the bigger ones there.
This wasn't a Microsoft run conference, but this year Microsoft was a key sponsor as they used this conference to go pretty in-depth on two of their new technologies: Small Business Server 2008 (last one was 2003) and Enterprise Business Server 2008 (a new offering). Both are pretty cool and I definitely see market opportunities for both so I'm really glad that I went to this conference and will definitely be coming back again. But enough of the tech stuff, I know you guys really just want to hear about the food.
Cafe Madrid (http://www.cafemadrid-dallas.com)
On Saturday night, I met up with a couple of friends that live in Dallas and they took me to Cafe Madrid in the trendy Bishop Arts District just south of Dallas. Their take out menu sports the tag line "Experience A Taste of Spain" and what a taste it was! They are basically as Tapas restaurant and everything that we had was very flavorful we had so much I'll list each one separately:
> Spanish Potato Omelette ($3.95) – creamy and rich
> Andalucian Meatballs in Almond Sauce ($5.95) – good, but not as good as the meatballs from Picaro in San Francisco's Mission District.
> Oxtail Stew ($6.50) – very intense and flavorful, meat was so soft we could take it off the bone with a spoon. Oxtail is one of my favorites dishes and this was one of the best I've had.
> Saffron Rice ($3.25)– intense Saffron, it was actually to strong for me, I couldn't eat it, but my companions liked it.
> Spinach and Cheese Croquettes ($5.50)– absolutely yummy, the outside was crisp (it wasn't panko, it was something else that very finely ground) and the inside was very rich and creamy, more cheese than spinach.
> Spinach Salad – with tomatoes, orange slices, and a red wine vinegarette, very nicely balanced
> Lamb Skewers – pretty ordinary, but still good, no gamy taste
> Clams In Garlic Sauce – simmered with Chorizo and Potatoes, this had a pretty good taste (I don't care for clams but I did try one and it was good). The potatoes were also very soft and had absorbed a lot of the flavor from both the clams and the chorizo.
> Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onions – this was probably the best preparation of goat cheese I've had. Rolled into balls and deep fried, then glazed with honey. Very very creamy without being overwhelming.
> Plate of cheeses – we tried 5 different cheeses for dessert, and they were all really good. I don't remember the names of the ones that we had, but this was the first time I tried Spanish cheeses and I must say that they definitely can give the French a run for their money. Two were hard cheese, with a slight bite to them--both were great just by themselves--one had a meaty taste that reminded us of salami and the other had an intense finish that really just lingered nicely on the palate. One was creamy and intense, almost like a blue but milder--if we had a nice Cab for this one it would have been perfect. The one that I liked the most was a little softer, slight smokey flavor that just involved your entire mouth, my first bite left me wanting more. The last one was softer with a Havarti like texture and taste--this one would probably have been better with some crackers. But I would definitely order all of them again—if only I knew their names! LOL
Oh we also shared a pitcher of Sangria—which was average. It was good, but not especially flavorful or sweet, just kinda in the middle all around. One of the things that I like about Picaro's sangria too is that they have a lot of the fruit floating in it, this one was just the wine so it was kind of disappointing from that standpoint.
La Duni Latin Cafe (http://www.laduni.com/index2.htm)
Today I met with a business associate for lunch at La Duni. He told me that this La Duni (it is the 2nd one) started off as a bakery, but became popular so branched into a full restaurant. Their Web site promotes them as Dallas' only 4 star restaurant with entrees under $4. Their menu is pretty extensive and it took me a while just to read it (well mostly because the had really good descriptions of what each of the items was and they all sounded so good I had a hard time deciding).
In the end I had the pork entree (name was in another language, that I assume was Spanish) which turned out to be a thinly sliced pork chop breaded in an herbed mixture and fried to a perfect crisp. It was so ONO ("oh-no" Hawaiian for delicious for you non-Hawaii people) that I almost ignored the small scoop of rich mashed potatoes (they had some kind of very creamy cheese mixed into them), and boy would that have been a mistake too because they too were gooood!
I also ordered a lemonade with mint and when it came, I think it was actually a limeade, but it was perfectly tangy and the crushed mint really made it refreshing. I think there was also a splash or two of soda in it, which gave it a slight tingle. When I think back on it, it was probably a mojito-like recepie if not a mojito itself—since I think that comes from Latin America too.
But I must say that everything on the menu sounded good. This is definitely going to be one of my must go back to restaurants—I want to try all the rest of the dishes. There was such variety I think I would eat there at least 6-7 times and not get bored with it. Sadly since it was lunch, we didn't get to have dessert (and I was totally stuffed by the time I finished my pork) but I heard that their desserts are totally to die for.
La Cima Club (http://www.lacimaclub.com/)
For dinner tonight, I went to La Cima Club which overlooks Las Colinas (in Irving, TX). Like all of the Club Corp clubs, this one has a great view of the city and the dining room has a panoramic view of the area.
This dinner was pretty typical food, but two things really stood out. First the corn chowder, which was made with a tomato base and lots of herbs. When I first sipped it, it was actually somewhat ovewhelming, but as I ate it more, the flavors all melded really well and the interplay over my palate was amazing. In the middle of the soup was two, what looked like andagi (okinawan donuts), turns out they were mini-crab cakes that had been batter coated and deep fried. They were a bit strong for me (I'm not really a crab fan either), so I left them on the side and finished the soup.
My spinach salad with tomatoes, bacon, and blue cheese was also good. I don't know what it is, but all the bacon I had while in Texas was really really good. Maybe it's just because I haven't had bacon in a while, but there were bacon bits as a mashed potato topping at one of the conference dinners, and they were just really intense bacon flavored. I almost could have just gone back and ate more and more (but George will be happy to know that I didn't). Then the bacon I had with my Denny's breakfast was also really crisp and perfect tasting. And then tonight with my salad, yum! Lol
For my entree, I had the new york strip, with parmesean/reggiano mashed potatoes (gee do you see a pattern here yet with the cheese mashed potatoes?). Both were good, but not of any special note. Oh I should note that the new york strip was huge. I actually only ate a couple of bites of the mash because I wanted to finish the steak (the Chinese side of me coming out).
For dessert, I had the molten chocolate cup. Another one of those order 20 minutes before you want it desserts. It turned out to be a flourless chocolate cake, baked in a coffee cup. So when I dipped my spoon into it, the top and sides were brownie-like, but the middle was all chocolate ooze. It was perfectly rich, not too sweet, not too creamy. It was served with some whipped cream, but what it really needed was a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. After all the earlier food, my mind said stop after the first 3 bites, but my stomach said keep going—so I did. =) Finishing about half of it by the time I really felt like my stomach was going to burst.
While this was a very nice dinner, I definitely think the Tower Club in Dallas was better. The service was more intimate and their servers better trained and more friendly. Plus Tower Club was more formal (men have to wear a coat) whereas La Cima was more casual (several guys were just in long sleeved shirts, I think one was even just in a polo). But the view a La Cima was nicer and it was defintely easier to find.
Ok that's all of my stories for now. Tomorrow I'm off to Durham, NC for another AICPA ITEC meeting until Saturday. Then it's to LA just meeting up with friends there for a night at the clubs, then home to Hawaii on Sunday.
Ciao for now...
donny
No comments:
Post a Comment