enjoying sangria

Oops... I didn't realize I let a week pass by without a post. So sorry!

Last week, my friend Laura and I met up for happy hour at Sangria Tapas y Bar. What are they known for? As you've already guess... Spanish tapas and sangria. Sangria is a great place for happy hour with a variety of sangria for you to enjoy. My favorite is sparkling sangria. They've also got a decent menu for happy hour tapas, too. Though Spanish tapas are not my favorite, I always enjoy the opportunity to try out a bunch of little things.

Spanish flat bread

patatas bravas (YUM!!!)

calamari (With such small portions, we had a hers and hers.)

mushroom croquettes

pan con tomate

Chef Mariano's paella del dia

cosmic cup

Cosmic Cup has been a favorite dining spot for me for many years. Actually, they call themselves Cosmic Cafe now but I like to keep it old school. It's a vegetarian restaurant with an Indian influence. They also offer various activities including yoga, meditation, and poetry readings. I haven't partaken in any of these activities but I was quite surprised how many people were there for poetry tonight.

An interesting fact about the restaurant is that everything on the menu equals nine. For example, my chai tea was $3.06. Until dining here, I never realized there were so many meanings for the number nine- one of them being completion.





There's seating inside and out but I'm always sitting on the porch.



I always start with pappadam. I love that their's is a bit spicy. It comes with mint and tamarind chutney.



I LOVE samosas. I'm going to have to do a separate posts about them but for now, here is a picture of their samosas... so delicious.





I always have to get a cup of chai when I'm here. I buy the teabags but it's not the same as the real thing.



I ordered a Fold in Thyme. It's a nan sandwich with cheddar, avocado, sprouts, onions, tomato, zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, and honey mustard. I have tried many things here and I always come back to a fold in thyme. It used to be served with tortilla chips and pico de gallo but they've since ditched the chips and replaced it with some pappadam. I kind of prefer it that way.



He always order the Buddha's Special (now called Buddha's Delight). Instead of getting dahl, he asks for a second samosa. The Buddha's Special comes with curried vegetables (today, it was spinach and artichoke), dahl, samosa, pappadam, rice, and nan. The curried vegetables is usually potatoes, peas, and cauliflower. The artichoke was a nice change of pace.



This place makes dining vegetarian style doable. Everything is delicious.

awshucks

One of my favorite places to eat is Awshucks. It's laidback and casual. There's no pretentiousness here. It's just plain good seafood.

You go to the counter to order and you find a table. They have a counter for indoor seating but most of the people sit at the outside tables. Then, you just wait for your name to pick up your food. Here, they practice the honor system so before you leave, you let the cashier know what you've ordered and pay.

Be warned if you try to come here on the weekends. The place gets über packed. It's every man for himself when finding a table. You're like a lion on the hunt. You see people start leaving and you jump. Luckily, the staff is watching, too, and they are right behind you to clean the table.

I'm addicted to the summer platter, fish tacos, and fries. Next time, I'm going to order their hot wings (has nothing to do with seafood but I've been told they are amazing).

Since we arrived during happy hour, oysters were half price. We ordered a dozen. I don't usually partake but I enjoyed a couple. An oyster atop a cracker with hot sauce, lemon, and ketchup is not half bad.



Here's the summer platter. YUM! YUM! Don't be mislead by the name because it's available year round. It's a mix of crab legs, shrimp, and sausage. We usually ask for more crab legs for the sausage. They put the perfect amount of seasonings and spices. If you share this with me, don't be mad if I hog the crab legs.

nothing like brunch at taverna

Surprisingly, my husband suggested getting brunch today. Even though he didn't wake up until after noon, we still had plenty of time.

Since I knew we were having brunch for the past few days, I haven't been able to get Taverna out of my head. We had brunch there once and it was DELICIOUS. Before we left, I called about the wait and possible reservations. No reservations and a 45 minute wait. It's okay because it was worth it.

I had a bottomless bellini, we both had eggs benedict with crab meat, and we shared French toast with fresh fruit. I also noticed that some of the tables were being served focaccia bread so I inquired. They normally serve focaccia during lunch but our waiter was happy to get us some (as he did for other people). Damn... that was good bread.

be warned

Dim sum doesn't look so good in pictures but damn, it's so good in the stomach. A friend told me that her family would be celebrating her mom's birthday with dim sum and my immediate thought was- I need dim sum. So, my husband and I went to Maxim, a great place for dim sum in Dallas, yesterday. I had gorged myself with the food that I had a dim sum belly the rest of the day. It was so good.

chicken feet (I don't eat it), pork spare ribs, and squid

shrimp in a rice crêpe-like roll

mussels

chinese broccoli

stir fried noodles (asked for half rice/ half egg noodles)

beef tendon

almond jello with fruit cocktail and evaporated milk

chinese bread (don't know how to spell it) in a rice crêpe-like roll

when i'm in the mood for delicious molten cake, i go to...

Penne Pomodoro. It's a decent place. The guy that owns it must be making a buttload. He has seven different restaurant concepts with some of them having multiple locations. Most of them are in Dallas but there's one in Austin and another in Las Vegas. Penne Pomodoro is probably the cheapest and basically more family oriented. I keep going there because I'm addicted to the molten cake (and I'm not even a huge fan of chocolate). We went to a different location just to check it out. Same restaurant but tastes kind of different. Here's what we had:



I love caesar salad. I could eat it everyday.



My husband had one of the specials. It was mahi mahi with shrimp, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.



I had pesto fettuccine. I had it the last time we went but it wasn't so good here as it was at the other location. I was a little sad.



I can have cappuccino any time of the day. It doesn't keep me up. Surprisingly, he got one, too. The guy doesn't like coffee.



And here is the delicious molten cake! I'm glad it's not crack because then I would have a problem.

korean food isn't half bad

I've never been a fan of Korean food (aside from kim chi). I had a narrow-minded view that it was all about sweet bbq. When my cousin and his family came to visit around the holidays, they were adamant on having Korean. They believe Korean food is better in Dallas than Houston. That's a new one... if you're Asian and you live/ been in Dallas or Houston, you know that Houston far surpasses Dallas in good Asian food.

Anyways, we went out one day for lunch to a Korean cold noodle house on Harry Hines. I wish I could remember the name but it leaves me at the moment. I'll have to call my cousin or wait for their next visit. Because, I know we'll be stopping by there again.

It seemed like a several course meal. Food was coming at us one plate at a time. It all started with potato pancake thing... very YUMMY. I enjoyed it a lot. Then, we had dumplings. They were pretty good, too. Next was some bbq beef with all kinds of condiments to compliment it. I never knew I liked tofu skin. I didn't know tofu had skin. You see that small bowl of bean sprouts? It was pickled in something that I will just say- GROSS. Finally, we had some cold noodles. I don't know what I think of it. It was definitely interesting. It was definitely pretty to look at. I just don't know if I like cold noodles. Final verdict, I like Korean food.