All kinds of goodness

Two potlucks and one barbecue later my days off have come to an end.  Potluck one I couldn't tell you what I had but it was good.  It is interesting what people make/bring.  You would be surprised what you find out about people.  Stephanie brought some good Indian food, and Vidhya brought some more Indian food, I think.  It was yellow rice I think she said it had saffron in it with Spinach and Cottage cheese that lay over the top of the yellow rice.  I am not huge on veggies which means I shouldn't like this dish, right?  Wrong!  It was super good.  Stephanie's dish was rice and chicken and some sort of sauce.  It was spicy(tasted like curry I think) I'm not gonna lie but it was good and it had me going back for seconds!  I took some of my mac and cheese...the secret?  Velveeta and Smoked Gouda....unfortunately it wasn't as good the day of as it was when I cooked it.  I was hoping to show off to the culinary staff and get hired as a free-lance chef but I blew my one shot at immortality.  No excuse I could come up with could bring back the taste and texture of my dish.  It's okay though it was still good.  All kidding aside V & Steph got my vote for the top 2 dishes! 

Potluck #2 was today, oh yea, this was a good one.  Ken brought some Clam dip, he said it wasn't as good as his mom's, but really, who makes something better than their mom?  Stephanie killed it again and brought some garlic artichoke dip, very nice.  All I want to know is when do I get to go to dinner at her house!  Our culinary genius who is Josh brought some braised short ribs that went on a bed of blue cheese chive grits...yes they were as good as they sound.  For you Californians reading this - I have no idea how to explain to you what grits are, they're just a southern thing.  Go watch My Cousin Vinny - maybe that'll help.  Nicely done sir.  I wish I could remember what else I ate - all I can tell you is it was ALL GOOD.  There was nothing I put in my mouth I did not like.  One interesting thing  I can remember was a watermelon salad with feta and chopped mint leaves.  It was a nice palate cleanser as there was many different flavors going on at this party.  To end my dish was a Sopapilla Cheesecake that Sol made, good as always, she got the recipe from a lady named Gaye at her work.  Also Genaro brought some Peruvian pastries, I couldn't tell you what they were or what they were made out of but they were delish.

Now that I am done reminiscing about my food adventures about the last few days I will get on with my night.

Flying Dog...What?

As Sol and I were perusing the aisles at the grocery store the other day we came to the beer section...Mmmmm.  We were picking up a twelver of Dos Equis for the seis de Mayo cookout when a colorful box jumped out at me.  It was Flying Dog, something I had tried at Hector's on Henderson, a favorite local restaurant of mine and Sol's.  On Thursday's they have a happy hour on all of their beers.  And they have a GREAT selection that is constantly rotating.  Anywho, I have been looking at adding some beers at work and the brewery based out of Maryland caught my eye again.

It was Mixed pack, as you can see from the picture.  A beer lovers dream. 
In it was:
Their classic Doggie Style Pale Ale
In Heat Wheat Hefewiezen
Old Scratch Amber Lager
Road Dog Porter
Tire Bite Golden Ale
Snake Dog IPA

They also threw in a 6-pack of their seasonal Woody Creek White Belgian Wit. 

One of the things I like about this brand is their edginess.  They just put out a 20 year anniversary ale called - "Raging Bitch Belgian IPA".  Who does that?  They do I guess and I like it.  The only other brewery that dabbles with that right and wrong line that I can think of is Stone Brewing out of California; they have a beer called Arrogant Bastard.  They too make very good beer.  I guess when you have a good product you can market it a little differently.  Which is a good thing, I think.  One of the navigation links on their website says "Good Beer, No Shit".  Flying Dog has different labels and cool photos, they use bright colors that grab you attention.  Why wouldn't you want to drink this beer?

All I have to say is I will be enjoying this smorgasbord.  I more than likely will not write about all of them but will pick a few.  Or maybe give you my favorites in order.  Not sure yet.  Anyone out there tried Flying Dog?

Only pot lucks this week...

My apologies for slacking and reposting old blogs for those of you that read off of Facebook.  I have been working a lot and long hours and I haven't had much time to tickle my taste buds lately.  This week isn't looking a whole lot better.  The good news is I have 3 days off but I have two pot lucks to attend, which actually could be VERY good.  If I find some interesting things I might write about them, the food is usually good  but rarely served at the temperature it's meant to be served at.  Although I must admit I haven't been to a pot luck since I was in High School so maybe I should shut up.  Either way I am looking forward to them it just means no new, cool, exciting restaurants.

Then there is also the barbecue where there will be plenty of eating and drinking involved. Will I blog about it?  We'll see... 

I am thinking I'd really like to try to get to at least one place this week, maybe two if I'm lucky.  Cowtown Diner and its bacon wrapped tempura fried deviled eggs have been calling my name ever since I read about them.  My beer mood has definitely come back; it's quite cyclical.  I would say there is a good chance I might venture out and try some new cervezas this week.  One thing I do know is I will be golfing and you can never go wrong with that, unless I'm having an off day.  Going to a new course ...Buffalo Creek.

Wings & Beer go together like Peanut Butter & Jelly

Last night Sol and I went to Frankie's Sports Bar on McKinney Ave. to watch the Lakers handle the OKC Thunder.  I wish I could say I found a hidden gem but almost everyone knows Frankie's is one of the best places in the city to go watch the big game. 

As we walked in we had a stroke of luck; some people got up from some premium seats at the bar the moment we walked in (best in the place if you want my opinion).  We took our seats in the middle of the bar directly in front of  the 60" plasma..... ahahhahhahhaa (imagine homer simpson).  Right below it:  about 20 handles ready to pour the beer of my choice. 

Since I was in the mood for beer this was perfect.  I was especially excited because we just added some taps at work.  One of them being Haywire Hefewiezen by Pyramid Brewing out of Seattle.  The first thing I ordered?  The Pyramid Hef.  It was at that moment that I knew I'd be sipping on multiple brews that night.  To make the night better it was free pizza night  from 5-10pm.  I wasn't very hungry but the bartender offered, it would be rude to refue right?  I'm not going to lie it wasn't the greatest but what do you expect for free?  It had cheese, sauce and crust - all the necessary items to call it a pizza.

By this time the Lakers were up about 10 points. Thinking of home I ordered a Newcastle.  It's so popular over in So Cal but not so much over here in the Big D.  It was good but not tasty enough for me.  I decided to move on to Stone IPA a California brew.  Ahhhhhh now that's what i'd been looking for, nice and hoppy but a lot lighter in color than I remember/thought.  It was still very good.  I plan on bringing this one on as at work as well. 

The Sierra Nevada had been staring me down jealous, I hadn't uttered his name since I left cali and now I was trying all these "other" beers.  I gave in and ordered a trusty Sierra, one can never go wrong.  Then  Boddington's Pub Ale caught my eye.  It was sitting in the cooler next to various other bottled beer that a 5-year old could recognize.  I asked Emmit, a soccer friend of Sol's, if he'd heard of it since he's from Ireland and I figured it was from one of those European islands (UK/Ireland).  He did, he said it was creamy, which I don't like, and it had a nitrogen ball like Guinness, which I don't like.  So you are probably wondering if I ordered it, yes I did.  It poured probably about an inch to two inch head and it was creamy, and it did have a nitrogen ball.  It didn't taste like any ale I had tasted before.  And it was nothing like what I had been drinking that night so you can imagine what my stomach was starting to do.  Churrrrrning and turning and begging me to stop drinking this beer that I was dead set on tasting.  Then I told it to shut up because I don't waste beer. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Frankie's that night and frankly (get it?) why we go there every time, is the Walter Payton's "Sweetness" Wings.  Geeeesus they are so good!  They are similar to a sweet-chili sauce but with a slight variation.  I was too buzzed at the time to even think about taking a picture of them, but really?  Wings more less look the same.  These were crispy but juicy, just like they are every time.  I am happy to say back in december I took a bar connoisseur there for the first time and had him try these wings.  Mr. Jeff Gibson said they are the best in Dallas, you heard it here.  Best in Dallas from someone who knows his bars.  There you have it, now GO GET SOME!

Great Beer Selection_Sweetness_60" Screen

Blanche de Bruxelles: Biere Blanche

Okay so it's late at night and i'm getting ready to play some poker, my lost love that I am slowly rekindleing.  I just grabbed Sol's last beer outta the fridge so please don't tell her, she won't find out till she reads this in the AM!

Anyways, it's called Blanche De Bruxelles, anyone heard of it?  It's a wheat beer, kind of like a Hef.  I am normally not a big fan of fruit in my beer but a lemon really enhances the flavor in this one.  Okay i'm a really bad liar.  If someone tells me to put a lemmon or an orange in my beer, i'll believe them and do it.  But that's just because I like to take recommendations!  In reality though, not all wheat beer tastes good with a lemon. 

Sol and I first tried this beer at the Merridian Room, a cool little Irish pub over across the street from Fair Park.  We loved it, Sol has had it a few times.  It is a little foggy but not quite as heavy as a Hef.  Its a light golden color, and pours with a good head on it.  I am not gonna lie as much as I like this beer, I can not taste anything but the citrus, not necesarily a bad thing but I should have tried it before the lemmon.  I'm sorry I wasn't thinking of my readers, instead I just poured it how I like it!  Really though, how bad could a beer be that has cupid peeeing.

I might as well throw the Merridian Room some love while i'm on here.  Its a cool little place where the owners are straight from Ireland and they bartend to.  There are so many Irish Pubs around Dallas, but how many actually have Irishmen working there?  The food is good and they have a GREAT beer selection.  Its a chill place whit comfy seating.  I wish I was there more because I feel right at home.

Good Beer_Use Lemon_Merridian Room!

Parigi: The Italian Name for Paris?

So I am back to working nights...the day shift was great but here I am.  Since I don't get to see Sol as much I decided to get my arse out of bed and go to lunch with her.  We wanted something good but couldn't figure out where to go.  I even posted something on chowhound and only got one response!  Well we decided on Parigi, a small restaurant that focuses on fresh ingredients.

From the street it had large glass doors that are placed under a giant white arch.  They seemed to have a great patio crowd, even with the temperature dipping below 60.  It was kind of odd most of the people there were dressed up, not like they were on their lunch break dressed up but like they dressed up to go to "Parigi".  It was Friday by the way, I could understand it a little more if it was the weekend.  And I swear the real housewives of Dallas were sitting right next to us...kinda wierd.  On to food.

Still waking up I ordered a Latte, it was served in a large coffee cup, wierd right?  A Latte in a real cup?  It was fantastic.  Sol ordered the Soup of the Day, Albondegas, a mexican/spanish meatball soup with a clear broth (notice her ring in the picture:).  I am not real big on soup so I skipped it.  But after a taste I almost wished I hadn't.  It tasted just like my grandmother makes!  Very well done.  The bread was very soft and delicious.  I like baguettes that are soft on the outside and the inside.  Not sure whats with people that like hard crunchy outsides - bleh

 I ordered the:  “KNUCKLE” SANDWICH
LOBSTER, BACON, GRUYERE, SCALLIONS… AVOCADO, CUCUMBER & GRAPE TOMATO SALAD, pictured to the left.  It had a nice crunch, not the type that tears up the roof of your mouth.  One great thing was they weren't shy on the Lobster & Crab.  It was a little rich with the cheese involved but it pulled the sandwich together for sure.  The cucumber salad didn't do it for me.  I am not real big on veggies.  However, one cool thing about the salad was the cucumber and avocado was cut exactly the same so you didn't know if you were eating avocado or cucumber, some places do this on purpose and I assume they did.  Since I know I am not a huge fan of salad I thought ahead and ordered Pommes Frites.  They were very good.  I am not sure why fancy places feel the need to call their french fries pommes frites but they always come out tasting great!  Good sandwich, would I order it again?  Probably not.

Sol ordered: PAPPARDELLE LOBSTER, SHRIMP, CRAB, MUSHROOMS, AND TARRAGON PESTO CREAM - Pictured Right.  It was a light cream sauce, I really liked the presentation so I had Sol take a pic.  It was what it was supposed to be, the taste I had was very good but I'm not going to lie, it didn't knock my socks off.   It was a cool place with a good concept.  As a side note, Pappardelle is a very wide noodle as you can see.

The service was on and off.  Some moments our server was dead on and other times he seemed a little out of it.  He definitely knew what he was doing but maybe a little too much - a little full of himself maybe?

Definitely worth a try if you like fresh food and seasonal menus.  If you're in the Oak Lawn area give it a try & let me know what you think.

Nice Setting_ummmm yea?  Sorry I guess I need to dine when I'm fully awake from now on.  My taste buds weren't broken in for the day.  I won't make this mistake again.  Big Ups to the chef who uses a lot of local products.

As a last comment why would a New American restaurant use an Italian name for a French city?

Snuffer's Cheeeeeese Fries

First off THANK YOU, Tony for pointing me and Ken in the right direction.  After another round of golf and one of the funniest moments of my life(See Ken's Wall on FB), lunch needed to be had.  I checked Yelp on my phone to see what was near...nothing.  Ken's been wanting to go to Snuffer's where one of our co-workers (Tony) told us to go for some good cheese fries.  And since my feeling is that anything with cheese is good, I agreed.  It was on Greenville Ave one of my favorite streets in Dallas so there was a positive already.

We took a seat on the patio since it was a gorgeous day out.  Ken took it upon himself to order our appetizer without asking me what I wanted (not that I cared), he likes to feel like the man in the relationship.  He ordered a large cheese fries with "everything", that being bacon bits, chives & jalapenos.  Since that is the reason we went, I didn't feel the need to challenge his masculinity.  Not that day anyways...hehe

Our server was so-so but there was probably about 3 other servers that passed our table that kept checking on us and offering assistance.  This is probably what will have me back there next time I want something greasy.  Great teamwork.

It arrived and my eyes widened.  There was an imaginary halo guarding it as if it was sacred.  Just look it, doesn't it look amazing.  Artery clogging, heart-attack giving cheeeeeeese fries!  They were as good as they look.  Every fry that was removed from the pile had a string of cheese trying to keep it attached like an umbilical cord (not a good food reference huh?).  The fries were cooked well, and the plate was still hot.  A challenge that some cheese fry makers around the country have is they let the order sit in the window.  Cheese fries must be consumed instantly!  I used to work at a place that had AWESOME, cheddar fries, CCFF for you Islands readers.  We both stopped after some good bites to save room for our entrees.

I ordered a Chicken Breast sandwich on a poppy seed bun with Swiss n Cheddar Cheese & bacon.  The chicken was tender and the flavors melded well together.  Nothing out of this world but it was what I was expecting. Good bar food.

My only "do better's" for the fries were: 86 the jalapenos not a good combo, its not Nacho cheese. And if I was making them at home I would layer the bacon & chive on the entire dish that way you get a bite of all the toppings instead of just that row of flavor.  Definitely worth the trip if you are a cheddar fry connoisseur.

Cheeeeesy_Greeeaasy_Yuuuummmmy

Kulmbacher Eisbock: The Original Eisbock

To start off I want to apologize. I know the title is, "Anthony's Food, BEER, & Cocktail Adventures". I haven't stayed very true to my name (other than my previous about the Hef from Gordon Biersch). But I am redirecting myself, so here my friends is a blog about a little known beer called: Eisbock.

Pronounced "Ice-Bock", this beer originated in Germany, by ACCIDENT. The story on the label says a wooden barrel was left out in the brewery yard in the dead of winter. When it was found the ice crystals were removed concentrating the color and flavor. My favorite part, its about 9.2% ABV. In layman's terms that means: 1 Eisbock=2.2 bud lights.

My take: it is very dark in color. When held up to the light it is a maroon color with a touch of dark red. It is very dense or thick compared to normal beer, which makes sense since it essentially had some of the water(ice) removed. It has a sweet finish. I am actually drinking my first one as I am writing this blog. I put it in my frozen Bubba Gump Pilsner glass from Maui...another fact, for those that are not AVID beer drinkers (not that I am) is that the flavor is best sampled out of a glass so that it can reach your full palate.

Not much else to say....Kulmbacher is "The original German Eisbock". Some of my more loyal readers probably recognize the name from one of my previous blogs about The Usual.

Beer and Tacos @ Gordon Biersch

What a wonderful lunch I had today at Gordon Biersch at Park Lane. It was about 78 degrees out so my dad and I decided to sit on the Patio. Our server arrived offering a cold one and I accepted. For those of you that don't know the Biersh, it is a Restaurant/Brewery. The only beer they serve is the beer they brew on property. So if you are a craft beer lover, this is a good place to go.

The weather and the patio inspired me to order a Hefewiezen. I normally don't drink too many Hef's but I thought this was the occasion to do so. It was perfect, a slight citrus flavor with a hint of banana. And of course it had that cloudy golden color that Hef drinkers everywhere love. To be honest this was comparable to one of my other favorite Hef's from Franconia Brewery up in McKinney. You can find it at some local spots that have a lot of taps, an excellent beer I urge you to try it if you have not.

Back to lunch: I ordered Shrimp & Lobster Tacos with a citrus sauce. There was a flour tortilla on the outside with a crunchy blue corn tortilla on the inside. There was melted peper jack cheese sandwiched between the two tortillas, lucky for me they weren't skimpy on the cheese. The tacos were filled with lettuce, pico de gallo and tender shrimp and lobster(Imagine a fancy double decker taco from Taco Bell). The shell-fish were cooked perfectly, they were suculant and tender. The citrus flavor lightened up the dish that would have otherwise been a little heavy with two tortillas per taco. Off to the side there were black beans that tasted like they were cooked in a spicy broth over a white rice that was cooked in a bit of fresh herbs. You know how juice always drips out of the taco? Yeah, I let that drip right on to the rice and beans and it made it better. Let's be honest though, I barely touched the beans n rice.

For dessert we headed a few parcels over to Fresh Berry Frozen Yogurt. I had never been there before, so I ventured in. I had a sample of "Lemmon Chiffon", WOW, light, tasty & healthy! Next to it was "Berry Tart". The cashier said it was a mix between berry flavors and a flaky crust that a tart normally sits on, SOLD. I ordered a small which would be a large at most places. The gentleman told me I get three free toppings. Interesting, a small for $3.99 with free toppings. Most places charge less for the yogurt and extra for the toppings. The cheap people won't get the toppings because they're extra, but everyone wants a topping - so as a business move they up the price and give you "free" toppings and every one leaves happy! Back to my Berry Tart Yogurt; they had fresh fruit chopped up for toppings, hence the name "Fresh Berry Frozen Yogurt". I topped off my yogurt with kiwi and strawberries. Every bite was red and green, sweet and slightly tart. It was a nice end to to a great lunch with my pops.

On-site Brewery_Light Citrusy Tacos_Fresh Berry Yogurt

Burger Spot hits the...

Sol & I decided to take a page out of the Dallas Morning News' Best 5 burgers in Dallas article. I have to say this Leslie lady knows what she is talking about, she scored on this out of the way new burger joint.

The Burger Spot can be best described as an upscale fast food joint. There is more selection, the food is better & a little more expensive but you also get a MUCH better experience. After reading a few reviews I saw that someone had a fry sampler, so that was the first thing I ordered. Secondly, I am a sucker for chili so I ordered the Chili Burger with American cheese instead of cheddar (another one of those childhood things). The cashier recomended the mushroom swiss burger so Sol went with that. When she asked him how it was cooked (meaning temperature wise, medium, medium well, etc.), his reply: "oh we just put it on the griddle back there". hehehe he wasn't telling a joke either! Also free with the meal while you wait was popcorn; it had a very subtle spice/seasoning. Seems kinda wierd but you can't help but grab a bag off the counter.

Our fries arrived first, the guy who dropped them off said our burgers were on their way but he wanted to make sure we received our fries hot (that's good customer service). In the sampler fry basket was 1) Cajun fries that had a good kick to 'em 2) Onion rings that were battered & cooked to perfection 3) regular shoe string fries & 4) Sweet potato fries with a dusting of brown sugar (all pictured to the right in order starting from the left). Great fry basket, I would definitely go back for the sole reason that they know how to fry their food. The dipping sauces were: Blue cheese, honey mustard & a spicy ranch. All were very complimentary to each "fry". If you venture out to the Burger Spot tell them to hit you with the Fry sampler.


A couple short minutes later our burgers arrived. Yuuuuuummmmmmyyyyyy. My chili burger was amazing, it had a nice thick patty cooked medium, chili, plenty of American cheese & a soft white bun. It reminded me of the Islands pipeline burger from Mission Valley, mmmmmm. It was seriously identical, for you non-Californians this is a VERY good thing. The patty was perfectly cooked, very juicy. It was almost too much food but I managed. I admit we did leave a fair amount of fries on the plate, so go hungry. They had a lot of specialty burgers, and funnel cake fries which the owner told us we had to try. He also said their mac & cheese was an old family recipe and it was VERY good. Apparently this is family owned (all the more reason to go) and it is their first go at a burger place - not too shabby guys...in fact well done.


Awesome array of Fries_Tender Beef_Party in your mouth

Burguesa Burger

After a round of golf Ken and I were hungry for something delicious. I was looking on my phone but everything was too far and it was rush hour. At last I finished scanning some reviews I came across something about "Burguesa", as in hamburguesa which means hamburger in Spanish. Sol had been telling me to go here for a while so off we went.

It was a cool little concept, a Mexican hamburger stand. A very easy small menu but well done. It had a wide array of Mexican sodas including Jarritos, their own personal brand and Mexican Coke, who doesn't LOVE Mexican Coke!

I had seen "La Monumental" on their menu in the car but was trying to save my appetite for dinner, Ken on the other hand embarked on one hell of a journey. See Picture below:
What he put in his mouth was a stack of "Two all beef patties, two slice of cheese, ham, avacado, lettuce, tomato, onion, refried beans, crunchy tostada and special creamy sauce on a bun with a Jalapeno" * sigh *. I have to say I was a bit jealous I didn't do the damn thing. The fries were some of the best I've had in north Texas and after listening to him talk about it I might just have to make a return trip for that alone - and a Mexican Coke.

P.S. As far as golf goes...I won