Sunday, July 1st, 2007
Naan is yet another upscale restaurant in the Shops at Legacy in Plano, but it manages to distinguish itself by offering a unique menu that combines both Korean and Japanese cuisine. We visited Naan for lunch this past weekend and enjoyed our meal thoroughly. The fairly small lunch menu features a selection of bento boxes, rice bowls, and salads, as well as a separate menu for sushis. The sushis were quite expensive so we went the safe route and just tried the bento boxes. There are several bento boxes to choose from, including Spicy Barbecue Chicken or Pork, Bulgogi (Shredded Ribeye Steak), Prime Short Rib, and Chicken Teriyaki. We ordered the Executive Bento which gives you a choice of two meats. Every item in the bento box was delicious, and the meats in particular were prepared perfectly. Portions were just right and we left full and satisfied. Service was generally good except for a slight hiccup where our server mixed up our orders, but other than that there’s not much to complain about.
Miso soup
Executive Bento ($11) with Chicken Teriyaki and Bulgogi
Naan
7161 Bishop Rd #G2
Plano, TX 75024
Phone: (972) 943-9288
Website: http://www.naan-restaurant.com
Ambiance: 8
Food: 8
Service: 6
Health: 6
Cleaniness: 8
Value: 6
Overall: 7
Tags: Naan, bento
Posted in Restaurant Reviews, Japanese, Korean | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
If you’re looking for Korean food at a really good price, then check out Blue Patio. One thing about Blue Patio is, unless you live close to it or someone told you about it, chances are you will never find this place. Fortunately for me, someone told me about this place, and if you’re reading this post now, then I’ve done my part to spread the word.
Blue Patio is a small restaurant with a fairly simple but clean decor. But I didn’t go to enjoy the decor; I went for the special combo deal that I was told would make my day. Normal price for this combo was $9.99, but the day I went they had it on special for $7.99. The combo included a soup, a small fish, and a meat.
Unlike most other cuisines, Korean soups are often treated as a main entree instead of an appetizer. When you order a soup at a Korean restaurant, you will always get a bowl of rice to go with it. The reason being the soup is seasoned on the heavy side so the rice is there to balance it out. Typical ingredients of the soup are miso, tofu, kimchi (pickled nappa cabbage), seafood, or meat in a rich soup base, and it’s usually spicy because of the kimchi. Also, the soup is served in a hot bowl to keep it hot down to the last spoonful.
I like to eat both the rice and the soup with a spoon. Some like to alternate between the soup and the rice, but I like to scoop a small amount of rice in my spoon then the soup so I can eat them together. The reason I can do that is the rice is usually the sticky kind so it doesn’t seperate when you dip it into the soup.
Korean ribs are unique because they are cut across the bone instead of alongside the bones. What you get is about half inch slabs of bone-in meat that cooks really fast on the grill. The ribs are soaked in a soy based marinade and are usually served as is without any other sauces. The result is really juicy and tasty pieces of meat that goes well with rice. At Blue Patio the ribs were served on a bed of raw sweet onions in a sizzling plate. The onions were there more as a buffer between the already cooked ribs and the hot plate, but after a while the heat from the plate and the dripping juices from the ribs made the sweet onions a tasty treat.
Finally, what makes Korean cuisine so unique are the small dishes that come with every entree. These small dishes provide a sampling of various pickled items that the restaurant has to offer among other things. Rice lovers rejoice because these go great with rice. For lunch at Blue Patio we got cucumber, seaweed, white radish, anchovies, bean sprouts, egg, and kimchi.
I’m pretty sure the special price for the combo meal is not available anymore, but even at $9.99 it’s still a good deal. Not only do you get a soup and ribs, usually items sold separately at about $5-$7 elsewhere, you also get a small fish on the side. Let not forget all the sample dishes that come with every entree. The good news? Most of these items are actually quite healthy because aside from the ribs, everything else is vegetables or fish. So eat to your heart’s desire…your body will thank you for it.
Blue Patio
2780 Royal Ln
Dallas, TX 75229
972-247-7110
Ambiance: 5
Service: 6
Food: 7
Cleaniness: 7
Value: 8
Overall: 6.6
Tags: Blue Patio, Korean
Posted in Eating Out, Restaurant Reviews, Korean | No Comments »
Saturday, September 9th, 2006
Restaurant grand openings are great because at the expense of promoting themselves, we usually benefit from their special prices and deals. A prime example is E Ji Bon, a new Japan & Asian fusion restaurant that just opened in Frisco. 30% off for the whole month of September on all their menu items!
The inside decor is simple but clean. The kitchen is hidden, but their sushi bar is open for all to see. Because of its central location, your eyes can’t help but be drawn to the chef working behind the counter.
Since it’s 30% off everything, we thought we’d take advantage of the deal, so we ordered a whole slew of items over the course of two trips. I think we might check back one more time before the month’s over. Here’re all that we ordered in no particular order.
Sea Sweep Salad - marinated/pickled seaweed salad. A bit slimy but very tasty.
Squid Salad. Even though it says squid, I think it’s made from octopus. Has a savory sweet and sour flavor.
Vegetable Tempura - deep fried assorted vegetables. It has onion rings, string beans, green bell pepper, sweet potato, and zucchini. Comes with a warm tentsuyu (mix of soy, stock, and sweek sake) sauce.
Salt and Pepper Calamari. Their menu says calamari AND shrimp, but really it’s calamari OR shrimp. First the calamari’s deep fried, then stir fried with salt and green & red chili peppers. Its got a spicy kick to it, but the combination of deep frying and stir frying made it quite oily.
Roasted Pork Ramen and…
…Miso Ramen. The main attraction in good ramen noodle soup is the soup. It makes or breaks the ramen. These pass the test, but ever since our trip to Japan years ago, we have never been completely satisfied with the quality of ramen here. That’s not to say these aren’t good. They’re actually the closest we’ve had so far, but they’re still not as perfect as the ones we’ve had in Japan. Our search continues.
Triple Pan-Fried Noodles. I think the triple means the trio of shrimp, chicken, and beef stir-fried with vegetables. Instead, we got shrimp, scallops, and beef. Not a bad trade-off. It’s served on a bed of crispy fried egg noodles.
Seafood Dan Dan Noodles. While we may have gotten lucky with the Triple Pan-Fried Noodles, I think we got shafted here. Supposedly the seafood should have shrimp, scallop, and crabmeat. I didn’t see any crabmeat. Overall the dish is okay, but they went overboard a little with the sauce.
Kat Su Don. Fried pork cutlet over rice topped with egg, onions, and mushrooms. Simple but tasty. The juices from the stir-fried onions and mushrooms seeped down to flavor the pork and rice underneath.
Bul Gu Gi Asia Grill. Marinated slices of beef with onions and mushrooms served on a hot sizzling plate shaped like a bull. Comes with rice and…
…miso soup and…
…salad.
Portions at E Ji Bon may be a little lacking by the norm here in the States, but it was enough to satisfy. Overall the food tasted good, and service was above average. Our waiter was dressed in a casual like tux of some sort, without the jacket, and he was available whenever we needed. As for the prices, without the 30% discount I think it’s a little bit overpriced. So if you want to try it out, you have until the end of this month to do so.
E Ji Bon
7151 Preston Rd., Suite 201B
Frisco, TX 75034
214-705-8381
Ambiance: 7
Food: 6
Service: 8
Cleaniness: 8
Value: 5
Overall: 6.9
Tags: E Ji Bon, Japan, Asian, fusion, grand opening, 30% discount
Posted in Eating Out, Restaurant Reviews, Chinese, Japanese, Korean | No Comments »