Archive for November, 2006
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
I’m a fan of Shui Wah not because of how their food tastes (better than average but not great), not because they have the best service or ambiance (it’s average at best), and certainly not because of cleanliness (permanent table cloth stains, sloppy job of cleaning dishes and silverware, the carpet). No, the one reason I’m a fan of Shui Wah is because they’re the only place that has all you can eat dim-sum. I’m not talking about just a few items of dim sum. Their buffet selection is nearly all dim sum, and half of them are in the traditional metal steam trays/baskets. Starting just a few weeks ago, I now have a 2nd reason to like Shui Wah. Catered dim sum!
There’s enough food here to feed a small army.
We started off with the basics (clockwise from top left): pork shumai, jellyfish salad, pork wrapped in tofu skin, and shrimp dumplings. These went fast because, well, you can’t have just one. They’re meant to be eaten individually at a time but people tend to lay claim to larger portions so naturally it disappears quickly.
Next items were the main entrees (clockwise from top left): string beans with beef, rice noodles with shrimp, celery with mushrooms, bok choy with tofu, and seafood with bamboo. Just these 5 trays would’ve been enough to feed the party, so at the end we still had about 5 tray-fulls left.
Finally, everyone’s favorite corner, the dessert and drinks (clockwise from top left): baked pastry with curry beef, assorted drinks, fruits and sushi, and egg tart custards. Though these were placed at the end of the line, some people helped themselves to a few treats before getting in line. The egg tart custards in particular were quite excellent. The filling had just the right amount of sweetness, and the flaky crust was fabulous. Luckily we had two trays of them because some people were getting three or four of them at once (in some cases more). We should hold an egg tart custard eating contest one of these days. As for the drinks, the soybean milk was definitely the best choice (none of that super sugary soft drink stuff that causes obesity). Come to think of it, soybean milk is an extremely versatile beverage — a great alternative to milk especially if you’re lactose intolerant. You can drink it plain, eat it with cereal, add it to a cup of coffee/tea… and now we know that it goes great with dim sum too!
Looks pretty nice, huh? Everything except for the roses in the glass jar were either paper or plastic. Simple but matching pattern makes for a perfect, down-to-earth presentation.
Tags: Shui Wah, dim sum, rehearsal
Posted in Eating Out, Food Events | No Comments »
Sunday, November 19th, 2006
From secondhand experience, I’ve heard that California is probably one of the best states to be in if you seek authentic Asian food. Since I’m the unofficial Asian food lover, that’d be a great place for my taste buds to seek if I do take a dining adventure one of these days. But sometimes, short vacations will not give you enough time to try out everything they have to offer. That’s why a lot of my friends and colleagues have ventured there on a more long-term basis. For those who seek permanent moves, getting in touch with experienced real estate connections there is crucial. You don’t want to get caught in a buying frenzy without exploring your options thoroughly and intelligently.
There’s a great site at http://www.laststophomes.com where they have an experienced realtor that has a proven track record in the California area. Nathan Cleaver is a dedicated professional who offers his expertise to clients by helping them make the best decisions for their family and for future resale. Whether you are buying or selling, he’s on the cutting edge of the real estate industry and makes excellent use of the latest technology. You don’t want to be caught unawares if you get screwed on a property purchase only to find out that you could’ve gotten a better deal down the street. Nathan Cleaver is with Keller Williams Realty located in Roseville, California. They cover a wide spectrum of properties in the California area though including real estate in Rockland, Sacramento, Citrus Heights, etc…
Moving to a new city is tough I know. One of my colleagues here at DiningInDallas.com worked in California for a while and had to settle with food within the immediate vicinity of his residence for a good month or so. Imagine the mundane and stagnant experience in culinary culture if you have to try the same food almost every day. Finding places to live makes your culinary adventures more flexible. You can find dining-rich areas within the California borders and seek professional realtors like Nathan Cleaver with http://www.laststophomes.com to help you find living options near those areas. It’s definitely a resource you want to tap when you’re making the big move. Purchasing a home is a pretty big investment and as such, must be handled with precision and care. This site is definitely worth taking a look at if that is a decision you plan on making.
http://www.laststophomes.com
Tags: california, laststophomes, realty
Posted in Off Topic | No Comments »
Saturday, November 4th, 2006
One thing about Schlotzsky’s Deli is their signature bread. It doesn’t really matter what the fillings are, but if they’re in between anything other than the “full of air pockets” buns, it ain’t a Schlotzsky’s sandwich.
The buns are hard on the outside so you have something stable to hold onto as you eat your sandwich. Sandwiches are served warm which makes them more of a meal than a quick lunch.
The chips are also unique to the Schlotzsky’s brand. Granted barbeque and jalepeno flavored potato chips aren’t anything new, but it’s nice to know that even the chips they stick to their own brand. For a flavor kick, try their vinegar flavored chips.
Schlotzsky’s Deli
2408 Preston Road, Ste. 704-B
Plano, TX
Tel: (972) 964-2830
Website: http://www.schlotzskys.com
Tags: Schlotzsky’s Deli, sandwiches, chips
Posted in Eating Out, American | No Comments »
Friday, November 3rd, 2006
Yahoo! just launched it’s new Food section earlier this week with thousands of recipes, cooking videos, food blogs, and a lot more. Looks like a pretty useful resource, especially if you enjoy cooking. The recipe database is quite extensive and you can search by ingredient, cooking method, taste, texture, etc. According to a Reuters story, this is one of the first new Yahoo media properties launched in five years.
Link: http://food.yahoo.com
Tags: yahoo, food
Posted in Food News, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
Between Golden Corral and Furr’s, you don’t get much of a choice when it comes to all-you-can-eat restaurants here in Dallas, excluding the Asian ones. Sure, there are places like Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil where you’ll need to fork over $30-$40+ per person for a meal, but for the average Joe that’s quite a sum to pay.
Imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon Palominas a couple of weeks ago. It’s on the west side of 75 between Walmart and Micro Center, and although its main entrance is facing away from the expressway there’s a huge banner sign of a horse that you can’t miss. Prices are simple and straightforward, and it’s posted right outside the entrance.
Palominas is a Las Vegas style buffet. The best way I can describe it is that it’s a cross between Fogo de Chao and Golden Corral, and you get a lot more than what you pay for. It’s like Fogo de Chao because there’s a lot of meat. The quality of the meats is not too shabby either. Granted it’s not what you’d find at Fogo de Chao, but for less than a quarter of the price you get all you can eat lamb shanks, slow roasted beef, roasted chicken, pork ribs, beef ribs, grilled sirloin steak, whole fish (deep fried), etc. And it’s like Golden Corral because the range of selections is about the same, except that quality of the food is much better. Yet prices are kept as low as Golden Corral’s…amazing!
A popular item is the fish, deep fried whole with head and all. Although you can eat the crispy exterior, the prize is on the inside. When done correctly, the fried coating on the fish seals the moisture of the meat inside which in effect steams the meat with its own juices.
The sheer amount of meat is quite overwhelming. On this one plate we were able to piled on a beef rib, a pork rib, a roasted chicken quarter, and turkey. The beef rib was tasty but you had to work to get the meat off the bone. The pork rib was much more tender. Chicken is chicken, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better tasting one elsewhere. The turkey with a scoop of stuffing underneath is a classic…reminds me of the 1 day a year Thanksgiving meal I had back in high school.
Probably the main attraction of the entire restaurant is this huge chunk of beef, literally an entire section of a cow, that had been slow roasted and carved in front of you. There were fresh flour tortillas, grilled whole jalepenos, and grilled onions nearby, so I think you were suppose to make fajitas out of the beef. I ended up eating the carved meat straight up, and they were so juicy it’s unbelievable.
Enchaladas and fresh off the oven dinner rolls.
They even got the basics like fried chicken covered.
As far as the food’s concerned, I can’t think of another place with this kind of selection at this price. The cooking’s wholesome and nutritious with plenty of vegetables to offset all the meats. The noise level was pretty high, though, but it’s understandable because the restaurant was packed when we were there. Service was quick…probably a little too quick. We left our table for a couple of minutes to grab more food (probably the 3rd or 4th time), and when we came back our table was cleared and spotless. Overall the experience was good enough that we went back again a few weeks later.
Palominas
100 S. Central Expy @ Beltline (Main)
Richardson, TX
Tel: 972.479.1771
Website: http://texaspalominas.com
Ambiance: 6
Food: 8
Service: 7
Cleaniness: 7
Value: 8
Health: 7
Overall: 7.3
Tags: Palominas, meat, salad, buffet
Posted in Eating Out, Restaurant Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
Boiling an egg may seem like an easy task, but apparently there are a lot of people out there who don’t know how. The solution developed by the British Egg Information Service is a self-timing egg with heat-sensitive ink that tells you when it’s ready. Can’t get any simpler than that.
Read the full story here.
Tags: smart, egg
Posted in Food News, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
