Ziziki's...a Delicious Greek Experience!

Thanks to our Moroccan friend, we found a rather delicious Greek restaurant.  This was one of our weekly dinners with our friend who loves to eat and appreciates gourmet creations as much as we do.  The restaurant is pretty causal but the ambiance is very nice, you can still laugh and talk as normal, but still get that romantic dinner experience.

This restaurant has a pretty good wine and alcohol selection.  We actually ordered a bottle of wine this time since we were dining with our friend who enjoys good wine with his meals.  For a classy restaurant the price for a bottle of pretty good wine was reasonable.

 Of course, since we had an extra person...bonus!  We got to order more =)

We started our meal with Calamari, a Greek salad, and a Caprese.

The calamari was lightly breaded, tender, and well seasoned.  This was standard fare and done well. What was special was the sauce that came with it.  The yogurt sauce was light and tangy.  Perfect with the Calamari.  We decided to keep it with us for extra dipping.

The Greek salad was also what you would expect the ingredients of a Greek salad to be.  The sauce on the other hand was not the usual sour and briny Greek salad dressing.  The salad dressing they use was a yogurt base and good olive oil drizzled on top.  This was refreshing and tasty.

The Caprese was yummy.  We loved the reduced balsamic vinegar.  This gave it a tangy and sweet touch.  Nothing to complain about, good mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, greens on the bottom, and a sweet touch on top...definitely a good start!

Here come the entrees!  Lamb Souvlaki, Stuffed Lamb Loin, and Greek Paella.  Lets just say, they were all delicious!

The Lamb Souvlaki was moist lamb goodness.  You could really taste the flavor of the lamb.  The traditional garnish of olives, tomatoes, and onions paired really well.  The pita bread soaked up all the juicy lamb juice....it was YUM!

Our Greek Paella was gorgeous!  We loved the greek version made with Orzo, it gave it a fresh vibe.  This was a great dish, meats were good, flavored well, and all the components worked together.  The dish was not heavy at all, and you just wanted to keep going back for more.

The stuffed lamb was stunning.   Also a great lamb flavor, but this one is rolled with spinach, orzo, feta, garlic, and onions which made the lamb even more flavorful than normal.  The artichoke sauce was creamy, light, and tangy because it also had yogurt flare to it.  The garnish that came with it was the same as the ones in the Lamb Souvlakis which we were happy about.  Definitely something we will order again.

Well...our friend suggested dessert.  How can we say no to tiramisu?  So we didn't...we split one dessert.  This was perfect for us three though since we just feasted our way through the menu.  The tiramisu was velvety, rich, and satisfying.  What a great way to end a fantastic dinner and week!

Overall a delicious and happy experience!  We always love to have great friends with us for our weekly dinners.  We had great food, lots of laughter, and fantastic conversations.  This is just our way of ending and winding down the work week.  I am sure we will have lots more with him =)

We would rate this restaurant a 8.5/10 for creativity, flavor, atmosphere, and price.

Ziziki's
4514 Travis St
Ste 122
Dallas, TX 75205

International Bakery, a small gem with fresh baked goods!

We found this little gem on our weekly foot reflexology trip to Carrollton.  What a find!  This is just a small, friendly bake goods shop with lots of personality and yumminess at a low price.  This place is small, but they definitely have lots to offer.

We ordered a few baked goods to try and 2 of their fresh juices.

For the baked goods we ordered the Eclair De Caramelo and the Stuffed Potato Ball.  YUM!
The candied horn was so crunchy and sweet on the outside, on the inside it was cold, creamy, and rich with the cream.  My goodness, what a delicacy!

The Potato Ball was a savory choice, it was hot,fluffy and stuffed with flavorful minced meat.  Also something we will definitely order again.

Our two juices were also excellent.  We ordered the Passion Fruit and the Lulo.  You can taste the freshness in cup.  It was a great addition to our snack.

At the end of the day, we couldn't hold back, we had to bring some home to our families!  This is a place we will definitely visit again and can't wait to try more of what they have to offer.  Next time we are going to try their famous Cuban sandwich and guava pastry at the owner's recommendation.

International Bakery
2662 N Josey Ln
Carrollton, TX 75007

Whiskey Cake, farm to kitchen american style

Why do we come to Whiskey Cake?  Simple answer....for their Whiskey Cake!

Whiskey Cake has a woody and rustic feel to it.  They have an open bar and they offer an abundance of cocktails, booze, and fresh squeeze juice blends.  Whiskey Cake focuses on local ingredients so their customers can get the farm fresh goodness.  We sat at the bar this time because if you wanted a table the wait was around 30 min, but if you don't mind sitting at the bar, there was no wait, and the chairs were actually pretty comfortable.

They also offer an open bloody mary bar if that is your thing.  Us on the other hand, we prefer not to start our days with alcohol...so we chose two fresh squeeze juice blends instead.  We chose their Little Pink Drink and the Hulk.  Both were so refreshing and delightful!  We just wish we had more and the cups were bigger.

We chose 2 starters, a brunch entree, 2 sides, and Whiskey Cake.

Our appetizers...Deviled Eggs and Lobster Roll.

Their Deviled Eggs vary every time.  They make different kinds so you are in for a surprise.  The Deviled Eggs we had that day had kind of a Vietnamese flare to it.  They tasted kind of like a Bahn Mi, well the ingredients on it was what you would expect to be in your Bahn Mi. Pretty disappointing by our standards to just top a boiled egg with carrots, cilantro, and siracha.

Their Lobster Rolls were pretty good.  They put an abundance amount of sweet lobster meat on the rolls and they were great with the mayo sauce.  The lobster seemed a little bit over done though.  If you ask us, I think the lobster roll at the Sea Breeze Market is hands down better than Whiskey Cake's.  

Our brunch entree was a BIG disappointment!

The Steak Benedict Florentine was very very sad...Other than the fact we waited forever for it to come because they left our order, the preparation was lacking in skill and attention.  On the menu it sounds awesome, but when we tried to poke our fork into the poblano cornmeal biscuit, it was like trying to drill through a rock!  The biscuit was so overly dry and hard, it was kind of hard to believe they can still put this on the menu.  They should have just gone with a simple english muffin and called it a day.  Other than one of the most important ingredients, the egg, hollandaise, and the steak was good.  They were what you would expect from a steak and egg benedict, nothing WOW, but definitely another disappointing part of the meal.

Our two sides were actually very good.   The poblano bacon mac and cheese was delicious.  The mac was just the right consistency, very buttery, and the bacon was chip crisp on top.  The roasted corn succotash, you can tell it was fresh corn!  The corn was crisp fresh and very sweet.  These were simple yet yummy.

Oh course, what's a Whiskey Cake meal without Whiskey Cake.  We rounded off out meal with a dessert.  The cake was moist and had a crusty, chewy side to it.  The sauce was also perfection!  It kind of has a sweeten condense milk consistency to it with a great vanilla flavor, you can tell they used good vanilla beans vs. just the fake vanilla extract flavor.  How can you tell?  By flavor and the abundance of vanilla bean specks in the sauce.  It was yummy and nothing was left on the plate. 

Overall the meal was good but definitely had its low points also.  The atmosphere was causal and comfortable.  We would rate this place a 6.0/10 for flavor, atmosphere, price, and service.  

Whiskey Cake

3601 Dallas Pkwy
Plano, TX 75093

Samar by Stephan Pyles, a final taste of restaurant week 2012!

This was a last minute decision.  Out of the blue we finally went to a restaurant week with just the 2 of us.  A very comfortable experience, we sat outside, got serenaded by live music, had breezes of wind (yes, cool wind in Texas during August, pretty unbelieveable!), and of course FOOD.

Right in the heart of downtown, this restaurant is heavily decorated by beautiful draping and soft lighting.  There are hookah pipes laying on the floor, and you hear chatting throughout the Indian/Mediterranean restaurant inside.  On the outside, it was serene because people kept their chatter on low so the live music can flow.

This time we actually ordered only 1 restaurant week tasting menu and ordered several things off their regular dinner menu.

We chose 1 starter off the regular menu and 1 from the restaurant week menu.

To be honest both our starters were the highlights of the night.  Our favorite, the foie gras brulee and 2nd would be the lobster fritters with coconut rice.

The foie gras brulee was to die for!  Definitely FOOD PORN 101.  When the brulee hits your palate you get this really rich and intense flavor of the foie gras, then the silky texture coats your mouth and lingers forever, and finally finished with some crispness from the bacon, and fresh sweetness from the peaches.  This is a definite must try!

The lobster fritter with the coconut rice was pretty special.  This has a Thai influence mixed with an Indian touch.  The coconut rice is the Thai and the pickled mangoes was the Indian. There was just something very comforting to the rice, maybe it was the creaminess or possibly the indian spices that you got with every mouthful.  The lobster fritters were very light and crispy, kind of like a tempura batter.  The lobster was very fresh and succulent.  The coconut rice with the sweet and sour mangoes was actually a very perfect combination.  This just didn't seem like a starter course though, but it was delicious!

Then came our 2nd courses.

From the menu was the fried potatoes, chorizo and over easy egg, but what made it extra special was the tiny piece of foie gras that came on the side!  When we got our plate of food, the server instructed us to mix all the ingredients together so that the potatoes are coated with the richness of the egg yoke, savory saltiness from the chorizo, and the goodness of the foie gras.  A very simple potato and egg dish with a surprise and a kick.

We also ordered the optional course from the restaurant week menu, crispy fried poached egg with mushroom salad.  This is what I imagine a fried poached egg to be!  The egg was light and crispy on the outside...soft, running, and oozing with yoke on the inside.  This was done well!  The salad was light and earthy, very refreshing.  We would have preferred the cheese shredded on the salad, we get the presentation factor but it didn't incorporate in the dish well enough.

Our entrees...

Tiger Prawn  Bombay style with crispy okra and spiced pear chutney.  This is just how you would imagine it.  Fresh shrimp, we didn't really get the Bombay style but the shrimp was good.  We thought the crispy okra did not live up to its name.  Maybe because it wasn't crispy.  The texture was kind of like stale old chips...they need another preparation method if you ask us, maybe even a double visit to the deep fryer.  The pear chutney on the other hand was delicious and went really well with the shrimp.

Our 2nd entree came from the restaurant week menu, Greek style meatballs with pearl couscous.  This was actually better than we thought.  The meatballs were very tender, moist, and flavorful.  The couscous had kind of a pesto touch to it, it was very delicious and the portion was actually a lot bigger than we had first imagined.  We do like the pearl couscous over the small ones.  The texture is a lot better, similar to eating a tiny pasta like orzo.

Last but not least, sear bay scallops with olive oil poached potatoes and crispy artichokes.  This was very clean and had some pretty fantastic cooking techniques.  We loved the crispy artichokes, and they were crispy...we were just wondering why they know how to make this crispy but not the okra.  The olive oil poached potatoes was YUM!  The potatoes literally melted in your mouth and was coated with a sweet olive oil flavor.  They used small fingerling potatoes, purple and yellow. The scallops were small but tender and sweet.  All in all a great dish, very much like a warm salad.

Our dessert was an Indian style funnel cake with cardamom ice cream. We've had this wonderful texture from the described funnel cake before at a traditional Indian wedding.  The funnel cake is sweet and the  peaches at the bottom cut the richness of the dessert.

This meal was overall a great experience.  We had a great time, date night!  We got to try things off the regular menu also and found the prices are fairly reasonable for a nice restaurant like this one.  We also got live, relaxing entertainment, this made us forget we were in downtown Dallas.  We would rate this place 8/10 for its atmosphere, creativity, taste, and price.

Samar
2100 Ross Ave
Dallas, TX 75201