Buca di Beppo

business

8580 State Highway 121
Frisco, TX 75034
(972) 668-3287

After spotting this neighbor of previously reviewed Chaucer’s in Frisco, I looked forward to checking out this spot for what I hoped would be hearty Italian fare. My wish came through when the in-laws celebrated 2 birthday parties at this particular location.

Walking into this Buca was an exercise in tolerance…you’re shuttled down narrow hallways and paths adorned with an overabundance of photos and collectibles. Is there such thing as too much decor? Buca wins this contest hands down.

Our party of 11 adults and 2 toddlers found seating in the Pope’s Room, a circular, nearly claustrophobic room adorned with photos and paintings of popes past and present. Indeed, a plastic bust of the Patriarch graced the lazy susan at our round table. While the decor might have detracted, the acoustics and cozy surroundings made for easy socializing.

Onto the menu which was printed on our paper placemats. Buca servings come in two sizes: small and large. The small guarantees portions good for sharing with 2-4 people. The large portions require an army, 6-8 people.

We started with an order of garlic bread with mozzarella and fried calamari. The calamari didn’t impress, the breading tasted bland and formulaic. But the pizza-shaped garlic bread came out smothered with cheese and real garlic slices. If I could have ordered more garlic on them, I would’ve been in heaven. It disappeared so fast, we had to order another serving.

Turns out Buca just recently changed the menu, as my mother-in-law was disappointed to find they had struck off her fave salad. But I enjoyed the Apple Gorgonzola insalate with heaping chunks of gorgonzola, and plenty of apple slices and dried cranberries. The dressing turned out mild, so it didn’t shock you like most Italian dressings. A Caesar salad for two also arrived at the table, but I didn’t get a chance to try it. I imagine it was closer to authentic, seeing anchovies listed on the menu…and the father-in-law was very picky when it came to his Caesars.

The plates piled high on the lazy susan as the entrees came. Stuffed shells, Macaroni Rosa for 6, Spaghetti with two fist-sized meatballs, and Fettuccine Supremo. An enormous platter of lasagna arrived, dwarfing all the other plates. I personally ordered a single serving of Grilled Salmon with Pesto, while Granpoppy ordered Chicken with Lemon.

Dear Hubby gave the Macaroni Rosa a thumbs-down, as indeed, it was too challenging for a macaroni-purist like him. But for those who like a different mac-n-cheese, this version came loaded with broccoli and chicken and a nice creamy tomato sauce. Good eating for those days you just want a change of pace. I did hear that their kids’ menu mac-n-cheese was more traditional and simply delicious.

The Stuffed Shells had excellent spicy bite, had I room for it after devouring my salmon plate. I really still don’t like pesto with salmon, but that Italian Broccoli Romano was too addicting to pass up. Glad they ordered a side of it.

Speaking of sides, my best bud commented on the garlic potatoes, saying it was all butter and garlic with a touch of potato. I had to agree. Yum!

After too much salad and garlic bread, I regretted not having enough room to try out the spaghetti and the fettuccine, but everyone seemed pleased with the order, so I assumed the food was good.

Since it was a birthday crowd, our party brought our own cakes, which the staff was kind enough to serve to us, complete with candles and song.

On the way out, we noticed a dining booth in the kitchen area, for those folks who would like to be closer to the smells and sights of Italian food cooking.

We had a mishap during all this: Granpoppy’s food didn’t get served until 2/3rds through the meal. Not a good thing, since it was his birthday we were celbrating. Our server was very apologetic, and the manager came out to make amends. An A for effort.

If you’re looking for giant portions and dependable Italian fare, seeking a massive heart attack from carb overload, then Buca is a great place for your family dining experience.

My rating: 3.0 stars

Zenna Thai & Japanese

business

2500 N Central Expy
Plano, TX 75074
214.473.9797

An adventure in dining led my husband and me back to this spot formerly occupied by Bangkok City. Thankfully the garish orange veneer had been replaced by darker, subdued colors. The exterior also showcased a patio barricaded by a flimsy bamboo fence…which might be pleasant on warmer days, but would it screen out the noise and exhaust from the busy highway?

We walked in and were astonished by the transformed digs. Dimly lit, more chic surrounds, this was not the old Bangkok City. Everything had been repainted and redecorated to reflect that Zenna was a hip new alternative.

We settled into reupholstered booths flanked on one side by a crystal beaded wall. It would’ve been a pleasant dining experience except for the loud party occupying 3-4 tables in the center of the restaurant. Still, it was a good sign that Zenna intended to service all parties, boisterous or not.

Perusing the colorful photographed menu, I decided to go for an all-Thai selection while the hubby went Japanese. I ordered the Panang curry with beef (with a request for 3-star hot), Thai Peanut chicken, and a bowl of Tom kha kai. Hubby excluded his normal selection of salmon sashimi and this time chose an assortment of rolls: Caterpillar, Crunchy and Tornado. I also threw in a tapas dish of Garlic Crispy Pork Ribs.

Fast forward to the impressions: the coconut soup reminded me of Banana Leaf’s version, minus the fishy sauce fragrance, savory sweet and mildly delicious. The panang, while thick-sauced, didn’t seem as memorable as Zoom’s or Banana Leaf’s panang versions. Plus it was surprisingly mild despite that I ordered it at 3 star spiciness. I still managed to devour most of the panang (since I had been hankering curry all week), despite its disappointing lack of meat and veggies. I was stuffed by the time I started picking at the Thai peanut chicken, which luckily transported well and made a yummy leftover dish the next day.

Hubby foreswore all Thai dishes before we walked into the restaurant, and was looking forward to the Japanese side of the menu. But every roll he tried was too heavy on the rice and not enough of the fish. He proclaimed the Zenna rolls on the same par as buffet sushi…and I had to agree, because the trio of rolls were bland-tasting and uninspiring to look at.

I also had to express disappointment with their tapas dish, which came out overcooked, nearly-blackened and flavorless. I thought that the fried garlic bits that the ribs sat on would’ve imparted some flavor, but it was akin to eating dried onion peels. The only thing we enjoyed about these ribs were their “crunchiness” and ease in dissection from the bone.

We put our hope in their dessert menu, but sadly, the sticky rice with mango was out of season. We fell back on the coconut custard and black sticky rice. The custard, while it had a nice spongy texture, held nothing of the coconutty flavor promised by the menu. The black sticky rice was the one redeeming quality of the dessert: warm, plump and sticky-sweet.

We hoped that Zenna might lure us out of Wylie in the wee hours, but their menu needs more refinement before we’re motivated to go back for a midnight meal.

My rating: 2.0 stars

Hong Kong Royal

business

3030 N Josey Ln
Carrollton, TX 75007
(972) 492-9999

It’s back! After shutting down its operations in its old 2nd-story building off 75 and Main St and the Lucky House restaurant in Plano, Hong Kong Royal is reincarnated in Carrollton. While not as sprawling as their first location, the new Hong Kong Royal is still pretty roomy. Much of the staff and decor I remembered from Lucky House are here. As usual, the big draw is the dim sum lunch. All our usual standbys are here, from steamed fresh broccoli to jellyfish, sharkfin dumplings to steamed spare ribs, stuffed eggplant to those football-shaped shrimp pies. The staff urged us to try a couple of new dim sum plates, one of which was a fried phyllo-wrapped whole shrimp (with crunchy head attached) which proved delicious. Fair warning for the shrimp allergic, there seemed to be more shrimp in their dim sum menu than expected. On the ala carte side, their Young Chow fried rice still impressed. It seems that Hong Kong Royal is here to stay…they also offer a dim sum lunch buffet during the week at the tasty price of $5.95!

My rating: 3.5 stars

Chaucer’s Sushi and Grill

business

During the Christmas weekend, I met DH for dinner in Frisco next to Stonebriar Mall for an adventure in dining. While there were plenty of chain restaurants that set up shop in the mall parking lot and surrounding strip malls, there was always that one restaurant that seemed to close its doors every 6 months or more. Last time, this building housed an upscale steak house; today, it was Chaucer’s Sushi and Grill. Remembering that Chaucer’s had an Addison outpost we hadn’t yet visited since we last lived in North Dallas, I figured Chaucer’s might be worth a gamble.

Chaucer’s seemed to retain the elegant, formal atmosphere of the previous tenant, which meant adult, family-unfriendly surroundings. However, several plasma screens adorned the walls, tuned to sports and newscasts. A sushi bar was partitioned off the main dining room behind some glass, and for the most part, it was quiet and subdued.

Unfortunately, the service left much to be desired. I remember standing in the lobby for about 10 to 15 minutes, staring at an unattended stand. The hostess finally swept in, apologized, and led me to a table. When DH finally arrived to join me, our waitress took some time delivering menus and refreshments. And for a sushi place, the lack of non-Asian servers sounded an alarm.

I’m not saying that white people can’t sushi, but it’s a sure sign of Americanizing the menu. While there were no steaks on this Chaucer’s menu, many of the options seemed rather unoriginal and uninspired. Much of the “grill” options didn’t extend past the teriyaki concept. We did attempt a calamari dish, but the accompanying cocktail sauce just didn’t pair up nicely with the lightly fried squid. We asked the waitress for an alternate sauce, but she fumbled on the advice. We suggested the traditional mayo sauce that came with dumplings, which she obligingly supplied. After the appetizer, DH and I turned to the sushi menu for a challenge.

We ordered our traditional salmon sashimi, smoked salmon nigiri and mackerel nigiri, which upon delivery was executed wrong. The salmons got mixed up, but the sushi chef acknowledged his error and corrected it. Unfortunately, they didn’t deliver all the sushi at the same time as ordered, because DH makes it a point to eat his sashimi with all his rolls.

Nothing really stood out in the bevy of special rolls, though I will have to say 75% of my choices were too spicy for DH to enjoy. He did mention that he liked his tempura roll, but we both felt that one of their house specialties drowned in too much crunchiness. The lone standout happened to be their combo volcano roll, topped with shrimp, scallops AND crawfish. Again, it suffered from too much onion and heat, which left DH wishing for something else.

When we ended the meal, and the bill finally came, both of us wished we had hit up the Cheesecake Factory just across the street. We used it as a reason to escape the dessert options, since we had a somewhat mediocre dining experience overall.

My rating: 1.5 stars

Ali Baba

business

2103 N Central Expressway
Richardson, TX 75080
Phone: 972-437-1222

I’ve been wanting to try this place ever since my coworkers raved about their buffet. Finally, I was able to persuade another coworker to go check it out last month. The Mediterranean buffet offerings were almost overwhelming, and unfortunately, not very newbie friendly. The lack of labels meant I ended up collecting only the most recognizable kebabs, rice, falafels and hummus offerings. Luckily, everything I sampled was was good, and I kept coming back to the rice and lamb kebabs. A super-crunchy falafel did have some heat, but it was rather bland in the flavor department. I wished the grilled chicken had more flavor, and I did hope the hummus had more of a garlicky punch to them, but I was satisfied regardless. Worth going back to, when the place is less busy during the hustle/bustle of lunchtime.

My rating: 3.0 stars