Blu Ginger professes to be authentic Thai cuisine but too much of their menu displayed playful, gimmicky descriptions making it difficult to take them seriously. Newbie-friendly fusion seems to be the aim at Blu Ginger…which perhaps explains the hit-or-miss execution of their dishes. Their Tom Kha Gai, for example, lacked the lemongrass and fish sauce punch expected of the chicken coconut soup, rendering it bland and unmemorable. Their chicken and ginger soup however proved stellar, intensely fragrant and tasty. The Reunion, an appetizer sampler of satay chicken, wrapped shrimp, dumplings–artfully rendered and all very tasty, but terribly routine for Thai food. The Nutty Professor, Blu Ginger’s version of a peanut sauce dish, was marred by too much bean sprout filler–a disappointment. The spicy salmon curry (which our server warned us would take a longer time to prepare) first came out overcooked–the tail end of the fish came out dry and inedible. After a 2nd pass through the kitchen, the dish came out much more presentable, with a spicy sauce and prettily decorated with flash-fried basil (?) leaves. For the dessert course, Blu Ginger pleased us again, serving up 3 samplers in shot glass size: tapioca pudding, coconut custard and rice pudding–all excellent. Sadly, the high price of dinner dampened our overall satisfaction with the experience. The only area that Blu Ginger seems to surpass expectation is in presentation. Here’s to hoping for more consistency from Blu Ginger in the future.
7 Salsas serves up more than 7 tasty, spicy salsas. Their menu is chock full of Tex-Mex dining options. Sitting in a nice neighborhood in North Irving (and another location in Coppell), 7 Salsas is a somewhat-upscale setting presenting tasty and reasonably-priced fare. For our visit, the endless chips and salsas came out; every one of the salsas proved mysteriously and addictively spicy. The restaurant also served up remarkably tasty chicken jalapeno poppers–moist and mildly zingy. 7 Salsas’ version of a Caesar salad turned out to be the only disappointment in the evening–I expected a Caesar constructed from scratch, but the only show came from our disinterested server tossing a few leaves, corn niblets, red peppers, with prepared dressing. The Parillada turned out to be a satisfying combo fajita meal for two; steak, chicken and shrimp on a sizzling plate with a saucer of flaming chorizo queso. The fajitas were pleasingly flavorful, though we felt the queso insufficient for our needs. Despite our server’s indifference, we found dinner a pleasant experience at 7 Salsas that we’ll be coming back to explore the rest of their menu.
In the past week, the weather in Texas has been unseasonably warm. Hard to believe it’s winter! The fiance and I raked up some leaves, moved some stone work, and did general clean up work in the front and central yards. Getting a general feel for the planting areas…much of the yards are in part to deep shade. This will be an interesting change in landscaping, dealing with shade-friendly plants. Right now my attention is on the Chocolate Ajuga that I have surviving in one planter. I’m not sure how robust it still is, but I imagine that if it survives any future freezes, I’d like to use it in the center yard for under-planting in the beds. The flame red salvias are hanging on, but looking rather reedy in their pots. The white salvia unfortunately drowned. Two rosemary plants experienced extremes in watering and temperature…I’m fairly certain they are on their way to the compost heap–if we had one! Two salsa jasmines appear to be surviving, along with a thyme plant (strangely hanging on despite the horrid conditions). The potato vines and caladium I’m certain are DOA, the Silver Dragon type liriope specimens are gamely holding their ground, and the occasional dianthus is showing a bit of green.
Did I mention I had pulled all my calla bulbs last fall for storage in the pantry? I’m hoping they will survive for planting this year.
Of course, having all of these gardening catalogs coming in the mail is adding to all of the excitement.
…but it’s up to you sift through all the Information and deduce It for yourselves. Much has been said about sites that purport to illuminate, debunk and set straight the record, but once the subject elicits passionate and partisan bias, everyone whose sensibilities are offended will quickly denounce the discrediting site as being slanted, inaccurate, and the-enemy-of-everything-they-hold-dear.
The internet has been the medium for the discriminating and prejudiced as well as the objective and unslanted. Depending on the topic, mood, and season, there is always a healthy smattering of news and information that denounces and criticizes what is perceived to be biased and subjective. One has to wonder with the millions of bits/bytes of information published on the Net nowadays if there is any source that is truly impartial any more.
My concern is for the Snopes and Factchecks of this world. I am an avid digester of digital urban legends and hoaxes, and nearly a decade ago, I had very few resources to rely upon to validate the soon-to-be-mail-server-busting multitudes of chain emails, scams, malware alerts and vicious rumors endlessly recycled by mailboxes throughout the world. My go-to back then was the CIAC Hoaxbusters site (long since retired), Snopes and the About pages concerning urban legends and hoaxes. Over time the volume of “misinformation” grew and inspired more sites to open shop, sometimes specializing in types of urban legends and spam. TruthorFiction, FactCheck, and the archives at Symantec and Trend Micro are just a small sampling of sites that I added to my roster of hoaxbusters.
4525 Belt Line Rd
Addison, TX 75001
(972) 503-3474
Chamberlain’s Fish Market and Grill rarely disappoints. After a succession of visits over the past several years, I’ve come to rely on the Fish Market for solid upscale fare at the typical upscale price. This is the place to dine at when you want clear flavors and simple presentations of your favorite seafood and steaks. On my most recent visit, the fiance and I tried their gumbo and crab/corn chowder. The gumbo was the most exquisite rendition I’ve had the pleasure of tasting…clear, individual flavors in the soup made for a joyful experience discovering each one. It lacked the muddied flavors and soggy textures of gumbo that I was used to. As for the crab corn chowder, I was somewhat disappointed that the saltiness overrode the sweet corn hints that I grasped for. It had more of the texture of bisque rather than chowder, and I missed whatever crab flavors lurked in the bowl. But the chowder proved to be the lowest point of our visit. Everything else passed expectations.
Let me mention, before diving into the main courses, that the bread was of the spongy, crusty kind, pairing well with the garlic butter spread that we asked for seconds on. If I could have just lived on bread and butter alone, Chamberlain’s offering would have sufficed.
Moving onto main meals: I ordered the Scottish Salmon with Citrus Butter along with a side of garlic broccoli and lobster-shrimp mac and cheese. The fiance ordered the surf and turf special: filet mignon with an 8oz Australian lobster tail, with onion mashed potatoes and asparagus. My salmon arrived perfectly cooked, a moist medium done-ness, with tasty grill marks. While at first I felt that the mac and cheese accompaniment used too small a pasta, I nevertheless devoured it completely. The tender-crisp garlic broccoli made a fine accompaniment to my salmon.
The fiance’s surf-n-turf also turned out to be a fine plate. The filet mignon, served medium-rare, was an excellent cut of beef. The lobster tail was a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth delight, especially when dipped in the melted butter. While the mashed potatoes held little hint of the onions in the title, the asparagus were nicely broiled.
We finished with 2 deserts: a remarkable flourless chocolate raspberry cake and white chocolate bread pudding. Both were perfect endings to an excellent meal. Thanks to our server, we walked out of Chamberlain’s pleased with the entire dining experience.
Hard Eight wins the trophy when it comes to presentation. How else to woo the undecided patron but with a smoker full of barbecued meats right next to the checkout stand? On several visits, the whole chicken dipped in a lemon-herb butter sauce garnered my undying affection. Hard Eight cooks a good brisket, when one remembers to ask for a nice moist, off-the-point cut, but it doesn’t compare to Rudy’s. As with most BBQ establishments, side dishes–though plentiful–are an afterthought at Hard Eight. Their cornbread salad, while interesting, evoked the dryness of some of their meats. Their jalapeno corn lacked flavor and punch. I am definitely not a fan of their bland barbecue sauce, which tasted more like a brown gravy than anything resembling barbecue sauce. Now…if you like beans, you can stock up all you like at Hard Eight, since it comes free with every meal. Just fill up at the serving station at the other end of the dining room. Speaking of which, Hard Eight’s dining area looks comfortable and clean–with redneck appeal–more than I can say than a lot of hole-in-the-wall joints…but perhaps that’s the chain atmosphere of Hard Eight, since they have 3 locations in North Texas.
Is it the best BBQ in Texas? Not by a long shot. But it’s good enough ‘que in a suburban setting…should the need arise for you to fill your belly with smoked meats. It’s also a great venue to bring your out-of-town guests for an introductory taste of Texas BBQ.
My rating: 3.5 stars
VIP Buffet
1927 E Belt Line Rd
Carrollton, TX 75006
(972) 416-0810
Located in a strip mall competing with Chinese, Vietnamese, and Mexican eateries, VIP Buffet tries to lure the ethnic crowd into its establishment with the promise of diversity and budget dining prices. This however is no guarantee of quality…but buffets usually fall short in this category. So it is with VIP buffet, large variety of dishes: some passable, others poorly executed. Just like Best Buffet, it’s best you steer clear of the chafing dishes sitting around for awhile, untouched–an obvious flag. The sushi cabinet looked unappetizing while the bizarre assortment of fried foods boggled the mind: where else would you find fried mini corn-dogs sitting next to chicken teriyaki and enchiladas? (Did I mention they have jars of salsa on the tables, next to the hot sauce and soy sauce?) On a couple of visits, the garlic crab tended to be consistently good, while the korean short ribs ended up being flavorless and disappointing. VIP Buffet also serves up dim sum on the line, typically pork buns, chicken feet, steamed spare ribs, and assorted dumplings. Again, some were good; others, not so much. But gauging a buffet’s success is the ratio between tummy satisfaction and the hit on wallet. In this case VIP Buffet is cheap and affordable, worth the trip if all you need is filler–it’s not the place for celebrations or a date.
My rating: 2.5 stars
BBQ Tonite
2540 Old Denton Rd
Carrollton, TX 75011
(972) 466-0786
If the cuisine at BBQ Tonite is considered Pakistani, then it differs from Indian food mainly due to the lack of veggies and sharp spicing. The fiance and I went on a dining adventure at BBQ Tonite, attempting to discern the difference between Indian and Pakistani cuisine, and determined that the differences were minimal. Our Indopak experience had no curries, tended toward the mild and buttery–no sharp tantalizing flavors or odors–though represented by many familiar names: such as korma, tandoori, biryani. I personally enjoyed the goat dishes and found the beef stew extremely tender and flavorful. The tandoori chicken surprised me with its juiciness. Instead of a spicy pickle medley, they offered sliced chiles and a bizarre looking spicy condiment, which was later identified as picked mangoes. Some amazing standouts at the buffet were a mashed sweet potato (we assumed it was yams and not pumpkin) dish and their dense creamy custard flan (one of the best flans I’ve ever had).
If the flavor profiles at BBQ Tonite were a bit more daring (i.e. less home-cooking) and spicier, I think I could be persuaded to visit again…however, I’d like to try it during the week, when buffet prices should be more attractive.
