Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Dallas - LIC's Outing

This was a food tasting session organized by LIC. As usual we were treated to a variety of great food and Dallas was kind to give us sample size for 9 dishes. As Dallas’s core business is a pub, the dishes are naturally finger food which you can go with liquor. Of course, they do have a restaurant menu but I guess the entry wouldn't be useful apart from the ribs.

Dish 1: Salt and pepper calamari

Salt and pepper calamari

Dish 2: Chicken and cheese quesadillas

Chicken and cheese quesadillas

Dish 3: Shredded Pork Tacos

Shredded Pork Tacos

Dish 4: Baby Back Pork Ribs

Baby Back Pork Ribs

Dish 5: Tempura Barranmundi

Tempura Barranmundi

Dish 6: Dallas Wings

Dallas Wings

Dish 7: Corn and Crab Fritter

Corn and Crab Fritter

Dish 8: Beef Fajitas

Beef Fajitas

Dish 9: Breaded Mushrooms

Breaded Mushrooms

Being overwhelmed by the varied taste of food, I think it would only be fair to give an overall opinion of this food sampling season. I would say that the selection would be great for a gathering and for munching as you chat. There was nothing fanciful or extraordinary about the food except that it was well fried and mildly seasoned.

I would like to highlight the baby back pork ribs which is served in 3 flavors – Fiery, Alabama and Smoked Hickory BBQ. It’s lightly seasoned to retain the pork taste, tender and slightly sweet.

Overall too much fried food for this selection but I guess if you order one or two dishes to coup with your liquor, the finger food at Dallas probably won’t disappoint.
________________________________________________________________________

Fen's comments

My second participation to LIC's outing and I must say it was a good meet-up. From my previous experience, in the event of food tasting, it would be fairer to the restaurant to give an overall experience and like Yuan, I shall just highlight a few of my favourite dishes.

I must say it was nice of Jason to introduce the style of cooking, the type of ingredients and the sauce Dallas' chefs has whipped up. Although the staff were alittle shorthanded but it was still a good experience to feel the ambience of the place and what the restuarant get to offer.

Kicking up the 9-dish food tasting, it was good that Dallas started with their signature dish, Salt & Pepper Calamari. Unlike the conventional squid rings, the squid were huge, tender and juicy but alittle oily. Quesadillas has always been my favourite and this did meet my expectation. The proportion of cheese goes pretty well with the flour tortillas and turn out to be the best among the wraps (i.e. Chicken Tacos and Beef Fajitas).

Having ate ribs from Tony Roma's, Bobby Rubino's and Dan Ryans, I must say that the flavours Dallas offer is impressive. Before touching on any flavours, the baby back ribs was tender and moist to my liking. Fiery adopts a sweeter and more ketchup-y taste (close to Tony Roma's), Alabama with a smokier BBQ sauce (similar to Dan Ryans) and Smoked Hickory in between. Being a fan of Bobby Rubino's ribs, my choice is the Alabama.

I realized the bulk of the food served were bar food and thus was cloying towards the 5th dish but apart from the mentioned 3 dishes, the Breaded Mushrooms with Cheese & Garlic Mayonnaise and Corn & Crab Fritters with Chilli Glaze were worth a try. Although Bobby Rubino has a better version of breaded mushrooms, Dallas does it nicely with melted cheese in the centre. Corn & Crab Fritters, breaded potato cakes were light and not-as-oily as the other fried food.

Overall, I have enjoyed myself and it was nice to meet FatPig (Timeless facade), Elaine (Divine Essentials), Caterine (Camemberu), Keropokman (Singapura Daily Makan Photos) and good old buddies, Evan, Elaine (Simply Etel), Weili, Brad and Sihan.
________________________________________________________________________
Some of the other coverage of this outing,
LadyIronChef - Dallas Restaurant & Bar: LIC food outing
Camemberu - Dallas Restaurant and Bar
AromaCookery - Dallas Restaurant & Bar
Singapura Daily Makan Photo - Dallas Restaurant & Bar at Boat Quay
Timeless Facade - Dallas Restaurant and Bar
Jaime-La-Nourriture - Dallas Restaurant & Bar

Dallas Restaurant & Bar
31 Boat Quay,
Singapore 049820
Tel: 6532 2131
http://www.dallas.sg/

14 comments:

bossacafez said...

yea i was thinking about the same thing, if u just order 2-3 varieties with beer, can't go wrong. it was too overwhelming to eat so much fried + floury stuffs at the same time but hv to admit, some of them were quite good.

oh yes, i enjoyed myself, but i think i enjoyed relish even more haha! looking forward to more with u guys :D

Fen said...

Yah, I do like the place... thinking of dropping by again for their mains...

I enjoyed myself too, it has been a long while since I last catch up with you...

Waiting to read your Dallas's and Relish's entries...

Julia said...

Thanks for dropping a note on my blog, Fen! Yeah, it was probably me. You're very sharp to have noticed the Sony Alpha!

Too bad we didn't get to say "hi". Well, there's always a next time! :)

I agree with Evan, the menu was kinda heavy with fried and meat stuff. I'd loved to have had a salad of some sort. And dessert! Why no dessert?? :P

ladyironchef said...

julia: actually they have quite a lot other variety as well, but i think because of the nature of tasting portions that i requested, it's quite diff to do the other food that way. As for desserts, they are working on that, i won't recommend going there for desserts because its not made in house :_

EteL said...

sweets! nice to meet up with all of u at the event too! and u blog pretty fast! im still stuck somewhere..

btw, i took another pic of u guys, will tag u all in facebook when time comes.

Cheers n looking forward to our next meet up! :)

Fen said...

Julia: I guessed while Yuan is taking the photos, I am watching the drama around us. I happened to see a lady with a Sony strap round her neck, the next thing I notice is the Sony bag, so we were actually sitting back to back... If memory didn't fail me, you were beside Camemeberu. :D

Hopefully, we will get a chance to say hi... There seems to be an interesting conversation on your table.

Yea, I was surprised there isn't any salad nor soup but it was a good effort to show us what Dallas offers.

LIC: O.o, that is disappointing to hear that the desserts are not made in-house...

Etel: Yea, indeed a nice meet-up. Looking forward to your entry, good entries are worth the wait :D

Thank you for the photos and sure will meet up soon...

EteL said...

yap! desire next up :p

btw, dun think i got pics to put up la, that day really no feel to take pics of food, only took some of u guys. so i think i prolly gope some photos ard, moreover i didnt take pics of the interior.. that day was really a meeting up for me, not so much of taking pics! ^^

see u n yuan ard!

Fen said...

Sure, help yourself with the pictures. I will be very flattered if my photos are taken...

Understand what you mean by no feel... Sometimes, we just want to ditch the phototaking process and really enjoy the company and food... That was why I pass the job to Yuan... Overlook too many things when taking photos...

Evan, hear us? don't count us out for desire... Boy, thinking of the next meet-up just excite me...

bossacafez said...

i hear you! then again i don't think desire has set lunches during the weekend. are u girls game to go ala carte? it might be steep tho'.

Fen said...

I get what you mean already... it sure looks pricey (based on HGW), even set lunches cost $38++ and $45++.

If my work schedule permits, I will join you guys on weekday then. Feel bad if I make everybody spend so much just to accomodate my timing... You let me know when, I will arrange my schedule alittle...

Elaine Ng. said...

ive tried Desire's set lunch recently, its definitely much worth it than ala carte, plus you get to sample the diff aspects of the menu.

if a few of you go and pick different dishes, im sure you all can already try all that e variety for their set lunch. i liked the cod fish main course (:

fatpig said...

Desire just decreased their pricing. Not sure if anything's affected. And if I remember correctly, the menu should have a beef cheek, a cod fish and a risotto. The cod is your best bet. As for the beef, err....

Fen said...

Wow, the cod fish is highly recommended by Elaine and Fatpig. Looks like Yuan and I need to take a day off to enjoy their set lunch...

Thank you for the recommendation.

andrew said...

woooo~ looks yummilicious though!! =D See if there's a chance that I would drop by and makan!!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin