Canton Chinese Restaurant

This chinese restaurant finds itself in what looks to be an old American diner from 50 years ago but now resides in the middle of Richardson's Chinese/Vietnamese district. It was a while back we ate there so remembering exactly what each of us had is a bit difficult. (Especially since Nik didn't take pictures.) However, it wasn't difficult to remember how delicious the food was. Nik had some kind of flat noodle dish that looked reminiscent of Pad Kee Mow but with a distinguishable chinese flare. David ate something completely unrememberable but I'm sure tofu was found in it somewhere. I had either spicy pork or spicy chicken. Either way it was white meat and fantastic. David and I ordered off the lunch menu which came with rice and an egg roll. I could barely eat all of mine. Nik ordered a larger dinner portion.

The hot and sour soup is some of the best I've ever had. I acknowledge that the food is "Americanized" but that can only means an improvement over most traditional chinese dishes. America has a tendency to almost always improve on imported cuisine.

Afterwards David and Nik wanted to visit a nearby "bubble tea" shop. I don't remember what they got but mine was a nightmare. I thought I'd be adventurous and try the plumb drink. How could I go wrong with that? Boy was I wrong...it tasted like a salty, hard plumb candy. I might as well have been sucking down salt water! Those crazy Taiwanese.

Masami

Today we decided to go somewhere we have never been before, a Japanese restaurant named Masami that Daryl had noticed. The food was really good and the menu had a lot of interesting choices on it. Daryl got the Bento Box lunch, teriyaki chicken/salmon with tempura, rice, soup, salad, and california rolls. DMC ordered the Butter Salmon Yaki and Shrimp Tempura combination but our waitress misunderstood him and brought a salmon dish with mushrooms on it, sans the shrimp tempura. It came with rice and mashed potatos but don't forget that DMC doesn't eat mushrooms... I had a Onaka Don, a rice dish with chicken, onions and eggs.

Bagelstein's

The first time I went to Bagelstein's I was expecting it to be like Einstein Bros Bagels but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was more like Deli News or Cindi's. Today the lunch crew (sans Daryl who felt he should work instead) went to check it out. How was it? Maybe you should check out the COMIC to find out since we didn't take any pictures.



Today's comic was inspired by the amazing Dinosaur Comics.

Queen of Sheba

Me and Daryl decided to try another Ethiopian place for lunch since Nik couldn't do lunch. Nik wouldn't have gone anyway. I think he hates Ethiopians. Maybe he was teased by Ethiopians when he was a kid. Or maybe Nik's adventures in Ethiopia are something he'd rather not remember. Anyway, the point is that Nik was not there.

We started out with an order of Sambusas. They were pretty tasty I thought. They were filled with a spicy meat and came with a spicy bean & tomato side. I guess as a sauce or topping. For entrees Daryl got the lamb stew and I got the spicy braised beef. Our dishes ended up looking almost identical although there were slightly different colors. It was decent but I think I enjoyed the little veggie sides more than the beef. I think I'll go with the veggie plate next time. Daryl doesn't usually like the Injera bread but he thought it was ok here.

Assault on Preston/Royal

While it may look like we've been totally slacking over the past few (many?) months, we have indeed tried some new restaurants. However, the refusal of some members (Daryl) to fulfill their posting duties has led to a severe backlog in posting.

Anyway, onto catching up. Sometime in the last few months we discovered that there are a ton of restaurants in the Preston/Royal area. A ton! We made an effort to visit almost all of the them.

1. Gazeebo Burger. Why is it called gazeebo burger? Because they've got a gazeebo outside, that's why. Duh. Why is their plano location called gazeebo burger? I have no idea. They have pretty good burgers. I always get the turkey burger with avocado and cheese.

2. Chef Wok - Pretty standard americanized chinese food. Nothing special.

3. Natalie's - A little tea room restaurant. Each table has a unique teapot on it. They have a pretty good CFS. As a starter you get a roll and a cinnamon roll. The fruit salad is also good.

4. Popolo's Jazz Cafe - Pretty good but maybe a little to fancy for this shorts/t-shirt luncher. I had a steak sandwich that was tasty.

5. Best Thai - A tiny thai place. Pretty good for takeout. Too small for a group lunch.

Already reviewed: Pompano's Seafood, Neuhaus Cafe, Fish City Grill, Purple Cow, Cantina Laredo?, Rio's Fine Tex Mex
Still to go: A sushi place just opened. Le Rendezvous. Royal China. The place next to Gazeebo Burger.

El Pollo Feliz

I finally decided I need to try eating at El Pollo Feliz. I've always been a little wary of this place but it is conveniently located within walking distance of my office. Besides, it's been open in the same spot for years so it's got to have something going for it.

El Pollo Feliz has somewhat puzzling array of greek food (gyros), tex mex and grilled chickens. I stopped by twice. On the first trip I tried greek. It was actually pretty decent. On the second trip I tried some chicken enchiladas. They weren't as good but were still edible. I should probably try the chickens at some point since that seems to be their specialty.

They also have Horchata and a tamarind drink. The horchata was pretty tasty. I was going to try the tamarind on my 2nd visit but they were out.

It helps to speak spanish to order here.

Pompano Seafood Restaurant

Thought we would be a little daring and try a new seafood place. Not that it was a great day to be adventurous since we had a “lunch guest” with us. Jeremy Kooistra was visiting from Memphis. Jeremy and I met up with David, Thomas and Brad. Nik was at a doctor’s appointment. (Or so he says.)

After our drinks were ordered bread was brought out. Nice and tasty. I opted for the special of the day since I never do that. It was lightly breaded flounder served with al gratin potatoes. The potatoes were good however the “fresh” flounder tasted like burnt fish stick that had been sitting in the freezer four months past their expiration date. Jeremy and Thomas got the tuna sandwich (pictured) which they said was good. I don’t remember what Brad got but David had a sea food enchilada. It looked much better than the nastiness on my plate but I don’t remember DMC finishing it so it must have only made a “passing” grade.

All in all I don’t think this establishment meets up to its grand review from Guidelive.com. I wouldn’t add this to our regular lunch rotation. It is after all, a seafood restaurant in Dallas…go figure.