Category: Dallas

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Dallas Dallas Eats Food & Drink Texas USA

Dallas Eats: Deep Ellum Pop-Up Sandoitchi

One of the things that I love about Dallas is the ever growing food scene. Having grown up in Hawai’i and having lived in LA, food has always been so important to me. I was worried when I moved to Dallas 5 years ago that there wouldn’t be a great food scene, but it turned out to be a happy surprise! There’s a lot of diversity – Asian, American, Italian, Mexican… I’m still exploring. The pop-up food scene in Dallas has been exploding, especially since COVID hit. Sandoitchi is one of the newest pop-ups and it’s become so exclusive it sells out within 30 minutes of their weekly pre-sale!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Sandoitchi opens up it’s weekly pre-order on Sundays at 6 PM. The menu varies slightly from week to week (sometimes they have Hot Truffle Chicken Katsu, other times they don’t). They eve have a Wagyu Sando! They give you several options for pick-up times. You choose which sandwiches and sides you want and the date you want to pick it up. There’s only one option for a pick up location – the address they give is the same address as Niwa Japanese BBQ in Deep Ellum. The pick-up door is on the side of Niwa and is marked by a huge Sandoitchi sign.

MY EXPERIENCE

I had heard about Sandoitchi a few weeks ago on Instagram and had been wanting to try it, but it sold out so quick every week! I finally turned on notifications from their IG account and was able to get into pre-orders two Sundays ago. I ordered two Truffle Chicken Katsu Sandos and one Strawberry Matcha Cream Sando for pick up last Saturday. They gave me a pick up window from 12:30 PM – 2 PM, but I didn’t get an email confirmation that my order was ready for pick up until 1:30 PM. I was running late anyway, so I wasn’t able to make it over until close to 2.

I loved the chicken sando because it combines two things I love – chicken katsu and truffle! It wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be, but I think it’s because it wasn’t hot when I ate it – I had to drive 30 min to pick it up and 30 min back home. Adam was not a fan, but he doesn’t like truffle anything so go figure. The strawberry matcha cream was so good! The matcha wasn’t overwhelming and the cream was the perfect sweetness for me.

THE VERDICT

Overall, I think it’s definitely worth a try. I’d love to try the Wagyu Sando but it’s a little out of budget – the menu last week had it at $55! I heard the pudding they have is really good, but it was sold out by the time I ordered. I’d also want to try the hot truffle sando, which wasn’t on the menu the week I ordered. I’m glad I finally got to try it, but I think I won’t be going back until they have a brick and mortar store so I can get my katsu sando fresh! Have you tried Sandoitchi or anything similar?

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Dallas Dallas Eats Food & Drink Texas

Dallas Eats: Iron Cactus [DTD]

One of the things I love about Dallas is all the different restaurants. There’s a ton of great old restaurants and always a bunch of new restaurants popping up, it can be hard to pick a place!

Iron Cactus in Downtown Dallas was nice enough to host a dinner for two and I definitely left full and satisfied. I used to work in Downtown Dallas so I was surprised I had never seen or heard of it before! If you’re familiar with the DTD area, it’s located next to The Joule across the street from the big eyeball. But, enough with the words, all we foodies care about is the food!

We got a preset 3 course menu that we could choose from that featured their new appetizers, the Lobster Tacos and Ahi Tuna Ceviche. We even got a drink to go with dinner.

Chips and Salsa to start off. One salsa was warm and the other was cold. I think i liked the warm salsa better.

The manager came out and brought us a complimentary sample of another appetizer, the Picadillo Purses. This was amazing and probably my favorite thing from the night even though they were mini sizes. I’d honestly come back just for this.

Of the two appetizers we got to try, the Lobster Tacos were my favorite. Ceviche was okay, but I tend to be a snob about any raw fish dish since I’m from Hawai’i.

The Lobster Tacos

Ahi Tuna Ceviche

Since it was a Mexican restaurant, you know I had to get a margarita! I tried this Mango Habanero Margarita which I LOVED! Our server warned me that it was super spicy, but I love me some spicy and I thought it was perfect.

I tried to the fried Fish Tacos because Fish Tacos! These things are HUGE, I only finished one. It’s a giant piece of fish with cabbage, cotija cheese, and other yummy things.


A tried the Chile Relleno Rustico. I had a bite and it was pretty good.

Another pic of the Fish Tacos!

Both desserts were AMAZING! We got the Tres Leches Cake and Mexican Chocolate Torte.

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My favorite was definitely the chocolate torte. It comes with a scoop of ice cream, it’s like chewy chocolate goodness. I’m drooling thinking about it.

Overall, it was a great experience. The service was great, our server was super nice and attentive, and the food – especially the dessert – was amazing. I definitely would come again even if it’s just to get a full size of the Picadillo Purses.

Huge thanks to Iron Cactus for hosting dinner! This really was my honest opinion about the place. 🙂

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Dallas Destination Fort Worth Texas USA

Takashi Murakami’s “The Octopus Eats Its Own Legs” Exhibit at The Modern Art Museum Fort Worth

Last weekend I went with a few friends to see Takashi Murakami’s “The Octopus Eats Its Own Legs” exhibit at The Modern in Fort Worth, Texas. Murakami is a Japanese artist whose work you probably recognize – he designed Kanye West’s Graduation album and did several collaborations with Louis Vuitton. I love the work he did with Louis Vuitton so I definitely wanted to check it out!

This wasn’t part of the Murakami exhibit, but I loved this shot!

The Modern is located in Fort Worth, Texas, not far off the I-30. We went on a Sunday and the line was ridiculously long! I found out later that they offer half-price tickets on Sundays and free admission on Fridays. I would say 1.5 – 2 hours is enough time to get through the exhibit. I personally really loved this exhibit, his art is so colorful and there’s so much detail in every piece it kind of boggles my mind! It’s definitely something you should see in person. Honestly, I never read super long commentaries so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. 🙂

the 2nd floor of The Modern decorated with Murakami’s design – reminded us of Lisa Frank!

I really loved the detail in his work.

Mr. DOB panda edition?

The Kanye West bear

This room seriously made me so happy!

Probably my favorite in the whole exhibit – the detail and colors in this one is RIDICULOUS!

Sculpture with little creatures hidden

I thought this room was empty but Mr. DOB was hanging out up top

 

These flowers seriously made me so happy!



Have you been to any art exhibits? What has been your favorite?
Let me know in the comments below!

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Dallas Destination Texas USA

Enchant Christmas Light Maze at Globe Life Park

Enchant Christmas is the world’s largest outdoor Christmas light maze at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. It is the first time they’ve brought it out to Texas and I heard about it from one of my good friends while we were hanging out on Christmas Day. I didn’t get to go home to Hawai’i for the holidays this year and hadn’t really been feeling the Christmas spirit, but just driving up to Enchant made me feel giddy like a little kid! I don’t know what it is about Christmas lights, but it definitely made my Christmas!

Tickets cost $29.95 for adults and $21.95 for children. They do give military, senior, EMS, and first responder discount as well as family packs. You can purchase tickets in advanced on their website at www.enchantchristmas.com, but since we went last minute, we purchased them there. The maze is open until December 31st, 2018 so if you’re in the Dallas metro, you have one last weekend to go check it out!



There’s so many things to do and see there, like the ice skating pond, marketplace, Santa’s palace, food trucks, and the Christmas maze. The maze is definitely the highlight. We really just went for the maze and photo ops! We were freezing afterwards and got some spiked hot chocolate, which was definitely the cherry on top of the night. But without further ado, the pictures!

entrance to the maze

icicles

 

giant lit ornament

snowflakes

mini tunnel of string lights

ugly laughing face

obligatory selfies



tunnel of lights

bridge over the ice pond

Texas sign – because, Texas

Have you been to any cool Christmas things this season? Where did you go?
Categories
Coffee Dallas Dallas Eats Destination Food & Drink Texas USA

Starbucks Reserve | Uptown Dallas

 

Anyone who knows me knows how much of a Starbucks aficionado I am. I’ve been a gold card member for years and have a pretty hefty Starbucks city mug and tumblr collection, but that’ll all have to share another time. So when I heard there was a Starbucks Reserve opening in Uptown Dallas – and within walking distance! – I was all over it.

 




 

 

A Starbucks Reserve is a craft coffee bar – basically a fancy hipster Starbucks. The flagship reserve store is located in Seattle, of course, but reserve shops are popping up all over the U.S. They have all the typical Starbucks drinks but feature the small lot coffees and fancy brews like nitro cold brew, clover coffee, siphon, etc. They also serve floats and affogato, though I’m not sure about the food menu.

 

 

The Uptown Dallas location is nestled on the corner of McKinney and Olive in the appropriately named 20 floor building. When I moved to Uptown a few months ago, I knew they were building a Starbucks there but had no idea it was going to be a reserve. If you blink too quickly, you might miss it because the infamous siren logo is nowhere to be found.

 

 

Once you walk in, you’ll notice the bar equipped with all kinds of brewing gadgets and the reserve coffees on display. The seating area is wide and open with tons of space and outlets to plug in. Everything from the chalkboard menu to the food display screams hipster minimalist and if I’m being completely honest, the millennial in me totally loves it.

 

 

From what I hear, this particular Reserve store opened at the end of June 2017. I’ve been three times since I heard about it and I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere, but I like being there more than a regular Starbucks and I love how the special coffee menu changes. The first time I went, I went with a friend just to check it out. I’m a sucker for nitro anything (love me some nitro Guinness) so I tried the Nitro Cold Brew and you know I had to get the Classic Affogato! Normally I’m not a fan of Starbie’s cold brew, but I love it in nitro form. I don’t have a big sweet tooth, but the Affogato was really good.

 

The second time I went I tried the Iced Hazelnut Bianco Latte – a house-made hazelnut-praline-infused milk combined with small-lot espresso. I really liked the hazelnut-praline flavor but the infused milk just really sweet. I even tried it with an extra shot, but it’s just too much for me. Maybe if they toned it down a little, I might actually like it more than my favorite, the light caramel extra shot Macchiato.

 

The third time I went, I tried the Nitro Cascara Cloud Cold Brew. If you don’t know, cascara is the dried skin of coffee cherries. I’m definitely a fan of their Cascara Latte, so this was right up my alley. I’m thinking I’m going to be a regular here, although there are a few coffee shops in the area I haven’t checked out yet!

 

Overall, love the store, love the concept, and of course, love the coffee. There is much coffee to be had at this Reserve store. Although the notorious green siren is MIA, I totally approve of the reserve logo. I mean how cute are these cups? #starbuckshoe

 

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