Donna Cooks

A Louisiana-based chain of fast food chicken restaurants has recently sprouted up in the Dallas area.  Raising Cane’s has one location in far north Dallas at Preston & Belt Line and one at Hebron Pkwy at IH 35E.  I don’t eat fast food too often, but I haven’t had much time to cook since I’m trying to cram in all these home improvement projects before moving in 2 weeks.  Between a busy work schedule and finals at school coming up, weekend home improvement projects translate into fast food meals.

Cane’s sounded like a promising choice (within fast food options) with their “our chicken is never frozen” slogan.  Our first surprise when we entered the restaurant is the limited menu selection.  When they say chicken fingers, they mean chicken fingers.  That’s all there is on the menu unless you consider the chicken finger sandwich (chicken fingers on a bun) variety.  We ordered the #3 Caniac Combo to split (6 chicken fingers, extra fries, cole slaw, Cane’s sauce, Texas Toast, and a large drink).

The chicken strips were tender and crispy, but really really bland.  I suppose that’s why they give you Cane’s special sauce, which to me just tasted like thousand island dressing with extra black pepper, not so special.  A little Google research reveals that Cane’s sauce is identical to Guthrie’s sauce (a small Alabama-based chain in operation since the 1980’s):

1⁄2 cup mayonnaise

1⁄4 cup ketchup

1⁄2 tablespoon garlic powder

1⁄2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

Generous amount of black pepper (cover surface two or three times and mix in)

I’d rather have ranch dressing, or even country gravy.  The crinkle fries tasted like the frozen Oreida variety except more greasy.  The Texas Toast was disgustingly greasy.  The cole slaw had so much mayonnaise that it looked like a thick soup instead of slaw.  The sweet tea was way too sweet and provided no relief from the greasy meal.

Other than the actual chicken and batter being a decent texture (but needs flavor), everything at Raising Cane’s disappointed.  Why anyone would want to pay near casual dining restaurant prices for bad fast food is beyond me, as the restaurant was quite busy during this Saturday lunch.  I’d rather go to Popeye’s any day.

My companion pointed out something that may lend insight to my confounding question.  Let’s just say that the demographics of Raising Cane’s customers aren’t quite the same as that of Popeye’s or Church’s.  With locations in primarily affluent neighborhoods, at least judging by their Texas locations (Houston locations are in west Houston and The Woodlands), Cane’s bland chicken has the right “safe” appeal to people of “safe” tastes. 

Rating: 2/5

Raising Cane’s
720 W. Hebron Pkwy
Lewisville, TX 75057 (locations all over the US)

DallasFood.org did a series of detailed reports on finding the best chicken fried steak in Dallas a while ago (reports now published in D Magazine).  Imagine my shock when the #1 CFS was finally revealed to be at none other than Ozona Bar & Grill, a mini chain with two locations, one in Dallas, and one in none other than Aggie Mecca, College Station.  In my 4 years at Texas A&M, I never went to Ozona.  The College Station location is on a street with tons of chain restaurants (I think this actually describes every street in College Station).  Tucked between Johnny Carino’s, Rudy’s BBQ, and Fazoli’s, it never struck me that Ozona would be anything special.

Seeing that I’m not the lone CFS fan in my group of friends, we had to give this #1 place a shot.  Among my little group, our favorite (and perhaps biased favorite since it is Aggie-owned) CFS joint in the Dallas area is Kelly’s Eastside in downtown Plano.  We had to compare, was Ozona going to takeover as the new favorite?

We met up for dinner at Ozona on a Monday night, which happened to be $1 margarita night, which equals great news.  We were off to a good start, and an even better one when we ordered onion rings as an appetizer.

It’s amazing how in this world of fancy culinary techniques and new fusion ideas, a decent basket of onion rings is still a rarity.  The ones at Ozona, crispy and golden and not too greasy, were perfection.  The honey mustard dipping sauce was the perfect complement.  I love onion rings.  Before this visit to Ozona, my favorites were from Clear Springs Seafood Restaurant in Tyler, Texas.  The ones at Ozona are at least as good if not better, and a lot closer to home.

The $9.50 CFS plate comes with fries and a salad.  After seeing all the raves about the spinach salad on DallasFood.org, that’s the choice I went with.

The spinach salad, with sliced mushrooms, bacon bits, croutons, battered fried jalapenos, and shredded cheese in a honey mustard dressing, is much more than what you would expect from a starter salad.  It was a memorable salad, but a tad overdressed on this visit.  Usually with a side salad, my complaint is that it comes with too few croutons.  My complaint on this one is actually the opposite, almost half the bowl was croutons.  I could’ve used a few more leaves of spinach.

Onto the main course (and reason we were there)!  CFS with french fries (this is actually half the serving size since I split a plate with someone.  At $9.50, this is a great deal since it easily feeds two).

This was a good CFS.  It has been tenderized so it was not at all grainy and the batter was very crispy.  DallasFood.org was right on with its assessment of the CFS’s strong beefy flavor.  I thought the gravy, though creamy with just the right amount of viscosity, could’ve used a tad more black pepper.  I have to argue that with my personal preference, I thought the CFS had been over-tenderized, so much so that it lost some of the texture you expect from CFS.  Perhaps I’ll have to try DallasFood.org’s runner up CFS at Allgood Cafe that has more of the grainy texture I’m used to.

Onto the sides.  The fries here are mediocre at best.  The soggy, greasy fries boggle the mind.  How can the battered fried onion rings, jalapeno pepper toppers, and CFS be of such golden crisp perfection when the fries just plain suck?  DallasFood.org raised the same question in its reports, and I have no answer.  To be fair, DallasFood.org did say to order the garlic mashed potatoes (which are supposed to be smashing) in place of the fries but I forgot on this visit.  The white toast is, well, white toast.

If the CFS at Ozona Grill and Kelly’s Eastside are comparable (though different in style) in quality, taste, price, and size (Ozona gives two regular sized pieces whereas Kelly’s gives you one giant slab of cow), then who reigns supreme?  It comes down to the side dishes.  If you’re a huge fan of Ozona spinach salad and can remember to sub out garlic mashed potatoes for the soggy fries, then go for Ozona.  But I’ll still vote for Kelly’s Eastside as my favorite.  You get a choice of two vegetable sides (love their mashed potatoes topped with queso and squash casserole when it’s available) and most importantly, that awesome buttery, fluffy corn bread.  It’s a million times better than white toast.

But I’ll still come back to Ozona, if nothing else but for their beautiful onion rings and $1 margarita nights.  I guess I’ll have a CFS while I’m at it

Rating: 4/5

Ozona Bar & Grill
4615 Greenville Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206

As a complete side note, my friend had his stereo jacked from his truck while we were eating dinner at Ozona (he parked right in the main parking lot).  So make sure you take extra precautions (put away your stereo face if that’s an option) if you go here. 

Attention Dallas sushi lovers, if you love sushi (because you love the food, not because you love the trendiness of the sushi restaurant scene) and want to find an affordable, quality place for sushi, try Seabose Grocery at the southwest corner of Marsh and Trinity Mills.  Seabose is a small Japanese grocery store that flies in fresh sushi grade fish every Tuesday and Friday.  You can buy your own fish or order rolls or nigri (made to order by the in-store sushi chef). 

After getting the tip about Seabose on Chowhound, I couldn’t wait to try this place.  I love going out for sushi, but I’m not always up for getting dressed up and making an entire night of it.  Sometimes you just want quick sushi to satisfy the craving.  And let’s face it, grocery store sushi just doesn’t cut it. 

Last Friday was just one of those nights.  The cold and rain didn’t seem inviting for a night out.  I stopped by Seabose to pick up some sushi to go (there is no dining area).  This is a small operation.  One girl behind the cashier’s drawer, one sushi chef, and one more lady running between the other two straightening up loose ends.  After scanning the menu, I decided on the Chef’s Combo, 5 pieces of assorted nigri and a tuna roll for $7.99, and added an extra piece of salmon nigri for $1.50.

While I waited for my sushi to be prepared (you can also call ahead to order, I saw a Japanese man who ordered two party platters come in and out quickly), I walked around the store examining the selection of sushi grade tuna, salmon, cuttlefish, yellowtail, and others I can’t recall.  If you’re willing to cut and prepare your own sushi, this is a great resource.

When my order was ready, they packaged it up with a packet of wasabi paste, soy sauce, green tea bag, and chopsticks.  And the sushi was splendid!

The fish was so fresh that every piece practically melted in your mouth, yum!  The fatty tuna was especially memorable, plump and soft.  I’m still undecided about the cuttlefish, the texture was just a tad too rubbery/weird for me. 

So the word is out on affordable and fresh sushi, Dallas sushi lovers.  If you can read Japanese, then you can visit the Seabose blog which actually posts what type of fish they’re getting each week.  But if Japanese characters mean nothing to you (as in my case), then you’ll just have to drop by the store to find out.

Seabose Grocery
2670 Trinity Mills Rd
Carrollton, TX 75006

Sprinkles, the Beverly Hills cupcake boutique, opened its doors in Dallas last Monday.  Yes, I did just call it a cupcake boutique.  What else would it be called at $3.25 per cupcake?  DFW is certainly no stranger to high priced sweets, with Plano being the home of the world’s most expensive chocolates, NoKa.  Can another luxury high-calorie commodity like cupcakes survive?  Judging by the insane lines outside the newly opened Sprinkles store (expect waits up to two hours), the answer is yes.

So what is the craze about?  The most common rave I hear about Sprinkles is that they are Oprah’s favorite cupcakes.  If they’re good enough for Oprah, they should be good enough for me, right?  Well, I’m not exactly in the same income tax bracket as Oprah, but I was fortunate enough to have a sweet friend who brought me two dozen of these treats for my birthday (after waiting in line for more than an hour).  Here’s my two cents on Sprinkles’ $3.25 “designer” baked goods.

We had 8 different flavors at the birthday party: black & white, dark chocolate, red velvet, vanilla, chai latte, lemon coconut, pumpkin, and strawberry (3 of each flavor).  The cupcakes are about average size with plenty of icing.  In fact, maybe it’s a little too much icing.  They have an attractive round shape (round and stout) and when lined up neatly in the box, the uniformity is charmingly cute.  Thus far I have tried four flavors, dark chocolate, vanilla, chai latte, and pumpkin.  With the thick layer of icing on the cupcake, I find the naturally less sweet flavors (chai latte and pumpkin) more appealing than the sweeter ones.  The cupcakes are so rich that for me, it is impossible to eat more than one in one sitting.  With richer flavors like vanilla, it’s hard to even eat a whole one in one sitting.  It’s a good cupcake, but I can’t seem to find anything to justify the $3.25/cupcake price tag.  They’re definitely better than the cupcakes at your local grocer bakery (icing does not have that artificial pasty taste or texture), but they are also about 10 times more expensive.  Out of the four flavors I’ve tried, chai latte is currently the favorite.  It tastes exactly like the Starbucks chai latte, and that almost justifies the $3.25 pricetag since a cup of the stuff at Starbucks will cost about the same (even more if you want soy milk substitute).

Nonetheless, the cupcakes were a crowd pleaser.  We managed to finish 14 cupcakes among the dozen guests at the party.  But now, I have the ultimate dilemma.  I have $32 worth of cupcakes leftover in my fridge and swimsuit season just around the corner…

Sprinkles Cupcakes
4020 Villanova Dr.
Dallas, 75225

For some time now, the First Chinese BBQ chain has dominated in the DFW area for authentic Chinese cuisine (Cantonese specialty). Ask any food lover for the best Chinese food in town, and they’ll take you right to the hanging roasted pigs and ducks at First Chinese BBQ. A new Asian supermarket, Asia World Market, recently opened in northeast Plano (Legacy at 75), and has brought some new Asian restaurants to the DFW dining scene.

I was checking out the new Asia World Market before a BYOB dinner (almost a weekly ritual now since there are quite a few good BYOB restaurants in DFW) at Jasmine Thai (my favorite Thai place in DFW thus far). By the way, the Asia World Market is large, clean, with a good selection of all sorts of Asian foods. I noticed that Japanese and Korean items had their own aisles. Anyway, armed with a bottle of Yalumba Barossa, I was ready for some excellent Thai. However, out of all the restaurants in the shopping center, we noticed one with a particularly busy amount of activity, New San Dor.

I went in with the intention of grabbing a takeout menu and coming back another time, but between the modern sophisticated look of the restaurant (love the clay orange walls) and the mouthwatering extensive Cantonese menu, I knew I had to try it for dinner that very night. Jasmine Thai would have to wait until another time as we put our name down on New San Dor’s waiting list.

Here’s the downside to eating at New San Dor (and hopefully it’s temporary): the restaurant has been open for less than a month and the employees’ efficiency completely reflect the restaurant’s new-ness. The logistics of clearing out tables and seating new customers didn’t flow smoothly. What was quoted as a 10 minute wait turned out to be 25 minutes. I’m not a patient one so this unexpected wait was irking at my irritability.

Once seated, service was much more prompt. Turns out New San Dor offers wine and beer but will allow you to BYO for a $5 corking fee, not too bad at all, especially considering the waiter goes through the whole ceremonial bit (I hate when restaurants charge a corking fee, but then just leave a corkscrew at your table for self-service). The menu was expansive, somehow we narrowed it down to two entrees, the sizzling seafood plate and beef with bitter melon. While we waited for our entrees, I took notice of the patrons around us. A Chinese family to our left had ordered an appetizing vegetarian tofu stir-fry, crispy chicken, and some sort of hot pot. The WASPy couple to our right had ordered your Americanized Chinese standards, sesame chicken and broccoli beef. Usually, at these authentic type Chinese restaurants, their “fake” Chinese food is lacking (like at First Chinese BBQ). Surprisingly, at New San Dor, perfectly glistening individual pieces (not stuck together by the gummy soggy batter) of sesame chicken is served on a bed of fresh steamed broccoli and beef with broccoli is actually beef slices with Chinese broccoli (gai lan). Now, I only got to see these dishes, not taste them, but the couple next to us scarfed their food down in no time, noting how delicious it is with every bite.  Here’s the run down on our entrees:

Sizzling Seafood Plate:

I don’t think I can rave enough about this dish.  I’m not even a big seafood lover but I’ve been thinking about this dish for half a week now.  Tender lightly floured pieces of shrimp, calamari, and scallops in a brown sauce seasoned with garlic and black pepper.  The calamari was pleasantly chewy and the scallops perfectly tender, the shrimp was a little bit too well done.  It’s like seafood fajitas with a great Cantonese-style sauce.

Beef with Bitter Melon:

Bitter melon is a Chinese veggie that is more like squash than melon, and as its name implies, is bitter.  Saying that it’s an acquired taste is an understatement.  I’m actually not a die-hard fan of bitter melon (I was with an adventurous companion who insisted he wanted to give bitter melon a try), but I can handle it when the melon has been peeled before cooked (the skin is the most bitter part), like at Genroku.  New San Dor’s version had the skin on (which is common in traditional preparation) and was a little too bitter for my taste.  If you don’t think you’re into bitter vegetables, I challenge you to try the tender beef slices in the same dish.  They have just a hint of bitterness, providing some depth to the otherwise simple brown sauce.  As expected, my companion didn’t become a bitter melon fan, but still ate up the delicious beef slices.

Getting our check took a little longer than we wanted, but I’m not going to be too harsh on the service since the restaurant is so new.  Dinner was $38 for two entrees, corking fee, tax and tip, only a tad more expensive than First Chinese BBQ.  Every dish at New San Dor, both the ones we sampled and judging from the looks of the ones on the surrounding tables, was well-executed and as far as I can tell, used fresh ingredients.  I will definitely be back.  I noticed that there is a small menu of set family style dinners (prix fixe based on how many are in your party) written in Chinese.  I can’t read Chinese (only very basic characters) so perhaps when my parents are in town, we’ll give the set menu family style dinners a try. 

New San Dor is giving First Chinese BBQ a run for their money as my favorite Cantonese restaurant in DFW.  It doesn’t have the roasted goods hanging in the window, but the atmosphere and the tasty dishes are hard to beat.

Oh, one more thing.  Boba Latte, my favorite bubble tea place in DFW, has opened a second location in this shopping center (original at Belt Line & Greenville in Richardson).  They use real fruit instead of the powder stuff for smoothies and slushies.  Good place for dessert if you decide to try out New San Dor.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 (spruce up the service and this place gets a 5 in my book)

New San Dor
240 Legacy Dr
Plano, TX 75023