Dalat – Vietnamese Comfort Food in East Dallas

Dear Dalat, I must confess. I strayed tonight. I went elsewhere for my pho. I couldn’t help it. I really needed a quick fix and well… it was just there. I didn’t even stay and eat. Just got my take out and ran. But when I got home, the kids knew immediately. They knew as soon as they smelled the broth. They pouted and then REFUSED TO EAT IT!! Lesson learned, I won’t be straying again.

Dalat beef pho – http://www.ittybittyfoodies.com

“Mr Khanh has the best pho,” declared Pikelet of Khanh Nguyen, owner of Dalat Vietnamese restaurant on Fitzhugh. The boys love the fragrant, silky, rich broth that Nguyen simmers for hours. The beef is lean and never grizzly or fat which is atypical of Vietnamese food. But that’s the way Nguyen likes it as do my two precocious children.

Village Baking Co. – now open everyday

Pastries everyday of the week from Village Baking Co

Looks like the secret’s out about our favorite boulangerie. Village Baking Co is now open for business daily from 7am-3pm. No need to wait for the later part of the week to get your baguette and breads or indulge in a buttery kovign-amman (also available in chocolate too), pain au chocolat or laminated brioche. The bakery is so busy especially in the mornings that the only wait is actually in the line to get your hands on their artisanal baked goodies!

Click here for Village Baking Co.

Till our next Happy Meal!

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ittybittyfoodie

 

Village Baking Co. –

(Clockwise) Laminated brioche, almond croisssant, chocolate canelés and pain au chocolat

Like little pigs with their noses to the ground sniffing for truffles, every so often a foodie finds a hidden treasure like we did with Village Baking Company. For months we drove by their baking facility on University Blvd and each time my little piggies hold their noses in the air commenting that something smelt yummy. Then one day, someone propped up a small sign that said “Pastries & Artisan Breads” that lured us right into their small showroom lined with fresh baked breads and pastries. There’s no ‘shop front’ to speak of and you just pull up to what looks like the backdoor to the baking warehouse.

East Hampton Sandwich Company

Southern Fried Chicken and Jack

Four year old Lollo’s favorite ‘burger joint’ is actually the new sandwich shop in Snider Plaza called East Hampton Sandwich Co. I’ve tasted it and the burger patty itself is not unlike many other burger places but we finally figured that it’s the bread that makes Lollo yearn for more. Lines have been snaking out the door at lunch time so if you’ve got little ones in tow, be smart and head there early for lunch or avoid lunch altogether and go in for an early dinner.

Start Restaurant – a drive thru serving real food

The mommy set are abuzzed with the opening of Start Restaurant. They serve real food and there’s a drive thru? Yes, it’s all true. The new fast slow food restaurant next door to Rusty Taco’s and a few doors from Central Market (Lovers location) had been jammed with mommy vehicles packed with hungry tikes making the drive through not so fast in the first few weeks.

Bowery – Eat Good Dogs

Decor by John Paul Valverde from Coeval Design

Hot dogs are my personal weakness and the newly opened Bowery in Uptown serves them just the way this Mama likes them; with Champagne cocktails. Whether you like a classic Chicago dog or something more high brow with wagyu or foie gras, rest assured that all the sausages are hand-made, grass fed (where applicable) and organic; the buns are baked daily.

Taco Ocho in Richardson

Order and pick up at the counter

The IttyBittyFoodies have discovered the joy of tortas, the Latin American version of the baguette that is so popular on the streets of Mexico City. We recently lunched at the Latin-inspired Taco Ocho in Richardson where the menu features eight tacos, eight tostadas and eight tortas.

The Pearl in San Antonio is a foodie’s gem for the non-chain-restaurant tourist

Crabcake sandwich from Sandbar Fish House and Market

San Antonio is best known for the Alamo and it’s Riverwalk but non-chain restaurants are hard to find in these touristy parts. And then we discovered The Pearl, a gem of a destination featuring a farmers’ market, a variety of great restaurants and shops and home to the American Institute of Architects in San Antonio, Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio and Aveda Institute.

Kreuz Market – Lockhart Texas

Summer time means road trips especially around the Texas Hill Country. Beefcake’s favorite BBQ spots of all time is Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Tx. Lockhart has long time been known as the BBQ capital.

We favor Kreuz Market because they are bold enough to serve their meat almost naked, no sauce with just a rub. It’s heaven when there’s nothing in between you and a perfect prime rib. Texans have an unrivalled talent for smoking and slow roasting meats, there’s no need to hide it if it’s done right.

Hattie’s Restaurant – Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff

We’ll never forget the first time we went to Hattie’s Restaurant in 2004 and our delight as we walked in to this Southern mainstay of Bishop Arts District. For this reason, whenever we have visitors, Hattie’s Restaurant tops our list. We enjoy watching their eyes light up in surprise as they step into the sunbathed and airy dining room, a contrast to it’s jet black exterior. Of course, the delectable Southern comfort cuisine remains as consistent as ever.

Hypnotic Donuts

Dallas has fallen under the spell of Hypnotic Donuts in Casa Linda. At 9.45am on a Saturday morning, our line was busting out the door as they tortured us with the beckoning aromas of donuts mixed with fried chicken. The cult following started in 2010 when Hypnotic Donuts shared a space with The Pizza Guy on weekends. This year, the Hypnotic hyppies finally found a home just down the street from the Dallas Arboretum on Garland Road.

Sushi Sake in Richardson

Having eaten sushi since he was 18 months old, my 6 year old, Pikelet has become quite the connoisseur of raw fish. He especially loves octopus and clams and he knows just where to get some of the best in Dallas. His favorite is Sushi Sake.

If you don’t happen to live in Richardson or Plano, heading up to the no-reservations Sushi Sake takes a little planning especially on weekends. Try on a Friday night a little after 6.30pm and the waits for a table are grueling. But one look at the Japanese sushi chefs behind the sushi bar and one instinctively expects mastery.

Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine at The Shops of Highland Park

Julian Barsotti’s new Italian-American eatery, Carbone’s is as hot as the meatballs he serves right now. Carbone’s joins the popular dining row at The Shops of Highland Park  next to La Duni Latin Kitchen & Baking Studio, Nosh and Asian Mint on Oaklawn. We’re fans of Barsotti’s first venture, Nonna and when we heard, he was opening a casual over-the-counter Italian cafe, Ittybittyfoodies visited in the first week (twice).

DaLat – Vietnamese Comfort Food late at night

Before we had kids, Beefcake and I would think nothing of eating at all hours of the night. A souvlaki perhaps after a night of clubbing or a midnight bowl of pho. But after the kids were born, we had midnight feeds of another kind which makes DaLat attractive if you’re still breastfeeding an infant. DaLat, the new Vietnamese joint on Fitzhugh is in it’s soft opening stages and opened nightly from 10pm to 2am.

Chicken Scratch in Oak Cliff

 

Chicken Scratch at dusk

It’s 6.30pm on a Saturday night when we spontaneously decided to head down to Chicken Scratch in Oak Cliff. We called to ask if we needed to book a table but the voice on the phone said almost prophetically, “There’s no reservations but there’s tables right now but who knows… there might be a line out the door in 15 minutes time”.

Good 2 Go Taco in Casa Linda

“This tastes delightfully strange,” comments Beefcake as he bites into the fried chicken “Hotlanta” taco from Good 2 Go Taco. The well seasoned waffle-battered chicken breast crunched and gave way to devilishly succulent meat.  Warm sweet potatoes in honey butter lay underneath and the whole concoction is wrapped in a warm springy taco.

The busy Casa Linda taco shop shares a space with Cultivar Coffee run by passionate tattooed baristas with cool, thick black rimmed glasses.

Bolsa Mercado in Oak Cliff

Sometimes (well.. most times) we want our food fast but we don’t want fast food. So we go to Bolsa Mercado which is a few doors away from the Bolsa the restaurant which had a 45 minute wait on Sunday morning.

Bolsa Mercado which opened December 2011,  is more than a market, it’s also a coffee bar and mini deli which serves house-made kolaches, breakfast muffins, pastries, salads and sandwiches.

Kalachandji’s Restaurant

Kalachandji’s Restaurant is not your typical Dallas dining experience, it is housed inside the Sri Sri Radna Mandir Hare Krisna Temple. As you wander in, diners are transported to a private oasis. A cosy sunlit courtyard surrounded by lush greenery and the sound of babbling water eases all the day’s woes away. We didn’t know what to expect and were pleased to see several families already seated.

Nosh Euro Bistro

Nosh Euro Bistro, owned by award wining Chef Avner Samuel, is one of those places that most people never think of taking their kids to. Maybe because Nosh sounds a bit like ‘posh’ or the word ‘Euro’ has fancy connotations but it is surprisingly kid friendly. They even have high chairs to prop up your ittybittyfoodies as they munch on classic French style escargot done with lots of butter, herbs and garlic served with a nub of crusty bread.

Dim Sum – the point & eat food

traditional dim sum

In honor of the Lunar New Year, we wanted to share one of our favorite Chinese meals – Dim Sum. Pikelet and Lollo love dim sum – the traditional Chinese brunch food and we like to frequent Kirin Court Chinese Restaurant in Richardson. The crowd is mainly Asian (always a good sign) but the staff speak enough English to get by.  The most fun part of dim sum is in the ordering. Servers wheel carts filled with steam dumpling and little plates and present them to you at the table. All you need to do is point to what you’d like and they serve it immediately. It’s so easy, no Chinese required and even the kids get in on the action. I liken it to online shopping and for us, dim sum is our ultimate ’point and click’ meal.