The Six Best Seafood Dishes in Dallas
We'd put these beautifully crafted plates up against offerings from the world's finest restaurants.
By by Nancy Nichols
D Magazine MAY 2010
Pan-crisped Halibut
Chef Chris Ward sautes a thick, “pavé” cut of halibut in clarified butter and swaddles the fish in a chicken stock sauce scented with truffles. The halibut is set atop a bed of roasted breakfast radishes, tricolor cauliflower, braised fennel, and roasted “oblique”-cut carrots. It is topped with artichoke guacamole; sliced artichoke heart; peeled, braised cherry tomato; and a fried lotus root chip. $32
Short Smoked Salmon
This white tablecloth seafood spot in Highland Park has been open for 29 years. One of its more popular dishes is the house-smoked salmon. Marinated in a soy-based sauce, the fish is quickly cold-smoked over hickory to infuse flavor. Grilled to rare or medium rare, the salmon is drizzled with a Pommery aïoli and comes with shoestring potatoes and sesame sautéed spinach. $26.90.
Fish Cheeks Fish & Chips
Chef-owner Nick Badovinus has given this popular British take-away food a groovy and glamorous twist. Rather than work with frozen cod, Badovinus uses the sweet meat of halibut, cod, or grouper cheeks and fries it in a light (as in Miller Lite) beer batter and serves it with a smoky paprika-spiked rémoulade sauce, malt vinegar slaw, and hand-cut fries. $15
Grilled Ishimochi
Teiichi Sakurai, owner and chef at Tei-An, is a man of few words. So is his recipe for the restaurant’s grilled ishimochi. The preparation is simple: the sun-dried whole fish is imported from Japan. At Tei-An, it is grilled. The resulting soft, almost sweet-tasting, meat contrasts nicely with daikon radish and lime. $17.
Prosciutto-wrapped Diver Scallop
For this appetizer, chef Avner Samuel surrounds a diver scallop with a slice of prosciutto before sauteing it in olive oil. Once browned, the scallop is placed in a bowl with a light langoustine sauce and garnished with a European-style purée made with garlic, leeks, imported butter, and reduced heavy cream. $19.
Black-and-Blue Texas Redfish
Oceanaire receives redfish daily from the Gulf of Mexico. The mild fish with a firm texture is dusted with the kitchen’s special blend of blackened seasoning and grilled. After the fish is placed on a bed of onions caramelized in sherry, a dollop of house-made Roquefort blue cheese butter is melted on top. $23.95.