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RECOMMENDED RESTAURANTS

By D Magazine |

Restaurants are rated with stars: *(fair), ★★(good). ★★★(very good), ★★★★(excellent), ★★★★★(superlative)-for food quality alone. Service and atmosphere are commented on in reviews, but are not considered for star ratings.

Credit cards are: AE/American Express, MC/Master-Card. V/Visa, DC/Diners Club, CB/Carte Blanche. “All credit cards” means that all five are accepted.

Restaurant visits are anonymous, and all expenses are paid by D. Inclusion in this listing has nothing to do with paid advertising.

Please send comments and recommendations to Liz Logan, D Magazine, 3988 N. Central Expwy., Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75204.



AMERICAN NOUVELLE



BEAU NASH ★★★★ If you haven’t made it to Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in LA, you can meet your California cuisine needs at Beau Nash, where Puck-trained Steve Singer is chef. The New Wave pizzas-pheasant and smoked salmon/sour cream -are terrific. Fish -such as grilled swordfish with a gingery relish and grilled red snapper – is a good bet here, too. And the grilled veal liver is a must for liver lovers. Desserts are simply dy-no-mite: pies, such as rhubarb raspberry and blackberry buttermilk custard; homemade ice creams and sorbets; and cookies. Beau Nash has the look of a tropical brasserie on a Texas scale, and the dress code and service are relatively relaxed. Crescent Court Hotel, 400 Crescent Court, Maple at McKinney. 871-3240. Breakfast: daily 6:30-10:30; Lunch: Mon-Sat 11:30-2:30; dinner: daily 6-11:30; Sun brunch: 11-2:30. All credit cards. Expensive.



BLOM’’S ★★★★ I am not a service freak. Ordinarily, what interests me in a restaurant is on my plate. At Blom’s, however, the service is so unobtrusively terrific that it deserves recognition. As for the food, under the direction of Scottish chef Norman Preedy, it’s interesting, if not always consistent. The results of a recent dinner: an appetizer of overly chewy marinated duck with rosemary honey and soy sauce wasn’t as interesting as it sounded. Clam chowder with roasted corn was also something of a letdown. A farm salad of mixed greens with warm bacon dressing was much better than the overwhelmingly cheesy Belgian endive and mushrooms with Gouda cheese. Things started looking up with entrees: salmon with spinach and Cabernet Sauvignon, and grilled duck breast with rhubarb chutney and sliced apples. And dessert-baked-to-order paper-thin tarts-took dinner over the top into greatness. Apple was wonderful, but it was surpassed by the lush charm of pear. Partner this with blueberry goat cheese ice cream-sounds strange, tastes great-and you’ve got a dessert for the record books. Blom’s setting-with blond wood walls, tapestry love seats, and pianist on duty-is soothing if undistinguished. Westin Hotel, Galleria, 13340 Dallas Pkwy. 851-2882. Mon-Fri 6:30-10 pm. Sat & Sun 6-10. Jackets and ties required. All credit cards. Expensive.



ClTY CAFE ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 5757 W Lovers Lane (just west of Dallas N Tollway). 351-2233. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30; dinner: Mon-Sat 6-10:30. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



DAKOTA’S ★★★ New chef Lisa Smith, who is a veteran of New York’s Windows on the World and River Cafe, was working on a new menu for Dakota’s when we went to press. However, one assumes she will not depart in a major way from the winning formula that has made Dakota’s the hottest lunch ticket downtown: mesquite-grilled fish, fowl, and beef served in a glossy yet unstuffy setting. 600 N Akard. 740-4001. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-3; dinner: Sun-Thur 5-11, Fri & Sat 5-11:30; Sun brunch: 11-2:30. All credit cards. Lunch Moderate, dinner Expensive.



The Mansion On TURTLE CREEK ★★★★★ see “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 2821 Turtle Creek Blvd. 526-2121. Main dining room-jackets and ties required. Lunch: Mon-Fri noon-2:30; brunch: Sat noon-2:30, Sun 11-2:30: dinner: Sun-Thur 6-10:30, Fri & Sat 6-11: supper: Mon-Thur 10:30 pm-midnight, Fri & Sat 11 pm-midnight. Promenade Room-breakfast: daily 7-10:30: Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2: tea: Mon-Fri 3-5:30. All credit cards. Expensive.



NOUNE BAR & GRILL ★★★★ Richard Chase’s latest venture is a shuttered, dimly lit retreat from the literal and metaphoric heat of downtown Dallas. This is an establishment that caters to warring temperaments: those inclined toward lollygagging will find its relaxed tenor conducive to lingering, while their Type A companions can cut deals on the tabletop telephones. Chef Mike Dunn has designed the evolving daily menu with an emphasis on Southwestern grilled fare. 302 N Market (entrance on Pacific). 747-6430. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2:30, dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10. Fri & Sat 5-11. All credit cards. Expensive.

PaRIGI ★★★★ Saturday brunch at Parigi is one of the most civilized ways imaginable to begin the weekend. (Sunday brunch, unfortunately, is not an option because Parigi isn’t open then.) In slick, post-modern surroundings, one can gather one’s forces for the usual winding-up-the-week round of shopping, errand-running, and socializing. Fresh-squeezed juice, espresso, mega-muffins, and peerless variations of scrambled eggs (with bacon and cream cheese, for instance) are the culinary attraction. Lunch and dinner, like brunch, feature a changing menu, but the cold sliced beef tenderloin is a lunchtime constant that is always a good idea. 3311 Oak Lawn, Suite 102. 521-0295. Lunch: Tue-Fri 11:30-2:30; dinner: Tue-Thur 6:30-10:30. Fri & Sat 6:30-11; Sat brunch: 11-3. Closed Sun & Mon. MC, V, AE. DC. Expensive.



PLAZA CAFE ★★★★ Mansion alumni Wayne Broadwell (up front) and Avner Samuel (in the kitchen) have opened what promises to be an oasis for the design community in an area previously bereft of top-quality food. (Ironically, however, the place is not aesthetically breathtaking.) For lunch, the goat cheese pizza, grilled breast of chicken with basil vinaigrette, and crème brulée are all winners. 1444 Oak Lawn. 742-4433. Breakfast: Mon-Fri 7:30-10:30: Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-4:30: dinner: Thur & Fri 6-10:30: Happy hour: Mon-Fri 4:30 pm-8:30 pm. MC, V. AE. Moderate to expensive.



ROUTH STREET CAFE ★★★★★ See The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 3005 Routh at Cedar Springs. 871-7161. Tue-Sat 6-10:30pm. Closed Sun& Mon. Reservations. All credit cards. Expensive.



WEST END OASIS ★★★★★ A new menu was being readied at press time, so the choices from the last menu may not be available. In any case, such past selections as salad with curly endive, Bibb lettuce, goat cheese, and pine nuts; soup of Gulf fish, jalapenos, sweet potato, and coconut milk; and seafood linguine with white wine and creamed basil sauce suggest that chef Lionel Garnier can be relied on to produce imaginative, well-prepared fare. With its granite waterfall, contemporary art, and handsome woodsy setting in the restored Texas Moline Building, Oasis is a visual feast, too. 302 N Market (entrance on Pacific). 698-9775. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 6-10. Fri & Sat 6-11. All credit cards. Very expensive.



BARBECUE



ANDERSON’S BARBECUE HOUSE ★★ This Harry Hines barbecue place (right across from Southwestern Medical School) used to be called Epp’s. but the name is really the only thing changed. The barbecue is still excellent, and the people are still friendly. The smallish ribs have a smoky flavor, and you can ask for outside cuts of the tender sliced beef. The side dishes are truly outstanding: the trench fries and okra are both fresh and freshly fried. You can also find such delicacies as butter beans and green beans with ham. 5410 Harry Hines Blvd. 630-0735. Mon-Fri 11 am-7:45 pm. Sat 11 am-3pm. No credit cards; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



SONNY BRYAN’S ★★ Some things never change, and thank goodness Sonny Bryan’s still seems to be one of them. The barbecue is unequaled in Dallas-smoky ribs with the slightest crunch of char, beef slices with a smooth texture and a rich flavor. Aside from the vinegar-sparked sauce (served in dispensers kept hot on a warming plate) and fine onion rings, the rest of the food isn’t notable, but the roadhouse atmosphere is. You order standing up in the middle of a crowd, and sit on school desks if you can find one amid the litter. 2202 Inwood. 357-7120. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-3 pm, Sun 11 am-2pm. No credit cards; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



BURGERS



SNUFFER’S ★★★ This burger emporium has become a Lower Greenville institution, serving tasty, high-quality food from the small but varied menu. Although the burgers are famous, the marinated chicken breast sandwich is no slouch, either. The fried mushrooms with their spicy batter are very tasty as well. But those in the mood for pure caloric self-indulgence should go straight for the Cheddar fries-a huge basket of french fries smothered in sinful amounts of melted Cheddar cheese. The dark, woodsy interior is conducive to casual conversation over a few beers with friends, but perhaps Snuffer’s strongest point is that it’s open till 2 am every night, making it one of the few Dallas sanctuaries for late-night munching. 3526 Greenville. 826-6850. Mon-Sat11 am-2am. Sun 11:30am-2am. All credit cards. Inexpensive.



CAJUN



ARCADIA BAR ★★★★ First things first: the Arcadia Bar has nothing to do with the Arcadia Theater, which isacross the street. The Arcadia Bar is a no-frills hangout. (The music is mostly recorded, though there is sometimes a pianist.) The menu is small, mostly Cajun, and all deftly executed. From a perky green salad to perfect fried oysters to New Orleans-quality dirty rice, the food is first-rate. 2114 Greenville Ave. 821-1300. Daily 5 pm-2 am. MC. V, AE. Inexpensive.



CAFE MARGAUX ★★★★★ See The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 4424 Lovers Lane. 739-0886. Sun-Thur 6-10, Fri & Sat 6-11. MC, V. Moderate.



DeCATUR St. ★★★ Although Decatur St. is more uneven than Cafe Margaux, its main Cajun competitor, the best dishes engender great hope for the future here. Soups-including gumbo, oyster and artichoke, and Creole chicken-are quite satisfying here. They are equaled in quality by appetizers such as shrimp rémoulade, redfish beignets, and rabbit tenderloin with mustard sauce. Among entrees, fried catfish is a standout, although blackened redfish also shouldn’t be missed. For dessert there is cheesecake or bread pudding. 7015 Greenville. 361-4772. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2:30; dinner: Mon-Thur 5:30-10, Fri 5:30-11, Sat 11-11. Closed Sun. MC. V, AE. Moderate.



CHINESE



CATHY’S WOK ★★ While what emerges from Cathy’s Wok won’t knock your socks off and is not worth the haul to the North land if you live in Dallas, it is a worthwhile alternative if you are a resident of Piano. From the informative menu (dishes are described in detail, complete with calorie count), we tried decent wonton soup, an egg roll that was heavy on the cabbage, peppery chicken (with plenty of green pepper in a savory brown sauce), and shredded pork with garlic sauce (with lots of julienned carrots in an overly sweet sauce). Even when the food here isn’t perfect, the ingredients are fresh (and mercifully MSG-free), and the prices are right ($3.95 for lunch, $4.95 for dinner). You can eat on the premises, which, with its trellis motif and white bent-wood chairs, resembles a yogurt shop more than a Chinese restaurant, or drive through and pick up your order. 4010 W 15th, Piano. 964-0406. Mon 11 am-8:30 pm, Tue-Sat 11 am-9:30 pm, Sun 5 pm-9 pm. No credit cards. Inexpensive.



CHINA PALACE ★★★ Here is a restaurant to remember the next time they’re turning on the house lights at Starck Club and it dawns upon members of your party that you haven’t eaten in days. Do not, under any circumstances, miss the fried dumplings, which are as good as fried dumplings get on this or any other continent. After the dumplings, however, things get a little dicier: on my last visit, the shredded pork with bean curd was worthwhile, the Hunan prawns were rendered unappealing by a sweet, characterless sauce, and the spring rolls were merely edible. The setting is pleasingly odd (the red and green color scheme lends a year-round Christmas atmosphere), and service is accommodating, as demonstrated by the proprietor’s willingness to change the radio station from an egregious purveyor of “beautiful music” to something more soulful. 400 N Greenville, Richardson. 669-1636. Daily 11 am-5am. MC, V. Moderate.



CRYSTAL PAGODA ★★★★ Crystal Pagoda is living up to its promise of becoming one of Dallas’s top Chinese restaurants. Bon Bon chicken, in a spicy peanut sauce, is a zingy appetizer for those who like hot foods-or you might try a half order of Peking duck, a bargain at $12.50. Hunan lamb, though not particularly peppery, proved subtle enough even for those who generally don’t find lamb appealing. And at Crystal Pagoda even an old standby like sweet-and-sour pork receives royal treatment-nice pieces of meat in a crisp crust topped with a delicate sauce. 4516 McKinney. 526-3355. Mon-Thur 11:30 am-10:30 pm, Fri 11:30 am-11 pm, Sat noon-11 pm. Sun noon-10:30 pm. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



DYNASTY ★★★★ This elegantly appointed Chinese restaurant keeps on getting better as it matures. Instead of a lot of set-price dinners, the menu now concentrates on such interesting dishes as the steamed vegetable dumplings, Pink Lady (shrimp coated in crab roe and fried), and chicken with macadamia nuts. The Dynasty Orange Beef is an excellent version of that now classic dish. Our only complaint is that the very Western pastries we were served for dessert tasted stale from lengthy refrigeration. Garden Inn, 4101 Belt Line, Ad-dison. 385-7888. Sun-Thur 11:30am-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat 11:30 am-11:30 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



FORBIDDEN ClTY ★★★ Instead of a whole appetizer tray, we specialized in the meaty cho-cho and the nicely fried shrimp toast, with good results. Among the main courses, General’s Chicken did not prove very spicy, but the fried chunks of chicken meat in a hearty sauce were satisfying anyway. At Forbidden City, Mongolian beef is essentially strips of beef stir-fried with lots of scallion. Shrimp with cashews made a pleasing lighter contrast. 5290 Belt Line. 960-2999. Mon-Thur 11 am-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat 11 am-3 am, Sun noon-10:30 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.

HAN-CNU★★★ Han-Chu is a great restaurant for an illicit affair: the place is dark as a cave even at high noon. By Chinese-restaurant standards, it’s even sophisticated-looking: the color scheme is eggplant and burgundy, the waiters are in black tie. and there are roses on the tables. On my most recent visit, I found the shredded pork with ginger sauce to be memorable, thanks to a zippy flavor and an appealing texture imparted by the presence of black mushrooms and bamboo shoots. The princess chicken, on the other hand, was an altogether forgettable aggregation of cubed chicken, celery, and water chestnuts. Caruth Plaza, 9100 N Central Expwy at Park Lane, Suite 191. 691-0900. Sun-Thur 11:30 am-10:30 pm. Fri & Sat 11:30 am-11:30 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



SZECHWAN PAVILION ★★★ With its sophisticated peach and gray color scheme, Szechwan Pavilion is an aesthetic knockout. At its best, the food very nearly lives up to the setting. The spring rolls-crisp wonton wrappers punctuated by shrimp, sprouts, and carrot shreds-are musts to order. After that, kung pao shrimp with red pepper and peanuts might be in order. Two dishes to avoid: dry, nearly tasteless hot spicy lobster sautéed with ginger in chili sauce, and chicken chow mein with canned, as opposed to fresh, mushrooms. Prices are a bit higher here than at most local Chinese restaurants, but one can see, in such touches as the exotic lilies on the tables, where the surcharge is going. 8411 Preston at Northwest Highway. 368-4303. Mon-Thur 11 am-10:30 pm, Fri 11-11. Sat noon-11 pm, Sun noon-10:30 pm. MC, V. AE. Moderate to expensive.



TONG’S HOUSE ★★★ We all have our quirky quests in life, and that of my best friend is to find dan-dan noodles that are worth a damn in Dallas. Provoked by reports that Tong’s House serves first-rate dan-dan, we scoured Promenade Center for Tong’s easily missed entrance. The news on the dan-dan front was disappointing: while this version of thin noodles with sesame-peanut sauce was better than most, it still didn’t live up to Chinatown’s finest. Still, an exceptionally tender, flavorful version of orange beef Szechwan style was worth the search. Tong’s definitely belongs on the must-try list for ethnic-food fiends who delight in discovering restaurants that are authentic enough to frighten their more timid friends. While Tong’s doesn’t look quite seedy enough for their purposes, it does have a certain down-at-the-heels charm, and the presence on the menu of such appetizers as pig’s stomach with bean soup, cold cattle stomach, jellyfish, and beef tendons in hot sauce should make this a required North Dallas stop on the adventurous-eating trail. 1910 Promenade Center. Richardson. 231-8858. Tue-Sat 11 am-9:30 pm, Sun 11 am-9 pm. Closed Mon. All credit cards. Moderate.



UNCLE TAI’S HUNAN YUAN ★★★★ Uncle Tai’s is the highest of high-end Chinese options in town. For prices consistently higher than any other Chinese restaurant in town, the customer gets such off-the-beaten-path dishes as sautéed sliced pheasant, frog’s legs with gingko nuts, and sliced duck with young ginger roots. The quality of ingredients is very high, although the level of saltiness continues to be problematic. Galleria, 13350 Dallas Pkwy, Suite 3370. 934-9998. Mon-Thur 11 am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11 am-)10:30 pm. Sun noon-10 pm. Jackets required lor dinner. All credit cards. Expensive.



DELI



BAGELSTEIN’S ★★ Just as some albums are one-tune wonders, so are some eating establishments one-item wonders. It is, of course, possible that some customers come to Bagelstein’s for something other than the bagels and accompaniments, but then I suppose it’s also possible that some people listen to cuts on Art Garfunkel’s Watermark other than “(What a) Wonderful World.” In any case, although Bagelstein’s has a lengthy menu of breakfast and deli options, the chewy, fresh bagels are the point of the place, and they are as good as you can get west of Chicago. The only decision, therefore, is what kind of bagel one should have. You can have your choice of plain, egg, pumpernickel, garlic, onion, salt, raisin, poppy seed, or sesame seed. You also get to choose which variety of cream cheese. There is plain, vegetable, strawberry, chive, herb and spice, lox, or cinnamon raisin. Northwood Hills Shopping Center. 8104 Spring Valley. 234-3787. Mon 6 am-3 pm. Tue-Sun 6 am-9 pm. All credit cards. Inexpensive.



KUBY’S ★★ Oh, if all of Dallas’s restaurant favorites could wear with the years as well as this Old-World delicatessen. Kuby’s Park Cities neighbors have long favored its sandwiches. Schinkenwurst and other sausage specialties are the usual fillings, and for accompaniments you can choose between German potato salad and memorable sauerkraut. If you have room after such heavy luncheon dishes, the desserts include a better-than-average Black Forest cake. 6601 Snider Plaza. 363-2231. Store hours: Mon-Sat 8 am-6 pm; Restaurant hours: Mon-Fri 8 am-5:30 pm, Sat 8 am-5pm. Closed Sun. MC, V for purchases over $15; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.

FRENCH/CONTINENTAL



GAFE ROYAL ★★★ Why a top-flight restaurant does or does not succeed is a subtle mystery. The bottom line comes down to this: does the idea of a return visit inspire anticipation? Thus, although almost nothing was wrong with the food at Cafe Royal on my last dinner visit, not enough was actively right to make me look forward to the next time around. And given the level of culinary competition in Dallas, a lovely setting and proficient service are not enough to endear a restaurant to thrill-seeking restaurant-goers. The “problem” was simply a lack of gastronomic excitement: starting with the appetizer of snails with chablis, grapes, and walnuts in herb butter, and continuing in the main courses of a combination of beef and veal with Madeira and basil sauce and a combination of veal mignon and shrimp with tarragon sauce. Desserts of champagne custard and hazelnut souffle were similarly humdrum, and creme bailee was for orange peel fans only. Given that the aforementioned dishes were ordered a la carte, the $34.50 fixed-price dinner may be the way to go at Cafe Royal. Plaza of the Americas, 650 N Pearl. 747-7222 Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 6:30-10:30, Fri & Sat 6:30-11. Closed Sun. Jackets and ties required. All credit cards. Expensive.



CHZ Gerard ★ ★ Some of the dishes Chez Gerard offers might well be considered old-fashioned in the old country, but even in France getting back to culinary roots is in vogue. Where else in Dallas, after all, can you find choucroute garnie, the French version of sauerkraut, served with two kinds of sausage and two kinds of ham? Or cassoulet, a stew of white beans and fresh and preserved meats? These hearty dishes make us forgive the eminently forgettable first courses (sautéed shrimp, tough in a characterless sauce, and strong-tasting, chewy mussels). The desserts helped, too, especially the light-as-a-feather floating island. 4444 McKinney. 522-6865. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30; dinner: Mon-Sat 6-11. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate to expensive.



THE FRENCH ROOM ★ ★ ★ ★ With its cherubs, vaulted ceiling, and trompe I’oeil garden, the rosy-hued French Room is far and away the most baroque-looking restaurant in Dallas. In the five years since its opening, it has had its culinary ups and downs; happily, however, a recent visit suggested that it is in an up cycle. From salads (green bean and green salad with goat cheese croutons) to entrees (salmon and rack of lamb) to dessert (apple tart), the food was all that one could ask for. What’s more, the sommelier is both congenial and well- informed; he is as happy to advise customers on a single glass of wine as a rare bottle. Adolphus Hotel. 1321 Commerce. 742-8200. Mon-Sat 6-10. Jackets and ties required. All credit cards. Expensive.



THE GRAPE ★★★★★ See The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas’ for review. 2808 Greenville at Goodwin. 823-0133. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Sun-Thur 6-11, Fri & Sat 6 pm-midnight. All credit cards. Moderate.



L’AMBLANCE ★★★★ Although the renovated gas station setting is unimpressive, the food was beyond reproach on a recent visit. A suave potato-leek soup and watercress salad with bacon, mushrooms, and goat cheese made for excellent appetizers. Fish has never been a good main-course bet here, so we opted for lamb chops and duck with the fruit sauce of the day. Both were memorably well-prepared: the red bell-pepper garnished lamb chops crusty on the outside and juicy on the inside, with a subtly garlic- and basil-spiked natural-juice sauce; the duck with crispy skin and moist meat, lifted to the realm of transcendence by the vibrant taste of the raspberry sauce. Even the vegetables-scalloped potatoes, carrot coins, spinach, and green beans-were out of the ordinary. For dessert, floating island with pecan praline and chocolate souffle cake enlivened by coconut and macadamia nuts served with vanilla sauce were both enchanting variations on what can be boring themes. 2408 Cedar Springs. 748-1291. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2; dinner: Mon-Sat 6-10. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Expensive.



LA MADELEINE ★★ These bakeries boast Dallas’s finest croissants and other wonderful baked goods (a raspberry beignet we tried recently was delightful). The old-country ambience of the original Mockingbird location may tempt you to sit down and rest a spell, and you can order quiches and other meals to eat on site. Sandwiches and salads are of good quality, if not as noteworthy. 3072 Mockingbird, 696-6960; 3906 Lemmon. 521-0182. Daily 7 am-9 pm. No credit cards: personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



L’ENTERCOTE ★★★★ After a long sliding spell. L’Entre-cote has. as the French say. pulled up its socks. Thanks to the efforts of chef Michel Platz, the Loews Anatole’s French restaurant is once again one of the best in the city. Watercress and endive salad with pink grapefruit was an exceptionally refreshing appetizer. Gratin of crawfish tails with ginger was light and satisfying, and loin of lamb with rosemary and shallot coulis was a must for lamb fans. Finally, for dessert, banana beignets with coconut mousse was a killer. Loews Ana-tote Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Frwy. 748-1200. Daily 6-10:30 pm. All credit cards. Expensive to very expensive.



THE RlVlERA ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas* for review. 7709 Inwood. 351-0094. Mon-Thur 6:30 pm-10:30 pm,Fri & Sat 6:30 pm-11 pm, Sun 5:30 pm- 10 pm. All credit cards. Expensive to very expensive.



ST. MARTIN’S ★★ This is a great place to bring your squeeze or your squeeze-to-be, as long as neither of you demands consistently first-rate food. With its pretty blue walls and flickering candlelight, St. Martin’s is a pleasant place to drink wine and think romantic thoughts. It does, however, seem odd that an establishment that bills itself as a wine bar offers unidentified varieties of wine by the glass. (Pinot Noir, for instance is listed as just that, with no clue as to the producer.) As for the food, it turned out to be a decidedly mixed bag on my last visit: flabby bread, salads that resembled taco filling, passable roast duck with peach sauce, praiseworthy swordfish with capers and mushrooms, sensually dense chocolate satin pie, and unpleasantly eggy créme caramel. 3020 Greenville. 826-0940. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2:30; dinner: Sun-Thur 5-11, Fri & Sat 5-12:30; Sun brunch: 11-3. All credit cards. Moderate to expensive.



GERMAN/EASTERN EUROPE



BELVEDERE ★★ Perfectly tender Wiener schnitzel is what keeps me coming back to Belvedere, a Swiss/Austrian restaurant that adjoins the Crestpark Hotel, a residential home. Unfortunately, this time around the rehsteak Hubertus, a Montana venison preparation that I had fond memories of from past dinners, was dry and uninteresting. I had to console myself with an extra order of spaetzle (fat, freshly made dumplings). Salads, appetizers, and desserts, while not egregious, have never been advisable here unless you’re extremely hungry. The setting, with its warm brick and cream color scheme, is pleasant and unimposing, as is the service. Crestpark Hotel, 4242 Lomo Alto. 528-6510. Lunch: Tue-Sat 11:30-2; dinner: Tue-Sat 6-10:30. Sun 6-9; Sun brunch: 11 -2:30. Closed Mon. All credit cards. Expensive.



BOHEMIA ★★★ The fad of “light” cooking has not invaded this little corner of Czechoslovakia, with its lace curtains and photos of Prague on the walls. Everything served here is substantial, in proper Middle European fashion. The choice of appetizers (beyond the salad and soup that come with an entree) is narrow; we found the beef tartare surprisingly tasty in spite of its mushy, almost blended consistency, but wondered whether the liver paté had actually been made on the premises. The Czech version of sauerbraten was sweeter and less sour than most of its German cousins – the sauce delicately spicy but the meat not quite tender. Roast duck had a gloriously crisp skin but dry, overcooked flesh. Both came with bread dumplings even heavier than the liver dumplings that had graced our soup. After all this nourishment, if you haven’t room for strudel. you might try the refreshingly tart berries glace. 2810 N Henderson. 826-6209. Sun & Tue-Thur 5:30-9:30 pm, Fri & Sat 5:30-10:30 pm. Closed Mon. All credit cards. Moderate.

CAFE KASHTAN ★★★ This is the kind of restaurant that thrills diners in search of small, offbeat ethnic restaurants. Ukrainian food, it turns out, is pretty swell stuff, to judge from Cafe Kashtan’s offerings. Each course outdid its predecessor on my most recent visit. Salanka, an intensely flavored broth with bits of beef, sausage, and vegetables accompanied by pirozski, a meat-filled roll, was good enough to be the highlight of most meals, but it was outshone by the kulebiaka, an utterly satisfying melange of chicken, rice, and mushrooms baked in a buttery pastry shell. And both became a distant memory with the arrival of the simple, perfect almond cake served with tart raspberry sauce. Unlike most small, offbeat ethnic-restaurant finds- which tend to be charmingly funky-looking at best, Cafe Kashtan has a handsome setting. 5365 Spring Valley Rd at Montfort. 991-9550. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Tue-Thur 5-10, Fri & Sat 5-11. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Inexpensive to moderate.



THE CHIMNEY ★★★ The warm atmosphere, delicious food, and attentive service here add up to an evening of pure pleasure. In the restaurant’s cozy setting, we found time to savor every bite of the buenderfleisch, a thin, air-cured beef. Veal cordon bleu, served with noodles and snow peas, was prepared to perfection. So was sole amandine, so tender it crumbled at the touch of a fork. Willow Creek Shopping Center, 9739 N Central Expwy at Walnut Hill Lane. 369-6466. Lunch: Mon-Sat 11:30-2; dinner: Mon-Sat 6-10:30. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Expensive.



ROLFS ★★ This time we decided to explore a few of the byways of the menu of this fine establishment, but we were not always rewarded for our daring. The herring salad was both too sweet and too sour, and neither the crab meat in our appetizer nor that served with our veal entree tasted fresh. The schnitzel Holstein (a veal cutlet with a fried egg on top and accompanied with anchovies and capers) was crisp and greaseless but undersalted. Both chocolate desserts-the Sachertorte and the mousse cake-were pleasant but lacked that richness that attracts the loyalty of diehard chocolate fans. We’ll continue to go back to Rolfs with plenty of anticipation-but for the dishes like the Sauerbraten and the apple cake that have never disappointed us. Caruth Plaza, 9100 N Central Expwy. Suite 117. 696-1933. Lunch: Mon-Sat 11:30-2:30; dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10:30, Fri 5-11, Sat 5:30-11. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Expensive.



GOURMET CARRYOUT



MARTY’S ★★★ Marty’s deserves its reputation as Dallas’s premier spot for buying fancy foods and wines. It is always a treat to be tempted by the endless variety of foods here, from the fresh fruits to the most esoteric array of cheeses in town. The establishment also makes its own breads and a bewildering assortment of pates (we tried wild boar with chestnuts and pheasant with pears). The selections of dips, salads, and desserts are exemplary. Only the take-home entrees sometimes disappoint: the moussaka was fine, probably better than that of any Greek restaurant in town, but the game hen in an orange sauce lacked flavor. 3376 Oak Lawn. 526-4070. Mon-Sat 10am-6:30 pm. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Marty’s charge. Expensive.



MlRABELLE ★★★ For those of us who never confuse the joy of eating with the joy of cooking, haute takeout establishments like Mirabelle are a blessing. They allow us to stay home and eat well without resorting to whisk and wooden spoon. Thanks to Mirabelle, I have spent some great evenings enjoying domesticity and “St. Elsewhere.” most recently with mushroom and spinach soup (too few mushrooms, entirely too much spinach), spinach and feta cheese pie (no complaints), and raspberry-peach cobbler (fit for the gods). So it goes at Mirabelle: appetizers and main courses are of uneven quality and frequently suffer from having lingered too long in the refrigeration case. However, desserts- especially the inventive variety of cookies- are definitely a cant-lose proposition. Like much that one finds in Highland Park, Mirabelle is pretty and overpriced. Highland Park Village, Preston at Mockingbird, Suite 73-74. 528-7589. Tue-Sat 10:30 am-7 pm. Sun & Mon noon-6 pm. MC, V, AE; personal checks accepted. Moderate.



RICH CHICKS ★★★★ Theresa Alexander, whose previous ventures include the Stoneleigh P and The Lounge in the Inwood Theatre, had an idea for a new sort of fast-food establishment -one that would look classy and serve healthier food than the usual places. As you might guess. Rich Chicks serves Rich Chicks (and a few complements) to rich chicks. The chickens are butterflied and coated with spices (fennel predominates), then slowly roasted and carved to order. The accompaniments consist of an uncooked tomato sauce (rather like a thick gazpacho), pita bread, and a lovely lettuce-less Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese. The food all tastes fine-the chicken is juicy and is good either hot or cold. You can also call in your order ahead of time for faster service. Northwest Corner of Preston Royal Shopping Center, next to the post office. 691 – 7424. Daily 11 am-9 pm. No credit cards; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



INDIAN



INDIA PALACE ★★★ This new Indian restaurant has a larger menu, a slightly fancier decor, and slightly higher prices than other spots. We think it is worth the extra cost to sample the new dishes and have the extra comfort- If you are feeling adventuresome, try the red snapper (stuffed with finely chopped fruits and vegetables and piquantly sauced) or the lamb shahi korma. The tandoori dishes (meats roasted in the Indian barbecue oven, served with delicious bread called naan) are perfect for the more cautious. 13360 Preston. 392-0190. Lunch: Mon-Fri11-2. Sat & Sun 11:30-2:30; dinner: Sun-Thur5 pm-10 pm, Fri& Sat 5:30 pm-10:30 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.

KEBAB ’N’ KURRY ★★★ Let’s see if we can straighten this out: there used to be one Kebab ’n’ Kurry on Central Expressway in Richardson. Then there was a sibling spinoff on Walnut Hill. Now there are still two Kebab ’n’ Kurries, but they are no longer related. In any case, a visit to the Walnut Hill K ’n’ K to check out the $7.95 weekend brunch was rewarding. Although a few items (mushy strawberry and banana fruit salad, fishy fish curry) didn’t send me, plenty of choices did, including succulent tandoori chicken; fragrant kashmiri pillau (rice with peas, currants, almonds, and cashews); savory palak panir (spinach cooked with homemade cheese); flavorful lamb kofta (meatballs in a mild curry sauce); and tender naan (flat bread). Dessert was a lesson in the outer limits of sweetness-if there is anything on the planet sweeter than gulab jamun (pastry balls in cardamom-flavored syrup). I hope never to taste it. The dark side: service tends to be out of it, and the setting verges on the depressing, thanks to the oppressive shade of gray the walls are painted. 2620 Walnut Hill Ln. 350-6466. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner Sun-Thur 5:30-10, Fri & Sat 5:30-10:30; brunch: Sat & Sun 11.30-2:30. All credit cards. Inexpensive to moderate.



KEBAB ’N’ KURRY ★★★ We suspect that part of Kebab of Kurry’s secret lies in the comparatively limited menu. There are really only a few delights of North Indian cuisine offered, but they are done superlatively well, from the chicken korma (rich, creamy, and mild) to the shrimp in a tomatoey curry sauce. Paradoxically, you can find the rarest treasures here at the weekend lunch buffets. They offer such unusual delicacies as curried fresh black-eyed peas and lamb ribs (bony but magnificently sauced), for the ridiculously low price of $6.95 for all you can eat, including a dessert like the barely sweet rice pudding. 401 N Central Expwy, Suite 300. 231-5556. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2: dinner: Sun-Thur 5:30-10, Fri & Sat 5:30-10:30; brunch: Sat & Sun 11:30-2:30. All credit cards. Inexpensive to moderate.



TANJORE ★★★ During the week, you can find good North Indian food here (the kitchen can be slow to bring it out, but it’s worth waiting for). We are fond of the chicken tanjore (a version of chicken tandoori, but not made in the clay oven typical for that dish) and the cubes of fried homemade cheese (with something of the texture of tofu) cooked in a spicy spinach sauce. These are standard items in Indian restaurants in America, but at lunch on weekends you can get something really unusual here: dishes from South India. There are rice cakes called idli and little savory fried doughnuts, curried lentils, and fresh coconut chutney. The dish most likely to appeal to Americans is the masala dosa, a thin crepe of fermented dough cooked crisp and folded around a filling of curried potatoes. Prestonwood Creek Shopping Center, 5409 Belt Line Rd. 960-0070. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30; dinner; daily 6-10; brunch: Sat&Sun 11:30-3. MC, V. AE. Inexpensive to moderate.



ITALIAN



ADRIANO’S ★★ Adriano’s, which seemed to be on the cutting edge of New-Wave Italian dining when it opened, is looking a bit timeworn these days. The setting is still sunny and high-tech in nature, but the walls could use a paint job, and the menus are looking extremely weather-beaten. The trademark pizzas, however, have maintained their appeal – particularly the pancetta version with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms. Pasta is available, too, and it’s not bad. but you can do better elsewhere, as demonstrated by the fettuccine casa with ham, mushrooms, cheese, and a too-gluey cream sauce and slightly charred, heavy-on-the-oregano lasagna of my last visit. The Quadrangle, 2800 Routh, Suite 170. 871-2262. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 5:30-10, Fri & Sat 5:30pm-midnight. Sun 11:30-9. MC, V, AE. Inexpensive to moderate.



ALESSIO’S ★★★★ Not all top-notch restaurants have the proprietor on the premises more often than not, but nearly all of them do. Alessio’s is a case in point. If you’re not happy with your meal at Alessio’s, it will only be because you have failed to apprise the ever-watchful Alessio Franceschetti of any problems. Happily, on a recent visit, there were no problems to report (other than the aesthetic one of the inelegant decor). Crab cannelloni, an appetizer of the day, was estimable enough to warrant on-the-menu status. Shrimp proven-cale, with mushrooms and tomatoes, was quite good, if not as seductive. The subtly dressed romaine lettuce salad that accompanied entrees was simple perfection. Linguine with shrimp and scallops in a delicately spicy tomato sauce was agreeable, though not as meritorious as the perfectly breaded veal parmigiana accompanied by buttered, parslied mostaccioli. For dessert, amaretto macaroon ice cream was extremely sweet but still easy to finish off. 4117 Lomo Alto. 521-3585. Tue-Sat 6-10:30 pm, Sun & Mon 6-10 pm. MC, V, AE. Moderate to expensive.



CAFE ITALIA ★★ According to John Mariani in Eating Out: Fearless Dining in Ethnic Restaurants, it was Neil Simon who said there are two laws in the universe – the Law of Gravity and Everybody Likes Italian Food. The second law certainly seems to apply at Cafe Italia, where they’ve never heard of nuovo cucina, and the plainly happy patrons like it fine that way. Cafe Italia is informal, and prices are low, which makes one inclined to overlook such minor glitches as flabby garlic bread and flat San Pellegrino water. I tried entrees of an on-the-money combination of cannelloni and manicotti and a very meaty yet unheavy lasagna. Barely sweet flan with a drift of lightly whipped cream and killer-strength espresso made for a nice finish. 5000 Maple. 521-0700. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 5:30-10. Fri & Sat 5:30-11. Closed Sun. MC, V,AE. Inexpensive to moderate.



CIAO ★★ New Wave pizza may be the featured attraction at Ciao, and they are well and good, but the smart money is on the calzone, a sort of pizza turnover filled with fresh riccotta, Italian sausage, and herbs. One of these and a perfectly simple green salad, and you won’t be in the market for dessert. 3921-B Cedar Springs. 521-0110. Mon-Sat 11:30 am- midnight. Sun 3 pm-midnight. MC, V. AE. Inexpensive.

LA PERGOLA ★★★ In a glossy deco-effect setting, La Pergola offers some great pasta, such as fettuccine con funghi, with a wonderfully earthy sour cream-based mushroom sauce, and ravioli dei dogi, thin pillows of pasta stuffed with crab meat and served with smooth, creamy, parsley-sprinkled tomato sauce. As long as you can manage not to think of Peter Rabbit and his brothers, the boneless roast rabbit with a sauce of rosemary-sparked juices is another good option. Zabaglione fantasia – orange slices in a Champagne-orange liqueur sabayon sauce, is the refreshing dessert of choice. 1800 McKinney. 871-4943. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11 am-2:30 pm; dinner: Sun-Thur 6-10 pm, Fri & Sat 6-11 pm. All credit cards. Expensive.



MASSIMO DA MILANO ★★★★ Essentially, this is an Italian bakery, with cases filled with tempting breads of all sorts, baskets of cookies, and sybaritic trays of pastries. We swoon at the memory of the vanilla mousse cake topped with perfect strawberries, the cream horns filled with chocolate pastry cream, and the very expensive ($5 for one, and worth every penny), large, crusty envelope filled with apples, pine nuts, and raisins. Massimo da Milano also has a selection of other foods: you will find many variations on the theme of bread dough with savory toppings (none, though, is much like the pizza we are used to), pasta salads, and a couple of hot dishes like a lasagna rich with a creamy bescia-mella sauce. For all this you will have to wait in line – there is no table service, and you may even wind up clearing away the dishes from the first table you can grab if you come at a busy hour. 5519 W Lovers Lane. 351-1426. Sun-Thur 9am-10pm, Fri & Sat 9 am-11 pm. Closed Mon. MC, V. Inexpensive.



MOMO’S ★★★ Momo’s is small, plain, and disorganized – none of which matters to devotees of its pastas and pizzas. At lunch, mostly pizzas- including a wonderfully forceful-tasting one of tomato, mozzarella. and gorgonzola-are available. At dinner, the menu is more extensive. (Pasta, such as tortelli di spinaci, is a much better idea than veal, which can be dauntingly chewy.) You can have any wine you want at Momo’s as long as you bring it yourself. 9191 Forest Lane. 234-6800. Lunch: Mon- Fri 11:30 arn-2 pm; dinner: Mon-Thur 6-9:30 pm, Fri & Sat 6-11 pm, Sun 6-9 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



NERO’S ITALIAN ★★★ The food is good enough here, but it isn’t great, and it certainly doesn’t come cheap. What, then, accounts for the two-hour waits on weekends? I suspect it’s that of debbil ambience. Nero’s is made to order for dates or get-reacquainted-with-your-spouse sessions, at least if your date or spouse is a stylish, ironic character. (Diana Vreeland and Catholic-school veterans should feel particularly at home here because of the red walls and the Michael the Archangel lamps.) There is an extensive menu of pasta, veal, and seafood, but the two things to concentrate on are the Italian wine-the selection is great, and the staff well-informed – and the pizza, which comes in both traditional and New Wave varieties. 2104 Greenville. 826-6376. Mon-Thur 6-11 pm. Fri & Sat 6 pm-midnight. Closed Sun. MC. V, AE. Moderate.



PIZZERIA UNO ★★ The best things about this place for Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas are the pies themselves: buttery crusted, with inch-deep heaps of sausages, cheeses, and vegetables. Some come with little or no tomato sauce-the seafood pizza uses lots of garlic for flavor instead. There are some pretty good side dishes, but the best accompaniments are libations from the bar that forms the heart of the restaurant. The main drawbacks at Pizzeria Uno are the noise and the service, which we have found to be slow and spacey even at off hours, let alone at mealtimes, when the place is usually packed. 4002 Belt Line. Addison. 991-8181. Mon & Tue 11 am-10:30pm, Wed& Thur 11 am-11:30 pm, Fri 11-12:30, Sat noon-12:30. Sun noon-10:30. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



311 LOMBARDI’S ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 311 Market. 747-0322. Mon-Fri 11 am-midnight, Sat 5pm-1 am. Sun 11 am-10 pm; Sun brunch: 11 am-5 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



JAPANESE/KOREAN



KOREA HOUSE ★★ As always, we were welcomed hospitably by the Korean ladies who run this place. This time we skipped the appetizers and went right to a selection of main dishes and were rewarded by a satisfying meal. We always enjoy kalbi gui, Korean barbecued ribs that are more like the Mexican version, agujas, than their American counterpart. Tiny shrimp stir-fried with a myriad of vegetables and little chunks of fried chicken coated with a spicy sauce were complemented by the delightful Korean cold vegetables: vinegary cucumbers, bean sprouts touched with sesame, and, of course, kimchee, the Korean five-alarm spiced cabbage. Promenade Center. Coit at Belt Line. Suite 610. Richardson. 231-1379. Daily 11 am-10:30pm. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



Ml. SUSHI ★★★ Now that it has expanded in size, Mr. Sushi is more than ever Dallas’s most enjoyable Japanese restaurant. If you’ve picked up the taste for raw fish,the sushi bar enables you to pick and choose among the juiciest morsels. Yellowfin tuna is a consistent winner, and this time we found an interesting concoction of scallops in a mayonnaise-like dressing wrapped up in seaweed. If you prefer to sit at a table, the service is extremely polite. You can choose among appetizers such as kara age chicken (plump chunks deep-fried-McNuggets were never like this) or tofu steak (fried bean curd sitting atop a gingery sauce). The Quorum. 4860 Belt Line. 3850168. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2: dinner: Mon-Thur 5:30-10:30. Fri & Sat 5:30-11, Sun 5:30-10. All credit cards. Moderate.



LUNCH



ClTY MARKET ★★★★ City Market has acquired a loyal following of downtown habitues hungry for fresh, imaginative soups, salads, sandwiches, and desserts. However, in the past the pleasures of this light, airy, upscale cafeteria were unpredictable. If, for instance, you loved the marigold mint chicken salad, it might be weeks before you and it were on the premises on the same day. Now, with the advent of menus printed every week, City Market regulars can predict with assurance when it will be possible to eat pasta salad with Indonesian peanut sauce or marinated beef salad with multi-colored bell peppers. Whatever else you get, the light, souffle-like apricot-raisin bread pudding should not be missed. Alas, the coffee that is available is weak stuff. Given that this is the only complaint that can be made about the place. City Market is worth a trip even if you don’t work downtown (park in LTV Center parking and bring your ticket with you for validation). 200 LTV Center, 2001 Ross at Harwood. 979-2696. Mon-Fri 7:30 am-4:30 pm. MC, V. Inexpensive.



PACIFIC EXPRESS ★★★★ Pacific Express, a chic eighty-eight-seat cafeteria, makes the hasty downtown lunch into an art form. I happen to be obsessed with the tuna salad with toasted almonds, grapes, and blue cheese in tarragon mayonnaise, but the smoked chicken salad with toasted walnuts and shallot vermouth mayonnaise has its devotees, too. Other choices include pasta salad, wild rice salad, and several sandwiches. Patrons of Parigi will recognize the peach cobbler offered for dessert. (The mother-daughter restaurant team of Marilyn Romweber and Andrée Falls is responsible for both establishments.) I don’t like it any better here than at Parigi, but I appear to be alone in the Metroplex in this sentiment. The blueberry custard pie available on my last visit would have been pleasing had it been about half as sweet. Pacific Place Bldg, 1910 Elm, Suite 103. 969-7447. Mon-Fri 8 am-2 pm. Closed Sat & Sun. No credit cards; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



THEO’S DlNER ★★★ Although the lyrics don’t specify Theo’s by name, I suspect that Theo’s grilled ham and cheese sandwich is what Janet Jackson has in mind when she makes musical reference to nasty food in “Nasty Boys.” With its garlic- buttered Texas toast, this is the ultimate grilled-cheese thrill. As for the fries, some people think they’re the best in Dallas. Others disagree: they think they’re the best on the planet. Then there is the ambience, which could hardly be more intimate – there are just nine seats around the counter. One more attraction: The proprietor’s plot summaries of “All My Children.” 111 SH all St. 741-9130. Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 8 am-5 pm. No credit cards. Inexpensive.



MEXICAN



ANTONIO’S ★★ Although one has to order with care to assure hitting the highlights, Antonio’s is worth a trip for anyone serious about Mexican food. Recommended: nachos, which are made with first-class ingredients (black beans, white cheese, fresh-tasting guacamole, jalapenos, and real, runny sour cream), rich-tasting black bean soup, shrimp with a subtly nutty pumpkin-seed sauce, coconut flan, and merengue (whipped cream or chocolate ice cream sandwiched between two layers of egg-white pastry). 14849 Inwood (south of Belt Line), Addison. 490-9557. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11 am- 2:30 pm; dinner: Sun-Thur 5:30-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat 5:30-11:30 pm. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



BlUE GOOSE ★★ When Big Hungry Boys want to eat Tex-Mex, the Blue Goose is where they head. The sheer quantity of food that appears at the table is enough to make those of normal appetite gasp with disbelief. Quantity, however, is not the end of the story here. The quality is surprisingly high, in light of the low prices. The chicken fajitas are the best in town, and the beef fajitas are more than respectable. The flour tortillas that accompany both are admirably thin and fresh. The standard Tex-Mex is standard, with the exception of great rice and poor guacamole. 2905 Greenville. 823-8339. Mon-Fri 11 am-2:30 pm & 5:30-11 pm, Sat & Sun 11-11. All credit cards. Inexpensive.



CAFE CANCUN ★★★ Café Cancun was a Mexican food

trailblazer in Dallas, one of the first to offer black beans and white cheese as an alternative to pintos and dayglow Cheddar. In recent years, however, quality control was a problem, and many Cafe Cancun fans lost faith. Brethren, it is time to rejoin the fold: on a recent visit, everything – from the warm, fresh tostadas to the enchiladas verdes with chicken to the luscious coconut ice cream-was very good. 4137 Lomo Alto, 559-4011; Caruth Plaza, Park Lane at Central Expwy, 369-3712. Mon-Thur 11 am-1 0pm, Fri 11-11, Sat5-11 pm, Sun noon-10 pm at Lomo Alto location; Mon-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri & Sat 11-11, Sun noon-10 pm at Caruth Plaza location. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



CANTINA LAREDO ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas* for review. 4546 Belt Line, Addison. 458-0962. Sun-Thur 11-11, Fri & Sat 11 am-midnight. All credit cards. Moderate.



CASA ROSA ★★★ This has long been a preppy hangout supreme, and in this instance those well-scrubbed WASPs in Ralph Lauren attire are on to something. The decor is attractive – with terra cotta tile floors, melon-colored walls, and a tree in the middle of the restaurant wittily decorated with red chili pepper lights. Happily, the food lives up to its setting. From chili con queso to botanas especiales (bean, chicken, and beef nachos; marinated beef strips; and flautitas with sour cream and guacamole) to the Puerto Vallarta combination (beef taco, enchilada with chili con carne, chicken enchilada with sour cream sauce, and Spanish rice) to praline cheesecake for dessert, everything (except for the underdone, too-tomatoey Spanish rice) was well-prepared, if not in the forefront of culinary innovation. In-wood Village, Inwood at Lovers Lane, Suite 165. 350-5227. Mon-Thur 11 am-3 pm & 5-10 pm, Fri 11 am-3 pm & 5-11 pm, Sat 11 am-11 pm, Sun 11 am-10 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



CHIQUITA ★★ We’d say that Chiquita-with its festive, oversized paper flowers everywhere-never changes, only the “new specialties” that are periodically rotated on and off the menu constantly add variety. This time we tried the appetizer of rajas con crema-tender strips of chile poblano, tiny pieces of diced zucchini, cheese, and cream all wrapped up in flour tortillas-and found them soothing and satisfying. The other dish new to us was the filete encebollada, strips of beef sautéed with onions and peppers. We also liked the “pipos” (tiny flautas filled with shrimp). The chicken breast in a mole sauce, though, was disappointing -the sauce lacked the complexity and richness that this Mexican classic can have. 3810 Congress. 521-0721, Mon-Thur 11:30 am-10:30 pm. Fri & Sat 11:30 am-11 pm. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



CHITO’S ★★★ If you are looking for authentic Tex-Mex in a down-to-earth setting and Herrera has a line down the block, you might drive on down the street to Chito’s. This place may actually be more authentic – it doesn’t feel so self-consciously picturesque, and you will probably encounter a larger percentage of Mexican clientele. The standard Tex-Mex items are well done-tacos and enchiladas are particularly appealing. The menu doesn’t go in for many newfangled fancy items, either; even the now standard fajitas are strictly down-home. The meat is grilled instead of charcoal-broiled, it hasn’t been marinated to death, and it doesn’t come on a sizzling platter. But the dish, like the restaurant that serves it, is pleasant in its unassuming way. 4447 Maple, 526-9027; 3747 Walnut Hill, 351-9554. Sun-Tue & Thur 9 am-9 pm, Fri & Sat 9 am-3 am. Closed Wed, at Maple location; Tue-Sun 9 am-10 pm. Closed Mon, at Walnut Hill location. MC, V. Inexpensive.



GENARO’S ★★★ This cool, tropical oasis would be great-for people-watching, sipping margaritas, dancing on Sunday nights- even if no food were available. But it is, and most of it’s quite reliable. On recent visits we’ve tried ceviche, seafood nachos, flautas, the excellent torta del mar, and basic Tex-Mex, and come away smiling every time. 5875 Live Oak at Skillman. 827-9590. Sun-Thur 11 am-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat 11 am-11:30 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



GONZALES ★★ Some dining establishments are as much in the business of purveying comfort as of purveying cuisine. Gonzales is such a place. Here, for very little money, one can have a beer and hunker down in the dark wood-grain booths and achieve low-budget Tex-Mex-style satori. This is not to say that there aren’t good things to eat available at Gonzales. There definitely are. but one needs to know the topography of the menu to find them. They are most notably the numerous varieties of burritos made with fat. tender flour tortillas: the bean and cheese and the potato and egg are two good choices for those in search of hangover cures that do not require as much machismo to ingest as menudo does. The drive-through window provides a good, fast option for on-the-run diners. 4333 Maple. 528-2960. Daily 7 am-9 pm. All credit cards. Inexpensive.



LA BOTICA ★★ The mishmash of Dallasites who have found La Botica (it’s nearly hidden on Haskell Avenue about a mile east of Central) must like it for the same reasons we do: it’s casual, fairly quiet, and steeped in family-run friendliness. The food-Mexican staples with a hefty addition of beef dishes-is fine but rarely exciting. Particularly good: the tangy enchiladas verdes, the simple tacos, and the spicy chicken soup. Our otherwise happy visits met with two disappointments: the ho-hum and smallish carne asada and La Botica’s tendency to be out of things we want to order. 1900 N Haskell. 824-2005. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10. Fri & Sat 5-11. Closed Sun. MC, V. Moderate.



MARIO & ALBERTO ★★ The standards of Mario Leal’s second restaurant don’t seem to have suffered with the opening of a third one-this popular North Dallas spot seemed as fine (and as busy) as ever. To start with, a tart ceviche or tortilla soup is a good choice. Among the main courses, the filete de la casa (tenderloin strongly flavored with garlic, accompanied by lightly fried potato slices) remains a favorite. Those who crave fa-jitas will find a relatively restrained version here-a manageably modest serving, and no sizzling fireworks. The Tex-Mex plates continue to run way behind the specialties in excellence. Coconut or cinnamon ice cream makes a refreshing dessert. Preston Valley Shopping Center, LBJ Frwy at Preston, Suite 425. 980-7296. Mon-Thur 11:30 am-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat 11:30 am-11 pm. Closed Sun. Drinks with $5.50 membership charge. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



MARIO’S CHQUITA ★★ A return visit confirmed that Mario Leal is doing a good job of reproducing the high quality of food and service found in his older restaurants at this one way up in Piano. The new specialties are available even at lunch, and include beef tips sautéed with onions. The kitchen turns out several excellent renditions of shrimp-our favorite is a ring of large ones cooked with abundant garlic, served with a classic version of Mexican rice. If you don’t have time or room to order dessert from the menu, be sure to pick up one of the cinnamon-flavored pralines. 221 W Parker, Suite 400, Piano. 423-2977. Mon-Thur 11:30 am-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat 11:30-11:30. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



Ml DOLE EASTERN



MR SHISHKABAB ★★ Finally Dallas has a good Middle Eastern restaurant again, complete with belly-dancer, and we hope the hard-to-find location won’t jinx it. Mr. Shishkabab offers mostly the basics like the wonderful Middle Eastern dip made from chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and sesame paste called hummus. The other best appetizer is the tabouleh, that refreshing salad of minced parsley, bulgur wheat, and lemon juice. Otherwise, save your appetite for the main courses, because they come garnished with some of the best tidbits that can be ordered as appetizers-felafel and stuffed kibbeh. Both the kebabs of lamb and shrimp are delicious. If the restaurant gets busy you may find the kitchen and the service slow. 9454 Marsh Lane, just north of Northwest Highway. 350-9314. Tue-Sun 11 am-3pm and 5:30 pm-11 pm. Closed Mon MC, V, AE, DC. Moderate.



NATURAL



BLUEBONNET CAFE ★★★ If you are a yuppie of a certain age, here is where, to the tune of James Taylor, you’re likely to run into friends, acquaintances, or the exspouses of same. Bluebonnet Cafe is part of Bluebonnet Natural Foods Grocery, and as the name of the establishment indicates, the food tends toward the healthful. Happily, however, Bluebonnet doesn’t take a doctrinaire stand. Burgers, wine, and coffee-three controlled substances at hard-line health establishments-are allowed here. I love a number of Bluebonnet’s offerings, including the strawberry-banana-papaya smoothie and the black bean nachos with white cheese and guacamole. What I don’t love is how complicated life at Bluebonnet can seem: at lunch food is served cafeteria-style, but at dinner there is table service, albeit frequently spacy, and the customer isn’t allowed to take a look at the specials at the steam table. Still, the lure of sequential grocery shopping and nacho noshing makes Bluebonnet a useful stop on the yuppie trail. 2218 Greenville. 828-0052. Daily 9 am-10 pm. MC, V, AE. Inexpensive.



DREAM CAFE ★★★ Dream Cafe customers seem to enjoy running into one another and talking to the “Dream family” (Mary, Ellen, John, Grady, and Michael O’Brien) as much as they enjoy consuming the sublime blueberry pancakes. Like everything served at Dream Cafe, the pancakes taste healthy and addictive at the same time. Other breakfast highlights are fresh-squeezed orange juice, tender omelettes (spinach, mushroom, and feta cheese is a winning combinaton), and real hash browns. The lunch and dinner menu change frequently, but the quesadillas- whole-wheat tortillas filled with black beans, cheese, salsa, and sour cream-are a constant. Dessert (the place used to be called Dessert Dreams) should not be skipped. 3312 Knox. 522-1478. Tue-Thur7am-9pm, Fri7am-10pm, Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 8am-5pm. No credit cards; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



SEAFOOD



ATLANTIC CAFE ★★★★ Unlike bad relationships, restaurants sometimes do change for the better. In the case of Atlantic Cafe, the big change in recent months is in service. Having heard tale after tale of insulted customers who vowed never to return because of waiterly rudeness, on two recent visits I was pleasantly surprised to observe service that was warm as well as efficient. Another change is the addition of a glassed-in gazebo area, which provides a sunny seating alternative that seems ideal for Sunday brunch. What has not changed is the cooking, and that’s good news, since it was always admirable. Fish, presumably, is what you come here for, and it’s first-rate, at least in its sautéed and broiled forms. (The fried seafood is okay, but it’s not a strong point here.) However, Atlantic Cafe also does itself proud in other departments, such as the sourdough bread, fruit salad, eggs Benedict, créme caramel, and strawberry or banana crepes. 4546 McKinney at Knox. 559-4441. Lunch: Mon-Fri & Sun 11-2:30; dinner: Sun-Thur 5:30-10:30, Fri & Sat 5:30-11. All credit cards. Expensive.



Aw SHUCKS ★★ For many good reasons, this disarming-ly casual shuckery has become one of the most popular Lower Greenville dining spots. Your search for the perfect catfish may end here-and nobody in Dallas fills a basket with fish for a cheaper price. The same cannot be said of the skimpy shrimp and oyster combo, but skip it and “pick up a dozen” – shucksese for a dozen plump oysters on the half shell. Combine with a big bowl of sure-’nuff gumbo, and welcome to New Orleans West. 3601 Greenville, 821-9449; 4535 Maple. 522-4498. Mon-Thur 11-11, Fri & Sat 11 am-11:45 pm, Sun 11:30 am-10 pm at Greenville location; Mon-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri & Sat 11 am-11:45. Sun 11:30 am-10 pm at Maple location. No credit cards. Inexpensive.



BAY STREET ★★★ Bay Street has made some efforts toward climbing aboard the Cajun bandwagon with such dishes as Cajun popcorn (fried crawfish tails), gumbo, and crawfish étouffée. Still, these Cajun upstarts, while respectably prepared, are outshone by the non-Cajun seafood choices like a simple charbroiled swordfish, which was impeccably fresh and juicy on a recent visit. (And if you are optimistic enough to order swordfish on a regular basis, you know how rare it is when the meaty fish does not emerge with the texture of fish jerky.) Bay Street does well with bread and dessert, but falls down in the salad department because of heavy use of tasteless iceberg lettuce and the presence of weird strips of what appears to be fried dough. Bay Street’s service is young and tries hard, and the setting is a handsome, hangar-like space. 5348 Belt Line, Addison. 934-8502. Sun-Thur 11 am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11-11. MC.V, AE. Moderate.



CAFE PACIFIC ★★★★ At its best, Cafe Pacific does a great job with seafood. A perfect piece of swordfish on my last visit demonstrated this. However, at less than its best (as in the case of eggs Benedict with an English muffin so tough it was almost inedible), Cafe Pacific can be disheartening. However one’s gastronomic luck is running, the setting is attractive and the service is competent. Highland Park Village, Preston at Mockingbird, Suite 24. 526-1170. Lunch: Mon-Sat 11:30-2:30, Sun 10:30-2:30: dinner: Sun-Thur 5:30-10:30, Fri & Sat 5:30-11. MC, V, AE. Expensive.

GULF Coast Oyster Company ★★★★ Dallas now has lotsof good seafood houses, but only one Greek seafood place. This narrow, bustling restaurant serves the Greek caviar dip, taramousalata, before all entrees and offers a Greek appetizer platter, too (with crunchy fried squid and shrimp). Main dishes include skewered chicken and shrimp, grilled Greek-style, and shrimp cooked with feta cheese in a (too sweet) tomato sauce. The fish of the day can be even better-the sweet, delicate brill (a Mediterranean fish something like a flounder) was one of our favorite fish dishes ever. The baklava for dessert, though, proved slightly stale. Corner Shopping Center, 8041 Walnut Hill Lane. 361-1922. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2:30; dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10, Fri 5-11, Sat 11:30-11. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



NEWPORTS ★★★★ When Newport’s hits, as it did on an order of trout amandine on my last visit, it’s as good as any seafood restaurant in town. Unfortunately, on this same visit, swordfish kebabs tasted as if they had been marinated in transmission fluid. However, such instances are anomalies in my experience. Which is a good thing, because unlike its competitors for serious seafood-Atlantic Cafe and Cafe Pacific-Newport’s can’t rely on a gorgeous setting (the vast, woody setting is merely inoffensive) or polished service. 703 McKin-ney in the Brewery. 954-0220. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30: dinner: Mon-Thur 5:30-10:30. Fri & Sat 5:30-11. All credit cards. Expensive.



ROCCO ★★ Revisiting Rocco inspires mixed emotions not unlike those one has upon seeing an old flame. The years may have taken a toll, but the magic can be recalled, at least with the aid of a couple of glasses of good Chardonnay. Which is to say that these days at Rocco. the food may not shine as consistently as in its earlier days, but the jukebox is still a blues and roots-rock treasure, the quality of light is still subaqueous, and the other-worldly Judy DeSanders marine-themed stained-glass windows are still in place. A fine, reasonably sized (one pound) and priced ($14) lobster was the highlight of my most recent meal. Gumbo, crab and corn soup, a mixed fried seafood platter, and ice cream with raspberry liqueur all fell into the okay-to-moderately-good category. I liked the relaxed, brassy attitude of our waiter-who actually pulled up a chair to the table to discuss the specials of the day -but this sort of service is not to everyone’s taste. 2520 Cedar Springs. 747-6226. Tue-Thur 11:30 am-10 pm, Fri-Sun 11:30 am-11 pm. Closed Mon. MC. V, AE. Moderate.



RUSTY PELICAN ★★★ This first Dallas outpost of a California-based chain of quality seafood restaurants seems to have weathered the storm of the transition from the first days (when out-of-city help kept things running smoothly) to the takeover by the local staff (when service was shaky at first). Now things are on an even keel, and you may wait half an hour if you pop in without a reservation. The specialty here is exotic fish, either charbroiled or sautéed. We found that ahi, a Hawaiian fish, took well to the grill- served pink in the center, it really did remind us of a juicy, thick veal chop. The mahi mahi had a grainier texture and just seemed dull, with only tartar sauce to add variety. Plain old Gulf snapper, sautéed nicely enough, seemed drab next to the fancy imports. 14655 Dallas Pkwy, Addison. 980-8950. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30: dinner: Mon-Thur 5-11, Fri 5-midnight, Sat 4:30-midnight, Sun 4:30-10 pm. All credit cards. Expensive.



SHOCKER’S ★★★ Usually, a dramatic overhaul of a menu suggests that a restaurant is floundering to find its audience. It was, therefore, with a heavy heart that I trudged to Shucker’s, formerly a fried-seafood emporium, now a purveyor of Continental-style seafood. However, after a good green salad, an unlikely-sounding but successful swordfish dish with a red-wine vinegar and currant sauce, decent fried shrimp (there is still a token fried section on the menu), and desserts of blackberry pie and chocolate bread pudding that were excellent far beyond the call of duty, my heart was considerably lightened. Now, if only Shucker’s would learn to make less sodden french fries and save the George Winston “December” tape for that month, everything would be copacetic. 4620 McKinney. 522-7320. Mon-Thur 11-11, Fri & Sat 11-midnight, Sun 5 pm- 10prn.All credit cards. Moderate to expensive.



SOUTHERN



BUBBA’S ★★ Forget the catfish, forget the chicken-fried steak, forget the vegetables (especially the amazingly tasteless mashed potatoes). All of these things are beside the point. At Bubba’s you will be wanting the fried chicken, a high-rise yeast roll or two. and the fruit cobbler. Order this sacred trinity of Southern food, and you will be rewarded with a matchless high-cholesterol, high-carbohydrate repast. You could drive through at Bubba’s, but that would deprive you of hanging out in the lipstick-red booths that punctuate the black-and-white deco decor. 6617 Hillcrest. 373-6527. Mon-Fri 6:30 am-3 pm & 4-10 pm, Sat & Sun 6:30 am-10 pm. No credit cards; personal checks accepted. Inexpensive.



CELEBRATION ★★★ My friend suggested that we should have an argument at dinner to make Celebration authentically family-style. Even if you cant manage to stage a family feud, Celebration is likely to live up to its billing. The simple concept-Southern fare, with salad, rolls, muffins, vegetables, and most entrees in all-you-can-eat quantities- packs them in every night of the week. The delectable, if oversweetened, little biscuits and muffins and the immense wooden bowl filled with green salad would be enough for those of normal appetite. Still, most patrons press on to such entrees as pot roast (Mom never did better) or chicken-fried steak (Mom did much better) and vegetables (broccoli, squash, and mashed potatoes on our visit). For dessert, peach cobbler was pleasingly doughy and cinnamon-scented. Celebration’s rustic, woody setting is comfortable, and service is pleasant and efficient. 4503 W Lovers Lane. 351-5681. Lunch: daily 11-2:30; dinner:Mon-Thur5:30-10, Fri & Sat 5-11,Sun 11 am-10 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



CRESCENT CITY ★★ Crescent City serves the best muf-faletta sandwich in the area. It may well be the only muf-faletta sandwich in the area, but this is not to detract from the accomplishment. For those who haven’t been to Central Grocery on Decatur Street in New Orleans, a definition of a muffaletta sandwich is in order. Crescent City’s version consists of a round loaf of chewy, sesame seed-topped bread filled with ham, salami, three kinds of cheeses, and a mixture of marinated, chopped olives and vegetables. There are other things on the menu -including laudable oyster and shrimp poor boy sandwiches and eminently skippable French bread pizzas – but the muffaletta is the reason to make the trek. The beignets and café au lait, while reasonably good, are no rivals to Cafe du Monde’s. Service is in the quick and “hon”-style tradition. 10819 Garland Rd. 321-1613. Daily 8 am-10 pm. MC, V. Inexpensive.



DICK’S LAST RESORT ★★ You can have more fun in this bar-restaurant than just about anyplace else in the West End historical district. There’s sawdust on the floor, New Orleans-style bands, singers, and other musicians performing on stage, and a general air of camaraderie all over. For a place that is basically a bar, Dick’s Last Resort serves amazingly good food. The sweet beef ribs are huge and meaty; the spit-turned barbecue chicken is sensational; and the catfish is even better- crunchy and juicy. Ross at Record. 747-0001. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30; dinner: Mon-Wed 5-11, Thur& Sun 5-midnight, Fri& Sat 5-1 am. MC, V, AE. DC. Moderate.



GOOD EATS CAFE ★★★ This Austin transplant seems to have taken to the Dallas climate, to judge from the lines at peak times (primarily during weekend brunch hours). The concept here is home cooking with some natural-foods influence. Hence the hefty burgers- always a good bet-are served on “gravel-grain” buns that are quite tasty, though they may give pause to burger classicists. But burger classicists miss out on all manner of gratification: they also would pass on the bacon blue cheese option, which is most restorative to the troubled soul. Breakfast is also a consistent winner, but venture into the area of fish, shrimp, barbecue, or vegetables and things become dicier. 3531 Oak Lawn. 521-1398. Sun-Thur7am-11 pm, Fri & Sat 7 am-11:30 pm. MC, V, AE. Inexpensive.



HlCHLAND PARK CAFETERIA ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 4611 Cole. 526-3801: Sakowitz Village. 5100 Belt Line at Dallas Pkwy. Suite 600, 934-8800: Downtown, Akard at San Jacinto. 740-2400. Mon-Sat 11:30am-2 pm & 5 30-8 pm at Cole location: Mon-Sat 11 am-8 pm. Sun 10:45 am-3 pm at Sakowitz Village location: Mon-Fri 7 am-3 pm at downtown location. No credit cards: MC, V, AE for takeout and buffet orders of more than $10. Inexpensive.



STEAKS



DEI FRISCO’S ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 4300 Lemmon. 526-2101. Mon-Thur 5pm-10pm, Fri&Sat5-11, Sun5pm-9pm. MC, V, AE. Expensive.



HOFFBRAU ★★ It’s tough enough to find a good steak these days, much less one for under ten bucks. This restaurant, chock full of things Texana, is living proof that not everyone these days is turning to chicken and fish. No wonder. The specialty here is definitely meat, and judging by the crowds at both lunch and dinner. Hoflbrau’s tasty steaks are no secret. All dinners here include a large salad (with a house dressing), a plate of bread and crackers, and pan-fried chunky potato slices. Waitresses clad in T-shirts and blue jeans set an informal atmosphere. Good food, good service, and good luck finding a parking place. 3205 Knox. 559-2680. Mon-Fri 11-11, Sat noon-11 pm. Sun noon-10pm. All credit cards. Moderate.



LAWRY’S TNE PRIME RlB ★★ For those who like their meat and potatoes dished up with a maximum of show, this is the place. In the elegant setting, waitresses masquerading as chambermaids from Upstairs, Downstairs spin salads over bowls of ice, and carvers wheel around great chrome carts bearing beef. The only choice of entree in the evening is in the size of the slice of roast- we favor the thickest. “Dallas” cut, complete with bone, and warn against anything cooked past medium. Accompaniments and desserts are generally mediocre at best, but the baronial campiness of the place lends charm to the beef. 3008 Maple. 521 – 7777. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 6-10:30. Fri 6-11:30, Sat 5:30-11:30, Sun 5-10; Sun brunch: 11-2:30. All credit cards. Expensive.



TNE PALM ★★★★The floors are littered with sawdust, and the decorations consist mainly of doodled caricatures of the famous (and not so famous). So what makes this a playground for the biggest spenders around? The old-pro waiters give the place a certain air, and the food is certainly the sort high rollers go for. Steaks are the number one item – our tenderloin was as delicious as it was pricey. Lobsters are another specialty, and luckily this time we found one weighing in at only three and a half pounds. The accompanying potatoes of various kinds are usually tempting (though the “cottage fries” are potato chips). Appetizers and desserts are mostly not worth the additional (hefty) expense. At lunch there is a much more reasonably priced menu. 701 Ross. 698-0470. Mon-Fri 11:30 am-10:30 pm. Sat 5-11 pm, Sun 5-10 pm. All credit cards. Very expensive.



RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE ★★★★ The rib-eye is our favorite option at Ruth’s-though the indulgence in so much rich, fatty beef may raise our cholesterol levels for a week. But that’s the difference between prime and choice beef-the fatty marbling that gives the best beef its incomparable flavor. The softball-size tenderloins are a bit less flavorful but very tender. The expense account eaters who come here seem to be mostly meat-and-potatoes people, which is fine, since potatoes are the only side dishes that match the quality of the beef. You can have them fried four different ways, baked, au gratin, lyonnaise, etc. 5922 Cedar Springs. 902-8080. Sun-Fri 11:30-11:30, Sat 5-11.30 pm. All credit cards. Very expensive.



THAI



CHUM MAI ★★ Chiang Mai is the name of a city in northern Thailand, reputedly one of the loveliest in the country-and judging from this namesake, we are ready to believe it. The pretty decor and the courteous, helpful service make this a pleasant place to get acquainted with this delightfully exotic cuisine. Pick hits on the menu include meaty, tender pork moo satay; masterfully spicy shrimp coconut soup; perfectly prepared red curry shrimp; light, fresh-tasting eggplant Thai-style, delicious beef basil, and textbook versions of pud Thai and pineapple fried rice. In fact, the only treacherous section of the menu is the dessert selection: Thai desserts (such as sweet syrup in which tapioca nodules and corn kernels float) are not for the gastronomically faint of heart. 11277 E Northwest Hwy, Suite 148. 340-4499. Lunch: Sun-Fri 11:30-2:30; dinner: Sun-Thur 5-10:30, Fri & Sat 5-11:30. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



SUM ★★★★★ See “The 12 Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. Northwest Corners Shopping Center, 2415 Northwest Highway #108 [accessible from Harry Hines]. 358-3122. Mon-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri & Sat 11-11, Sun 5-10 pm. All credit cards. Moderate.

SlAM ORCHIDI ★★★ While the food may not live up to the memories of that served by Siam (the restaurant that formerly occupied this space), Siam Orchid is still worth exploring. On our most recent visit, the spring rolls were wonderfully crunchy and tasty, and both soups (chicken with rice and shrimp in a hot-and-sour broth flavored with lemongrass) were enormously satisfying. Crunchy fish fillets swam in a red curry sauce decorated with fresh hot peppers. On the down side, the pork satay was dry, and the charcoal-grilled beef in the salad with fresh mint lacked flavor. But since most of the food is excellent and the service kind and helpful. we think it’s worth braving the sleazy neighborhood for a meal here. 1730 W Mockingbird near Harry Hines. 631-6505. Mon-Fri 11 am-2:30pm& 5-10:30pm. Sat 5-10:30 pm. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Moderate.



VIETNAMESE



MAI’S ★★ Lunch specials at Mars are a great, inexpen-sive way to be introduced to Vietnamese food, if you haven’t discovered it. The garlic shrimp or the subtly fiery lemongrass chicken makes for a great lunch. especially if you follow it with Vietnamese-style iced cof-fee with condensed milk. (Finish this stuff off, and the paperwork will be flying from your desk for hours after-ward.) You don’t come here for the atmosphere: Mai’s decor is distinctly utilitarian. 4812 Bryan, Suite 100 (at Fitzhugh). 826-9887. Wed-Fri 11 am-10 pm, Sat& Sun 9 am-10pm. Closed Mon & Tue. MC, V. Inexpensive.



LAS COLINAS/MID CITIES



CACHAREL ★★★★★ See “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” for review. 2221 E Lamar. Suite 910, Arling-ton. 640-9981. Lunch: Mon-Fri noon-2:30; dinner: Mon-Sat 6-10:30. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



CEDARS VlLLAGE CAFE ★★ The Cedars, a Lebanese cafe, is wedged between retail shops and across the park-ing lot from a teen-infested Taco Bell drive-through. But park the car and take the few steps over to a new world of take-out. You can take-out, but we prefer not to. Rather, we’re inclined to take a bottle of wine (the cafe is dry but you can bring your own) and have a leisure-ly meal inside on the patio chairs and table-a sort of urban picnic. Everything on the limited menu is worth a try, but the eggplant dip is especially praiseworthy. And as far as the prices go, you can’t go wrong when a complete meal for two has a hard time reaching ten dollars. 6801 Green Oaks Plaza, Suite 360, 5801 W 1-20. (817)483-1988. Mon-Thur11-3&5-10;Fri&Sat 11-11. All credit cards. Inexpensive.



CHINA TERRACE ★★★ With its rosewood antiques and its wonderful assortment of fine Oriental ornaments, China Terrace creates the perfect atmosphere to enjoy fine Chinese dining. And from the egg rolls to the fortune cookies, that’s exactly what we did. The barbecue ribs found on the hot hors d’oeuvres platter only whetted our appetites for what was to follow. We savored the beef with broccoli and indulged in prawns so artfully ar-ranged on our plates that it seemed a shame to devour everything so quickly. 5435 N MacArthur, Irving. 550-1113. Sun-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri & Sat 11-11. MC. V, AE. Moderate.



ENJOLIE ★★★★ The Mandalay Four Seasons’ show-piece restaurant had a new menu in the works at press time. It includes quenelles of pheasant mousse with cranberry puree, roast quail with wild mushroom dress-ing and pinot noir sauce, and veal medallions with sautéed arugula and ginger sauce. If the new menu is as good as its predecessor, a trip to Las Colinas will be well worth the effort. Mandalay Four Seasons Hotel, 221 E Las Colinas Blvd. Irving. 556-0800, ext 3155. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-2: dinner: Mon-Sat 6-10:30. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Expensive.



FlYING LOBSTER ★★Grapevine is undergoing a major facelift these days, and the Flying Lobster, with its fresh entrees and dockside decor, is among the communi-ty’s newest and best offerings. Although this might be catfish territory to some, there’s nary a fried fish sizzling on the stove. The lobster is flown in daily from Maine; the crab comes from the Gulf. The entrees lack imagination, but freshness makes up for creativity. The cook took the chore out of eating lobster by removing all but the most tender chunks of meat. We had to work a bit harder to get through the seafood platter, which featured everything from frog’s legs to swordfish. 1321 W Northwest Hwy, Grapevine. 481-4135. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10. Fri & Sat 5-11. Closed Sun. MC, V, AE, DC; personal checks accepted. Moderate.



LA DELI ★★ An honest-to-goodness Lebanese restaurant in the middle of the old Hackberry ranch? Well, the proprietors think so. And so do we, except that the menu has been more or less Americanized. You can begin and end your meal with the Generous Tray alone: eighteen (count em) dishes of assorted salads and appetizers, from rolled and stuffed grape leaves to fresh yogurt. This is a very enticing -and filling – beginning. Our favorite is the crushed eggplant in which you dip steamy pita bread. But be sure to leave some room for an entree. The combination dinner is a good choice because you can sample some of Lebanon’s most famous (and sometimes unpronounceable) dishes: kibbi, falafel, and shish kebab. 5433 N MacAr-thur. 580-1163. Lunch: Mon-Sat 10-3; dinner: Tue-Sat 5-10. Closed Sun. All credit cards. Inexpensive.



TANDOOR ★★ Fighting words for fans of non-Western cuisines: “You wouldn’t like it.” Intrigued by the idea of jeera pani, a harmless-sounding aperitif of cumin, mint, and lemon water on Tandoor’s menu, we practically had to arm-wrestle our waitress to obtain a glass of the advised-against liquid. One by one, we three die-hard gastronomic tough guys tasted humiliation as we choked down a sulfurous concoction that could have passed for Trinity River water. Our waitress whisked away the evidence of our defeat, and we moved on to a superior assortment of appetizers: minced lamb patties, vegetables fried in chickpea batter, potato/chili patties, turnovers with potatoes and peas, and cheese fritters stuffed with mint chutney. A tomato and coconut milk soup provided a pleasurable interlude before our main dishes, which were a relative let-down: tough curried lamb, slightly overcooked tandoori chicken, and dull cheese and vegetable dumplings. Tandoor’s setting, with dim lighting and blue walls, is plain but pleasant. 532 Fielder North Plaza, south of 1-30. Arlington. 261-6604. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Sun-Thur 5:30-10, Fri & Sat 5:30-10:30; brunch: Sat & Sun 11:30-2:30. Moderate.



VlA REAL ★★★ Dramatic abstract pictures dominate the walls, and even the menus are original handcrafted works by the same artists. The contents of the menu are as fresh as the look of the place-you might call the concept New Wave Mexican, with a hint of Continental Spanish influence. The appetizers include such novelties as crepa de salmone (thin slices of smoked salmon enfolded in crepes and served dry except for a garnish of pico de gallo) and rellenos de pescado (cylinders of fish mousse studded with salmon and surrounded by a rich sauce). Main courses at Via Real also tilt toward the seafood end, with skewered scallops and swordfish among the specialties. Towne North Centre, 3591 N Belt Line at Northgate. Irving. 255-0064. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11-2; dinner: Sun-Thur 5-10, Fri & Sat 5-11. All credit cards. Moderate.



FORT WORTH



ANGELO’S ★ How much of Angelo’s reputation is warranted and how much mere mystique? We found the sliced barbecue and the chopped beef sandwich both lacking in smoky flavor (though tender and lean enough) on our most recent excursion. The extras here have never been worth hooting about, so that didn’t leave much besides the cold beer and the folksy sawdust on the floor to make our visit memorable. 2533 White Settlement Rd. (817) 332-0357. Mon-Sat 11 am-10 pm. Closed Sun. No credit cards. Inexpensive.



BENITO’S★★ This funky place on the near South Side offers real Mexican dishes rather than Tex-Mex. A wait of only a few minutes will produce an appetizer of sopes, a cousin of the chalupa with a thicker base of cornmeal dough. Fajitas are flavorful, but they can be a bit tough. 1450 W Magnolia. (817)332-8633. Sun-Thur 10-10, Fri & Sal 10am-3am. MC, V, DC, CB. Inexpensive.



HEDARY’S ★★ Some things at Hedary’s were better than ever on our last visit, including the service by the members of the Lebanese-American family that owns the place. The assortment of appetizers was nothing short of spectacular, with definitive eggplant and chickpea dips, falafel, vegetables, and salads. And the baklava and other desserts were light, delicate, and delicious. We confess to some disappointment with our main dishes, though. Our skewered lamb was tough, and our frarej (chicken broiled in olive oil) didn’t taste as boldly of garlic as we remembered. 3308 Fairfield at CampBowie. (817) 731-6961. Lunch: Tue-Fri 11-2;dinner: Tue-Thur& Sun 5-10pm, Fri & Sat 5-11 pm. Closed Mon. No reservations. All credit cards. Moderate.



JOE T. GARCIA’S ★★ The fame of Joe T.’s can get in the way of enjoyment when tourist buses pile up outside, but if you can go at an off hour a lot of old magic is still there. There is less bustle, and the mostly gringo waiters are more solicitous. The food is pretty consistent. In case you haven’t heard, the standard Mexican dinner is the big specialty here, and it’s almost the only thing Joe T.’s serves. It consists of round cheese nachos with a sprinkling of chopped jalapenos, a couple of cheese enchiladas with a purist’s cumin-flavored sauce, and a couple of tacos made the old-fashioned way, with meat fried right in the crimped-together shell. On the side, thick retried beans, a lovely guacamole. and fluffy Mexican rice are served family style. For holdouts against tradition, a version of fajitas called bistec is a worthy alternative. 2201 N Commerce. (817) 626-4356. Mon-Fri 11 am-2:30 pm & 5-10:30 pm. Sat 11-11, Sun 1-10 pm. No credit cards. Moderate.



JUNTA’S ★ The Juanita in the restaurant’s name is the wife of novelist Dan Jenkins. The food served in her pretty establishment is interesting, but inconsistent at this point. It ranges from blackened redfish to heavy-on-the-ancho-chiles enchiladas to shrimp in “fiery” garlic butter that lacked detectable fire. The dessert of choice is a Dove Bar- high-quality ice cream covered with a thick layer of dark chocolate. 115 W Second. (817) 335-1777. Mon-Thur 11 am-1 am, Fri 11 am-2 am. Sat noon-2am, Sun noon-1 am. MC, V, AE. Moderate.



MlCHElL ★★★ All was well on my last visit to this handsome, subdued restaurant. We passed on the $38.50 fixed-price menu de degustation and ordered a la carte instead. Practically everything was up to par: salad or mixed greens, tomatoes, walnuts, and creamy Stilton dressing; veal paté with hazelnuts; warm lobster terrine with beurre blanc-champagne sauce; steamed Maine lobster and crab meat in an orange, celery, and saffron sauce; pheasant breast sautéed with port sauce; créme brulée and what was described as a raspberry shortcake but was actually a Bavarian cream. The only disappointment was the grilled veal scallopini with a cilantro coulis, which had a weird dried-herbal aftertaste. Service was impressively discreet and efficient. 3851 Camp Bowie. (817) 732-1231. Tue-Sat 6-10pm. Closed Sun & Mon. Jackets and ties required. MC, V, AE. Very expensive.



SAINT-EMILION ★★★★ Proprietor Bernard Tranche grew

up in Saint-Emilion, a village in France’s Bordeaux area.Happily for the sake of Fort Worth residents, he movedto Cowtown and opened a charming restaurant thatserves excellent straight-ahead French food. Considering the four-course fixed price of $20 per person-agreat bargain by Dallas standards- it’s surprising thatmore Dallasites don’t make the trek. The last time I did,the results were impressive. A thoughtfully put togethersalad (leaf lettuce, radicchio, watercress, walnuts, andbits of bacon dressed with walnut oil), textbook lobsterbisque, rich spinach cannelloni, and creditable snailsin garlic butter made for a great start. (Order the lastwith the boneless quail and you’ve got the snail-and-quail special.) Actually, the over-complicated quailstuffed with Belgian endive was less than impressive.Juicy swordfish provencal and nicely roasted duck withcherry sauce were all one could ask for. (Actually, onecould ask that the duck be boned.) For dessert, passon the fluffy, lightweight chocolate mousse and opt forthe créme caramel. 3617WSeventh. (817) 737-2781.Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2 pm & 6-10 pm. Sat 6-10 pm.Closed Sun. MC, V, AE. Moderate.

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