Spring Creek Barbeque (Dallas, TX)

So when someone asks you what place has good BBQ in Dallas, what do you tell them? Dickey's? Uh uh. Other than possibly Sonny Bryan's, everybody will tell you that Spring Creek is the place to go. Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, this place has always been booming with business since it opened its doors. With 20 locations in the Dallas/Forth Worth Metroplex and 8 locations in Houston, Spring Creek BBQ is still continuing to expand.

As you can see from their menu, they serve the staple meats that make up Texas BBQ. Their ribs are probably the best thing on the menu. What a lot of people don't know is that you can get unlimited sides. When you finish the ones you get, you can always go back and get more so you don't need to pile your plate up like Mt. Everest with sides.

Rib Dinner
I usually get the rib dinner when I come here. The ribs are smoked to perfection and fall-off-the-bone tender. I still have to say that the some of the best ribs I've had are still at Salt Lick in Austin. Nevertheless, the ribs here are still great and delicious. Today I got their green beans cooked with bacon, cole slaw, and macaroni and cheese.

Fresh Buttery Bread
One thing you wouldn't expect to indulge a lot on at a BBQ place is the bread, however, this is one place where you won't want to pass it up. Bread girls, who are most likely still high schoolers, walk around the restaurant offering fresh baked hot bread straight out of their bread ovens at the front of the restaurant. Put some butter on these buns and you'll want to keep asking for more.






Verdict? As a place I enjoy going to every once in a while when I'm in Dallas, Spring Creek would probably be my go-to place for BBQ, but when I'm in Austin, it's a whole different story. I will still drop by here every so often when I come back to visit Dallas so if you haven't been here before and you're craving BBQ in the Dallas Metroplex, drop by and get your BBQ fix.

Spring Creek Barbeque
http://www.springcreekbarbeque.com/index.html
270 North Central Expressway (at Beltline) *
Richardson, TX 75080
972-669-0505

Hours:
Sun-Thurs: 11am-9pm
Fri-Sat: 11am-10pm

*Refer to their website for their other locations.

仁 記 - Jeng Chi Restaurant (Richardson, TX)

So I'm back in Dallas and I'm leaving Sept. 22nd to go to Asia where I will continue to blog about random foodings (you know, like outings, except with food). I was deciding where to eat today with my best friend and when she mentioned this restaurant, it immediately brought back childhood memories. My family and I would always eat here once a week or so when I was in elementary/middle school.

Jeng Chi has been around as long as I could remember. Located in the Richardson Chinatown, it's a spot you have to try. I have aged a lot since the last time I ate here and so have the owners, but they're just as nice as they were years ago. They have remodeled and everything looks nice inside. The front area shown above is where they sell stuff from their bakery, and I've chosen a few items to highlight since they were readily available there.

Rolled Sponge Cake
This is pretty much a Swiss Rolled Cake. It starts off as a sponge cake on which they spread light frosting. Then the cake is rolled up into it's circular shape resulting in this spiraled design. These things are so moist and delicious that it can become an addiction when you have coffee to go with it. Jeng Chi has some of the freshest and best tasting cakes of type that I've tried. One day I will try to make it on my own, and yes, there will probably be a recipe blog about it also.

Baked Stuffed Pastries
For a lack of better words, since baked stuffed pastries can describe a ton of things, I will explain what these are. These come in many varieties with the most common being red bean, milk custard, and sesame stuffing. The outer layer of this pastry, glazed lightly with butter to give it its glistened look, is flaky and soft. When you bite into it, you'll find the stuffing of whatever flavor you choose in the middle. The balance of the buttery, flaky, outer layer and the moist, soft stuffing is quite a delectable combination.

Chicken Cold Noodle
One of the things Jeng Chi is known for is their noodles. We went with the Chicken Cold Noodle which has shredded chicken, cucumbers, egg, and carrots placed on a bed of cold noodles. It's topped with a peanut-like sauce that has a bit of tang. You mix all these ingredients up and eat it. Aside from this noodle dish, they also have many soup noodles that I would also suggest you try.

Green Onion Pancake
If you've ever had green onion pancakes before, you'll find that these are smaller, but thicker in size that what you're used to seeing. The reason for this is that these are hand made, so although they're smaller, but there's nothing small about the taste. They make for a great appetizer and children love them! It was one of my favorite things to eat as a kid, and it continues to be even today.

Steamed Soup Dumplings - Xiao Long Bao
I can't say that these were great, but they're some of the better ones you can get in Dallas. If you've had these at Joe's Shanghai in New York or authentically in Asia, then you'll find that these don't compare. These are basically very similar to dumplings, but when you bite into these, it's filled with juice. This is because when they stuff it with the mixture of pork and vegetables (sometimes with other stuff), the mixture also has gelatin-ized soup which becomes a liquid when hot. It's typically served with a ginger/vinegar dipping sauce in which you dip it before you eat it. Word from the wise, take a small bite and savor the juices before you start eating it all. A big bite could result in unnecessary burning of the lips and tongue. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Pan Fried Pot Stickers - Guo Tie
These are not the typical pot stickers you find at restaurants that are sometimes called "gyozas". Unlike dumplings or gyozas, the skins of these don't completely enclosed the insides. They're open faced on each end which allows it to cook faster and when cooked right, a crispy bottom develops. Jeng Chi is also known for these so make sure you order them if you drop by to eat.






Verdict? Some things just don't change over time. The items they serve taste just as I remembered them and I would probably come here again. Don't forget that they also offer a variety of baked goods that you can order a la carte. In fact, I think I'm going to drop by again tomorrow to pick up a roll of that sponge cake. The pricing is not bad at all. We ordered the green onion pancake, noodles, 2 orders of the soup dumplings, and the pan fried pot stickers with our total coming out to ~$25. All in all, great meal for a great price.


Jeng Chi Restaurant
400 N. Greenville Ave.#19
Richardson, TX 75081
www.jengchirestaurant.com
972-669-9094


Hours:
Sun/Mon: 11am-9pm
Tues: 11am-3pm
Wed/Thurs: 11am-9pm
Fri/Sat: 11am-10pm

Chi'Lantro (Austin, TX)

It's midnight on the weekend and you've got the munchies. Where do you go? Chi'lantro! Chi'Lantro, located on the NE corner of 5th and Colorado, is a Korean/Mexican fusion food truck. It gets its name by combining the words kimchi (commonly found in the Korean diet), and cilantro (a staple ingredient in Mexican cuisine), hence, CHI'LANTRO. They offer tacos, burgers, burritos, and more at very competitive prices. I would consider them to be a very good value for the quality and portion of food you receive.

So this is their basic menu. One thing you don't see on this menu, but is on the other menu on the left of the truck, is their Kimchi Fries, which is a MUST! On this particular night, my friend and I got the Beef Bulgolgi (they can also do pork/chicken/tofu) Kimchi Fries and Pork Bulgolgi Tacos. The tacos here are cheaper than Torchy's but more expensive than authentic Mexican places like El Taquito or La Mexicana. These mentioned taco places will also show up in a blog sometime in the future. The total for tonight's adventure? $9.

Beef Bulgolgi Kimchi Fries
As I said before, if you go here only decide to get one item, you HAVE to go with the Kimchi Fries. This particular order has fresh hot fries smothered with beef bulgolgi, onions, cheese, and cilantro. They add extra flavor with kimchi (of course), Korean pepper sauce, and a spicy orange sauce.

Spicy Pork Tacos
With your choice of beef, spicy pork, spicy chicken, or tofu, these tacos pack quite a flavor punch. The choice of meat/tofu is place on top of a double layer of corn tortillas. Then, it's topped with salad, onion, cilantro, and finished off with kimchi.








Verdict? If you're hungry late at night on the weekends, make Chi'Lantro one of your top picks. You can also drop by for a quick lunch or even have them cater an event for you. I can say that I will be going back to this place because I already have a few times so if you haven't tried it yet, this makes for a good "sobering up" thing to grab after a night of debauchery on 6th. For those of you that ride the E-Bus downtown, Chi'Lantro is conveniently opening up a new truck location at 7th and Trinity so make sure to drop by.

Here's the info for Chi'Lantro. I would suggest following them on twitter since they're at different places during the day and sometimes might have location changes for nighttime on weekends.

Chi'Lantro
Website: http://www.chilantrobbq.com/
Follow on Twitter!

Hours:
Tues: 11:20am - 2:30pm*, then 8pm - 11pm*
Wed: 11:20am - 2:30pm*, then 8pm - 11pm*
Thurs: 11:20am - 2:30pm*, then 9:15pm - 2:30am*
Fri: 11:20am - 2:30pm*, then 9:15pm - 2:30am*
Sat: 9:15pm - 2:30am*
Sunday/Monday: Closed


*Location varies, but they're either downtown, at the Domain, or on campus during lunch/dinner times most of the time. On Thurs - Sat night from 9:15pm to 2:30~3am, they're almost always located at 5th/Colorado and 7th/Trinity. Again, the best way to stay updated with their hours and locations is via Twitter.

Osmo's Kitchen (Austin, TX)

Owned and operated by Robin and Ken (correct my spelling if I'm wrong), Osmo's Kitchen probably stands out the most in this Barton Springs food trailer community with it's vibrant red and green alligator adorned decoration. You would assume at first that Osmo's is the couple's last name but it's actually an acronym of their son's name, Owen Shawn Marshall O'Keefe (I apologize for any misspellings). As promised, today is the wrap-up of my adventure in this area and I would have to say I definitely saved the best for last. This lovely couple make some of the best and freshest Southern Louisiana/Italian American food out there.

Their menu isn't super extensive but it's full of pure goodies. My stomach is only so big so I ordered as much as I could without it being to ridiculous, and I chose to come here on Saturday because they serve up hot and fresh beignets that are absolutely melt-in-your mouth delicious! They had just gotten fresh oysters in (from the West coast so don't worry) and I decided to go with the sensible thing to do and ordered the Fried Oyster Po-Boy with the spicy slaw. In addition to this, I had the beignets of course, the gumbo and dirty rice.

Beignets
These came out first and boy did they come out piping hot. There's nothing better than fresh beignets to start a Saturday brunch. Now if only I had some coffee to go with these wonderful treats. It had a little more powdered sugar than I would have preferred but this small detail was microscopic compared to the awesomeness of the taste. Yes, awesomeness.

Fried Oyster Po-Boy with Spicy Slaw
The rest of the order came out shortly and each were fresh and hot. When I unwrapped the po-boy I had a feeling of excitement running through me similar to that of a child unwrapping a present on Christmas. I cut into a small section to give you guys a closer look of what's on the inside of this sandwich and yes, that white part is part of an oyster, not chicken. The oysters were large, fresh, perfectly fried, and laid on a   crisp bed of slaw. A nice piece of French bread held all the crunchy and juicy goodness together. I threw some hot sauce on top of the sandwich just because it seemed fitting. The po-boy was a good size and is great for lunch any day of the week. I have yet to try their catfish or shrimp po-boys but I'm sure they're just as good.

Gumbo
This gumbo has chicken, andouille sausage, peppers, and other great ingredients stewed together in creole/cajun spices. The gumbo is served over a layer of wild rice and, as expected, the gumbo was also good. After eating the po-boy, I couldn't completely finish the gumbo and wild rice but the containers they come in make it very easy for you to pack it up and take home so that's what I did

Dirty Rice
I took a bite of the dirty rice and it tasted far from anything dirty could be. If you wanted to try dirty rice anywhere, I would highly suggest coming here to try it. For those of you that don't know what it is, dirty rice is usually comprised of white or wild rice cooked with specks of chicken liver or giblets (hence its "dirty" color). Celery, bell peppers, and onions are also commonly found in the making of this dish. With the combination of everything, it makes for some rice that I could probably eat every day and not get tired of it.




Verdict? I will most definitely be coming back to this place. If it's your first time in this trailer area, Osmo's would be my first recommendation for a place to try. Of course, the best way to go would be to get a group of friends together and order stuff from all the vendors and just share them so you guys can have a taste of everything. The owners of Osmo's, along with the other vendors in this area, are the friendliest people you'll meet. They're passionate about the food they create and always have time for some small talk so get to know some of them and hear their stories.

It's unfortunate that I'm leaving for Asia really soon and won't be back until November, but when I do come back, I'm going to try and make this my first Saturday lunch!


Osmo's Kitchen
801 Barton Springs Rd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 514-1727
Follow on Twitter!

Hours:
Tues-Fri: 8am - 4pm
Sat: 11am - 4pm

A Touch of Fire

After reading my previous post about Sushi A-Go-Go, my friend really wanted to try it so he asked me if I wanted to go again today. I told him yes, but I'll probably try another one of the food trailers so I can provide you guys with some more insight as to what else was around the area.

In a corner behind Sno-Beach lies this unlabeled blue trailer with red, white, and blue lights on top with which I'm assuming, is to replicate the lights on a fire truck? This trailer seemed to be getting a constant customer flow so I figured it shouldn't be too bad at all. There's 2 Thai ladies (seemed like a mother/daughter run place) that are working inside with a few woks.

I approached the menu to see what was on it. I asked a customer that was waiting on his food if he had any suggestions. He said that the Pad Thai was good as well as the Thai Fried Rice. He also mentioned that the portion sizes were really good, and by the looks of his stature, I figured it had to be a good amount if it was to fill him. I decided to go for the Pad Thai (with chicken and tofu) and Spring Rolls (with chicken).

Chicken and Tofu Pad Thai
The portion of the Pad Thai was smaller than I had expected, but it was enough to fill me. Taste, I would give it a 7/10. I don't know what authentic Pad Thai tastes like so I can only compare it to the Pad Thai I've had at places like Madam Mam's or Thai Noodle House. It was definitely flavorful but for almost the same price at sit-down restaurants, I wouldn't say it's completely worth it.

Spring Rolls
To be honest, these were okay but not the best. I may be a bit biased but I think once you've made your own spring rolls with all the goodies you enjoy putting in them, the ones you order anywhere else don't seem to match up.

Verdict? I honestly can't say that I'd order from here again unless someone orders the Thai Fried Rice for me and it proves otherwise. All in all I give this place a 7/10. It was decent but I feel could have a few improvements. Lesson learned? Don't ask strangers with Americanized tastes if they enjoy Asian food.

This trailer is also located in the same area as Sushi A-Go-Go. There's only 1 food vendor that I haven't touched in this lovely area. The place is called Osmo's Kitchen and they're suppose to have crazy good made-to-order fresh beignets on Saturday's around noon along with great Lousiana/American/Italian cuisine, so look forward to this post tomorrow!

A Touch of Fire

801 Barton Springs Rd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 589-5269

Not entirely sure about their business hours but most likely the same as the other vendors.

Sushi A-Go-Go with some Sno-Beach on the side. (Austin, TX)

 

Today's culinary exploit is Sushi A-Go-Go. Let me tell you, it was quite an adventure just to get a taste of this sushi and I almost gave up hope on trying it. It started off as a place I planned to go for lunch before my GMAT so I headed down to the Barton Springs location and every food trailer there seemed to be open except for Sushi A-Go-Go. I whipped out my trusty iPhone only to find out that it didn't open till after 11:30AM so I decided to go take my test and come back later. How'd it go you ask? Let's just say I never liked the SAT and the GMAT was like the SAT on crack.

So after a my test, my appetite decided to slap me across the face to let me know what's up. I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since I had woken up. I headed back to Sushi A-Go-Go with excitement knowing that it was going to be open and I was greeted with this sign...

Great, this must have been a sure sign that it wasn't meant to be. I had no idea when the guy inside put this sign up so I figured that since it was already posted when I got there, he'd most likely be back within 10 minutes so I sat there and waited... and waited... 

While waiting I was just making observations on the area and it seems to be like a tight-knit trailer community. It was like a trailer park full of food with plenty of umbrella shaded benches.


After 10 minutes had passed, I became thirsty and Sno-Beach was conveniently located next to the sushi trailer. For those of you that haven't been to Sno-Beach on 34th and Guadalupe, you're missing out. For the Sno-Beach virgins, the small is a pretty decent size and you MUST order it with cream; it makes a world of difference!

The trailer is the exact same as the one on Guadalupe and the flavors are also unchanged. There always seems to be attractive girls that work inside of these trailers.

Black Cherry and Margarita with Cream
You can choose up to 3-4 flavors but when you're about half-way through it the flavors will all most likely have melted and meshed together.

I hope someday to become a great dad like this one and take my kids out for snow cones and ice cream on a hot summer day. It's things like this that give life some meaning.

As I was slurping down my own snow cone, I saw the sushi man approaching the truck. He looked like a legit sushi chef (and was quite possibly Japanese). I ordered the Fat Samurai roll, the Sunshine roll, and the Superfly roll. I originally wanted the BBQ eel roll which had eel, avocado, and cucumber but the Superfly had eel and salmon skin. I asked if he would be able to add avocado and cucumber to my Superfly roll and he was more than happy to oblige. The guy was nice and didn't charge me any extra. Yes, I know I ordered a lot and no, I didn't eat it all. 




The most ridiculous thing happened when I was paying for my order. This seemingly homeless woman came and said the she needed money for a cab ride home cause the bus wouldn't take her where she needed to go. At the time I had received $4 back in change (one of which I put in the tip jar) so obviously I couldn't just say sorry I don't have any change. I gave her a dollar without and she says "can you give me $5 more dollars?" I straight up told her no and she asked again till I told her no a second time. I went back to the bench I was sitting at and the unthinkable happened next. The lady reached into the tip jar and tried to grab as many bills as she could! I was like, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" and at this time the sushi guy looks out and yells "ARE YOU STEALING FROM ME? HUH? GET OUTTA HERE!" The lady started leaving the area as fast as she could. What has the world come to nowadays? You try to do something nice for someone and it ends up that they're just a bunch of trash that should be in jail. Sorry, I had to throw this into today's post because when my day seemed to have gotten better, it was ruined again by this bitch.


Anyways, not to deter too far from the topic, 5-10 minutes after this whole ordeal happened, I heard the faint calling of the Japanese guy inside the trailer; "Order for Jonathan!". YES! As I approached the window, he said in a slightly fobby accent, "Can you believe that crazy lady? I've never seen this happen before".

Fat Samurai Roll
This $12 roll is a combination of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, imitation crab, shrimp, avocado, cucumber, and green leaf lettuce. When they say fat, they mean fat. The pieces were huge! Even though it's 5 pieces, I'm sure all the pieces combined can create more than 8 pieces of normal sized sushi.

Sunshine and Superfly Roll
The eight pieces on top were the Sunshine roll ($6 with salmon, mango, and avocado) and the ones on the bottom were the Superfly roll ($6.50 with BBQ eel, salmon skin, avocado, cucumber with eel and go-go sauce on top)









Verdict? I would definitely come back here to eat again. The price was fair, less than high end sushi joints. The fish is as fresh as nice sushi restaurants you find downtown and the flavors meld together very nicely. The Sunshine roll was probably my favorite so if you get a chance to check out this place, try it out.


Here's the 411 for Sushi A-Go-Go and Sno-Beach
SUSHI A-GO-GO
http://www.sushi-a-go-go-austin.com/

Sushi-A-Go-Go Medical Pkwy
4001 Medical Pkwy
Austin, TX 78756
(In the Shell parking lot)
512-560-1655
Mon-Fri: 11:30am - 8:30pm
Sat: 12:00noon - 8:30pm
Sun: Closed

Sushi-A-Go-Go Barton Springs
801 Barton Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
512-423-7170
Mon-Fri: 11:30am - 8:30pm
Sat: 12:00noon - 8:30pm
Sun: Closed

SNO-BEACH

Lamar Sno Beach
Lamar and Butler. Butler is right before Barton Springs, when you're headed south on lamar. you'll see the line
Sunday-Friday: Noon to 9
Saturday: 11-9
Fiesta Sno Beach:
38th and 1/2 and I-35 @ the Fiesta Mart
Sunday-Friday: Noon to 9
Saturday: 11-9
Guad. Sno Beach
34th and Guadalupe
Sunday-Friday: Noon to 9
Saturday: 11-9

Hello Blog World. Hello Sticky Rice with Mango.

This is my first blog so we'll see what's to become of it. I had never imagine that I would start a blog because I had no idea what I would want the world to know about. Then I said to myself, what's there better to blog about other than food? Everybody eats it and everybody loves it. The name is inspired by a company I'm starting that will specialize in baked goods beginning with cookies and cupcakes and potentially expanding to many other types of goodies. Feel free to drop by Nomlicious Goods. If everything goes according to plan, I should have a website up not too long from now and a launch party either in late November or early December.

Food has always been a great passion of mine and as I'm about to head off to Asia for another extensive few weeks of culinary endeavors (aka. vacation), I figured why not start a food blog so I can share my experiences with everybody!

The other day I was at Madam Mam's (an Americanized Thai cuisine restaurant that seems to attract all sorts of people except Thai's) and decided to order the Sticky Rice with Mango. It's a popular Thai dessert and everybody seems to love it. As I was nom-ing on the coconut infused sticky rice, I said to myself, "is this really worth $5.50?"

If there's something you should know about me, it's that I don't like ordering food that I can, or believe I can, make easily. You will rarely find me at steakhouses or Italian restaurants because to be honest, the items on the menu that they serve are always way overpriced for what you get.

Anyways, back to the Sticky Rice with Mango. Now I asked myself, how far can $5.50 get me in my quest to make this delectable dessert? I walked the aisles of MT Supermarket picking up what I needed; 1 can coconut milk ($.89), 1 large mango ($1.50). I had jasmin rice at home along with lime and sugar (which I will make the total of these 3 items out to be.. oh let's say $1 just to overestimate).

Once I got home I got right on it. Below an easy to follow recipe (makes 4 servings):

You will need:
1 cup jasmine rice
1 (generous) cup of coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 large mango
1 lime

Rinse the rice and put it in an 8" pan. Add the coconut milk, water, and sugar to the rice and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, mix it around a little, put a lid on top, and turn the heat down to a simmer. Let this cook for about 20-25 min (stirring every once in a while) or until the rice has a nice cooked sticky texture as seen above.

Once the rice is done, pack it into an 8x8 greased pan and let it cool.

Skin, cut, and slice your mango. Drizzle lime juice on top to give it an extra fresh and tangy flavor. At this point you can also puree some of your mango to use as decoration as you'll later see.

Once cooled, divide the rice into 4 squares.

Put a layer of the mango puree on the plate and place the sticky rice on top of that. Add half of the mangoes you sliced from one side on top of sticky rice and garnish with lime slivers if you'd like.

So in the end, is $5.50 worth it at Madam Mam's? Hell no. You can probably make about double this recipe (so 8 servings for the mathematically challenged) with about $5.50.

I hope this first post has sparked interest in any readers that have come across this new blog. If so, feel free to follow me and my culinary adventures wherever I may go.