Meso Maya

Meal of Food Friday was an intimate affair this week as only three people made it out to dinner. We went to Meso Maya in North Dallas to celebrate National Margarita Day.

Meso Maya is an upscale Mexican restaurant featuring authentic Mexican dishes and drinks. It was similar to last week's winner, Cantina Laredo. I'm fine with it becuase Mexican food is my favorite and there are usually some veggie friendly options for lent (two meat free Fridays down, four to go).

We started out with margaritas, chips and salsa, and the Queso Fundido which is peppers stuffed with cheeses and lightly fried. I'd give the sugar-free margarita a B, the chips an salsa an A and the Queso Fundido an A++!

Good if a little bland - but that's a sugar free drink for you

May not look very attractive, but it was soooooo good! it came out boiling hot so if you order it on your next trip, watch out!

For dinner, I had the Budin Azteca De Verduras, which the waiter described as Mexican vegetable lasagna. It was layers of cheese and veggies between corn tortillas. It was fine, but much like last week, I wouldn't have ordered it if I hadn't been abstaining from meat for lent.

I probably wouldn't eat this again, but the great appetizer and salsa, fast service, and fun atmosphere more than made up for my average entree. My fellow MoFFers raved about their dishes, so I think overall, Meso Maya was a great success!

Cantina Laredo

The winner of last week's Meal of Food Friday vote was Nate's Seafood and Steakhouse in Addison. As soon as I heard that Nate's was the winner, I knew we had a problem. It's the first week of Lent, and many Catholics and other Christians do not eat mean on Fridays during this time (but fish is allowed). This means that casual fish restaurants are basically overrun with my fellow Catholics every spring for the 6 Fridays leading up to Easter.

So we had to make a last minute switch! We moved our party up the street to Cantina Laredo, which had a far shorter wait and room open at the bar. Cantina Laredo is a nice Mexican restaurant. It's not what I would call a casual place, but it's not all that expensive. Dinner is about $15 unless you order something fancy.

Photo credit: cantinalaredo.com/

I was totally fine with with the change. I don't really eat fish - the texture freaks me out. Normally when I go to a place like Nate's, I order chicken or a burger, but that wouldn't have been a choice since I was observing no meat Friday. Instead, I had no meat enchiladas! The Enchiladas de Avocado topped with queso to be specific. It is not a dish I would normally order, but it was one of the few meat free options, so I went with it. It was pretty good, but not good enough to order again. I've had the tacos and fajitas in the past and I liked both more than the enchiladas.

Despite Nate's not working out, we had a good night! I'm sure that it will win again some time - hopefully when Lent is over!

 

Nazca Kitchen

This week, the Meal of Food Friday crew visited a new addition to the Dallas restaurant scene. Nazca Kitchen is a Peruvian restaurant near Central Expressway and Walnut Hill.The place had a nice new restaurant feel to it - not very crowded, and everything had that super new look, never-been-used look.

It's a bit hidden - just look for the abandoned Dave and Buster's building

I wasn't really sure what Peruvian food was before eating at Nazca. I'm still not totally sure what makes a dish Peruvian, but I did lean that Peruvian food it tasty! We started out with the roasted pepper/cheddar dip, served with pita chips. It was a good start!

I need to work on my phone photography. The deliciousness isn't coming through in these pics!

I had the steak sandwich and grilled veggies for dinner along with a South American beer called Quilmes. I like to match my beer to my dinner - I think of it as a beer drinker's alternative to wine pairings. Everything was good! The steak was marinated well and had a great flavor. The bread was something called an Amazon Crunch Bun. It was a little sweet and crispy on the outside. It was different and I loved it. The sandwich was not huge, but it was enough food to be full. I appreciate when restaurants help me with my portion control!

Ryan had the roasted half chicken with quinoa. The chicken was good, the quinoa was just okay. He tells me that he wouldn't have try it again. I'm not sure that I would try it either, but I think it is in part because neither of us can figure out how to pronounce it properly.

I'd definitely eat at Nazca again. The food was unusual and tasty and the atmosphere was friendly and fun. You should try it out - let's help this new venture succeed!

Liberty Burger

January is almost over - CRAZY! It's been a weird start to 2013, in part because I missed several Meal of Food Fridays. Between recovering from the holidays, a trip to Las Vegas, and a nasty case of bronchitis, my routine has been totally thrown off! Thankfully, things are getting back to normal.

This week, the gang ventured to Liberty Burger, a casual burger joint with two locations in north Dallas. We went to the original location on Forest Lane. The way it works is that you go up to the counter, place your order, get a number and take a table. We had a large group and had to squeeze into a corner table. It wasn't an ideal spot for groups of over about six, but luckily we all like each other, so me made it work. 

I had the classic Liberty Burger with cheese. It was tasty. Not the best burger that I've had, but it was good. Definitely would help you take care of a burger craving! Ryan and I split french fries and onion rings so that we could try both. It's a nice perk of being married - your husband has to share with you :)

I was really hungry and I forget about taking pictures until halfway through. As you can see, I enjoyed my dinner

The onion rings were huge and so good! To see the whole dish, check out the restaurant website.

I can never decide if I like onion rings or fries better, and both really good at Liberty burger. You get a ton of onion rings, so I would definitely recommend sharing if you go that route.

It was good to see my friends after my MoFF hiatus. And aside from squeezing into a tiny table, Liberty Burger was a success!

Do you know of a great restaurant in the DFW area? Share with me in the comments and I'll nominate it next week. We are always on the lookout for new spots to check out!

British Beverage Company

Last week, Meal of Food Friday took us to the British Beverage Company, a nice little British Pub in the heart of uptown Dallas.I was happy with this choice for one reason - it beat Dave and Buster's in a tie-breaker. I was just not in a Dave and Buster's mood and was relieved when it lost.

Thank you BBC for not having arcade games

Our group sat in a cozy booth to enjoy our British food, which was perfect. It's great when we get to sit in a booth or round table because you can actually hear everyone talk as opposed to a long rectangular table where you can only hear the people right next to you. We started out with the flatbread and Scotch Egg appetizers. For my main dish, I had the burger and malt vinegar chips. I was tempted to try something a little more "English" but my picking eating fears got the better of me. I don't really like fish, so that took out about half the menu. And the other things I was interested in were too pricey to risk getting something that I wouldn't enjoy. So burger it was - and it was delicious. I also enjoyed a Harp lager. My personal homage to my Irish heritage.

The malt vinegar chips were SO GOOD

Is it weird that Harp beer reminds me of my Grandma? and also St. Patrick's Day?

I would go to BBC again - good food and fun setting. It was a little on the fancy side for a place that calls itself a pub, but it wasn't too outrageous. Overall, a good find.

Jack Mac's Swill & Grill

Twas the MoFF before Christmas and we gathered at Jack Mac's Swill & Grill for our last Friday night out before the holidays. We had a big group which always make Meal of Food Friday fun, even if the food isn't good.

Jack Mac's is a bar and grill (as you might guess from the name) that features craft beer and wine made in Texas. It had a fun atmosphere - pretty casual with a big bar and lots of drink choices. They had live music the night we went and the singer was really fun!

Jack Mac's is a hidden in a strip mall, but you wouldn't know it from the inside.

They are known for pizza and beer. I wish I would have known that earlier. If I had, I would not have eaten pizza for lunch that day. So instead, I went for a club sandwich and fries. It was pretty good - nothing to get too hyped up over, but I enjoyed it. The best part of the meal was the beer and I just wish I could remember the name of what I tried so that I could order it again! Apparently I need to write these things down.

The beer was better than the food

My friend did order the famous pizza, and it looked tasty. If I go back, I'll give it a try.

Overall, it was a really fun night. I'm not sure that it's a place that I would want to go over and over again, but it worked our great for our big group, and as I said before, the atmosphere was fun. And good beer never hurts.

Avila's

This week for Meal of Food Friday, we ventured to Avila's Restaurant near downtown Dallas. By a narrow margin, Avila's beat out Cozymel's (which I voted for) and Jojo Eating House. Avila's is near where my husband works, so we decided to save gas and meet at the restaurant rather than riding together. No problem, right? Well, i'm not known for my keen sense of direction. I let my google maps app guide me and I got a little lost. I ended up about a block down from where I was supposed to be outside of an extremely sketchy restaurant with bars on the windows. I get out, go to the door and in a space of 5 seconds, I opened the front door, peeked inside, closed the door and was back in my car. I called a friend who IS known for his keen sense of direction, and he was able to help me get back on track. Just so you all know, the Avila's is a converted house and this is what the sign looks like:

Do NOT enter a building with bars on the windows on the next block down.

 Lucky, things improved from there. We had queso and (of course) chips and salsa to start. I wasn't into the salsa - it was way to spicy for me. I had a margarita, which was tasty, and brisket tacos for dinner. They were good, but not the best that I've had. I asked for sour cream on the side, and it came with pico de gallo mixed in. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. I neglected to take any pictures. Sorry!

Here's a picture of my puppy instead - isn't she precious?!?

Overall, it was good. If it was in my neighborhood and I could get there easily, I'd go back. I probably won't just because it was a bit of a drive from home and I am a little freaked out by the sketchy place I originally walked into instead.