The last time we were in Dallas (probably 2018 or 2019), I discovered that there was a 99 Ranch - my favorite Asian grocery store, and Wes discovered there was a Kinokuniya - his favorite Japanese bookstore, in the city of Carrollton. They are both in a shopping center with lots of cute shops and tons of restaurants. We decided that the next time we travel to Texas, we'd spend a weekend in Carrollton to eat and shop. We were going to do this for Lunar New Year 2020 but had to postpone due to COVID. Then we were going to in August, but Zephyr got super sick the day before we were supposed to drive out. So, FINALLY, we went for my birthday. This was over a month ago but I'm just now finding time to journal.
You can't drive by a Buc-ee's and not stop in, so the one in Denton was our first stop. We got there around lunchtime on a Saturday and it was packed. We bought snacks, souvenirs, and lunch... all the things you need to buy when visiting a Buc-ee's. LOL I got a hotdog with dill relish and some potato salad for lunch and Wes got a Lunchable-type thing with cubes of cheese, salami, grapes and almonds. We ate it all before I could take a picture.
Our next meal was dinner. 🍣 One of Wes's friends from work suggested that we go to Blue Sushi. It is his favorite sushi place and gave Wes a stellar review. I was so pumped to try this place... and it was not as good as I had hoped for 😔 Wes said his friend probably likes this place for its vegan options. I think he likes this place because it's a hip restaurant to impress his girlfriend. LOL I'm almost certain that the patrons dine at Blue for its ambiance and not its sushi. I would compare it to Sushi Neko in OKC. The coolest part was the front room & bar that was Godzilla themed. 🐉 It had murals of scenes from the old movies. We weren't trendy enough to be seated near the front; the hostess sat us in a different dining room that wasn't themed.
The best part of our meal was the shishito peppers we got for our appetizer. One of my rolls had cilantro in it and the other was rolled in tempura beet flakes -- the two best parts of my dinner. Wes said he liked his sushi alright but there wasn't anything special about it. I was kind of bummed after dinner, so I wanted dessert to compensate. There weren't many places that were both nearby and still open so instead of dessert, we decided on coffee. I am so glad we did because Civil Pour was so good. ☕ I got a caramel apple latte that tasted exactly like the lollipops.
The next morning, we headed out to our Asian shopping center excursion. We had breakfast at 85℃ Bakery. We've been here before and loved it so had to go again. Dine-in wasn't available, which was actually better because we got to heat up our pastries at the hotel. They would have still tasted amazing at room temperature, but I prefer them warmed up. The potato croquette I got was SO freakin' yummy!! 😋
We spent a majority of the day wandering around the shops. It was a really good shopping day. 😁😍 I bought a ton of snacks, goodies for my pen pals, and even Wes (who never shops) bought a couple of things! Of course, we had to take a boba break so we got drinks from 7 Leaves. I got the mung bean milk tea. It was delicious, no surprise. It had bits of crushed up mung beans and reminded me of the mung bean cakes I liked when I was a kid.
Soon tofu is soft tofu. The soup is made with lots of different spices, ginger, onion and scallion. Chunks of tofu are added to the broth and then you get your choice of meat. I got the combination with beef, shrimp and clams. You get to pick your spice level (I'm a wimp and got 1 🌶pepper). The soup is served boiling hot in a clay pot with a side of rice, traditional Korean side dishes--one was a whole fried mackerel 😋--and a raw egg that you crack into the soup. The restaurant had televisions playing informative videos about how to cook the soup, the proper way to eat it and BCD's annual spicy soup eating competition.
For dinner, we had Pakistani food at BBQ Tonite. 🍛 I was still pretty full from lunch so I don't think I liked the food as much as I would have if we hadn't eaten a ton just a few hours previously. We shared the beef seekh kebab and rice with lamb. Wes really liked the spice blend they used. It was a good meal albeit a bit too spicy for me.
Our final meal was breakfast the next morning. When we were shopping at the grocery store the day before, I noticed that 99 Ranch had dim sum at their hot deli. And on their dim sum menu was congee, like the legit congee with salted pork and black preserved egg. OM-freakin'-G!!! I am the only person in my family who likes congee so it's never cooked at family dinners, and you can't find it at many restaurants around here. I was ecstatic!!! I wasn't hungry when we went shopping so I didn't get any... when we returned for breakfast the next morning, I made a beeline for the dim sum and asked for congee. The cook said it wasn't done yet and I would need to wait 5 - 10 minutes. Wes got his breakfast (a pastry and some tea) and we wandered around the store a bit, patiently awaiting. As soon as the 10 minutes had passed, I rushed back to the deli and the cook handed me a steaming hot bowl. I triumphantly brought it to our table and devoured it. I also got some fried stuffed eggplant, which was also delicious.
We stopped in IKEA on our way home. I got a table for my serger and we got a (much needed) new dining room table. We spent three days in Carrollton and ate as much as we could. SO MUCH GOOD FOOD. Our hotel was only a block away from the Asian shopping center so we had every meal (except for sushi) there. I almost wish we had something like that in Oklahoma but then I think it would take the fun out of travelling for good authentic Asian food. And I would probably be broke from shopping --or I would just have the most awesome collection of stickers & washi tape. LOL Anyway, it was the perfect way for me to spend my birthday! 🎂
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