Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Porch... I'm not addicted (yet) after all.

http://www.theporchrestaurant.com/
2912 N Henderson Avenue Dallas, TX

I discovered Porch on my second (2010) visit from NJ/NYC to my cousin and his family in the Dallas/Forth Worth area just this past May. Porch is one of the few restaurants that came up on my google search when I typed in "mac and cheese, Dallas". I am not a connoisseur nor a trained critic for macaroni's or cheeses, or mac and cheese. But I do have this affinity, which probably just about borderline obsession for this dish. Everyone that knows me, my cousin in Texas included, is aware that a visit to a restaurant with Mac and Cheese needs to be checked off my list. Eventually, I will be needing a 12-step program for this obsession and it looks like I'm already on Step 1 - I have admitted that I am powerless to this obsession.

After visiting the Guadalupe Church, my cousin drove me to what looks like a cute and chic area, filled with furniture (both antique and artsy type of stores) and food establishments, like Porch. We got to the restaurant just in time for brunch, but did not wait that long to get a table. As we walk in the restaurant, I noticed the exposed rafters and "The Big Board" where a few items on the menu and the specials were listed. Since we were at The Porch, we opted and requested for a table at the Porch or the "front patio" where we witnessed numerous expensive cars like BMW, Mercedes Benz, few Porches and vintage cars, either parked or drove by. I looked around at the other patrons and saw families (big and small), young and trendy shoppers, and fabulous out-of-towners like yours truly (I mean who needs an A-List Dallas star like Steve Nash, if you got me in your restaurant, right? .. Right?).

The service is friendly, very hospitable, recited the specials of the day as if its the Pledge of Allegiance, and he smiled (without that judgemental look) as he witnessed my love of taking pictures of the food that we ordered:



Parm O' Rings - nice chunky pieces of deep fried and crispy Onion Rings, topped with Parmesan cheese (really nice combo). This would go perfectly with a nice cold draft beer, but my 9-year old nephew ordered this, so I think its a bit wrong for me to suggest that.

Stodg Burger - Aged Cheddar, Nueske's Bacon, Fried Egg & LTMO on Foie Buttered Bun with Pasta Salad. Ohmygoodness.. Ohmygoodness. Ohmygoodness. This burger is lusciously juicy, well-seasoned, perfectly cooked, plated just perfect, the Nueske (maker of America's Original Applewood Smoked Meats) bacon were thick and so yummy, fantastic cheese and not to forget that it was topped with the perfectly cooked egg with that slightly runny center. When you bite into it, the emulsion of juices from the meat, egg and the bacon flows is fantastic. This was a $14 - heaven in your mouth treat. After having this burger, I refused to eat any other burger especially the "fast-food" kinds, but eventually succumbed to a burger cooked at a family barbeque after coming home from an 11-mile hike.

Biscuits & Brisket - Poached Eggs & Asparagus Hollandaise, its a very solid dish, the brisket was seasoned well, very tasty with that nice good dose of smoke to it, offset by the buttery taste from the hollandaise sauce, the richness of the egg and the fresh asparagus. I highly recommend this dish to be a regular on their brunch menu.

This visit to Porch solidified my reputation to my family as a finder of good food, and it also confirmed that I wasn't addicted to mac and cheese just yet. I came to Porch for the purpose of trying their M-n-C, but ended up ordering something else. But I will be back to DFW in September, I think I'll have it then with some bread pudding.. Yuuumm.





xoxoxo





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