Billusa99

• 2 years, 9 months ago Billusa99's review for:

  Central 214

  • Food: 4/5
  • Vibe: 5/5
  • Service: 5/5
  • Value: 4/5
  • Overall: 4/5
  
  

  We have been to Central 214 twice -- the first time it was 4 weeks after it opened. The second time was a few weeks ago. It is WELL worth a visit. We will go back again -- lots of fun.
  

  The restaurant is open to the bar / lounge area and the whole space is very West Elm-like in furnishings. Light and dark wood, clean, modern lines, dark grey slate tile floor. Makes for a very noisy place when voices, dishes and the house music are added in.

  Music is W Hotel style techno-club-synth. But they also mixed in some John Lee Hooker, and other Delta blues, which was quite a (welcome) contrast. There's a chef's table that seats two right at the open kitchen bar and a long, high-top communal table fronting the kitchen that seats about 12. It was full when we arrived there Sat. for 7:15. And it's a very open kitchen -- even moreso than Hibiscus, for example.

  We split Oysters Rockefeller to start and they were every bit as good as the ones we get in any of the finer places in New Orleans. We followed that with a grilled romaine salad with a vinaigrette and olives. Just excellent -- a little along the lines of the 1/2 grilled bibb lettuce head you can get at Thomas Ave Beverage & 2900, sans the blue cheese. Clumsy, though, as it came as a giant half-heart on an elongated dish that then has to be split up and moved to a round plate. But, our waiter handled it with grace.

  My wife got the rotisserie Muscovy duck with a spatzel. The meat was very good, moist and so was the spatzel, with a bit of grease on the skin, but that's duck. Very good, but not great -- and 1/2 duck is a lot of rich food! I had the lamb sirloin (it was actually more like tenderloin) with goat cheese and oregano (very light) grits. It was EXCELLENT and the lamb was cooked perfectly rare, and sliced into medallions. My wife would not stay out of my plate. We cook a lot of lamb and that stuff was first rate!

  They have skirt steak on the menu, which my wife had on our second visit. This piece of meat is amazing and very tender for such a cut. I had the halibut with herbs and it was as fine a piece of halibut as I've had.

  We closed our first visit with a baked blackberry/peach crisp cobbler, topped with a scoop of pistachio ice cream -- again, just wonderful.

  Wine selection is adequate and not overwhelming. There's very few less than $40. We did two half bottles -- a Merryvale Chard to start and a Hess Select Cab next. They have a bigger selection of halves than you see most places, too. The second visit we settled for a full bottle of Hess Select cab.

  Go... you'll love the food and service, and the vibe gives you "Craft" at half their insane prices!

• 2 years, 9 months ago Billusa99's review for:

  Tillman's Roadhouse

  • Food: 4/5
  • Vibe: 5/5
  • Service: 4/5
  • Value: 5/5
  • Overall: 4/5
  
  

  Tillman's Roadhouse is a place that we never visited in its past incarnation, when it was run by the late Bill Tillman as Tillman's Roadhouse. But, the reicarnation, by his widow and 3 partners is a very good place.

  The Hill Country decor, wide-planked walls and carved wood animals lend the rustic look. Then there are majestic, sparking chandliers running down the center of the long room to perfectly juxtapose the cowboy scene. And the light is low and sexy.

  My wife and I shared a ceasar salad and our friend had a mixed baby greens salad. The caesar was a unique eggless vinaigrette caesar with roasted red and yellow pepper strips -- very good. The mixed greens salad had a tangy vinaigette and the usual suspects, plus something we had to ask "what are these?" They were fried avocado croutons -- crisp breading over an avocado nugget. Tasty, not greasy, and unique in our books.

  The special of wild stripe bass over a root vegetable ragout was steaming hot, flaky and cooked to perfection. My wife's chipotle BBQ ribs were fall off the bone delish -- I'VE been using that word long before Rachael got her ray's on -- and very meaty and not dry. The white mac and cheese also had some smoke and she wolfed it down like it was her last meal.

  Our friend highly recommended her beef tenderloin, which came with a nice charred crust and was almost fork-tender. Unfortunately, she ordered it medium, so it was not as "perfect" as it could have been. But I wasn't eating it, so who am I to say!

  We accompanied it all with a nice CMS (cabernet, merlot, syrah) from Hedges Cellars in the Columbia Valley. I had never seen it before, but it was a great pairing with the right amount of tannins and depth to handle it all. At $32 (retails for about $12) it was a fairly priced markup, too.

  Give it a go -- you'll love it. And, to avoid the madding crowds on weekends, go early.

• 2 years, 9 months ago Billusa99's review for:

  Kitchen 1924 (Closed)

  • Food: 4/5
  • Vibe: 5/5
  • Service: 4/5
  • Value: 4/5
  • Overall: 4/5
  
  

  My wife and I really enjoyed this place. It has a thriving, funky vibe that fits this Lakewood corner well. They had a lamb chop + lamb sirloin special that was a huge value -- 4 very healthy chops and 2 sirloin pieces each the side of 2 side-by-side silver dollars. Medium rare and hot -- the medallions almost melted in my mouth. My wife had the duck, which was also superb... not greasy, as bad duck can be.

  The four of us friends ate at the community table and I'm afraid the 2 older couples at the other end must have wondered what they walked into! There are not a lot of these in Dallas -- Tillman's Roadhouse has one -- and more are needed. It can be great fun to chat with new people, but they are not for the shy at heart.

  We had a new Aussie screwtop called Black Chook (Oz slang for chicken) that was a Shiraz-Viognier blend. First time I've ever seen that combo, but I recommend chasing it down somewhere. All-in-all, great value, service and food.

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