Dodie's Reef

I had lunch at the new Dodie's Reef today. It's in the old Hurricane space on Greenville that burned a couple of years back. Those of us who live in the Lakewood hood are just so excited to have something in that space. We were seriously getting tired of the burnt out building look. [rhost] (seriously, are the brackets really necessary?) has just opened, and it's only a matter of time before we start playing "Valet Frogger" on Greenville again with the Terilli's valets. Seriously, you really aren't a true Lakewood resident until you've almost killed a Terilli's valet as they dart out in front of you on Greenville.

But back to Dodie's Reef. I had stopped by for happy hour last week and was very impressed. They have this great indoor/outdoor bar up front with televisions above the bar. It's a fantastic place to watch a game. It's also a great place to flirt with boys watching the game, since it seems to be where the 35+ set in Lakewood has been hanging out lately (ok, maybe "boys" is a stretch, but I'm an almost 40 (ugh) single girl, so "boy" is still acceptable to me). And don't let the fact that the windows to the bar are wide open as the temps outside get above the century mark scare you off. It's perfectly cool on the inside, and it's even comfortable sitting at the outside bar. I don't even want to know what their electricity bill is. If they don't go broke paying their electricity bill by then, Dodie's is definitely going to be the perfect place in Lakewood to catch a football game once the weather cools down (and they work out that labor dispute). They have a great bartender in Rachel. It was Women's World Cup Finals, the bar was packed, and she was holding her own, all alone, with a smile on her face. Tip her well when you're there.

We started with the Mexican shrimp cocktail. It's a schooner full of boiled shrimp in a spicy tomato pico like sauce and avocado. It's served with tortilla chips that have a spicy lime seasoning on them. It was good and seemed bottomless. Too much for 2 people.

Now if you're on a diet, Dodie's might not be the best place for you. Most of the seafood offerings are fried. Po boys, fried seafood baskets, fried pickles even. I didn't want anything fried and had had my fill of raw oysters on my trip to Mobile, Alabama last week so I decided on the sea bass. I got a huge piece of fish topped with guacamole with 6 large grilled asparagus and a pile of grits. Calorie-wise, I probably would have been better with a shrimp po boy. The fish was tender and the asparagus were perfectly cooked. The grits had more of a mashed potato taste and feel instead of the buttery, cheesy way I like my grits but they were fine. And although it tasted good, I could have done without the guacamole all together. It was just too much food.

K had the crab cakes which are on the appetizer list. She like them but I don't think she was expecting the sauce covering them.

I often lament that it's so sad that in a place like Dallas where we have so many fantastic sushi restaurants, we have so few good seafood restaurants. Yes, I know we live nowhere near a coast but if we can get in great sushi, we should be able to get in great seafood. Unfortunately, Dodie's really didn't do anything to end the lament. It's a serviceable seafood restaurant, but there's nothing here that really wows. I'll come back for the bar and boy watching and I'll probably catch a bite here from time to time but the search for great seafood in Dallas continues. But who knows, maybe if the boy watching goes well, I'll reel in a catch of another sort and a different kind of search will end. ;)

Cheers!

Four Sisters Cafe

So PMc convinced me to head north and check out the new Four Sisters Cafe in Richardson. Yes, I headed north of LBJ and almost north of George Bush (it's on the south side at the Jupiter exit). But I didn't mind because, 1) as you all know, PMc is one of my favorite people in the world and it had been awhile since we had caught up and 2) I actually kind of like Richardson. You see, I have a confession to make, loyal followers, I'm not really a Dallas girl. At my core I'm actually a Richardson girl. My first non-baby sitting job was at the Richardson Public Library (nerdy fact about me: there was a time in my life where you could name any non-fiction book and I could give you it's exact Dewey Decimal number. Hmmmm, this probably explains much about my high school dating life). I bought my first house in Richardson. Until recently, I was a member of the Chamber of Commerce. I just like the City and all it has to offer. Plus it has some great restaurants (some of the best Chinese and Indian food in DFW is in Richardson). So I was happy to make the trek to my old hood to see my dear friend.

I was also intrigued by Four Sisters because, well, I'm one of 4 sisters. But I couldn't imagine having a restaurant with my sisters. See, while I love them dearly, we are each completely different people. Our ideas about food and decor would be so incredibly different, our restaurant would always feel just a bit off as we each try to put our own spin on it. And that's kind of the feel I got with Four Sisters, just a little off.

First, the decor. It reminds me of a Houston's (aka Hillstone), if Houston's was housed in a New Orleans bordello. Big bar in front, lots of booths in the dining area and a big, open kitchen area. And the entire restaurant, minus the kitchen area is dark, very dark. But just when you are wondering if you could have a little more light, the light show begin. Yes, I said light show. I glanced over and all of a sudden I see red and green lines of light dancing on the walls. Huh? But then I remember the name of the place, and i instantly understand why those lights are there. See, here's how I bet how the lighting conversation went with the 4 sisters of 4 Sisters. Sis1: man, it's kinda dark in here, we should probably turn the dimmers up just a little bit. Sis2: why don't we buy some really cool lamps that would give the place a nice, warm glow. I saw these the other day, aren't they awesome (insert image of the Christmas Story leg lamp here). Sis3: we can't afford to turn the dimmers up. Do you know how much electricity costs in the summer? Glares and rolls eyes at leg lamp (while secretly thinking, "you're gonna poke your eye out."). Sis4: I saw this really cool light show at this bar I went to about 5 years ago. I want to do that and only that (stomp foot). And I'm going to mention it to you every minute for the rest of your life until you all give in to me because I know you've learned to pick your battles with me and my wacky ideas and this one is not worth fighting about. And, thus a light show.

The menu also has that "sister compromise" feel. Sis1: I want steak, potatoes and chicken; Sis2: I want salads and sandwiches; Sis3: I want sushi (stomp foot); Sis4: Exactly how many times did mom and dad drop you on your head as a child? Why are we doing sushi in the bordello? The menu is frustrating because there are no explanations of any of the dishes. Most of the dishes are named something so you have to ask to find out what you'll be ordering. The Tramp Salad (gotta wonder which sister that's named after) is actually a cobb salad. And, yes, there is sushi on the menu. They have gotten help from the Sushi Axiom people as there's my favorite roll, the Mustang roll, on the menu. Why it's there, I'm not sure but if you get a hankering for Sushi Axiom, I guess you can go to 4 Sisters.

We were given an amuse bouche to start. Didn't expect that. It was a mashed sweet potato pancake with an orange syrup on top. It was delicious but simply too sweet to start the meal. I would have loved it as a little bite of dessert or, even better, at Sunday brunch.

I ordered the fillet medallions and PMc ordered the beef and onions. All entries come with mashed potatoes and mixed grilled vegetables. PMc ordered the spinach instead of the potatoes and I ordered a side of mushrooms at the suggestion of the server. I received 3 filet medallions with my order, all very tender, all very salty and all medium instead of the medium rare I asked for. It was okay but there was no wow. The potatoes had a layer of liquid butter on top which made them tasty but the mixed veggies were grilled onions, red peppers, yellow squash and a couple pieces of asparagus. Bland, boring and 3 of my least favorite veggies on the planet. PMc liked, but was underwhelmed, by her dinner. Her spinach needed more flavor and the mushrooms were just not very interesting. Probably everything needed just a little garlic.

There's a full bar, and a decent but not very interesting wine list. Water is served with no ice. There's valet parking but plenty of free parking in the front and back so I don't think it's really necessary right now. Our server was nice and accommodating.

So my first impression of Four Sisters, meh. It's just not all that interesting. Maybe once it gets its legs underneath it it will be better but right now, it's just a little too disjointed and boring for me. Sorry, Richardson, you deserve more.

Cheers!