Continuing from Day 2, or rather Night 2, we indulged in a rather expensive dinner at Pappas Bros — worth it, since it was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. More importantly, best service ever. I’ve noticed that at every restaurant in Dallas, your water gets refilled after every 5 sips, and the waitresses all have this genuine vibe that makes it easy for you to tip over 20%. (Believe me, in New York, not that many waiters/waitresses truly deserve their tips.)

But anyway, our waitress Christina and I got to talking, and she highly recommended that we visit the Bishop Arts District. “You have to go there! There are all these restaurants, little coffee shops and cafes, thrift shops, you would love it!” So after visiting the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, we headed over to the BAD for brunch.

It was definitely a hip, chilled vibe. Sort of like New York’s West Village, with good eats and cafes and little shoppes. What I liked most were the murals.

                                     

We passed by Tillman’s Roadhouse, which in retrospect we regretted choosing Hattie’s over them. Hattie’s was standard American fare, nothing extraordinary albeit a solid meal. Tillman’s will now be forever known as “the place we didn’t eat at”.

 

 

Espumoso Caffe was one of those cafes where you can curl up with a cushion by the large windows and people-watch.

 

I stumbled upon a little shoppe called Society, which sells amazingly scented candles, stationary, and other knick knacks. Even if you’re not into candles, go inside and check out the decor. Apparently, they also offer interior design services, which explains how they’ve managed to utilize this small space to create such an artistic and inspiring environment.

 

When my friend asked me what my favorite moment in Dallas was, I couldn’t pinpoint a specific incident. But it might have been when our waitress at Stephan Pyles said to us, “I’m VERY impressed with the amount of food y’all have consumed tonight, just lettin’ you know!”

We started off with complementary bread & amuse bouche.

Tasting of any 3 ceviches $32: we chose 1) salmon veracruzano, 2) sea scallops amarillo, and 3) red snapper. The red snapper was my favorite, as it was accompanied with — guess what — pop rocks!

A hot item on their menu, which you know is popular by the star next to it: the Tamale Tart. It’s a tart that resembles custard, with huge pieces of crab meat on top.

I couldn’t help but get the strawberry lemonade (vodka and strawberry jam?! sounds good to me), which was tasty but nothing outstanding.

 

Another item that stuck out was the pork belly with clams (one fried and one steamed) — this is pork belly done right; fatty and juicy, tender and perfect.

  

Our entrees. His: sous vide beef tenderloin with crisp beef short rib. Mine: maple leaf farms duck breast. Clearly, I won.

 

 

The meal ended with complementary petit fours.