Another restaurant review

Last night K and I had our date-night meal at Anamia's.  After it opened a few weeks ago we noticed the parking lot was always full, definitely a good sign.  We tried it and found it to be the best Tex Mex in town, which is saying a lot since Dallas is noted for their abundance of Tex Mex restaurants.  This was our second visit.

  
Their bartender definitely knows his stuff and was not at all stingy with the spirits, either.  I had a Margarita and K had a Mojito, both fairly simple, but the guy really nailed 'em!  K was intrigued by the sugar cane garnish in her drink.  She told me she'd never tasted cane before so I cut her off a piece and told her to chew on it for a second.  She liked it.  Live and learn.

I know it doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary, but trust me, these folks understand seasonings.  The cheese was a 3-cheese blend that was so smooth, and the guacamole was perfect.

Speaking of guac, the table next to us opted for the freshly made "tableside guacamole".  It's an awful lot of guac for just 2 people so we'll need to go with friends sometime and split an order.

K had shrimp enchiladas with perfectly spiced (hot) beans and rice, not the "same ol" stuff most Tex Mex places use as a filler.  And the shrimp were plump and plentiful and a bit spicy, too.  (She had to offload some of her jalapeno pieces onto my plate.  Win-win.)  The saddest part of the evening wasn't the check, but when the waiter removed my licked-clean plate.  :(  This place is definitely on our rotation now.

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Our local weatherguessers so far this week are batting ZERO!  They told us to expect 2-5" of rain, and so far there hasn't been enough rain fall to even get the street wet.  Maybe today their prediction will finally come true.  (Of course it will....it's Saturday!)  Hope y'all have a great weekend.

S

I'm not sure I fully understand the difference between liberal and conservative stances on some issues.  In particular, consumer protection issues.  How is trying to force banks (and lenders in general) to say clearly, right up front and in plain English, what their terms are and what they're going to charge, anything but a good idea?  How is that partisan?  Unless you're a banker or lender intent on snookering the public into thinking they're getting a good deal when in fact you're charging them 28% interest or something like that, how could you not be in favor of such laws?  Where's the down side, unless you're a banker?  


The one thing I've learned from the financial crisis of '08 is that big business can't be trusted to do what's "right".  It's become so bad that as far as I'm concerned the burden of proof is on them to show me they're playing nice.  And to be fair there are a lot who do pass my smell test by honoring their warranties without resorting to loopholes and vague language that to a layman says one thing but legally means another, producing a clearly superior product, etc.   (Examples?....Amazon, REI, LL Bean, Zappos, to name a few.)  I consult Consumer Report regularly, and although I've never tried it, I've heard good things about Angie's List.  I just think it's a shame things have come to this.  Caveat Emptor...."buyer beware"....has never been more true.


What prompted this post was an article I read that told of one insurance company that was suing a bank for misrepresenting a financial instrument the insurance company was covering against default.  Sure enough things fell apart, the insurance company refused to pay up, and both are pointing fingers at each other saying the other side is a crook.  Hahaha....talk about the pot calling the kettle black!  I say a pox on them all.

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On a more pleasant note, tonight it's my turn to pick our date night restaurant, and I'm choosing Anamia's.  We've only been there once before, but it left a grand impression on me.  I can taste it now....yum!  If I can remember to take pictures of our meal before I dive into it I will. 

Happy Friday!

S 

Restaurant review time

We have a core group of restaurants we frequent often, but recently we've stepped out and tried a couple of new places that have really impressed us.  Obviously this won't be of much use to you if you live outside the Dallas area, but I'm going to sing their praises anyway.

Anamia's has about the best Tex-Mex I've ever tasted, and believe me I've tried a LOT of Tex-Mex in my time.  It's a family-owned place (wife Ana, daughter Mia) and I'm betting it will thrive!  I had traditional Tex-Mex (it's that "old dog / new trick" thing), but K had their shrimp enchaladas and said they were fantastic.  And their margaritas were done right, too, using a lot more than just the usual whiff of tequila fragrance.  The atmosphere is definitely not your typical cheesy mexican-village-mural-painted-on-the-wall, but instead a very nice soft contemporary feel that's just loud enough and just dark enough to be comfortable.  We enjoyed it so much we gave an Anamia's gift card to a friend whose birthday party was last night.  Two thumbs up, and that's only because I don't have three thumbs.

Then there's Tru-Fire Kitchen and Bar.  Their slogan:  "Life happens in the kitchen".  Most of their cuisine seems to be Italian although I saw a waiter delivering a burger to a table nearby.  (Boy did they miss out!)  We each had an adult beverage and a small Caesar salad and then shared a gourmet pizza...."Parma Prosciutto".  It was mouth watering! And again the atmosphere was very comfortable.  Dark but not too dark and some lively noise that still allows for conversation.  The hardest part was deciding on which entre to order.  Decisions, decisions...  ;)

Today we're doing more packing, and going by Ikea to check out some new everyday dishes, and I think we need some new kitchen knives, too, then on for some coffee and read time afterwards.  But first, back to Anamia's for their weekend brunch.

Y'all have fun!  

S