Bland on Bland

Comments (0) By Alice Laussade Thursday, Sep 18 2008

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The bul go gi (shredded rib eye) was nicely marinated if not just a little over soy-sauced. If you're a first-timer to the Korean food thing, this is a good place to start. The kal bi (prime short ribs), on the other hand, was completely bland and tough. The other veggies that were grilled on our grill tasted like, ya know, veggies. There were mushrooms of the king oyster and shiitake varieties, onions, green peppers and red peppers, none of which seemed to have any additional spices added to them.

Now, if the meats had been spectacular, the blandness of the veggies probably wouldn't have bothered me. But following bland with blander wasn't doing it for me. In an effort to save the meal, we made heavy use of our side dish of kimchi. This at least lent some spicy flavor to the experience, but it wasn't enough to really make up for the snoozefest that was the rest of the meal.

Meredith L. Moore

If you like your sushi thick and chunky, Naan has a deal for you.

Details

Calamari with wasabi$9

Bul go gi$17

Kal bi$22

Shrimp and vegetable tempura$10

Jalapeño roll$16

Texas Tornado roll$16

Tuna sashimi$11.50

Salmon sashimi$10.50

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For dessert, we tried the tempura-fried vanilla ice cream which came out under-fried, so the batter wasn't very crispy. This upset me. Luckily, we also had a mango sorbet, which was the only item from the entire meal that actually woke up my taste buds. It was sweet and very light. If there wasn't a Paciugo literally around the corner, I'd recommend the sorbet. But I think your best dessert option here is to get the check and head to every yuppie's fave gelato stand.

No matter how much Naan Allen might want to be a hip nightspot like the kind you might find in Uptown amongst independent movie theaters and Vespa stores, it's definitely not the place to take your foodie friends or a hot date. Pei Wei would be money better spent.

940 Garden Park Drive, Allen, 214-383-7522. Open for lunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday; for dinner 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. $$-$$$