East Asia

Carrollton Man Gets 36 Months in Federal Prison for Selling Crappy Counterfeit Cellphone Accessories

The iPhone cases with crooked "Chanel" logos you see over at your local cellphone accessory store or mall kiosk could be evidence of an international criminal conspiracy, according to the feds. A Carrollton resident, Shiraz Sherali Odhwani, 54, has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and o ... More >>

Eased Trade Restrictions Good for Texas Cattlemen; Bad For Texas Fajitas?

A news release from the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association announced the recent lifting of restrictions on U.S. beef exports to Japan should be good for Texas cattlemen. According to the USDA, Japan will now allow imports of beef from cattle less than 30 months of age, as opposed to t ... More >>

I Saw Who Killed Lucky Cat At Royal China On Chrismas Day

The tradition has nothing to do with my roots but I've made it my own. Every Christmas Day that I find myself alone, I assemble a loosely coupled family of other orphans in need of holiday plans. Some can't work out the logistics required to navigate crowded airports and rental cars, and some just c ... More >>

Wendy's Japan Just Goes Ahead and Adds $16 Lobster and Caviar Sandwich

Not to be out done by French Laundry's sauteed fillet of Atlantic hake, or Noma's tartar and sorrel with juniper and tarragon, or Carl's Jr's Big Carl, Japan Wendy's has added a burger with lobster. And a lobster sandwich topped with caviar. Each is about $16 (US), and can be enjoyed elegantly with ... More >>

Raise a Finger

Even China can't shut up artist/gadfly Ai Weiwei.

At China Mex, the Dream of Fusion Power Is Still Just a Dream

China Mex Grill 8367 Park Lane 214-468-4645 Times I shook my fist at the China Mex menu: 25.4 Number of shrimp I ate (out of a possible 500): 2 When China Mex opened in the old Taco King location on Park Lane, I was optimistic. I have giant-lazy-Susan love for Chinese food, and Mexican food knows ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes, No. 94: Smoked Ham Mac and Cheese at The Porch

To prepare for this fall's Best of Dallas® 2012 issue, we're counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there's a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me. And now the real reason I went to The Porch comes to the surface: I'd heard good thing ... More >>

Is Dallas Smarter Than a Third Worlder?

In my ongoing series on cities smarter than Dallas, please allow me to add Seoul, South Korea, another place we need to send a team to right away. Yesterday the Dallas City Council heard an awe-inspiring presentation by Guillermo Penalosa, a leading-edge planner whose work has helped transform citi ... More >>

Domino's Japan Has a $50 Pizza

Domino's recent trend of gourmet-ing the shit out of their food jumped to new heights recently. Introducing, from the company's Japanese chain (via Eater), the Prestige Quattro, which is not a sequel to the Hugh Jackman film. This is the $50 (¥3,900) unbelievably fancy pizza that features four sid ... More >>

Dallas' Five Best Chinese Restaurants

​I am not a Jewish person, but I like Jewish things. Latkes top my list. As does getting drunk. Gefilte fish doesn't excite me very much, but Christmas does, which isn't Jewish at all, but you know the drill: movies, Chinese food, drunk. I'm good at these things. These are City of Ate's five ... More >>

Dancing in Exile

The State of Pecan Pie in Texas: It Ain't That Good

​Texas Pecan trees have taken a punch. The USDA predicts our state's trees will collectively produce 40 millions pounds of pecans this year, which is 30 million pounds less than the 2010 crop. The Sunnyvale Pecan orchard east of Dallas is closed for the season. And today I spoke with Red Gra ... More >>

Oddfellows Chef Brady Williams on Running a Smooth Kitchen and His Bon Iver-Inspired Dish

Kelsey FosterBrady Williams, with visions of a Tom Waits Gumbo dancing in his head.​In part one of our three parter, Oddfellows Chef Brady Williams told us about his icy road to cooking, while part two covered his take on the Dallas food scene. Today we learn a little about how he runs things ... More >>

Another Chinese Import

Glyph Notes

Blogger in Taiwan Jailed for Calling Food "Too Salty"

Members of the Taiwan Restaurant Critics Association after they paid an ill-advised visit to T.G.I. Friday's in Taipei.​Remind us not to write about the food in Taiwan. On Tuesday, a blogger in Taiwan was sentenced to a month of detention and two years probation for writing that a restaurant's ... More >>

Stories of the East

Asian Temptations for the Fat Girl Inside

The fat girl inside needs more icing. MORE ICING, DAMMIT!​Although I'm a rehabbed fatty, the inner fat girl inside of me lives on, which can be problematic when I return to old stomping grounds, i.e. the Asian grocery store. The days of a pigtailed me gallivanting through an Asian grocery stor ... More >>

Failure Is an Option We Should Consider

​Those images of the out-of-control nuclear plants in Japan are hard-wired to our own situation in Dallas. Their tragedy is our challenge. The question is whether we see the wire in time. City council member Angela Hunt has succeeded in forcing Mayor Dwaine Caraway to put the issue of natural ... More >>

Children of the Empire

She's Crafty

Can Royal China Be the Real Deal and Not Be in Chinatown?

​Is "authentic" Chinese cuisine within Dallas city limits a good thing? That was the question my friends and I were left with when we paid a post-Christmas lunch visit to Royal China last Sunday. The immediate answer would be "yes, of course," right? Driving out to the suburbs for an Asia ... More >>

Venturing Out for a Bibimbap Bender
In Koreatown

Kristy YangTree House's bibimbap, a perfect blend of textures and flavors​I found myself on a bibimbap bender last week after my friend Sam had recommended two of his favorite restaurants in Koreatown. In the spirit of holiday overindulgence, I felt justified in visiting both places in the sam ... More >>

West Meets East and Comes Back
With a Full Stomach

All photos by Kristy YangAt the Food Court in Thailand​I've been away for the past few weeks tending to some family stuff in Asia and have been a tad too busy to do any blogging. I'm sure the editor's ulcer will be relieved to know that I'm back now with my one measly post a week. While away, ... More >>

Japan House: Overabundance Does Not a Good Meal Make

​I really wanted to like Japan House. Upon first glance, I was in love. The staff is incredibly friendly, the dining area is modern, and the spread looks vast and promising. Because of all the above, it's difficult for me to write what I'm about to write. Located off of 75 in Plano, Japan Ho ... More >>

Leaps And Bounds

Giveaway: Two Pairs Of Tickets For Boris Tonight At The Loft

​Tokyo avant-garde hard-n-heavy rockers Boris are making a highly anticipated tour stop tonight at The Loft in Dallas. That's reason enough for excitement, but the icing on the cake is that Chicago's Russian Circles are also on the bill, adding some slow-building, heavy-riffing instrumental madnes ... More >>

Return to Sushi Yama: Enough with the Sushi--Bring on the Chicken Gizzards

​I look back in regret at the first time I ever tried sushi.During one of my visits to Taiwan as a teenager, my part-Japanese auntie took us to a sushi restaurant. Taiwan was a Japanese colony for 50 years, and when the Japanese left, they left behind much of their culture, including a food influe ... More >>

Catch the Seoul Train to Fine Food in Korea Town

Little things mean a lot: Seoul Garden's small plates -- banchan -- are perfect for a big appetite.​ It took me a while to warm up to Korean food, to the chagrin of my many Korean friends. For inexplicable reasons, Korean food seemed to me to be the most foreign and odd of Asian cuisine. I sus ... More >>

Club Sushi

Oh, Thank Heavens, 7-Eleven's Making Its Own Wine. Just, Ya Know, Don't Call it "Cheap."

​Dallas-based 7-Eleven's had a few proprietary wines on shelves for some time, among them Sonoma Crest and Thousand Oaks, but today comes word that the convenience store's actually in the private-label business thanks to a partnership with its Japanese sibling, Seven-Eleven Japan. And, whoa, Yosem ... More >>

Going For Gold

Mike Osbourne preserves Beijing 2008 on film

Made In China

The Peking Acrobats bring magic to the DSO

The River Runs

Cute As A Bunny

Review: The Fish

The Fish could use a touch of poison to spice up its menu

Funny With Bubbly

Land of the Rising Drum

Kodo pounds SMU

Art Floaters

New Year? Try New Era

Eastbound and Down

The Crow Collection hosts a day of Asian culture

Shrunken Head

Closed by fire, Royal Tokyo re-emerges in a new, improved version

Cool Cucumber

On Harry Hines, sea cucumbers and watermelon help an unlikely revolution at Chef Hsu

Chinese slick

P.F. Chang's polishes Chinese fare with an American bistro veneer

Hot Dish

Good fortune

Royal China should live long and prosper on Preston

Tasty transliteration

Sumo Sushi explains Japanese food to Yankee palates

Class of one

Irving's Ichijo ignores Western tastes--and merits a place as the area's finest Japanese restaurant