Taiwan

One Year Out: An Interview with Jack MacDonald of Jack Mac's Swill and Grill

Jack Mac's Swill and Grill opened on Preston Road in North Dallas last year, right on the heels of the explosion in the local craft beer movement. Jack and Amy MacDonald's restaurant has a strong local focus that supports not only Texas breweries, but wineries and distilleries as well. The drinks ar ... More >>

First Round of SXSW 2013 Acts Announced, Including Blackstone Rangers and The Relatives

With the announcement of 35 Denton's initial lineup, it was only a matter of time before you felt that tightening in your chest, aka the first round of SXSW acts. North Texas' Blackstone Rangers, Ronnie Fauss, the Relatives, Somebody's Darling, Sarah Jaffe and Tedashii are all represented. Thurston ... More >>

Too Hot to Eat is Too Hot to Think Much About Eating, Apparently

Hungry burger fans mob the opening of Dallas proper's first In-N-Out. No, wait. They don't.​Even though a new In-N-Out opened, the only things hot this week were Trinidad Scorpion "Butch T" peppers and the puzzling chains on Michael Costa's The Office Grill. Read on. City of Ate Welcome to ou ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Rolling in Dough at Noodle House

Photos by Kristy YangNoodle House's custom-made dough-roller.​It's 1 pm when I receive a phone call from an anxious voice on the other end of the line, asking me where I am. It's Sky Kuo, owner of Plano's Noodle House, and he's wondering if I am still coming by to snap pictures in the restaura ... More >>

Noodle House Keeps It All in the Family -- And That's A Good Thing

The bounty of Noodle House.​After my first visit to Noodle House last fall, I knew I'd have to return with my parents, seeing as how they are big fans of the restaurant's sister eatery in Houston -- San Dong. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got that opportunity, but was joined only by my m ... More >>

Chill Bubble Tea Joins with Crow Collection to Instruct North Texas About Trendy Drink

​Fans of bubble tea consider their favorite beverage an everyday drink, but a local purveyor's seizing the opportunity provided by the Chinese New Year to expose more potential customers to the trendy tea. Chill Bubble Tea, a Chicago-based company with four locations nationwide, is partnering ... More >>

Paper, Train, Camera

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 >>

Four American Dishes Intended to Honor Other Countries -- and How the Honored Countries Received Them.

Me So Hungry Burger King's new Pizza Burger probably doesn't appease Italians.​Americans have a habit of co-opting and recreating global cuisines, arbitrarily assigning ethnic labels to dishes unknown in their purported homelands. In the process, of course, they've created some very good - if ... More >>

99 Ranch Market: Go to Shop,
Not to Eat at the Food Court

​My first experience at the brand new 99 Market Ranch in Plano was not a pleasant one. The Asian supermarket chain opened its first location in North Texas last week to much buzz. I paid a visit to the monstrous market during its soft opening on the hopes that I would avoid any crowds. No su ... More >>

Look East

100 Favorite Dishes: Basil Chicken at Genroku

​As a countdown to the Dallas Observer's "Best of Dallas" 2010, City of Ate is serving up 100 of the favorite dishes we crave, savor and hope to scarf down again soon. These dishes are in no particular order. Some are little known, others celebrated. Some are pricey, others can be eaten on the ... More >>

Bubbles You Don't Blow or Burst, but Chew (And Where to Find Them)

​A major gripe amongst my Asian friends and me is the lack of bubble tea shops in Dallas. When the trend hit fever pitch a few years ago in other major cities, I figured it was only a matter of time before Dallas jumped in on the craze. Unfortunately for us, the drink never caught on like other s ... More >>

Genroku Sushi Makes Our Taste Buds Very Happy

For Asians in Dallas, There's No place Like Home--Other Than an Asian Market

Last week, my friend Rona hosted her parents who where visiting from Maui. They were staying for the whole week, and being of Filipino descent, they wanted to know where the nearest Asian supermarket was. And when my aunt from Taiwan arrives next month, she will be asking me to take her to the neare ... 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 >>

DC9er Mixtape, Vol. 7: Yeahdef

​This week's DC9er takes you behind the booth, North of the Dial style, with Denton-based, eclectic party-DJ, Joey Liechty aka Yeahdef. Liechty has been DJing for the past 7 years, and is the founder of  '90s night, one of Denton's hottest dance nights, bringing people from Denton and Dallas ... More >>

It's Not Vegas or Taiwan, but You can Get Some Authentic Japanese Food at Sushi Yama

​While DFW boasts significant Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese populations, one is hard pressed to find more than the random Japanese person every now and then, much less an authentic Japanese restaurant. Most sushi restaurants in our area are owned by either Vietnamese or Korean proprietors.Unles ... More >>

At May's Ice Cream, A Heavy Helping of That Old Taiwanese Flavor

Photos by Kristy YangSpicy beef noodle soup at May's​The combination of rainy weather and sweat pants days defeated all efforts in healthy eating, causing me to crave a fattening blast from the past: Taiwanese food. I invited my equally fed-up-with-dieting boyfriend along for a meal I presume ... More >>

Pho From Home: Dim Sum (And Memories) At Kirin Court

​If you don't mind, I am straying off course this week. Thank you, in advance, for indulging me. If you're frustrated that I have yet to visit your preferred pho burb of Garland, Carrolton, or Haltom City, please remember that this is a long-term weekly blog about one very specific bowl of nood ... More >>

Veggie Girl: Dosa Cafe

View Larger Map If Frank and I had ever dated, our first date would have been the time he invited me to eat real, honest-to-goodness Taiwanese food in Richardson. I've been a Chinese-and-related food hater for most of my life, with the exception of this one vegetarian place in L.A. where I haven't ... More >>

How 'Bout Them Knockers: Philly Connection

Philly Connection6334 Gaston Ave., Dallas214-828-9070Promised delivery time: "Around 8"Actual delivery time: 8:10Flawless execution of the scheduled delivery: 20Would not deliver beer, so I had to leave the house after all ("I'm sorry, they don't let me do that."): 0Genu-wine Philly-made Tastykakes: ... More >>

Yo La Tengo Is Not Afraid Of MS, And They Will Beat Its Ass

Dallas Theological Seminary is Spreading the Gospel in Chinese

Multi-Culti

Making folks from everywhere feel at home in Big D

Chop Suey Syndrome

Our restaurant critic travels to China to unravel the riddle: Why can't Dallas do Chinese?

East Meets Old West

Hui Chuan offers fresh and delicate flavors

Riverdance-ing by the Numbers

This Week's Day-By-Day Picks

Get Hitched

Gifts not required for Tony n' Tina's Wedding

Pair o' Dice

If this restaurant is really heavenly, then let's go commit some sin

Girl Power Mystique

Jin-Ya Huang's photos inscribe the feminine in-between

Banned Books

SMU presents an exhibit to die for

Eye! Caramba!

The Pang brothers want to feed your horror hunger, but some of their smorgasbord's stale

Wave On

Music's lunatic fringe lives, breathes and flourishes on the shortwave radio dial

Time Well Spent

The loneliest people are lost, and in love, in a crowd

Asian Bowling

The fast-casual kid sibling of P.F. Chang's makes a good showing

Slow Motion

Yi Yi's ultraleisurely pace is, for the most part, worth the wait

East Meets West

The twain date and mate at a Fort Worth dating service

From Russia, with bugs

Scientists from the former Soviet Union's top-secret biological weapons lab join with Dallas researchers to fight a common enemy: the deadly Ebola virus

Southern discomfort

Ang Lee goes to Civil War for his elegant, provocative Ride With the Devil

Mandy Barnett

All that Heaven allows

Majid Majidi's new film extends Iranian cinema's fascination with children

Magical regionalism

This Tex-Mex fable breathes new life into the romantic comedy

KERA's fading signal

Richie Meyer prepares to leave behind a struggling public radio station

Lost in loonyland

Pat Buchanan waves the bigot's banner in New Hampshire

Home front

Local bands strike out from the World Wide Web