Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds

The ultimate highlight of my dinner was honestly the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds at Mercat a la planxa, but back onto desserts. 

The Croquetas de xocolata, which are "Milk Chocolate Croquettes, Banana Marshmallow, Rosemary Caramel, Arbequina Olive Oil" were definitely original!  It was one of those things that you're not sure about and will have to order again before deciding.  If you like marshmellows (and the pointed sweetness of them) or anything that oozes chocolate from the middle, this is probably your dessert.

Mercat has various gelato flavors, and they were good. All the flavors I had were just as I expected. Short and sweet :)

Well reknown Dallas establishments...known for their food & desserts

When I go to a restaurant, and they have placards, newspaper clippings, awards, and magazine cutouts everywhere touting their wonderful desserts, I think to myself, "Wow...they know what they're doing". 

Now, I just think "a lot of this is hype, some of it is really good, and the rest of the desserts are just riding the coattails of the successful one". 

And this restaurant would be Breadwinners.

Their peanut butter crunch is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!  It's not like a rice krispie treat...it's much more than that!  It's got the right balance of everything, and it was the right balance of chewy and crunchy.  Go try it!

The rest of the cakes tasted like normal cakes to me.  Even their reknown Chocolate Cake was average to me.  Here are the cakes that were ordered:

The Birthday Cake - it was actually a few days old, so our waiter was kind enough to give it to us on the house.  It tastes like birthday cake from your local grocer.  I am not a fan of the thick overly sweet sugary, granulary icing, so it goes without saying that I pretty much hated this dessert. 

Creme de Menthe Cake - I prefer Andes Mint still :)  The cake part just wasn't unique enough for me.

Chocolate Cake - Maybe it is just me, but I really didn't think anything of this cake.  It was just your average cake with chocolate layers.  What were others tasting that I wasn't?

Some cake so average I forgot the name of it - I know that sounds bad, but when I think back on my wedding cake tasting days (best part of the wedding preparation activities!), all the cakes were so yummy!  I wasn't blown away by any of them...even if I were tasting them for my wedding cake.

Sweetness in Chicago Part II

I went to another restaurant "at the Park" (Tavern at The Park) and just to be clear, I have never been a fan of the food at this place, but the desserts are decent and huge! 

And the winner is....cheesecake!  I'll be honest...I love any cheesecake...thicky creamy new york style or light and airy.  This one is very light and creamy; best of both worlds!  If you're looking for something "safe" for dessert, go with this.  By the way, I'm not shortening the names of these desserts on purpose; the names were really just as memorable as any TGIF's dessert name.

2nd place goes to the brownie, but only if you do not like the typical overly butter, very chewy, Pillsbury type brownie.  This one is much "drier", but not like cardboard.  It melts in your mouth (not like a dry cupcake). 

3rd place goes to the mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich.  Eh...if you like mint chocolate chip and cookies, go for it.  It's nothing different than what you can make at home.

4th place (sounds better than last place huh?) goes to the apple crisp.  I don't like any fruit pies (except for the crust), so I did not particularly like this one either.  It tasted like every other fruit pie I've had. 

Sweetness in Chicago Part I

I've been in Chicago a fair amount this year, and wow...the food in this city is just fabulous.  I thought Dallas had good food, but Chicago beats it by far. 

Here are the desserts from Park Grill.  My husband is in love with the burger from the Park Cafe (same restaurant, just outside, but different menu nonetheless). 

I will start with my favorite - the Tropical Creme Brulee.  I was positive I was going to hate it because it would taste like all the other creme brulees in the world...overly creamy and then overly sweet from the burnt sugar on top.  But not at all!  It was like a very light, smooth cheesecake with a little fruity taste (pineapple)...nothing overpowering at all. 

The other desserts were good, but nothing I would have a sudden crave for.  In order of my preference:

Rice Pudding with candied pistachios and blueberry jam (left) - absolutely yummy!  a little too sweet for my rice pudding preference, but the blueberry jam is yummy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart (right) - didn't taste like a tart at all!  But it was your average chocolate + pb combo; still good though.

Carrot Cake (bottom left) - this was really horrible in my opinion.  I'm just too used to (and too in love with) the standard carrot cake taste that this one did not do the trick.  The best analogy I can make is when you love X, but then you try X made from scratch and all natural ingredients and all fat free stuff...it's just not as buttery or good.  This carrot cake probably had more fresh carrots, less butter, etc...  Ironic that I expend the most words on the worse one.

Becoming a food snob

You would think that dining at Emeril's NOLA would just be one of the best dining experiences ever.  It was...the first two times.  But each time I have been let down by the desserts (am I just not Cajun enough to enjoy Emeril's desserts?  I grew up in Nawlins...but have I been away too long?).  So, I ordered the pb chocolate dessert (and a fresh plate of fruit)...and I thought it tasted like every other pb-chocolate combination dessert.  And then I realized I might be a food snob when I think Emeril's desserts have no bam-ness in them.  I went back to the fresh fruit plate (which they made just for me!).  Nothing like fresh, sweet, juicy watermelon with berries.  Sorry gang, very uneventful blog today!