Big, Rich and Texas

Saturday night of KRLD Restaurant Week brought us to Tillman's Roadhouse and the biggest, richest meal of the week, and I can't tell you when I have eaten richer food than I did Saturday night.  Ready for some weekend fun, I grabbed some friends and headed out to one of the best steakhouses in Dallas.  The Bishop Arts District is a great place if you are looking to step away from the stereotypical Dallas nightlife -- it has a little less of the see-or-be-seen attitude and more of a laid back vibe, even at a steakhouse.

We knew it was going to be a good night when we called the restaurant to inform them we would be late and they had no issue changing the reservation -- quite the accommodation during a popular week like Restaurant Week.  Once we arrived, we went to the bar to grab a glass of wine.  The bar isn't very big but has some great seating and plays old movies on one of the walls.  It has that homey, relaxed vibe that makes you want to grab a seat and stay awhile.  Comfy couches and a giant table with barstools add to the ambiance.  I even found a friend of mine sitting and planning out her fall football tailgating strategy with a group of friends.  Hankering for some tequila, I ordered the blood orange margarita and was impressed with its freshness.  The orange was a little sweeter than I would have liked, but it cut the tartness of the tequila well and hit the spot for a fun Saturday night cocktail.



Blood Orange Margarita & Truffle Popcorn

While our beginning experience was great, the service once we got to our table was not.  Our waiter seemed frustrated by any questions and even cut me off before I had finished asking him about one of the items on the menu.  I have found that the one thing missing with Restaurant Week is the service.  Stephan Pyles was the only waitstaff that did not seem annoyed at our presence in their restaurant, a problem that hopefully the restaurants will work on for 2013.

Similar to chips and salsa at a Mexican food joint, Tillman's had small bowls of their famous Truffle Popcorn on the table.  Lightly coated in truffle oil and seasoned only with salt and pepper, it was a great start to the meal and was quickly devoured by our crew.  The popcorn was light and the pieces were large enough that I didn't find myself stuffing fistfuls in my mouth like I would at the movie theater.  This allowed us to actually taste the truffle oil and take time between pieces so as not to ruin my appetite — although I wouldn't complain if they sold this by the bag to eat at home later.



Heirloom Tomato Salad
*picture courtesy of Tillman's website

Tillman's had two choices for the appetizers: an heirloom tomato salad or avocado soup.  I went with the tomato salad.  Thick slices of tomato were topped with crumbled white cheese and an amazing pecan pesto.  I could have drunk the pesto on its own and am hoping to be able to recreate it at home at some point.  I stole a bite of a friend's avocado soup and while it had a nice kick, I was happy with my choice.

Since we were at a steakhouse we all had to go with the steak for our main course.  It came with baked red potatoes, wilted spinach, cherry tomatoes and a creamy, rich bacon sauce.  All of the add-ons were amazing but surprisingly for a steakhouse the steak itself was sub-par.  I ordered mine medium rare and it came out with only a slight pink in the middle -- AKA medium.  For those not familiar with the levels of doneness on a steak, rare is the most raw and then medium rare, medium, medium well and well-done (most done).  My friend ordered his medium well and it came practically well done.  It may not sound like a big deal, but here in Texas we expect to get what we order for levels of doneness on our steaks.  There was lots of trading around of steak pieces, each plate came with about 4 small pieces of steak, in order to get the right flavor levels and luckily we had so much food no one went hungry due to lack of steak.  The creamy bacon sauce was way too rich for my taste.  It drowned the spinach and tomatoes.  We also ordered a side of mac & cheese and grits.  While they were good it wasn't anything worth writing too much about -- just more starch and cheese to add to our already rich meal.


Chocolate Mud Cake



Just in case we weren't already stuffed from our previous courses, the group decided to order two desserts for the night.  While there were the regular dessert options as part of the Restaurant Week prix fixed menu (chocolate mud cake and a bread pudding), we went with Tillman's other famous food: the table-side s'mores!  A platter of sugar coated graham crackers, slices of rich and creamy dark chocolate and three types of flavored mallows (pistachio, pumpkin and maple) are brought to your table with a small fire and skewers to toast them.  The presentation is awesome!  Taking a skewer and toasting a marshmallow to the perfect level of doneness brought me back to childhood campfires.  While I much prefer plain jane marshmallows, the flavored ones made things fancy and added an interesting taste to the childhood fun.  The maple flavor was great, but the pumpkin tasted too sweet (even for a mallow).  The pistachio was OK but I ended up putting my chocolate mud cake on top to cut some of the nuttiness -- classy, I know.  Love pistachios and love mallows, but not so much together — but half the fun of this dessert is sitting at a restaurant toasting s'mores so we enjoyed the experience and even burnt a few along the way :).  I would recommend it for a fun date to bring out your inner pyro.



Tableside S'mores

After the richness of cheese, bacon, steak, chocolate, mallows, etc. we were filled to the brim and had to wait it out for a bit before being able to walk to our cars.  I think I am still dieting to try and overcome my caloric intake of the night.  Overall it was a fun night and a great experience.  I would go back to try other parts of the menu or to hang out at the bar and drink margaritas and eat truffle popcorn.  So not great steak or service but the appetizers, sides and desserts were yummy!  B+ for this dinner experience but I would still claim Tillman's as a staple restaurant to try in Dallas.