Samar

Where:  2100 Ross Ave Dallas, TX 75201

Menu:  http://www.samarrestaurant.com/Samar_by_Stephan_Pyles_Lunch_Menu.pdf

What:  Work lunch

Scene:  Eclectic Moroccan.  It's like what would happen if you took an Anthropology store and placed it in Marrakesh.

Drinks:  Chai tea.  It was a work lunch...  I do love their chai though-- not too sweet, not too spicy.  I feel like Goldilocks.  It's just right.

Food:  Please, please.  Please.  Order the Mussels Escabeche.  I'm not going to lie.  I wasn't sure what it was, and I didn't want to order it.  My friend insisted.  But it is a creamy--but not too creamy, sweet, salty taste of heaven.  It was delicious hot, when we got it, and it was delicious cold, when we finished it at the end of the meal.  (We saved it for the end because it was so good.) 

Also delightful:  the carmelized orange and endive salad.  You're responsible for balancing your own bites, but when you hit it, you knock it out of the park. 

The naan and dips were great--try the moutabal with the labne on the exceptional naan.

Less exciting were the tiger prawns and the duck.  I've had the prawns before, at dinner, and really enjoyed them.  The okra strips taste like a perfect late summer day with grandma, the chutney is sunshine on a plate.  But here, the prawns were slightly...off.  I'll try again, but only once more.  The duck itself was wonderful and flavorful, but it was served with a couscous that tasted disconcertingly like artificially flavored Sunny D.

Bonus:  Lunch is surprisingly affordable.

Overall:  I love it, for lunch or dinner.  Word on the street is that 4 people can get a chef's tasting for $120--and I want to go to there.

Namaste,

The U.E.

Editor's Note:  You might be thinking "I don't like Stephen Pyle's.  It's very expensive and not that good."  Look, I agree.  But Samar stands alone, and it stands WELL.