B and I try to hit a new restaurant during Dallas Restaurant Week, every year. This year, he sent me the list of participating restaurants and I narrowed it down to five I wanted to try, and he picked Randy’s Steakhouse of out that short list. The Open Table reservation options were limited, so we did the unorthodox thing of setting our reservation for the evening of Thor’s birthday, sending him to Grandma’s house (where he wanted to be anyway), and celebrating the anniversary of our having become parents over Randy’s prix fixe Restaurant Week menu.
We shared appetizers of beef empanadas with horseradish sauce and calamari with remoulade sauce, then had a first course of turtle soup, followed by entrees of prime rib and sea scallops, with desserts of cheesecake and bread pudding. Randy’s also offered a wine pairing to go with each course, so we indulged in that as well. Randy roamed the restaurant chatting up guests and making sure everyone was happy. We certainly were.
The empanadas were light and flaky, and the beef filling was juicy–I would order those on their own for a meal if offered! The calamari were all right, but nothing special. Neither of us had ever had turtle soup before. I liked the taste, but I couldn’t get past the fact that I was eating turtle, and that ruined it a little for me. The turtle itself (which was ground) had the texture of pate, or soft tofu. B enjoyed his more than I did mine, but we both agreed that it tasted quite nice.
B said his prime rib was excellent, and my scallops were absolutely perfect. I didn’t try the cheesecake because our wine pairings (don’t even ask me what we drank, but all of it was lovely) had gone to my head, but the bread pudding was very nice.
The atmosphere was pleasant and friendly. The waitstaff was attentive and helpful. Randy seemed like a really nice man.
This is a place we would certainly go to again.
4.5 out of 5 stars
After dinner, we drove over to the nearby NYLO hotel for the night. The NYLO wants to be in Manhattan, and I thought it did a really good job of bringing that industrial, hipster-loft feel to the bustling yuppie-land of Plano. Our room overlooked one of the frou frou strip malls on Preston, so not exactly the Meatpacking District, but still fun.
The loft rooms at NYLO are long and skinny, and reminded me alternately of the tiny apartment showroom displays at Ikea and my dad’s RV. I think the size of it was about the size of the RV, and the clever furnishings and use of nook space was 100% Ikea.
I loved the platform bed (good mattress and a billion nice pillows), and that you could go up two steps to stand behind it and set the air conditioner to your level of cool, and work the blinds that did a surprisingly good job of blocking out all the neon from across the street. Also surprisingly good: how well the room was soundproofed from the traffic of Preston and 121.
The room was tricked out with all sorts of useful gadgetry, and was comfortably furnished. I wouldn’t have minded staying there for a couple of days, save for one thing. The bathroom.
The bathroom itself wasn’t bad. The shower was big and roomy, and the sink was a really nice, deep bowl that sat up on the granite counter. However, the bathroom was only separated from the rest of the room by a glorified screen. You had a good 3 feet of open space from the top of the sliding door/smoked plexiglass shower wall and the ceiling, meaning that when I was in the bathroom, I could converse with B easily. I didn’t even have to raise my voice for him to hear me. So you can guess what else he could hear. And vice versa.
I’m not shy about bodily functions, but I did really consider going down to the hotel lobby to use the restroom this morning. Fortunately, my digestive system didn’t kick into gear until after we left, so I could have my privacy without making it clear that I was going to have some privacy.
For a night, I thought the NYLO was great. If I were on my own, I would absolutely take advantage of their great rates (really, really good rates) and great digs. For a night where I am sharing a room with someone else? No way. That bathroom thing kills it.
2.5 out of 5 stars for more than one person
4 out of 5 stars for one person
The Outside Lane 