A Stroll To Oak
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Run to this place. Don't walk. Pull out your phone and call for a reservation. You can thank me later. If it wouldn't strip me poor of the available credit on my Visa, I would eat here again tonight. And tomorrow night. And the night after that.
Last Thursday, I met a girlfriend at Oak for dinner. We strolled in at 8pm, reservation-less. Big mistake. Every table was full in the airy (but small) dining room. We were looking at a 1 1/2 hour wait. The place is intimate, but even when packed it maintains a quiet buzz that allows for easy conversation. Due to the lack of available tables, the hostess sent us to the bar area and ended up staying there the entire night.
Our meal started with a perusal of Oak's unique cocktails list. I recommend the LOLita - but don't call it like the teenage slang (the LOL stands for Lower Oak Lawn). It's loaded with gin, St. Germain Elderflower, cucumber and bitters. Delicious and just strong enough to not be overpowering.
We decided to skip the salads and head straight to an appetizer - the pork jowls with octopus. The plate is perfect for two people: four mini cuts of pork jowl that we cut tenderly with a fork. They taste like little bites of carnivore heaven. Paired with mini octopus tendrils, this appetizer should not be missed for anyone who likes the simultaneous pairing of chow from both the sea and land.
(pictured is Grilled Filet of Beef- 7oz, brown butter potato, trumpet mushroom, sauce bordelais)
My dining partner ordered the grilled salmon, but I won the main dish round with the grilled filet of beef. Seven ounces of meat makes this girl's heart skip a beat any time of day (that's what she said) but Oak sent me into beef oblivion. The filet was one of the most perfectly cooked cuts of meat I've ever had. In fact, a photo of it belongs in every cooking manual next to "How to Perfectly Sear a Steak". It had a grilled crust on the outside, but was still unbelievably juicy and red in the center. My mouth is watering again just typing this out.
Accompanying the steak was a dollop of bone marrow - which I immediately slathered on top of the filet to really get me going - whipped potatoes, trumpet mushrooms and a lick-off-the-tip-of-your-fingers sauce. I was halfway finished with my meal before realizing that I had yet to answer a question that my friend had posed to me a few minutes before. All I could think was, I'm sorry, were you speaking to me while I shoved meat in my mouth?
I stopped just short of finishing the plate so I wouldn't look entirely un-ladylike and so that I could take advantage of the dessert menu. You won't find any fresh-off-the-freezer-truck chocolate cake here, ladies and gents. We shared a carefully crafted creme brulee duo of Mexican hot chocolate and banana with homemade graham crackers and marshmallows. While it didn't blow me away, it was a nice ending to a dinner I'll dream about for months.
I couldn't dare keep this experience to myself, so I took eggnog cheesecake home to my fiance. Before I could grab him a fork to eat it, he had already finished half of his dessert. And he doesn't even like eggnog.
-Nikki Bonds
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Oak
1628 Oak Lawn Ave #110
Dallas, TX 75207
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Oak sounds like:
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