Dallas Restaurant & Bar

After seeing all the positive reviews here on HGW, I bought the eCode from HungryDeals for Dallas Restaurant & Bar with confidence. This is my first visit to Dallas. Made a reservation and went there with J for a later dinner. The first floor was quite crowded with drinkers nursing beers and chatting. Granted that the wait staff are quite busy, I am ok that they did not greet us and asked if we had any reservations. Instead, we walked to the cashier and asked about the table. The waitress just mumbled something and went back to her work. I looked at J quizzically. We figured that maybe our table is on the second level since I see diners coming downstairs. 

The second floor was half filled and we were promptly shown to our table by the friendly waitress. After looking through the menu, we quickly decided on a full rack of ribs, wagyu burger, quesadillas and a mixed platter for 2. In addition, we also got a couple of beers to quench our thirst. The good : The quesadillas were pretty good. We got beef, pulled pork and chicken. They went really well with the accompanying sour cream and guacamole. The ribs are pretty decent too. We ordered the spicy version and found them very mild. The bad : The potato wedges that came with the ribs were not cooked through. We sent it back to be replaced, however, the waitress took the whole plate together with the ribs. By the time we got them back, the ribs were already cold. The wagyu burger was at best normal. It wasn't very memorable and if you told me it was a normal burger I would have believed you. The platter for 2 consists of calamari, wings and chicken tikka. I think the chef forgot to season the calamari as they were totally tasteless. The wings were forgettable and the chicken tikka a little on the dry side. 

Without the 30% discount, the total bill would have come up to nearly $150, which I felt was a little steep. I may come back for a drink with my friends and some finger food, but not too sure if i will be back for the food again. 

Having read several reviews on Dallas, I finally made my way there.

Dallas was not a fine-dining restaurant but a Pub cum Restaurant. Majority of the customers were Caucasians working at the nearby offices. I kinda enjoy the hip and cool atmosphere here.

Finger foods are served here but they do offer a 2 or 3 course set lunch/dinner menu which changes monthly. 2 course set lunch priced at $20 ++ , offering a choice of main course from the 4 choices.

American food sizes are offered here thus most of the food are meant for sharing.

Honey mustard bacon salad

 

Offered as 1 of the starters, the honey mustard bacon salad was just enough for 1. Few strips of smoky bacon , salad leaves, avocado, wedges of tomatoes and topped with shavings of parmesan cheese .

Pan fried Barramundi with dill and lemon mayonnaise 

 

A thick slab of pan fried barramundi was served atop a bunch of steamed asparagus. For $20 ++, I felt that it was worth every cent paid since a generous piece of fish was offered alongside with a starter of choice.

The fish was fresh, soft and the skin was crisp. The lemon mayonnaise reminded me of the tartar sauce, with a tinge of tangy and creamy texture.

Dallas platter ($15++)

 

The dallas platter was meant for sharing , 2 pax @ $15 ++ & 4 pax @ $30 ++. The platter allowed you to enjoy 3 of their popular and signature bar snacks ( Salt & pepper calamari wings , Dallas wings & Chicken skewers).

Care-less about table etiquette  , I  dirty my fingers whilst enjoying the pipping hot salt & pepper calamari and dallas wings.

Salt and pepper calamari are best enjoyed hot from the deep-fryer . Squeeze a little lime juice over to add a tinge of lemony flavour & reduce the greasiness . The squids were large and juicy , batter was crispy and not soggy. However, it was  a little tad oily and cloying towards the last few pieces as it turned cold.

The Dallas wings were ordinary .It taste best when eaten warm and dip in the special chilli sauce ( hint of cracked black pepper can be tasted ).

The Chicken skewers reminded me of chicken satay. The thigh meat was used and they marinated it with a cajun seasoning . It goes pretty well with the coriander and mint sauce. A little let-down was that the chicken skewers were served lukewarm.

In summation, I love this place!.……. except … the cigarette smoke!

 Verdict: Highly recommended for big eaters! The foods served here are American sizes and would definitely satisfy your hungry stomach. Generally I am satisfied with the food , service was prompt and efficient, short waiting time for the food to arrive and clearing , funky and cool place.

Was looking for a great place to meet up with some of the old sea boys and what's better than a great ribs house, with beer and to throw it in, some offers!

Quiva Cider ($10)







Utterly weak. One of the worst ciders I ever had. Jolly shandy would had been a wiser choice. Avoid at all cost.

BS Dallas ($15)





Quasidillas and chicken strips were part of the sampler dish that we ordered to share. Nicely toasted with very tasty fillings. The accompanying guacomole was decent. It looks deceiving light, it is super filling especially with beer. How I wish we ordered better beer.

Full Fiery Ribs ($32)





The ribs and fajitas were at a 50% promotional price. Usual price $32. Nice and juicy, though a bit messy. We gave up using our cutlery after awhile. Nicely marinated with moist meat. Definitely a steal at half-price.

Beef Fajitas ($24)



I do not take beef, so I did not eat the fajitas. My comrades thought they were decent.

All in all, a decent place to chill out in the busy boat quay area. With the promotional price, it is definitely worth a visit. A wide selection of bottled beers, pity we picked the wrong one today.



Dallas Restaurant and Bar 31 Boat Quay (at the Raffles Place MRT end) Singapore 049820 6532 2131 Happy Hours from 11am till 9pm.



 

 

For photos, please visit here.

Please look at Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow for photos.



Today was eve of Deepavali, and I had finished my work, and the breeze was cool on a hot day, and what a wonderful view from across the water: "Asian Civil Museum." (The other letters failed to light up in "Civilisation.") It was a Beer Moment. Kick back and relax. To my right, there was a irritating group of French women (and a man), making the most barbarous ruckus, singing to Glee songs. To my left, there were three businessmen (one of them is white), oh you could tell they are VERY successful from the way they dressed. Stiffly starched collars and carefully tailored shirts and pants of an exquisite material. The banker sort. Very rich. I was attracted to one of them--Hey! Money attracts! Don't judge--and at the back of my head, I was thinking...DOUCHEBAGS.

So you know the clientele is mostly upscale and white--why am I not surprised? Even though my friend vehemently disavows that she is NOT SPG, but who could tell she's NOT SPG from the men she prefers and the places she hangs out?

But although Dallas is by the river, it is surprisingly NOT a tourist trap. You would think that this is a drinking place but the food was very, very decent.

According to my favorite blogger, ladyfreefoodironchef, (My friend said: "Hey what is the selling point of your food blog? ishootieatipost focuses on photos; ladyironchef already took away your ah-qua status. I replied, "Honesty."), anyway, actually to my favorite blogger, he said that the specialty is baby pork ribs...and of course we didn't order that.

BBQ Barramundi. AMAZING. The skin was crispy but the meat was still tender and moist. I'm a fag, which means my DNA dictates that I hate carbs. I hate potatoes in all forms since I was a kid (I was way ahead of my time, ahead of atkins diet) but the mashed potato had a secret ingredient that made it very un-potatoey; it didn't have the earthliness and the carbs taste. The dip for the fish was to die for. It was mayonnaise mixed with something. Quite wonderful for $24 although I wish the portion was bigger. I mean, it's $24, not $15 you know.

My friend said she always orders the steak burger. The coleslaw sucked. But the Dallas fries were very tasty. I couldn't stop stealing her fries. I didn't taste the burger but the "steak" seemed to be leftover meat from steaks, and looked very pathetic. $19. I think my fish was more worth the money.

My friend said, "NOBOBY comes to Dallas for dessert." I said, "I'm nobody... nobody but you. Let's order." I always order dessert. I can do without the main but not dessert. I liked everything at Dallas so far but the brownie was an EPIC FAIL. You know you can buy those pre-mixed brownie powder in supermarkets and bake it yourself..this brownie was worse than the pre-mixed. And the ice cream! I can forgive restaurants not making their own ice cream but this vanilla ice cream really sucks. Is it Marigold? I should have listened to my friend.

Later, two friends joined us and we ordered drinks. I didn't have the menu so I told the waitress I wanted to a glass of white wine and when we got the bill, she got the most expensive white wine for me. I thought that was presumptuous of her, not to ask me. I usually say that the servers are more attentive to white people but in this case, the server in charge of my area is a boy and he seems more attentive to women, which seems fair to me, considering how I am attentive to men.

Overall, the rowdy atmosphere was fun; it was a fun place to hang out with my friends, except we had to shout at each other to raise above the boisterous French people. The food was good; the service was ok (too crowded, understaff). The view was wonderful. Should be a date place on a less crowded weekday.

After reading all the reviews and personally trying out their acclaimed ribs, I still feel Tony Roma's ribs get my nod! But considering the ambience and setting wise, Dallas Restaurant gives a better dining experience! Service is alright and prompt the entire night. Thumbs up!

My colleague wanted to buy me lunch as a form of thank you and me as a foodie, it's really the best gift!! So not-shy me agreed and picked Dallas as a place to dine.

When we walked near the restaurant, I was a little worried as the place is a pub with high tables with high chairs, not a restaurant I had in mind. But when the waitress led us to proper dining area on the 2nd floor, we were happier with the arrangement.

We ordered their set lunch and my friend has Wagu beef burger and I had the baby back ribs.

I thought her burger was alright, Wagu beef minced into pattie is really kinda of big waste of good beef.

My ribs were good. Not dry and very meat-y indeed. Good flavour too. Even for a big eater like me, I found the portions hearty. I wanted to eat ALL the mash potato but could stuff it in anymore. :(

This is my second time trying out this restaurant and is still the same good experience I have.

 

We didn't choose alfresco dining as it is too noisy to eat by the river since Friday night is a party night for many merry-goers. We book the 2nd-floor restaurant which is more cosy. The decor in the restaurant is very romantic and comfortable at the same time. Loved the seats by the glass window while you can overlook the Singapore river.

 

6 of us ordered the following...

 1)  Starters

- Caesar salad - Lotsa of croutons to mix in the salad, fresh vegetables but find the sauce abit tad bit sour for my liking rating 8/10

- Cobb salad - Well, is mainly for people who loves blue cheese since the portion is very generous rating 7/10

- Red Star combo - tandoori chicken is bit dry and finds it hard to chew on. But the crab cakes is really good. Very tasty and flavourful where you don't get the fishy taste from it. rating 7/10

- Dallas Platter - this is my fav starter esp where I really fell in love with the calamari. Not too oily feeling and you will taste a tinge of sweeter on the batter. It is really addictive! rating 9.5/10

2) Mains

- Beef Fajitas - Generous portion of beef strips and 4 type of sauces to choose from. Very flavourful beef but if the wraps are set in a different plate, it could be better/ As the beef jus will soak the wraps very soaky if you leave it there for long time. rating 8/10

 - Fiery ribs - is definitely a must try at this restaurant. Meat is tender and you can just ripped the meat off from the bone easily. rating 9/10

We paid about 360+ for the dinner inclusive with 1 bottle of wine & soup.

The waiter/waitress are polite and attentive while they kept refilling our iced water.

Overall, we really had a great time at the restaurant and great food. We were so stuffed that we walked out of the restaurant with the bursting stomach.

Never having been to Dallas before, I unexpectedly ended up eating here two weeks in a row. The first occasion I was walking down the strip with two business clients, looking for a place to eat when the name of the restaurant struck an oddly familiar chord.

Being absent-minded by nature, I could not remember what it was but decided to eat there anyway. The decor of the restaurant looked comfortable enough, and unlike many other places on Boat Quay, the staff was friendly without resorting to outright toutery.

We took a table by the riverside since it was not all that hot on this day. The wait was longer than expected, given that the place was only about a quarter full (this was an early dinner). For a bar, the drink list was a bit too pedestrian and erred too much on the side of caution. For example, the options for beer was the equivalent of a Clear-Channel owned radio station's playlist - shorter than expected and constituted of the usual familiar stuff. Surely they could have found room for one or two more unusual alternatives. That tells you all you need to know about the market segment Dallas wants to sit in.

My steak sandwich was good and the sides were perfectly sized (and I am a big eater even for my size- 220 pounds). One of my clients loved his pork ribs and we understood that to be one of the house specialties. The other was underwhelmed by his fish and chips - the batter was not all that flavourful or crispy. Not that Dallas was worse than most other places we have been in Singapore -the art of making great battered fish seems to be lacking here in general. Afterwards, we had the cheesecake which everyone liked just fine.

The bill came out less than expected, due to the specials going on offer for drinks and a couple of the courses.

After I reached home and checked my emails, I realised the reason Dallas rang a bell was because I was meant to attend a wedding here the following week. This second time, we were on the second floor. It does make a pretty good venue for a party as well, but the balcony (with its riverside view) is definitely on the snug side for anything more than 10 or 12 people. Other than that, the second visit did nothing to change my first impression.

All in all, the food here is competently done. Dallas is an example of the rising standards in the mass-market mid-range segment of dining in Singapore. Nothing to write home about here, but you certainly will not be too disappointed with what you paid for, especially if you are at the receiving end of one of its numerous promotions/discounts.

After reading the reviews here, we decided to go Dallas for my brother's birthday. We made a reservation through email for a 2nd floor window seat and the received response was quite fast and friendly. I was so looking forward to a good meal there.

On the day itself, things seemed to go downhill from there. We went to the restaurant and was ushered to our 2nd- floor seats quickly. Atmosphere was great though my bro commented it has a sleepy feel to it but i really like the decor though. Maybe it is more suitable for couple or people going there to unwind and relax. We did not get any attention from the waitresses after seated. There were about 3 of them but all looked rather busy. No menu was given to us for the first 5min and we had to personally approach them to ask for one. The 2nd floor was fully seated so i guess this kind of lapse was still kind of acceptable. All four of us decided to order from the set dinner menu. The waitress was friendly and smiley when taking our orders.

Our starter came soon after. Between the four of us, we sampled all 3 starters options that was provided. Romaine salad was normal, anchovies too salty for my friend. Soup of the day (don't know what soup) was flavourful but a tad salty after a while. My shrimp cakes were not crispy, it had mushy prawn bits in it and arrived cold.

After the lack-luster starters, i tried to reassure my friends that Dallas ribs should be much better since it was highly recommended by most people. We had a horrible forty minutes wait for our main courses. We were so impatient that we really wanted to walk off. We had to remind the waitress about our main courses which she said should be arriving soon. By that time, most of the other diners had already started on their desserts, so i thought they would be able to start on our orders by then. The main courses took another 15minutes after our enquiry. Our ice-water glasses were not refilled at all throughout our entire meal there. Maybe we need to remind the service staff again but we were tired by then.

We had the Baby Back Pork Ribs (Fiery), Wagyu Burger, Mojito Roasted Chicken and the Crispy Fried Pork.Baby Back Pork Ribs was rather nice but dry and wasn't spicy. (Maybe shouldn't be described as Fiery on their menu? ) We had better ones elsewhere. Wedges was done nicely though and my friend love his wedges. Wagyu burger was normal, nothing to shout about. I love their bun bread though. Mojito Chicken was again normal standard. My Crispy Fried Pork was rather unappetizing. It was ribs meat pull off the bones then deep fried. It had a lot of fats which i don't really mind if it complement the meat with it but the fats add nothing to the taste at all. This dish was again normal.

We had to again remind the waitress to serve our desserts after we were done. I guess she was rather over-worked or tired as by that time she was serving the entire 2nd floor by herself. Desserts (Mango Tri-logy) came 5minutes after and were well-received by all four of us. I love their mango bits that was so fresh and succulent. My friend love the mango ice cream. The cheese cake was rather delicious too.

We were all filled to the gills with the food and decided to make a move after that. We asked for the bill which took another 10minutes to arrive(There were only 2 other tables by then and Dallas have already closed their kitchen.) As it was a thursday, there wasn't any promotion. I really advise people to go only if Dallas's 50% off ribs promotion is on (Mon -Tue). The ribs were the only decent above average food there.

We don't really blame the waitress who smiled whenever she tended to us but we think that the restaurant could have been much more efficient if there were more help staff. I have no idea if the other staff were too busy tending to the 1st floor pub drinkers or this was normal at Dallas but the long wait really put me off. The standard of food wasn't that great that i would be lured there again. Overall i had a really bad experience there. The atmosphere was great for chatting though so i guess this is more a pub place and drinking place than a restaurant place. They had an extensive beer and wine list that had entries that sounded very interesting to me but we didn't try as we were going somewhere else after that.

I have lunch at Dallas about 2-3 times a week on average and the bar every now and then.

Split over 3 levels, the ground floor bar incl al fresco dining is more for the guys and girls to have a drink and casual dining on high stools in the bar and table seating alfresco dining by the river. Plasma TV s displaying the sport of the day creates a nice place to kick back and relax.

The second floor for dining is modern and well presented and a nice place to take the better half for a decent meal at reasonable prices. Perhaps check to see if there is any large group booking on the second floor that may lessen the dining experience for you. 

The third floor, mostly used for functions, parties etc is great and has a dimly lit lounge area to chill out, while the balcony has one of the nicest views of the river at night and a nice place to look at whats going on beneath. Let the staff know if you want to bring your ipod and they may let you plug it in to the sound system\ so you can listen to your favourite tunes.

So as far as the food is concerned the set lunches and dinners are good value at around $22 net for a 2 course lunch + drink or  around $26 for a three course dinner + drink. The thing here is the servings are a decent size. If there is nothing on the set that suits you the kitchen will generally allow you to pick something for the A la carte menu and make it into a set. Just one tip if you order the Wagu Burger. If you like your meat well done make sure you tell them as it sometimes comes medium well. Just a matter of preference. Also if you are a hearty eater, give the beef salad a miss as there is not much beef in the salad so you may as well get the steak for a similar price.

The staff are alway cheerful and professional. Well presented for casual dining ( no bottle openers hanging up out of hipster pants with the bike rack showing). On the rare occasion where you may have an inquiry, Gina the restaurant manager is always happy to listen and has customer satisfaction in the front of mind. The owner Jason is on site most of the time and is approachable for general chit chat or to listen to suggested improvements.

From the bar, most beers are represented. The wines are all from Australia and are reasonably priced. 10% off for frequent visitors and 20% off for take away. What would help is a greater selection in the lower range wines similar to wine connection that way i would be enticed to frequent Dallas more often. 

The scores i have given are for what the place is, a bar and mid casual dining.

If you haven't already, try it out it is one of the nicest if not the nicest place on Boat Quay. There are some real dodgy places on boat quay and the govt should really look at cleaning the other places on Boat Quay up.