Restaurant
Review: La Duni, Dallas
A recent weekend in Dallas included brunch
at a darling bakery café, where the
muffins are addictive, the egg dishes decadent,
and the Bellinis made with Mandarin orange
juice puree.
La Duni Latin Kitchen & Baking Studio
has a couple of locations. We spent Saturday
morning at the Oak Lawn spot, where we nibbled
on the complementary muffin basket - carefully
splitting the different flavors so everyone
could taste the assortment.
Brunch cocktails, once they arrived, were
spot on. The La Duni Mimosa ($6.25) is vibrant
and tasty, with "Ruby" sparkling
wine and freshly pressed orange juice. Their
Mojito ($7.75) was fresh and minty, with
just the right proportions of rum and lime.
And the Duni Pomelo Toronjada, a mouthful
to pronounce and sip at $7.75, was a delicious
concoction of Gray Goose vodka, lime, grapefruit
juice, cane sugar and a splash of soda -
it went down dangerously easily!
As for those egg dishes, Huevos Finos was
a bit more miss than hit, with slightly
dry popovers topped with ham and poached
eggs, Gruyere cheese and hollandaise. Too
many rich flavors needed some balance, but
it was still good picking, along with the
spicy roasted potatoes that came alongside.
On the better side was a gorgeous omelette,
made to order and bulging with fresh ingredients
that can include goat cheese, spinach, black
beans, Argentinean sausage, serrano peppers
and more. Migas come with bacon and four
cheeses, with a choice of red or green sauce
and those kicky roasted potatoes. We have
our eye on the Breakfast Tacos for our next
visit!
Lunch and dinner brings plenty of South
American inspired beef dishes, like the
chimichurri-marinated beef Asado and an
Argentinean Grill for two that includes
prime ribeye, skirt steak, pork tenderloin
and grilled sausage.
An array of melt in your mouth sandwiches
are a sure bet, from the slow-roasted pork
loin to the Choripan (grilled sausage with
greens, avocado, chimichurri and manchego).
Bread choices include Peruvian pan de
yema that is light and tender - and
do try the extra-fluffy yucca fries!
Service was quirky-friendly, if not altogether
professional, but that was part of the charm.
The wine list is exclusively South American,
with great prices on Malbecs and more.
Sweet tooth heaven starts with a Nutella
Milk Chocolate Cake - thin layers of vanilla
cake frosted with caramelized roasted hazelnut
milk chocolate truffle and served with espresso
white chocolate ganache sauce. ('Nuff said?)
Then how about the Warm Milk Chocolate Cake
Pudding? It's vanilla cake baked in milk
chocolate custard and served with vanilla
bean ice cream, homemade chocolate syrup,
rich caramel, raspberry sauce and candied
pecans.
We've officially begun a petition for La
Duni to open a Houston location. Let them
hear from you! (dec 2005)
La Duni Latin Kitchen & Baking Studio
4264 Oak Lawn
Highland Park, TX 75219
214.520.6888
La Duni Latin Cafe
4620 McKinney Avenue
Dallas, TX 75205
214.520.7300
www.laduni.com
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