Sugar ruuuuush. Rise and shine! Nothing like starting the morning with a tasty bit of frosted cake! I don’t do donuts for breakfast very often, but I love the complete affront to nutrition that they symbolize. It’s a breakfast for rebels. It says: “I’m not concerned about sissy things like calories or insulin. I eat what I want for breakfast because I’m an adult and I can. Take that, Mom!”
So if you’re going to basically eat cake for breakfast, you want to make sure it’s really tasty. Yummy Donuts is a luxe version of your local donuts shop with specialty offerings like the Candy Bar Donut and the Birthday Cake. The majority seem to be a version of a super soft cake donut finished with a whipped frosting and toppings. Their frosting is the standout. In fact, I really feel like if the breakfast market doesn’t work out for them, they should start a cupcake shop because this icing puts Sprinkle’s to shame. My favorite of the day was the Strawberry Hug: a blueberry cake donut with strawberry frosting and sprinkles. (As you can see in the picture above I was really excited about it and forgot to wait for the photographer to do his thing. Oh well.) But really, what kind of person couldn’t love a strawberry hug?
We also had to try the large cinnamon roll (in the name of being through food writers, of course). It’s a brioche type roll, very sweet and not incredibly remarkable. Wasn’t bad though; I’d eat it again.
Yummy Donuts seems to be really busy; by 10:00 a LOT of the varieties were sold out. (Damn early risers.) We’ll have to go back early because there were definitely some out-of-stock flavors I would have tried. They also carry some pretty good savory breakfast sandwiches, etc. that look a LOT better than the little kolaches that are standard fare. So there is an option for those of you who don’t like cake before noon.
4355 Lovers Ln. | Dallas, TX 75225
214.520.7680
Mediterranean food is hard to peg down. Sometimes you get gyros and pilaf, and other times you might run across kebobs and hummus. It’s not the fault of the Mediterranean moniker, but probably rather of us Americans who like to lump things all into one category to make it easier for us to understand. The Mediterranean is a huge area and encompasses 20 different countries and cuisines. I won’t go into a history lesson about the region but it’s definitely understandable to walk into two different ‘Mediterranean’ food restaurants and get two completely different cuisines. Dunes in Irving has a robust selection of foods to choose from and will give you plenty of options in your quest for Mediterranean food. What I’m hooked on right now is the Chicken Shawerma sandwich and oh is it delicious.
The sandwich is rather a wrap, and arrives tucked inside a foil shell and accompanied by french fries. If you’re a savvy individual, you might be able to talk the counter women/man into substituting their garlic lemon potatoes for the fries. If not, make sure to order them anyway because they are quite delightful. At first glance they might look like nothing but greasy potatoes, but once you get past the imminent heart attack, you’ll be pleased with the lemony-garlic taste. Make sure you eat them fast though, because they will cool down in a hurry. The wrap itself can be described as a warm toasted flatbread burrito with spiced chicken, pickles, and a mysterious cream sauce that might be sour cream based, but most likely from some form of yogurt, although it doesn’t taste that way. All you really need to know is that it makes the sandwich and you probably should have ordered extra; and that’s all that really matters.
Some things to note about Dunes because it's quite the experience. The whole ordering procedure will throw off the uninitiated for sure, because it is never the same way twice. Sometimes you pay first, other times you wait until you are finished. You might get noticed right away and welcomed inside, or you could stand and wait around, unsure of what to do and where to order. My one word of advice is to be confident and sure of yourself. Like a dog on alert who can sense your fear just by your posture, the employees at Dunes will be quite aware that it's your first time there. It's not like they'll take advantage of you or anything, because they are quite nice once engaged. It's just getting to that point that might be a bit awkward.
Price: $7.50 (w/tax and the potato upgrade)
Dunes Mediterranean Grill
3401 W Airport Fwy # 110 | Irving, TX 75062
(214) 441-1342
My birthday was last month and to my surprise, my talented friend Teresa and sister Andrea decided to make me a camera cake. I was blown away at how awesome it was. Just look. The detail is amazing, but you probably won’t recognize much unless you are a camera junky like me. Trust me though, everything was spot on and they worked quite hard at putting it together. I can’t give any details on how it was done because I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the kitchen for that entire day, but it sure did taste and look good, so I didn’t care.
[ Yeah, that's a hot-shoe!]
Oh and I’m back. My world travels were an amazing time but it’s also nice to be home and back into a semi-routine. Thanks to Dan for helping out on the picture duties while I was away and speaking of pictures; If you are interested in seeing some from my trip, head over to here:
[ Travel Photos ]
