Photo Credit: The RancWe were recently invited on a three day, whirlwind tour of our own Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and experienced some of the food, shopping, and spa treatments available here. The Ranch was one of the highlights of the trip.
When you think of classic Texan fare you probably think of things like barbecue on a paper plate, morning-after chilaquiles, or thick, juicy steaks. And, you’d be mostly right, unless you happen to be sitting in the spacious dining room or airy patio at The Ranch.
Photo Credit: The Ranch
Upscale, Local, and Amazing
Located in Las Colinas, The Ranch is a Texas sized, upscale eatery that concentrates on fresh, local foods. They prepare mouthwatering Texas Kobe beef that’s raised in the southern plains, quail from Bandera, and more. We were actually given many of the specifics about what came from where but everything we knew dissolved at the first, exquisite bite from the Texas Board, an appetizer that you must try. A Texas sized cutting board is artistically strewn with wild game sausages, tasso ham that melts in your mouth, local cheeses, piquant pickled vegetables, and a tomato bacon jam that would have been licked from the container had we been in a more private environment and not on our very best behavior. The delicate cornmeal fried Texas Gulf oysters with smoked chili butter entice you to eat them all without worrying whether your companions have had a chance to try them or not.
Photo Credit: The Ranch
Dessert Anyone?
The house cocktails were delicous – we totally recommend the Scarlet Buckeye made with hibiscus infused Tito’s Vodka (a locally distilled vodka), lemon, simple syrup, St. Germain, and soda. It was garnished with a red sweetheart rose which made it perfect as far as we were concerned.
Dessert? Who could choose? We ended up splitting the chipotle chocolate layer cake, the sticky toffee cake, the banana pudding fried pie, and the Route 66 pecan pie because we couldn’t decide which to choose. The chipotle chocolate cake had a deep chocolate flavor that we loved but was a tiny bit dry for our taste. The sticky toffee cake was good but still didn’t set off any fireworks for us. However, the banana pudding fried pie and the Route 66 pecan pie both were amazing.
Photo Credit: The Ranch
The banana pudding fried pie had a crispy, flaky crust and was filled with banana pudding and vanilla wafer crumbs then served with ice cream and rum caramel sauce. The Route 66 pecan pie had a crust made from cinnamon rolls that set off the richness of the pie perfectly. The vanilla ice cream and bourbon anglaise added a creamy finish.
With the unique menu, the casual chic ambiance, and the various areas available for private parties The Ranch is on our A list for everything from a romantic dinner to a family reunion.
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