Where to Drink

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 new cocktail specials to beat the heat

Refreshing drinks at Toasted Yolk.

dallas.culturemap.com

The July edition of Where to Drink has arrived in time to distract us from this relentless heat wave. If a cocktail helps take your mind off this endless string of 100-degree-plus days, then that can't be a bad thing.

These five places all have new drinks or new specials or new happy hours.

Here's where to drink in Dallas right now:

Billy Can Can
After five years, Victory Park bar has a new happy hour menu from executive chef Matt Ford, served Monday-Friday 5-7 pm. On the drink front, there are cocktails for $8, wine by the glass for $7, local draft beer for $6, and four small plates for $4 to $11, including baked oysters, BBQ short rib sliders, smoked fish dip, and "Pulpo Puppies," hushpuppies with octopus mixed in. Boo. Octopuses are intelligent and curious sentient beings, able to solve complex puzzles. Do they even possess flavor? They're just chewy. Why not a hush puppy with chunks of artichoke. Or chopped red pepper.

Bread Winners Café & Bakery
Brunch-famous chain has revamped its cocktail menu into something craftier. New offerings run from $11 to $16 and include Spiked Frozen Strawberry Lemonade; Rosé & Raspberry Sorbet Mimosa; Frozen Pineapple Upside Down Mimosa; Watermelon Basil Frozen Margarita (with Patron Reposado Tequila and watermelon purée); and Spicy Margarita with Jalapeño infused Patron silver & mango puree. Hops on the Vine has Hornitos tequila with Giffard grapefruit liqueur, and the No Sé Smash has Ilegal mezcal with lime juice, orgeat syrup, & raspberries. It's at all four locations: Uptown, Park Cities, NorthPark Center, and Plano.

North Italia
Italian chain has rolled out four limited-edition cocktails created by bartenders from the east, central, and west coast regions, which will be served through Labor Day on September 4. One - the Bramble Punch - is available at the Dallas and Plano locations only. It has Bombay Sapphire, Select Aperitivo, smashed blackberries, & ginger, and was created by Dallas bartender Lacey Byers. The other three are available nationally: Dolce Fiore with Rose-Infused Aviation Gin, Fiorente, Starlino Rosé, & Lemon; Amarena Sour with Yellowstone Bourbon & Grand Marnier; and the Il Cielo with Vulcanica Sicilian Vodka, Fiorente, & Blue Curacao.

Old 75 Beer Garden
Richardson hangout has debuted Featured Frozen Wednesdays, where they'll feature frozen drinks for 75 cents through the end of August, kicking off with the Old 75 Margarita. That'll be followed by "Thirsty Thursdays," with beers for 75 cents. New upgrades and options include fans and misters in seating and bar areas; shade from new canopies; and self-serve cold water stations.

Toasted Yolk
Breakfast chain with its iconic Boozy Brunch is opening a new location at 4580 Belt Line Rd., just off Dallas North Tollway and down the street from Addison Town Center on July 17. Toasted Yolk serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch classics, accompanied by — and here's why it's in Where to Drink — full-bar service from 7 am-3 pm. Favorites include Churro Donuts, Cowboy Scramble, West Coast Arnold, and Club Sandwich, while the bar serves mimosas, frozen Bellinis, Bloody Marys, Rise ‘N’ Shine Punch, and Jackie’s Morning Rita.

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Asian Food News

Taste of Malaysia restaurant brings rare Asian cuisine to Dallas area

Taste of Malaysia

A new restaurant has debuted in Coppell with a cuisine that's relatively rare in Dallas. Called Taste of Malaysia, it's now open at 3001 Olympus Blvd #130, at the Sound at Cypress Waters, between an Ari's Italian market and a Kilwin's ice cream shop, where it's serving authentic Malaysian dishes and flavors — adding another option to Dallas' burgeoning Asian restaurant scene.

A neighbor to Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, Malaysia has been described as having some of the best street food in Southeast Asia, boasting a mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and indigenous flavors. Signature dishes include satays — skewered meats — plus vividly spiced soups and rice dishes.

The country's national dish is nasi lemak, a beloved comfort food originally devised as a breakfast staple, featuring fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaves, sometimes enhanced with boiled egg and sliced cucumber and ikan bilis, i.e. anchovies.

Coming in at a close second is laksa, a spicy noodle soup made with rice noodles or egg noodles in a broth flavored with aromatic spices, shrimp paste, and coconut milk or tamarind.

These are the dishes that natives of Malaysia and fans of Malaysian food crave, says Shiva Nair, part of the team, along with his wife, Vsruti "Vish" Nair, that opened Taste of Malaysia.

Shiva has more than 20 years in the hospitality business including managing hotels and running other restaurants.

"There are a lot of Malaysians here in Dallas-Fort Worth but not many Malaysian restaurants," Shiva says. "That's what gave us the idea to open this."

Their menu features seven varieties of nasi lemak — including vegetable curry, chicken curry, slow cooked beef, slow-cooked chicken, fried chicken, fish, and spicy shrimp — all made with coconut rice, peanuts, boiled egg, and cucumber.

They also have fried rice, noodle dishes, satay chicken skewers, spring rolls, a samosa-style pastry with potatoes and vegetables called karipap, and a chicken "kutlet" — a breaded patty with minced chicken enclosed in a crunchy crust.

All of their meat is halal, meaning that the animals are raised and butchered in accordance with Islamic guidelines — a growing trend in Dallas-Fort Worth.

There's a full bar and the ultimate lure for timid diners: a lunchtime buffet, $18 on weekdays and $20 on weekends, with 15 to 20 dishes, with chicken, shrimp, fish, and vegetarian and vegan options, which are plentiful in Malaysian cuisine.

"We serve the buffet only at lunch, so that those who are unfamiliar with the cuisine can sample every dish," Shiva says.

"We saw an opportunity to bring Malaysian flavors to North Texas, a region hungry for authentic, halal-certified Asian food with real spicing and real heritage," he says.

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