Week In Reviews: Charlie Palmer, Katy Trail Ice House, Mesa

Here's where the local critics-about-town ate this week:

DALLAS MORNING NEWS -- It's Charlie Palmer at the Joule for Leslie Brenner, which gets three stars for its accessibility and appeal to both travelers and locals. She had a great Maine lobster Cobb salad for lunch, dug the tablet computer wine list but says she wishes Chef Scott Romano's cooking "were more consistently engaging."

DALLAS OBSERVER -- Scott Reitz loves the atmosphere at the Katy Trail Ice House, which "feels more Austin than Dallas." He likes the bottle caps--fried jalapenos--and though the chili is a "flop," their house-made potato chips are "fried to perfection."

DFW.com -- Teresa Gubbins reviews Oak Cliff's "heartfelt and handmade" Mesa, where the tortillas "are worth the trip alone." Entrees feature "flashes of heat," though she says the restaurant's weakness is in its desserts. But the molé sauce has a "flavor as complex as cabernet," making Mesa "no ordinary mom-n-pop."