Mercat Bistro Suffers From Inconsistency, & More

Leslie Brenner reviewed Mercat Bistro: When the food at this charming new bistro is "on," it's generally excellent, with dishes like côte de boeuf, "a splendid hunk of well-seasoned beef cooked perfectly medium-rare" served with top-notch frites and a well-dressed Bibb salad. But "sometimes the kitchen's off," and in those cases, you might get "a goat cheese salad featuring greens so limp they should have been thrown out" or "unpleasantly runny foie gras terrine." Perhaps lunch is a better choice: quiche has "a delightfully custardy texture" and zeppole are "hot and crisp outside, tender inside," served with a cup of coffee that's "one of the best [Brenner's] had in Dallas." If Chef Jared Robinette "can find a way to make it consistently good, he'll really have something." [DMN[

Eve Hill-Agnus went to Sakhuu: A "friendly and invested" waitstaff makes this pint-sized East Dallas restaurant warm and welcoming. Be sure to start out with one of the soups like tom yum that perfectly "showcase Thai cuisine's artful balance of salty, sweet, spicy and sour." The best entree choices include a lighter-than-usual massaman curry and prik khing, a vegetable stir-fry "with a warming gingery zing"; either are more exciting than "unremarkable" Thai food staples like green papaya salad, pad see ew or laab, which suffer from too much subtlety. [DMN]

Malcolm Mayhew checked out Sol de Luna: The new Venezuelan fast-casual spot from a TCU grad brings something refreshingly new to the area. The "greatest hits of basic Venezuelan food" like a chicken-and-avocado arepa and tostones drizzled with crema and queso fresco are done right; don't miss the signature pepito, "a monstrously large sandwich served on long planks of toasted and buttered French bread," but the chabella salad's quirky inclusion of nacho cheese Doritos is more a distraction than anything. [DFW.com]

ELSEWHERE: Wood.Smoke.Meat tried the barbecue at Three Stacks; SideDish ate its way through Oktoberfest; Eat This Fort Worth checked out the just-opened Sera; TMBBQ tried Blue Ox in Austin; Confection Confessions went on a cupcake tour.

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[Photo credit: Whitney Filloon/EDFW]