Dada

Photography by Fitz

It was unanimous. Tami and I agreed that the best restaurant food we'd ever had was at Dada. This was after our first visit to the popular Delray Beach establishment last Monday. We went back again three nights later and liked it even more! Should we ever return to Delray Beach, the entire reason will be for another taste of Dada.

The risk of creating an art-themed restaurant (they don't call it Dada for nothing!) is that it could potentially come off as really snooty or pretentious. But Dada is the complete opposite of that! It's an inviting, friendly place loved by regulars and tourists alike. Sure, it's a "cool" restaurant inspired by the Cabaret Voltaire. But you don't have to be cool to eat there. All the staff we encountered were super nice, and all in all it's just a really fun place to be. The building is a beautiful little house that dates back to 1924 (restored in 2000 when the restaurant opened). And while the cool art pieces and hipster music (nothing like hearing "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths at the dinner table!) are a huge part of the atmosphere, the real star at Dada is the food. Bruce Feingold is the executive chef, and I'm pretty well convinced that he possesses magic powers. I don't usually go for "fine dining", and that's probably not the correct term anyway. Dada's food has all the quality and creativity of fine dining cuisine, but it's more accessible to the average person. It's not "high brow" - it's just great. The Dada dates were so good that just thinking about them makes my mouth water. Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese and chorizo? Yes, please! We had them both nights. We tried two other appetizers - a grilled brie on toasted French bread with honey garlic butter (excellent) and a grilled braised beef flatbread with scallions, water chestnut, blue cheese, and guava (even better!). The flavor combinations at this place are just ridiculous. And the entrees? Oh boy! I had Bea's meatloaf, a "twist on a classic" that was insanely delicious and a great deal at $16. And on night two, I had the fileted red snapper special. It was one of the best tasting pieces of fish I've ever had. Tami had the seven-cheese grilled cheese with tomato soup on Monday and a filet special on Thursday. She's pretty demanding when it comes to steaks, and she absolutely loved the filet. Any place that can cook a perfect steak will always be a favorite of ours.

And now the best part: desserts! It was a tough choice between the Dada smores (graham cracker crust with rich dark chocolate mousse and marshmallow meringue) and the warm banana bread with caramelized banana caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. I agonized over the decision, and in the end I chose the former while Tami had the latter. Neither of us was disappointed. On Thursday, we both had the cinnamon swirl. Imagine the best cinnamon bun you've ever had. Yeah, it was that good. And for just $5? Don't these people realize they could charge twice that much?

Let's go to the FABS scale!
Food- I'm going to award an unprecedented bonus point for perfection. 26/25
Atmosphere - The place lives up to its name. I expected to find Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp sitting at the bar. 25/25
Beer- Not exactly a beer drinker kind of place, but they do offer a small selection of fine craft beers in cans. I had Summit's small batch Dunkel Weizen. 19/25
Service- No superior attitudes at this place. Our food came out fast, and those servers really have to move considering how full the place gets. 25/25

Total- 95 (out of 100)

Yeah, Dada rules.

-Josh