Winehole23's Profile
Tom Yum soup in Austin (or other delicious cures for the common cold)?
The Tom Yum and Tom Kha at IM Thai are outstanding.
Pre-1970 Mexican Restaurants In Austin Texas
Joe's Bakery comes to mind. So does Matt's El Rancho.
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Matt's El Rancho
2613 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704
Thai Tara has been found!
Never went to Thai Tara, but I've been to IM Thai ( location of the erstwhile CK Thai, as previously noted.) maybe five times (lunch only) in the last two months or so. It's my current ATF, and I like Titaya's and Madam Mam's a lot.
(Sadly, Thai Kitchen now seems more chinese than distinctively Thai to me, and the quality has slipped noticeably. I don't like rubbery dry meat. Do you?
I have had some tasty things there recently though. I really like the hot-hot basil thing and one of the appetizers. was it dumplings?)
Anyway, back to IM Thai. The flavors really sing and there's nothing shy about them. The food is impeccably fresh. The execution and consistency have been confirmed by repeated visits. The service is friendly and capable, if a bit unrushed.
(What's the hurry, right?)
Their Tom Yum is easily the best I've ever had.anywhere. Same goes for the satay (four skewers, tofu or chicken -- the chicken was tender and drenched in a highly comestible green sauce)
Same goes for the panang curry (I've never been a big fancier of curries, but maybe this one just converted me.)
Ordinary things like egg rolls (veggie only, crunchy and fresh) and crab rangoons (served as a slender rice paper cigar, tastes like seafood and not just a wad of cream cheese in a wonton) are definitely worth getting.
Kao Soi (a bit more pickled cabbage would've been nice, but this is a quibble) and Pad Prik Khing were winners for me.
Their pad kee mao is not the best ever, but it is very good. And I love how they're so scrupulous about not overcooking the stir fried veggies, so that they always have a little bit of crunch to them, instead of getting slimy and soggy.
Reasonable prices, generous portions, nice people.
(High proportion of extra base hits. Many home runs.)
I keep going because it blows my mind. Dinner is the next frontier.
http://www.imthaicuisine.com/uploads/Dinner_menu.pdf
p.s. Open on Christmas Day.
One free lunch given away on each ten.
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Thai Tara
601 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
Best Restaurant Not in a Major Texas City - Texas
Cheryl's by the Bay in Fulton, Texas.
http://www.cherylsbythebay.com/frames/dinner.html
Eclectic, relentlessly artistic, and always well executed. Believe it or not, they make the best NY strip I've had anywhere.
Highly recommended by the Wino. Try the bacon wrapped dates in sherry cream sauce. One of the best appetizers I've ever had.
Aviso: this is not a place to bring small children.
Best Restaurant Not in a Major Texas City - Texas
I second Palenque grill. A little bit spendy, but it's not tex-mex. Very authentic food.
I had the shrimp ceviche for a starter. Seasoned with salt and pepper and sauteed in lime juice and (very hot!) green chiles. For an entree I had the mexican ribeye, but probably should have gone for the agujas -- a heartier cut, but this is a quibbble. The ribeye is pounded flat and served medium rare, with borracho beans (very good), guacamole, tortillas (homemade, corn) and cheese. It was delicious. The fajita meat on our nachos (real cheese) was tender and delicious, and my margarita was freshly made -- no triple sec or gatorade, just tequila, lime juice and cointreau, with a splash of OJ.
Highly recommended by the Wino.
Best Restaurant Not in a Major Texas City - Texas
I have to second this recommendation. King's Inn is excellent. When you reach Riviera, instead of following the coastline on the FM, navigate straight toward the water. The restaurant is right on the bay. There's no sign in front but you'll be able to smell the goodness.
All food is served family style, though half-orders are available. Our waitress seated us without menus, and did not offer us one when she came to take our order. I guess we were supposed to know what we wanted when we came in. No matter. Everything was very good to outstanding.
The tartar sauce is unique (there might be sesame tahini in it), in fact so delicious I found myself eating it as a dessert after our meal was done.
We had fried oysters (cornmeal batter) -- the batter is crunchy and overpowers the oysters a bit, but they are delicious with the tartar sauce.
Fried shrimp (very lightly tempura'd, very fresh shrimp-- the shrimp was definitely the star. Plump, sweet and delicious.)
Broiled drum (it was the catch of the day) -- maybe the tastiest filet I've ever had. Savory, rich, firm and I want to say a bit smoky -- as if the oven were wood fired. I don't think it is, but I didn't ask. My god, that fish was good. (NB: Not everything is fried at King's Inn. If I go again, I'll get the broiled catch of the day.)
I'm not usually a big fan of iceberg-based salads, but I feel like I have to point out that the Bombay salad I ordered was perfectly seasoned with salt and lemon juice. It didn't taste perfunctory in the least, and mine came with a generous serving of curried avocado on top. Unique, and very tasty. Between this and the tahini in the tartar sauce, I wonder whether there wasn't a South Asian cook somewhere in the background.
This isn't your everyday fry shop, folks, and neither are the prices. That said, it's worth every penny. If I lived anywhere close to it, I'd go all the time.
Oak Hill
http://www.jackallenskitchen.com/
http://www.jackallenskitchen.com/jakdinner.pdf
Have not been, but a couple of friends have reviewed it favorably. It is located where the Y-bar once was, in the same building.
On Yelp I find that the chef there is Jack Gilmore from Z-Tejas.
good place to watch football Thurs night w/ decent wine
vino vino. Jeff is bringing his 50 inch HDTV, and the restaurant will be serving their "icehouse" menu. There isn't anything about it online yet, but Jeff told me about it at vino vino last night.
Is there a good philly cheese steak in Austin??
My own cheesesteak experience is limited, but I'm very fond of Texadelphia. I like that there's a choice of sauces (try the mustard sauce) besides just marinara ( or ketchup, like Delaware subs -- ick.) Texadelphia has solid burgers, too.
Which restaurants do you consider 'healthy'?
Big thumbs up, here. The ambiance and execution at Mr. Natural are a bit old-fangled, but I like their food, and the lunch special is hard to beat.
Simplicity wines on Burnet Rd
The menu is loose leaf paper. To save money, I suppose, they print on both sides.
I loved this touch:
" Simple food, friends & good wine
Without the snotty attitude.
If you want to know more about a wine we carry…
We will be happy to ‘Google’ it for you!!! "
Really? We'll google it for you? Just pitiful.
Simplicity wines on Burnet Rd
Paper plates, plastic forks, supermarket wine and very unimaginative tapas.
If you want want real Mediterranean food, go to Phoenicia down the street.
Best Steak not in a Steakhouse
I had a steak at Buenos Aires Cafe about six months ago. It was a small (10-12oz) ribeye, spoon tender and served a perfect medium rare, with a chimichurri sauce I can'tr really recall.
The steak was memorably tasty, but I do not find it now on their dinner menu. Maybe it is still available as a special.
Austin Burger Smackdown!
@ Anchovy13: I'm a Burger Tex fan, but I always get the Bulgoki' "Burger". I'm not sure I can even remember what their regular hamburger is like.
Ditto on Stallion Grill. Used to be dry-licious, and everything tasted like it came out of a can. No more. Very tasty food there now.
Best BBQ in Texas
Agree in the main with most of the previous posters. Salt Lick is overrated. Luling City Market might be better than anyone in Lockhart. Cooper's deserves all the hype. I'm looking forward to the North Texas places mentioned.
Opie's in Spicewood serves one of my favorite pork chops: they're one to two pounders, and I recommend the dip over the sauce.
German Food in Fredricksburg
Off topic, I know, but I heartily recommend Marcel's in Port Aransas for lovers of German food.
Vino Vino
The wine selection is judicious, the food is solid (tho' portions are small), the atmosphere is super-friendly and so are the people there.
I'm a little bit shocked not to have seen any posts on the Paella at vino vino, which they do most Sunday nights. It's very tasty, though it lacks the crispy bits. (To be fair, this is my number one complaint about paella, one I get to use almost 100% of the time.)
Best machacado?
Machacado was one of my childhood faves at El Mirador in SA. I've had a range of pretty good to god-awful here in Austin, but nothing yet that quite lived up to my memories.
Any suggestions, y'all?
