malarkey's Profile
Hard Hat Report Vol 7
I've recently been to the El Tacorrido @ Rundberg & Lamar. What did you have sqwertz?
Quite frankly, these are some of the best tacos I've had here. All come with onion, cilantro & lime; meat is well seasoned, juicy and delish. I've had the guisada, the carnitas, and the chicarrones and a couple others I'm blanking on right now (I wish someone here would do crispy chicarrones con carne though...) I'm happy this place is like 5 minutes from my 'hood!
Hard Hat Report Vol 7
I've recently been to the El Tacorrido @ Rundberg & Lamar. What did you have sqwertz?
Quite frankly, these are some of the best tacos I've had here. All come with onion, cilantro & lime; meat is well seasoned, juicy and delish. I've had the guisada, the carnitas, and the chicarrones and a couple others I'm blanking on right now (I wish someone here would do crispy chicarrones con carne though...) I'm happy this place is like 5 minutes from my 'hood!
Hard Hat Report Vol 7
I've recently been to the El Tacorrido @ Rundberg & Lamar. What did you have sqwertz?
Quite frankly, these are some of the best tacos I've had here. All come with onion, cilantro & lime; meat is well seasoned, juicy and delish. I've had the guisada, the carnitas, and the chicarrones and a couple others I'm blanking on right now (I wish someone here would do crispy chicarrones con carne though...) I'm happy this place is like 5 minutes from my 'hood!
The brussel sprouts at La Condesa
gawd, I need to try these! hope I can catch them on the menu!
The brussel sprouts at La Condesa
ohhhh, I think this warrants a trip to LC. Loves me some brussell sprouts
Opening: Lucy's Fried Chicken
Tried Lucy's for lunch on the 23rd ~ arrived at 1:10pm, got a parking spot (amazing) and immediately got seated. Had the 3 piece basket & the grilled slaw. Slaw didn't have a lot of 'grilled' flavor I could discern, but it was light and crunchy & a good accompaniment to the chicken.
The chicken was hot out of the fryer, tender, juicy, crispy goodness on the outside, well seasoned, really really tasty. Would go back in a heartbeat~ hopefully this time with a bunch of co-eaters so I can do more 'sampling' as lots of stuff on the menu sounds quite good.
What I loved is that they offer good bubbly by the glass, so perfect with fried foods.
Bacon
Only been once. Burger was overcooked. Everything else was fine~ good meat to bun ratio, good toppings, including an honest-to-god ripe tomato slice. Fries were fine but I don't even remember what kind they are. It's like they are almost hitting the mark... but missing it.
Raclette Cheese
An HEB with a decent cheese counter might even have raclette. It's worth a shot.
NATY - North Austin Trailer Park
I'm excited about this. Although I would like to see one further north (what about between 183 & Parmer somewhere?) I'll visit this one and check out all their fare.
Fish Skin Fish Dumplings at Ivy's Deli; Xiao Long Bao (XLB) Too
!!! this sounds exciting!
Pâté with Liver?
...and is tasty!
CM's paté is in the deli section with all the other sliced meats. They usually have both smooth & country style.
In-n-Out Burger is Coming to Texas!
you mean... no one has trekked up to Dallas to have an In-N-Out burg yet?!? c'mon...
ATX Chowhound Board
Uhhhhh wow. Interesting.
1st, a little history: Ever heard of a site called eGullet? Did any of you know that eG was created waaaay back in 2001 because of Chowhound's editing/deleting of posts?? That was 10 YEARS AGO, people. And that was back in the Jim Leff days. How can you be surprised that this still goes on??
2nd: Lesson 2: eG didn't learn ENOUGH from lesson 1, and has paid a price. Course, it could be said that the advent of blogs is what undid eG, but it was also a heavy handed approach to the community, and in turn that lost them their best content generators. But that's all beside the point.
3rd: If you want a serious ATX food discussion board, then someone needs to start one that isn't a commercial endeavor.
Cheddar cheese with Texas BBQ: what's the deal? [moved from Austin board]
I finally ate at Rudy's last week. I'll agree, the meats were all very agreeable.
IMHO, the best thing with brisket is avocado and a squeeze of lime. Awesome.
Where to order white truffle dish in Austin?
Well here we are coming up on fall again. AND, white truffle season. (Oct/Nov) ~ sunshineats, did you ever get your taste of truffles? IMHO, you should buy a fresh truffled olive oil, it will give you a good enough idea of how white truffles taste. (be sure to get oil flavored with white truffles, as black truffles taste quite different) ~ THEN you can decide if they are worth splurging for. Once fall rolls in, you can find white truffles online. Fresh ones will taste slightly different from truffle oil, but it will have that same aromatic quality.
definitely expensive. I like what someone said above "somewhere between the price of saffron and cocaine" LOL
Anyone finding HOT Hatch chiles around town?
I got some hot ones from WF and holy hell they were like a blast furnace. I made a nice stew with them and I discovered a new diet trick. Make the food so gd hot you can't finish it. LOL
Where do you buy your steaks (uncooked)?
Lee's or Johnny G's... isn't there another meat market/butcher shop..? There's also La Michoacana. whole sheep heads!
What's going on at Sunflower?
seriously?! imho their bánh xèo is NOT good. chicken instead of pork, no mushrooms, no thai basil or mint to go with the 2 or 3 lonely strands of cilantro...
THEY WANT HOW MUCH? Part 2: Egregious Food Pricing In Austin
This was an arranged dinner.
THEY WANT HOW MUCH? Part 2: Egregious Food Pricing In Austin
Ate at Zandunga tonight. 3 course meal for $20.
Had the nopales salad: grilled cactus, red cabbage, queso fresco, bacon oregano vinaigrette. Wonderful, perfectly balanced seasonings.
Had the aforementioned tilapia, with a garlic sauce, huitlacoche risotto and watercress salad. Really nice dish, tilapia very well cooked, the flavor combination of the risotto & the water cress salad & the fish was also very well balanced. I did get one bite of risotto towards the end that was quite salty, but that wasn't the experience with the whole of the dish.
Dessert was a bread pudding with tropical fruits with a fabulous caramel sauce over it. Really really good, especially if you are a caramel lover. ;->
All in all, a wonderful meal. I'd go back in a heart beat. Ohh, they make their own tortillas (best ones I've found in town) and their own chips (also best I've had at a resto).
Sourcing duck!
yep: Sebastien Bonneu of Countryside Farms. He raises muscovys and pekings. He's currently at both downtown and the Cedar Park FM. You'll get a whole duck, including the neck & head, all innerds (liver, gizzard, heart), and feet. Make stock, render fat, confit, roast/braise the rest, you name it. His birds are fabulous.
Need specific recommendations for Austin- Sunday/Monday
mmmm for Sunday brunch I'd recommend Olivia or Jack Allen's Kitchen
I want to cook foie gras. Where to get it, though...
Oh, unplug all your fire alarms when you do this ;-> Cuz it will smoke up the joint.
I want to cook foie gras. Where to get it, though...
I say just order it from Sonoma or Hudson Valley or d'Artagnan, I'm sure CM will order it for you if they don't have any in stock. Have you ever cleaned one? You have to pick out the veins and it's challenging. Not from the perspective that it's an eww moment, but challenging from the perspective that it's hard to get all the veins out without destroying the lobe and ending up with just a bunch of small pieces of foie.
Heat a cast iron or other heavy pan over high heat. No oil or fat in the pan of any kind. You won't need it. Sear the pieces (cut them fairly thick, but not more than an inch) Turn once browned & sear other side then remove. Foie should be rare. If you cook it too long it just dissolves into a puddle of fat. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you do want to eat it, yes? Be careful you don't cross the line into burning because it's precariously close when you do this and you'll want to save the leftover fat for future yummyness.
You can make a sauce to go with it from the pan juices. If you have a fruit reduction it goes really well with the rich foie. You should prep that ahead as once foie comes out of the pan you'll want to have your plates all set up ready to go & eat it immediately. Serve with a lovely sauternes ;->
Have fun and report back! With pictures!!
Soleil
I've had the shrimp burger @ Soleil and was pleasantly surprised. It's pretty much solid shrimp meat, no filler or very little from what I could tell. I actually think now is the time to go to a place like this, if you wait too long, the food will eventually decline. See Rule #1 about restos with views above.
Sad disappointment at the Asia Cafe
luckyfatima opined: "I recall some other thread here on the Austin boards where it was suggested that Asia Cafe has gone downhill since they lost their best chef."
I didn't know this luckyfatima. It makes sense now that I think of it. Their food has been wildly inconsistent for awhile now.
Hmm.... WHERE did that chef go?? THAT'S the mission! FIND THEM!
Butcher shops and farmer's markets in north austin?
Mmmm you are going to have to drive a ways to get to any of the farmer's markets, but there are a lot of CSAs, so you can get your organic goodness delivered ;-)
Butcher shops... hmm I don't know of too many stand alone butcher shops so I'll let someone else address that question. You can get good meats at the FM's though.
Second Bar & Kitchen / Bar Congress
I'm guessing that sentimentality is what flavors the foods that edberliner & others who 'get it' love. This is fairly common, and really, there's nothing wrong with it, but it would be wise to at least be aware of it.
I have myself a few foods that I am sentimental about, and I admit that their flavor evokes memories for me, and there are other people who upon tasting it, won't 'get that' ~
Second Bar & Kitchen / Bar Congress
"Last appetizer was the fries. I guess the star of the dish was suppose to be the truffle salt, but in my humble opinion they can't hold a candle to the fries at Hyde Park Bar and Grill.... I sampled the burger which was fair, not as good as a Hut's burger or even one from the Tavern."
This is a troll, right?!
Frozen battered fries better than fresh cut fries drizzled with truffle oil?? a Hut's burger is better than one where the meat was actually from one cow & ground that day? Wow. Alrighty then.
Last week commuting to Houston...
bwah ha ha! Well it looks like I'm going to get to have several "last" suppers. Tonight I went to Shade, largely because I've been eating their food at the downtown farmer's market every wednesday and they turn out some fine grub. Tonight the appetizers tasted wonderful (truffled mac & cheese + shrimp & grits) but were lacking a bit in execution, but the entrees shined (scallops over risotto + mahi mahi with a white bean ragout. Coconut cream pie with a hazelnut shortbread crust for dessert. yesssss.
