Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thanh Nhi

A fellow local blogger and Tweeter, Foodie is the New Forty, had recently posted pictures of her lunch at Thanh Nhi, a Vietnamese place up on Lamar, just before Rundberg. Not my normal stomping grounds, but I had to run an errand up that way, so why waste a trip?


Must admit I pretty much had exactly what my blogger friend had. We started with an order of pork paste spring rolls. So a long, grilled piece of pork paste (I'll liken it to a pate), and a crunchy cigar-like thing, that I'll guess is a tightly rolled eggroll wrapper that's fried; lettuce, and lots of mint. Fabulous flavor and especially the texture! I loved the crunchy part! These were served with a peanut sauce that I'd deem okay, but nothing special. The little green onion tails sticking out the ends must be either their signature way of making them, or simply, how it's done.
And then the $3.49 grilled pork bahn mi. I was very tempted by the pork SKIN bahn mi, and I tried asking the very nice waitress about it, but our languages didn't quite connect. So in the front of the picture is the grilled pork one, and the back is the pork paste. The pork was very nice, though not quite as char-grilled as I like my pork; great assortment of fresh cilantro, jalapenos, cucumber and a few carrots on it. The French bread had a nice crust, but it was still a soft bread to chew, didn't tear up the roof of your mouth.
I can't believe this thing is only $3.49!!! Got to be one of the best deals in town! So for two people -- one app, two bahn mis, and two Vietnamese coffees, it was $16. They had some nice looking noodle bowls on the menu, and there were some Vietnamese people getting take out. All in all it was a bargain meal that was fresh and flavorful.

When Foodie is the New Forty posted about Thanh Nhi last week, I looked at their web page which had limited info, but still had info. Looks like that site has just expired, so if you want to go, they're located at 9200 North Lamar, on the west side.

Lamberts

For my birthday this week, my best girlfriends took me to Lamberts. What better than some upscale BBQ? I went last year on my birthday for Sunday brunch, but had never been for dinner before.

We started with the charcuterie plate, which included some lovely pork butter (in the ramekin, top left), pork pate, beef tongue, and bologna, and on the right, an assortment of cheeses, a semi-firm, a brie-style, a lovely blue, ....there was a small menu at the table which named all the cheeses, but I can't find it with their online menus. I remember now the blue was Ewe's Blue, which I wasn't familiar with, but Googling it, I have discovered it's from the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, who make great sheep's milk cheese and yogurt.  Honey (with the honeycomb), mustard, pickled veggies, and char grilled bread filled out the plate. Lambert's menu does say "local" artisan cheese, but clearly, not all are. It was my favorite cheese on the plate though, so who's complaining?
I was told by two people to try the crispy wild boar ribs, and I really was looking forward to them. But what was the ONE thing they were out of on the menu? Oh well. After much internal debate, I settled on the pulled pork plate, and I did not regret it. I am realizing now, it doesn't look like much with the BBQ sauce all over the meat. However, it was lovely, tender, succulent pieces of pork that fell apart when you stuck a fork into them. And while I normally prefer my sauce on the side, this didn't bother me, but the pork was so tasty, that I don't remember a thing about the sauce. We also got some sides to share, so from the left, the green chile cheese grits, garlic roasted broccoli, and Brussels sprouts in brown butter with bacon.
One of my friends got the country ribs, which was pink, tender, and also very tasty.  I was really tempted to get the lamb chops, but have NO regrets with my pork, whatsoever. For dessert, we had the chocolate peanut butter cup and the made to order donuts with lemon glaze and coffee ice cream. The pb cup was almost sinful, good thing it was split four ways! The donuts were nice and crispy on the outside, but rather undercooked on the inside; I still liked them though, but I am a fan of all types of raw dough! The ice cream had strong coffee flavor, which was a nice surprise, and nice creamy texture. Service was good and consistent throughout the evening, and for a Monday night, they were hopping! It did seem like a mix of locals and business men from out of town.
 So which do I prefer better at Lamberts, brunch or dinner? I don't know! Certainly for value, the brunch stands out at $28 per person, all you can eat. It's a tough call -- go try for yourself!

Genghis Grill

Chain restaurants are generally not my favorite, though for some they offer consistency in their food needs. But I am all for trying new places, especially when the new place is offering free food as part of their soft opening. And thus, I stumbled into Genghis Grill, by the Central Market at Lamar and Westgate.

The owner of the franchise was greeting customers at the door, and after a few minute wait, we were seated. A very enthusiastic waitress welcomed us, explained how things worked, took our drink order, and encouraged us to get in the line. When you are first seated, you are given a stainless steel bowl that will become your bowl to fill with protein and veggies as you please. It's set up like a big salad bar with raw proteins first, dry spices, vegetables, and various sauce combos. You can create your own eating adventure or choose a card that has a formula for one of their signature bowls. You then take your bowl to the grill station; I was impressed with how they immediately asked if I had any allergies. They marked the ones that did, as well as for the vegetarian eaters, and I ASSUME grilled those separate from the meaty, glutenous, soy-infused bowls. You're also asked what type of starch you'd like -- white/brown/fried rice, udon noodles, pasta, or...tortillas?

I was totally fascinated by their grilling system, and it appears to work flawlessly. They take your bowl, give you a number, and then it's grilled on a huge 10 foot (+/-) diameter grill, where each order is conveniently separated by wooden stakes, and your number placed beneath. (I always wondered how the lone grill master at the Mongolian BBQ place downtown remembered whose bowl was whose.) You go and sit back down, and once the bowls are ready, they are brought to your table.
What I am most impressed with is their website. Under their build a bowl section, for every single component you add to your bowl, it will show you the nutritional information for the item, and it runs a cumulative tab at the bottom of the page. Particularly for people who need to watch their sodium levels, I think they'd be SHOCKED to actually see how much sodium they are consuming, depending on their choices. More restaurants should do this.
 Overall, it was a good experience. Everything was extremely fresh, and the service was good. Will both of those keep up? It was rather loud in there though, one because it was packed, as the word of "free food" had gotten out, and two, because they have televisions with sporting events blaring. Really? Do we need tv's in restaurants. In my opinion, NO, unless you're a sports bar. Big turnoff for me. Would I go back? Maybe. If I was ravenous, I'd get the "bottomless bowl", and maybe take some home. I think lunch is $9, dinner is $10, and bottomless is $12. It was fun, but I also know how to cook a pretty good stir fry myself.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Bombay Bistro

Went for an early dinner the other night at Bombay Bistro, a recently opened addition in the Brodie Oaks shopping center, at the northwest corner of South Lamar and Ben White/290 (where SunHarvest and Hobby Lobby are located). They share the building with Pei Wei and have another location way up on Research Blvd. A friend had been for the lunch buffet, and deemed it quite good. Another friend and I looked at the menu online, saw a number of lamb dishes, and headed on over. 

There was only one other diner when we arrived, and we were seated at one of the booths along the side walls; I sat facing the kitchen in the back of the restaurant. There was a steady flow of incoming diners throughout our meal, including a couple tables of people who I would guess were Indian -- always a good sign.
 
We started with the Aloo Cashew Rolls, which are lightly-spiced potatoes, rolled in a cashew crust, and fried. They were good, not greasy, and benefited from a touch of salt; the tamarind chutney that was brought when we sat down with some papadums (lentil cracker bread, the Indian version of salsa and chips) was very nice with the aloo rolls. We also had the curried mussels, which were in the most fantastic broth; these are a specialty of Goa, one of the coastal regions. It was a coconut milk base, and after a little tomato, spices, and the natural brininess from the mussels, it was delicious. We both took the mussel shells and used them as spoons to drink down the broth. The basket of mixed breads helped soak it up too. 
For the main dish, we ordered the Khyberi Ghost, described as "succulent lamb pieces marinated with a special sauce and slow cooked to perfection." It wasn't just perfection, it was heaven! Apart from chunks of lamb and crispy shallots sprinkled on top, I really couldn't tell you what they put in there, but it was amazing. Tender, flavorful lamb, bathing in a complex gravy. As this was from the House Specialties menu, you also had a choice of a side dish, and we chose the lentils, which had great flavor and a nice kick to them. The only slight disappointment to me was the assorted bread basket. The naan was fine, but it also had an onion kulcha (bread stuffed with onions and herbs) and aloo paratha (bread stuffed with potato, peas and herbs). Neither of the stuffed breads were particularly exciting, nothing wrong with them, just not memorable. Next time, I will probably stick to a garlic naan or the lachedar paratha if it's the flaky, somewhat crispy bread (skillet-cooked) that I am thinking of. 

Our service was wonderful; I think it was the manager who seated us and took our order. Other waitstaff brought the items out, and what appeared to be a Latina server never let our water glasses get very empty. I was also excited to see the Khuroos-e-Tursh dish on their menu (chicken stuffed with spinach in a decadent creamy nut-based sauce), which I have never seen anyplace but the Clay Pit, and it's about the only thing I ever eat there because I love the sauce so much (read about it here). So my next trip back to Bombay Bistro, I will have to try their version. This could be a very, very bad thing that they are on my way to and from work!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Newsy stuff

-- The newly formed Austin Food Blogger Alliance will have their first happy hour/networking session at Takoba on March 29 at 6 pm. RSVP for the event here; I look forward to finally meeting some of my fellow bloggers! :)

-- There will be a bake sale to raise money for Japanese relief efforts on Saturday, April 2nd. It's being organized by a local group of food bloggers, called Austin Bakes. Can you whip up a baked good or volunteer your time on the 2nd? I'll bake something! (Update: As of March 25, there will be 5 locations around town where the baked goodies will be sold! I think I'll be making blondies and a nutmeg bundt cake for sale at the Hotel San Jose. See their website for all the locations, details, etc.)

-- The next Austin Restaurant Week is coming up! It's your chance to dine at some of Austin's best places at a reduced rate! (And who doesn't like that??!) Apparently, the dates are April 10-13 and 17-20, though they were originally posted to be at the end of March/beginning of April. Maybe it was moved because of....

-- The annual Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, March 31 - April 3; tickets are required for the various events, and can be purchased through their website. I'll be at the Sunday fair, which is in yet another location this year, this time at the Mexican American Cultural Center off of Rainey Street. Parking will be interesting....anyone know if they're running shuttle buses from somewhere?

-- My favorite neighborhood bakery, La Patisserie, recently had a contest to come up with a new macaron flavor to add to their stellar collection. They solicited flavor suggestions on their Facebook page, and this past Sunday which was National Macaron Day, they had the top 5 flavors available for tasting at the bakery. Tasters were asked to then vote on their favorite flavor (toasted almond, chocolate coconut, raspberry mojito, peanut butter & jelly, and key lime pie). Toasted almond was the winner -- and it was MY flavor suggestion! It will be featured at the bakery in April! Yum, yum, yum! 
-- Maudie's is having a carb-loaded special for those running the annual Capital 10K this Sunday, March 27, the Potato Rajas Taco Plate. Eat it the day before, and you'll be well fueled. Me, I'll have a margarita! ;)

-- Sagra, the lovely Italian spot just north of downtown (remember, they're using iPads and e-readers now for enhanced menu options!), will have an Easter buffet brunch for $24/head. It will include scrambled eggs, French toast, and leg o' lamb! Might want to make a reservation!

-- Looking for a different twist on grilled foods? Bar Chi Sushi has a charcoal robata grill -- the ONLY one in town --  and great prices on those items during happy hour, daily from 3 - 6 pm and on Fri/Sat from 10pm - 12am.

Lots of yummies!


Saturday, March 19, 2011

San Franciso & the Wine Country

Ahhh, a little 4 day weekend with one of my best girlfriends, M. We booked this trip back in November or so, when gas prices were still cheap! We got a great price on tickets into San Jose (one of the "nerd bird" flights), and had a rental car in hand and were driving north by 10:45 am on Saturday.

The goal was to go to Pescadero or Half Moon Bay, walk along the beach and then eat. But with the two hour time difference from Austin, we got hungry as we were along the smaller roads headed west to Highway1. We stopped at Alice's Restaurant,  in Woodside, complete with plenty of bikers, and had a quick bite. Not a bad sourdough tuna melt to get things started.

Getting to the coast, we parked at San Gregorio beach, waded through an inlet and strolled down the beach. This was the day after the Japanese tsunami sent waves across the Pacific Ocean, and some places along the west coast did sustain some damage. I thought the waves looked a little big, but I haven't been to the California coast in so long, I have nothing to compare it to. Very pretty though.
Back in the car, and north to San Francisco and the Ferry Building, a food lover's paradise! WISH we had had more time there -- if you're going to SF, go and check it out! It's a refurbished building on the Embarcadero with a whole bunch of food businesses and restaurants. And farmer's market on Saturdays too. We started buying all kinds of stuff, and before we knew it, we had amassed enough for a decent dinner back in the hotel -- Acme Bread, Cowgirl Creamery cheese, Scharffen Berger Chocolates, Miette confections, Boccalone salami (as in "tasty salty pig parts"), a bottle of bubbly, a pear & nectarine from the general market there. But first, we were headed for "tea" at the Slanted Door -- a Vietnamese place there at the Ferry Building.
The SD is one of several restaurants owned by a local Vietnamese family; it's a more upscale place than your typical pho noodle house. On weekends, between their lunch and dinner service, they serve tea from 2:30 - 4:30pm. We got there around 4 pm, and sat at the bar. Fortunately, hardly anyone was drinking tea -- it was cocktail hour! So two glasses of bubbly, and some selections from the tea menu -- a beautiful yellowfin sashimi, shrimp spring rolls, and green papaya salad. It was all extremely good. Would go back again in an instant.

On to our hotel, stayed at the Beresford Arms Hotel, at the corner of Post and Jones, just 2 blocks from Union Park. I didn't notice until the next morning there was an Indonesian restaurant right across the street...M and I started planning this trip to SF with the idea of finding someplace that served rijstaffel -- the multi-course Dutch/Indonesian meal. Good thing this place didn't do a rijstaffel, because it would have seriously messed with our plans! So, with our loot from the Perry Building, we dined in that night.
The next morning, it was up and in search of dim sum in Chinatown. We knew of Yank Sing, a James Beard-awarding winning place that M has eaten at in the past; she says it's excellent food, but expensive, and often very crowded. They're also not directly in Chinatown, a bit more to the southeast. So we roamed around on foot a bit... M wanted to eat at Hang Ah Tea Room, and though initially she couldn't remember the name or location, but she was able to find it. But the note on the door said they were closed for about a 3 week period. Boo. So we wandered around the blocks a bit, and found a place that was open (it was 10:30 am on Sunday).... certainly a dive, but all Asians inside. Apparently this is the place to get your congee, because everybody was having some, except us. There were also a couple diners with their morning glass of cognac. I never really got the name of the place, and it was hard to read the awning outside the building... something like New Kitchen?  Yes, I should have gotten the proper name, but you're probably not missing a whole lot.  From the one dim sum cart, we got the pork shumai (though more like meatballs in a thin wrapper), sticky rice wrapped in lotus (with pork bits inside) and steamed pork buns.
And from the menu we got the BBQ duck and pork combo plate. The duck was very bony (vertebrae) and didn't really have much meat, but the pork was delicious -- nice pink smoke ring and a light Chinese five spice flavor.
We hit a couple of the Chinese gifty stores, then back to the hotel to check out by noon, and on the road north to Muir Woods. After going over the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped at the scenic view spot (with all the other tourists, most of whom were speaking other languages).
Arriving at Muir Woods, the place was packed and it took 20 minutes to find a parking spot. And the perpetual overcast sky decided to grace us with some rain. The redwood grove is beautiful, and I am sure on days without rain, and maybe a few less people, it's really a serene, peaceful place to commune with nature.

Up the road to Mill Valley, where I arranged to have coffee with my first cousin, once removed. Great to see you, Jet! :) We continued up the rainy road to Santa Rosa, where after a small Google Maps mishap, we found our hotel, the Fountaingrove Inn. We also found a Trader Joe's just across the highway, and got some wine for the room, breakfast for the morning, and my personal favorite, their honey roasted peanuts! The hotel has a nice restaurant, Equus, where we dined Sunday night.  Their service was a bit spotty -- no host/hostess at the stand so we stood around for several minutes before a server seated us, and our server was a bit scarce throughout the meal. But the food was quite solid. I had a salad, followed by crab cakes (almost all crab, no filler!) with a citrus beurre blanc and tomato chutney. M had pumpkin waffles with duck (turns out it was a confited leg though it wasn't stated on the menu) and a red curry butter and pomegranate drizzle. And the bread they had a the table was some of the finest multigrain bread I have ever had! Nice crispy crust, but thin, and not at all tough, good consistent crumb throughout. And I proceeded to slather the herb butter on the bread in our second basket of bread and we wrapped them up and stuck them in our purses for breakfast in the morning! Oh, and Equus had a very rich chocolate souffle with some creme anglaise on the the side, that was certainly made with good quality chocolate. Had a Seghesio syrah with dinner I really liked.
While looking for a better winery map than what we had Monday morning, I went down to the hotel lobby and talked with the extremely helpful woman at the front desk, Lauren. Not only did she have a great Sonoma county map, she hooked us up with a bunch of complimentary tasting passes for six different vineyards! And, she had the answer to the following riddle: M's father had told her a friend ate at a restaurant in Santa Rosa that began with a "c" and was two words (but he couldn't remember the name) and it had the best French onion soup ever. So it was our quest to find this place. We had asked the guy who checked us in at the hotel the night before, but he said he wasn't from the area and had no idea. We scoured the yellow pages, for restaurants beginning with "c", and even called a couple to inquire. And we had almost given up on this semi-futile search, when on a whim, I asked Lauren. She immediately responded "Oh, it must be Cricklewood!" Ding! Turns out, the French onion soup was featured on one of Guy Fieri's (ugh) shows; he's from the area, which explained the Johnny Garlic's chain of restaurants we had seen ads for. Now we had a destination, and it wasn't far from the hotel, thank you Lauren!

But first, the trek along Highway 12 into wine country! First stop, St. Francis, where we decided to have charcuterie plates with our red wine tasting. Very good choice, as the plates were excellent!
Rogue Creamery cheese, La Quercia prosciutto, pears, tarragon mustard, candied marcona almonds, roasted garlic & baby arugula. This was actually the plate for the white wine tasting, but we both wanted to do the reds, so we got the two different plates, and swapped them half-way through.
Point Reyes Blue, soppressata, cranberry chutney, grainy mustard, candied walnuts, pickled onions, baby arugula. Had four reds, my favorite being their Tres Viejos Zinfindel, which was fruity, lightly spicy and smooth, and is a combo of three old vine zins.
Next, up the road about a quarter mile to Chateau St. Jean, which has a large tasting room and gift shop. Had a couple of reds that I liked, the 2008 Benoist Ranch Pinot Noir and the 2007 Durrell Syrah. Lovely facility, lots of gardens, and this double camellia tree in full bloom!
And another little ways up the road to Paradise Ridge; this was their tasting room only, their main facility is actually back in Santa Rosa. Very friendly woman working there, and we were the only ones in there.  Good 2007 Zin, The Convict, another old vine zin! Their tasting menu sheet that you can take notes on while sipping has nice food pairings, and their website has the recipes. Following the road south, we hit Napa and Cakebread, but unfortunately, got there just as they had finished the tastings for the day. Beautiful entryway though!
Hitting the road back north, we went through Calistoga, and stopped for a few minutes at an old cemetery on the side of the road. It had markers from the 1800s, and moss and lichen had certainly taken over some areas.
Back to Santa Rosa, we were able to find the aforementioned Cricklewood restaurant for dinner, not terribly far from the hotel, but not well-lit from the street either. I was hoping for the French onion soup and a burger, but they only do the burgers for lunch, so I settled on a baked potato for lack of  protein options that wasn't a $25 steak. Though hard to mess up, the potato was good. The soup was tasty, a fairly dark beef broth, nice crusty cheese all over the top. It was certainly good, but whether it was worth our adventure in trying to find it, that remains to be seen.
In the morning, we retraced some of our path down Highway 12 to Valley of the Moon. My favorite wine there too was the old vine Zin, also a 2007, from their 70 year old vines that are right next to the main tasting room. We continued south, taking the Richmond bridge into the East Bay, and arriving at Chez Panisse just in time for our 1:30pm reservation in the cafe.

On the second floor of a mission-style house, the cafe is separated into front and back rooms by the bar and kitchen area; we were seated by a window in the front room.
I opted for the prix fixe Menu du Jour, while M ordered a la carte. 
It started off with a mixed green salad for me, and the artichoke hearts and fava beans with lemon and pecorino for M.
Her next course was the half Dungeness crab with Meyer lemon, radishes, and parsley butter.
Then my main course, homemade spaghetti with rocket (arugula) pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh ricotta. 
And her salad with baked goat cheese rounds.  Up to here, the food was quite good, though I wouldn't call it exceptional. The service was a bit off. There appeared to be two head waiters for the front area, and a number of junior staffers; I don't know if they were short staffed, or what the situation was, but it didn't all seem to gel. M's wine came almost right away, and I had to inquire about my ice tea that after 20 minutes had failed to appear, and then was brought over by the hostess. Our main waiter seemed aloof, and didn't time our dishes very well, though apologized for it later when I asked him about my pasta dish after M had finished her crab (her second dish). 

But then we got to the desserts. The third dish in my Menu du Jour was the Meyer lemon sherbet with candied citrus peel and a langue du chat cookie (cat's tongue). Amazing Meyer lemon taste! They must boil the juice down to concentrate the flavor, but rarely have I had something with that fantastic of a lemon taste. M ordered the wildflower honey mousse with candied kumquats and gingersnaps. That mousse had the most lovely lightly sweet taste, but it was the texture that blew us away -- so smooth and velvety. The meal ended on these very high notes.
For a Tuesday, the place was packed, and I get the sense it's probably always like this. 
I became intrigued with Chez Panisse a couple of years ago, after reading Ruth Riechl's various memoirs.  Not only have they always been at the forefront of the eat local and seasonal "movement," their alumni listing is impressive, to say the least. But not just the well-known chefs like Jeremiah Trotter and Mark Miller, but the founders of Acme Bread and Cowgirl Creamery (both of which we purchased at the Ferry Building), worked at CP early in their culinary careers.

So eating at Chez Panisse, as our last activity before heading to the airport, kind of brought the trip full circle. The food and wine traditions are rich in these parts, but we barely scratched the tip of it in four days.  

I wanted to take a few pictures outside as we were leaving, and we encountered a friendly man, who volunteered to take a picture of M and I in front of the restaurant. We started talking with him, and it turns out, he's Richard Mazzera, a former manager at CP, who opened his own tapas restaurant, Cesar, next door in the late 1990s with a couple other CP alumi.  Full circle, yet again.