Fatback Boucherie

I was recently asked by Mike of Fatback Boucherie to try his food in exchange for my feedback. The short of it all -- his food is awesome! Keep reading if you'd like the longer version.

Fatback Boucherie (FB) is now doing catering and they are beginning to embark on a meal delivery service. (I had always heard good things about their food when they were operating as a food trailer, but I was never able to try them.) Last Sunday, Mike brought me fried chicken, greens, beans, a cane syrup gateau (cake), gravy, hot sauce, and a mustard-based sauce. These did not disappoint. Oh, and pickled turnips too!

The chicken was really well fried, very crispy, very moist, and had a hint of what I assume is a Cajun seasoning. The greens were tender with nice amounts of bacon, and the beans had ham in them too, and a bit of a vinegary flavor, which I liked. Prior to this meal, I was not familiar with a gateau, but as you can see from the picture below, they're small little cakes, make from cane syrup (like Steen's), and are Cajun staples. With meals like this, they take the place of cornbread, but cornbread can be ordered through FB as well.

FB uses many local suppliers, like Richardson Farm chickens and Tecolote Farms greens, and his pricing is still very reasonable. So check out their website, and take at look at the menu. I am not sure if they have a defined delivery area yet, but email Mike or send a message via their Facebook page. Delicious food! You'll be pleased!

A Trio of Trailers -- Pretty Thai For A White Guy, Sambet's, Taste

I have been to three different food trailers in the past week, so here's the low down! (Spoiler -- all were GOOD!)

Pretty Thai For A White Guy is one of two trailers-in-residence at the Moontower Saloon on Manchaca, just a little south of Slaughter. Moontower is a mostly-outdoor bar on a couple of wooded acres, similar to Contigo off of Airport, but serving drinks only. That's where the trailers come in. Pretty Thai is run by a trio of non-Asian chefs out of a converted school bus. They've got a nice Thai-inspired menu that includes things like curries, pad thai, and sweet potato fries with sriracha.

When I went up to the trailer, I scanned the menu board, and was disappointed to see they were out both pork dishes for the evening. I asked the person working (who I think was Kristen, one of the owners) for a recommendation, and she said they had just made the green curry paste, so she certainly recommended the green curry. I ordered that with the beef sirloin. When she delivered it to our table a few minutes later, it did not disappoint. It's a nice hearty bowl with beef,and fresh veggies -- eggplant, green beans, tomatoes and rice underneath. The curry had good flavors in it -- lemongrass, chile, coconut milk -- it had a bit of a kick, but not overpowering.

My friend ordered the Thai cornbread and nachos which were also quite good. Not sure I got all of the ginger compound butter flavor with the cornbread, but it was a good sized piece. The nachos are with shredded chicken, smoked gouda, caramelized onions, and sriracha, so a bit on the spicy side, but the gouda added a nice creaminess to it, and the tortilla chips were nice thick ones, so they really stood up to the weight and moisture from the toppings. And in a nice touch, Kristen came back by our table after a little bit to see how we liked the food. I thought the curry could have used a touch of salt to bring out the flavors, but I told her I AM partial to salt! (And carry my own. Yup.)

Moontower is a comfortable venue this time of year. They only opened in November, so who knows what it will be like out there in the heat of the summer, though there are a lot of trees. Apparently the parking lot can get filled up quick, especially on nights when they have live music playing, but they have recently bought the adjacent lot and will be expanding the parking. I look forward to going back for beers and more Thai food!


Sambet's Cajun Roadside Cafe at 4801 Burnet Road next to Pinthouse Pizza, is the trailer version of the former restaurant at 183 and Spicewood, that burned in a fried turkey accident two Thanksgivings ago. While trailer owner Doug did ramble on a bit about what the ex-wife got in their divorce in regards to the restaurant, he did say that he's been looking for a place to reopen the restaurant.  For now though, Cajun fans should be pretty happy with the food he's producing.

My friend and I split an original muffaletta sandwich and side of seafood gumbo. The sandwich was ham, salami, and provolone cheese; now while I liked the bread, it seemed more like a po-boy sandwich bread than a muffaletta bread. I am NO Cajun expert, but I thought that muff bread was round, and more focaccia-like. The fillings were good, though it wasn't exactly heaping with them. The gumbo was a nice dark one, and fortunately not made from a burned roux like some are. This had some sausage and crawdads in it, and I could see in his Louisiana-shaped condiment container a jar of "Slap Your Mama's" seasoning, and I wonder if that's the spice mix I tasted in it. Too bad Sambet's isn't doing any desserts, because beignets would have been fantastic!

Taste -- Urban Pub Food, is located in the back of The Local bar on Guadalupe, next door to Kerbey Lane. Not being intimately familiar with the campus area, it took us a little while to figure out how to get to "the back." Tip: go west on 27th and then into the lot past the Taos Co-op, who WILL tow! Next tip: once in the parking lot, inhale at your own risk; we immediately smelled pot when we got out of the car.

Owner Scot works at Central Market at North Lamar, and I have taken a few cooking classes from him over the years. His partner is Alejandro Duran of Malaga downtown. They know what it takes to operate a successful business! Their menu aims to be seasonal and locally sourced when possible. Taste has not quite been open for a month now, but I'd say it's a nice variety of pub-inspired foods at a very affordable price point.

Frito Pie immediately called my friend's name, and as you can see, it's a really fun presentation. Lots of good flavors from the ancho chile, roasted onions and poblano peppers, and it's the perfect comfort food.

I was drawn to the lamb sliders, which come with a oregano and parsley chimichurri sauce. Now looking back at the menu, it also mentions a pimento aioli sauce, which I am not sure I really tasted, but the lamb and the chimichurri were fantastic. If you're a fan of lamb, GO and try these!

We also had a tossed salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, chopped hard-boiled egg,  and a bit of shredded cheese. It was one of the most perfectly dressed and seasoned salads I've had anywhere.

Next time, I am going for the Chaffle -- chicken strips, dipped in waffle batter, and fried! And Scot said the portobello fries are hugely popular too. Don't mind the fact that' it's on the Drag, there seemed to be a variety of clientele at the Local on Saturday.

So go show these trailers some love! They're working in small little tin boxes without A/C and cranking out some great-tasting foods!

Nubian Queen Lola's

There are some places that you just can't help but smile at hearing the name, and clearly Nubian Queen Lola's Cajun Soul Food is one of those places. I have always been intrigued, but never managed to go -- until this week. I made plans with a friend to go to lunch, and asked where she wanted to go, and she said "Anywhere. You pick." So off on an adventure we went! 

Nestled over at the corner of Rosewood and Chicon in this slowly gentrifying part of East Austin, is a building with two doors, side by side. The door on the left is painted with the Queen Lola name, so that had to be it! We opened the door which hit a clanking bell, and were greeted by a sea of sparkling Mardi Gras beads hanging from the ceiling. Alerted by the bell, Lola herself poked her head out from the back, gave a warm smile and said to sit where we liked. 

If the Mardi Gras beads were any indication, the decor is eccentric. There's a large "Last Supper" painted mirror, with a couch underneath it, some college football memorabilia, and various Cajun and African-themed tchotchkes. On the tables are slips of paper for making a donation to help Lola with one of her passions -- feeding the homeless. She's well known in the community for opening her doors to the less-fortunate on Sundays, where she cooks up her Cajun delights. And without a doubt, she's a woman of faith. {Take a look at her website and see the article that had been written about her in The Austin Chronicle.} We even got invited to a Jesus party this weekend!

Then there's the food. Austin doesn't have many soul food places, and you KNOW that Lola is overseeing everything that's going on in the kitchen. Being a Tuesday, I opted for the daily special -- five fried chicken wings with rice and choice of two sides, so I had butter beans and yams. The chicken was super-hot (temperature wise) with not a lick of grease. They must be frying in 500 degree oil! The batter for the chicken has Cajun seasoning in, and boy, that chicken was FINE! The skin (yeah, it's the best part) was so crispy and flavorful. Wish there had been more butter beans, because they were fine too! The yams are very sweet, and you can taste the cinnamon and a bit of clove in them, and you know you're in the south because the cornbread is sweet too. (I ended up taking two of the wings home; even when I reheated them in the toaster oven, they did not give off much grease at all.)

One friend had the fried pork chops with the butter beans and yams. The chicken wings and pork chops probably have the same batter on them, and the chops were also fried perfectly and were moist and tasty.  What they need is a touch of cream gravy! ;)

Our other friend had the catfish etoufee which tasted real good too! The collards also have the Cajun seasoning in them; surprisingly, I couldn't really tell if they were cooked in bacon fat or had any pork product in them. They were a touch salty but had a nice little kick from the seasoning. The servings are generous; we asked the table next to us what they were eating because one guy had this HUGE plate of food -- it was one of the po-boy sandwiches. And we all had what I believe is the Cajun tea, kind of a combination of Kool-Aide and sweet tea.... or cava-tea, as another friend calls it!

Lola and another female (she was wearing an apron, so she may have been the main cook) would come back and forth from the kitchen to the dining area bringing food and drinks; I think they were the only two people working there. She greeted everyone with warmth, and the place appears to attract quite a range of customers, both in age and race. When we were ready to go, we collected our money and handed it to her (they are a CASH ONLY place, FYI), and told her while we hadn't filled out the paper to "formally" make a donation to help with meals for the homeless, we did leave a little extra for it. She seemed genuinely appreciative, and came around and hugged and blessed each one of us.

No matter what your religious affiliations, you know that Nubian Queen Lola will warm your soul with her cooking and her spirit. Go get you some!

Evangeline Cafe (& KC Donuts too!)

Everyone needs a bit of Cajun food in their lives, and it's just too bad that I don't go seeking it out very often. Evangeline Cafe is pretty far south down Brodie Lane, but it's hard not to enjoy the atmosphere (even if it is in a strip mall) and friendly service once you're there. See their picture on the website; you can sort tell there's decor all over the place, from LSU Tigers to Mardi Gras to the wall-mounted duck that was "flying" above our heads! It's a great mish-mash of Cajun culture.

Arriving just before noon today, the parking lot was full, and my dining companion and I thought we may have made a mistake. However several tables were available, and while there were just two of us, the hostess happily put us at a four-top. They've got six daily lunch specials, and I was torn between a po-boy and the chicken-fried steak with cajun cream gravy. The gravy won out. The CFS comes with a side salad, which I ordered the remoulade dressing to go with it. The salad (basic green salad, all fresh, nothing overly exciting) came in about 2 seconds, and shortly thereafter, the half-order of thin sliced onion rings came as well. Their rings are delicious! I remember them from a previous visit, a couple of years ago. They are very lightly seasoned, fried up, and also served with the remoulade. Yum!

So a fat piece of CFS arrived with a huge bowl of gravy, slightly dirty rice, and a piece of toast. Very nice breading on it, and when I say fat piece, I mean it! It was thick, a bit thicker than I usually see for CFS, but the meat was also underseasoned. It definitely needed salt. A good dunk the gravy helped too! The rice was rather boring. My friend's catfish po-boy was large, and apparently quite tasty. It was accompanied by homemade potato chips, thick cut and not greasy. We both ate half our meals, and got boxes for the rest. Sort of regretting not getting a po-boy, but the gravy was tasty. In retrospect, I may not eat the rest of the CFS, but I think I'll make some biscuits to go with my gravy!


While we were fat and fairly happy, we couldn't resist going into KC Donuts, which is a couple doors down. All I really wanted was ONE donut hole, but they only sell them by the dozen (for $1.99). Ouch! Twist my arm! We asked if he would split a mixed dozen into two bags, which he was happy to do. Or maybe because he thought we're cute. :) And, I think because it was about an hour from closing time, he added extras to the bag; I think we each got 10! And darn, they're good! Cake donuts are my favorite, and so far I've eaten a chocolate and regular hole, and a glazed non-cake style. Great texture, not too sweet. Glad that place isn't real close to my house!

So, let the good times roll!