What I've Been Eating, Part Three

AMAZING chocolate croissant from Vivian's Boulangerie!

Welcome to another edition of what South Austin Foodie has been eating recently! I continue to get carryout a couple times a week, and I try to get things where I can at least get two meals out of my order. Some home cooking, but overall it's been too hot! Here are the main highlights, please keep tabs on my Instagram, especially Stories for a more comprehensive run down of my meals!

Hey Say is a homestyle Vietnamese spot on East Oltorf; I think they're serving a few more general Asian dishes than before, but definitely look for their house specials! These are twice fried wings with a fish sauce that were really good and very different from other wings (in a good way!).

Thai Taste's spicy larb!

Molly inspects some of my first Vivian's Boulangerie croissant order.

From my second Vivian's order, beet and goat cheese kolache, brie and caramelized shallot tiger paw, cardamom snickerdoodle and salted chocolate chip cookies, and almond croissant. They've now expanded their order pickups/deliveries to FOUR days a week! (Very dangerous.) Seriously, some of the best stuff I've had. 

Steamies frozen pork char siu, pork dumplings, and beef bao. Storefront at Airport and Lamar, I will definitely be back!

Here are the Steamies dumplings, which were very good. I think the bulgogi beef bao was my favorite as it had a TON of flavor and the beef was moist. And very pleasantly surprised with the puff pastry texture and filling of the char siu triangle. 

Winebelly's chicken liver mousse is always a favorite.

My friend Curd Culture lives in Houston, but worked with local cheese shop Antonelli's and taught a cheese class via Zoom. A friend and I had the chicken liver mousse and then split this cheese board, a bottle of bubbly,  and sat socially distanced for the class. Great way to spend and evening!

Stunning chirashi bot bowl a friend got from Lucky Robot

We also split these pork belly buns  from Lucky Robot, which were crammed with stuff including pickled cauliflower which gave them a nice crunch. 

Also up there for Best Thing I Have Eaten Recently, this Vietnamese French dip sandwich from the 20Pho7 food truck at Live Oak and South First. The bread was perfect, the pho broth flavorful, the beef super tender and rare! Filled with bean sprouts, scallions, and a spicy mayo. I cannot wait to go back!

Support your local businesses and let's make sure they stay in business! What fantastic things have you been eating?

April's Eats

Apart from my last post on the new Lunar pizza trailer, what else have I been eating?

The month started with Easter brunch with friends at Chicon.

Chicon -- eggs benny with pulled pork

The Asian food game is getting stronger in Austin, though I continue to wish there were more places down south! I visited Teahaus 101 (Airport and Lamar Blvd) with blogger buddies Girl Eats World and Foodie is the New Forty for a complimentary media tasting. We had a LOT of food! I think my favorites were the bulgogi tater tots, the chicken wings, and the noodles with black bean sauce.

Teahaus 101 -- Asian smorgasborg!

While it was a long drive from South Austin 😉 up to the new H Mart Asian grocery in Cedar Park, I am glad I finally made it. On a weekday, the store was virtually empty and there were no lines at the food court. The KJ chicken and onion rings at Sunday Bird were yummy, and they reheated (as in crispy!) really well in my air fryer for dinner. Don't know what they did to the onion rings (MSG? twice fried?) but they were worth the drive.

Sunday Bird at H Mart 

I revisited ATX Cocina with a group of family friends, and once again I was impressed.  We had a variety of plates that we all shared, and our server was spot on with recommendations.

ATX Cocina -- snapper crudo

ATX Cocina -- fish of the day, branzino with red and green sauce, along with a jicama slaw and fresh corn tortillas

ATX Cocina -- chicken with white mole sauce

ATX Cocina -- carne asada

Frontier Airlines now has a nonstop Austin to Albuquerque flight (something Southwest hasn't had in years), which makes visiting my parents a bit easier. And they offered super-cheap introductory rates, which I took advantage of.  I hadn't flown them before, and yes, they do nickel and dime you, but the $130 I paid for a round trip ticket including a checked bag was well worth it. Fortunately, my parents appreciate good food too. My first full day there, we had lunch at neighborhood spot Piatanzi.

Piatanzi's Ottavio salad with golden beets, goat cheese, pistachios, dried cranberries and balsamic dressing.  Good pizza too.

After checking out the Leonardo DaVinci exhibit at the Natural History Museum, we went to Mary and Tito's for lunch. This true mom and pop spot has been around since 1963, and were recognized as a James Beard award winner in 2010. New Mexican food at its finest!

Mary + Tito's, on the left the carne adovada omelette and on the right, crispy taco, a tamale smothered in Christmas chile sauce (both red and green chile) and a carne adovada flauta. I wish there was good New Mexican food here in Austin!

Frenchish is probably my parents' favorite place, as they have followed chef/owner Jennifer James from place to place over the years (also a James Beard semifinalist for best chef in the southwest). The food here never disappoints, and it turned out that our lunchtime waiter from Mary + Tito's the day before (and grandson of the namesakes) was our waiter at Frenchish. Small world.

Frenchish -- blue crab salad

Frenchish -- pork belly with carrot chutney

Frenchish -- lamb bolognese that just melted in your mouth

Frenchish -- risotto jardinere with pork three ways

Up in Santa Fe, we had another fine New Mexican foods meal at La Choza. We've dined at sister restaurant The Shed (just off the main plaza downtown) for years, but La Choza is a relatively new discovery for us even though it has been around since 1983.

La Choza -- blue corn soft taco (not that you can see it) smothered in red and green chile, with a magnificent side of posole with pork.  Who's got a good recipe for posole??

I treated myself to a spa package and a night at Ten Thousand Waves Spa, where the in-house restaurant is the award-winning Japanese izakaya Izanami.

Izanami -- jamon serrano wrapped asparagus. wagyu beef, chicken meatball, and onigiri rice.

Izanami -- cucumber and wakame (seaweed) salad

After returning from my trip, I caught up with friends for lunch at TLC Austin, where I hadn't been since their media tasting in January, and also still impresses.

TLC Austin -- the Enlightenment, a vegetarian sandwich for me believe it or not!

TLC Austin -- snow crab legs seafood boil

TLC Austin -- 04 Goodness Sake

Finally, lunch at Pho with Us in Southpark Meadows.

Pho with Us -- bun bowl with grilled pork and eggroll and a VERY strong Vietnamese coffee

What have you been eating lately that I should know about? Don't want to wait for a monthly recap? Check out my more up to date Instagram page! 😊