Qi: Divine Dim Sum

Five lunching ladies got together for dim sum brunch at Qi this past weekend.  Pretty much impeccable, from the decor to the place settings to the food, and especially the company as our group has bonded over food for many years now. And everything tastes better amidst friendship and laughter, though Qi's food and presentation does not need much assistance. 

From the entrance on 6th Street, the wine walls form two private dining areas.

Main dining area, with kitchen to the back and bar to the right.
 Could see a number of women preparing foods at the counter.

Our table, in the smaller of the two more private areas was called the birdcage table on our bill. Throughout the restaurant, there were beautiful embroidered Chinese robes on the walls. I would love a time to just study the decor in there! 

Beautiful plates, nice heavy crystal water glasses, and even the chopsticks had a nice weight and feel to them. 

In order of how we received the food. First up, sticky rice with Chinese sausage.

Snow pea shoots

Zha Jiang noodles, kind of a Chinese bolognese. I believe they said the meat was a combo of beef and lamb,
and you mix everything together before serving. Loved this!

The utterly divine crab fish maw soup dumplings. You could taste the sweetness of the crab meat. We should have ordered more of these! The accompanying sauces were soy, chili, and a light vinegar (plum?) with julienned ginger that was lovely with the soup dumplings.

Scallion pancake curry dip. This is the one dish that wasn't as great as everything else. The curry sauce was very flavorful,
 but the pancake was thick and almost tough, without any of the real flakiness I expect from scallion pancakes.

They changed our plates out partway though. 

Steamed barbecue pork buns; nice flavor in the pork.

Chicken with cashew dumplings. This isn't a dumpling combo I have had before, and I really liked them.

Shrimp har kaw.

The adorable little creatures are lobster dumplings with a hint of truffle in them, making them extra decadent!

Even the restrooms spared no design expense. From my travels to Japan, I have learned there is an Asian fascination with toilets. These had the motion activated lids, warm seats and automatic flush. (If you haven't used them before, you don't always know what to expect or even how to operate them at times!) Gorgeous carved wooden sink, very much a masculine-feeling space.

Here's our order. And it came out to $37/person with tax and tip. Not bad at all!

Qi was fantastic, and I can't wait to go back! Have you been and if so, what were your favorites?

Comedor: Modern Mexican Food in Downtown Austin

Comedor's fantastic bone marrow 

It turns out that Super Bowl Sunday is an outstanding time to go out and eat at some of Austin's finest establishments. I had friends in from out of town over the weekend, and we did a TON of stuff around town! (See my Instagram post if you missed my Stories as they were happening.) I made a online reservation for Comedor about 3 pm on Sunday for 5:30 that same night, and they had tons of openings. If you're not familiar, Comedor is a modern Mexican restaurant in downtown Austin at 501 Colorado that opened in April 2019. The local food critics have been raving about it, and it was high time for me to check it out. Plus my out of towners were more than willing participants!

The entrance.... kind of like a speakeasy.

A light-filled, modern (but not cold), clean interior.

The restaurant was built on the site of a parking lot, and is built around this central courtyard that also helps bring light into the space. The wood and steel give it a very masculine look, but all the light really balances it out.

The bar

Ancho-guajillo vodka with mango juice and lime. Sublime.

Avocado tostadas with cauliflower and salsa verde.

The quesadilla with local mushrooms and huitlacoche.  Comedor has a masa program, and the menu states the region and name of the farmer from where the corn came. This was a thick tortilla that just tasted like amazing, fresh corn.

Masa spaetzle with esquites (larger corn kernels) and ash from corn husks. Normal spaetzle is made from wheat flour, but this used all corn, and was one of my favorite dishes. Loved the tender chewiness of the spaeztle, without any grittiness.

Sotol-grilled carrots with pea puree; these were good but less memorable to me.

Comedor has become known for their bone marrow dish (see top photo), and it was easy to see why. It was incredible. Our waiter said they first roast the bones, and then broil or torch them with a bit of brown sugar on top to give it a slight caramelization. They're served on top of wilted greens with a basket of fresh tortillas. The suggestion was to build the tortilla with greens, marrow, and a squeeze of lime; they were creamy, tender, juicy....but not the most photogenic.

No bones about it, we really didn't like the bone marrow at all! 😉

We had a great waiter, Michael, who was attentive and very informative. Don't know if it was because it was a slow night or if he just liked us, but they comped us a dessert and we felt compelled to try another one too! This is the tres leches, with Tejate ice cream, corn milk and merengue. 

The simple appearance is misleading! Chocolate semifreddo, avocado mousse and lime sherbet. A bite with all the elements was strangely fabulous! Pastry chef Philip Speer is behind these creations.

Our waiter had told us that the glass brick wall at the front of the restaurant and around the bar were a fairly rare creation. From the exterior, they look black, but from the inside, you can see how crystal clear they are. This photo was taken as we were leaving (after sunset) from the interior corner where the front wall meets the bar wall, looking out.

If the picked-clean marrow bones are any indication, we licked our plates clean. Comedor was a fantastic experience, and highlights new takes on modern Mexican cuisine. We all loved it. It's also a good spot for those with food allergies, as virtually the entire menu was gluten free, and much of it was dairy free as well. Salud to the staff and food of Comedor! Wishing you years of success, as I look forward to returning!

Why Is Holy Roller Considered Holy?

I've heard nothing but praise for Holy Roller since they opened last year. I finally went for Sunday brunch a couple weeks ago. Loved the rockabilly decor and the general aesthetic of the spot, but I found the food to be lacking on many fronts.

Let's start with the positives. It's a super-creative menu, and I was really torn about what to order. (Grilled Cheesus? Mac + Cheese? Oooh Pot Pie, but only for dinner....) Service was good, and the runners were very attentive to refilling water glasses. My friend's frozen lemonade with rosé vodka was delicious and pretty, and the biscuits were adorable and near perfection.  But that was kind of about it in terms of accolades.

Pink gumdrop too!

Fabulous biscuits, no bigger than two inches square with soft honey butter and jam.

As for the the rest of the meal, I hate to be a complainer, but it was mediocre....my dining companions cocktail and soda arrived in reasonable time, but my iced tea never showed, so I had to ask for it. Follow the captions with each photo for my critiques.

I ordered the Green Goddess salad with a side of steak, medium rare. The original one brought to me (by a runner, not the waitress) had the steak at medium-well, so I sent it back. This is the second version pictured. The meat was flavorful and this one was cooked correctly, but no steak knife was provided and it was hard to cut with a regular dinner knife.

The BLT, with some very pedestrian French fries, precut food service ones certainly, and not very crisp. The crime here was the bread was not sturdy for a hearty sandwich, and it crumbled apart.

The Bombshell Burger. Now my friend asked for egg whites instead of a fried egg, and they definitely obliged! Buried under the clouds of egg is a burger with cheese and hash browns, but the main issue here was the nicely toasted bun was WAY too small for this burger, and also a bit soft for the contents.

The Choco Taco, with watery, flavorless soft-serve ice cream inside.  The waffle cone shells are made in advance (I get it), but given our recent high humidity levels, this was bordering stale.

The Bread Spread -- brownie bites, scone, muffin, and coffee cake, at $8, definitely a great value. The scone was more cakey than quick bread; the brownies were also cakey and not very chocolatey; and the other items also failed to impress in texture as well.

So overall Holy Roller is a fun, energetic vibe and the place was packed for Sunday brunch and we got there right when they opened. But the food -- isn't that the most important part of a restaurant? -- failed to impress. With the exception of the biscuits, the bread program seems off, as textures just aren't right. Nothing was horrible, which is why I would guess the majority of people really like it. But to a more critical palate, there are issues. I would give them a shot for dinner, as that pot pie may be calling me.

Who out there has eaten at Holy Roller and what did you think? Is it worth the hype?

First Look: ATX Cocina

I went to ATX Cocina for happy hour/dinner on Friday night, and came out of it very pleasantly surprised. I wasn't so in love with some of the food at sister restaurant Red Ash on my visit in January, but ATX Cocina more than made up for it with outstanding food and service all the way through. Chef Kevin Taylor and modern Mexican food have found a happy home in downtown Austin.

I made a last minute 5:15 pm reservation and my girlfriends and I figured we would try to have happy hour in the bar area if there was room, but otherwise we had the res to fall back on. The hostess didn't miss a beat when we arrived, immediately asking if we'd like to sit in the bar area for happy hour, which we happily did. Throughout the experience, our waiter Norris was polished, informed, available and unobtrusive. Runners seamlessly brought dishes, cleared plates, and filled water glasses.

Many will be happy to know that the restaurant is completely gluten-free. No flour tortillas here! They get an heirloom corn from Mexico, treat it and grind it themselves to create their masa and tortillas. Here is the rundown of our extended happy hour.

Kate del Castillo, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz

Papusas, with refried beans and cheese; the filling seemed a touch grainy, but the outer shell was nice.

Queso fundido, which definitely is on the greasy side, but the cheese gets really nice and browned while sitting tableside in its own very hot vessel. The the house made corn tortillas are wonderful; soft and pliable and not overly corn-y.

Hamachi in coconut leche de tigre (citrus + herb coconut milk) with papaya and crispy leeks. Delicate yet memorable. We should have ordered another of these!

Cochinita pibil tamal with pickled onions, radish and salsa verde. More meat than masa, which was nice, and excellent flavor in the pork.

These pork carnitas tacos may have been my favorite dish along with the hamachi. Very tender and well-rendered pork had great texture and taste, and the entire combination with the salsas was messy but delicious. Served four per order.

Esquites, or street corn, with smoked aioli (crema Mexicana), queso fresco, lime and cilantro. Nice big kernels with a good pop to them.

Bunuelos with a butter rum sauce and a extra scoop of flan ice cream. The bunuelos were good, though a bit grainy because they are using corn meal. To me the sauce had almost an herbaceous quality to it that I couldn't quite place. I had to ask our server again what it was and he said it was buttered rum with traditional cinnamon and clove, which I didn't taste. Ice cream more than made up for it though.

Choco flan with Mexican hot chocolate sauce and flan ice cream. Okay, the best thing about these two desserts was the ice cream. I don't know if they are using crema Mexicana or what, but it was WAY more than just a vanilla ice cream. So good, as was this sauce. I don't think flan isn't the right name for this very dense concoction. "Flan" implies a custard that can be cut with a spoon, and while this tasted good, nothing about it was flan-like.

Very beautiful modern interior, and while this photo doesn't reflect it, the entire restaurant was bathed in natural light when we arrived, making everything that much more attractive. The interior with its curved ceiling was designed by local architect of note, Michael Hsu.

Favorite new place I have been to in a while, and I can't wait to go back!

The Driskill Grill

Last month, I attended a media dinner at the newly revamped Driskill Hotel. I hadn't been inside in a couple years, and from the updated lobby to the exquisite food, they've earned their high marks. Walking through the lobby and the bar leading to the restaurant just transports you back in time.

Our evening at the Driskill Grill started with a cocktail reception in Chef Troy Knapp's private office, nestled under the eaves in the back of the kitchen. The current space is the byproduct of hotel expansion over the years, as what was a brick exterior wall is now interior. In his two years at the helm of the Driskill kitchen, Chef Knapp has been researching past menus and updating the current seasonal one with classic dishes, now locally sourced as much as possible.

We were seated in one of the private areas in the main dining room, sectioned off by heavy curtains.  Elegant white china plates with silver accents graced the tables, along with hearty pieces of a creamy blue cheese called Cambozola Black, which was drizzled with saba (made from grape must, similar to balsamic) and an onion jam. An excellent start!

The next appetizer was soft shell crawfish, which I had never heard of! I love soft shell crab, and these crispy fritters were equally delicious, and served with a black eyed pea and corn side.

Wild boar chops were next, followed by a delicate acorn squash bisque that has pumpkin seeds and a tiny drizzle of sage oil that really brought it all together. The bisque might have been my favorite on the evening. We also had a pear and pecan salad with pomegranate seeds.

For entrees, we had a choice between cornmeal crusted snapper with collards and winter squash...

....or dry aged filet mignon, with bacon and balsamic Brussels sprouts, blue corn grits and bordelaise (red wine) sauce. I got the steak, and loved it. The dry-aged filet was a perfect medium rare, and the creaminess from the grits and the lush sauce were the perfect accompaniments.

The steak was paired with Bending Brand Winery Tannat. I was not previously familiar with the vineyard or varietal before this dinner. I LOVED this nice big red, which is out of Comfort, Texas (due south of Fredericksburg on Interstate 10). Must make a field trip!

For dessert, you had your choice between a chocolate terrine with butterscotch tapioca or an apple pie semi-freddo. The wine also went fabulously with this lusciously smooth mousse made from Valrhona chocolates. The desserts and the breads are the work of Pastry Chef Tony Sansalone, and from what we tasted tonight, his work is divine.

I would call this a highly successful fall menu. Diners can order a la carte, or Chef also prepares five and seven-course meals which at $79 and $89 per person, sounds like a steal. The Driskill Grill is also hosting dinner on Christmas Day from 3 - 7:30 pm, $125/person and on New Year's Eve, 5:30 - 10 pm, $125/person; reservations required. So go treat yourself to a meal in one of the most iconic spots in Austin!