Bits and Druthers

Friday night, we took a walk on the East Side, starting with East Side Show Room for happy hour, followed by dinner at the East Side Drive-In trailer park. Contentment was found by all! 

A dear friend was visiting from out of town, and we picked ESSR as the spot to meet up with two other friends. When we arrived at 6 pm, there weren't many people inside, but by 6:15pm, the place was hopping! The bar got a little backed up making our cocktails, but they do make all of their concoctions from scratch, from the simple syrups to the infusions. I had a Moscow Mule, which may be a new favorite! We also got the artfully presented cheese plate, with three lovely local cheeses and homemade jams and mustards to pair with each other; wish I had caught the name of the cheeses, but I think Dirty Goat was one of them. We also got the fried beets, which were served with a pesto and a chiffonade of something fried on top -- little thin crispy green strips. Quite tasty. 

I've been to ESSR one other time to meet up with friends; only had a drink then. I really would love to have a full-on meal there sometime; they are really committed to local and seasonal, and the menu sounds interesting. Someday.

We then walked across the street to the food trailer park, where there should be something for everyone: the No. 19 Bus, Local Yolk, Ugly Banjos, Vegan Yacht (closed that night), Pig Vicious, Pueblo Viejo, Love Balls, and a tapas place I didn't catch the name of. I think that's all the trailers there! But it's a perfect place for people with different tastes -- we took up shop at one of the tables, and then everyone could go pick food for themselves, like a food court at the mall, just a million times better. 

I was itching to try the fish and chips from Bits and Druthers (British pub grub), having recently heard their praises. I got the large order ( $7, vs. $5 for the small), and figured my friends would want to try. It's presented to you in a piece of white butcher paper, wrapped up in a cone. Back at our table, a bounty of food had been found, from a grilled veggie sandwich from the No. 19 (cheesesteaks, American food) to the Jimmy Crack Chicken at Ugly Banjos (homestyle cookin') and the takoyaki (octopus) balls and yaki-onigri (rice balls) from the Love Balls Bus  (Japanese street food).

You can sort of tell from the picture, that was a HUGE piece of fish (turbot, in fact)!  And it was delicious! It was a touch greasy, but I think only because they didn't give it time to rest on paper towels after frying. Great batter on it, made with locally made Real Ale, and a very tender fish. The fries are a nice size, and both go well with the homemade tartar sauce. And I used my Go Local card for a free drink. Win win! I had bites of everyone else's food, and except for the tako balls, everything was really good. The tako balls were a bit of an odd texture -- yes, it IS octopus -- but unfortunately, didn't sit too well with the primary eater. The garlickly rice balls were quite good though. 

It was also just the perfect night for sitting outside; the weather cooled off a bit, and there was a bit of a breeze. And, it's nice to see that East Side Drive-in is getting people, and in fact the place was rather busy. Lots of kids, families. And, for future reference, you can BYOB. Plus, they've got on-site recycling going on for the plastic and glass bottles. Hopefully, the SoFi food court can start attracting some of this kind of business.

Sidebar: My friend who was visiting used to live here, but hadn't been to ATX in 5 years. She was stunned by all the changes, like the growth of downtown and the food trailer culture. We had 2+ days of great eating! 

Friday (the food listed is what we both had, not just me!):

La Patisserie -- almond croissant, morning bun and toasted almond macarons

Ruby's BBQ -- pulled pork sandwich, Elgin sausage plate

Opal Divine's -- 512 Black IPA and Divine Peach Lemonade

East Side Drive-in -- detailed above

Saturday:

Curra's -- breakfast tacos, Oaxacan coffee, oj

Frank -- Jackalope, porked plain dog, corn up, poutine and waffle fries

The Gingerman -- 512 Wit and Pyramid Apricot
Asti -- calamari,  margarita-esqe pizza, carbonara, risotto, pasta special (ditalini with pancetta, white beans in light tomato sauce), cauliflower and spinach sides, tirimisu, affugato, cheese plate. And yes, this is a lot of food for three people; I am friends with Chef Jason Donoho's mother and aunt, he saw me come in, and sent the pizza and two of the desserts over! Overly generous and delicious!

Sunday:
Magnolia Cafe -- french toast, omlettes

I am well-fed.

Arancini

A new trailer discovery!

Ate on a recent Saturday night at the relatively new Arancini, which is located at South First and Live Oak in the SoFi trailer park (neighbors to Fried Green Tomato whom I like, and two others which I haven't yet tried). They have a catchy orange trailer that looks to be outfitted with all new equipment. We had their namesake arancini risotto balls, the mixed green salad with poached egg, bacon, blue cheese & hazelnuts, and a grilled flatbread with sausage, peppers & onions.

The food was really really good, particularly the arancini balls, which had bits of bacon in them, which was a nice touch, and as much as you know that I love the pig, these were just well-fried and tasty and mozzarella oozy. The salad was very fresh, with a nicely poached egg oozing on top. The flat bread was good, nice that it was grilled, but it could have just used a bit more flavor and oomph, like from some red pepper flakes. 

I will most definitely go back, especially since I don't live too far from them! They had some different stuff on the menu the night we were there than what's posted on their website. Hopefully, SoFi can attract more people to their little food court, because of the two I've tried there, they are both rockin' it! 

 

Newsy stuff

Congrats:

1) A huge congrats to Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine and Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, for being named one of Food and Wine magazine's top 10 new chefs. A great accomplishment, especially since Barley Swine has only been open since the end of December, and it puts him in the company of other local greats David Bull (at the Driskill Hotel when he won, currently at Congress in the Austonian building) and Tyson Cole (Uchi and Uchiko). Austin American-Statesman restaurant reviewer and nominator of Gilmore, Mike Sutter, posted this in today's Food section.

2) And for a super-duper job well done, congrats to Austin Bakes, and especially the chief organizer Kathryn Hutchinson, aka Austin Gastronomist for raising over $11,500 in a city-wide bake sale that supports relief efforts in Japan through AmeriCares. I made Grenada Nutmeg Cake and biscuits for the south location (the Hotel San Jose/Jo's Coffee parking lot, in the middle of all the hot rod cars here for the Lone Star Round Up!), and will need to improve upon my packaging techniques for future endeavors! The labels and packages I saw were absolutely adorable!

Opening:

3) Torchy's Tacos opens TODAY, at 3005 S. Lamar, in the old Chango's spot. Can never have too many Torchy's!

4)  A little further south on Lamar, the Along Came a Slider trailer moved in where Chris' Little Chicago had been, next to Red's Porch. Don't know anything about them, but the menu looks good, and the name is catchy.

5) From the owners of Imperia and Speakeasy, tenOak recently opened in the old Cuba Libre spot on Colorado Street, next to Frank. Said to be a masculine space, paying homage to bourbon and bloody marys, with a price-conscious listing of small plates.

Keep in your thoughts: 

6) Sagra, the Italian place I recently wrote about for the use of their digital tablets, has sustained a fire causing $100,000 worth of damage. Initial reports blamed the blaze on a faulty pizza oven installation, and the owners hoped they'd only be out of business for about a week while repairs were made.

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!