Tarbouch

Is Austin ready for Lebanese food? Yes. Is this Lebanese eatery ready for Austin? Maybe.

Located in what I think is the site of the old Texicali Grill on Oltorf (it's right next to Curra's), Tarbouch has been open since May, according to something I just read (and how I found out about them in the first place). Entering just after 12 noon, there was only one other table with customers, and the hostess/waitress said to sit where ever we liked. She gave us menus and took our drink order.

I ordered the gyro wrap, which came with a Greek salad on the side. My friend ordered the vegetarian sampler plate, and picked hummus, baba ganoush, dolmas, Greek Salad, and falafel. The meat on the gyro, a combo of pressed lamb & beef, had a nice texture -- almost a lightness to it, and fairly good flavor. The sauce, onions & tomato inside the soft pita were very underseasoned; salt certainly helped, and upped the flavor on the meat as well. The hummus was overly pureed, and really tasted of tahini; the falafel was well-fried and while not oily, fairly dry. The real kicker though, was the dressing on the Greek salads appears to be a Wishbone salad dressing. Certainly NOT a homemade dressing, as it's got that distinctive bottled flavor and xanthan gum (or other stabilizer) texture. How hard is it to make a vinaigrette?

The menu only listed baklava for dessert, but a closer inspection of their cold case also had another small square spongy looking one, so we ordered both. When she brought them, I asked the name, and it's something with an "n" but I should have written it down. She said it was made from cream of wheat, coconut, and I'd also guess pistachios (because they were on top) and honey or simple syrup. It was heated, which we weren't expecting, and it was quite hot at first. Pretty good, though better at room temp than hot. The baklava (and yes, there's a million ways to make it) was layers of phyllo at the top and bottom, and a walnut/sugar/cinnamon mixture inbetween. The more I ate it, the more cloyingly sweet it was. Almost couldn't finish my half....almost.

When eating at a sit-down restaurant (someplace with actual menus, not fast food), one expects plates and silverware. Nothing fancy, but "real" ones. Cleanup at Tarbouch is obviously fast because our cups, silverware, and plates were all disposable (yeah, great for the environment too). Nice heavy duty Chinet there, as you can see in the photo.

All in all, Tarbouch wasn't bad, there just wasn't anything overly exceptional about it.

Black Sheep Lodge

The newly opened Black Sheep Lodge has squeezed in on S. Lamar, just a hair south of Oltorf. A quick note to say I've been there twice now, and I am thrilled to have a cool neighborhood bar in my area! No pictures to show for it, but I have eaten: the amazing fried pickles (thin pickle chips, in a light cornmeal batter, fried to perfection), the very crispy tator tots, and the mini-corn dogs, made with Nathan's hot dogs, and hence, a nice, crisp, snap to your corn dog.

A report from friends say their sandwiches and sweet potato fries are mighty fine too. The one and a half margaritas I consumed on my first visit were rather strong (and since it was officially before they were granted their liquor license, they were free too!), and my return visit found a very nice pear cider on tap.

Haven't yet sat outside on their patio, but it is 1) awfully hot out these days, and 2) extremely close to the edge of Lamar Blvd! Someday... but I will certainly be back!

Max's Wine Dive

Met a friend at the new Max's Wine Dive last night for happy hour. They are a Houston-based spot, that's recently opened at 2nd and San Jacinto, at the SE corner. The windows face north, getting nice light inside. They've got a long bar, some high tables, and regular tables with bench seating. The tables have foam glued under them to help with the noise levels. Music ranged from 80s, 90s, and some more current selections.

On the plus, they have a fairly huge wine menu. Happy hour runs from 4 - 7pm, and some wines are available by the glass at half price. Appetizers also half off, as are the large plates that are on the menu. I had a glass of cava (Spanish bubbly), and now can't remember the name of it. The wine menu they have online is a "sample" of their selections, and I don't see it listed. I remember it was described as "notes of honeysuckle" which I am not sure I ever got. It was creamy, dry... almost too dry for me (who generally likes sweeter whites), but I managed to suck down two glasses.

From their app list, I ordered their "famous" Pan Borracho (drunk bread), which I guess if I read the description really carefully, I might have figured out on my own that it was a savory bread pudding-style dish. I was expecting more of a toast/bruschetta thing, so I was a bit surprised when it arrived. The real problem was prosciutto was listed as the second ingredient. I couldn't find a bit of it in the dish. I mentioned this to my friendly and efficient waitress, and she went to go ask the kitchen. She came back and said "it's just bits chopped up in there". She offered to have it replaced, and I declined. I told her I could readily taste the thyme, white wine, and Gruyere, but not the prosciutto. She came back a bit later, and said they were going to take it off our bill, and would we like something else. Sure! So we got the bison sliders, which were yummy! A little too much butter on the outside of the bun (brioche rolls?), but tasty meat that went really well with the caramelized onions. Those were a winner!

So I will certainly give them points for taking the dish off the bill, but if you're listing prosciutto as the second item, have some damn prosciutto in the dish! There were lots of employees, and as I got there before 5 pm, most of them were just kinda hanging until later in the evening. The front of the house staff wears t-shirts with different slogans on them, like "Champagne and fried chicken.... sure, why not?!" Catchy. But when I asked our waitress if she said she had ever had the combo she said no, and implied the opportunity hadn't presented itself. But she had had the fried chicken (which she proclaimed delicious, and it better be at $15 for 3 pieces) and champagne separately... but then why are you advertising something you haven't tried?

I would go back. There were a couple other menu items I'd be curious to try.It's certainly not a "dive" in the traditional sense of bars (G & S, Trophys, etc), definitely more posh. The place was comfortable, and didn't seem pretentious, something which hopefully will last as they gain a following.

Walton's Fancy & Staple

Stopped by Walton's, the new business from Sandra Bullock on W. 6th, next to the Hoffbrau. It's a really nice physical space, big doors, high ceilings, lots of light. The front half is a deli/pastry case/coffee bar, and the back section a flower shop. Sort of an odd split to me. According to the interviews with staff a couple weeks ago when it opened, they say "a bride can get everything she needs for her wedding except the dress." Hmmmm. Interesting concept, but are you spreading yourself too thin?

At 4:30 on a Monday afternoon, there seemed to be several employees, but no customers. The gal at the counter was friendly; I asked if business had been good so far, and she said particularly at lunch. I bought a blueberry muffin to go, which I heated up and ate for breakfast this morning. It's not your traditional "muffin top" muffin.... these are a flat top with a streusel topping. While the flavor was good, they were very dense, and underbaked, giving it a bit of a gummy consistency in some spots. But for $1.25, not bad. I was intrigued by the almond croissant, but had a hard time justifying $3.00 for one, so the muffin won out. But now I wonder if the croissant would have been the better choice.


Why haven't they updated their website??? It looks fairly pathetic.

Good eats in Phoenix & Denver

Spent a couple days in Phoenix, where fortunately, the weather cooled down to the mid 90s after 2 days at 105 & 106 degrees. Ate at a place in Scotsdale called Blanco, part of the Fox Restaurant Group, which is prevalent in AZ & CO. It's a modern Tex-Mex place; nice atmosphere, friendly staff. Was it the best Tex-Mex I've ever had? No, but it was decent. I had the Chicken Mole dish, and what I expected was a plate with chicken and mole sauce over it. What arrived was a very arty looking bowl with all kinds of stuff mounded on top -- shredded lettuce, pumpkin seeds, pico de gallo, corn, and underneath, was some chicken, a bit of rice, and a fairly thin mole sauce. It had decent flavor -- lightly sweet & savory at the same time, but not a lot of depth or substance to it. They fry their own tortilla chips, from what I am guessing are the day-old corn tortillas. They were really good -- thick, not greasy, and just enough salt on them, and the fire-roasted salsa accompanying them was quite tasty too. My friend got the beef enchiladas, and thought that my chicken was better seasoned than her beef (I didn't try hers though).


Arrived in Denver to lovely upper 50s and cloudy. Had dinner the first night at a little French place called Le Central. I guess you can call it a bistro; it's an old house near downtown, and they pride themselves on being affordable and non-snooty French food. All three of us started with a cup of the French Onion Soup....nice melty Gruyere on top, but not a ton going on with the broth. Le Central is well-known for their mussel bowls; their menu has over 10 different "sauce" options, from straight up white wine & garlic to infused with olives or bacon. Always being a sucker for bacon, I had the "Moules a la Moutarde" or mussels with shallots, white wine, garlic, dijon, bacon & cream. This isn't just a bowl of mussels. It's a BOWL -- about 35 - 40 mussels, with this lovely pool of sauciness at the bottom, just begging for some French bread to sop it up with. And, each mussel bowl comes with thinly cut pomme frites. Really lovely. And only $9.95.

I've never been the biggest mussel lover, but I've gotten more into them in recent times. These were really nice. The sauce was extremely tasty, though if I were to go again, I may just opt for a simpler sauce like shallots, garlic & wine. The bacon sort of got lost in translation.... a little too non-crisp after swimming in the cream & wine. Thursday night is also souffle night, and we got a chocolate souffle for dessert, as well as strawberry crepes. We agreed the strawberry goo with the crepes was too sweet, and quite possibly not made from scratch. I really liked the souffle. It was quite tall and puffy (as it should be!) when it arrived at the table. It had a nice airy consistency, and a light chocolate flavor. They're obviously not using a really high quality cocoa powder like the French Valhrona, but it was tasty.


Friday dinner was at a place in the LoDo district called Vesta. I had heard about this place after seeing some website that local chefs were naming their favorite spots. A couple of them mentioned Vesta, and a couple noted their housemade charcuterie plate. It didn't disappoint! I think the selection varies by night, and on our night, the plate had duck foie gras on toast points, bresaola, and pork sausage with sage.

Now, what Vesta is known for is their "schtick" is a huge menu of sauces. You order your salmon or beef or whatnot, and it comes with a couple of sides, and on the menu, it gives 3 suggestions for what sauces they think would go well with it, but you're welcome to choose your own. So I had a fig-glazed Colorado lamb loin, with goat cheese pasta and a cucumber raita. I picked two of the three suggested sauces, pistachio mint & dried berry chutney, and substituted the bacon aioli for the rose yogurt, knowing full well that I do not care for floral flavors in my foods. The lamb was grilled to a perfect medium rare, and had a touch of sweetness from the fig glaze. The pistaschio mint was my favorite of the sauces; the pieces of nut were chopped, so still big enough to figure out what they were, and the mint flavor not too overpowering. The chutney was also a nice choice, but the bacon aioli was a bit of a miss. Not really much, if any, bacon to speak of. (Helllo?? No bacon???) My friends both had the beef tenderloin, which I tasted with the black pepper aioli, which was a good choice. Really good meal!

For those who are Top Chef fans, you know that this year's winner was Hosea Rosenberg of Jax in Boulder. For a place that's no where near an ocean, it does a nice job. Thank god we had reservations, because even at 6 pm on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the place was hopping. It's a long narrow restaurant, with poor acoustics, so it was fairly loud, and they pack the tables close together. We made it in just before the end of happy hour, and along with a local beer, we rewarded ourselves with pork belly sliders and cheese fries. We then got an appetizer of calamari. This was nice lime aioli and a spicy mango chile sauce on the side. Both very nice accompaniments.

For my main, I had the cedar plank grilled steelhead trout, which was glazed with apricot preserves, and served with a goat cheese chile relleno and chorizo. The trout was cooked perfectly, still moist inside, with some dried apricots on top, for a nice flavor contrast. The relleno was underseasoned (probably the only "miss" of the whole meal), but fried nicely, and not greasy. The chorizo was nice, but at this point, I couldn't tell you much about it! Dessert for me was key lime pie, that's almost as good as mine, the exception being my crust is better! Theirs had a really nice tartness, and I am sure they are using real key limes, because there was no preservative taste that you ocassionnally get when using bottled juice. Friends had the banana beignets and the molten chocolate lava thing, both tasty. Service was outstanding. And as for Hosea, we of course had to ask. He apparently does still work there, 3 to 4 days a week, but was in New Orleans for a food event.

Again the place was crowded and loud, with lots of people both at the bar, which is right at the door, and waiting inside and out for a table. Tables are placed VERY close together, and we could hear all of our neighbors conversation, both with each other, and their extensive conversation with the sommalier/manager; fortunately, we were in a corner, so we didn't have to contend too much with the noise. Or as much. For those who like raw oysters, they had several varieties available; our neighbors had some, and the plate looked really nice. There is a Jax in Denver, and I wonder if the atmosphere is the same. Our waiter, who has worked at both locations, says the menu is different, but they are working to streamline the two operations. So even though they are a seafood joint nowhere near the sea, they do have very good quality product.