I had to run errands down in Southpark Meadows last week; I still bemoan the existence of this behemoth strip mall (Road Rash, as my mother would say). For those of you who weren't here in the late 1990s, Southpark Meadows was a somewhat remote, lovely, open piece of land where outdoor concerts were held. I saw Dave Matthews and Lilith Fair, and now I see Wal-mart, Super Target, and a ton of restaurants. *Sigh*
Glad I looked at the map of SM before I left home so I could plan my errands. I find the signage and navigation down there difficult, especially when you're not real familiar with the area. Fortunately, Pho Thaison is on a corner with a big sign, so it's an easier landmark to find. A friend has told me about the location near Mopac and William Cannon; they actually have six locations in the Austin area!
At about 1 pm, there were a couple tables of patrons, but within 10 minutes, I was the only person in the restaurant. (I swear I didn't smell bad!) I ordered the B2 bun bowl to eat there, and a pork banh mi sandwich and C6, Singapore beef, to go.
The B2 is grilled pork with a crispy egg roll over the vermicelli rice noodles; a kicked-up fish sauce is served along side. For $8, there was a LOT of pork, and it was really good. Sliced thinly, probably marinated, and then grilled, it's tasty. A little on the tough side, but the sweetness from the sauce, and the grilled flavors really come through. Egg roll was fairly bland, but not greasy, and the carrots lightly pickled.
When I got home, I unwrapped my other dishes. The banh mi was very large; ok, I know you can't tell from this picture, but it was probably a good 8 - 9 inches long! It's filled with the same pork and pickled carrots, along with some cucumber, jalapeno, and cilantro. It could have used a touch more mayo or sauce on it, but again, their pork is delicious. The bread was perfect for this kind of sandwich, because it was a bit crusty and flaky on the outer part, but not so it tears the roof of your mouth up. The banh mi do no appear on their regular menu; there was a sign holder at the table with a few banh mi offerings, and I think this was under $5 -- SO worth it!
Now for as good as these two pork dishes were, the Singapore beef fell short. Way short. I picked it because my friend has told me she really likes their Singapore dishes, but I couldn't remember which protein she usually gets it with. (Probably the pork!) I was a little hesitant to order it because it's on the "burning spicy" section of the menu. See all those red chile flakes in the picture? Got you nervous, huh? There was literally no flavor to this dish. And I ate it the following day, so you'd think the heat would have intensified a bit. Nope. It's basically beef with broccoli in a thin, (tasteless) brown sauce. I didn't eat much of it. And the beef was tough.
Pho Thaison was very clean (including the restroom), and the food came fast. Of the four people I saw who worked there, they were all Latino/Hispanic, not a Vietnamese or other Asian in sight. I asked how long that location had been open, and apparently it's been there four years. If you're in the Southpark Meadows area, it's definitely worth checking out, just stick to the pork dishes.
Events
-- There's a pop-up dinner party, hosted by RL Reeves of Scrumptious Chef on Saturday, February 9th at Tamale House East at 1707 E. 6th. Heritage pork dishes and St. Arnold Icon Belgian Ale. Someone better go and tell me about it, because I am supposed to be at another event that night, and this would be right up my alley!
-- For Mardi Gras, Bangers is having a swamp roast on Sunday, February 10th, 12 - 6 pm, along with some New Orlean's style jazz bands.
-- Special Valentine's dinners -- make a reservation! Peche, Cherry Street, Paggi House, The Carillon (they're doing specials for 3 nights!) and speed dating at Bangers.
-- The 4th Annual Bacon Takedown will be on March 9th! Check their website for info if you'd like to enter this culinary ode to bacon.
Opening/Updates
-- The Salt and Time Butcher Shop and Salumeria officially opened this past weekend at 1912. E. 7th; they've long been a staple at the weekend farmer's markets so it's great to see the transition to brick and mortar.
-- Also east, the Rosewood Community Market, has opened. From their Facebook page, they are "a grocery and food hub located in east Austin dedicated to providing
fresh food access to the community through the sale of local farmers'
goods and products."
-- The John Mueller Meat Company is getting ready to open (Feb. 20th) at 2500 E. 6th Street.
-- The Austin's Pizza location on the Drag is now a 24-hour spot.
-- Winflo Osteria has opened at 1315 W. 6th Street in a bungalow house; the picture of their dining room on the website is gorgeous!
-- Sagra has reopened at 1050 E. 11th Street.
-- Fado Irish Pub has a new menu, including some lighter fare items.
-- Freedman's, a bar and smokehouse, has opened at 2402 San Gabriel.
-- As restaurateur Larry McGuire can't sit still, his latest offering is Josephine House at 1204 West Lynn. Currently just open for lunch and "afternoon snacks and drinks" til 5 pm.
-- The old Vinny's on Barton Springs will be home (late Feb/March) to Peso and Bucks, a 24 hour establishment.
-- Pieous, an artisan pizza outlet is coming 12005 Hwy. 290, just past Rim Rock Trail (and before Bel Terra) on the way to Dripping Springs.
Closing
-- Cannoli Joe's on Hwy. 290 in Sunset Valley has ended their reign of Italian buffets.
I was invited to a media tasting at the new Australian-influenced modern Thai spot Sway, at South First and Elizabeth Streets. I have lived in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood for a number of years, and as long as I can remember, the spot Sway took over has been an abandoned, gray, cinder block building. It is exciting to see new life in the neighborhood, and when you see Sway from the inside, it's hard to imagine why and how it sat dormant for so long.
The building was redesigned by award-winning local architect Michael Hsu, who is responsible for quite a number of eateries in town, including Sway's sister restaurant downtown, La Condesa. The interior of Sway is spacious and open, with a somewhat hidden outdoor patio as well. You also get great views of the kitchen staff at work, and counter seating is available to watch your food being made. By and large, it is communal tables that can seat up to twelve. They don't take reservations, unless you're a group of ten or more.
We started off with some drinks, and Sway has quite a range, from sake to kombucha to tea. I was not familiar with "drinking vinegars" and our server explained while they are not uniquely Thai, they are found throughout southeast Asia. Sway serves the brand Pok Pok Som, and I had the tamarind, which is mixed with Topo Chico (sparkling mineral water). Nice and refreshing, and I would have loved a little more tartness in mine!
The tasting began with the Prawn Miange -- betel leaf, shrimp, toasted coconut and cashews, lime, fresno chili, grapefruit, and dried shrimp. I occasionally see betel leaves in Asian groceries in town, and these are being brought in from Thailand. You just pick the whole leaf up, and pop the whole thing in your mouth for a great medley of flavors and textures.
Raw oysters were next, served with a wonderful sauce they call nahm jim and crispy shallots. Not sure specifically where the oysters were from (we were told east coast), but they went down easy with a light brininess. I loved the sauce, and asked what was in it; they were nice enough to print me the ingredients, and they make two versions, a red and green. I will assume this was the red nahm jim, which consists of Thai red and fresno chiles, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, palm sugar and fish sauce. SO GOOD!
Som tam, or green papaya salad with Thai red chile, cucumbers, green beans, and tamarind. I liked the flavor and texture of this salad -- spicy, a bit twangy, but still light and refreshing.
The next was Pad Thai Jay, which is much sweeter than a normal pad thai. The jay is also vegetarian, while the regular has shrimp. Not sure exactly what contributes the sweetness to this dish, but the more bites I took, the more I realized just how sweet is was. Staff at the tasting said it is something they have been made aware of by their customer base, but as of yet don't have plans to change it. Of all the dishes we sampled, this is really the only one I wouldn't order again.
Now the Kai Yaang, or charcoal rotisserie chicken, was fabulous! It was marinated in the delicious nahm jim sauce before cooking. The result was a tender, moist, and very flavorful chicken. The darkened skin was rendered nicely, and extremely hard to resist.
The Salt and Pepper Tofu used silken tofu, and had a nice sweet chile sauce. Thought the blocks of tofu could have been a touch crispier.
Finally, the Jungle Curry -- Texas Wagyu beef, red chile, eggplant, kaffir lime leaves, baby corn, green peppercorns, and coconut cream on top. The beef was fork-tender, and while the curry had some heat, you could temper it with the coconut cream. Not pictured are the jasmine and sticky rices that accompanied these dishes, and were great for soaking up some of the curry sauce. This and the chicken were my two favorites of the meal, and I can't wait to try them again!
For dessert, we had Jasmine Tea Panna Cotta. It had an extremely subtle jasmine flavor, accompanied by red grapes and lychees, holy basil caviar dots, crunchy amaranth, and coconut-lychee sorbet. Look at the bowl, it's a beautiful presentation! The sorbet and crunchy amaranth bits (something new to me!) really shined.
If you look at all the pictures, you'll notice that each one is topped with at least one thing for flavor and particularly texture, whether it's dried shrimp or shallots, toasted coconut or crunchy amaranth. All the plates are presented well with these little touches, and the flavors are bold and exciting. This is not your standard Thai fare, and that's a good thing, just as Sway is a great new thing in the neighborhood.
A blustery, cold January night -- one of the few we've had in Austin this winter -- was the night that one of my best foodie friends and I ventured downtown. We were rather windblown when we arrived a bit past 5:30 pm at Chef David Bull's 2nd Bar + Kitchen in the Austonian building at 2nd and Congress. Since we were there for an early dinner, we had no problem getting a table, and were seated in a corner booth spot, facing the bar.
Studying the drink menu, I was reminded of a cocktail I had there once before for a social media tasting, a couple months after they opened. Gin and Jam -- Citadelle gin on the rocks with a spoonful of housemade raspberry jam. What's on the current menu is different -- Monopolowa Gin with a cranberry jam. I had never been a gin fan before that first gin and jam cocktail, and our server assured me that this version was equally good if not better with the Austrian Monopolowa. He turned out to be quite correct, as it was very smooth with a touch of sweet and tart from the jam.
We started with Bacon + Eggs, which is some very nicely crisped pork belly, a poached egg, frisee, a touch of orange (juice? zest? not sure what form it took), and a maple gastrique. It was really quite delicious. The pork belly had great texture, and I am starting to like eggs with runny yolks! The maple added just the small bit of sweetness needed for a contrast, and the orange addition did make it reminiscent of eating bacon, eggs and orange juice for breakfast. This is considered one of their Small Plates, and at $12, certainly worth it.
We were both excited about the charcuterie plate from the Snack portion of the menu, and got a chuckle out of the description "appropriate condiments." I realize in retrospect, we should have asked what was on the day's plate, as I expected there to be some cured meats, like a sausage or cured ham, but it was all pates and rillettes, so everything was fairly similar texturally. The offerings were all good, but again, a bit more variety would have been nice. From the back left: rabbit rillette with a Dijon-style mustard and chicken pate, and in the front, pork and beef pate, and pork rillette in the cup. The appropriate condiments were a grainy mustard and cornichons and pickled vegetables. I think the two rillettes were my favorites.
We split one large plate, the pappardelle with truffled ricotta, shaved fennel, roasted mushrooms, and added the veal meatballs. The meatballs were a disappointment in both size and taste. There were five very small meatballs, about and inch in diameter, and they were a bit dried out. Looking carefully now at the picture, I think they sat under the salamander broiler for too long. You can see how some of the cheese as well as some of the pasta got a toasted, and the small size of the meatballs suffered from the extra heat. The rest of the dish was good, a mild truffle flavor, and very wide ribbons of pasta; the fennel added an extra layer of flavor which complimented everything well. It was a good dish but not outstanding.
For dessert, we had the Lemon Curd Brulee with "jalapeno caramel and cornbread ice cream." I wonder if the menu description was totally accurate, because what was presented was a cornmeal tartlet with lemon curd, bruleed on top, with salted caramel, and a red jalapeno jam. I wouldn't say the ice cream was cornbready at all. The whole thing was tasty, but not as the menu would lead you to believe.
They also have "bites" on the dessert menu, and I was debating between chocolate brownie and pudding pops. I let the waiter talk me into the pudding pops, though I think I should have gone with my gut, and picked the brownie. The graham cracker crunch was lacking in the crunch part, so there wasn't enough textural contrast.
Apart from the hostess, the other staff we saw all looked a bit scruffy. Jeans and long sleeve t-shirts seem to be the norm there for waiter dress code, but some of them looked like they rolled out of bed from an upstairs apartment in the Austonian. I think we were both surprised by the casualness. 2nd B + K shares its kitchen with Congress, the upscale establishment with prix-fixe three or seven course menus. I have heard that Congress is sheer perfection, so I wonder if the kitchen gives that side of the house their extra attention. Nothing came up totally short in our meal, but I would say there's room for some improvements.
Openings + Offerings
-- There is a new food delivery service, Beetnik, that's based in Austin, but apparently ships nationally too, calling themselves "farm to web." They're advocating wholesome, healthy meals! Check out their website for their offerings.
-- Buzz Mill Coffee House (plus beer) is a new 24-hour spot, on East Riverside, by Emo's. Adjacent to them is The Blue Ox trailer, serving BBQ and pancakes.
-- Up in Georgetown, the El Monumento Restaurant is now open for weekend brunches from 11am - 2pm, as well as daily lunches and dinners. From their press release they are a home-style Mexican restaurant...."inspired by the simple, farm-to-table food served by Mexican families
on the grand haciendas of South Texas and Central Mexico."
-- Banger's has what I have heard to be the best lunch special in town -- $8 for one of their traditional or veggie sausages, plus a side, and a Texas beer.
-- The Backspace is now open for lunch from 11a - 2p, Monday through Saturday. I had a great meal there during Austin Restaurant Week!
-- PhoNatic, a locally owned Vietnamese spot on Anderson Road is planning rapid expansion this coming year. They're starting with a spot in Soutpark Meadows at IH-35 and Slaughter, and hope to have a total of six locations open by 2014.
Events
-- January 29, Jack Allen's Kitchen is hosting the 3rd Annual Lone Star Paralysis Tequila Bash; tickets are $150/person, and can be purchased here. Five chefs, five different tequila labels, and one cigar roller will round out this benefit event.
-- Fonda San Miguel will host a tequila pairing dinner on February 5th.
-- Restaurant Jezebel (where jackets are required) will be having a special Valentine's Day menu, five courses for $200/person, very limited seating, reserve now.
-- No Valentine's date? Head to TenOak for a singles mingles party on February 14th!
