January's Best Bites: From the Tried + True to Brand New

If you've been following my Instagram account (hint, hint!) you may have seen some of the places I have eaten this month. Here's a recap of a few of the stellar things I have had; maybe I'll make this a monthly feature!

This is a special order lamb and prune tajine is from my favorite trailer, The Flying Carpet.  The lamb was incredibly tender and just melted in your mouth. Check their website for items that can be ordered 24 hours in advance; they also have an indoor eating space that will transport you to Morocco!

Here's the Hot Chocolate Gianduja Cake from Red Ash, a chocolate lover's dream! The crunchy bits added a nice textural contrast, along with the ice cream. We also loved the hot bread with garlic, but the burrata and gorgonzola gnocchi left me underwhelmed. But I would certainly go back for this and a nice glass of Italian red wine.

Award-winning Confituras, long a staple at area farmer's markets with their seasonal jams and canned goods, has finally opened their forever-home on Goodrich, off South Lamar.  Get fresh hot biscuits with butter or a rotating jam selection, along with coffee or tea. As a community kitchen, they will soon be offering classes and an expanded menu, stay tuned!

I was invited to the media preview at Fareground (at 111 Congress Avenue) the first urban food hall in Austin, and their opening is a reason for rejoicing. Six purveyors (Easy Tiger, Antonelli's Cheese, Henbit, Contigo, Ni-Kome, and Dai Due) plus a bar all operate seven days a week. Pictured is the wild boar taco al pastor from Dai Due Taqueria  that had amazing flavors and a housemade blue corn tortilla.

Also at Fareground, these chocolate chunk cookies from Henbit (offshoot of Emmer + Rye) were warm and delicious.

Recently opened in Lamar Union, TLC Austin seeks to bring Texas comfort food with a coastal influence to the masses. This vegetarian sandwich called The Enlightenment was just that! Stuffed with watermelon radish, cheddar, carrots, cukes, avocado and pesto, it was held together by a sturdy grainy bread. And only $8. Raw oysters and boils also available.

What have YOU eaten recently that you loved? What do I need to check out? Share in the comments! Happy eating!

First Look: Krua Urban Thai

Editor's note: Krua closed in March 2018

Krua Urban Thai has moved into the old Barley Swine location at 2024 South Lamar. I had heard about their yummy crab fried rice from two different people, so it was time to go check it out for myself. My neighbor and I visited on the Friday before Thanksgiving, arriving a bit after 6 pm. We had no problem getting a table, but by the time we left the place was full and there were people waiting outside.

We decided on a variety of dishes to share, and told the server to send them out in whatever order they were ready.

Krua's Brussels sprouts were tossed in a bit of fish sauce and a basil vinaigrette. Nice and crispy with excellent flavor.

The crab fried rice, one of their signature dishes. Great flavor, but I thought it needed more uumph to it
 and the saucer with chili fish sauce did in fact help. 

Pad see ewe (or pad se ew) is one of my favorite Thai noodle dishes, as I love the wider rice noodles. This was quite good, though I think my favorite in town is still at Thai Taste in Oak Hill for the fact that theirs contains a touch more sauce.

Pork belly pak ka nar -- this pork was amazing. While it doesn't look it, it had a nice crispness to it

Overall, no complaints about the quality of the food. What did bother us though is the timing. The Brussels, which are an appetizer item, did come out first and relatively fast. And then we sat there for about 15 minutes until another dish came out. Then the other two dishes came fairly quickly after that. At a small two-top table, it is virtually impossible to have three large plates on the table. The tables are also fairly close together, which gave us the opportunity to admire the pad thai to one side of us (and to learn it was the father and young son's second or third time there, which for a place barely open a month says something), and the diners on the other side of us inquired about our food.

Pros: food was for the most part, delicious; more Thai variety in South Austin is great; online ordering coming soon. I took my leftovers to work the next day and my Thai friend Bee tried the fried rice and pork belly dishes. While she said it was not the same type of crab they use in Thailand, she did give her blessing to both dishes, and she and I are making plans to come back to Krua. Service was friendly though perhaps not highly experienced, though I guess we could have specified "keep the dishes coming in whatever order" rather than "whatever order they come out is fine."

Cons: the timing of the dishes, noise level (there's nothing to buffer the interior rock walls), decor was lacking (I can't really understand why there are two New Mexico chile ristras hanging over the counter), they were out of one of the wines we ordered.

Verdict: thumbs up! Will certainly be back!

Good Eats at The Little Darlin'

I went to The Little Darlin' (6507 Circle S Road, near the northeast intersection of South Congress and William Cannon) for the first time on Saturday night for a friend's birthday. I didn't intend to blog about it but the food was too good not to make a mention! I tend to take food pictures out of habit, so these were quick photos, in their natural environment, no food styling here. 😉

Confit pork jowl sliders that were only $3 each, and pimento cheese croquettes.
 The pork on these was amazing, crispy and not a drop of grease, and the croquettes were nice and gooey inside.

Cheese board with selections from Antonelli's Cheese. 

Chili-stuffed cornbread in its own mini skillet and buffalo wings with blue cheese, both super tasty.

Mac + cheese with bone marrow and pickled mustard seeds and
 a little neck clam special, in a killer cream sauce with sherry, bacon, and mushrooms. 

Fried fish (I think someone said it was redfish) with an amazing pesto that was almost pure basil. I wouldn't think to put fried fish and pesto together, but it really worked. I felt the fish could have been fried a little longer (or at a hotter temperature) to make it crispier, but it was still tasty. But that pesto was the star!

Seasonal menu from their Facebook page.

Little Darlin' has parking, is dog-friendly, and child-friendly until 9 pm. The bar is inside along with some pool tables, and a huge outdoor area along with a stage on one side. Super-chill, not pretentious, and delicious food. Stir it up, little darlin'!

First Look: El Chipirón

Editor's Note: closed Summer 2019

New Spanish restaurant El Chipirón (meaning little squid...yeah, I had to look that one up) opened at 2717 South Lamar at Manchaca at the end of June, after what seemed like a very lengthy process. Looking back at their Facebook page, the exterior sign went up in May 2016, a full 15 months before they actually opened. While I haven't spoken to anyone with the restaurant about the delays, I would guess it has to do with the City of Austin and various delays in being able to get permits issued and certificates of occupancies authorized. I can only imagine how maddening and expensive it is for new restaurants to get started. Anyhow....

While the exterior is your standard and somewhat blah new-build apartment building with street-level retail (it's seems that's all there is on South Lamar these days), El Chipirón's interior is a beautiful light-filled space. Big windows facing north and west and a modern design, anchored by a huge white (limestone?) bar. Though the use of vertical elements as space dividers did remind me of South Lamar's other Spanish restaurant, Barlata, I also wonder why El Chipirón would open so close by, just 1.2 miles south per Google Maps. But apart from a few tapas dishes, their menus appear to be quite different.

El Chipirón's interior

The bar (restaurant entrance is in the back right in this photo)

We arrived a little before 7 pm on Monday night, which turns out to be all-night food specials (aka Pincho Mondays) at the bar. Here's a look at our evening.

Tempranillo, red sangria, and the Gypsy Flower. They are becoming quite well-known for their gin drinks.

Each diner was given a little plate of olives and manchego cheese as a starter.

Padron peppers (also known as shishitos) with a light mustard aioli sauce.

Patatas bravas; these were ok, but unexciting; I couldn't tell you what the sauce was.

Oxtail empanadas, while small, had a wonderfully flaky pastry and very tender meat inside, served with garlic aioli.
Would definitely get these again!

Mejillones (mussels) + chorizo, with a broth made from an Albariño wine and garlic,
that definitely called for more bread. Great flavors!

Churros with a nice thick bittersweet chocolate sauce (there was a fifth churro that got snatched before I could get a photo!). There was a density to the churros which I liked, and a lack of grease which I loved!

All in all, a nice experience. Both the gentlemen tending bar were personable, but it was my dining companions that really made it a fun evening!  And not that it really matters, but I am curious about the El Chipirón logo up top, is the stylized "ó" a squid ink stain or a drippy wine glass? Clearly I need more sangria!

Dali spies on you as you head to the restrooms.

First Look: Phoebe's Diner

Phoebe's Diner, a comfort food spot, officially opened at South First and Oltorf on September 6th (533 W. Oltorf, on the southeast corner). Their sister restaurant, Winebelly is just a few doors down, along with Gilt, a nail salon. Quite the mini-empire being established! Phoebe's is open for breakfast and lunch, whereas Winebelly is open in the evenings so as not to compete with one another for parking spots or patrons.

The Cheeky Monkey, a 6-minute egg wrapped in sausage and potatoes with sage sausage gravy. 

Friends wanted to go to brunch this past Sunday, and they chose Phoebe's. Normally I try to avoid new places for the first month or two so they can work their kinks out, but I was excited to check out this new spot in my Bouldin Creek neighborhood.

We had the table right inside the door, which was nice and light-filled, though I never ventured more than six feet inside the door! The interior is modern farmhouse with trendy but timeless shiplap walls and subway tile. They have a variety of mimosas (beet?) which tied us over as we studied the menu. Our friendly waitress immediately asked if we wanted separate checks, which made it easier for all of us.

For the table, we started with the Peaches + Cream bowl, a twist on the traditional with burrata cheese and granola. I know that you can't get fresh peaches year-round, but a little disappointing that this is made with canned peaches. The flavors all worked together very nicely, and I could see getting this again, perhaps as a dessert.

Peaches and Cream, with burrata being the creamy factor.

But there were a few things that show the youth of Phoebe's.

Of our group of five, two people ordered the Benedict, one shrimp and grits, one fried chicken + grits, and one Cheeky Monkey. The Benedicts and fried chicken came a full five minutes before the other dishes, leaving that awkward "Go ahead and eat" conversation. I noticed that the table across from us which had 4 or 5 patrons all appeared to get their food at the same time, so it can be done!

Phoebe's Benedict, ham, eggs, + hollandaise over a biscuit with hash brown casserole.

I ordered the fried chicken and grits, which also comes with a biscuit. Except mine arrived sans biscuit, so I of course piped up. Our waitress had to grab a menu and look to see if it actually did come with the biscuit, and she said that she had been serving them all day without the biscuit. And this was at 1:30 pm. No one has asked for their biscuit yet?? Pay attention people, don't forget your biscuit! (Uh, hold that thought....)

Fried chicken, goat cheese grits, and biscuit.

Well, the very large biscuit arrived a moment later. It's huge, about 4 inches square and 2 inches thick, nicely browned on top, and fluffy. However, when you get into the middle of the thing, it was undercooked. Under a Benedict, you wouldn't really notice, but on it's own, you do. I could squeeze it together, and it made a little dough ball like you used to do with Wonder Bread when you were a kid. A few more minutes in the oven, please. Fortunately the chicken was expertly fried and I think all of our eyes rolled back in our heads a bit when trying the goat cheese grits. Goaty and corny and rich. Same grits with the Shrimp + Grits dish, though I think it's even more grits!

Gulf shrimp and goat cheese grits, with green chile hollandaise. Love the sauce pan as a serving dish.

Overall though the food was quite good, and I think all plates were pretty much licked clean. They don't have an actual website up and running yet, so the link above (and here) is to their Facebook page. Here's a shot of the menu in case you are curious. I thought that everything was well-priced, and it's nice to see a variety of gluten-free items. My mother would probably bemoan the lack of fresh vegetables, but I don't think anyone ever called a salad "comfort food." Sorry, Mom. But yes, there is a house salad and a bowl of fruit available.

So a few rough patches, but all in all a great new addition to South Austin! Welcome to the 'hood, Phoebe's Diner!