Emerald Restaurant

The Emerald Restaurant
13614 W Highway 71
Austin, TX 78738
(512) 263-2147
http://www.theemeraldrestaurant.com


Last week or the week before, Mariah and I got together for dinner at Primizie. It had been quite some time since we really had a chance to catch up, enjoy a meal together, and generally poke fun of each other. Well, that's mostly true anyhow... Like with any of my good friends, we do keep in touch via email, IMs, text messages, etc., but it's just not the same as hearing someone's news from them in person. Anyhow, during dinner, Mariah mentioned that she was going on vacation this week, and Laura was out of town as well. So....guess who got asked to pop a couple of reviews on here to keep activity going while the ladies were away? I told Mariah that I was happy to do so. On the inside, I was thinking something more along the lines of "Oh, could this be another chance to abuse power?" I'm always up for a chance to abuse power, no matter how minor. When the cat's away, the mice will play, right?

Well, like a diligent friend, I started to immediately think of just how much trouble I could get into while our most favorite bloggers were out of town. A review of places they had already been? Too subtle. A recount of a spectacular trip to Mickey D's? Too cheesy. A review of my very own cooking? It had potential, but I really needed to think long and hard about how to abuse this newfound responsibility creatively. While I'm still thinking about my potential for abuse, I didn't have to think long about what I was going to talk about. Last week, I had a date with a very stunning brunette. We pretty much decided to play the evening by ear and make up plans on the fly rather than plan it out ahead of time. The first thing that we did was choose a restaurant, and the Emerald Restaurant down on Highway 71 sounded the most appealing. It was certainly a double-whammy for me since I needed someplace to review while Mariah and Laura were out of town.

My foodie side had heard subtle rumblings in the grapevine about the place, but nothing specific. So, surprisingly, we were heading out on an adventure for someplace where neither of us knew what to expect. My first surprise came in calling up the restaurant to see about getting last minute reservations. I was shocked...shocked, I say, when I was told that I had a table waiting on my for whenever I showed up. The little bit that I had heard about the place was all positive, so I was convinced that I'd have to seriously pour on the charm to get a last minute table on a Saturday night. Taken by surprise at this and ready to begin an evening of adventure, my stunning brunette and set out. You know that old adage about the three most important things for a business being location, location, location? Well, I can tell you that for my purposes, it worked out quite well that night. The Emerald is down on 71 pretty close to the Hill Country Galleria....but my date and I both live in Round Rock, which gave us an added way to partake of the restaurant. Yes, it was moderately long drive, but we got to enjoy a leisurely trip down 620 and enjoying the spectacular views of Lake Travis and the Texas hill country along the way.

We got to the restaurant, and from the outside, the quaint little building was already setting a cozy little atmosphere, which was made even stronger setting foot inside. The restaurant was small, and very elegant. The lighting was very romantic, and the decor was inviting. I immediately got the feeling that the owners didn't overlook even the slightest detail anywhere. Now, the restaurant is on the smallish side, but it wasn't very busy. It didn't feel like that was a problem for us this evening, but I can't help but feel if it would still have the same romantic feel if it were more crowded as the tables were pretty close to one another. Anyhow, we settled into a little corner table and listened to Irish folk music quietly played in the background. That immediately put a smile on my date's face as she told me about a song she learned to sing for her daughter on Saint Patrick's Day. We didn't have long to wait before our server was tableside lighting candles and explaining the menu. He was very friendly, and conversational. We learned that the restaurant was a family operation. He and his sister handled the dining room, while their brother was the chef and their father was the restaurant's baker.

It was about at this point that I encountered my first and only problem with the Emerald--their menu. No, I didn't have a problem because of the content. I found that the dishes offered were strikingly interesting and diverse, and the menu itself followed quite well with the family's Irish heritage. My problem was literally the menu itself. It was hardbacked and fairly large. I struggled to comfortably hold it amist the tight quarters of our table in the corner. At one point, I almost accidently sent my butter knife flying across the room and think I came pretty close to busting out the window I was sitting next to. So much for portraying the image of a suave restaurant reviewer... I had to confess my propensity for clumsiness to my date.

The Emerald continued to amaze us with the food as the night wore on. We ordered the Scallops in Lime Butter, which came out and were simply awesome. First look at the dish was a little disappointing since I was expecting larger sea scallops instead of bay scallops, but my first taste shut up that little potential criticism. The bread service consisted of both Irish soda bread and a molasses type bread served with three different homemade butters: strawberry, orange marmalade, and a plain cream butter. Wow. My stunning brunette and I both readily agreed that it was amazing, and I think the trip there would have been worth it for just the bread alone. But, there was more. Entrees were next with me getting the Tipperary Sweetbreads and my date ordering the Beef Tenderloin. Both were cooked to perfection and served with red potatoes and mixed vegetables. I typically don't eat sweetbreads very often because I find that they are a dish that many people tend to put too much effort into and you really lose what the dish is about. Not at the Emerald. They're wrapped in bacon and maintain their texture while being infused with perfect flavor. My date's tenderloin, again cooked perfectly, was serviced with a sauce of chantrelle mushrooms and caused every tastebud to do a cartwheel when she offered a bite.

Dessert was next, of course. Ummmm....We're in an Irish restaurant... How could we NOT choose the Irish Whiskey cake for dessert? It was amazing and full of flavor...served with a fresh chantilly cream. In all honesty, it really did need the chantilly cream accompaniment, though, as the cake itself was a bit on the dry side.

Ms. Stunning and I absolutely loved everything about the place from the clover wallpapering to our leftovers being packaged up and brought to our table in two aluminum foil swans with necks intertwined. So impressed was I, that I could not resist the chance to meet the chef and shake his hand.

Ahhhh.....what an evening of adventure. The rest of the night was filled with more scenic drives and a great time with an amazing date. Ummm... Have I yet mentioned that she's stunning?

So...Mariah and Laura are away, right? I'm looking for a way to abuse limited power, right? Let's start small. I'm going to steal their creative license and include a "bottom line" in one of my reviews. Don't laugh. You don't know just how limited my power is....It's not terribly easy to abuse.

Bottom line: Amazing food and one hell of a romantic atmosphere. Get your own stunning brunette, though....

Lee: 10