Curra's

614 E. Oltorf St.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 444-0012

http://www.currasgrill.com/

Mariah: Hello fellow foodies. Sorry its been so long since our last post. I feel like we've let you down, like when we don't post, you wallow in bad food at bad chain restaurants, that we're you're only lifeline to a decent tasting meal. But I know its not true, you're all smart people with good taste. and you'll survive if we don't post. So, I take a chill pill and don't worry about posting. It so happens the last few weeks have been a little crazy. Laura's been dealing with personal issues of her own. And in addition to a midterm, and a crazy work schedule, my grandmother's been in the hospital requiring me to make a trip through the Bible Belt Buckle to Nebraska.

Laura: Way to make me sound like a whack job, Mariah. I've just been busy and well getting a little burned out. A much needed break on all non essential things in life was in order. Which meant a break on blogging about good food, but definately not a break in eating good food.

Mariah: Let me vent about that trip for a few minutes (but purely from a food perspective). You would not believe the crap people in the Midwest shovel into their mouths. Everything is deep fried, covered in butter, smothered in gravy, or burned to a crisp. This horrible treatment of poor defenseless food is mostly required to mask the bad quality of the ingredients. For being America's breadbasket, the Midwest sure has a crappy selection of quality food stuffs.

Laura: Yeah I have some relatives in Missouri and I can attest to the blandness of the food. How do the people there cope? I don't know, but I am entertained by watching them recoil in pain at the mere sight of mild salsa.

Mariah: The drive to Nebraska started well, with a quick trip to the Czech Stop for creamed cheese kolaches, but, it quickly deteriorated. There was a failed stop at a Luby's somewhere in North Texas where the fish almondine, normally a safe bet at Luby's, tasted and smelled like canned cat food. I even had a trippy experience in the bathroom where I was accosted by fanny pack bedecked Senior Citizens on a bus trip to God knows where.

Laura: I can't believe you drove to Nebraska. Oh yeah, and I get that a road side gas station that serves baked semi-ethnic goods (Well, you know Texas meets a distant European relative) is all novel and stuff, but as far as the actual kolaches go- I just don't get it. I'm sorry, but in my experience they are not that great. On the other hand, the Jerky Capitol of the World on 45 (halfway between Houston and Dallas) is awesome.

Mariah: Anyway, there was the vomit inducing excursion to an Applebee's in Witchita. I ordered half a BLT and an Asian chicken salad only to discover the BLT had no T's, was soaked in grease and the salad had visibly brown (rotting) lettuce. My mom, the usual Applebee's advocate, had the harrowing experience of having to send her undercooked chicken breast back, not once, but twice, and it still back pink in the middle (though charred to a crisp on the edges). Looking around that middle America Applebee's, I discovered exactly where the obesity epidemic is centered, the Midwest. The restaurant was overflowing with quadruple chins and people so large I doubt if they could move on their own. Between the smoke filled non-smoking section, the grease sodden sandwich, and the gelatinous Midwesterners happily slurping down their ill-tasting swill, I had a moment of sheer claustrophobia and had to retreat to the dirty bathroom.

Mariah: However, my dining experiences went from bad to worse. In Freemont, Nebraska, where my grandmother lives, my mom and I, sick from the crappy food we'd been subjected to, decided to treat ourselves to the best steak house in town. I mean, come on, its close to Omaha, the cattle capital of the Midwest, surely they'd have decent steak. Boy was I mistaken. My Jim Beam steak came out looking suspiciously similar to a smokers lung, the veggies on the veggie kabob were covered in a sickly sweet garlic butter sauce and were burned to an absolutely crisp, and my twice baked potato was covered in a hard crust of what I think was supposed to be cheese. To be honest, the best meal I had all weekend was at Starbucks.

Laura: Meanwhile, I had been hanging out next to the pool being fed amazing grilled Father's Day food by my good friend Jen of Austin Event Co and enjoying lazy brunches at Galaxy Cafe and planning get together dinners at Curra's. Yeah, life this past weekend was pretty good for me. Like I said, I needed the break.

Mariah: After my horrible experiences, you can hardly blame me for being thoroughly disgusted with the Midwest in general. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Austin, I called Laura and said "I need good food." So when she told me that she and her friends were going to Curra's, Bachelor #4 and I made a beeline from the airport straight to Oltorf.

Mariah: We surprisingly found a parking space right in front; usually parking is at a premium. My food luck was starting to improve. When we walked into the funky Austin interior, I felt immediate relief and knew I was home. The first bite I had of queso with veggie chorizo tasted like the best food I'd ever had in my entire life. The hibiscus margarita was heavenly. As I happily munched on chips and queso, my scarred taste buds started to recover and the food started tasting more normal. I realized the previously heavenly queso was of good quality, but was rather bland. The hibiscus margarita was slightly too sweet and light on alcohol.

Laura: Lach ordered the Santa Fe margarita, which was discouraging to him because it was pink and a tad bit emasculating, but he's secure enough in his manhood and the drink turned out delicious. Much better than the hibiscus margarita. The queso was typical Tex Mex, and of decent quality. Very reminiscent of the Trudy's variety. We got an appetizer of the Escabeche - pickled carrots, cauliflower, onions & jalapenos. It looked very appealing, but when I went in for a bite I was surprised. On top of being very vinegar-y, it was cold. I know this was on purpose, and not some sort of weird mistake from the kitchen, but it was still unappetizing. I coldn't bring myself to eat more than just the cauliflower bits. The rest of the concoction sat on the table untouched.

Mariah: By the time my meal arrived, migas smothered in queso, I felt like I had regained my food composure. Which was why i was so surprised that the taste, but more importantly the texture of their migas absolutely blew me away. The eggs were perfectly cooked, neither too wet nor too dry. They were perfectly laced with a spicey and flavorful pepper and onion (and whatever else Curra's uses to make the migas taste so yummy). The fried tortilla strips, usually soggy in most migas, were the perfect texture with a slightly yielding crispness. The previously bland queso made a perfect creamy complement to the spicy egg mixture. I believe Curra's is now the new par of migas perfection in Austin.

Mariah: Bachelor #4 ordered the dinner dish I normally get at Curra's, the Cochinita Pibil, a smokey anise flavored shredded pork dish wrapped in a banana leaf served with sweetened plantains. The Cochinita is served miga style, you wrap the various ingredients into a tortilla to eat. The quality and taste are amazing though. The shredded pork is cooked in thin somewhat sweet sauce that binds the pork shreds into an beautiful dark brown mass of goodness. The large green banana leaf (probably not the one it was cooked in) the pork is served on ads a nice color contrast that adds to the ultimate appeal of the dish. I haven't tried some of the more pedestrian Mexican dishes at Curra's, but if it sounds good on the menu, it will more than likely taste good too.

Laura: I originally wanted the veggie tacos as they came with nopalitos, avocado, mushrooms and veggie chorizo, but when Lach started pointing at the award winning veggie enchiladas containing grilled zuchinni, mushrooms, onion, squash & spinach and suggested to split it, I was easily pursuaded. I pick my battles in life and this was a battle where I figured I would be the winner either way. The dish arrived and we dug in. The zuchinni chunks were a little overcooked, but the rest of the enchiladas worked well (but I wouldn't say award winningly) together. Unfortunately, I was a little bit cheesed-out at this point by the queso dip so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Next time I'll fight for the tacos.

Bottom Line: Funky Austin atmosphere, quality Interior Mexican, great migas

Mariah - 9

Laura - 8

Twin Peaks

701 E. Stassney Lane
Austin, Texas 78745
512-383-9699

100 Louis Henna Boulevard
Round Rock, Texas 78664
Phone: 512-238-7325

http://www.twinpeaksrestaurant.com/

Have you ever been cursed before? I mean really and truly cursed? I'm talking the kind of metaphysical malediction originating from the occult...all packed with bad ju-ju. I'm talking about being the target of a mal-aligned spiritual energy, the likes of which you only see on afternoon documentaries on the Discovery channel. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I've been cursed. I just know it. I don't know how it came about. I must have slapped a gypsy or cut off a witch doctor in traffic a couple of weeks ago, but something strange and supernatural has been happening to me. (For any gypsies or witch doctors reading this, I mean no offense here. So, no need to retaliate against me....one damnation at a time is plenty, thank you.) What's really bothersome, though, is that I think it might have been someone I know because the effects of this spell have been so personal---hitting me right where it counts...in my dining experience.

Let me back up a couple of steps. A couple of weeks ago, Mariah and Laura gave me an opportunity to guest blog about a somewhat bad dining experience I had at Ms. B's here in Austin. Little did I know that was just the beginning of things. Since then, eating out about 4 times a week, I have had nothing but incredibly bad service at restaurants here in town. Trust me, if there has been a bartender, waitress, hostess, manager, table busser, or cook who was a trainee, having an off day, or was just dumped by her boyfriend; you can bet your butt that person was going to somehow be involved with my dining experience. The effects have ranged from small to large. From being double charged for entrees to given the wrong order to having my order lost altogether. I've seen it all lately. Hell, on two occasions, I've even had the hostess give away my table to another party AFTER seating my son and myself. There was one humorous occasion where I had ordered a salad. I was served the wrong one and kindly asked my waitress to correct the order. She brought me back the same salad plate with the correct salad order simply layered over the wrong one. If that isn't the sign of some weird restaurant-based jinx, I don't know what is.

Well, the curse reared it's ugly head again last night. My kiddo and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie with my buddy Bo. (Great movie, by the way). It was about dinner time after the flick, so we decided to go grab something to eat. Bo deferred the selection to me given my foodie status. So, after carefully accounting for the tastes of who was going, the time, and location, I chose Twin Peaks in Round Rock. I'd like to say that I just made a bad choice, but with this jinx hanging over me, I just can't be sure...

Austin and I get to this restaurant before Bo and are seated immediately. Let's cover the restaurant itself first. It's very much a Hooters-esque type of estabishment. Lots of gorgeous (and not so gorgeous) waitresses in short shorts and plaid tops tied just below the bustline. I'm not typically one to notice someone's shoes, but they were all wearing furry bootlike shoes...I guess to compliment the restaurant's mountaineer type lumberjack theme. Since I had arrived before Bo, I had a few minutes to check out other qualities of the restaurant. The music selection played over the speaker system was decent...mostly 80's top 40 type stuff, but it was almost uncomfortably loud. They've also got free wireless there, too.

Well, enough about that. Onto the curse. My waitress stopped by to take drink orders for Austin and myself. I simply order a Coke for him and a Dr. Pepper for myself. Minutes later, she brings back Austin's soda and says, "I'm sorry. I don't remember what you ordered." I know. I know. With the curse going on, I should have taken this as a sign to leave. But, for some reason, I thought that was as bad as it was going to get. Nope. Time to order food. I asked for the Kid's Nachos for Austin and the Sirloin Chili Nachos for myself. 5 minutes later, the waitress brings Austin's order and says, "I'm sorry. I don't remember what you ordered." OMG!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? It was at this point that Bo showed up to discover a smiling Austin eating away and me with my face buried in my palms.

My next request was a new waitress to whom I explained the situation of the curse and told her how I had ordered a kids nacho for a Sirloin Chili Nacho. This young lady was quite nice and very eager to help right any wrongs. But, alas. She was just another mere mortal doing battle with an unseen and unimaginable force. The poor girl never even knew what happened.

The menu listed two types of soup, which Bo ordered one of each...a bowl of each. He ordered the Sirloin Chili and the Corn Chowder. Our new waitress brought him 2 different soups of the wrong size. Great. The spell is no longer just affecting me, but it's decided to badger my dining companions as well. On the bright side, Bo said the Corn Chowder was great. His preference is for a thicker soup and he didn't find the soup too watery for his tastes. The Sirloin Chili on the other hand, had great flavor he said, but he was really expecting large chunks of sirloin, not something with more the texture of ground beef. Still, he gave it a thumbs up.

I did eventually get what I wanted, but I couldn't eat too much of it. It wasn't that the food was bad. I had just loaded myself up on a second order of the kids meal (that showed up unannounced somewhere along the course of the meal) and I was pretty full by then.

Mariah and Laura, I'm sorry ladies, but I am not going to give this restaurant a rating at this time. I couldn't in good conscience rate this place while I'm still fairly convinced that the service I experienced was due to an unexplained cult phenomenon. I will say that the food (that I got to experience) was of a decent caliber for this type of restaurant. I will also add that I'll be going back once this hex has been broken. In the meantime, I'll be stockpiling lucky rabbit's feet, avoiding black cats and walking under ladders like the plague, and might even consider weaving myself a necklace out of wolfsbane and garlic. I don't plan to let any mirrors within a football field's length of my person; will keep an eye out for any pennies heads up; and if I have anything to say about it, the upcoming Friday the 13th will find me curled in a fetal position in my bathtub covered with blankets rather than venturing out for food and drink.

Bottom line: Never eat out when there's some strange curse affecting you. It's just bad mojo.

Lee - ??

OK, as I mentioned in my latest comment below, I feel that my curse is finally over. I still don't know what caused it or how I ended it, but I'm not going to question it. I feel that I can finally venture forth in Austin again to enjoy the great food and restaurants that our wonderful city has to offer. Of course, it doesn't mean that I'm still not going to be wary. I plan to be on the best of terms with any supernatural entity I should meet from here on out. Now, I have been back to the Twin Peaks in Round Rock since the spell got lifted, and I'm able to give a rating. I rate it with a 4.5. Mediocre service and food. Thanks to my anonymous friend from the comments, though, I've decided that in order to give this place a really objective opinion, I'll have to hit the South Austin location sooner or later....

Ms. B's

1050 East Eleventh Street
Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78702
(512) 542-9143

http://www.msbscreole.com/

There is just so much hustle and bustle in the world today. Sometimes, it's hard to keep from getting caught up in the things that need to be done and focus on the things that truely matter. For me, the most important thing that truely matters is my son and spending time with him. He's 5 right now and in those crucial years where he's developing and you don't want to miss any of it. It's also a good time to try to instill qualities in them that you, as a parent, would love for them to carry into adulthood. So, one of the ways that I try to accomplish all of that in one fell swoop is to make sure that at least once a week, if not more, Austin (my son, not the city) and I get a father-son night that always includes eating out somewhere. Ahh, it's great. During the dinner portion of the daddy-son night, we get to have our conversations about what happened at preschool and who his friends are. I get to learn about all of the new games and songs that kids learn nowadays. But, what's more I get to slide in some valuable life lessons like how to keep good manners, etc. when we're in restaurants. Anyhow, dinner for Friday Night's father-son dinner was at Ms. B's, a little upscale Cajun place on E. 11th Street.

Walking into the restaurant, I had high hopes. It looked great. About a dozen and a half tables all neatly set. There appeared to be a more private room in the back of the place, but I couldn't tell for sure. The bar looked clean and well stocked. A Jazz trio were playing some nice background music off to the side. I looked around and I saw "classy". So, after quickly reminding Austin that we were in a nice restaurant and he had to use his big boy manners, we were seated by the hostess. Now, is when I hit the first speedbump for the place. I'll digress on what happened with the seating arrangement and chalk it up to honest human error, but I will add that I wasn't happy.

Anyhow, Austin and I were promptly seated at another table, and I began to peruse the menu while Jazz music played. Now, at an upscale restaurant, one of the things that impresses
me the most is when the establishment has a children's menu. This place did. The children's menu had 5 items on it which seemed to cover a wide variety of tastes for picky child
eaters. The kiddo lit up when I told him that Pasta tossed with Butter was on the menu because it's his viewpoint that noodles and butter are probably the greatest single food items
our world has ever seen. You can imagine his excitement to discover them together in the same dish.

We ordered our drinks and our appetizer, the Oysters and Bacon En Brochette. You know, as quickly as Ms. B's had me going with their kids menu, they lost me just as fast with drink
service to a five year old. Other upscale restaurants I've been to still manage to bring him a smaller glass with a lid on it, but Ms. Bs served Austin's soda in the same large drinking glass I had. Oh, well. I'm not going to complain. At least I don't have to wash their cloth table linens after that mistake. Anyhow, the appetizer arrived and was delicious. The bacon and oysters were perfectly cooked along with some button mushrooms and served with a very tasty remoulade. I'll tell you how good it was, too. A five year old dug into the oysters like they were....well, butter. The only problem with this dish was the bread that accompanied it.

Now, I guess my expectations are pretty high, but when I'm out in a nicer restaurant, I expect some decent bread, not the Mrs. Baird's machine-sliced, mass produced, HEB-bought sliced bread that I saw. Wait a minute... Ms. B's...Mrs. Baird's. I don't know if there's a connection, but I wouldn't be surprised, I tell you. Speaking of more bread, we also received a table service of rolls. We got two rolls, one more of a corn bread muffin and the other along the likes of a true dinner roll. I was pretty amuzed to see how small they were...and that we only received one of each.

OK, so we weren't off to a great start at Ms. B's, but Austin and I were still enjoying each other's company, and the Jazz music was very nice. Every time the sax player started a
little improvisation, Austin played his own air saxophone to help out. It was incredibly cute. Our view from the table also afforded us the opportunity to see out onto 11th street
and watch the traffic and pedestrians pass on by. I'll grant this... Ms. B's had some very nice atmosphere. But, atmosphere and ambiance doesn't satisfy your hunger, so onto the
entree.

Austin's Buttered Pasta showed up in a generous looking portion and he dug in immediately. I couldn't help but taste as well. (It's my privilege as a Daddy). For such a simple
dish, it was VERY good. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. But, what really got me going was the Smothered Pork Chop laid before me. It had to be 5 inches in diameter, and
at least a 2 inch cut...and covered in a very dark brown gravy that looked packed with flavor. I dug in immediately, not the slightest bit discouraged when my fork clanged loudly
against bone. Attempt number 2...more bone....and the same with #3. The thing was 75% bone! Well, what about the side? Red beans and Rice. Now, Mariah would argue that no self-
respecting cajun restaurant will ever leave fried gator tail off the menu. I'd argue that no self-respecting cajun restaurant would ever serve anything but the best Red Beans and
Rice possible. Ms. B's fails on both accounts. The Red Beans seemed like little more than a can of kidney beans with some sausage and maybe a bay leaf heated up briefly.

So, I sat and stared longingly at Austin's pasta dish while I waited for a waiter to correct the issue wuth my pork chop. The waiter was less than helpful and enthusiastic when I showed him
the chop served to me. I told him I was surprised that a restaurant that nice would serve such a horrible cut of meat and just received an "I'm sorry, sir" before I was asked if I was ready for dessert. So, by the time that the dessert menu arrived, I already had enough of the food. We passed on dessert in favor of going to Primizie just down the street where Austin flirted with
the waitress enough that he got an extra cookie for his dessert.

All in all, I'd have to say that particularly because of the Jazz band, Ms. B's has above average atmosphere, but doesn't entirely follow through on the food. I'm not all that hyped
on the service, either.

Mariah and Laura, thanks for the guest blog spot. It was a blast to write for y'all.

Lee - 4

The Oasis

6550 Comanche Trl

Austin, TX

(512) 266-2442

http://www.oasis-austin.com/

So my crazy week of dating continued on Sunday with Bachelor #4. After the late night with Bachelor #3 the previous evening and the late night with Bachelors #1 and #2 before, I was psyched to sleep in on Sunday and recover. I was glad when Bachelor #4 suggested a quiet afternoon.. at a kids birthday party! Apparently his co-worker's kid was turning 3 and they were having a BBQ. And being the food whore that I am, I will always readily agree to eat someone else's tasty homemade BBQ. We made our way up to the ends of the Earth or Cedar Park, who's mayor I happen to work with (remind me never to move to Cedar Park). You know when the tollway ends, you've reached parts unknown. I swear I saw a dragon somewhere around Avery Ranch Rd.

All through college and even into my mid-twenties I was very ambivalent to children. I liked them alright, but I wasn't sure if having offspring was the right path for me. I figured I would get to it later. Well now later has arrived, and surprising, when I turned 28, something crazy in my brain (or my ovaries) switched on. My biological clock started not just ticking, but screaming at me. So the party was nice but there were noisy kids everywhere. It reminded me again why I don't have any little rugrats yet. I am at least temporary inoculated from the crazy hormones my womanly parts and spewing into my body.

We made our excuses after eating the yummy BBQ chicken and headed back to our original destination the Oasis. Since I live at the south end of 620 and the party was at the north end of 620, we figured we'd take the opportunity to see the sunset at The Oasis. Now I don't know if you've ever been to the Oasis or if you've been in the past 2 years, but its TOTALLY different. They've expanded about 2,000% into a totally new building. The new Oasis is like a catacomb of staircases, landings, patios, and crazy bronze statues. And it is Spectacular. Perched atop Lake Travis, The Oasis probably has the best view in the State of Texas. Seriously. The network of patios allow you the perfect vantage point to watch the shimmering water and the sunset over the Hill Country. I can't express to you in words how amazing the location of the restaurant is.

The food, however, is another issue. The food is awful. Practically inedible. I've had overcooked, undercooked, and just plain tasteless food there. The menu consists mainly of staple Tex-Mex bar food. Nachos, burgers, enchiladas, fajitas, that sort of thing. I chose to have my birthday dinner there, mostly to enjoy the view and I was thoroughly unimpressed. But, man, that view was spectacular. It makes you forget how awful the food is. What the Oasis does do well, however, are margaritas. They make a pretty tasty Cazadores margarita. Totally drinkable while you sit on the patio and watch the sunset.

Bachelor #4 and I happened to go on Sunday. We opted not to eat as we'd both had the food and decided we weren't THAT hungry. So we went up to the bar on the top floor. The bar isn't just any old bar, its an entire dance floor, seating, a huge stage, and a large patio section. The band was playing great salsa music and people were dancing away. Made me wish I had remembered my salsa lessons from when I was bored in Fort Worth. We sat by the huge glass windows overlooking the lake and watched the sunset while drinking margaritas, and listening to the peppy salsa music. That's the way the Oasis should be enjoyed.

Bottom Line: Crappy food, INCREDIBLE atmosphere, and the margaritas rock

Mariah: 8.5 (A 5 for food and a 12 for atmosphere so lets split the difference)

Eastside Cafe

2113 Manor Rd
Austin, TX
(512) 476-5858

So my week of dating continued the next night after the debacle at Marakesh. This time it was with a gentleman we’ll call Bachelor #3. I was actually really excited to go out with Bachelor #3. We’d had a great first date at Habana (oops, forgot to write that review) and had spend hours talking on the phone all week. So when Saturday rolled around, I put on a sexy black dress, cleaned up my place, and sanitized the cat. I was also really excited that my date had suggested going to Eastside Café. I had eaten there several times as a teenager when visiting my grandparents (who had lived in Austin since the 1950’s) and had fond memories of the fresh food and eclectic vibe the place had. Despite being a co-blogger with a vegetarian, I hadn’t managed to make it back to Eastside Café since I’d moved back. So after our obligatory hey-how-YOU-doin make-out session, my date and I made our way to Eastside Café in his ginourmous pick-up truck (before you pass judgment, I’ll tell you he’s an antiques dealer and apparently a big truck is required).

Now I’ll tell you the parking lot to Eastside Café isn’t very large and we had a hard time finding parking. There’s a small lot in front that never has open spaces and a larger (but still small) lot in back. We drove his monstrous truck around the block a few times trying to find any spot we could wedge that crazy beast. Finally someone pulled out of the parking lot and we were able to maneuver the truck in (while cutting off an old lady who tried to steal the spot from us while we were maneuvering). I had called in reservations, but remembered as we walked up to the hostess that they had forgotten to ask my name. But despite the lost reservation, we were able to be seated immediately. Apparently Eastside Café is an old house that’s been converted into a restaurant. The place is like a catacomb of dining rooms. We were seated in the farthest back rooms, but it was cozy and quiet, unlike most restaurants in Austin which always seem a little too loud for my tastes (particularly when on a date).

Before I went, I had been instructed to order the baked brie appetizer, so when it came time to order appetizers, we readily ordered it. I also decided to order the ruby trout entrée and my date ordered the nights special a pork chop. The brie arrived quickly and we dug in with zeal. The cheese appeared to be a quarter of a brie wheel that had been cut and baked. Nothing special there. The cheese did, however, come with a spiced apple topping and the most amazingly wonderful crackers. It appeared that the crackers were actually biscuits that had been thinly sliced and baked. They are light, crusty, and were the perfect foil to the cheese. The spiced apple topping though good wasn’t anything amazing. It tasted like a fresher version of the Stouffers spiced apples you can get in your local freezer section (if you want to try this at home). The trout wasn’t too bad. It was fresh and covered in a béarnaise-like tarragon sauce. But they had grilled the trout and it definite char marks on it. Now I’m one of those people that doesn’t like char on my food. I don’t eat marshmallows that turn black, I don’t eat the black bits at the edges of brisket and fajitas, so the charred trout was kind of unappealing to me. The trout came with a baked sweet potato with brown sugar which I normally love, but again my food preferences got in the way of enjoying the meal. I usually prefer my baked potatoes, sweet or otherwise, to be cooked until soft but there is still some firmness to the flesh. The baked sweet potato at Eastside Café was sooo thoroughly cooked through that the inside was over-pulpy and had the consistency of mashed carrot baby-food. Now some people might like that texture, but I found it unappealing.

My date’s meal was equally unappealing. His pork chop, through skewered with a rosemary stem - one of my favorite grilling/presentation methods, I found the flavor of his chop rather unsavory (no comments from the peanut gallery). The pork chop was covered in a cloyingly sweet glaze that left the lingering flavor in my mouth of over-ripe tropical fruit. The texture of the chop wasn’t too bad. It was cooked well and through and wasn’t tough, but I just couldn’t get past the flavor.

We were going to try dessert there, but decided to get gelato instead. After just a lackluster meal, we felt we needed a light and yummy known quantity. We went to Puciugo, my favorite gelateria from Dallas that just opened at the new Hill Country Galleria (conveniently only 5 minutes from my apartment). We went back to my place, ate gelato and snuggled on the couch. A really great second date.

Which is why I was so amazed when Bachelor #3 never called back. A sent a text message saying how much I enjoyed the date and made the obligatory Wednesday post-date “Hey how are you” call, but never got a response in return. What’s up with that? I do know one of the cardinal rules of dating is if you’ve gone out less them a month (or a half dozen dates, whichever is less) you don’t owe them a call, a “break-up” talk or anything really. It’s a rule. However, when I break things off with a guy, I usually always let them know that a connection just isn’t there, or some other acceptable excuse. Becky said this was karma coming back to bite me in the ass for the gentleman a few months ago who seemed quite devastated when I broke it off with him (and I have to say I’m very nice, but firm, when I break things off with guys). And while I was very nice when I broke it off, I may have been rather callous by asking myself (and possible others) how could this guy have responded so poorly? We’d only been out a few times, we obviously didn’t connect (or at least I didn’t think so). but now, here I am in the same situation, mildly pissed, and wondering why this guy never called. Oh well, onto Bachelor #4.

Bottom Line: Fresh food though the execution could use some work

Mariah: 7

Marakesh

906 Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 476-7735

Wednesday started my week of serial dating – lunch date Wednesday, 2 dates Friday, a date Saturday, a date Sunday, a date Tuesday, and then one more on Wednesday. If it weren’t for my crackberry, I’d have problems keeping up with all of them. Needless to say, I’ve been eating out a lot lately. My Tuesday lunch date was at Cosi, which I’ve already reviewed, my Thursday date was just drinks at Trudy’s (and the date went pretty horribly anyway, but that’s what I get for going on a blind date with someone who hangs out with 65 year old women). Which brings us to Friday. The first date was marathon wine drinking at my favorite wine bar, Cork & Co, with a funny and dynamic (though slightly workaholic) software engineer. The second date, however, is the focus of this review.

I met up with Bachelor #2 Friday evening at Marakesh, a little middle eastern restaurant on Congress. We were seated promptly at one of the few empty tables. The place was packed with people from all walks of life, singles, people on dates (like us), and even a few families. The place isn’t large, maybe 15-20 tables and the décor is typical Congress ave restaurant. Brick walls, worn hard wood floors and the slightly musty scent of a well aged building. The smell of the building mixed wonderfully with the smell of the middle eastern food to produce a great homey feel that made me immediately at ease. The smell made my mouth instantly water, and after 2 bottles of wine, I was starving!

I perused the menu and noticed the typical middle eastern fare: shwarma, gyros, falafel, etc. More Greek or Turkish than Moroccan, but eh, this is Texas, you can’t expect to go to a traditional Moroccan restaurant in central Texas. We ordered an appetizer and two entrees, and to be honest, I don’t remember what any of them were. Between the alcohol and the TOTALLY unremarkable middle eastern food, I seriously don’t remember what we ate. I totally don't remember the appetizer. I remember it was meaty and tasteless. I really don't remember what Bachelor #2 ordered. I think it involved chicken, but I am at a loss as to what it was. I THINK I ordered kibbeh, mostly because its usually what I like to order at new middle eastern restaurants. Its considered sort of the meatloaf of middle eastern food and you can generally gage how good a restaurant is by their kibbeh. Its kind of like in the US, if you can't cook meatloaf right, you can't cook anything right. However, Marakesh's fried bulgar/lamb was so unremarkable I don’t remember if that’s truly what I ate. It wasn’t badly prepared, rancid, or anything too offensive, but it was just boring boring food. I do remember my entree came with hummus and pilaf, and I remember enjoying both. The hummus was pretty tasty, having a sharp dill tang and the pilaf was plain but turned into a nice hummus delivery system.

The only think remarkable was the halva, the dessert we ordered, and that’s because it was remarkably bad. I’ve come to find out that the halva I had eaten before is semolina halva and more resembles a thick polenta textured pudding. But after doing some research, I’ve discovered halva can resemble anything depending on what country you’re in. In fact, it means dessert (or more specifically “sweets”) in several different languages. This halva was more (as I’ve come to find out) Egyptian style halva, which resembles a big square hunk of candy. It had a nice melt-in-your-mouth texture, but it was soooo over-sweet and the bitter taste of cardamon overpowered all the other flavors that I couldn’t take more than a couple of bites. The waitress who was a little off to begin with noticed we hadn’t eaten it and chose to tell me while I was standing in line at the bathroom that she’d taken it off the bill. You know there are times when you talk to strangers, and times you don’t, and standing in line for the bathroom is one of those times you don’t. :P

Bachelor #2 and I continued on to The Hideout for a Ladies of Comedy improve show. The Hideout is a cute little coffee shop/improve theater. A fun date for all you single people if you’re looking for interesting things to do (like you have to look that far in Austin, but hey, I thought I’d point it out). The comedy show was.. interesting.. to say the least. There were moments of sheer brilliance and moments that were less than brilliant (including the sketch where a woman gives birth to her food baby - a baby tied to a pizza - and procedes to eat it.. a little disturbing).

Bottom Line: Bland, uninteresting, just plain forgettable middle eastern food

Mariah: 5

Cru

238 W 2nd St

Austin, TX

(512) 472-9463

http://www.cruawinebar.com/

Laura: My good friend David has been recommending Cru for months. Yes folks, it is a chain. I looked at their website to find that they had locations not only in Austin, but also in Dallas, Denver, Plano and the Woodlands. Knowing that it was a big success in Dallas, I wasn’t quite sure it would be my kind of place, but I wanted to find out.

Mariah: I’m still recovering from my 6 years in DFW and haven’t quite been able to wash the stink of that place off me. I generally avoid places that are popular in Dallas but the lure of wine is strong. Probably stronger than my dislike of Dallas.

Laura: Mariah picked me up and we drove down to the ultra trendy and ultra expensive second street district. And if you don’t believe me that it is ultra expensive, consider this- Cru is right next to the clothing store Estilo. I once won a $50 gift certificate there off the radio. When I went to redeem it, I could not find a single decent item I could afford, even with the gift certificate. However, I did find a really awesome designer dress that I had to call my grandmother to talk me out of spending my rent money on.

Laura: Anyway, we get down there and we are looking for parking. I, ever the Eagle Eye, spot a car exiting a spot, so Mariah speeds across three lanes of traffic to swoop in for it, getting flipped off by a rightly pissed off driver in the meantime. My deepest apologies to that poor guy and the sad explanation that neither of us had enough cash to pay to park.

Mariah: Yeah I’m an awesome driver. I had to dust off some aggressive driving skills I learned while living in Chicago. Laura didn’t give that maneuver justice, we were stopped in the far left lane at a traffic light, there were cars in the other two lanes to the right of us. I inched forward and as the light turned green, I sped up quickly (as quickly as my junky Mazda can go) dodged up and around the two other cars in the middle and right lane, into the far right lane, and braked to snag the spot. All in the space of 100 feet. I rock.

Laura: As we walk into Cru and are faced with super swank bar, décor and staff, we notice what an awesome patio they have and request to be seated there. We get a couple of funky glances and are seated in a two person table in between another crowded table, a walkway for the wait staff, and a large back of a sofa chair that is making me extremely claustrophobic. When I express my concerns, what seems like the manager turns very passive-aggressive. One second he apologizes kindly, and the next minute his voice turns arrogant as he explains that there are no other tables available. Then he turns back to Dr. Jekyll as he offers to let us scoot our table and chairs over, and then after I explain to him that we would be in the walkway of the wait staff if we did that, he again changes to Mr. Hyde and tells us we will have to sit inside if we are uncomfortable with our chairs and explains that some customers like the privacy the side of the couch provides.

Laura: “I can deal” I say. It’s too nice of an evening to be inside. A really sweet and really cute waitress comes over and offers beverages and food. Its half price champagne night so Mariah and I go for a bottle of Perrier-Jouet, something we’d never choose normally, but at half price is so reasonable.

Mariah: The patio here is really nice. It’s more of a fenced off portion of the sidewalk. But the inside of the bar and the patio are open to each other creating a nice airy effect. It reminds me of a Paris sidewalk café. After we were seated, I looked over the wine menu. I had already eaten at Chez Nous (the review is forthcoming) so I didn’t bother long with the food menu.

Laura: But I was in need of some grub, so I start scanning the food menu. They have a few pizzas, a few meaty entrees, a couple of salads, and some interesting looking cheese flights. I was feeling extremely indecisive, so I eenie meenie miney moed and ordered White Truffle Oil Cheese Fondue with apples, carrot and rustic bread.

Laura: The clientele was varied. Mariah had a better look at all of this than I did, as I was being sequestered by the sofa wall. She explained to me that people were going between tables inside and that the place seemed very friendly. But the patio seemed full of girls with fresh highlights and $1000 Fendi purses. And not the knockoff ones my friends (Mariah) have.

Mariah: Whatever. My knock-off Fendi is awesome. I definitely see how this place works though. If you don’t have a seating preference they put the young good looking people out on the patio and the older less trendy people inside. Thats probably why the host looked a little nervous when we asked to sit on the patio (despite there being 6 or 7 open tables) and why were were seated behind a large couch. Apaprently we don't look cool enough to sit on their patio. Its filled with young 20-something (some looked even younger though) with short skirts, flat ironed hair, Abercrombe& Fitch polos, and way too much hair gel. The people inside looked normal and were clearly having a good time. There was a lot of laughing and table hopping. I’m guessing the place has quite a few regulars. But I wonder if they see the lipstick segregation.

Laura: I didn't notice the segregation (thanks again, Sofa Wall). And I don't understand it. So what I was wearing flip flops and don't have an expensive purse? We're two really cute girls! And this is Austin damn you. Flip flops here ARE couture. Anyway, the champagne was young but not send back worthy, although at full price ($70) I would have been horribly disappointed.

Mariah: It was really green. It was very acidic and didn’t have a good balance of flavors. I’ve had better bottles of $40 champagne (Nicky Fou Rose or Moet White Star)

Laura: A waiter or waitress came by every minute and a half to refill our glasses. This tactic kept us drinking at a quick pace. The fondue arrived and I went in for a bite. Initially, the cheese was very liquid (as expected when warm) and the apples and carrots were fine, but the bread was hard as a rock. Even after soaking it in the fondue, it still did not give.

Mariah: Seriously! That bread was stale! It was disgusting. I don’t know if that’s the effect they were going for. I understand there’s a time and a place for stale bread (bread pudding, yum!), but not normally when you’re just eating it plain.

Laura: As time passed on, and the fondue cooled, it never thickened in the least bit and did not adhere to the apples or carrots. We used our scientific reasoning to deduct that it was heavily diluted with milk and wine. At this point my tongue started to swell a bit. Guys, I’m about to admit something. I’m mildly allergic to cheap wine. I found this out on a trip to boyfriend’s dad’s for Thanksgiving when they busted out with the notorious bang for buck bottle of Two Buck Chuck and my entire mouth swelled. When my tongue started swelling at Cru, we had long finished our bottle of champagne, making me think that the wine in the fondue was scraped from the bottom of the grape stomper’s feet.

Mariah: We also noticed the previously ever present (and pouring) waitress disappeared the second we finished our bottle and decided we weren’t going to order another. We literally sat there for 10 or 15 minutes waiting for her to come back so we could settle out bill. Finally we had to flag down Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde to get our check.

Laura: We asked for our check and found that they had charged us full price for the champagne. Kind of cheeky, eh? After having the problem corrected by Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, we left, vowing not to return.

Overall: Cheeky attitude of restaurant staff/management. Full price bottles are overpriced. Fondue sucks. But goddamn that patio is nice… if you can avoid the $30k Millionaires and lumbering furniture.

Laura: 4
Mariah: 5 (The patio IS really nice)

Magnolia Cafe

1920 S. Congress Ave.

Austin, TX 78704
512-445-0000

2304 Lake Austin Blvd

Austin, TX 78703
512-478-8645

http://www.cafemagnolia.com/

Hello my fellow foodies. I hope the weekend found you eating well. I found myself eating very well.. in Seattle.. I flew up Thursday night to visit my friend Kasie and immediately threw myself into the local cuisine. Friday morning I was having shrimp and crab benedict at a warfside diner, Friday night I had 5 different types of chowder (yes there are that many!), Saturday I got thoroughly toasted at 9 local Washington wineries, Saturday night I had the perfect hang over food – fish tacos, and Sunday I had fresh salmon lox and banana french toast all the while glutting myself on fabulous Seattle coffee. Yum! But Sunday afternoon came around and I had to make my way back to Austin. I managed to successfully transport the 11 bottles of wine I had drunkenly acquired at said local Washington wineries through American Airlines checked baggage (yes it can be done foodies, and for future reference, they make suitcases specifically for transporting wine, seriously, only $386 and its yours). I managed to make it back to Austin only 2 hours later than the intended arrival time (thanks American), and when I finally landed I was STARVING. Not just any kind of hungry, the kind of hungry you get from being tired, hung-over and traveling 2000 miles. The kind of hungry only pancakes can satisfy.

I met up with my friend Ben and headed for Magnolia, my favorite Austin late night dining spot. I’ve been coming to Magnolia on and off since 1999. And how can I pinpoint that year? It was the year I got a car and could leave the confines of campus eateries. A whole new world of culinary delight opened up to me in that year. And one of the first places I ended up was Magnolia. The lure of 24 hour queso and pancakes is strong when you’re 21 and hopelessly drunk. And this is one restaurant that is so quintessentially Austin. Like Hula Hut, Magnolia is one of the places I always recommend to people from out of town. The interior is the perfect blend of crunchy granola and Austin funky chic. The wait-staff appear all rough and pierced but are in actuality very friendly and helpful.

Since I’ve started going there I haven’t strayed too far from the few favorites I started eating back in 1999. The first is the Eggs Zapatino. Its amazing. Fluffy yellow scrambled eggs on a crisp toasted English muffin covered in spicy, cheesy queso. It was incredible hang-over food then and it still is now. I got it last time I was at Magnolia (the day after my awesome Mardi Gras adventure on 6th at the 80’s Sing Along). I sometimes get the Love Migas. Picture it, regular migas, but made with a garlic & serrano infused butter. They’re nice and spicy, a real zinger of an egg dish. Magnolia also has awesome omelets. My favorite is probably the #15 Popeye. A huge monstrous omelet stuffed with spinach, bacon, cheese, onions, and sour cream. Not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but damn tasty.

This particular time I ordered a breakfast taco. I seem to be having quite the breakfast taco cravings lately, and this one fit the bill. The tortilla was perfectly toasted while the eggs, sausage and cheese inside were a lovely blend of all the wonderful things a quality breakfast taco should be. It wasn’t as good as the excellent and apparently aberrant (check out the SAT vocab) breakfast taco from Kerby Lane. But considering the Kerby Lane taco was a fluke (as I discovered on my second trip) I consider this taco to be superior.

What Magnolia is really known for are their pancakes, and not just any pancakes, their gingerbread pancakes. At Magnolia, you don’t order a stack of pancakes, you order them one at a time. Yes, they’re really that big – they fill up a whole dinner plate! Really! They’re always griddled (if that’s even a word) to perfection. Slightly crisp exterior and cakey interior. I’ve never had an over or underdone pancake at Magnolia. And the taste is always excellent, a hint of spice from the gingerbread, but not enough to overwhelm you. Covered in a glob of melty butter and maple syrup they’re spectacular.

Bottom Line: Fresh diner food with funky Austin charm

Mariah – 9

Cipollina

1213 West Lynn

Austin, Tx 78703

http://www.cipollina-austin.com/

Before I start this review, let me apologize for not posting in the past week. Laura's living the high life in Mexico and I've had 2 midterms. Life sucks sometimes, but we all have to remember what is important - food...

Laura and I went to the Tasting Tuesday at Specs last week. I know I went last time and just raved about it, but I wasn’t all that impressed this time. The food was the same, the wine was still cheap, and the people that frequent it are entirely too old and suburban for my tastes. Wait. Maybe I’m becoming old and suburban. Shit. Laura and I still managed to have a fairly good time despite the “housewives gone wild” vibe the place had. We even met up with two of my new friends Linda and Nate. Well they’re really my brother’s friends (or more specifically Nate is my brother’s boss), but I like them and they’re fun to hang out with. Anyway, none of the wines were really worth writing home about, always noteworthy is the incredible goat feta served by CKC Farms out of Blanco. Their marinated feta is to DIE for. After we were finished drinking (well after Laura and I had sampled everything and Nate and Linda had wussed out and thrown in the towel) we decided to go to Cipollina to grab a quick bite to eat. Laura and I were going to hit up some free pre-SXSW parties so we decided to try something central and I wanted pasta.

We all drove (in 3 cars, we’re so American) to Cipollina on W. Lynne. Its in a really nice Central Austin neighborhood. Its surrounded by other local favorites, Galaxy Café, Zocalo, and Jeffry’s nestled in the cute Clarksville bungalows. Its in a strip mall next to a grocery store, but in Clarksville somehow that normally bland description transforms into a quaint and inviting actuality. There’s not a lot of parking so if you come during peak hours be prepared to park in the street. The actual restaurant itself is not very large - maybe only 20 tables – with a large granite topped bar that opens to the kitchen. The atmosphere is warm and inviting with large mirrors hung from the ceiling to provide a more open feeling.

You order at the front register, get a number and sit down. After eating at the likes of Primizie and Mandola’s, the menu offerings at Cipollina seemed a little small. There were half a dozen each of salads, pizzas, pastas, etc. Each one sounded tasty, but not the gourmet fare I had been used to. I went with the ravioli, Laura got the rosemary and truffle pizza, Linda got the duck confit salad, and I currently forget what Nate ordered. The food arrived promptly and looked very appetizing. The ravioli were fat stuffed squares covered in a light broth. The pizza was thin and covered with wall to wall white cheese. And the pulled duck was mounded high and inviting on the confit salad. Unfortunately the reality of the food didn’t live up to the appetizing vision before us. It was fresh but wasn’t really to my taste. The ravioli just wasn’t what I was looking for. I thought is would be cheese ravioli in a meat/broth sauce, but instead it was meat stuffed with nary a pocket of cheese to be found. It was very filling too. I could only finish 2 or 3 or the half dozen raviolis offered. Laura’s pizza was tasty, but without all that rosemary! They literally put clumps of the stuff all over the pizza and it was way too overpowering. I had a couple pieces of her pie and took to picking it off. With just a hint of the rosemary flavor it was quite a good pizza. They should really think of chopping it up or switching to rosemary oil to get the proper flavor balance. Linda’s Duck Confit salad was pretty tasty with shredded duck pieces heaped on top of a bed of fresh greens. We opted not to get dessert as Laura and I were heading downtown to meet up with Eric to hit some of the pre-SXSW shows.

Laura's note: I get what they were trying to achieve through simplicity, but I could have gone out to the garden and retrieved a handful of rosemary to sprinkle about the top myself. The failure to integrate the rosemary into the dish was a huge disappointment, but as Mariah pointed out, the pizza sans rosemary was tasty. I'd actually been to Cipollina once before and had an amazing salad. In fact one of the best salads I have ever had. They could do with expanding their menu... and keeping their staff off the Redbull. I thought the guy behind the counter the last time I was there was going to have to run some laps around the block before taking our order. Overall I find the food good, but the restaurant a little pretentious. Maybe a great place to take your in-laws or that college student you are dating and trying to impress with your casual sauve-ness. But back to what Mariah was saying...

We parked on 7th thinking we were going to the Beauty Bar to see the Mercers but apparently we missed that show and Eric had moved on to Mrs. Bea’s. When we called him he said Mrs. Bea’s was like half a block from Emo’s so we decided to head over. We walked a block east of Emo’s, then another and before long we were bumping up against I-35 and there was no Mrs. Bea’s. We called Eric again and he assured us it was just on the other side of I-35. But as some of you may know, parts east of 35 are known for being a little rough. So we assumed our best “I’ll kick you in the nuts if you fuck with us” faces and ventured into lands unknown. We walked and walked and walked and FINALLY came to a run down Mexican cinder block bar. We asked the guy cooking sausages out front where Mrs. Bea’s is and he said this was it. Well it didn’t look like much but we went in anyway. The party in the back was like something out of movie. 19 year old tragically hip college students (and I say tragically because I know they were going for totally hip, but come on, who really wears red jump suits and sports plaid sports jackets??) dancing around to a half way decent band. We found Eric and his friend Matt and boy were we in for a surprise. Eric was TOTALLY soused. We had a great time dancing to the first band, then making fun of the second band – an all girl trio who thought music was mumbling into a microphone while a repetitive electronic beat thumped in the background. It was awful. Laura took off at some point and had a life evaluating conversation with a 19 year old college student on her walk back to her apartment. I of course decided to stay and partake of the festivities. The bands got worse – the third band was a hip-hop/rap group that made us get low, so low that when they dropped to the ground and started shaking and convulsing to their music. At that point we decided it was time to split. Eric accosted the poor sausage merchant in his frenzied attempt to get a sausage (note to Eric, don’t drink on an empty stomach dude), ran into oncoming traffic on the I-35 frontage road while walking back, then peed on a car for a $1 in the parking garage. It was awesome. A fruitful night.

Bottom Line: Average Italian or Below Average Gourmet Italian – you pick

Mariah - 7

Evangeline Cafe

8106 Brodie Lane
Austin, TX 78745
512-28-CAJUN

http://www.evangelinecafe.com/

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Eric texts me and says “going to a wine tasting at Specs” so I thought, sure, why not go along for the ride. My current rate of wine tastings per week seems to be running about 1.5 to 2. What’s another? What I didn’t expect was the awesome 2nd Tuesday Specs Wine extravaganza. Apparently once a month, the Specs on Brodie does this ginormous wine tasting event. Its $10, you get a free Riedel glass then you sample wines from 10 different wine tasting stations. Each station has 2 wines to taste and you move around from station to station ultimately trying 20 wines. Now these aren’t huge samples, probably the equivalent of one good swig per wine, but 20 swigs adds up to a nice buzz. In addition to the wine (which is a good enough draw for $10), they also have food tasting stations throughout the store. Everything from grilled chicken, to veggie sandwiches, to cheese. When we had made it around, I felt like I’d been teased and titillated with finger food want wanted some real food. I waited around for Eric to buy like 8 cases of St. Arnie’s Winter Bock (you think I’m lying, it really was 8) and load them into his car. At that point I was getting hungry and cranky, and wanted some food.

The area around Brodie and Ben White always seems like it has so much to offer. There is literally every chain store on the planet in those 4 shopping complexes, plus within a 2 mile radius you have like 50 strip malls. It would seem on the surface to have a dearth of places willing to take your money, but food is not one of them. Sure you can have a Cosi Sandwich, a Chipotle burrito, or stir fry from Fire Bowl, but there is a surprising lack of decent sit down restaurants in that area. So, milling over the options in my head, I decided we needed to try someplace new.. someplace Cajun (cue the backwoods banjo music). I’ve been wanting to try Evangeline Café since I moved to town. I was extremely lucky that one of the few good restaurant options is Fort Worth was a pretty decent little Cajun joint. However, I knew when that Cajun place closed last year, that Fort Worth had finally sucked the soul out of everything good and pure that it managed to touch. It was time to move. Fast forward six months and I am in the same place. I still hadn’t found a good Cajun place I could call my own. Now in all honesty, I haven’t exactly been looking that hard, but I get serious jambalaya cravings from time to time and I really did need to find one. Since I live on the south end of town, I started there, hoping to make my way east, trudging along one etouffee at a time. Cypress Café on William Cannon left A LOT to be desired: overcooked, oversalted food that just wasn’t all that Cajun (I’ll spare you that review unless I’m required to eat there again).

That led me to Evangeline Café. I’d been hearing good reviews from various places for a while, and that jambalaya craving was starting to take hold of me. So Eric, a fellow food adventurer, and I headed down to give it a try. The Cafe is in a slightly run down strip mall down Brodie - waaaay down Brodie - so far down Brodie that Eric thought I was spiriting him away to Louisiana to get this fabled south Austin Cajun food. But, once you get inside, you totally forget you’re in a suburban strip mall and are somehow carried by way of a Star Trek transporter, straight to the bayou. The walls were covered in tin and mardi gras decorations. The tables were mosaics of beer bottle caps. There was a great little Cajun band playing in the corner filling the place was a great party-like atmosphere. And the place was absolutely stuffed with people. We had to wait a few minutes to get a table, but in the friendly style of all things Louisiana, some guy offered to let us sit with him and drink a beer while we waited.

I quickly ordered and cracked open my favorite bad Louisiana drink staple, the Abita Turbo Dog. On its own, the beer is rather marginal, but it manages to always quench my thirst from a spicy attack of cayenne pepper. We managed to snag a table in the corner and started to peruse the menu. This is where the disappointments start. They didn’t have hush puppies or gator tail! What kind of self respecting southern/Cajun restaurant doesn’t have hush puppies or gator tail (grumble). But they had a decent selection of yummy smelling Cajun fair, gumbo, jambalaya, po boys, red beans and rice, and variety of other southern dishes like chicken fried steak. All very stereotypical Cajun food, nothing too extraordinary, but they did have jambalaya and that’s really what I was craving. I think Eric ordered Gumbo, but like I had mentioned earlier, I’d been drinking and things are a bit hazy in my memory. We enjoyed the great Cajun band (who honestly was pretty good), and the fried bread they offered us as an appetizer. Yes, you read that right fried bread. I am now truly convinced that everything can be deep fried. Our food came out surprisingly quickly for the restaurant being as full as it was. And one bite proved why. The jambalaya was pretty crappy. It was an underseasoned, over tomatoey, dry lifeless jambalaya. Now, I know jambalaya is a real regional dish. There are a million variations. I happen to prefer my jambalaya wetter and tomatoless (in the south central variation jambalaya) rather than dryer and tomatoey jambalaya (the Creole variation). Either way, I didn’t like the dry lifeless jambalaya at Evangeline’s. But that’s ok, because ultimately if I’m going to go back to Evangeline it will be for the atmosphere not for the food.

Bottom Line: Sucky Cajun food with an awesome atmosphere

Mariah: 7 (5 if you rate the rood alone)

Kerbey Lane

2606 Guadalupe St Austin, TX (512) 477-5717

2700 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX (512) 445-4451

3704 Kerbey Ln, Austin, TX (512) 451-1436

So I feel like we've gotten into the habit of only writing about the really great Austin restaurants or the really bad ones. When was the last time we reviewed just an ok restaurant? Well here's a good 'ok' Austin restaurant for ya - Kerby Lane. Now, before you start whining about how its an Austin institution, let me say that I fully acknowledge its innate Austin-ness. I've been eating at Kerby on and off for 10 years now and back when I was in college (and didn't know or couldn't afford better) it was a late night institution. But I am older and wiser and have since discovered the joys of other better local Austin institutions like the Omlettery and Magnolia Cafe. So how did I end up at Kerby again? Sheer laziness.

A few weeks ago I was out with Laura, Jenn, and Elena. The night was promising, we had special invites to a 1 year anniversary party at Prague. Now I thought Prague was a goth bar. The gargoyles and red lights usually signify goth-like tendencies, but Laura assured me it was just "European". So we get all tarted up and head to Prague. Boy were we disappointed. We were lured there with the promise of free drinks (it was sponsored by Grey Goose, which usually means free vodka) and free food (it was also sponsored by a local restaurant). Well we get there and not only was the place dead (as in we were the only people there), but there wasn't any free food, AND to add insult to injury, we had to pay for our drinks. Suck. So we headed for Betsy's, a nice little bar near the warehouse district and got our Lone Star on ($2 Lone Stars on Thursdays, as if Lone Star is even worth that much). Well it got to be 10:30 and being the working girl I am, I started packing up. I offered to drop Elena off at her place. As we were walking back to my car, I mentioned I was hungry and Elena said she was too, I mean, we were expecting free food. We decided on pancakes and since it was on the way, we thought we'd hit Kerby Lane.

We stopped at the Kerby on Guadalupe and 27th and the first thing we noticed was that the place was Hopping (with a capital H). We parking lot was full, we had to wait a second for a spot and we had to wait in line to get a table. But the wait was only 5 minutes, so we decided to stick it out. As we waited in and amongst the college students, something occurred to me, I am old in their eyes. I remember being a 19 year old college student looking at the late 20 something semi-professionals that would come to our frat parties and thinking, wow, that guy is 28, how old is that. And now that old guy is me and I'm a stranger in the world of the young and hip.

Anyway, it was chilly out and by the time they seated us, we were quite cold. We immediately ordered tea and hunkered down to warm up. As we scanned the menu, I noticed that it had changed considerably in the 5 or 6 years since I'd been there. The menu seemed less dinerish and more organic. As Laura noted on a trip there a few weeks later, there were more veggie options. But the reason Elena and I went there was for (a late night) breakfast. After hemming and hawing over the various options, we both decided to get a breakfast taco and a pancake. The pancakes, when they arrived were exactly as I had remembered them, large and spongy. I was less than enthused about the spongy (I use that word again because truly it is the best description) pancake in front of me having been a loyal patron of Magnolia Cafe for so many years. I have to say, in a side by side comparison the firmer, more flavorful Magnolia Cafe pancake would win. However, what really amazed me was the breakfast taco. Now, I've lived in Texas for 10 years and consider myself something of a breakfast taco expert, I've eatten a short ton of breakfast tacos in my lifetime. That Kerby breakfast taco was one of the best I've had. I went with a normal taco, egg, cheese and sausage and all were exceptional. The tortilla was lightly toasted and crunchy on the outside. The eggs were light and fluffy; the cheese to egg ratio was perfect. And the sausage.. Oh the sausage. It was tender, rosemary infused, and perfectly cooked. All together, the taco was tasty and damn near perfect.

Now, the reality of Kerby. They are really inconsistent. I went back to the same Kerby, on the same day of the week at the same time with Laura a week later. I wanted another breakfast taco. The first one was so good I had been dreaming about it. What was delivered to me was less than what I was expecting. The tortilla was overtoasted to the point that it wouldn't bend, and crumbled as I ate it. the bottom of the taco was soaked in grease. The sausage was overcooked and tasteless, and the eggs were dry. It was made up slightly by the tasty but not spectacular tortilla soup I had as a side. And overall disappointing experience.

Bottom Line: Inconsistant OK Food - If you want breakfast, stick with Magnolia Cafe

Mariah: 6.5

Beluga Japanese Restaurant

http://www.belugasushi.net/

661 Louis Henna Blvd # 300

Round Rock, TX 78664

(512) 255-6454

There are a few lunch places that I tend to visit over and over again. Beluga Sushi on Louis Henna is one of them, but I hadn’t been there in a while. One reason is because none of their lunch specials are vegetarian, so I end up ordering a la carte items and that can get pricey. I usually get some combination of veggie roll, vegetable tempura, edamame, seaweed salad or age doshu (tempura tofu). I have to admit that while their veggie roll is good, it’s not spectacular and an entire plate of vegetable tempura is just too much fried friedness for one meal. Despite this and the fact that I just went to a sushi restaurant on Saturday, I decided to visit Beluga again today.

Beluga is in the HEB shopping center just west of A.W. Grimes on Louis Henna (45 tollway). It’s not much on the outside, but the inside is nicely done. It’s