munchcake

welcome to Austin!. we have lots of great restaurants here, but a road trip through the hill country is always worthwhile. here's a list of suggestions: TEX MEX: Austin - (I think it's better in san antonio, but here are some suggestions): las manitas for lunch during the week juan in a million (for the name and the "don juan" breakfast taco, and for the thin, actually HOT sauce) san antonio - Los Barrios Teka Molina (on San Pedro or St. Mary's - has THE BEST tortilla soup, also bean and guacamole cups). My favorite. MEX-MEX: Austin - Fonda San Miguel - I'm sure this has already been mentioned, but I think it's great - especially the cochinita a pibil - slow-roasted pork with achiote. Asian: Austin - Din Ho - far up north, but worth the drive for delicious Chinese BBQ. Tam Deli - North of 183 on Lamar - delicious vietnamese bakery and cafe. closed tuesdays Musashino - fantastic sushi. my favorite is the sayori Uchi - also fantastic sushi, with some interesting (and successful) fusion dishes). barbecue: luling and lockhart (SE of Austin) Smitty's (lockhart) City Market (luling) - Ruth Reichl writes about this place - it's amazing. it's about 20 minutes further from Austin than Lockhart, but their delicious mustard-based sauce might be worth it. Road trip: to Mason (NW of Austin) Cooper's - much better than Llano cousin, and more representative of hill country game (their goat is to die for!) Taqueria Santos - fantastic tex-mex - call ahead, weird hours. Also, if you go to SAN ANTONIO, check out: Sand Bar - fantastic seafood owned by Chef Weisman of Le Reve. Great Oyster selection and lobster rolls. only open for lunch. Have a great visit and please let us know what you think of our favorite spots! Lauren

Kent, I've been to Taverna a few times for lunch and have yet to be impressed. The best thing about it, is the outdoor seating, but everything else was unremarkable. On my last visit, I had their chopped salad with chicken. It was rather plain, and some of the ingredients listed on the menu (hearts of palm, avocado) seemed to have been forgotten. The chicken was a breast that had been stuffed, rolled, and boiled, which made it look pretty unappealing. On another visit, I had an arugula pizza with some prosciutto, and the crust was quite undercooked and greasy. The rest of the lunch menu seems very heavy. Pastas and risottos are not really my thing for a midday meal, so I can't comment on those. Taverna's always been packed when I've been there, so others must like it. Perhaps someone else has had a better experience.

Kent, I don't think that the SDC contributors would consider themselves "gourmets." Did you read their manifesto? A few highlights: SDC Likes: Quality Pepper Grinders Decent Bathrooms Good value for the money spent (i.e. being full after spending $50) SDC Dislikes: Long waits for a table Reservations Auto-grat for large parties Whole tomatoes Those criteria may eliminate many of the restaurants you would have them review. And egulleters are probably not their target audience. Their reviews are not insightful or even descriptive, and they focus very much on quantity over quality as related to price. However, I see nothing wrong with SDC expressing their opinions - the site is just not a guide I'd use to find my next dining destination. As for reviewing "excellent" restaurants - I think there IS a general consensus that certain restaurants are "excellent" and it's unnecessary for them to be reviewed over and over again. Dale Rice writes about the Driskill, Aquarelle and Cafe at the Four Seasons several times per year. In my mind he's doing Austin much more of a disservice than SDC. I'd love to have smaller, more interesting and more affordable restaurants highlighted - not to mention some description of a wine list. I think that the Chronicle has better food coverage, but I wish that they would publish reviews more often. eGullet is probably my favorite way to learn about Austin's gems - "excellent" or excellent - so let's focus on the food and not debate the merits of a restaurant log that rates men's rooms and pepper grinders.

For me, it's a tie between: City Market, Luling (mostly because of the delicious brisket - but their mustardy sauce is definitely the best) Smitty's, Lockhart (probably the best barbecue i've ever had). Also, I don't love barbecue sausage but theirs tastes much less processed than other central TX snausage. And then Cooper's in Mason. Much better than Llano and better atmosphere.

Mazman- Hope you have a great trip. In SA I'd HIGHLY recommend Liberty Bar. Simple, yummy food and a good wine list. If I'm not mistaken, bottles over $50 are discounted by 50% on Mondays. I've also heard good things about Sandbar downtown for fish dishes. Never been to Biga for Sunday brunch, but the handfull of dinners I'e had there have been awful. If you're looking for Tex Mex, I think Los Barrios is hard to beat. For lunch in SA, I like Panchito's and Teca Molina or Chris Madrid's for a delicious burger. In Austin, I'd recommend Wink or Zoot (contemporary American) and maybe Asti, Vespaio (both Italian), or Fino (Spanish/Mediterranean). Wink, Asti and Fino are open Monday but closed Sunday and vice versa for Zoot and Vespaio. All are casual. Asti, Fino and Vespaio are probably a little bit more lively and Fino has a beautiful patio for outdoor dining. The Driskill is most definitely NOT casual and was a huge disappointment when I went. If you're in the mood for sushi, Uchi's a good choice but also closed Sundays. Uchi and Vespaio have pretty limiting reservations policies and long waits, but are well worth it. For lunch in Austin, check out Vespaio's Enoteca, Tam Deli (if you've got a car - it's pretty far north) for delicious sandwiches and noodle dishes, or Starlite's new location downtown. Or you may want to check out our ridiculous Whole Foods at 6th and Lamar. It's probably like nothing you've ever seen. On the road between SA and Austin if you have time to stop in Luling or Lockhart, there's great barbecue to be found.

BondGirl - Uchi's kitchen is much more fusion than its sushi bar. Interesting combinations of Japanese ingredients and French technique. One of the signature "sashimis" is a salad of tuna and goat cheese, which didn't work nearly as well as a pan-seared fish (bass?) in tomato-dashi broth that blended eastern and western ingredients much more seamlessly. Delicious. It's also nice to see equal consideration given to cold sakes and reasonably-priced wines.

Has anyone stayed here? A friend and I are thinking about coming up to Montreal for a visit...we used to live nearby and were curious about the hotel. How are the rooms? Is there a bar? Whatever happened with the restaurant?

I'd try Zoot. I've had much better experiences there than at Wink. My last two visits over the past month have been excellent. Great service and food if you order right. I personally love Uchi, and yes - their entrees are fabulous but also think that the raw fish offerings are worth a visit on their own. If you're looking for something you can't get in DC, I might avoid La Traviata and Vespaio. They're pretty run of the mill Italian. If you're in the mood, definitely try Vespaio over La Trav. For Barbecue, if you have a car and are heading to Salt Lick, why not drive an extra 20 minutes or so and go to Lockhart or Luling? Luling's about an hour outside of Austin, but City Market there could change your life. Maybe the best deal in town is the Don Juan at Juan in a Million. It's a breakfast taco of ridiculous proportions and will set you back a mere $2.75. It is fabulous if you like your potatoes, eggs, cheese and tortillas to taste like bacon. From the links posted nest to your signature, maybe you'd like to check out some local Indian food? It's not the greatest, but Clay Pit bills itself as contemporary Indian cuisine. It's in a great space and some of their dishes are quite yummy. Enjoy your trip and please report back. You can always check out Citysearch or statesman.com (local newspaper) for ideas. I wouldn't put too much stock in Dale Rice's reviews, but you'll get a general sense of what's out there.

Elion, While several Austin restaurant do offer tasting menus, their courses often seem to be lifted from the a la carte offerings. I reviewed one such experience at Wink, on Lamar, which you can read about here. It wasn't the best. Jeffrey's and the Driskill both offer tasting menus, although Jeffrey's dishes can also be found on the regular menu. Aquarelle seems to follow the same pattern. In terms of service, atmosphere, and quality of food, I haven't found that dining at Wink, Jeffrey's or Aquarelle really approaches an experience at GT, but it may be worth a shot. I believe that you can do an omakase at Musashino or Uchi, where what's on your plate depends on daily arrivals and the whims of the chef, but don't know if that's what you're looking for. If you do check out any of the local tasting menus, please report back, because I'd love to find out what other people think. Lauren

Thanks so much for all of your help. I'll definitely have to check out the Meat Shop and the farmer's market. We've been living here almost two months and have somehow managed to be out of the city every Saturday so far. Hopefully this weekend will be different... As for the butcher who was clueless about hangar, he was almost offended by onglet. I didn't make a note of the place, because I just figured I'd never think about going there, but it was definitely not the Meat Shop, Cooper's, Henry's or Central Market. I'll be happy to call around again to find out. I guess it's back to CM for fish. I just wish they had a wider selection of while fish. Do you all find the N. Lamar location better than Westgate? Thanks again for all of your help. Lauren

Batman- The menu's changed since I was there for the last time in June, but the panna cotta is excellent. I remember the mussels beings very good as well as the skate. All of the appetizers have been good, but some of the old mains were less than stellar. I don't see them on the current menu though. Enjoy. It's a great place and an excellent value. Lauren

I'm new in town and although I love Central Market, I'd like to find some independent food shops. Are there any good butchers, fishmongers, or green grocers in town? Also, do any egulleters know where I might be able to find hanger steak without having to special order it? I called around town today to find some and most places told me it would take a week or so to get in. One butcher told me he'd never heard of it and I got a five minute speech about how chefs make up fancy names for cuts that don't exist. Thanks for your help. Lauren

Theabroma - He writes for the Statesman. (statesman.com) He's very positive about the majority of his dining experiences. As for Nobu, I'm only curious about its opening in Austin, because it seems a little inappropriate for the market, especially one that likes to support local chefs and farmers. I hope it's just a rumor, because an ultra high-end Japanese restaurant with an absentee chef doesn't really feel like something Austin needs. But maybe I'm wrong.

Jaymes - Yes, BF is here to work, but I don't think he's sure where yet. We've been in Montreal and New York for the last 4 years, and are just getting to know the Austin food scene. Do you know of any restaurants that are particularly interesting? Do you know whether there's any truth to the rumor that there will be a Nobu outpost opening up? I feel a little bit bad about being so negative about our experience at wink, but it really was disappointing, especially because of so many positive published reviews. Do you find that, in general, the local food press (Dale Rice in particular) is pretty generous?

My boyfriend and I recently moved to Austin from Montreal, and, as he is a chef and I am mildly obsessed with food, we've been trying to scout out local restaurants to enjoy. Tonight we dined at Wink, a small market-based restaurant on Lamar, because of stellar recommendations from locals and critics. I'll give a run down of what we ate, but the best way to describe the overall experience is total disappointment. To get a better sense of the restaurant we decided to order a tasting menu. I'm not used to reading descriptions of dishes on a tasting menu. In fact I prefer to be surprised. However, in this case, I'm glad we got to see it. First of all, there was nothing on the menu that varied in any way from what was offered a la carte: mussels followed by sweetbreads followed by duck confit followed by NY strip followed by a cheese course. We were told that we could make any substitutions, but that the duck would be replaced by ono because "the duck doesn't work in tasting portions." So why put it on at all? We decided that the menu as stated was a little protein-centric and substituted a "beet, asparagus, mache and goat cheese-creme salad" for the mussles, which, under normal circumstances would have been a wise choice. Beet Salad: I love beet salad. However, for an establishment that prides itself on specialty produce, red beets are a little bit unimpressive. More importantly, the mache and asparagus lacked any dressing or seasoning and there was no goat cheese creme to be found. An interesting addition to the salad was a quarter teaspoon of raw israeli couscous. I'm pretty sure it had less to do with adding texture to the dish than with an oversight in the kitchen. Sweetbreads: These were outstanding. Crispy, delicious sweetbreads, perfectly seasoned, atop grilled king oyster mushrooms, some sort of green (oversalted) and fabulous beluga lentils. The lentils were beautiful, and the acidic butter sauce underneath complemented the sweetbreads perfectly. An excellent dish. I wish I could remember the greens because they provided a welcome crunch. My only complaint is that asparagus was repeated as a garnish. Ono: This might have been the worst dish we were served. Our waitress described the fish as "melt in your mouth." Unfortunately for us, this couldn't have been farther from the truth. The fish was incredibly dry, and the rest of the dish was oversalted. Not only that, but a clear theme began to emerge: protein atop "exotic" (amaranth) greens atop "exotic" (black trumpet) mushrooms. Also, there was a totally superfluous balsamic drizzle around the plate, made runny by the fact that my greens were not drained before plating. The trumpet mushrooms did provide a nice textural contrast, however. NY strip: Our steak was cooked perfectly to order (medium rare) and served with a yummy mustard compound butter. The butter was definitely a good idea because strip tends to be lean and lacks flavor. The steak was also paired with greens and mushrooms, as well as salsify. It was fine, but by the end of the meal, I was a little bit tired of the seared meat, mushroom and green formula. Cheese course: We were served a cheese course with 4 extremely small servings of different cheeses: brie, spanish drunken goat, mimolette, and a roquefort. These were accompanied by melba toast, a sprinkling of apple slices, flavorless miniature kiwis and raspberries. Also, there were some candied nuts which may have been the worst I've ever had. They tasted as if they had been coated in egg white and plain white sugar. The brie was unlike any I'd ever tasted: acidic, chalky. The spanish goat's cheese was delicious. Mimolette, the hard orange cheese doesn't belong on a cheese plate. The roquefort was fine, but mostly rind. Wine: On a positive note, I found the wine list well-priced, interesting, and appropriate to the food. Rather than opting for the suggested pairings ($30 pp) to go along with the tasting menu, we opted to split a delicious bottle of Gewurztraminer ($35) and take a glass of cotes du rhone with the beef course. Both wines were excellent. At $12.25 for two very generous pours, the red was a bargain. All in all, the meal was underwhelming with a few high notes (sweetbreads and wine) and some very low lows. The tab came out to around $230 including tax and tip. Our waitress was very nice and it was great to be accomodated with regards to changing a course in the tasting menu. It was a convivial atmosphere, but the food (which should be the main attraction) was enough of a detraction that I doubt we'll return. What have been your experiences? Am I too quick to write them off? Any input (as well as other restaurant suggestions) would be much appreciated. Lauren edited for clarity and grammar