[Austin] FINO Restaurant, Patio & Bar

[Kent Wang]

I went to Fino last night with three dining companions.

House Made Chorizo & Fabada Stew, Littleneck Clams, Smoked Bacon & White Beans ($8). There was hardly any chorizo in this. If you're going to make your own chorizo, shouldn't it be featured more prominently in this dish? This was just a boring thin stew.

FINO Cured Salmon with Horseradish Creme Fraiche, Yukon Golds & Chives ($8.50). Is this dish Mediterranean in any way? Salmon was lackluster. They shouldn't bother to cure their own salmon if it tastes the same as commercial products. The cured salmon at Hudson's on the Bend -- now that's good house-cured salmon.

Lamb-Beef Keftas, Mint-Yogurt Sauce ($8). This was pretty good. Sometimes all-lamb can be too gamey -- cutting it with ground beef was a good idea.

Flatbread of Serrano Ham & Manchego Cheese, White Truffle Oil ($9). Not your typical tapas dish as you would expect as the ham and cheese are placed on top of the flatbreads and baked. Interesting variation on a staple.

Grilled Calamari & Piquillo Pepper Salad, Potato & Celery, Red Wine Vinaigrette ($7). So-so. Calamari was pretty tough.

Paella with Spanish Rice with Shrimp, Clams, Mussels, Calamari, Tomato & Saffron

for 2 ($32). "For 2" is a low estimate. Two people would be very full ordering just this.

Food was sub-par, especially considering the price. I don't buy this pan-Mediterranean theme. It doesn't make sense to lump Spanish food together with Middle Eastern cuisine. The small plates were entirely uninteresting. If you want real tapas, or real Spanish cuisine go to Malaga instead. Fino becomes a much better deal during happy hour when small plates are half price.

The bar has Sazerac on the menu ($8)!

Decor is nice, similar to Asti but much warmer with lots of candles and soft lighting, more wood than steel. There's even a large, heated outdoor area. Not very scenic as it overlooks the parking lot but it's probably the only outdoor seating area that is suitable in cold weather.

Edit: Fixed sentence about keftas.

Edited November 5, 2006 by Kent Wang (log)

[sambamaster]

"fino becomes a much better deal..." (see below for context)

How is mediocre food, even at half price a good deal? Why bother????? Why not go somewhere else where the food is decent...there is not enough time in one's life to waste on crappy food, regardless of price! Especially if you know it's going to be mediocre. Fino is just another place to be seen and some people like to pat themselves on the back because they are smart enough (!) to eat at places like this. I'm still laughing at the good deal statement.

Kent, you planning to go back there to save some money???

I went to Fino last night with three dining companions.

House Made Chorizo & Fabada Stew, [snip]  This was just a boring thin stew.

FINO Cured Salmon with Horseradish Creme Fraiche, Yukon Golds & Chives ($8.50). Is this dish Mediterranean in any way? Salmon was lackluster.

Grilled Calamari & Piquillo Pepper Salad, Potato & Celery, Red Wine Vinaigrette ($7). So-so. Calamari was pretty tough.

Food was sub-par, [snip] The small plates were entirely uninteresting.

[snip] Fino becomes a much better deal during happy hour when small plates are half price.

←

[Kent Wang]

No, you're right. I'd rather go to Malaga's happy hour than Fino's.

On another note, has anyone tried the desserts at Fino? The menu online doesn't look very interesting. I love the desserts at Asti.

[jess mebane]

This less-than stellar review seems like such a shame, especially to those of us who are so fond of Asti. Perhaps it's just that M/M Fox seemed to create such a serendipitous mise en place there in their cozy corner of Hype Park, what with the lovely food, ambience and gentle hippie holdout staff.

I've not been to Fino, and now it appears I won't have to, but I'll hazard a guess that the owners are a little out of their depth in attempting the 'see and be seen' end of the resti biz. Emmet is a schmoozer on par, but I can see where it might be a little creepy and hollow if the food wasn't good. Any chance it might get better with a few bugs worked out of the system?

[Kent Wang]

Honestly, I don't think Asti is very good. See: [Austin] Italian restaurant round-up. It doesn't belong in the same tier as Vespaio, Siena and La Traviata. Their only redeeming feature for me is the dessert menu.

Any chance it might get better with a few bugs worked out of the system?

←

No chance. The very concept of a pan-Mediterranean restaurant is deeply flawed. And as much as I think Asti is second-rate, I find Fino even worse.

One nice thing I'll say about the Foxes' restaurants is that the graphic design used for Asti and Fino are terrific. Really hip, colorful, clean. I say go just to check out their menu covers -- if that sort of thing excites you.

[MissAmy]

The first time I went to Fino, just after its opening, the food was superb. The second time I went, some things were great, some only ok. The third time I went I was seriously disappointed. I haven't been back.

I still love Asti, though. Don't care what anyone says.

[tetsujustin]

Honestly, I don't think Asti is very good. See: [Austin] Italian restaurant round-up. It doesn't belong in the same tier as Vespaio, Siena and La Traviata. Their only redeeming feature for me is the dessert menu.

Any chance it might get better with a few bugs worked out of the system?

←

No chance. The very concept of a pan-Mediterranean restaurant is deeply flawed. And as much as I think Asti is second-rate, I find Fino even worse.

One nice thing I'll say about the Foxes' restaurants is that the graphic design used for Asti and Fino are terrific. Really hip, colorful, clean. I say go just to check out their menu covers -- if that sort of thing excites you.

←

Have you had the lardo pizza at vespaio enoteca, if so, how was it? I was seriously considering that on my last visit, but because of the people around me, ended up with the proscuitto pizza with a fried egg on top, which was pretty damn good. Better than the version here in Houston at Dolce Vita (no, not a gelato place.) Most everything I had that night was pretty good, but I was really intrigued with the lardo pizza, and I haven't had the chance to get back to Austin to try it.

[Kent Wang]

Wow, they even have French onion soup and escargot on the menu. I realize that France is on the Mediterranean but I doubt most people would consider it to be Mediterranean. So, really this restaurant is pan-European plus Middle Eastern cuisine. I can't think of any other restaurant in Austin that lacks as much focus as Fino.

I went back again on Monday with another group -- not my idea, of course.

FINO Chicken Liver Mousse Pate Dijon Mustard, Cornichons, Red Onion Jam & Crostini ($8). Awful lot of pate for the money. Red onion jam was nice, too. This is my favorite dish of theirs, the best value as well.

Escargot in Filo Purses, Parsley-Beurre Blanc ($8.50). Filo was great, escargot reasonably tender. Parsley beurre blanc was very sweet, tasty on its own but did not complement escargot.

Wild Mushroom Bourekia ($7.50). Very fluffy and flaky filo.

Also ordered a handful of other dishes but they are not on the online menu and were not memorable.

The three small plates that I mentioned above were much better than anything I ordered last time, but my opinion of the restaurant remains quite low.

[jess mebane]

dang, but that is a shame, KW. I think we can all reasonably agree that you have put in the time and effort on this establishment, perhaps more than Fino deserved.

I'm with Miss Amy on Asti--mighty fine for the price. There is an ever-increasing trend for Italian establishments to get all posh and "event-dining" skewed, and Asti just doesn't go in for all that folderol, anymore than any self-respecting Italian joint back east does. Perhaps the owners lost sight of something important there when Fino opened......

This also sounds like something Batali is suffering thru with the new meatpacking district place, albeit on a much, MUCH smaller scale.