An old friend is leaving to get an MBA at INSEAD in France, so we met for a farewell Happy Hour at Max's Wine Dive. My first impression of the place? It's snooty, dressy, Austin's latest happening happy hour and dinner spot, and has umm... fried... everything? It has clashingly southern style food for a modernistic wine place, in my opinion.
Let's see, what does a vegetarian eat at a southern style wine dive from the limited selection on the happy hour food menu?
Given that our table ordered 1-2 plates of everything, I ended up seeing and smelling everything and asking the others if the "drunk bread" had prosciutto in it, or the Mac-n-Cheese had bacon bits.
I ended up chowing down on the vegetarian Mac-and-Cheese (not too yellowy, and with a little gourmet touch to it) and the Tres Frites (again fried vegetables with a buttermilk dip to dunk in) that was tres average! As for the giant marinated Portabello Mushroom that came on a beautifully decorated plate, it was well, wierd to eat... (like shrivelled elephant skin? kills your appetite right there after piquing your interest at the wierdness of the plate).
The highlights of the evening? The wines (weren't too shabby) and the bread that I kept stealing off the sliders... In the end, one of our friends pushed the entire plate of 3 sliders in front of me and forced me to take the top bun off all of them... funny! But hey, how can a hungry vegetarian resist such surprisingly good bread?!
Showing posts with label Vegetarian in Austin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegetarian in Austin. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
It's Texas Ya'll
I landed in College Station in Texas in 2001. Fresh off the boat from Mumbai. Sniffing the US air for the first time. Jet-lagged. Excited.
And I had the (reverse) culture shock of a lifetime. Places shutdown early, there were no tall buildings, if you said the F-word (even in talking to your friends in public), wide-eyed Texan girls would turn to stare at you like you had committed a crime... was this place for real? I went from big bustling megalopolis to rural USA! Welcome to College Station, Texas - home of Texas A&M University. (Ranked as politically the most conservative in recent studies.)
So my next worry was about food. While I was more than prepared to fend for myself by cooking on my own (a typical graduate student thing if you are from an International country), I still loved eating out and exploring food options, so the thought of not being able to do that in College Station worried me in those initial days.
Needless to say, two years and a Master's degree later, I had explored food and more food in this rural college town and had no bad experiences. Well maybe the one time when I ate at Chilli's for the first time and told them to get me a bean burger, but after I bit into it, I realized it was a beef (aargggh) patty!
College Station isn't half as bad as I made it out to me in the beginning of this post, especially because a lot of immigrants from Asia choose to live there after retirement due to real estate prices and the easy lifestyle, many of them opening up restaurants with quite authentic tasting food.
Some of my best memories include eating at Dr. Grewal's parties when Dr. Grewal and some other grad students who were excellent cooks, made some really good Indian food. Dr. Grewal was a professor at A&M and his wife Amerika (Latina) was the Graduate Student Advisor for our MIS program in the B-school. So some of us lucky grad desi students who worked with either of them got invited to the parties and what parties they were! Great Indian food, Indian movies on their big-screen (wait - make that "big-ass" screen) TV, etc.
Over the course of the next few posts, I'll try to talk about how I ate my veggie way through College Station, Texas and enjoyed every bit of it too from the hot, hot, Thai-Phillipino food, to some very authentic Chinese food and not to mention, home-style cooked piping hot Indian food.
And I had the (reverse) culture shock of a lifetime. Places shutdown early, there were no tall buildings, if you said the F-word (even in talking to your friends in public), wide-eyed Texan girls would turn to stare at you like you had committed a crime... was this place for real? I went from big bustling megalopolis to rural USA! Welcome to College Station, Texas - home of Texas A&M University. (Ranked as politically the most conservative in recent studies.)
So my next worry was about food. While I was more than prepared to fend for myself by cooking on my own (a typical graduate student thing if you are from an International country), I still loved eating out and exploring food options, so the thought of not being able to do that in College Station worried me in those initial days.
Needless to say, two years and a Master's degree later, I had explored food and more food in this rural college town and had no bad experiences. Well maybe the one time when I ate at Chilli's for the first time and told them to get me a bean burger, but after I bit into it, I realized it was a beef (aargggh) patty!
College Station isn't half as bad as I made it out to me in the beginning of this post, especially because a lot of immigrants from Asia choose to live there after retirement due to real estate prices and the easy lifestyle, many of them opening up restaurants with quite authentic tasting food.
Some of my best memories include eating at Dr. Grewal's parties when Dr. Grewal and some other grad students who were excellent cooks, made some really good Indian food. Dr. Grewal was a professor at A&M and his wife Amerika (Latina) was the Graduate Student Advisor for our MIS program in the B-school. So some of us lucky grad desi students who worked with either of them got invited to the parties and what parties they were! Great Indian food, Indian movies on their big-screen (wait - make that "big-ass" screen) TV, etc.
Over the course of the next few posts, I'll try to talk about how I ate my veggie way through College Station, Texas and enjoyed every bit of it too from the hot, hot, Thai-Phillipino food, to some very authentic Chinese food and not to mention, home-style cooked piping hot Indian food.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Egg Biryani
Last night's dinner? Egg Biryani from Sarovar, an Indian restaurant in North Austin. I generally don't care for the food there, but it's probably the only place in town with good egg biryani - maybe even the only place in town "with" Egg Biryani!
Word of caution - their spice meter is from another planet. I believe the cooks/owners are from Hyderabad, a place in India where they traditionally make Indian food spicier than usual. However, Sarovar still needs to get the difference between "good, senses-stimulating, spicy" and "crazy, can't-eat-spicy".
But my best memories of egg biryani? "Gulistan", a Persian Hole-in-the-wall in Mumbai. Working at Channel [V] meant all kinds of odd hours and weekends at the little bungalow the music channel called home. It also meant playing road-racing games on the network, junk-food bingeing on food like Egg Biryani and Baida Paratha (Egg-bread) from Gulistan and going home bleary-eyed at the end of a weekend. Fun times. Fun people. Great memories.
I am still looking for a picture of that egg biryani. If I get lucky, I'll find one and post it here...
Word of caution - their spice meter is from another planet. I believe the cooks/owners are from Hyderabad, a place in India where they traditionally make Indian food spicier than usual. However, Sarovar still needs to get the difference between "good, senses-stimulating, spicy" and "crazy, can't-eat-spicy".
But my best memories of egg biryani? "Gulistan", a Persian Hole-in-the-wall in Mumbai. Working at Channel [V] meant all kinds of odd hours and weekends at the little bungalow the music channel called home. It also meant playing road-racing games on the network, junk-food bingeing on food like Egg Biryani and Baida Paratha (Egg-bread) from Gulistan and going home bleary-eyed at the end of a weekend. Fun times. Fun people. Great memories.
I am still looking for a picture of that egg biryani. If I get lucky, I'll find one and post it here...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Austin's best
From Valentine's Days to Birthdays and Anniversaries, and some "just-like-that" days, we've tried Austin's top-ranked "fancy" restaurants over the years and here's my list of must-dos. Bear in mind, this doesn't include Austin's good steak houses for obvious reasons;)
My TOP 5
1) Uchi
2) Aquarelle
3) Green Pastures
4) Fonda San Miguel
5) Kenichi
The NEXT FEW
6) Hudson's on the bend
7) Zoot
8) Mirabelle
9) Sullivan's (yes they have some nice veggie choices - more in a different article)
10) ...... yet to be filled (Will it be Wink, Paggi House...?)
My TOP 5
1) Uchi
2) Aquarelle
3) Green Pastures
4) Fonda San Miguel
5) Kenichi
The NEXT FEW
6) Hudson's on the bend
7) Zoot
8) Mirabelle
9) Sullivan's (yes they have some nice veggie choices - more in a different article)
10) ...... yet to be filled (Will it be Wink, Paggi House...?)
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Manuel's
If you ask me about my favorite Tex-Mex food in Austin, I'll say "Manuel's" without batting an eyelid! I eat at the downtown location atleast once every 2 weeks and thankfully the quality of food has only gone up in the last 6 months! (They have 2 or more locations in Austin).
The first time I went to the downtown location and was seated at a booth, I plonked myself down on the cushy looking black leather sofa only to be rewarded with a hard thwack. Ever since then, I warn first-timers to seat themselves gently or be punished! The complimentary chips are fresh and the salsa is thick and spicy - I suspect there is the slightest dash of cream in the salsa but I could be wrong!
My favorite appetizer was the Chile Con Queso (not like any queso you've ever imagined)... this one is spicy, cheesy and meant to be stuffed on a warm, fresh tortilla, rolled up and eaten hot! It's stringy and filled with tomatoes and jalapenoes as well - I introduce it as "the queso with a twist" to any first timer (and trust me I take plenty such people there from work)!
And then a friend introduced me to another delicious appetizer that I fantasize about on rainy days :)- the corn Gordita! The gordita is a grilled set of 3-4 potato and corn cakes that are served with the yummiest cilantro, garlic and tomatillo salsa and some pico-de-gallo. The ingredients are fresh so it adds to the flavors beautifully. The gordita does take a while to prepare but the servers usually inform you of the "extra prep" time upfront.
If I don't make a meal out of the above two, I go in for the bean and cheese flauta entree (with no sour cream and with salsa verde) instead. Two fresh flautas are served with guacamole and rice. At one time they made the rice with chicken stock, but then I remember they had changed it, but not sure what it is made of now, and I ususally just avoid eating it anyway.
As for the mole sauce, I was told it's the best in Austin, but a Mexican friend didn't think so. I wouldn't eat it anyway because apparently that's not vegetarian either. They also say Polvo's has the best mole sauce in Austin but after the owner got drunk and behaved like a jerk with us girls there one time, I think Polvo's has a horrible atmosphere and service and would choose Manuel's any day! Of course I've eaten at Polvo's and like the food there, but nasty incidents can unfortunately mar one's memories of a place. But I digress. Back to Manuel's...
At the downtown location, there's plenty of seating space and the bar is usually crowded on a weekend night. At lunch time I would recommend getting to the restaurant closer to 11:30-11:45 am to avoid the inevitable lunch rush and get done on time. (And by now, Monica, one of the main Maitre D's even knows my name!)
The first time I went to the downtown location and was seated at a booth, I plonked myself down on the cushy looking black leather sofa only to be rewarded with a hard thwack. Ever since then, I warn first-timers to seat themselves gently or be punished! The complimentary chips are fresh and the salsa is thick and spicy - I suspect there is the slightest dash of cream in the salsa but I could be wrong!
My favorite appetizer was the Chile Con Queso (not like any queso you've ever imagined)... this one is spicy, cheesy and meant to be stuffed on a warm, fresh tortilla, rolled up and eaten hot! It's stringy and filled with tomatoes and jalapenoes as well - I introduce it as "the queso with a twist" to any first timer (and trust me I take plenty such people there from work)!
And then a friend introduced me to another delicious appetizer that I fantasize about on rainy days :)- the corn Gordita! The gordita is a grilled set of 3-4 potato and corn cakes that are served with the yummiest cilantro, garlic and tomatillo salsa and some pico-de-gallo. The ingredients are fresh so it adds to the flavors beautifully. The gordita does take a while to prepare but the servers usually inform you of the "extra prep" time upfront.
If I don't make a meal out of the above two, I go in for the bean and cheese flauta entree (with no sour cream and with salsa verde) instead. Two fresh flautas are served with guacamole and rice. At one time they made the rice with chicken stock, but then I remember they had changed it, but not sure what it is made of now, and I ususally just avoid eating it anyway.
As for the mole sauce, I was told it's the best in Austin, but a Mexican friend didn't think so. I wouldn't eat it anyway because apparently that's not vegetarian either. They also say Polvo's has the best mole sauce in Austin but after the owner got drunk and behaved like a jerk with us girls there one time, I think Polvo's has a horrible atmosphere and service and would choose Manuel's any day! Of course I've eaten at Polvo's and like the food there, but nasty incidents can unfortunately mar one's memories of a place. But I digress. Back to Manuel's...
At the downtown location, there's plenty of seating space and the bar is usually crowded on a weekend night. At lunch time I would recommend getting to the restaurant closer to 11:30-11:45 am to avoid the inevitable lunch rush and get done on time. (And by now, Monica, one of the main Maitre D's even knows my name!)
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