The Woodland on South Congress
- The place has a really nice vibe, it does have a full bar and the side with the bar on it is extremely loud, which is where we got seated. When we left we saw there was seating on the other side of the restaurant which was probably much quieter. The menu isn't too extensive, it's your classic American with a modern twist kind of food. They served warm rolls with butter before out food came. I ordered the Woodland salad with chicken added (for $6). It was small for a dinner salad. It had cooked beets, ricotta salata, mixed greens, sunflower sprouts and seeds. All over it was nothing special. The chicken was just plain grilled with no flavor of it's own. I wouldn't go back there for the food, maybe for the bar and atmosphere. Amy had the reuben, it was better than the one from 34th Street Cafe and even gave the one from New World Deli a run for its money but I didn't like the bread, had a licorice flavor to it which I think is due to... fennel seed? Not 100% sure but if it weren't for the bread it would've been amazing. Amy loved it. It came with a side of really delicious potato salad. She also ordered a drink call the Eudora. It tasted very strongly of bourbon which I don't like so just the smell of it made me cringe. The cocktail menu is very different with flavors like cucumber, elderflower and grapefruit. But like I said they have a full bar so I'm sure they can make any drink upon request.
- This place seems like a dream come true. An old fashioned candy and soda shop. I tried my first piece of salt water taffy, nothing special. Amy had a piece of chocolate covered bacon which she loved, I thought it was okay. But what I HAVE to hate on are the truffles. We were really excited to have a small truffle. I got the Black Forest and she got a Dark Chocoalte Macadamia Nut truffle. They were TERRIBLE! The Black Forest wreaked of artificial cherry flavoring and it was SO sweet it was nauseating. Amy's also tasted artificial and ridiculously sweet. It was so disappointing and just downright inedible, and that's say a lot for chocolate! Why is it so hard to find people who use real ingredients instead of just artificially flavored extracts? Who don't make everything sickeningly sweet?
Breakfast 2/14
Austin Bakehouse on Manchaca and Stassney
- This place is a little gem of a restaurant which I found on austin.citysearch.com when looking for breakfast places. We took forever to order because we couldn't decide on what to get! We finally ended up sharing the eggs benedict, one pancake, a slice of french toast and a side of refried beans and home fries. It sounds like a lot, and it was a lot of variation, but each part wasn't overly sized. This was my first taste of eggs benedict so I had nothing to compare it to, I thought it was okay. My egg was cooked perfectly and the canadian bacon was delicious but there was hardly any hollandaise on it and that was disappointing. Amy was disappointed by it and said she wouldn't order it again. The french toast wasn't very good either, we thought it needed some cinnamon or some other seasoning. The bread is made in house which is nice but the french toast itself didn't taste like much of anything. The refried beans were delcious, clearly seasoned or cooked with bacon or bacon fat, you can taste it, which makes it even more delicious. Definitely worth ordering again. The home fries had sauteed onions mixed in which added so much flavor and with an extra sprinkling of salt they were perfect. But the piece de resistance of the meal was the pancake. We got the apple cinnamon pecan pancake and, hold your breath, it was better than Kerbey Lane's pancakes! There were literally real pieces of apples and pecans in the pancake. You could tast the cinnamon and they are made with half whole wheat flour. They were flavorful and light and absolutely perfect. Over all it's a really cute place where it's obvious that most of the customers are regulars familiar with the waiters. It's a really chill, relaxed environment. And pretty cheap too, all that food came to about $12 each with tip (and we had some french toast left over)! For pancakes, I'll definitely be going back!
Lunch 2/14
FoodHeads on 34th Street
- Wow. I ordered the half Chicken and Eggplant sandwich with half Greek salad. And wow. Firstly, the greek salad was the best I've ever had. Greens, cucumber, olives, crutons, feta cheese, tomatoes, red onion, delicious dressing, not too tangy, not too much -- just perfect. It was incredible. The sandwich though was the best part. Grilled chicken, eggplant, basil pesto, blackberry balsamic vinaigrette and goat cheese (enough to put me into goat cheese heaven!) all on multigrain bread. It was absolutely incredible. Not only was the food amazing but the place is SO adorable. They brew Republic of Tea, they have fresh flowers all over the place, it's so homey and cosy and adorable. I also shared an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (my favorite kind!), the flavor was delicious but it was crunchy instead of chewy, I prefer them chewy. They're baked fresh from scratch with all real ingredients - butter, sugar, eggs - yum! All their other ingredients are fresh also. No frozen meat, no frozen egg patties. Real eggs used all around. Their bread is delivered fresh daily from Mandolo's (at the Triangle on 45th and Guadalupe). In sum, go here, try it, it's delicious! Adorable and all real, natural food. Ditch the food chains and go to Food Heads!
Dinner 2/14
Bess on West 6th
- Wow. This place was incredible! West 6th street, super swanky. The place has a great upscale but down to earth vibe. My friends and I went there Valentine's night and all the tables were booked but we walked in hoping for luck and, what do you know, we sat immediately at the bar and got served! Even better than sitting at a table! Our bartender/waitress Summer was awesome. Knowledgeable, super sweet. Amy and I began by sharing the cheese plate which came with wine soaked goat cheese, two types of blue cheese, manchego, and brie, crackers, grapes and prosciutto wrapped almond stuffed dates (oh my god!). It was an incredible beginning to the evening. Superseded only by our main entree: Steak Frites. I hadn't had steak frites in a long time (essentially a tenderloin and fries). And this one brought back all the right memories. The tenderloin was cooked medium, it was absolute perfection. The fries were thin cut, not greasy at all. It all came with a demi-glace which we poured over the fries... we were basically licking the plate. I cannot even put into words here how incredible everything was. The service, the ambiance, the food, the quality. The food was absolutely incredible. Flavorful... just perfection. I would without a doubt recommend this place and go back here in a heartbeat to try their other dishes. Yes, it is Sandra Bullock's restaurant and, yes, she was sitting in the corner eating dinner. She is there regularly, down to earth, just minding her own business. It was awesome. What an incredible evening!
- Cocktails: Made with real fruit? What an idea! (I didn't drink all these myself!)
- Vespa - Kind of sweet and mellow, really nice. Made with pear vodka, gin, peach juice...
- Lagniappe - Needed to add a bit more raspberry puree to it because it was too strong for my tastes, but then it was delicious. At the bottom of my glass were all my crushed raspberries! Yum yum! Made with raspberries, lime, basil... vodka? or gin I think?
- Rockstar Martini
- Redlight Martini - Think this was the one which was just pomegranate juice and vodka, it was surprisingly delicious, the best cocktail of the night!
- Something with mango? Literally had mango puree coming up the straw, which was awesome, but it was made with bourbon, which I don't like.
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