Evangeline Cafe

Old Austin didn't die . . . it just moved South

http://www.evangelinecafe.com/

The Errant Nephew buzzed through and that plus the tax blues was a good excuse to hit the town. We got a mile from the house, saw the Evangeline Cafe and that was town enough for us. The first time I had Evangeline goodies was back in the winter of aught-four. We were on the mainland for the arrival of the #1 Grandson and I was holed up in the double-in-laws guest cabin cranking out "Hell in a Briefcase." I emerged long enough for dinner and a glance at the bambino and some kind soul brought takeout from Evangeline. After four years in Hawaii, where Cajun is hard to come by, words cannot describe my elation.

The Evangeline is tucked in a strip mall along Brodie between Eskew and Alexandria. There are some tables out on the sidewalk and a bunch more inside, where the ambiance is South Austin neighborly. There seem to be a lot of regulars and you frequently see folks coming in and visting with other tables before taking a seat. The walls are overloaded with photos of musicians and others sprinkled with oddities in an eclectic yard sale bargains motif.

The first time you go, you have to try the stuffed pistolette, a petite French roll stuffed with shrimp or crawfish in a creamy cheese sauce. Serious appetizer action, folks. This time we tried the boudin, which was nice and spicy. Spread a little on your cracker and you're doing Cajun pate! I decided to take it easy and stay on the appetizer menu, going for the small seafood gumbo and a cup of red beans and rice. When they said cup, they really meant it. It was interesting eating red beans and rice out of a coffee cup, but it was just the right amount. On the other hand, the small gumbo was pretty significant in size, as you can see from the Rokr photo. In the background you can see the baby Shiner glass they give you with the beer. The Errant Nephew followed suit, but The Woman got the fried Shrimp dinner and raved about it. Eight oxymoronic jumbo shrimp.

A few weeks later, some readers on spring-break stopped by to treat us to dinner at the Evangeline. I was impressed, seeing as how the review hadn't been posted yet, so they had discovered the place strictly via the Internet. Google is your friend. By the way, gentle readers, if there's some place you want to see reviewed, this is the way to make it happen. Come on into town and take me to dinner there. I'll review it. Guarranteed.

This time we experienced the Evangeline the way it should be. Ten folks crowded around tables pushed together, dishes ordered family style and passed around. The matriarch of the visiting clan directed operations from one end of the table while everyone else enjoyed the fruit of her labors. Pistolettes, boudin, seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, cornbread, and the coup de grace, the Catfish with Crawfish Macque Choux. So in demand that additional orders were placed and we passed it around again. Picture, if you will, pan satueed catfish served on steamed rice, smothered with a crawfish creole corn chowder. Sounds unusual, doesn't it? Tastes incredibly good. It's the thing to order. But go in a group so you can sample what everyone else gets, too.

From past visits I can also testify to the Crawfish Evangeline, the etoufee and the creole. It's probably hard to go wrong at the Evangeline, which got a Zagat A rating and has won several Critic's Choice awards from the Austin Chronicle. With two Cajun eateries a mile or so from my house, both great, I'm pretty much set. If you're trying to decide between the two, I'll help you out. Evangeline is more authentic Cajun and has a more relaxed, down home atmosphere. Cypress is trendier, with a more eclectic menu and the irresitable muffaleta. Both have Abita beer, Community Coffee and live music. That really didn't make it any easier, did it?

Better idea. Try them both!

Korea Garden Redux - Podcast

You gotta do this

Location:6519 N. Lamar, Austin, TX Phone: 512-302-3149 Hours: Mon-Thu 11a-10p, Sat-Sun 12p-10p

SpyMan and Wunderfool drag The Woman down to the Korea Garden for a night of revelry and yakiniku craziness, then return to talk about it while The Woman takes a nap.

Iguana Grill

Mexican food with a view

Website: www.iguanagrillaustin.com

OK, so yeah, it is a Tex-Mex place. And yeah, I’ve reviewed a half dozen already. But this is different. It’s the Tex-Mex place with a view. And not only that, the food is pretty good.

Let’s face it, you don’t turn to the bride of your youth and say, “Hey, old trouble and strife, I’m jonesing for some haute cuisine. Let’s don the nosebag at yon Tex-Mex beanery.” [Actually, nobody would ever say that, as it cobbles together the argot of 4 or 5 different cultures. Plus, the trouble and strife might bat you upside the head with a stuffed eelskin.] No, Tex-Mex isn't about fine dining. It's about waddling away afterward for a siesta of the sated.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the thing about the Iguana is the view. You go at sunset, sit out on the veranda, watch the sun sink into the lake, listen to the band and sip the beverage of your choice. At that point do you really care what you order? Oh, you do? Well, then, relax – you’re at the Iguana Grill.

They call the food Upscale Mexican a.k.a. Lake Mex. And so it is, both upscale and lake. In addition to the usual options, you can enjoy the Especialidades:

• Camarones a La Plancha (grilled shrimp with a red chile barbeque sauce)
• Enchiladas de Espinaca y hongos (spinach and mushroom enchiladas with a mild poblano cream sauce)
• Enchiladas Suisas con Camarones (seasoned shrimp stuffed enchiladas topped with a rich sour cream sauce)
• Enchiladas de Pollo con Mole (chicken enchiladas served with a traditionally rich sauce of Mexican Chiles, toasted seeds and nuts and a hint of chocolate)
• Rainbow Trout Vera Cruz (grilled and topped with a spicy sauce of tomatoes, onions and olives)
• Chile Montado (batter-dipped poblano chile on top of beef picadillo and rice, topped with zesty ranchero and melted cheese)

OK, so you probably won't lose any weight going to the Iguana, but you can always do a few laps across the lake.

Bombay Bistro

Open the Bombay doors!

Website: www.Bombay-Bistro.com

The Woman told a co-worker from India about the great buffet meal we experienced back during the rains of winter and was informed that the best Indian dining experience in Austin is at the Bombay Bistro. We are both lovers of Indian cuisine. (For me it is second only to Thai.) So, when Valentine's Day rolled around, guess where the lovers had to go? Fortunately, this time we knew of the destination beforehand, so there were no stunt-car maneuvers across multiple lanes of traffic. At least none beyond the normal techniques required to get to Braker and 183 during rush hour.

The nice thing about rush hour dates is beating the crowd to dinner. They're all lemming home on the highway in a crowd and then lemming their way to a restaurant in a crowd. We just zip to our assignation on surface streets and sip the beverage of our choice at our leisure and then order something incredible to eat.

Which is exactly what they have at Bombay Bistro--incredible things to eat. Our source did not fail us, may a thousand rose petals perfume her presence. Only a few tables were occupied when we arrived. The light was suitably subdued and became subduer as the evening progressed. Highly romantic. Until you sit on the booth cushion that allows you to rest your chin on the table. (I recommend going for a chair, instead.)

We ordered drinks and they brought the papadum with sauces and then the dilemma was upon us. One virtue of the buffet is that you don't have to make the hard choices. You really can have it all. And then waddle out after. But The Woman discovered the solution--the Jugalbhandi Dinner for Two ($40). Check this out:

• Vegetable Samosas
• Tandoori Chicken
• Salmon Tikka
• Tandoori Prawn
• Lamb Korma
• Saag Paneer (spinach)
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Onion Kulcha
• Kachcumber Salad (cucumber)
• Onion Kulcha
• Rasmalai or Mango ice cream

Dinner for two? I'd say more like four! I couldn't leave without trying the okra, so we ordrered Bhindi Masala. The waiter warned us that it was a lot of food, but we were already planning on taking a good portion home, so one more dish wasn't going to change that. And we did take home two large, square, sectioned containers and two small containers. Enough for a couple more meals, so figure that into your $40 if you're getting sticker shock.

Bombay Bistro definitely rates as our best Indian dining experience in Austin to date. And the other place was quite good, so that's saying something. They also have a buffet, so if you want to try out a lot of things without doing the dinner for two, go for it. You might even see us there.

The Pirates House - Guest Review

Arrrgh

by Kelly Brewer

Many Savannah tourists find themselves at the end of a well trod path, waiting hours in line with other well-intentioned folks to enter "Momma and Her Boys" Southern eatery. (Not the real name, cause here in the South, we don't slander our elders nor our local celebrities.) Like knee socks with Bermuda shorts and a long-lensed Canon about the neck, don't fall into this tourist trap. The line leads only to disappointment and mediocre food.

If you came to rub shoulders with Miss Paula, head on over to Wilmington Island, where she is more readily found than in her restaurant. But, if what you're hankering for is some good ol' southern cooking, follow me five blocks south to The Pirate's House on East Broad.

From real-life shanghais to underground rum running tunnels, there is a wealth of pirate legacy to be discovered at The Pirate's House, but the real treasure is the food. Famous in its own right (but without all that FoodNetwork publicity) and conveniently located at the beginning or end of a jaunt down River Street, (depending on the day's parking situation) lunch at The Pirate's House incorporates itself nicely within a day's activities.

Whether you're at the start or finish of your cobblestone journey, you'll find a bounty fit for satisfyin' or energizin' during The Plantation Buffet. (11:30a-3:00p) For around $14 you can fill your plate with the equivalent of an entire chicken, deep fried and glazed in a honey pecan sauce so good your momma's face will hurt before she's been slapped, then wash the whole thing down with a pitcher of sweet iced tea and start on a second chicken. But pace yourself cause we've only just begun. Leave room on that plate for the macaroni & cheese, collard greens, squash casserole, green beans, sweet potatoes and barbeque ribs. Oh! and don't forget to save room for the nanna puddin'.

There are other fixins to be had, but I can only speak as to what goes on my own plate, and then, only with my mouth full, cause it's all so good.

If you'd have told me when I was a child that someday I would go back for second (and sometimes third) helpings of any sort of squash, I would have told you to shut your mouth. (Not really. I was raised to know better!) But, thank goodness for the wisdom that comes with age. We aren't talking about the squishy squash and soggy saltine casserole concotion found at family reunions and church potlucks either. Made with chunks of squash that require you chew before swallowing, the dish is pure, edible gold. Is it any wonder the spirits of pirates past are believed to still hang around the place?

I'm getting ahead of myself though, because before it was a hangout for blood thirsty pirates, it was settled as the Trustees' Garden in 1734. Old as the city itself, the plot of land was used as a proving ground for all sorts of botanical ventures and is indirectly to be thanked by pretty gals all over Georgia for favoring Peach trees over Mulberry.

The garden keeper's home is considered the oldest house in Georgia, and now functions as a private dining room called The Herb House. You can rent the room for a nominal fee and claim proprietary rights over the nearby dessert table, or you can just stick your head in and look around for free, annoying those who did decide to shell out the 35 clams for (semi) privacy.

Piracy on this plot started some twenty years after the abandonment of the garden settlement. With its eventual transformation into tavern and inn, the location became an ideal spot for sailors dropping anchor just across the street in the Savannah River to retreat for a little rum and relaxation, and the perfect setting for pirates to recruit new crews (willingly or un-).

The Pirate's House will probably always be most noteable for its role in Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island, where in an upstairs room Captain Flint cried out his last words "Fetch aft the rum, Darby." (No doubt to accompany his second (or third) helping of the squash--the stuff really is to die for.)

Pirate activity continues today in the form of a roaming Jack Sparrow, theatrically tipsy and ever eager to hand the wee ones a handful of gold dubloons. (If you're grown, they're 2 for $1.) The Pirate's House has also capitalized on the belief that Savannah is a haunted city by offering dinner packages and tours of the old rum cellar. Whether you come seeking history or ghosts, you'll return because of the treasure hidden in plain sight at The Pirate's House. And like a true pirate, you'll only divulge your secret to the truly worthy, letting the rest of the hungry land-lubbing tourist line up five blocks north, like sheep to the slaughter, while you go back for seconds.

**Can't get enough of a pirate's life? Come to Savannah in October for Pirate's Fest on nearby Tybee Island.

[Ed.: I had the pleasure of dining in The Herb House with Kelly and her assembled clan back in aught-five and it is definitely the place to go in Savannah. (Don't know if anyone peeked in, as I was sitting at the end facing the stairs, so my back was to the main dining room. This put me in pole position for the dessert table.) I also hit a lot of other interesting establishments in Savannah, which, by the way, has free wifi access in many places all over town, including several of the 20+ squares. One of the other more memorable meals was at Aligator Soul, which I will have to tell you about one day.]

Brentwood Tavern

Cool place with zero web presence

Location: 6701 Burnet Rd, Austin, TX 78757 Phone: 512-420-8118 Hours: Sun-Thu 11a-10p, Fri-Sat 11a-12a

Our next rush hour review takes us to the Brentwood neighborhood to a joint that seems to be half Old West cantina, half neighborhood bar. If you arrive from the south, you're greeted by Dog Almighty, home of a plethora of hot dog options (but since I rate hot dogs up there with road kill, you won't find a Dog Almighty review here) and the Travis County Farmer's Market. All three share a parking lot, but the Dog and the Market both close at 6pm, so there's plenty of parking for dinner. Just walk across the bridge under the big welcome sign and you're there.

Inside are concrete floor, natural wood walls and low ceilings, but the only reason to step inside is to let the hostess know you're there cause if the weather cooperates you're sitting outside where you can watch the horseshoe game. It was a little chilly, but I talked The Woman into an outside table, especially when she heard they hand out big Mexican horseblankets to wrap up in. (That red thing isn't the blanket, it's her jacket. The blanket was on her legs, covering her cute little schoolgirl shoes.)

One skim of the menu shows that it barely escapes being pigeonholed as traditional bar fare by adding a twist here and there. The burgers are really what it's all about, with the Mullet Burger leading the pack in popularity. Angus beef on your choice of bun with jack cheese, bacon, avocado and some other stuff. (I'm handicapped by the fact that they have no website with a menu I can consult, nor little paper menus you can take with you and I didn't feel like transcribing the menu while I ate. I'm just funny that way.) We got the fried okra for an appetizer based on an inside tip from The Good Daughter. It was perfect - crunchy on the outside and nice and slimy on the inside. Num num.

I opted for the Chicken Mullet (donating the bacon to a worthy cause) with a side of bock beans. (Pinto beans cooked in a bock beer concoction. The Woman didn't like it, but it was just right for me. Made me feel like I was back in Fred. Not that they cook beans with beer in Fred since it's a dry county, but it had that down-home flavor.) The Woman got some kind of burger. I took one bite to verify it was more than acceptable. If you're going for the beef, the burger is the way to go.

There are things besides burgers and sandwiches on the menu. I've also had the fish tacos, which are quite good, with black beans. I'd give you more of an idea of the variety, but I'm a little handicapped, here. (Hey, BT, get a website!)

I hear the Tavern is a hopping place during prime time, and I'm sure that's an attraction for their target market, but if you’re looking for a quiet place for an early supper, you’ve found it. The nice thing about Brentwood Tavern is the nice thing about Austin, live music. We caught a local country guy releasing a new CD. He had a few nice tunes but he was breaking in a bass player, so it was hit-and-miss for a while. They do have live music often, but I can't tell you the schedule because . . . well, you know by now, don't you?

Hula Hut - Podcast

Mexonesian on the lake.

Website: HulaHut.com

The Wunderfool/SpyMan team hit the road again. This week we invade the Hula Hut for some ono grindz. (a little Hawaiian lingo, there).

Star of India

North Indian in North Austin

Website: www.StarOfIndiaAustin.com

So it's rush hour date night and we're on our way to Threadgill's when The Woman suddenly veers off Anderson Lane. Oncoming traffic and my life pass before my eyes as we dash into a strip mall parking lot. When I inquire sweetly just what the heck is going on, she just points to a large sign: Star of India, Traditional Indian Cuisine. As an ancient philosopher once said, "Yeah, baby!" Sure, Threadgill's is nice, but it's not Indian, now is it? (Not that it should be. I'm just pointing out the facts as they lay.)

What with one thing and another, moving and renovating and getting laid off and looking for work and outlining the next novel and visits from The SpyMan and watching the entire boxed set of "Jeeves and Wooster" with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry and grandkids birthdays and balancing the checkbook and such, we haven't actually gotten around to eating at an Indian place since we got here. We did make some at home with the help of Patak's curry paste, but it doesn't even come close to the real stuff made by real Indian folk.

So we scurry in all flushed from the excitement, and perhaps the cold rain, and as one of the perks of an early dinner on rush hour date night is that we beat the crowds, we are seated immediately and reply that, yes, we will try the buffet. As if they could stop us. OK, so it looked like every other Indian buffet you've seen, only I liked the look of this stuff better. What with the new regimen, I leaned more to the vegetarian selections, which were all great. Not that I neglected the meat dishes, which were also great, I just got more of the veggies.

After sating ourselves with the first round, we asked for a menu just to see what other delightful things they might have available. It was naturally full of dishes that you can't pronounce and can't wait to eat. I flipped immediately to the vegetables to search for the magic word bhindi, and there it was.

Bhindi Masala: Okra cooked in garlic, onion and Indian spices.

Now you're talking my language! Or check this one out.

Malai Kofta Kashmiri: Sumpling of fresh vegetables and cheese cooked in a mild almond and cream sauce.

OK, so perhaps it was supposed to be sampling, but I like sumpling better. Sounds like a sumptuous dumpling and why wouldn't you want one of those? "Dear, could you pass the okra sumplings? I simply can't resist them!"

Of course we went back for seconds and blew any caloric limits we might have entertained. Of course we waddled out like Mr. Pickwick and company and scurried through the rain back to the car. Of course we're going back. As a great philosopher once said: It's not, "Why would you?" It's, "Why wouldn't you?"

Black Sheep - Guest Review

The black sheep reviews The Black Sheep

Location: 1117 Chorro St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Phone: 805-544-7433 Hours: 11a-2a (kitchen closes at 10p)

by Daniel Whittington

I first discovered this dandy of a pub two weeks after they opened next door to my favorite cigar shop. I thought, “What could go better with a nice Hemingway Short Story than a whiskey?” “Not much”, I answered myself, causing the people around me to glance my way in concern. A babbling psycho in a humidor does not a friend make.

So I meandered over. The Black Sheep (hereafter referred to as “the sheep” because typing out “the black sheep” every time is too labor intensive) is built as one main room fairly narrow and long with the bar on one side and tables along the other. At the back of a room a hallway leads to the bathrooms and to the outdoor patio. A stuffed head of a black ram hovers over the entrance to the bathroom just daring you to leave the toilet seat up. In the corner at the end of the room there’s a fireplace. It’s the closest thing San Luis Obispo has to a nice cozy pub and it turns out they have the one thing no self-respecting pub should be without. Guinness on tap. And it’s surrounded by every kind of whiskey the heart could desire and scotch of every color and stripe. Home, sweet home. I signed up to a Jameson because it’s my favorite, and because it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the scotch!

I had heard a rumor in the cigar shop that they were okay with cigars on the patio, but was a little unsure about trusting it blindly. Seeing as how it’s California, smoking is like the modern equivalent of the Scarlet Letter. So with my whiskey and book in hand in strolled outside and was pleased to find 2 other people smoking cigars. Brilliant.

After I finished the cigar I decided to move inside and get something to eat. I started off by ordering a pint of Guinness because (as a sailor friend of mine says): It’s not “Why would you?” It’s “Why wouldn’t you?” It took them a full 4 or 5 minutes to pour the Guinness. Exactly the way it should be done. With pint in hand I started in on the menu. The Sheep menu is complete pub fare. Mostly fried, but it has some very notable exceptions. They have a pub mac and cheese that is amazingly rich and heavy enough to require an OSHA approved harness to carry it to the table. They have a fairly large selection of salads, and last but not least they have the Black Sheep official food mascot, the Guinness Burger. I ordered the burger, and it is exactly what a burger should be. When it got to my table it was still steaming from the grill, and you could smell the Guinness flavor in it. It was good enough to make me mark down the Sheep as one of my new favorite locations.

The great thing about a good pub is that it breaks down barriers between people. It should feel like safe place. The Sheep pulls his off marvelously. San Luis Obispo is a college town. And almost every single bar in town has succumbed to the college bar vibe. In other words, the bars are not usually places to hang out. They’re places to search out your next conquest. Several places have opened in town with the intentions of avoiding that vibe and they’ve all failed. The Sheep has avoided it completely. The crowd is mostly older, very mellow, and even includes families with kids during the lunch hour. The staff has changed fairly regularly, but it’s stayed stable enough for them to recognize my wife and me when we come in and have a Guinness on the way.

One of the only things I am consistently annoyed by is that they play music a bit loud. A good pub should be a hang out spot, like a coffee shop with alcohol and dinner food. Loud music is a sports bar attribute that forces people to shout and makes communication hard. Not at all what pub should be. But this is an American run pub, so what can you expect? Luckily it’s not so loud that you can’t have a conversation like most of the other joints in town, but it’s still too much. I regularly ask them to turn it down, and they always do. So I guess that’s a point in their favor. It’s other weakness is that it could stand to be at least double the size. But that’s just splitting hairs.

So come to San Luis Obispo, call me up, and I’ll meet you for a Pint. It will be worth it.

Waterloo Ice House

Serving great food since the hippies showed up

Website: www.waterlooicehouse.com

Not sure how weird they're keeping Austin, but I can testify the Waterloo Ice House is keeping Austin fed with good eats. Rumor has it they've been making a killer hamburger for the last 30 years, and from what I've seen, it's true. Haven't actually tasted one, since I'm turning over a new leaf and then eating it. This time I had the salad - The Waterloo Salad with grilled chicken, bacon, blue cheese crumbles, toasted pecans, granny smith apples on house mix greens with homemade apple cider vinaigrette. It made for a pretty light dinner, so I didn't waddle out like a python looking for a place to sleep off the goat. In fact, I felt pretty good, which is saying something after slaving away in the office during my weekly appointment with commerce.

OK, so technically, pythons can't waddle since it requires legs to "walk with short steps, swaying or rocking from side to side" but I was speaking of pre-Adamic snakes, before the curse that reduced them to crawling on their belly and eating dust and striking at heels and getting their heads crushed. Those old-timey snakes could waddle like anything, believe me! Think I'm kidding? Think again.

As you can see from the sign I snapped with my trusty Rokr, the 38th Street location resonates with the philosphy of rush hour date night. And, since it's right next door to The Woman's office, what could be handier? We did a little shopping at Toy Joy, which is definitely doing its part to keep Austin weird and then zipped over to Waterloo for some grinds and some jams. The Lamar and 38th Street locations have live music. Will Dunlap holds down a regular spot on Tue night rush hour. We made the mistake of getting there before 6pm, which means we waited for half an hour before the music started. (I'm telling you, there should be a rule about starting when the sign says you're going to start.) As a result, we only heard 5 or 6 songs before we dug out at 7pm. Next time we'll do a little more shopping first.

The Slaughter Lane location has a happening playground out back by the outdoor seating, which is great for the grandkid action. Last time we went there I had the Ranch House Chicken (Grilled chicken breast topped with bacon, mushrooms, grilled onion, poblano peppers and jack cheese, and served with black beans and rice.) Comes with a salad, so it's a great pick if you're watching the high-glycemic carbs - just skip the rice. As you would expect from a place called Ice House, they have a great selection of beers. Probably have good wine, too, but what do I know about wine? But one of these days, I might cheat and try one of those burgers. I wonder if they have whole wheat buns. Maybe I can bring my own. Shed's a whole new light on BYOB, don't it?

Korea Garden - Podcast

Sushi in a Korean place. Hmmm.

Location:6519 N. Lamar, Austin, TX Phone: 512-302-3149 Hours: Mon-Thu 11a-10p, Sat-Sun 12p-10p

Join The Wunderfool and The SpyMan for an audio review of the Korea Garden. Pay no mind to the fact that these two buffoons keep calling it "the Korean Grill" despite having a photo of the place and other documentation available to them with the name clearly displayed as the Korea Garden.

Threadgills

A time before disco or microwaves

Website: threadgills.com

Threadgill's is one of those must-see places. It's literally part of US history, one of the places where Janis Joplin worked the kinks out of her inimitable style. So The Woman and I took a rush hour date to the original location on North Lamar, founded in 1933 by bootlegger Kenneth Threadgill. He was first in line for a liquor license when Travis County went "wet." The gas station became a hot spot for drinking, gambling and jamming. It stayed open 24-hours a day until 1942 when a WWII curfew forced Threadgill actually buy a lock for the front door and close at night. When Threadgill retired in 1974, Armadillo World Headquarters owner Eddie Wilson bought him out and added southern cooking to the mix.

Sure enough, as we were shown to our seats, we walked past photos of Janis taking another piece of our hearts. Or not. Anyway, there were pictures. The menu is home cooking in spades, the kind of place you find a lot in the south and not much anywhere else. Well, actually, you will find a lot of the appetizers and entrees on menus all over the US (burgers, steak, catfish, fried shrimp), but when you get to the veggie section, you know you done come home.

I was going for the 5 vegetable plate and thought I might talk The Woman into the Smoked Cheese-a-dillos for an entree. (Flour tortillas stuffed with chicken, mixed cheeses, black beans, and diced green chilies with roasted corn salsa.) But she went all down-home on me with the chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and the broccoli-rice casserole. I consoled myself with the garlic cheese grits, collard greens, green beans, the spinach casserole (Swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions and bacon) and the Texas caviar (a tangy, marinated, cold black-eyed pea salad). I meant to get the squash, but couldn't decide between the yellow squash (sautéed with onions in wine, spices, and butter) or the San Antonio squash (a casserole baked with green chilies, queso, and onions) and got so distracted with the greens selection (collard or turnip) that I forgot about the squash and mistakenly ordered the green beans. They were fresh, steamed with onions and black pepper, but they weren't squash.

The grits were good, hinting at garlic and cheese instead of overwhelming you with them. The black-eyed peas and greens were good, but the winner was the spinach casserole. You would think that a big green mushy pile on your plate would not be a good thing, but you would be wrong. The only thing better is a green mushy pile on your fork headed to your mouth.

We were also there for the live music, but our schedule got us there a little early and the band was late, of course. (Am I the only guy who starts gigs on time?) So we missed out. And I have to go back for the squash, anyway, so next time I'll catch some jams.

I have no desire to sample the fried pickle spears, but I'm a sucker for meatloaf (especially cold meatloaf sandwiches) and I'd like to sample the bronzed catfish and pecan crusted chicken. Maybe I'll have to make several return trips. Anybody want to come with me?

Taste of Burma - Guest Review

Happy eats at “Taste of Burma”

Website: www.ATasteOfBurma.com

by Mihnea Nemes

Anyone who lives in Hawaii for a few years will have a tough time returning to his original point of departure. But as magnetic Hawaii may be, family is a stronger magnet. After five years in the happy isles my wife and I decided to leave. But we took our time and a convoluted return path, making it back on the East Coast after 9 months spent backpacking on the roads and rails of Asia and Europe. I am a Washingtonian again, but after being away for so many years, I feel like a little alien in this Greater Washington, D.C. Area. Years ago, comfort food consisted mainly of bread, tomatoes and sheep cheese. Now, after Hawaii and a year on the road, comfort food includes Thai curry, Thai (in fact Laotian) sticky rice and Vietnamese noodle soup.

Now the tragedy: we haven’t found yet in our new home area a Thai restaurant to match any of those in Hawaii or Thailand. Luckily, there are a plethora of excellent Vietnamese restaurants (including an entire Vietnamese shopping center nicknamed “Little Saigon”), serving the food one might find in the streets of Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). But the restaurant that got our attention, and to which we keep coming back doesn’t get its food inspiration from Thailand or Vietnam, but from a country we have not visited and we know little about: Burma.

We spotted “A Taste of Burma” on our way to the CVS Pharmacy. We asked for a menu, and a polite and friendly waiter (perhaps the son of the owners) gave us a card with the restaurant website on it: http://www.atasteofburma.com/. When we got home, we filed the card, never to retrieve it again from its safe location. Months later, while trying to decide where to take our guest to dinner, we thought: why not Taste of Burma? We lowered the expectations by telling our guest we hadn’t tried the restaurant before. But she was as eager as us to embark on a new culinary adventure.

The same friendly young man welcomed us into a neat, bright, colorful dining area. Fresh orchids were on every table and soothing music played in the background. Just when you thought you could pinpoint the flute music as coming from the depths of India, all of a sudden you had the distinct impression you just heard a Native-American rhythm. I felt like having tea and not leaving the place for hours, and thankfully, “street-corner chai” was on the menu. We ordered curries all-around. Hard-boiled egg and potato curry for me, Asian pumpkin curry for my wife and tamarind curry for our guest. We all shared. Although I loved my egg-and-potato curry (reminiscent of the Indonesian gado-gado) it was the Asian pumpkin curry that won the evening’s amateur’s taste award. It was the Asian pumpkin curry that brought us back for a second visit, too.

This time we expanded into the realm of salads. In addition to the pumpkin curry and the chef recommended green curry, we also ordered the golden samosa salad. The samosas (fried pastries filled with potato) came smothered in chickpea gravy and topped with tamarind sauce. Our tongues wanted to say: “Novel and excellent!!!” But the best was yet to come. The mom, cook and possibly owner, came to say hi and inquire if we liked the food. “We love it!” came the answer. “Are you vegetarians?” “Yes” both my wife and I replied.

The mom came back and served us another vegetarian salad, the Fermented Tea Salad, and an eight-dollar value, on the house! Well, as you probably have guessed, the Fermented Tea Salad won the evening’s honors. The peanuts, broad beans, and sesame make it the crunchiest salad in the world, too.

Today we came back and had a hana-hou at the pumpkin curry, and tasted the cousin of the tea salad, the Burmese ginger salad, which ties the Tea salad for crunchiness.

You probably wonder how many times I’ll be able to return for the pumpkin curry and the crunchy salads. I’m curious about one thing, too:

When was the last time you tasted Burmese food?

Guest Reviews

In 2007 Eating Fred, Texas will be hosting guest reviews. It will come as no surprise that a lot of my friends like food, too. I'm giving them a chance to highlight some of their local eateries. World traveller and exemplary Romanian, Mihnea Nemes, is our first correspondent.

Osaka

We're hopping and bopping to the Osaka rock.

Location: 13492 Research Blvd #160, Austin, TX 78750 Phone: 512-918-8012 Hours: Mon-Sat 11a-10p

So, it's the rush-hour dance that has become the catalyst for most of the recent entries. The Woman and I are in north Austin, we live in south Austin, and it's 5 pm. Not the time to get on MoPac or even 360. Solution: do some shopping, some eating, and then go home when the traffic thins out.

I was looking for some books on writing screenplays. I really wanted to go to BookPeople since I've been here for 9 months and haven't been, but it's downtown, the exact spot you don't want to go during rush hour. So it was a back-road trek to the Anderson Mill location of Half Price Books, a great place to blow some significant time without blowing significant cash. I actually found one of the books Darden recommended, so I was happy.

In the same strip mall there happened to be a place called Osaka. (Which is a city in southern Japan where I once bought a CD from a band called Cram-Bo playing on a bridge by the train station.) On the sign it said "Japanese - Korean." ?!?!? OK, so it's not THE Korean place. That place is in south Austin. But even so, it did say Korean. Yes, I am not ashamed to say the heart lept up when I beheld it.

Of course, if you go into an obviously Japanese place and order Korean, you're taking a chance. Just to be safe, we also ordered a spider roll. It was a pretty good spider roll, too. The table near us had some serious sushi action going on and it all looked great. But you can get sushi, even good sushi, lots of places. Not so with Korean.

Not sure the size of the servings, we ordered bulgogi and kalbi. We could have ordered just one and been satisfied, but they were both so great, we were glad to have them. Made for some nice bulgogi sandwiches the next day. And the sizzling platters were surrounded by 10 bowls of various sides, including kimchee, daikon, green beans, pickled seaweed, candied potatoes, azuki beans, bean sprouts and other things I can't remember.

It was the real deal, a table so crowded with dishes it was hard to find a place to put your glass down, and a mixture of flavors that you won't find anywhere else. The meat was moist, spicy and sweet. The photos are from my Rokr, so it's not easy to see detail. The kalbi was cut like this picture, with a thin cross-section of a single bone and an inch or so meat. In Hawaii the Korean fast-food places cut the meat more like shown in this recipie, multiple bone cross-sections per slice, only there tended to be less meat. The higher-class places had a 3-inch-wide section of bone with a nice, thick, 6-inch slab of meat hanging off it.

Since it was mainly Japanese, it wasn't set up for yakiniku, which involves grills at each table where you cook the meat as desired, or sometimes the server will start it for you. I'm hoping the other place is yakiniku. But until we have a chance to get there, we may find ourselves back at Osaka on our rush hour dates. If we go often enough, we might actually get around to ordering sushi.

Galaxy Cafe

It's outta this world. (Actually, it's in Austin, but that's close enough.)

Website: www.galaxycafeaustin.com

You might as well know right up front, I didn’t make it to the Korean place this week, either. If they are relying on me to pay the rent, they’ll be out of business soon. Of course, they’ve been doing just fine without me, I guess, so they’ll probably be there next week.

Instead we went to the Galaxy Café. The Woman and I were short on time, shopping after work in a torrential downpour, and needing a quick bite. (And of course, you don’t do full yakiniku Korean quickly.) The Galaxy was just around the corner and we only got slightly drenched running from the parking lot.

I first went to the Galaxy Café in December 2004 while writing “Hell in a Briefcase.” We were in from Honolulu for 3 weeks to inspect The #1 Grandson. (He passed inspection.) But you can look at a 1-month-old kid only so long before the mind begins to wander. (Others, who shall remain unnamed, can look for a loooong time, so your mileage may vary.) Besides, I had a novel to write and a deadline 3 months away.

I spent most of my time in the guest cabin at the double-in-laws, writing like a maniac. (Dang, these folks are so nice that they almost reach The Woman status!) But the cabin had no Internet access and I got tired of sitting on a boulder by the neighbor’s house at night in 30-degree weather, slipstreaming on their wireless access to check for emails from Phil and some do quick-and-chilly research. So I started catching a ride to Mozart’s (review coming one day) and ingesting high-test caffeine while writing like a maniac.

But one evening it was cold and wet and I needed some Net, but the boulder was out. I didn’t want to drive all the way out to Mozart’s. That’s when The Good Daughter told me about the Galaxy Café, with decent wines by the glass and free Internet access. I was on it like stink on a dog. Now, a few years later, we are in a position to make the quick trip to the Galaxy while shopping.

In Austin, places like the Galaxy Café pop up like zits on a teenager. The unfortunate gastronomes in the provinces would trade five Dairy Queens, seven McDonalds and a Golden Corral for one trendy café like this. Regular readers of this blog will recognize the phrasing on the “About Us” page as a common description for several of the places I’ve reviewed, with comments like “high quality homemade food,” “freshest ingredients,” “gourmet flair,” “moderate pricing,” and “breads baked fresh daily.”

In my attempts to be a good boy, I’ve restricted my choices to lower fat and glycemic index items. I can vouch for the grilled chicken chipotle wrap on a spinach tortilla, the club wrap on a wheat torilla and the hot shrimp salad with baby spinach. The sweet potato fries are the side of choice. Several of my trips to the Galaxy have been in groups of those of the younger persuasion and I have heard nothing but sounds of contentment as they grazed on items that didn’t fit my profile, such as the bleu cheese bacon burger, the chipotle-apricot glazed pork chops and the grilled skirt steak with chimichurri sauce. They also have Odwalla specialty juices, herbal iced tea, and a nice selection of wines and beers.

I’ve never done breakfast at the Galaxy, but I’d certainly like to try it. In addition to a wide variety of breakfast wraps and the traditional breakfast options, they have “Breakfast from around the Galaxy” with American (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast), Mexican (migas, beans, tortillas), Mediterranean (eggs with roma tomatoes, feta cheese and basil, toast and fruit) and French (quiche, fruit, toast) options. And since they serve it until 11:30 during the week and until 4:00 on weekends, I might actually be awake and ambulatory in time to try it.

By the way, I did 30,000 words of first draft in 3 weeks on The #1 Grandson Inspection Tour. It gave me a great start and I finished “Hell in a Briefcase” by April. And the Galaxy Café helped.

Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar and Grillo

Home of the Crappy Beer Night

Website: www.buzzardbillys.com

I had great plans to do Korean this week, but a trip to Waco intervened and I found myself reminiscing with The SpyMan over lunch at the legendary Buzzard Billy’s Armadillo Bar and Grillo on University Parks Drive. Before they opened in 1993, The Water Works was the only place in Waco you could get Guiness on tap.

We used to play an open mike there on Sunday nights back 10+ years ago. One night a stranger walked up and asked if he could sit in on fiddle. I was skeptical, even when he whipped out his Texas Fiddle Players Association card. To test his chops, I invited him to jam with me while I tuned up out front by the old black-and-white Andy Griffith cop car. In about 2.3 seconds I realized I was in the presence of incredible talent. He sat in on my set and made me sound better than I knew I could, even on the originals he had never heard. He was passing through from recording a CMT music video and had stopped at Buzzard Billy’s for dinner. Never saw or heard him again. Cajun name. Alan D-something. (Alan, if you’re reading this, drop me a line.)

Also like The Water Works, it was a great place to hear live music. I watched Mike Morgan walk between tables and dancers and out the back door onto the deck while playing a marathon guitar solo. The last time I was in Buzzard Billy’s was for the going-away party the TSTC gang threw in 1996 to launch me on a decade of wanderings. The place hadn’t changed much, which was good. No need to fix something that is working just fine.

The SpyMan made the excellent suggestion of four appetizers in lieu of two entrees. We sifted through the many options on the menu and settled on:

• Armadillo Eggs: Bacon wrapped chicken tenders stuffed with sliced jalapenos and pepper-jack cheese. (Based on South Texas dove camps recipes.)
• Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms: Large mushroom caps stuffed with a blend of crabmeat, cheese, breadcrumbs, and Cajun spices.
• Mean Green Buzzard Wings: Breaded chicken wings fried and coated with a sweet and spicy jalapeno lime sauce.
• Gator Fingers: Alligator strips deep-fried, with a Creole honey-mustard dipping sauce.

OK, so we didn’t win any health-nut awards, but as dedicated gastronomes we gladly place ourselves at risk in the service of civilization. I assure you that everything was just as good as it sounds. The Armadillo Eggs are not to be missed. We wanted to add the Cajun Popcorn (deep-fried crawfish tails) but they were out. Probably for the best.

Assuming everything that wasn’t broke wasn’t fixed, the gumbo, red beans and rice, and the FettucciniAlfredeaux are worth sampling. I hear good things about the burgers, too. In fact, Buzzard Billy’s is so good, it’s worth driving to Waco to check it out. The buzzards have also opened restaurants in Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Not sure what it is with buzzards and cold places, but there you have it. If you hit the Waco location, say hi to The SpyMan.

This Korean thing is getting out of hand. I need some kimchee spinach. It's gotta happen this week.