How to Die Happily on S. Lamar on a Full Stomach After Lunch

Well, first, you need to drive to S. Lamar circa lunchtime... and hit up Lulu B's first.

It has been a while since I've revisited Lulu B's ... and thanks to Dishola's 10% off twitter deal that day, I decided I had no excuse. I don't know why I don't come here more often. I get really excited whenever I tell anyone about it or hear someone talk about it. I think it's the best banh mi in a reachable distance if you're a student or you live in central/downtown Austin. Plus, who doesn't love a foodstand?! It's like we love sitting outside of a foodstand on a cold, windy day with napkins flying everywhere ... why? Maybe it makes us think we're tougher...? Yes, that is precisely why I go to foodstands (not).


Lulu B's looking it's finest with a true Austinite and his road bike perched outside the window. Aww.


Unfortunately it took too long for these babies to come out, but once they did... they were devoured. Freshly made summer rolls with excellent spicy peanut sauce.


Chinese barbecue pork banh mi. This picture just brings about such warm, happy feelings. This sandwich is maybe the best thing ever? I'm pretty sure I'd be satisfied with a good plenty of things once I smother it in sriracha, but I mean ... the toasted bun, all of the crunchy veggies, the bbq pork ... and sriracha ... AHHHH, i die... but not yet.

Why can't you be open 24 hours? That's my only suggestion.


Guess where we went next. Can you believe that there was any room left in our stomachs?! We went to none other than buzzworthy Gourdough's. Gour[met] Dough[nuts]. After splitting huge summer rolls and eating an entire banh mi. My picture only showed you half.



Part of their extensive gourmet menu. We decided to get something that was easily splittable, so we settled on the ODB pictured below:



Think funnel cake 7.0. Like, someone made a funnel cake and improved it 7 times and finally, it became the ODB. This genius plate-like setting of doughnut holes filled with cream, covered in icing, and then topped with coconut. Yeah you think you're dead... because this seems a lot like heaven, doesn't it? Ahhh...

But anyway, to really die, you need to come to the realization that you've eaten an amazingly cheap and tasty lunch at 2 awesome S. Lamar food stands. You're at 95% risk now of having a heartattack... so you might as well go stand in the middle of the road... because there will be Lulu B's and Gourdough's in heaven... I hope.

Lulu B's
2101 S Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 921-4828

Hours:
Tue-Fri. 11:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 11:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m

Gourdough's
1219 South Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704

Hours:
Mon-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m (woohoo!)

x,

Franny

Galaxy Cafe: French Toast that is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I apologize for my lack of food updates. To be honest, I have had an embarrassingly copious amount of great food in the past 2 weeks. My excuse: my 21st birthday, endless amounts of schoolwork, and jobsearching.

I will post about one of the restaurants I had over my birthday weekend: Galaxy Cafe. Surprisingly this one stood out from all of the restaurants I tried over the weekend which included: Eastside Showroom, Korea Garden, and Uchi. You must be wondering... why?!?! I don't know, maybe I was just in the mood for something a little less pretentious. Something that I could feel less compelled to evaluate... food for the sake of food, right? Like... I just wanted breakfast, haha. I didn't want to go to this restaurant because there was a "buzz" ... and it ended up for the best. :)

Our breakfast drinks: Mimosas and Iced Coffee.
.
Yeah if you know me, I am ADDICTED to anything related to coffee. Off topic, someone get me some of that Iced Cafe Bustelo in a can please. Where do you find that canned goodness?!??! As an iced coffee guru, I would say that Galaxy's was a bit creamy for me. It was like in between the Mojo from Epoch and the Turbo from Jo's ... but more on the Mojo side of the spectrum. Jo's Turbo is a little overkill for me ... especially if you ask them what the hell is in that glass of a heartattack.


Speaking of heartattacks ... um, FRENCH TOAST DELUXE, let's be friends forever!!! This reminds me of all of the breakfasts I've had at "nice brunch places" ... like Russell's or Magnolia ... where the one thing that would have really been the icing on the cake (or in this case, the strawberries on the french toast) ... would have been super FRESH FRUIT. I don't want mediocre fresh fruit. I don't want canteloupe-tasting strawberries. I don't want mushy watermelon. Give me these beautiful gigantic sliced strawberries PLEASE. And and and thank you for a huge non-soggy french toast... generously covered in powdered sugar. It was awesome. The bread was the cinnamon-y kind of unsweet ... which is perfect because you want your sweetness to come from the garnishings. And garnishings they did provide. Sigh.


And of course, MIGAS! Yeah, still on the search for Austin's best migas. These weren't Austin's best migas... unfortunately. I still have yet to find those, but they were decent. Would have been better with chorizo and black beans. That seems to always be my recommendation, huh. Why give refried beans when you can give black beans? That's all.

Galaxy Cafe
1000 W. Lynn St.
Austin, TX
512 478 3434
www.galaxycafeaustin.com

x,

Franny

Eddie V's for Go Texan Restaurant Roundup

Eddie V's, what say you...?

Well, I am not the biggest fan of dim-litted, stuffy upscale steak/seafood restaurants, but... the food was pretty good.

Swordfish Steak

Hm. Thought the swordfish was pretty tender, but could have been even a little bit more rare. It was definitely still fabulous though and I ate the whole thing. It came with a nice, light garlic butter sauce and sauteed wild mushrooms. So, some Go Texan trivia... according to our waiter, this swordfish comes from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Cool! The fries were a fun modern side, but I still feel like something could have been added to all of this.

I think the fish would have been interesting with a different sauce. Has anyone here tried 3-ingredient chicken that is cooked in China? That sauce is amazing and I think something with that taste, but lighter... would be amazing. Or even some kind of berry compote, because I am so into that right now...

Truffled Macaroni and Cheese

Mmm... the famed mac & cheese. Now, this was awesome. I didn't have much room for it, and the majority of it is sitting in my fridge. But what I did have, I loved. A lovely comfort food dish. Hard to dislike.

Chocolate Chip Cake with Ice Cream

Any kind of dessert that involves a warm chocolate pastry with cold ice cream usually is a 10 in my book. I really should branch out and try something different, but this one sounded so appetizing ... and it was!

So anyway, Eddie V's, I thought your food was a little ordinary, but still very good. I think you need to change the way your restaurant looks and feels. It makes me feel like an old person with old money. Which I definitely am not. I think you should use more fusion in your menu ... I did see the Kung Pao Calamari ... curious to try that next time! I think you should keep those awesome chocolate mints at the hostess stand. Last but not least, your waitstaff is great!

Eddie V's
301 E 5th St
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 472-1860

x,

Franny

Kerbey Lane for Go Texan Restaurant Roundup

Kerbey Lane was never one of my favorite places. Why? Well, what comes to mind is a dirty, fluorescent lit restaurant on The Drag at 3 am with a retarded wait, dirty floors, and somewhat rightfully rude staff.

But then I went to the newer location on 183 and it might as well have been a different restaurant with a different name! Dark wood, more of a family atmosphere, cleaner ... I wish the one on The Drag was like this one, but totally understandable since college students don't care about these kinds of things.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of meeting the executive chef, Joel Welch, who really changed my perspective on the whole Kerbey experience through the dishes he concocted for Go Texan.

Eggplant Tartine

Loved this! It reminded me a lot of Counter Cafe's Veggie Sandwich ... but as a pizza. I absolutely loved the red pepper pesto and eggplant with the cheese. I highly recommend getting it! I think it's something a lot of people would enjoy but may shy away from it because of the unfamiliar name.

Bison, Antelope, and Lamb Sliders

We also tried these sliders that included the like of bison, antelope, and lamb. All three of these animals, I've generally been uneasy eating. Actually, I'm generally uneasy eating any kind of game-like meat and most shellfish. But, I figured, might as well try it someday. So, here's what I thought coming from a first-time game-r... haha. The lamb? I have had lamb before, generally in kebabs. But this as a slider was great... it was mixed with feta and other spices which gave it less of a meaty taste and more of a meatloaf-y taste. Really good. The bison? My favorite. I think this one had jalapeno in it or some kind of pepper. It's slipping my mind right now, but anyway it was spicy just the way I like food to be. Finally, the antelope. Not my cup of tea. I don't know if it was just my palate, but I felt like it just left a strange aftertaste. It was a bit smoky, which was something I expected. It just was not a taste that I've acquired.

Edit: Ok, so after looking at the menu to make sure that this all was correct since the 3 looked very much the same, apparently the antelope was the one with jalapeno and the bison had parmesan and tomato. So I'm wondering if it was the bison that I didn't like so much? I know it was the slider with the red toothpick. Sigh. Oh... game...

Overall though, a very positive and eye-opening experience. I never knew that Kerbey held much talent beyond queso and pancakes. Definitely try it out this week if you are looking for an affordable, tasty dinner. In addition, in light of the Go Texan Roundup, many of these restaurants participating are donating to food banks. Awesome!

Go Texan: here

Kerbey Lane
13435 Hwy 183 N
SE Corner Anderson Mill & 183 N
Austin, TX 78750
x,

Franny

Eastside Cafe: Literally Homegrown

This "east/eastside" terminology that has been getting a lot of buzz lately focuses moreso on the newer establishments of those East of I-35 and not so much on a lot of those that were already there. In my opinion, that side of Austin is probably my favorite... old or new. To be honest, Shangri-La is probably where I go to drink with friends every weekend, El Chilito is my go-to for frozen sangria, and of course ... Tacos Selene, come on now!

But all this eastside buzz ... Eastside Showroom, Justine's, Shuck Shack, Cheer-up Charlie's ... what about good ol' Eastside Cafe that's been sittin' on Manor for a good while longer?

In my experience, I had heard of this place mostly in the organic context, but I never spotted it everytime I drove past it. It's because it looks like someone's house, seriously. It's this cute little renovated house with a side "guest room" per se ... that houses their side project Pitchforks and Tablespoons, which is basically the coolest place to fun household trinkets for friends.

And then they have gardens everywhere full of herbs, vegetables, etc which they use in a lot of the dishes on their menu.


Onto the food! Did it taste as good as we expect "organic, homegrown" food to taste?

Well, first things first. Everyone loves jalapeno cornbread, organic or not, especially when they are in the shape of miniature muffins.


This chicken, artichoke, and mushroom soup was delicious. Especially in this rainy weather, it definitely hit the spot. I love anything involving mushroom and cream, but adding chicken and artichoke was awesome. I feel like if you made this into a sauce and put it on a pasta, I would probably die. Taking a picture of a white soup in a white bowl in low-lighting is not easy, by the way.

A side of acorn squash with sesame ginger sauce. Interesting pairing. Especially at a restaurant that seems to focus more on American and Italian influenced dishes. Squash is a very American vegetable ... it makes me think of Thanksgiving. But squash is actually a pretty bland vegetable, I feel like. It's like sweet potatoes. The slightest hint of flavor ... but once paired with the sesame sauce, I thought it was pretty tasty. Very interesting. And fun presentation.


Finally, the artichoke manicotti. A lot of artichokes today. I don't know why, it's not like I really like artichokes or anything. In my opinion, I thought this dish was too cheesy. I would have liked more sauce, but I thought it was still good. I think mushroom and artichoke would have been good. But then, that's pretty much my soup as a pasta.

But anyway, you should check it out if you are into eating locally and organic. They have daily specials and I'm sure their menu is affected by what's in season and what they can grow in their garden, which can be interesting and fun.

And that cat at the top was in their store. He is awesome.

Eastside Cafe
2113 Manor Rd.
Austin, TX 78722
512-476-5858

x,

Franny