Chinatown - Austin, TX

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And that pretty much sums up my feelings about Chinatown.  Just not quite the same without the Flavor.

Now, this place does have a few things going for it.  First, and most importantly, they deliver, which is exactly what we were looking for last night.  Second, the chicken wings.  Though completely unseasoned, these things were perfectly fried resulting in a crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, blank canvas for whatever you want to put on them.  Me?  I drenched them with one of life's little secrets, House of Tsang's Mongolian Fire Oil, an incredible blend of chiles, garlic and ginger infused in oil, and I think there are few things that this goes better on than fried chicken complementing a bland Chinese meal.

Now let's get back to the meal.

Looks good, doesn't it?  I thought so too, but looks can be deceiving, as I found out with the first bite.  First let me say this though, the food wasn't bad, it just had no flavor, and certainly no spice.  Two of the blandest Chinese dishes I've had in my life, and with a blindfold and inability to detect textures, I'd have trouble discerning it from the rice which came with it.  It did however satisfy a few needs essential for us, and, frankly, we'll probably order from there again because of that.  One, it filled a temporary void in our stomachs and allowed our bodies to convert the sugars, proteins and fats contained in it into energy, thereby performing essential life functions and sustaining life as we know it.  Two, it gave us about twenty minutes before, and an hour afterwards, to really work on our ass grooves in our new couches, which still need some breaking in.  Three, it gave me the opportunity to write a review on it this morning, and one that I felt I could really have some fun with.

Let's start with the Mongolian beef.  We ordered the "Monoliagn Beef" that they had listed on their menu, figuring it was close enough to Mongolian beef, which My Lovely Wife Mrs. Gordo so dearly loves.  

  

First, odd color for beef.  In fact, I dished it up on my plate first thinking that it was the duck and just sliced oddly.  (As a related side, this picture is actually listed in my files as "Chinatown Duck" as I couldn't easily identify it when saving.)  Second, good texture, tender morsels of thinly sliced beef or beef substitute, with slightly cooked carrots still with a bit of tooth to them.  Third, very little flavor, but nothing a little soy sauce and Sriracha couldn't take care of.  

The duck.

I should have reconsidered after my initial conversation with the lady on the phone, when I ordered the Szechuan Spicy Duck and asked if was good, to which I got, ".................um........I guess between that and the Ma La Duck, I like that one better."  Despite that ringing endorsement, I stuck with it.  

First, the duck was well prepared, dark meat pulled from the bones in tender chunks, breast meat thickly sliced and holding onto some of the skin and fat that it needs to make it juicy, which it did.  Second, this brown sauce was a bit darker than the one on the beef or beef substitute, but tasted exactly the same...bland.  Again, nothing a little soy and Sriracha couldn't cure.  Third, this was described on the menu as being steamed, deep fried, and then sauteed, and despite the perfection with which this was prepared, I think I could save the cook some time and say that throwing it into a searing hot wok as is with the rest of the stuff wouldn't result in anything too different, as there was no evidence of the deep fried crispiness that I expected.  Fourth, the menu starred this as being spicy, and said it was sauteed in the chef's secret spicy sauce.  Wrong on both counts.  Not too dissimilar to the beef in flavor, each one satisfied the hunger, but left the tongue hanging out in the wind.  

The eggrolls, at $2 a pop, were good but underwhelming both in size and flavor.  Like the main dishes, not bad, but nothing to write home about. 

As I said earlier, I'll most likely be giving this place another shot, primarily because of their delivery, but will make it a point to ask what I should get before ordering, giving them the opportunity to prove themselves as a more than one brown sauce type of place.  

Summary

Atmosphere:  TBD, we had it delivered

Food:  Americanized Chinese

Dog Friendly:  negative

Best Time to Go:  dinner

What to Order for the First Timer:  TBD

Crowd:  TBD, delivery

Tonight's Dinner

Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe, Grape Tomatoes, and Sausage

Orecchiette - mix a cup each of semolina flour and all purpose flour with 2/3 of a cup of warm water and knead for ten to fifteen minutes and then let rest for ten minutes or more.  Tear off hunks of the dough and roll out into a half inch long tube, then cut into 1/4 inch pieces and push and roll them with your thumb to create the pasta.  Leave them aside while you do the rest.

Sausage - the healthy kind - mix 3/4 pound of ground pork with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each salt, black pepper, and chopped fennel seed, two tablespoons or so of grated parmigiana reggiano, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Saute three chopped cloves of garlic in olive oil, add the sausage and cook until done, then add half to one bunch of chopped broccoli rabe, half a pint of grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, squeezing them as you put them in, and some red pepper flakes, cover and cook for a few minutes while you boil the pasta.  Add the pasta and a tablespoon or so of butter to the sauce, toss, top with pecorino romano or parmigiana reggiano and eat.  DO IT!!!

Tonight's Dinner

Pan-Seared Hanger Steak with Red and Green Chimichurri, Broccoli Rabe, Fries and Garlic Aioli

Last Night's Dinner

Dijon and Herb Crusted Halibut with Grape Tomato Salad

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, Indiana

Went back home to attend my 18th straight Brickyard 400, which is all of them, but moreso to get one of the best stadium foods you'll ever have.  The official sandwich of the state of Indiana.  The most tender part of the tastiest, most succulent, mud-dwelling dead animal in the world.

The Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich

Served at restaurants and bars across the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana, this is not necessarily as sandwich you'd expect a 300,000 seat stadium hosting three events per year to execute well, but they do.  Simply a pounded pork tenderloin medallion, breaded, deep fried, slapped on a much too small white bun to which you'll want to add onions and your choice of mustard, ketchup, or Chalula, this thing is damn near perfect.  Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, watch yourself or you'll burn the roof of your mouth, so have your PBR open and at the ready by your side.

The perfect food, for the perfect seats, at this perfect moment...

Summary:

Atmosphere:  stadium, bench seating, food stand

Food:  stadium food, sandwiches

Crowd:  200,000 of your best friends for the day, trailer trash, white trash, smokinhotnascarwives, Southern die-hards, God-fearing Hoosiers

Best Time to Go:  Memorial Day, Last Weekend in July

What to Order for the First Timer:  Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich

Dog Friendly:  No

Last Night's Dinner

Spaghetti with Venison Ragu

Saute in olive oil chopped onion and garlic until soft, add ground venison and cook until brown.  Mix in tomato paste, a cinnamon stick, red pepper flakes, a couple of cloves, a couple of bay leaves, and some rubbed sage and mix well before deglazing the pot with some red wine.  Add a can of San Marzano tomatoes, some water, and bring to a boil before lowering to a simmer for a couple of hours.

And, butter lettuce and radicchio with the worlds simplest and best homemade salad dressing.

For the dressing, mix the following in order until emulsified.  Smashed into paste garlic clove, salt, pepper, one teaspoon of dijon mustard, one tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Wednesday's Dinner

Littleneck Clams in Habanero Broth with Tomatoes and Garlic Scapes

Texas Cuban - Austin, TX

Press play and continue on...

I'll sheepishly admit that swinging by the Texas Cuban trailer on South Lamar was not my destination, but became my destination once I found that Trey's Cuisine, where I hoped to try their mint and sweet soy marinated lamb kabob with feta Greek sauce, had closed for the afternoon given the extreme heat.

Not so at Texas Cuban, where I'm not quite sure if it was the oppressive Castro regime or the sole insanity of the owner that put the nice young man inside the tin sweat lodge at the peak of this 107 degree day hovering above a searing hot griddle and press making hot sandwiches for the few nuts who dared venture outside.  That said, it's nice to know that weather can't shut down some people, and I'm glad to say that for his effort and the quality of the food, I'll be back, rain, shine or hell-like heat conditions.

I ordered the El Cubano, which is a half of their signature sandwich, the Texas Cuban, which feeds two easily.  As he finished up the one other sandwich he was working on, and started on mine, I asked him how hot it was in the trailer, to which he replied, "a little cooler than outside, but probably around 95 or 100".

Dedication.

The sandwich was well worth the ten minute wait in the shaded, but still cruel, heat, though next time I'll be sure to call ahead with my order.  Not that I've had a lot of them, but this Cuban is absolutely the best of it's kind that I've ever had.  Juicy grilled pork tenderloin sliced in quarter inch thick medallions, topped with ham, swiss, provolone, pickles and mustard, pressed between an incredible garlic Cuban flat bread which retained it's outer crust and crunch on the ten minute drive home, despite being wrapped tightly in foil and bagged with some smoking hot, and perfectly cooked plantain chips, which, despite being labeled as chips, were actually half inch thick plantains smashed and deep fried to a perfect crisp on the outside with a moist and sweet inside, finished off with kosher salt.

I mean, damn.  This is an incredible sandwich.  And despite the assortment of hot sauces available outside of the trailer, I brought it home and dipped it in my favorite hot sauce for just such sandwiches, Matouk's Calypso Sauce, which is perfect for a sandwich as good as this.

I urge you to try this if you haven't, if at the very least just to reward a highly dedicated team determined to brave the weather to introduce us to one of Cuba's finest exports.

And after that nice Cuban music, I'll swing you to the other side of this trailer...

Summary:

Atmosphere:  Africa-hot, food trailer, shaded picnic tables

Food:  Cuban sandwiches

Crowd:  gluttons for punishment on this day

Dog Friendly:  yes

What to Order for the First Timer:  El Cubano

Best Time to Go:  Lunch

Thank You

To the person who Googled "raccoon carcass plate" and made it to my site.

Today's Lunch

Eastern Carolina-Style Pulled Pork Sandwich with Pickled Jalapenos on a Buttermilk Bun

Last Night's Dinner

Barbecue Spaghetti

Pulled pork, onion, jalapeno, cheddar, feta, and Montgomery Inn barbecue sauce.  The sauce is the key.

Taqueria Los Jaliscienses - Austin, TX

Do you like Mexican food?


Do you like real hole-in-the-walls?


Do you like ethnic restaurants where they speak the native language only and not English?


Do you take your car to Discount Tire?


Well then you're going to love Taqueria Los Jaliscienses, a combination of the first three items above, just down the street from Discount Tire, where I found myself last week after a noticeable shimmy developed in my car shortly after it was destroyed by baseball-sized hail and then fixed.

I'll be honest, this dive on the south side of Ben White is not a place I'd be likely to stop under normal circumstances, but destiny shook that car and put me at Discount Tire that morning, and destiny also closed the Jack and the Box and Taco Bell down the street for renovations, forcing me over to the next in line, Taqueria Los Jelly Senses, for a bite to eat while I waited.

Patroned only by a few small groups of people who I can only assume are regulars, Mexicans and Whiteys both, I was left wondering how things worked when I walked past the counter of Mexican candy and tried to figure out if I needed to seat myself or wait to be seated.  The nice woman who emanated from the kitchen answered that for me...kind of, with a question in Spanish and then some gestures.

She brought me a giant glass of water and a basket of thick cut chips along with some creamy green salsa and some fresh red salsa, the first with a noticable burn not for the faint of heart, and the second with a hybrid pico de gallo meets Pace Picante feel to it, both good.

The menu was adorned with Mexican and Tex-Mex items alike, ranging from chicharrones to crispy ground beef tacos, and was complemented with full color pictures of at least one item from each section. After a small feast of chips, my waitress reappeared and gestured to the menu.

"What's the best thing on the menu?" I asked?

¡WARNING!  INSERT LANGUAGE BARRIER HERE

No dice.

I settled for the picadillo (that's ground beef "plus" to we gringos) enchiladas topped with a combination of their famous (where?) red sauce and cheese sauce.

Very good.  Three enchiladas barely discernible from one another much like the contents of a well prepared White Castle slider, were topped with a flavorful sauce and a bunch of melted cheese and nestled in between some classic Mexican rice, slightly dry, and the thin sort of refried beans, which were very good.

Not a bad spot if you're having tire issues, or your getting really hungry while headed down 71.  I recommend the stop, and a chile lollipop to go.

Summary

Atmosphere:  hole-in-the-wall, stark, no bar, Telemundo

Food: greasy Mexican and Tex-Mex

Dog Friendly:  no

Crowd:  blue collar, regulars

What to Order for the First Timer:  pick 'em

Best Time to Go:  lunch

24 Diner - Austin, TX

Alright, this is long overdue, but I've had a chance to eat at 24 Diner a few times in the last three weeks, so here goes...

24 reasons I love 24 Diner:

24:  Wait for your table while browsing the vinyl at Waterloo Records

23:  Short walk from the bars of West 6th, and more importantly, from my house

22:  Full bar and a great value wine list

21:  Hotchicks

20:  One of the best weekend hangover brunches in town

19:  Square cups

18:  Bloody Marys and Micheladas

17:  Deviled eggs with bacon on arugula with lemon vinaigrette

16:  Full Bar

15:  Macaroni and Cheese

14:  Incredible scenery

13:  Chicken and Waffles

12:  Sassy yet classy service

11:  On-Site ATM

10:  Meatloaf Sandwich

9:  They willingly serve drunks...food

8:  Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Brown Gravy

6:  Grilled Cheese

You know what one looks like

5:  Egg Sandwich

4:  Full Bar

3:  Bar Seating

2:  Open whenever you want to go there


1:  Full Bar

Hey, nobody said I could count

Dinner

Greek Spaghetti with Feta and Mint

Dinner

Saffron Chicken with Orange Mint on a Sour Cream Scallion Pancake

Saturday's Dinner

Homemade Quinoa Fettucini with Swiss Chard Ragu, Habanero Peppers and Goat Cheese

Last Night's Dinner

Sage Crusted Loin of Venison on Herbed Spaetzle with Sherry Mushroom Sauce and Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

For the venison, dredge the loin in seasoned flour, then a beaten egg, and then roll in a mixture of fresh breadcrumbs and sage.  Brown on all sides over medium high heat, then put pan in a 450 degree oven for ten minutes, and let stand on a room temperature plate for ten minutes before slicing.

For the spaetzle, beat two eggs into a cup and a half or so of flour, add some salt, pepper, and fresh thyme leaves, then whisk with water until it's the consistency of honey.  Drop into boiling water through a spaetzle maker or a can with 1/4" holes in it and cook until it floats, then drain it and let it cool.  When you're ready to eat, heat some butter and shallots over high heat, then add the spaetzle and pan fry.

Brussels sprouts are easy.  Fire up some bacon and toss them in on pretty high heat and cook until brown in spots.

Sunday Dinner

My Lovely Wife Mrs. Gordo does several things well in the kitchen, one being these southwest eggrolls, which she serves with a sour cream guacamole dipping sauce.

Friday's Dinner

Chicken with Prosecco on Quinoa Fettucini

Browned the chicken pieces in olive oil with a little salt and pepper and fresh ground red chiles, then added some chicken stock and prosecco and cooked until done.

For the pasta, used a 50/50 mix of quinoa flour and all-purpose, and tossed with butter and mushrooms.

And served it with hearts of Romaine with a simple dressing of vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, sour cream and italian parsley.