ST Cafe

Monday night Emily and I decided to go to ST Café and Bakery. We had both gone a long time ago, and remembered the place fondly. It is located just off of LBJ and Skillman. Once you walk in they have a dessert counter and then two separate dining areas. The tables are modest and the décor is a bit dated.
Emily ordered the special for the evening. This came with several different salads and soup.

I ordered the bacon, mushroom, and spinach quiche. This pastry crust of the quiche was very good, but something was lacking in the filling. It came with a caesar salad and a cup of the chicken soup. The salad was overdressed and the soup was extremely salty.
We ordered the famous rock cake . This cake is a chocolate fudge cake covered in dried ice cream and served with a mocha cream sauce. I was extremely happy with this. Emily got a Godiva chocolate cake and a rum ball. We both agreed that the rock cake is the way to go.
If you make a visit, I would stick to the dessert counter. They seemed to have mastered that area quite well!

Perla's

We were down in Austin this weekend, and had some fabulous food! My favorite place was Perla’s on South Congress. The restaurant has a huge deck upfront with plenty of misters and oak trees. All of the décor outside is red, white, and blue. Perfect for the season!

We were seated and brought a bowl of corn hushpuppies and tartar sauce. They were pretty good- not too big and not too greasy. Our waiter was extremely friendly, and coaxed us into trying their frozen watermelon cocktail. We both decided it sounded perfectly refreshing, and it was! Served with a hefty sprig of mint and an umbrella- this drink is surely a reminder of summer.
I have never had a raw oyster before in my life, and decided that this would be a good start. We ordered ½ a dozen of 3 varieties. Our waiter was very knowledgeable on the various kind that the restaurant had to offer, and I was pleased with the selection . Paired with a cracker and a dot of sauce, it was a nice combination.
For the meal, we decided to split the soft shell crab BLT sandwich served with fries. This was a huge sandwich served on toasted buttery bread with Lambert’s bacon. The fries were sprinkled with sea salt and parsley and were a nice compliment to the sandwich. We also tried the potato pancake piled high with sour cream and chives! This was very good and reminded me of a creamy linguini. Finally, we ordered some cheese grits. These weren’t my favorite, but they were still satisfactory.
Overall, this place is a lovely addition to the SoCo area. If you are in Austin, put this on your list of stops!

Torchy's Tacos

We are always on the hunt for Austin style breakfast tacos and can't ever find satisfaction in the DFW area. We've found some places that have come close,
but this morning we hit the mother lode.

Torchy's Tacos hails from Austin, so you know it's got some authenticity working for it. They want it to succeed in Dallas, though, so they've toned down a little of the stuff that "Keeps Austin Weird", and they've established a pretty successful operation.

We started with the queso and guacamole. According to the staff, the guacamole is made fresh at every shift change, and it was fantastic. Nice big pieces of avocado and a little bit of citrus with a kick - served beside salty chips. This Texan's dream come true!

The green chili queso had an incredibly good flavor - a little spicy, a little smokey. The portion sizes on both were perfect - generous without being obscene.


I ordered The Republican, a jalapeno sausage taco that came with fresh pico, cheese, and beans. It was delicious & just the right amount of spicy paired with cool. I also sampled the fried avocado taco - again, with cheese, pico, and beans. Very good, and so big there was no way I could finish both (without shame).

(fried avocado taco - it's huge!)

(The Republican with the Fried Avocado)

Everyone else in our party ordered breakfast tacos. The chorizo taco was said to be good without being too meaty. The eggs were the perfect consistency, the cheese was generous, everything was well worth the drive down to Forrest & Preston. A special note goes out to the sauces - especially the poblano ranch - what a diverse group of good taste!



Our dining companions, also UT grads, were pleased with the outcome (which is good because I've asked them to accompany us on many food adventures that have failed).
P even gave it a thumbs up, high praise from that particular food critic.

The food was exceptional, but I loved, equally, the soda fountain. Any place that has Dr. Pepper made with the Imperial Brand Sugar Cane, black cherry soda, rootbeer, and cream soda all on tap...that gets my vote.

Definitely make the trip to Torchy's!

Mextopia

Monday night we decided to try Mextopia on lower Greenville. This place is bright and colorful and welcomes you right in. Once inside there is a large bar area and about 15 tables. They seemed to be doing pretty well for a Monday evening. We were first served chips and salsa. The chips were pretty good and served warm, but the salsa was VERY hot. We then ordered margaritas, but they only offered on the rocks. That was fine, it still sounded refreshing to us. Too bad they weren't. The mix was overpowering and too tart.

Since we both love FoodNetwork, we decided to try the Diners, Drive-In's and Dives recommendation. This included a chicken hominy soup with the below plate of additions.We liked this idea, as it allowed for our own customised soup! We opted to put in a little bit of all the flavors ( onions, peppers, oregano, and lime juice). Overall, this had really nice flavor and was one of our favorite items.

The plate also included a beef gordita that seemed to have very little flavor, a pork tamale, and rice and beans. Overall, we weren't blown away by any one item and were a bit disappointed. They have the right idea with the atmosphere, but could stand to work on some flavors.

Cosa Nostra

I spent the weekend in Rowlett, and had to revisit one of my very favorite local Italian joints, Cosa Nostra. Deno, the owner, is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet. He treats you like family from the moment you walk in the door. The restaurant is tucked away in a shopping center off of Dalrock and Highway 66. Inside are about 10 tables and an open grill. You can see the chef’s preparing your food while you are seated.

Once you are placed at a table, you are greeted with a tray of fresh garlic rolls and homemade marinara sauce. This alone is worth the trip! They have a ton of choices on the menu, so some find it hard to make a decision. I always opt for the same amazing macaroni and cheese dish and have NEVER been disappointed. The dish is served hot and bubbly. I’m not sure what the recipe is, but I know it is made with cream and ricotta and simply melts in your mouth. I am a big macaroni and cheese person, but I often find myself disappointed anytime I order it. This, however, is simply a must try!

Other guests at the table were pleased with their choices as well:

Philly cheese steak

Pasta Sampler

Spaghetti and Meatballs



Next time you are out in the burbs, take a moment to try this place out. Word is they will have a new expanded place by the end of the year! We are so happy for Deno and his crew!

FYI - Cosa Nostra is BYOB with a small corking fee .

Cat City Grill - Ft. Worth

Today my new assistant and I hit the road to try Cat City Grill in Ft. Worth. You may have heard of Cat City Grill because of it's recent review in Texas Monthly - if you follow such things, as we do. Located off of 8th street near the hospital district (and previously reviewed Ellerbe's), Cat City Grill has a great location. Everything is nice and spiffy.

We wondered if Cat City was named after the Panther legend/lore that lent Ft. Worth it's sometimes moniker: Panther City. It is rumored that back during the early days of Ft. Worth a big panther was found just strolling down the streets of town. No one knew where it came from or what it was doing, but the name kind of stuck after that.

Cat City has an eclectic menu. You can find quiche and chicken fried steak on the same page. Hard to beat those kinds of options.

Sue chose the spinach salad. It was layered with all kinds of goodness: mushrooms, cherries, pine nuts, mandarin oranges, Gorgonzola, bacon, plus a wonton that was so interesting in texture and taste that it really made the dish. All of this is topped off with CCG's plum vinaigrette - it's yummy!

I had the lobster po-boy. Tempura fried lobster pieces on a roll, complete with lettuce and tomato, it did not disappoint. Sometimes lobster can be a little too chewy. This lobster was perfect! I also had the Gorgonzola fries: waffle fries topped with Gorgonzola and fresh chopped green onion. This flavor combo was fabulous - and it is offered as an appetizer. Highly recommend.



We finished our meal with the chocolate pecan praline torte. Flourless chocolate cake topped with a pecan praline-candy like mixture and fresh whipped cream. It was dense and sugary - a perfect end.


This place had some unique dishes. The atmosphere was laid back. I liked what they had going on at Cat City Grill.



The newest reviewer...

Eden Cafe

Emily and I went Eden on Monday night. This particular evening was special, because it was our first dinner since precious Wyatt was born.

Eden is a tiny white house on Lover’s Lane down from Inwood. There are two main dining rooms with tables set up in both. We chose the back room and couldn’t wait to order since everything smelled so good! The waitress brought us a bread basket as soon as we had our first glass of wine. Emily and I were pleased! It was an assortment of blueberry, cinnamon, and zucchini muffins with banana bread. As we tasted each one, we found it hard to pick just one favorite.

We started out with the baked brie- an excellent choice. The creamy brie is wrapped in puff pastry and baked until golden brown. It was served with crackers as well as a bowl of fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
Both of our meals came with salads, so that was next up. The salads were made up of mixed greens, tri colored tomatoes, and fresh mushrooms. They make their own dressing which was a creamy basil concoction served on the side. This lovely mixe was perfectly delightful.
I ordered the crab, cheese, and spinach quiche. They have several daily choices, but this seemed like a good combination. It was served with sautéed asparagus and carrots. The quiche was very good, but the crust was the key. It was buttery and held up to the ingredients quite well. Emily ordered the meatloaf sandwich. Usually this isn’t something that we would go for, but it was pretty tasty. It came topped with provolone cheese, avocado slices, and a bit of marinara all served with a side of fruit. We really liked this place, and hope to make a return visit when we can save room for dessert.

FYI- Eden's is BYOB, but they do charge a $5.00 corking fee. Also, they are closed on Tuesdays.