Austin: Annie's, Koriente

Day two brought two interesting eateries, plus visits to the state capital and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. Both are fantastic stops in Austin and easily reached on foot since we were staying downtown.

Annie's Cafe and Bar was the only re-visit during the entire trip and that's because it seems to be one of the few places downtown that serves a sit-down breakfast.

During our first visit, I had oatmeal, topped with bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, walnuts, berries and raisins. Perfectly cooked, although it was served a bit cold. I liked the interior decor, starkly black, white, and silver with clean lines.

Breakfast tacos are apparently an Austin and Texas thing and, while I haven't sampled a wide range of them, I love them more than the California classic breakfast burrito. Annie's version has chorizo, cheese and egg with a simple salsa and a side of fried potatoes. The salsa's nothing to write home about, but the tortilla was perfect, as was the chorizo with egg.

We headed to the Texas state capitol, where the Senate and House chambers have amazing chandeliers that spell TEXAS in bright lights, and the LBJ library, where we learned a lot more about him beyond his presidency during the Vietnam War. It was pouring, so we needed to dry off and find some inexpensive eats, because we were going to end the evening with beer. Lots of it.

Koriente fit the bill perfectly. Korean-influenced dishes that were well-prepared and inexpensive. The menu is vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free friendly.

The Koriente pickles fell flat, as they had lots of heat but no flavor. My japchae, however, was lovely. The noodles were tender and toothsome with the veggies cooked to perfection. Unlike many other versions of japchae, this wasn't greasy at all.

I'm a sucker for green tea ice cream and they make a simple scoop of green tea ice cream fabulous with chopped pistachios and a drizzle of honey.

Afterwards, we fulfilled our mission with lots of beer at The Side Bar and Casino El Camino, the latter having great food to satisfy late-night drunken munchies.

Annie's Cafe and Bar

319 Congress Avenue

Austin, TX 78701

Koriente

621 E. 7th Street

Austin, TX 78701

The Side Bar

602 E. 7th Street

Austin, TX 78701

Casino El Camino

517 E. 6th Street

Austin, TX 78701

Austin: Frank and Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill

D. and I arrived in Austin a little after lunchtime, so we were quite hungry. After reading about Frank on Chowhound, I thought it would be a perfect place to eat right after we checked into our hotel.

Their menu had many types of typical and artisan sausages. I settled on the Jackalope, an antelope and rabbit sausage, served on a fresh bun with huckleberry compote, sriracha aioli, and applewood smoked cheddar.

The tart huckleberries were perfect with the gamey and rich sausage. I didn't taste much of the cheddar and the aioli gave everything a nice kick.

D. loves waffle fries, so we ordered fries with two dipping sauces: Texas BBQ and Buffalo Bleu.

Frank also has a wide beer and cocktail menu... we weren't ready for drinks, even though it was 5 o'clock somewhere. Indeed, a cold beer is man's (and woman's) best friend. I'm a sucker for dachshunds. Although they didn't offer Frankenmuth, they did advertise bacon-infused Maker's Mark. Really? I was rather intrigued.

They seemed to have an obsession with putting bacon in everything, so I indulged in an ice cream sandwich. Mexican vanilla ice cream from Amy's Ice Cream, diced bacon, and bacon/chocolate chip/walnut/cranberry/pecan cookies.

That evening, we headed to Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill. Great-looking building, although we didn't see a lot of it in the rain. Really cozy inside and they had a heated patio, which wasn't a bad place to dine during a rainy evening. Service was excellent, as our server indulged our indecision over the wine with tastings. They were attentive and were very kind when we stayed long past closing, catching up with an old friend.

I love the Ball mason jars as drinking glasses, which Frank used, too. Moonshine provides a cute bucket of popcorn instead of bread, which is a great touch. Fabulous service continued when they comped an extra side because D.'s side dish wasn't prepared at the same time as the entree. They brought the original side dish 20 minutes later and he wouldn't have minded the wait, but the comped dish was a really nice touch.

My own entree, the pecan-crusted catfish with crawfish tails, homemade hot sauce, and brown-butter sauce, was awesome. The vegetables on the side were cooked to perfection, especially the succotash. I wasn't a huge fan of my red beans and rice, which was really bland and far too much bean vs. rice.

I've had quite the love affair with red velvet cake and this version didn't disappoint. While versions in California typically lean towards a light chocolate flavor, Moonshine's had subtle hints of coconut, with the richness of the buttermilk coming through in the cake. The frosting was a basic buttercream and not heavily used. There was even a mild berry drizzle, which was interesting. It was a fantastic dessert.


Frank
407 Colorado Street
Austin, TX 78701

Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill

303 Red River Street

Austin, TX 78701

Yum.

 

D. and I recently went to Austin, Texas, and talk about a fabulous city. More posts on that coming soon, but this meal came right after we landed in rainy San Diego. We'd spent days eating out and didn't want to spend anymore money, but were tired after a long day spent in the airport and a delayed flight. What to do?

A quick survey of our freezer yielded a package of Trader Joe's Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina and the fridge was full of veggies from our new CSA (Be Wise Ranch). Chopped garlic, onions, and Swiss chard made a great addition to the gnocchi. The package calls for a little water while it cooks/thaws in the pan, so I added a few spoonfuls of homemade turkey stock. The gnocchi is quite decent for a frozen product and is one of the standouts in Trader Joe's frozen food offerings.