Trailer Food Tuesdays…Saturday Edition

I am a bad Austinite – in the entire year I’ve lived here, I have only ever been to one, yes one, Austin food trailer. Living in the city that is known for it’s amazing food trailers and never having really tried them – blasphemy!

Do not fear – this weekend, I restored my status as a true Austinite and spent the evening at Trailer Food Tuesdays’ Saturday edition.

One of fabulous ladies I met through the Junior League of Austin invited me to go with her and some of her friends for dinner. We braved the over 100 degree Texas heat, headed over to The Long Center patio, found a spot in the shade, and made tasting trailer food our mission.

Trailer Food Tuesdays at The Long Center

I went the seafood route with fish tacos from The Peached Tortilla and a lobster slider from Garbo’s…and it was the best. decision. ever.

Lobster claw-meat slider

But the dessert made the event – the “Fargo” cone from Wright Bros. Dairy. Cone injected with chocolate and raspberry sauces – need I say more? I have never eaten an ice cream cone so quickly, and it wasn’t just because of the heat.

The one and only “Fargo” cone

I will definitely be trailer fooding it more often now! 🙂

 

 

 

Quality Seafood

When I was in middle school in rural Iowa, my hairdresser made her first trip out of the state to go to Hawaii on her honeymoon for a week.  She told me all about how they went out for this fancy seafood dinner, but somehow the seafood didn’t really taste all that great to them.  But they took the leftovers home anyway and decided to try them a day later and, much to their surprise, they loved the leftovers!  Only after they got back to Iowa did they realize that the reason they didn’t like the meal was because they had never actually had fresh seafood before. When a friend suggested having dinner at a place called “Quality Seafood,” my hairdresser’s story jumped right into my mind.

Oysters

The place was packed and the line to order food went all the way into the fish market side of the space.  After standing in line, I finally reached the menu and the reason for the line became apparent – there wasn’t any kind of seafood that wasn’t on the menu!

Fried clams, fried okra, and mac & cheese

Between the 3 of us, we ended up ordering fish, lobster, clams, and two kinds of oysters.

Nightly special – black drum

Even the sides were amazing.  The mac & cheese was anything but the cliche orange cheese and shells.  It was a tasty mix of spaghetti noodles and several kinds of cheese.  And the fried okra really hit the spot.

Lobster

We had a nice chuckle at the presentation of the lobster – it looked like it was hoarding the melted butter 🙂

Grilled oysters

But the absolute best dish of the night was the grilled oysters with fresh grated parmesan cheese.  Scoop it out and eat it on top of a slice of french bread and voila!  Seafood heaven.

Uchiko Austin

In order to understand just how good dinner at Uchiko was, I need to start at the end – that part of the evening where JP and I made a long list of all of the amazing meals we’ve had on all of the continents we’ve dined on, and couldn’t think of one that topped Uchiko. Ok, now back to the beginning…

Our five year anniversary was last month and we knew right away that we wanted to celebrate it at Uchiko. I had heard great things both before and after we moved to Austin, and the month-long wait to get a reservation told us the food couldn’t be half bad. Plus, to be quite honest, the Seattle-ite in me really, really, really was craving some sushi.

Sunday was finally the night – we got dressed up, dropped our car with Uchiko’s complimentary valet (remember cash for at tip when you go!), and checked in at the hostess station…right next to Lyle Lovett (yes, he’s still around…and apparently also likes sushi). The environment is “Japanese farmhouse,” which accurately described everything from the art to the wood-beam farmhouse benches. And the dining style is tastings – small plates designed to be shared tasted.

JP, after studying all weekend, couldn’t decide which of the many options to choose from, selected the Omakase or Signature Tasting – a fancy term for 4 signature courses and 1 desert selected by the chef. I added to his list with five more courses (yeah, so I might have been slightly hungry). And that’s when the fun began…

Each course came out one at a time, and was delivered by a server as if he or she had walked by our table, noticed we had finished a course, and just happened to have our next course in hand. It was effort less and smooth, and made us feel like we weren’t simply having a meal, but instead were being treated to a dining experience. For an anniversary dinner, neither of us could have asked for more.

Uchiko, however, wasn’t satisfied to let us go with their average dinner. They knew it was our anniversary and treated each of us to a complimentary Madai sushi roll – Japanese bream, shiso, meyer lemon zest, and olive oil. Melt in your mouth good.

medai

That was how we felt about almost every course – unexpected flavors, nothing fishy at all, amazing combinations, and cooked to perfection. My favorite was still the first course we had – The Loup Crudo (mediterranean sea bass, texas grapefruit, avocado, and fennel vinegar).

loup crudo

It wasn’t an inexpensive meal, but I can honestly say (even with my budget being what it is) an evening at Uchiko was absolutely worth it!

maguro sashimi and goat cheese

Tempura Nasu

pork

shag

crunchy tuna

El Chile Cafe

In the five years we’ve been together, JP and I have been only been able to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the actual holiday once. This year, we thought that trend was going to continue and didn’t make reservations or even tentative plans. But surprise! JP had an unexpected break from class and we were able to squeeze in at a little place down the street we’ve been dying to try – El Chile Cafe y Cantina.

Passion fruit margarita (on the rocks with salt) and chips with the most amazing, yet simple, salsa, and the meal was off to a very good start. Then we ordered the guacamole, and discovered the chips – homemade tortilla chips. Not the same, basic ones they served initially with the complementary salsa. No, these were thick, made from a tostada, with a light sea-salt. The guacamole was chunky, with a citrus flavor. Soooo amazing.

JP ordered the relleno de cochinita pibil – a roasted pepper stuffed with shredded pork, with a side of rice and beans. It was full of flavor, and even more full of pork – so much that JP’s manly appetite couldn’t take it all in one sitting. And so he had some tasty leftovers for lunch the next day.

I also went the relleno route and chose the relleno de camaron. The pepper wasn’t quite as roasted as I usually like, but the flavors were amazing nonetheless and the shrimp was prepared well. Next time, I think I will try the enchiladas de cameron and give the tasty shrimp another shot with a different vessel.

We had a wonderful impromptu Valentine’s Day celebration. JP and I both agreed we will be visiting El Chile again soon.