Fried Brussels sprouts, sweet-spicy sauce, shredded cabbage, onion, jalapeño, Thai basil, mint, and cilantro over steamed Jasmine rice. Simple and beautiful. COME ON!
Three words. East Side King. I know it's been around for years but this was my first introduction into this Asian Fusion crazy train of deliciousness. This place started out as a food truck by Top Chef winner Paul Qui and his partner Moto Utsunomiya. The art on the walls by Peelander Yellow creates a chill albeit rock and roll vibe. The location I was lucky enough to find was at the Hole in the Wall bar off of UT Austin's main drag. The people that greeted me were AWESOME. I met Chef Matt and server Gary, they were incredibly welcoming and made me want to come back immediately (which I did that evening for late dinner and drinks since they serve food til 11pm). When I was there for late lunch, Gary thankfully talked me into getting the Happy Hour Special. I was able to get the Veggie Meschi for $4! That consisted of… ready? This was pretty incredible. I couldn't believe how great the sweet and spicy sauce was on brussel sprouts. I believe that even if you don't LIKE brussel sprouts, you would like these. Now, I thought that my lunch was over until the kitchen sent out some of their famous beet fries. These were my favorite thing that I had the entire time I was in Austin. These beat out the Banh Mi AND the Big Fat Donut. No pun intended*
East Side King's specialty, Deep-fried roasted beets, kewpie mayo, schichimi togarashi, green onion. Absolutely delicious. Best mayo I ever had and I could have eaten 1,000 of them. Now, my time in Austin would not have been complete without a serious dessert. This was courtesy of the Gourdoughs Big Fat Donuts Food Truck located near South Congress. Man O Man, and all I got was a cinnamon sugar donut with honey-butter on the side, as if the donut wasn't rich enough. There was NO WAY I could have finished this monster but my goodness I'm not sure if it was worth $4.75 but it was pretty f*ckin good.
Don't worry guys, I have been working out for every ONE of these meals. I can't keep up this blog and not at least remotely take care of myself. Being on the road is tough, but I am pretty lucky to be surrounded by such a cool group of people. I know not all reviews should be positive about everywhere I go, but seriously? There is such delicious food in this country! Also, kissing Austin goodbye left a sour taste in my mouth… so in order to remedy that… I suggest that you save room for the whiskey-pecan gelato from Dolce Neve. This little gem, found only a block or so away from South Congress, made me miss Italy.
Picture of my actual gelato is not included in this post because it wasn't taken. I inhaled it. | Hey! Their slogan is like ours at the American Shakespeare Center. We do it with the lights on, and they do it in front of everyone! |