Doryan R.'s Profile

Was this earlier than other events?
Somehow, I managed to miss half of it due to time constraints, and that was very disappointing, as I didn't get to do a lot in the hour that was left.

I walked in with a beautiful woman on each arm, slicked back hair, a powder blue suit, skinny tie, and the greatest shoes I've ever owned. At some point during the event I swear I had the three most beautiful women in the joint crowded around me. And, I got to watch them brutally shoot down any and all male suitors that came near. Brilliant.

I didn't get to bowl or karaoke due to so much socializing and those highballs just went down way too easily! Their old fashioned was pretty darn delicious as well.

I seemed to miss a lot of the food somehow. I saw ribs pass me like 5 times, but never saw the shrimp cakes. Curses! After 4 or five drinks, all I had was some endive cup and a quail wing thingy, and that's not good for, y'know, safety reasons.

Oh, and did you see her? My redheaded waitress?? Oh, she gave me a wink and a smile. Of course one of my dates said she got the same treatment, but that just makes it a bit hotter under my collar.

Great event, Kevin!
Just wish I'd been able to enjoy more of it.

I think I'll have to come back to this place.

Lunch dating took me to this interesting spot on a whim. We wanted soup.

The place is really...confusing when you walk in. Fish tank, stage, typical basic setup....with Mardi Gras masks all over the walls!

Most of the menu is Asian, with a few fusion dishes and a small cajun section. I really wanted to see if their cajun was good, as I was somewhat concerned that there was a gumbo that apparently has corn in it.

We got a couple of beers and the waiter (owner?) was there to give us all kindsa advice.

He suggested the bacon wrapped shrimp on special deep fried with jalapeños. I figured I'd bite. I know what this dish typically looks like in most chain restaurants. But he brings out these 4 LARGE WHOLE shrimp with eyes and antennae, etc. No batter, no nuthin. Just wrapped and fried. You had to tear them in half like a giant crawfish with lots more meat and...wrapped in sausage and jalapeño. And I didn't mind one bit.

I really was leaning toward etoufee, but the guy was SO. VERY. SURE. that I wanted the Lo Mein. Lo Mein? Thats' not an interesting dish!

But oh it was just right. It's kinda hard to do a dish that's relatively simple and make it stand out, but this was damn good lo mein. And, they use the good fatty dark chicken meat like a good cook should.

The other dish we tried was a fusion dish. The Crawfish Pho. Honestly, this was a pretty terrific dish, but failed in the amount of crawfish tails that I found within. Lots of sausage, that I don't eat, really. Great broth, and the toppings were fresh...but I wanted more crawfish.

I'll be back for some cajun food and see if they can do it as well as their simple asian foods. And I'm always into the fusion. So many things to try.

Was it the scantily clad women showing off their...uh...wares?
Was it the boisterous crowd in their hilariously-named "Club No Minor"?
Was it the blue margarita I downed way to fast?

No, it was the queso.
And it was a realization that I wish I had more greasy tex-mex joints that were awesome here in Austin.

For you Non-Houstonians:
You see, once there was a magical fairytale land of cheesy goodness called "Felix's Mexican Restaurant". It had something called "chile con queso" that came on a dish called "Felix's All Time Special". And that's what I ate for the first God-knows-how-many years of my life. The thing they called "Chile con Queso" was in fact a crispy flat corn tortilla with their queso on top. THAT's what that dish was to me for years. Sometime later, I learned that one could simply order a BOWL of said cheesiness. This bowl came filled with oily cheesy goodness, and when you were done with the queso, there was still quite a bit of oil at the bottom of the bowl. This effect is what you get when they use something called ACTUAL CHEESE instead of Velveeta.

My whole family grew up eating this. My sister even spent like $300 or more to have a whole table set-up at her wedding reception that had nothing but chips and tons of Felix's Chile con Queso.

So, when I was called into town for a catering gig, and was asked to make the famous queso for it, I needed to get my bearings with this recipe again. Fortunately, El Patio still makes this ancient mystical recipe.

Oddly, I'd never been to El Patio, even though my parents had, and it's been around about as long as Felix's was.

I was in for a treat. The Queso, while not as spicy as I remember, was decadent. The salsa was warm and spicy. The margarita was blue, but not in that electric fake color with sweet and sour way. It was strong and tasted like...well, like a margarita should.

I got the crawfish enchiladas. Now, for a nearly 50 year old place, I didn't expect such things to be on their menu, but I guess their menu keeps expanding over the years.

Still, this was done old-school. The plate arrived hotter than any plate has reason to be. Just radiating heat so that you really wanted to touch it just to see how badly it might burn you. The red pepper sauce lay slightly broken into the cheese that oozed across the plate. Everywhere, there were pools of cheese, sauce and grease. Fuckin hells yeah, I say. Let me at em. I even thought about adding a little salsa for heat, but they actually have a nice slow burn on this dish which impressed me even more.

So, now when I don't want to be healthy and I'm in Houston, I know where to go.

And for all you Austin peeps, if you know a place that's this kind of tex mex awesomeness, tell me! I can't very well drive 2.5 hours everytime I need a fix!
Or can I....?

I remember going to the old Malaga a few times and never really being impressed.
The old space was nice and all. The wine list was overwhelming when they first opened. But, I'd been working in a Tapas place in Houston for years, so I wanted to try the Austin equivalent. And I was never impressed. After talking to one of my friends, it seems that during the first 2 years (?) or so, they actually had NO kitchen. Well, now they've got a shiny new place that is so huge it'd better have a kitchen! I can only imagine what this place must be like when it's packed.

I met some friends for a blind date of sorts last week. I arrived right before the kitchen closed, and our waitress was nice enough to let me order anyway.

I didn't have much time, even though we were the last people in the place for a while (sorry about that), but we were having a lovely time drinking.

For food (since my cohorts had been eating for hours), I was told to go with the shrimp bisque. I'm really glad I did. It was the best thing I've had at Malaga since....ever. Creamy, shrimpy (in a good way), and just overall rich in flavor, this was a lovely way to satiate my low blood sugar.

I also ordered the Patatas Bravas. Now, this dish I know. I've had it served to me at LEAST 4-5 completely different ways. Seriously. 4 different ways, as if you might wonder, "Did they send me the wrong thing?" This version was similar to the simplistic dish I've had (and prepared) before. Simply herb roasted potatoes with an aioli. Not spicy, not piquant, really. Not terribly memorable, but decent.

The empanadas were well presented and had an interesting balance of flavors once you combined everything on the plate. Still, though I might get them again if I go back, I wasn't really even close to "blown away" by them.

I was told our waitress made lots of mistakes earlier in the night, but she made none while I was there, and was very nice to let us sit and chat for quite a while.

I'll likely be dragged back there for Happy Hour. I won't fight it for reduced price tapas, but I miss the old days working at a really great tapas place in Houston. I wish I could find something like that here, but so far I haven't.

Damn, I really wanted to like this place. I've been hearing about it for years, and have been told about the awesome, but it wasn't really delivered.

Went there for a lunch date the other day. Either this place isn't a lunch spot, or we just missed the rush. There were certainly lots of stupid people driving down Bee Caves (which is why I don't take it if I can help it), but very few in the restaurant.

Our waitress was nice enough. Did the basics to make sure we were mostly ok.

But most everything else was not up to par.

We ordered house margaritas on the rocks. One salt one without. I don't know if they have a house pre-made mix, or if they let their waiters make the lunch ritas or what, but it was pretty much the worst margarita I've had in a while. It even had that look of neon green which tells you, "Hey, I've been made with stuff that doesn't exist in nature!"
Furthermore, my date had one with salt and commented, "Y'know, I like margaritas with salt...but not with table salt." Yeah, that nice iodine flavor in your drink? Not for me.

The salsa was a bit pedestrian as well. Small bits of things that once had flavor floated in a pool of tomato sauce that had the consistency of Pace Picante, and no heat whatsoever.

So, I've heard about the Molé and the empanadas. I tried the Tres Marias Enchilada plate, so I could try three of their enchilada sauces all at once. My date got the empanada lunch spacial with a small bowl of their Caldo tlalpeño. She swears by it as a cure-all. It was pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself.

The empanada was okay. It wasn't thrilling. There was no sauce or anything inside or out but the chicken. I know that's probably traditional, but it made it a little bland, and not the amazing experience I was told about from friends.

The enchiladas were...kinda meh. The Molé enchilada was pretty good, and the sauce was the only one that wasn't watery. But it wasn't thrilling. The ranchero sauce was described as spicy, but fell way short of that, and the verde sauce was just...blah. Watery blah.

The thing that made them extremely un-remarkable is the notable lack of cheese. I mean, really? I know that sometimes in the more traditional places, they don't douse everything with cheese, but you have to put at least a decent bit on top! But my enchiladas sat there with little to say but..meh.

I also ordered a glass of Gabbiano Pinot Grigio, so to avoid another margarita. I at least know what Gabbiano tastes like. And this was not it. Or maybe it'd been sitting open for a bit, but it was pretty awful.

All in all, I just wasn't impressed by the good points, and the bad points were pretty disappointing. Lotta points in that sentence, aren't there?

I doubt I'll be back to battle my way down Bee Caves for this place. Too bad.

I'm upping this to 4.5 stars.
And it's mainly because of the service I received last night. It was pretty phenomenal. Chauncey (sp?) was his name, I believe, and he was a great bartender who wanted nothing more than to make his patrons happy no matter what!

We went there for Molotov Happy Hour (which is a band and not a happy hour, btw), and thoroughly enjoyed their show. There's still not a stage, but it's a nice little corner they smoosh performers into. It really does make for an intimate musical experience. There was even a small area left for a wandering mime to dance the waltz with one of my friends. Mimes are great waltzers, btw.
My only regret is that I'd have to drastically downscale my band to have us perform there!

Oh, the food and drinks and service and whatnot. Right.

So I order a New Chrysanthemum, which is $9-10 and WAY to easy to drink. I knew it was going to be something especial when he sparked up an orange rind and flambé-d the top of my drink. Apparently, I haven't watched enough Mr. Wizard to know that orange oil is flammable.

The Cheese Plate :
Was totally worth $12. Goat cheese, some really incredible bleu with spicy pecans, and an interesting cheddar that was paired with apples and drizzled with honey. But when the bartender saw that there was no pesto-feta on there, he ran back to the back to get us some. "You have to try this!" We heard a lot of that, and I'm glad we did!

The Chicken:
Local chicken delicately fried in a dark and a nutty-spicy crust was touted as a special, and Chauncey said we HAD to get it, and there was only one order left because Heather Graham was in there the other day and ate all their fried chicken. Well, not to be outdone by a skinny blonde girl, we got  the last order.
Only problem was that we were told it was a breast, leg and wing, and all we got was a breast. Granted, it was decent-sized, but Chauncey went back and had the chef prepare us something else fantastic since we didn't know that apparently Heather Graham had struck again and stolen our chicken leg.
It was served with a lovely sweet potato-tasting mash and zucchini. I hate zucchini, but my date told me to try it, and I'm pretty glad I did! Not bad at all, and very flavorful. For zucchini.
The chicken was well done as well and nicely moist. Toward the bone, I kept getting mouthfuls that almost seemed undercooked, but I couldn't tell if it was that or just fatty chicken due to the lighting. Still it was quite enjoyable, and my date ensured me that I was being stupid and to eat the chicken. Which I did.

Curried Lamb Pot Pie:
This was brought out in a coffee mug as our "I'm sorry a blonde celeb ate your chicken" from the chef. I don't eat lamb, but I tried some anyway, as it smelled heavenly. And yes, indeed it was! The sweet potato mash was on top with the stew beneath, and from the top is was outstanding. Once you got past that, the stew on its own was a bit over salted. Not to make it inedible, but noticeable. Still, I'd say go for it if you want a flavor explosion.

Butternut Bisque:
It's veggie for you veggies out there! And it's a bit spicy. Which is good for me. My friends ordered some and I was lucky enough to take a couple of bites. And considerate enough not to tackle them for the rest of their soup.

Creme Brulée:
I have a thing about Creme Brulée. The best one I've ever had was in high school at Claridge's in London. It's one of those places that doesn't have prices on the menu, and where the Queen sometimes comes for tea. Their CB was made in one large dish, from which you were served. The candy shell actually had to be cracked quite hard, before I was served a rather huge amount with the candy bits arranged on my dessert plate. Then, it was drizzled with Devon Double Cream. Yeah, there has never been one like it.

However, the chef apparently really still felt bad about our missing chicken leg, and sent us out one. It was not huge. It didn't have a ridiculous hard candy shell, and no double cream over the top. Just some sliced apples. But y'know what? It was freakin outstanding! My problem with CB here is that it's always too eggy and not creamy enough. Their CB was just the right texture. Not overly flavoured, and the apples were actually a nice touch. Well done.

I finished the night with some absinthe, which was...absinthe-y. And Chauncey was nice enough to give me a taste of some of the new vermouths and digestifs they'd gotten in. There's some serious love behind that bar!

Oh, and if you're looking for something a little cheaper, they sell Sessions beer for like $3. So, you can go here and not break the bank. I just chose not to do this. Our bill was still about $80 with a significant tip. I hope it was significant enough. Maybe I should go back to make sure. And to try their Apple-Cheddar Pie!

Thanks Chauncy. You made what could've been a disappointing experience quite outstanding.

Well, I've been coming here for years, but today I went again because I realized "I haven't reviewed them on Yelp!"
Ohhhh...the tragedy.
Does it say something that I try and decide where to go based (at least partly) on whether or not I've "yelped" them yet?

It's dark and British inside, like a Pub should be. And outside, there are lovely Texas-style patio tables one can use to sit in the sun or shade or under a tree. You see, they don't have these "patio" things in England because the Brits outlawed sunlight (except for special occasions) back in 1956. Why that year? No one will ever know.

Regardless, I like the joint plenty, and NOW they have a new menu!

The fish and chips are always good. Maybe the best in town, now that my pub has closed, but make sure you try them at least once.

The Tuna burger (used to be Thai Tuna Burger) option on their patties is obscenely tasty with some chipotle mayo on there. In fact, just get yourself some chipotle mayo to dip them "chips" in. Fortunately, they haven't given up on real steak fries in deference to the same crappy fries that everyone else has.

Today, I had the Buffalo Chicken Strips. Now, after looking this over again, I'm a little confused. For fish and chips, it's like $6.75. But for 3 chicken strips (the Sysco frozen kind) plus chips and sauce it was $9.50?? Wha??

That, and I had to add a lot of heat to the buffalo sauce. I know, it's a pub. Shouldn't order Buffalo stuff in an actual pub.

The new menu is a step up from the last time I was there, and the special today was a shrimp po-boy with fancy yogurt based sauce and something something. So, even if you don't like English food (which they outlawed in England in '72), you can find some tasty bites here.

I'll be back. I always am.

I can't in good conscience give this place more then 3 stars...for now.

We stopped in on our way to see Zombieland last night. We'd have stopped by again later, but we made it in right before they closed early for an employee party. Well, not a bad way to take care of your employees!

After getting the rundown from the very lovely hostess, we ordered drinks. And 12 minutes later, we had those drinks. Don't get me wrong. I watched, and the whole time that guy was making our drinks. It's just that their "signature" drinks take quite a while to make sometimes. So be prepared.

Were they worth it? Heck yes. I had the 10 Pin: Cucumber-infused gin, muddled strawberries and..something else i think...with a basil/sea salt rim. Wha? Yeah. It was pretty damn good. Not the most awesome thing ever because the strawberries overpowered the cucumber gin flavor and made it just a bit too sweet for my taste.

The place looks freaking fantastic. All slick and retro. I'm going to see if I can get my band to play some gigs on their stage, because I think we could definitely make that space pop! The bowling area is swanky looking, and the karaoke rooms all looked like fun, albeit small. Skeeball! AND skeeball prizes! w00t!

And the best part is, that I fell head over heels for this little redheaded waitress. I know. I'm a fool. But as she rushed by me to close out her last tab of drunk karaoke-ers, our eyes met and she smiled that smile that says, "You are totally in my way. Please move so I can walk faster than you." No, really she was very pleasant and bewitching. I'll be back just to look at the good-looking staff!

I've been here thrice since the great schism of Sampaio's/Sao Paulo's.

I couldn't tell you which I like better, really, but this place is...closer to my house.

Anyhow, I met a lovely lady there for lunch yesterday, and sat out on their patio. It's so nice to have this great patio weather in the fall-like weather we're having, and their patio really does deliver!

I had me a caipirinha to start off, and it went down smoothly. Perhaps too smoothly? My dining companion decided there was a bitter taste in it that she wasn't sure about. Well, more for me. Granted, I've had them here where I tasted the bitterness of the limes they use, but this one was quite lovely.

I couldn't find anything thrilling on the lunch menu, so I went for tapas. I think I'll have to re-visit this place for happy hour and more tapas again!

Pao de Queijo: Cheese bread! Made with yucca flour! Don't expect your usual bread consistency, because if you do, you'll think you got undercooked bread. The flour makes for an interesting chewy-ness. And their's are perfect.

Calamari: Not your typical calamari. The crusting was great, and they were just drizzled with a nice (if loose) aioli. It was served with a small salad with a citrus vinaigrette that made a nice chance from the usual pomodoro sauce most people serve calamari with.

Fried Brie: Woah nelly! This stuff is worth the trip by itself! AND they must know fights will break out over this tapa, because it's served with a miniature cleaver with which to..er...cut the cheese. And you'll be glad you did!

I wish I wish I wish they'd have their Albariño by the glass. That would be great. I might even pay the $10+ dollars that it's likely to cost, given their price per bottle.

All in all, a rich but not overly full lunch that sported sunshine and great conversation. Thanks Sampaio!

Well, I've had two experiences at this place, so it's about time to write them up.

The first experience was when I'd had a little bit of the drinky-poo, and discovered that my dinner party wasn't really serving dinner. And by the time I figured that out, it was midnight or somesuch time.

On the short drive home, I remembered Tacorrido and decided to give 'er a try. Why? Because they were open late! And I'd heard good things and all, but....yeah...open late.

I explained to the guy that I wanted a torta with no meat. Just extra avocados and maybe some frijoles spread in there. And I got some salsa to go with it. Which one? F-uck, I dunno! I'd been drinking! Leave me alone with the third degree already!
I'm sorry, baby, you know I can't stay mad at you.

Anyway, it was good. I mean, what I remember of it was great late-night torta! But i can't recall all the details. Must be my age catching up with me.

Today, I went by there again because I was starving and it was once again close by and convenient.

There was a line at the drive through. I waited patiently, and a nice lady came out to take my order while I was in line. Nice, no? Well, she spoke much less english than the guy I'd dealt with before (or perhaps I was just more in the "zona" last time where languages don't matter?), so I had to explain to her the concept of no meat, extra avocado, etc. Fortunately, I thought I was able to do so, but I didn't want to go into frijoles al entro.

Crema? Lechuga? Tomate? Queso y Aguacate?
Si.

Well, now I remember why having the frijoles in there makes it better. Because other than that, all you have is a cold torta. An ensalada sammich. And that wouldn't have been as frustrating if they'd not forgotten to toast the bread, not put any extra avocados in, forgotten the crema, and forgotten my salsa.
El sigh.

I'll try them again, but it certainly wasn't the great sammy I remember from the last time I was there. Too bad.