Austin Eats
I think this blog post about Austin eats is timely since SXSW is happening right now. On Food Network’s episode of “Best. Pizza. Ever.,” eleven pizzerias made the list including Bufalina in Austin. (Note that Oakland’s very own Pizzaiola is also one of the eleven and the only one in the entire Northern California.)
First off this is a popular place so do what me and my friends did to ensure you get in without waiting an hour or more. We showed up about twenty minutes before they opened. I was surprised that when the door opened at 5:30pm, we already formed a long line.
For an appetizer, we chose the burrata cheese with egg yolk and olive oil. We weren’t sure what to expect, but what came out was lovely. The presentation of the cheese looked like a boiled egg. It was soft, salty, and very delicious especially with the olive oil.
Our first pizza was the margherita. This is the most simple pizza essential to determine the worthiness of a Neopolitan style pizza. It passed the test. It had a nice chewy crust with great flavor.
Our second pizza was the napoletano which had tomato sauce, sausage, garlic, black olives, chile, and basil. The waitress was nice to let us know that this pizza doesn’t come with mozzarella cheese, but we could add it. We added cheese for half at the recommendation of my BFF who wanted to also taste it as it was meant to be. This pizza had great flavor as well, especially the half with cheese. The bad part was that the middle of the pie was on the soggy side. The toppings were unable to hold up to the pizza crust.
After two pizzas, the three of us still felt like we had some room left. We went ahead and ordered the meat plate which came with prosciutto, two kinds of salumi, bread, and cornichons. This plate was good, but there was nothing special about it.
For dessert we ordered the olive oil almond cake with ice cream. I have to repeat, good but not special.
Something special in Austin were some beignets I had for brunch. Our friends took us to Epicerie Cafe & Grocery for brunch. For the table, we ordered two servings of beignets.
The warm fried dough was soft and pillowy and had a generous amount of powdered sugar just like it should. They were yummy and dunking it in my coffee transformed me to New Orleans.
I ordered the shrimp and grits as my main dish. The jumbo shrimp were delicious and complimented the density in the grits. The scallions added a nice freshness to the dish.
My BFF ordered the quiche which I tasted and found quite tasty. The texture was perfect with a soft sponginess.
I had planned to go to Micklethwait Craft Meats for BBQ on my last day, but it ended up raining. When I got to the airport, I realized it was my last opportunity to get my BBQ fix.
I ended up at Salt Lick to pick up a BBQ beef sandwich for the plane ride. Surprisingly my sandwich held up pretty well. The beef and the roll was nice and tender. I put on some extra BBQ sauce that added a nice tang.
Austin is another city filled with great food. If you’re visiting Austin, I know you’ll have fun exploring.