Man Bites Dog (5222 Burnet Road)

I think I have found my favorite hot dog joint at Man Bites Dog.  They have a variety of hot dogs, corn dogs, and salads to choose from.   It took me several minutes to narrow it down to one dog because there were so many dogs that looked yummy.  

I ordered up the Beer Brat  ($4.79)

Smokey Denmark’ s Live Oak Beer Brat with sauerkraut & spicy brown mustard

and a side of fried pickles (if a place sells them, I have to buy them for some reason).

The hot dog hit the bulls eye.  The bread was somewhat sweet, the brat juicy with the aromas and flavors of the Live Oak Beer, and the sauerkraut transported me to village in Germany.  I savored each and every bite.  The fried pickles on the other had missed the target completely. Sliced like hamburger pickles, fried, and served with ranch dressing, they were too dry with too much crunch.  It was a good thing that I still had some dog left to finish my lunch with so that I could leave with a smile on my face and in my belly.

Will be going back soon to take my wife.  I think my next dog will either be the Boss Dog, the Abe Froman, or the Bottle Rocket.


Website: http://manbitesdogaustin.com/
one of the best websites I have come across.. they have pics of each specialty dog, as we all know most of us eat with our eyes.

Gourdough's Food Truck (1219 South Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704)

A few weeks ago, my wife and I had a progressive dinner at some of the Austin Food trailers/trucks.  We wanted to go back to try Gourdough's.   Gourdough's is of course a doughnut truck that fries them up when you order it.  With so many yummy options to choose from, we decided to go light (as light as one can go with a doughnut) and had narrowed it down to the Flying Pig (bacon with maple syrup icing), Son of a Peach (peach filling, cinnamon, sugar & cake mix topping), and the Slow Burn (habanero pepper jelly and cream cheese).  Still being a little full from dinner at Clay Pit (Indian food), I just didn't think that I could tackle the Flying Pig and my wife wasn't too keen on the Son of a Peach, so that left us with the Slow Burn.

We luckily found a seat at one of the few picnic tables (it gets extremely crowded at dusk with there being 3 different food trucks in the lot).  After about a 7 minute wait, they called my name and we were now in business.  The size of the doughnut is about the size of a large hamburger.  The doughnut tasted a lot like a funnel cake, but it was delicious.  We both thought that there was a little too much cream cheese on it, as we had to scrap some off to enjoy more of the doughnut taste.

As we were walking back to the car, I saw a little girl about the age of 7 carrying a Flying Pig and immediately regretted not getting it.  Oh well, there's a good reason to make a trip back down south Austin!



Website: http://www.gourdoughs.com/

Momiji Hibachi and Sushi (13201 Ranch Road 620 N0

This is one of my favorite happy hour sushi restaurants.  Tucked back into a shopping center behind some trees and a Schlotzsky's, Momiji serves up some pretty good sushi for a great price.  Some may say that you shouldn't skimp on price when it comes to sushi, but this is not one of those places.  Momiji is a small restaurant with plenty of seating and simple but cultural decor.

First recommended to me by a friend, who is from Los Angeles (known for having some of the best sushi restaurants in America), a few years ago, I have continued to frequent this establishment 90% of the time I need to satisfy a sushi craving.

My favorite thing about Momiji is their Happy Hour deals.  Monday through Thursday night and all day Sunday, they offer a half priced sushi menu (not every roll or sashimi is available, but there are some good ones to chose from).  Friday and Saturday night, they have a small $3 menu that offers a few apps, rolls, entrees, drinks, and desserts.

The waitstaff has always been superb whether its just my wife and myself or when its been a large party of about 10.

We took our niece with us the this time and ordered some of our favorites.....

 (top) Rainbow Roll: California roll with salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and white fish on top

(bottom) Caterpillar Roll: Eel and cucumber inside and sliced avocado and eel sauce on top







(top) Avocado Roll

(bottom) Sweet Potato Roll:  tempura fried sliced sweet potato topped with eel sauce

(top) Spider Roll: fried soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber, and lettuce topped with eel sauce

(front left) Shrimp Sashimi

(front right) Avocado Roll








 Website:  http://www.eatmomiji.com/

South Austin Food Truck Progressive Dinner

Since the latest craze right now is food trucks, I had to check some of them out for myself.  After watching an episode of Day Tripper with Chet Gardner going to some south Austin food trucks, I thought I would start out with them.

The first stop was the South First Food Court (corner of S. 1st and Live Oak).  We hit Arancini, an Italian food truck and I started our progressive dinner with the Arancini, which is a fried rice ball coated with breadcrumbs stuffed with peas and mozzarella served with some pasta sauce.  They were pretty good.

Next stop was Torchy's Tacos at the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery (1311 S 1st St).  I had the fried avocado and the green chili pulled pork tacos.   Some of the best tacos I have ever had.   The fried avocado was my favorite.  Everything was fresh and full of flavor.

Our final stop for dessert was Bananarchy (600 S. Lamar Blvd.)  Inspired from the hit show Arrested Development, Bananarchy serves up some delicious frozen bananas.  You can either choose a banana speciality or create your own.  We ordered up the Afternoon Delight half banana.  Described as the flagship banana, the captain banana, the grand tour: all 3 dips swirled together and topped with nuts and graham crackers ($3.75)

As a huge fan of Arrested Development, Bananarchy was up against some very high expectations... and I will just say that after taking the first bite, I was doing the chicken dance and ready to sign up for Army.  I never thought a banana could taste so good.  It was truly and Afternoon Delight, just at 10pm.   Sorry no pic because it was late and not enough light.



Websites:
http://www.eatarancini.com/
http://www.torchystacos.com/
http://bananarchy.net/blog/menu-2

The Monument Cafe (500 S. Austin Avenue, Georgetown)

Thanks to my wife getting jury duty for Williamson County, we had the pleasure of dining at The Monument Cafe in Georgetown.  Located just north of the town square, The Monument Cafe is a pretty cool place.  Most of their produce is either grown in their garden behind the restaurant or from local farms in the area.  There was a small wait, which is also a sign that a restaurant has good potential.  With an open kitchen and old school diner/cafe design, The Monument Cafe is spacious and comfortable.  With the addition of a new Beer Garten for live music and a Market in back to purchase meats and fresh produce, there's plenty to do while you wait for your table.

Because they use fresh produce, there side dishes are always changing so make sure to check out the chalkboards above the counter.  My wife went with the chicken fried steak and I decided to go with the chicken fried chicken breast (4oz) with homemade cream gravy and sweet potato fries and fruit salad as my two sides.  ($10.99)

 The coating was nice and flaky while the chicken breast was so moist and yummy that you didn't even need the gravy, but who is really going to pass up on homemade creamy gravy.  The sweet potato fries were good, but would have preferred them to be cooked a little more to crisp them up a little bit.  The fruit salad consisted of apples, bananas, and some kind of nut.  It was good.... the sweet potato fries and fruit were my idea of healthy eating to counteract the chicken fried chicken.  The offer two sizes, this being the smaller portion and it was plenty for me (they also bring some bread to the table while you wait). 

We had to get some dessert, because yet again, it is homemade.  We went with the fried strawberry pie with custard...... oh so yummy!!!





Website:
http://www.themonumentcafe.com/