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Aside from our EPIC feasting at the Austin Food + Wine Festival at the end of April. We also had regular meals and snacks! Duh! :P
My fiance really wanted to try Gourdough's. Last time in Austin we went to their restaurant and it was awesome. But the original is still their trailer with made-to-order donuts.
Gourdough's
1503 S 1st St.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 707-1050
http://gourdoughs.com/
Price: $
Like I said, it's sold out of a trailer, so all the seating is outdoors. So on a day like we went... 90+ degrees, it got hot quick! We ate a few bites and took the rest to go.
Naughty and Nice (rolled in cinnamon and sugar; served with honey butter) $4.75~ I tried to go a little "lighter" with this one since all their other ones are usually piled high with stuff. NOt sure if I succeeded since we poured honey butter on top. haha. They still have the best donuts. First of all, gigantic! And always warm and fluffy and fresh. And the dough is just the perfect texture.
Black Out (chocolate icing, brownie batter filling, brownie bites, with chocolate chips) $4.75~ My fiance wanted one with chocolate so I recommended this one. I had it over 10 years ago and I still dream about it. It is insane!! Talk about getting chocolate wasted!! It's phenomenal. Be sure you get a large glass of milk or something. It's over the top and glorious.
Needless to say, we did not finish these. haha. Gourdough's - 1, Us - 0. It lasted us a good 2 more days. Serious noms! If you haven't been there in Austin, I dunno where you've been. Definitely my favorite donuts ever!
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On the drive back towards Dallas, I realized that Baked by Amy's was a short detour from our route. Remember at the Austin Food + Wine Festival, they had given me a pair of coupons for free baked goods? Well... they ain't going to waste! :P
Baked by Amy's
13265 N Hwy 183
Austin, TX 78750
(512) 918-2253
http://www.bakedbyamys.com/
Price: $
The coupons were for a cupcake or bar from Amy's. We each chose a cupcake. Mexican Vanilla (left), Oreo (right)
They were pretty huge. Everything in there looked amazing. Too bad they were still baking the macarons when we were there otherwise we would've gotten some of those too. But yay to free food! Thanks Baked by Amy's!!! They made it all the way back to Dallas with us. We cracked them open that night. Nommy!!
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The celebration for my last day of school continues. After a yummy dinner at LA Burger, we decided to get some dessert at Cafe Brown Sugar. I've known about this place ever since it opened, just never got a chance to go. However, I didn't have high expectations for it since I've heard hit/miss reviews on the food and prices. Still, the pictures always look amazing and I wanted to check it out for myself!
Cafe Brown Sugar
2625 Old Denton Rd. Ste 406
Carrollton, TX 75007
(972) 446-6633
Price: $-$$
This place is pretty cute the inside looks like the outside of some Italian little town or something. It's a really big space too. 2 stories, so lots of seating. They open fairly late (11pm) so it's a cool place to hang out with your friends after dinner. You order at the counter, they give you a buzzer, then you go pick up your order.
They had way more stuff on the menu than I expected. This puts in a difficult place because I now want to try EVERYTHING. I was initially thinking of their epic waffles but then I saw they had Macaron Ice Cream sandwiches?!? OMG. The only time I've ever seen that was in LA (at Umami and MILK). And it was amazing. I had to try this.
Cookies n Cream Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich $4.50~
You pick the ice cream flavor and the color of the macaron. The different colors of the macarons didn't have different flavors. I was like "uh.. ok..?" But I picked blue. They ended up giving me purple. So I still don't fully understand the colors if they don't taste differently. The ice cream sandwich is very pretty. But I think they need to rethink the shape of it. It's too tall... VERY hard to bite from top to bottom. I had to eat it in sections. If only they can make wider macarons, and squish the ice cream down flatter. Kind of like a whoopie pie or something. Then it would be perfect. I love using macarons on the outside of ice cream sandwiches. I think it works way better than cookies, which usually crumble or smoosh the ice cream. The macaron holds up better, surprisingly. I enjoyed it. Not as great as the ones from LA, but it's the first I've seen in Dallas so I'll take it!
Green Tea Waffle $3.99~
I was greedy. I wasn't even hungry but I still wanted that waffle. I noticed that you can just get a waffle (comes with butter and maple syrup) for $4. Which is way better than the other ones for over $11! Geez! It certainly looks like a green tea waffle... but I couldn't taste much of it. I liked the crisp outside, but the inside was also kinda crisp. Not enough fluffy/soft center. It was ok. I wouldn't get it again..
Honey Butter Toast.
I forget how much this was.. it wasn't cheap though. I think also close to $10. My fiance was set on this from the get go. We've had honey toast in Japan before so he was excited to have it again. It definitely looked pretty epic! Almost as big as my head! Definitely a knife and fork dessert and SHARE! Actually, most of the desserts here are made for sharing. Unless you are just a super beast or your goal is to be in a sugar coma. I wish the scoop on top of the bread is ice cream, but it's a scoop of butter. TOO MUCH! Bleh... we took it off. The toast is already semi buttered on the inside. The outside was nice and crispy, the inside was fluffy. It was pretty good. A little dry... needed more honey. Luckily the maple syrup from my waffle was there to the rescue. Not as good as Asia, but then again, nothing in Dallas really is... It's worth trying. Maybe ask for a few scoops of ice cream on the side though.
My friends got some of the epic waffles...
Cookies n Cream Waffle (chocolate waffle with oreo ice cream, banana, honeydew, pineapple, strawberry, crushed oreo, chocolate sauce) $11ish~
Coffee Lovers Waffle (coffee? waffle with coffee ice cream, banana, honeydew, pineapple, strawberry, crushed oreo, and I think caramel sauce?) $11ish~
Both looked very impressive. I had too much myself to try theirs. They said it was pretty good. So maybe I'll try it next time. Or I'll use my waffle maker and make it myself at home for a fraction of the price. hahaha.
I'd go back again. Next time I'll try something new.
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The last night in Vegas I made a reservation for Mario Batali's Carnevino. I watch him all the time on Iron Chef and The Chew! And I've heard amazing things about his restaurant.
We arrived on time and were immediately seated. It wasn't packed at all while we were there. The place was quite big despite what it looks like from the entrance.
Carnevino Italian Steakhouse - Palazzo
3325 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(701) 789-4141
http://www.carnevino.com/home.cfm
Price: $$$-$$$$$+
We were greeted by our waiter with menus and served some water. He later came back to give us a background of the food and their specialties. He seemed pretty knowledgeable of the food.
After we ordered we were served compliments from the chef. Three Cheese Zeppoli (Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Parmigiano Reggiano). It was light and airy. Not bad, but I wasn't blown away...
Another waitress came by and served us some Rosemary Focaccia (with whipped unsalted butter and Pork lardo butter with rosemary). OMG. The way she described the pork butter was amazing.. but I was underwhelmed with the flavor. They should put some chopped up bacon in there or something. haha.
For the appetizer we got the Grilled Octopus (pickled vegetables and
limoncello) $25~
This is the main reason I wanted to come here. My foodie friends have told me that they have the absolute best octopus they've ever had. The waiter also recommended this... they've won awards I think? And indeed they should. The most tender preparation of octopus I've had. Tons of flavor... hint of spice, hit of acid, it definitely wakes up your palate. Very very good.
For the entree I already knew what I wanted. The 2nd reason I chose to come here. haha. I got the Spaghetti Nero (crab, jalapenos, and shallots) $25~
I love squid ink pasta and I really wanted to try theirs. I mean Mario Batali is Italian, the pastas HAVE to be good right? hehe. I liked the flavors a lot. The jalapenos added just the right amount of heat. And there was plenty of crab throughout. However, I felt the pasta was a tad undercooked. And I love al dente pasta and this was even a bit under for me. And I'm sorry to say.. I found a few crab shells in my dish. That's a bummer given the caliber of this restaurant, they should be more careful... Other than that I still enjoyed it. But I rather have the squid ink pasta at Spoon in Dallas any day!!
My friend ordered the Spaghetti Ai Frutti di Mare (slightly spicy with clams, giant shrimp, lobster and calamari) $31~
It looked really good with all the seafood on top. The pasta was cooked a little better than mine. But the lobster was overcooked and dry. The sauce had nice flavor though.
Another friend got the Veal Chop (20oz bone in; Rubbed with special blend of sea salt, thyme and porcini powder) $85~ Natural, pasture raised veal from Strauss Farms.
He ordered it medium rare but I think it was more medium. Still quite tender but for $85 it should be spectacular. The flavor was light so you can actually taste the meat, which I liked. But all their meat dishes are a la carte which I hate. I think if you are spending big bucks on a piece of meat, the restaurant can at least give you some sides to go with it. We're poor young people so we didn't want to break the bank. hahaha. The $85 splurge was already big enough so it was just basically a piece of meat on a plate. haha.
We were too full to have dessert. But I wasn't really into trying anything either. I guess I had really high hopes for this place with the celebrity chef I watch all the time plus the recommendations by my friends. I wasn't impressed. I would rather spend my money at John Tesar's Spoon right in Dallas!! And the waiter, even though he was professional, wasn't very friendly. It seemed like he couldn't wait for us to finish and leave just because we weren't dropping bank on this meal. It made me feel like we didn't belong there. Sigh~ The other assistant waitress/waiter were all great though.
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Saturday night we planned on hitting up Hash House a Go Go, a place where EVERYONE told me to go! And I've seen pictures of the food and it looks pretty epic! It made my list for sure!
Hash House a Go Go - Imperial Palace
3535 Las Vegas Blvd S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 254-4646
http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/vegas
Price: $$
They have 3 locations in Vegas with only one on the strip inside Imperial Palace which is currently undergoing renovations to become The Quad Resort. Since we had no car, that's where we went. We arrive around 11:15PM...we were still so full from lunch so it was a super late dinner! The place was pretty empty to my surprise. I wonder if the original location off the strip is busier than that.
There were 3 of us so we got 2 things to share. Of course we had to get the famous Sage Fried Chicken & Waffles (two sage fried chicken breasts with hardwood smoked bacon waffle tower, hot maple reduction and fried leeks) $15.95~ New York Times favorite.
I've seen so many people take pictures of this dish and it looked amazing. Stacked up high full of bacon, waffles and fried chicken. I was very excited to finally try this. However, I wasn't impressed...by the taste. It was as big as I imagined but the waffles were a bit dense and not crispy on the outside. I did like the massive amounts of bacon in the waffle though. The chicken had a great batter and the crispy skin was the best part. The chicken itself was dry and slightly bland. I threw some tabasco on there and solved that problem! :P I mean, it was fine, but after all the hype I was disappointed.
We also got the HH Famous Flapjacks (Blackberry granola) $7.95~ Plus whipped cream +$0.95~
I loveee pancakes and this one was soooo good! First of all, it was huge! At least the size of a medium pizza. The flapjack is different than other pancakes I've had before, the texture was a bit more spongey? The granola was my favorite part and they weren't stingy with it. Added a great nuttiness and crunchy texture. Topped with butter, maple syrup and whipped cream... YUM!
I was super stuffed! I wasn't even hungry to begin with. haha. But I definitely ate more than my fair share of the flapjack. We couldn't finish the chicken and waffles though. I wouldn't mind going back in the future to try some other dishes, or to get another flapjack (they have a bunch of different flavors). This location is open until 1AM.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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