Date Night: Madam Mam's

FIRST BLOG POST IN MORE THAN THREE YEARS!

Hello old friend! Let's catch up. Some things have changed over the past couple of years. I graduated from UTSA (Go Roadrunners!!), started my Human Resources career, and got engaged to the love of my life! Things are good!

I am excited to start blogging again. This will serve as my "food diary" and help me reflect over the years. It was fun looking back at my old food posts!

So last Saturday, it was storming like CRAZY. Austin and surrounding cities were even flooding! So what did the honey and I do? We ventured out into the storm and go out to eat 20 minutes away from our home. We're nuts. I'm glad he was driving his truck because 1.) my driving skills at night have declined and 2.) my coupe would not have made it in the storm.

It took us about 30 minutes to figure out what we wanted for dinner. Is this a glimpse of married life? If so, that's not so bad. Plus, if it's the only "REAL" issue we have, we should be just fine! By the time it took us to figure out what to eat and for him to pick me up, it was almost 9:45pm. Dinner at 10pm? YIKES! Luckily one of our food/restaurant staples was open until 11pm that night. Madam Mam's is our FAVORITE Thai place in Austin. We've probably had more than 50+ lunches/date nights here during our 6.5 years together.

The honey orders the same thing every time.. The Pad Spaghetti Kee Mao with flat noodles, pork, chicken, and extra noodles if he's feeling hungry. He got lucky this particular night because the chef must have been feeling generous. They happened to double his usual order. He had a HUGE plate! You can't tell in the photo, but his plate was a lot larger than mine. It was so funny because our waitress said "WOW! So heavy and so much food!" and she made a funny comment about him eating the whole plate and he said "Oh, I will!" If you know my honey, you know that he can eat! He's lucky he has a fast metabolism. Me, not so lucky. Pfft.

I go back and forth between my two favorite plates... The Pad Thai with beef or Pad See Ew with beef. This time I got the Pad See Ew with beef and flat noodles. One day I will be able to make these two dishes like Mam's does (HOPEFULLY!). They are so amazing, tasty, garlicky, and packed with flavor.

Look at that plate! It's all gone!!!

Madam Mam's 
Village Shopping Center
2700 W Anderson Ln Suite 419
Austin, TX

Happy eatings! :)

Date Night: Komé

My hubby and I had our weekly date night at Komé this week. I was so excited because I've been wanting to try this place for a long time! The food and experience was great. Ask for Kathleen if ya'll go there. She's super sweet! I can't wait to go back. =)


Here's a link to my Yelp! review *click click*

Moscato =)

Miso Soup

Yakiniku-Kushi (Beef Skewers)

Agé-Dashi Tofu

Endo in NY

Crunchy Dynamite Roll

Rock and Roll

Tarantula Roll

Sake Cheesecake

Happy eatings!!

Best Thing I Ever Ate: Burgers

I love the show "Best Thing I Ever Ate." I wish I could be like my favorite chefs and be featured on the show, but sadly I'm not.... BUT I CAN blog about it! =)  I've had burgers from famous burger joints like Five Guys, Mighty Fine, In-N-Out, Carl's JR. and Fat Burger. But these burgers cannot compare to one of the best burger joints in Austin, TX. Which place do you ask? HOPDODDY! Even the name is cool!

Hopdoddy Burgers
1400 S Congress Street Suite 190A
Austin, TX 78705
(Even has a free parking garage!!)

Their beef patties are made from hormone & antibiotic free moo cows and they grind their meat daily. Their buns are made from scratch and are baked more than once a day. Not only that, their fries are handcut from these amazing little potatoes called Kennebec potatoes. I've never had fries this good... Especially from handcut fries. They have the right amount of seasoning and crunch. Can't have soggy fries! 

The first time I went to Hopdoddy, my hubby and I got the Llano Poblano (beef patty, pepper jack cheese, roasted poblano chiles, apple-smoked bacon, and chipotle mayo) and the Peking Duck burger (one of the burger specials at the time). Have ya'll ever had peking duck? If you like it the Chinese way, you'll love it the Hopdoddy way! It was amazing tasty and the duck breast patty was so moist. I keep hoping the burger will make its way back to Hopdoddy. Hopefully SOON! =P

I went with my friends yesterday and had the original burger. I was kinda on a budget and didn't feel like getting anything too extravagant. I'm so glad I got the original burger bc it was way better than any other "original" burger I've had at other places. Don't get me wrong... I do love me some In-N-Out, but you can taste the love and attention that goes into the Hopdoddy burgers. 

My Original w/ Cheeeeeeeese

My Friend's Buffalo Bill w/ Fries

Chili Cheese Fries

Terlingua Burger making a cameo in the back ;]

SO much food. We pretty much gave up on the fries since there were 5 of us, 5 burgers and 3 orders of fries lol...

If you haven't tried Hopdoddy yet, I suggest you do so! There is some thing for everybody here. And if there's a line, it's worth the wait. The fresh, delicious burgers are to die for. You're gonna want to keep coming back after that first bite! =)

Happy Eatings!

Food Photo(s) Friday - Roll On Sushi Diner

I went on a lovely date with my friend Amy D. on Tuesday. I wanted to try Roll On Sushi and she's been there a couple of times, so she was the best person to go with! When I got there, the staff was SUPER friendly. Everyone introduced themselves and made me feel right at home. I also got to meet Chip, one of the owners. And like every one else, Chip was kind in welcoming me to the restaurant. Had an amazing experience and I can't wait to go back!!

Roll On Sushi Diner
5350 Burnet Rd. Suite #2
Austin, TX 78756
(Right in the AMLI apartment building)
They even have free parking... WOO HOO!

Edamame... Salty & Buttery. Just the way I like it!

Dy-No-Mite Roll

(Crab, shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado, cream cheese, scallions, & spicy mayo)

Really good. Just the right amount of sushi for me!

Special Roll: The Panther Roll 

Named after one of the team members.. Thought that was sweet!

(Spicy tuna, crab mix with jalapeno tempura on top along with spicy sauce, eel sauce, & chili strings)

This place is amazing! So happy I got to try a new place with Amy <3

Happy eatings!!! =)

Food Photo(s) Friday - AFin Japanese Tapas

I'm speechless. This place is just that good. Go try it, friends. PLEASE. You won't regret it. Also, ask for Renee to be your waitress. She'll make the experience just that much better.


AFin Japanese Tapas
6519 N Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78752

Garlic Edamame

Lump Crab Cake & Mushroom Balls

Flyingfish Roe

Seared Scallops w/ Wasabi Tobiko

Exotic Roll

Jalapeno Roll

Land & Sea Roll

Mr. Smith Roll

Happy Julie

Happy Jonhnny

Lime & Ginger Crème Brûlée

Just waiting for the moment where I can have these tasty morsels in my mouth again...

(For full size photos, please check them out on my Flickr.. Thanks!)

Happy Eatings!!!

Food Photo(s) Friday - Rice Bowl Cafe

I've been hearing such great things about this place. I heard it was kind of like Coco's. Jonhnny and I have been wanting to try it for so long. Last night we were stumped on where to go eat dinner and suddenly the light bulb went off in my head. LET'S GO TO RICE BOWL CAFE!

Rice Bowl Cafe
11220 N. Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78753

It's located right where Exotic Thai used to be right off of Lamar & Braker. Kind of wish it had a better location, but it seems business is still great even for a not-so-visible location. I asked my friend Peter what I should eat. He told me to get the green onion pancake, szechuan beef noodle soup, and mapo tofu. We got 2/3 on the list. 

Edamame

We also got the miso soup. Ehhh I think we would've been ohkay without the edamame and miso soup. The edamame was overcooked. Some pieces of the pod kept getting in my mouth and the miso soup was cold and bland.

Green Onion Pancake

A little too oily for my taste.

Pork on Rice w/ a Black Pepper Sauce

This was pretty good! I wish it had pickled veggies like Coco's though...

Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup

Made with an amazing broth that's packed with flavor, beef that's melt in your mouth tender, and delicious hand made noodles. AH! So glad Peter told us to try this. It was delicious!!!!

Even when Jonhnny was filled up to the max, he could NOT stop sipping the broth. 

I had to pull the bowl away from him. =P

Other than the miso soup and edamame malfunctions, I cannot wait to go back!!! =D

&& Like hubby always says... HAPPY EATINGS!!!!! =D

Wordless Wednesday - SoCo Fun

Trying out something new.. Wordless Wednesday. Got the idea from Miss Linda Nguyen =)

Ohkays no words starting... NOW! (captions on photos don't count I hope.. HEHE)

Food Photo(s) Friday - Tasty Thai

I am a HUGE lover of Thai food and one of my favorite dishes is pad Thai. My usual place is Madam Mam's, but a couple of weeks ago my hubs and I discovered Chang Thai (right in the Wal-Mart shopping center off of Parmer + IH-35). I noticed this restaurant changed their name a couple of times, so I wasn't sure if it was good or not. I checked out some Yelp reviews and thought I would give it a shot... Plus it's right by my house. I'm so glad that I gave this place a chance. 

Chang Thai

13000 N IH-35
Ste 200
Austin, TX 78753

My Pad Thai w/ Beef

(NO BEAN SPROUTS!!!) =P

Honey's Pad Thai Combo (Beef, Chicken, + Shrimp)

Here's the thing I love about Chang Thai: 

They have different options for the pad Thai. Honey got his with flat noodles (the ones that usually come with pad see ew) and an egg omelette on top. 

The flat noodles made the pad Thai much juicier and flavorful.

I would definitely recommend the flat noodles over the regular rice noodles.

Tom Yum Soup

Spicy & flavorful.. So delicious!

This place is definitely gonna be one of my go-to places for Thai food. Love it!

Happy eatings! =)

Food Photo(s) Friday - Ladies Night

I had the pleasure of dining with Michelle C. (Foodiethenew40), Amy D. (SushiGirl_ATX) & Michelle's lovely pup, Mindy-Loo, on Tuesday night. We had been planning this dinner for quite some time and I was super excited when the day finally came. Rachelle (Blinded Bite) & Linda (Girl Eats World) were supposed to join us, but I was sad to hear Rachelle had a class and Linda was feeling like "death". Rachelle, hope your class was awesome & Linda, I'm so glad you're feeling better. I'm telling ya, you just need some sleep woman! Y'all were truly missed! 

We decided on having dinner at G'Raj Mahal. I learned about this place from Linda's blog post and then I happened to see them featured on one of the shows of The Cooking Channel. It looked amazing and I was shocked I had never heard about it til now. Thankfully, my lovely friends were willing to take my G'Raj Mahal virginity. I had the best time with Michelle and Amy... Then again I always have a good time with my foodie friends. 

Here are some perks about G'Raj Mahal (exerted from Amy's Yelp review):

1. BYOB
2. Conveniently located to the Rainey street bars
3. Waiter service
4. Plentiful shaded area

I couldn't agree more! BYOB? CHYEAAAAAH! Amy brought us some delightful bottles of Sake2Me.. After she introduced me to it, I fell in love! I can always count on my ladies to broaden my horizons and introduce me to new things.

Garlic naan... To die for!

You can even see Mindy in the top left corner peeking at the naan ;]

Curried lamb samosas

I'm not big on lamb, but it was delicious!

I'm thankful Mindy-Loo allowed me to photograph her.

Michelle says she's not a big fan of the camera.

You couldn't tell from this photo ;]

Classic curry with chicken

Lamb rack

(More like lamb lollipops!)

I should've copied Michelle & Amy and gotten the lamb too!

I wasn't a huge fan of lamb due to past experiences, but G'Raj Mahal has changed my mind <3

Sake2Me

LOVE IT!

Thank you Michelle & Amy for making my first experience at G'Raj Mahal memorable and tasty. I can't wait to go back!

Happy eatings! =)