Soleil

Soleil

For the second time this month the Food Junkies have been invited to dine at special events at the new restaurant Soleil. Before we start this write up, I wanted to be sure to thank Paula and Cat over at Crave Communications. They organized these two events and graciously included us on their lists. Thanks again, we enjoyed ourselves immensely! After having had the chance to sample some of what Soleil has to offer, we know just how fortunate we are! So what is Soleil (other than French for Sun)? It is the new sister restaurant for Oasis, which as any Austinite knows is the place to go and watch the sunset while listening to music and having a cocktail.

View From the Patio

Soleil shares the same panoramic view of Lake Travis as Oasis, and the sunset over Lake Travis is truly a sight to behold. I had not been to the Oasis in about eight years, so the new look took me by surprise. Both inside and out Soleil/Oasis has a very striking look. I could probably go on for a while about how the place looks but let's face it, what we are most interested in here is the food. The food is fine dining all the way around. Even the simplest of dishes are elevated to a much higher level. Take the appetizers:

Bruschetta

We were given a very wide sampling of the appetizers offered. We'll start first with the bruschetta. There were several varieties offered, but my favorite was the taleggio and pears with proscuitto and arugula. The flavors were perfectly balanced with just enough sweetness from the pears to come through without overpowering the rest. The proscuitto added a nice compliment to all of the flavors going on as well. Another favorite was the mussels. Normally I'm not very big on mussels, clams or oysters. Some people really enjoy them, but they're just not my thing. After having had the Mussels Gratin at Soleil I can see where I was wrong. These come topped with croutons (the gratin) and a saffron sauce. The first thing you get is the nice crunch from the gratin. Then the very nice saffron sauce makes itself known, and last the mussels come through. They are perfectly baked- nice and tender, and their flavor comes through without being overpowered by the saffron sauce.

Osso Bucco

On our first trip out the entrees were simply brought out one to a table. It worked out well, and was a great way to get to know your fellow diners. It was hard to pick a favorite, but one of the more outstanding dishes was the Osso Bucco. The meat was perfectly tender and served with a tomato sauce, atop a helping of polenta. If you are a fan of Osso Bucco, give this one a try it will not disappoint. We were also treated to their fresh made pizzas. Personally, I have always preferred smaller artisan type pizzas like the ones served at Soleil. The crust is perfect on these, and perhaps because they are smaller it seems like the chef can pay more attention to the finer details. The result is a pizza with a perfect crust and well balanced flavors.

On our second trip out the entrees were served buffet style. All of the entrees were delicious, but the real standouts were the hangar steak and the rainbow trout. The steak is a beautiful dish to look at and perfectly tender. It is served with black olives and hot peppers. For those of you not comfortable with spicy food you might want to try something else, it packs quite a punch. The trout is absolutely perfect. The meat is tender and flaky, and has a nice mild flavor. It comes served with a brown butter-pine nut sauce. Chef George called the brown butter sauce, the "love." I have to agree, the love really comes through on that butter sauce. Nicely done Chef!

Desserts

We were also given a very wide sampling of the dessert menu. We sampled the Key Lime Pie, Tiramisu and the Turtle Cheesecake. While all of the desserts we sampled were delicious, the real stars here the key lime pie and the chocolate sundae. The key lime pie was one of the better examples of this dish that I've ever had. It had a nice texture and a nice tart flavor, but still just sweet enough. The lime really made its presence known without being obnoxious. But what made it really stand out for me was the addition of candied lime zest as a garish. It looked beautiful and added a nice sweet/tart layer to the dish. In fact Alex commented that he could eat a whole bowl of the zest alone. I have to agree with Alex on that point. The candied zest would make a nice snack all by itself.

The ice cream sundae was a very nice way to finish too. To the ice cream and sauce had a great flavor, but what really set it apart were the apple chips. Apple chips, you say? You heard right, this sundae comes served with several thinly sliced and freshly fried pieces of apple. It may seem a bit unusual, but it was a great addition to this dish. They add a nice extra bit of crunch and just a hint of salt to this sundae. I highly recommend this one.

I feel I would be remiss if I did not take the time to mention the service. The staff at Soleil is excellent all around. The kitchen staff has it together and consistently turns out some amazing food. And just as importantly the front end staff runs things efficiently and smoothly. The waiters and waitresses were all very attentive and very knowledgeable of the items on the menu. It was a real testament to how well George Thomas and Bryan Cromwell (the Executive Chef and General Manager respectively) run things. Keep up the great work, and we look forward to coming back soon!



Website
Google Maps Location
Phone: 512-266-0600
Hours:
Sun-Thurs: 11:30 am-10:00 pm
Fri-Sat: 11:30 am-11:00 pm

The Flying Carpet

The Flying Carpet

This week the Food Junkies decided to try a trailer offering what they call "Moroccan Burgers." I don't know that I would call them burgers, but they were certainly tasty. We were joined by my close friends, Sean and Laura, for this tasty excursion.

How does one describe Moroccan food? First, in case you don't own a map, Morocco is located on the northwestern corner of Africa, directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. Its inhabitants are the descendants of the people who ruled Spain from about the year 700 AD until 1492 AD. In 1492, other than Columbus sailing an ocean of some color or other, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella finally drove the Muslims from the Spanish land, completing the Reconquista. Sorry, as a history major, I really couldn't resist adding a little background. Morocco was, in ancient times, one of the major centers of the spice trade coming from Asia going to Europe, and its cuisine shows this fact. Moroccan food has great spice and depth of flavor found only in countries where the spice trade made its mark in a big way. Indian and Ethiopia are other examples of "spice trade cuisine," though markedly different from Moroccan food.

The Sleek Vegan

The Flying Carpet serve three different main items:, The Moroccan Burger, The Sleek Vegetarian and The Sleek Vegan. The also offer fries or a salad as a side. We were able to cover everything except the salad, because they did not have any available for sale. Oh well, maybe next time. All of the sandwiches come wrapped in a pita and are served with a sauce they call L'Afrique, a tangy, slightly spicy mayonnaise type sauce. The Moroccan is grilled ground beef, a fried egg and mixed greens all in a homemade tomato sauce. This wrap is very tasty, well spiced and beautiful. The richness of the egg compliments the ground beef well and helps to cut some of the acidity of the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce is made, not surprisingly, with Harissa (pronounced ha-ree-sa). Harissa is a type of chili paste common in North African cuisine. It was nice and spicy without overpowering the dish or setting your mouth aflame. In all, it added a nice, balanced tangy/spicy layer to the wrap.


The Sleek Vegetarian is made with eggplant, fried egg, greens and the same tomato sauce; very flavorful if you like eggplant as much as I do. The Sleek Vegan is the same as the vegetarian, just replace the egg with falafel. Personally, I liked the Vegan better. I thought the addition of falafel added a nice crunchy texture to an otherwise soft dish. One nice thing about this one is that it is a very satisfying wrap. When most people think vegetarian or vegan, they may think of something like a salad out of a bag; which is to say not satisfying and not particularly flavorful. In this case both wraps are quite substantial. The eggplant acts as a nice substitute for meat in this case. Not that it tastes like meat or that you'll mistake it for meat. It adds a nice amount of substance to the wrap, much like a grilled or sauteed portabello mushroom can be used to add substance to a vegetarian sandwich. The result is a very tasty and very satisfying dish. The french fries are well fried, just crunchy enough without being tooth-shatteringly hard. This is a difficult technique to pull off, and one that many places fail at - not The Flying Carpet though. In addition to being salted, the fries also have a little black pepper added to them, which is a nice touch .

The Moroccan

There is one thing I would like to point out that I caught on their website: They use 100% hormone and antibiotic free ground beef that has been vegetarian fed as well as eggs from cage free, vegetarian fed chickens. I know to many people this is not the sort of thing they ever think about, but the difference to the planet and your health is worth it. Cost wise you are looking at $6.50 for the Moroccan or Vegetarian or $6 for the Vegan. Fries are $1.50 for a small basket and drinks are all about $2. All told, you can get a very good dinner for around $10; a great deal, honestly. The Flying Carpet certainly makes a nice addition to to the trailer scene here. I hope to see more ethnic based trailers popping up soon. Maybe an Indian trailer? I'd certainly be okay with that!

General Information:
Website/Menu
Google Maps Location
Hours: Wed-Fri 5:30pm-8:30pm; Sat 12:30pm-3pm, 5pm-8:30pm; Sun 12pm-5pm
Phone: (512) 744-5651



Official AFJ Rating: Two Points