Monument Cafe

Monument Cafe

Georgetown, Texas a charming little town about twenty minutes north of Austin. Admittedly, I'm no expert on the city of Georgetown, but not much seems to go on here beyond jury duty for residents of Williamson County (hooray civic duty!). In fact I have been called twice, though I've never been selected. Georgetown also has a real culinary treasure in the form of the Monument Cafe.

Monument Cafe is classic Americana at its finest. It has the feel of a classed up '40's style diner and serves the kind of food you'd expect at such an establishment, plus a quite a few other items.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

I decided to start things out with the pulled pork sandwich and onion rings. The pork was excellent. It was nice and tender, and full of flavor. It comes served on a burger bun, with your choice of side. I opted for the onion rings, an excellent choice I think. They were perfectly fried, the batter was crispy and flavorful and the onions were slightly sweet and tender. If you're a fan of onion rings this side is a great choice for you.  

Turkey

We also tried the turkey plate. The turkey was a nice mix of light and dark meat and was served with a very nice gravy. It also came with three sides; we chose the onion rings, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. This meal was the very essence of Thanksgiving. It was a gut-busting plate of goodness that will make you feel like you're eating at home.

Fried Blueberry Pie

In addition to fantastic entrees, they also serve up some great desserts. On this trip we sampled the fried blueberry pie, which we got with a scoop of frozen custard. Personally I am a big fan of fried pies and this one did not disappoint. The crust was fried to crunchy perfection and the blueberry filling could not have tasted any fresher. We also sampled a slice of their coconut cream pie. It was easily as good as the blueberry. Of course, this was not our first experience with their pies- our friends over at Crave Communications hooked us up with one of their chocolate pies a while back. It was by far the richest chocolate pie I have ever had. In fact, it was the reason we ended up visiting Monument Cafe in the first place. So yet again, Paula and Cat, thanks for looking out for us!

In addition to the food there were a few other things that stood out for me. First, the customer service was excellent. My drink was never empty and the staff was attentive without hovering. Second, I really appreciated the fact that everything they serve is made fresh and sourced locally or at least within Texas as much as possible. The herb garden out front is a nice touch too.

Monument Cafe is well worth the drive and comes highly recommended your Food Junkies.
Official AFJ rating- 4 points of the Lone Star

Monument Cafe
Map
Hours:
Sun-Thurs 7am-9pm
Fri-Sat 7am-10pm

Swad

Swad

This week's review takes us to one of my new favorite places for Indian food- Swad Restaurant. Swad is located on the north end of town, in the area of Lamar Blvd and Rundberg Lane. They serve up some the best vegetarian and vegan food in town. What, no meat, you ask. That's right, no meat whatsoever and you will not miss it. Like a couple of other places in town Swad serves food that is commonly associated with the street food sold in India, as opposed to the more traditional restaurant fare that most of us may be acquainted with. The result is food that is not only delicious, but that is rather easy on the wallet as well. Here is some of what we have sampled thus far at Swad-

Samosas, the gold standard of just about any Indian/Pakistani restaurant are their samosas. Samosas consist of a pastry filled with (in most cases anyway) spiced potatoes, onions, and peas. The filling can be either spicy or mild and is wrapped inside of the pastry and then deep fried in vegetable oil until golden brown. The result is a crunchy exterior and spicy, flavorful and soft interior. How does Swad measure up to this standard? Their Samosas are some of the best in town and come served with a sweet and spicy tamarind mint chutney. I usually recommend this to dish anyone not familiar with Indian food. All of the ingredients are familiar to most of us, but the flavor profile is just exotic enough to provide a new experience.

Next we tried the aloo tiki. One important thing to know here is that the word aloo is the word for potato. So any dish that uses this word will contain potatoes. In the case of aloo tiki, you are served two potato patties smothered in a curry (curry is the word for gravy) made with tomato and garbanzo beans and finished off with parsley. The overall flavor reminds me a bit of chili with the garbanzos substituting for the usual pintos or red beans. This dish also comes served with a sweet chutney and fresh onions on the side.

Finally, we tried the Mysore Dosa. A dosa is a type of crepe made with rice and lentil flour. The dosa itself is huge, it has to be a good 12 inches across when folded. This particular crepe is also spiced with ginger. The result is a very tart and aromatic crepe, which complements the spiced potatoes perfectly. The potatoes are mixed with sauteed onion and spiced with turmeric and other spices. Also included is a cup of sambhar, a type of traditional vegetable soup made with lentils and a tomato broth. It is a bit on the spicy side so be careful if you have a sensitive tongue.

Swad is certainly one of the better Indian/Pakistani restaurants in town and comes highly recommended.


AFJ rating: 4 Lone Star Points

Website 
Map
Address:
9515 N. Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78753
512-997-7923

Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que

Cooper's

A couple of weeks ago my good friend Kirk posted on his Facebook page that he planned to restart his BBQ World Tour. For those of you not familiar with this outing, it's an idea he came up with back in 2001 to visit some of the places listed as having the best barbecue by Texas Monthly magazine. This little trip took us to an old favorite- Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. Cooper's was part of the original World Tour and has remained a favorite ever since. How good are they? People are known to drive for hours to get here; in fact it's a drive of over an hour from Austin. Not only that, former President Bush was known to have them catered to his ranch when he was in town, or so the story goes. Say what you will about his politics, the facts are that the man knows his barbecue.

BBQ Pit

So what makes this place so worth the drive? First, it's a nice trip across the scenic Texas Hill Country. A very nice experience if you've never been, or if you have visitors in town and don't want to go the River Walk in San Antonio again. Second and most important is the meat, the nicely spiced and smoked, melt-in-your-mouth meat. Cooper's serves all manner of slow cooked critters, all of them equally delicious. Just look at that spread in the pit. Makes you hungry doesn't it? It makes me wish it was last Saturday all over again....

First up we have the brisket. Barbecued brisket is really more of a Texas kind of thing, and is not often seen on menus outside of the state but really should be. Every barbecue joint in Texas has their own special spice rub and cooking technique for brisket, and Cooper's is just about the king of this cut of beef. How can you tell a good cut of brisket? It should have a good blackened top (it's Flavor Country according Alex), and should be moist and tender. The brisket at Cooper's meets this standard perfectly. It has a nice intense flavor and is perfectly tender. Now, I've heard some people suggest that the only proper barbecue is pork. I humbly disagree with this statement. When done correctly beef lends itself nicely to this method. For any of you brisket nonbelievers, go to Cooper's and give it a try. You may find yourself becoming a convert to the ways of beef barbecue.

Tenderloin

For those of you who prefer pork, you have nothing to fear! Cooper's serves up some fantastic porcine dishes as well. There is of course the obligatory smoked sausage which is very tasty and comes in two varieties, regular and jalapeno. Either one is worth having, but for me it's all about the pork tenderloin and pork ribs. The tenderloin is juicy and tender. Spiced nicely but not so heavily that the flavor of the meat can't come through. But the ribs. Oh, my the ribs.....Let me explain something about me and ribs. For years I thought I did not like them. Why, you ask? It is because I had never had a proper rib until moving to Texas. Every time I had eaten ribs in the past they had almost no meat, were tough and were served in horrifyingly sweet and sticky sauce. Disgusting. These ribs -as is the case in Texas barbecue in general- are smoked using a dry rub. The spice is perfect, and the meat simply falls off the bone. They are required eating when you finally get to go.

Sauce

No trip to a barbecue joint would be complete without a quick discussion about the sauce. I once heard a person say that barbecue is all about the sauce. I don't even know where to start being snarky about that comment. Barbecue has nothing do with the sauce. Barbecue is all about the smoked meat. In fact it's a style that originated in the Americas as a method of slow cooking meat using low heat and smoke. The way I see it, if you have to cover your meat in some kind of overly sweet, sticky, or spicy sauce it is an indication that something is wrong with the meat. Let the meat speak for itself! Having said all of that I must admit that I do like a good sauce as an accompaniment. The sauce at Cooper's is unlike most I've tasted. It's thin, vinegar based and mixed with pan drippings and other spices. Personally, I like it a lot. It has it's own character and adds to the show without taking over.


Cooper's now has three locations, and I'm sure all of them are worth the visit. Dave and I ended the evening by going with Kirk and his family to the town of Fredericksburg for a little ice cream. It was a very nice way to end very pleasant day. Kirk, it was a very successful trip. I can't wait for the next one!


Official AFJ rating- Four Points



Website
Google Maps Location
Hours-
Sun-Thurs: 11:00 A.M.-8:00 P.M.
Fri-Sat: 11:00 A.M.-9:00 P.M.

Manny's Uptown Kitchen

Manny's Uptown Kitchen

This week's review took us to one of our new favorites- Manny's Uptown Kitchen. As many of our readers already know, they were previously open under the name Manny Hattan's and served New York style deli fare. So why the name change? Well, the owners felt it was time to expand their horizons a bit and experiment with new flavors. What they serve now might be classified as a type of deli fusion cuisine. Owner Aaron Mayer told us that there is now a much greater emphasis on fresh ingredients and made to order products, and the end results are a real testament to the fine job they're doing.

Potato Knish

Let's start things out with our appetizers. First up we have the potato knish. The knish is a staple of Jewish delis all over New York. It's a mound of fluffy mashed potatoes that have been covered in a bit of dough and baked to perfection. Years ago, I took a trip to New York and got a knish from one of the best places possible- a street vendor. It may sound silly to say about a simple potato dish, but it was a culinary revelation for me. It's been seventeen years but I still remember the flavor and texture of my first knish. So how does Manny's stack up to this memory? It is perfect. The flavor and texture are just like I remember from all those years ago. And it was especially good with the brown mustard at the table.

Pierogies

Next up was the butternut squash pierogi. For those of you not familiar with a pierogi, think of it as an Eastern European ravioli or dumpling. The dumpling itself is cooked absolutely spot on. It has a nice firm texture without being tough or rubbery. The filling is nice and subtle, but still present. The sauce on the pierogis is a sage brown butter and balsamic vinegar reduction. When Aaron brought them out to us the sauce was the first thing I noticed for a couple of reasons. First, it is very eye catching. Dark reddish brown from the vinegar and butter and green from the sage contrasted against the lighter tan of the pierogis. Second, and most important was the scent. The sauce has a nice tangy vinegar bite, but mellowed out by the reduction process. The flavor was sweet, tangy and savory all at the same time. For me, this appetizer really hit it out of the park.

Tongue Sandwich

For our main course David decided to order the Beef Tongue Sandwich. Tongue is a type of meat that some people have a hard time with. I'll admit I was once one of them. There are two problems with tongue: First it is difficult to prepare well. If it is over cooked it becomes tough to the point of being inedible. Second, and most common- it's a tongue. The thought of chewing on a tongue is a bit unsettling for many people. But let me assuage your fears, this is one of the best sandwiches you will ever have. Just think of it as it really and truly is at this point- a perfectly tender cut of meat. Most often,  tongue is prepared by braising because the low temperature of the braising process allows the meat to cook without becoming tough. In this case the meat is first pickled, similar to what you would do in preparing a corned beef, then boiled and served as a cold cut sandwich. The results that Manny's achieves by using this method are absolutely fantastic. The meat itself has a rich flavor due to the heavy marbling and, due to the pickling, a character very similar to corned beef. In fact if you didn't know it was tongue you would probably guess it was corned beef. The meat is sliced thin, and practically melts in your mouth. A sandwich any real deli would be proud to serve.

Challa French Toast

For my entree, I decided to go with Breakfast. That's right, Manny's now serves breakfast and they serve it all day. I don't know about you all, but as a child I always looked forward to having breakfast for dinner. There's just nothing like having pancakes or French toast for a meal other than breakfast. It's almost like you're doing something wrong, but mom is encouraging you to do it. For my breakfast plate I ordered the Challa Bread French Toast. Challa (pronounced "halla" with a rough 'H') is a type of braided Jewish bread that happens to lend itself perfectly to French toast. It is porous enough to soak up the egg batter and soft enough so that the cooking process does not make the crust tough or chewy. The egg batter has a nice flavor due to the addition of cinnamon and other spices. The toast has a nice crispiness to the exterior and an almost custard-like texture to the interior. It comes served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, butter and syrup. This toast is so good that I get it almost every time I come to Manny's.

Manny's Uptown Kitchen is located in the Gateway Shopping Center right off of Highway 183 in N.W. Austin. With a little something for everyone, Manny's comes highly recommended from the Food Junkies.

Our rating- 4 points of the Lone Star

Google Maps Location

Website

Hours:

Monday-Friday: 7:00 A.M.-10:00 P.M.

Saturday-Sunday 7:00 A.M.-11:00 P.M.

Phil's Icehouse

Phil's Icehouse

For this review, Dave and I ventured out to Phil's Icehouse to sample some of what they had to offer. Phil's serves the most classic of all American fare - burgers and dogs, and they do 'em both well. Before we dive into the review I thought it would be good to give a little background information on Phil's. Phil's Icehouse is owned by none other than Amy and Steve Simmons. Who are they, you ask? Well, if you've been in Austin for any length of time you've heard the name Amy, or more specifically Amy's Ice Cream. Amy's Ice Cream is a huge part of Austin and is, in my opinion, the best ice cream anywhere. Like it's counterpart Amy's, Phil's exudes the Austin feel. Most importantly though, they produce some of the best burgers in town. Now on with the review.


We'll start with the Brentwood Burger. The Brentwood is as classic as it gets. It's an old American favorite, the bacon cheeseburger.  A simple cheeseburger topped with two pieces of bacon, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, mustard and cheddar cheese. Very simple, and very delicious; Phil's hit's it right on the money with this one. The beef patty itself is nicely seasoned and perfectly juicy. The lettuce stays nice and crisp and you can get a taste of everything with every bite. Like all of their burgers, the bun is nicely toasted adding a great texture to the meal. It is also slightly sweet which adds a very nice extra touch. If you come in to Phil's and can't quite decide what to get the Brentwood is a great go-to menu item. Now the way I see it, if you can't get the simplest things right you might as well just pack it in and go home. There is little out there that is simpler or more classic American than the bacon cheese burger and Phil's makes one of the greats.

 Jardin

Next up- the Jardin (pronounced hardeen). According to their website, this burger is an interpretation of a Mexican style burger that they had in San Miguel Del Allende. Having been to Mexico many times, including to San Miguel Del Allende, I can vouch for the authenticity of this burger. The Jardin is served in similar fashion to hamburgesas served in many of the restaurants in Monterrey, with a piece of ham on top of the beef patty. Accompanying the patty and ham are two strips of bacon, cheddar cheese, jalepenos, tomato, mayo and mustard. The ham may seem like a strange addition but it really brings this burger together. Like the Brentwood the Jardin's bun is also lightly sweet and toasted. This one comes highly recommended.

Foot Long

And finally we have the grilled Foot Long Hot Dog. The dog itself is split down the middle and grilled on all sides with a liberal helping of tomatoes, onions and cheddar cheese spread down the middle of this gargantuan dog. The dog is grilled until it gets that perfect crispy skin texture, and a perfect flavor. Like it's burger brethren the bun on the hot dog is perfectly toasted. The bun is also an appropriate size for the dog. In fact to any other purveyors of hot dogs we are neither fooled or impressed when you use an undersized bun on a large dog. It just looks like you are too cheap to spring for a correctly sized bun and causes a mess. Please stop this behavior. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now. If you come in to Phil's and are not feeling a burger, may I humbly submit the Grilled Foot Long for your consideration.


All of our entrees came served with the most American of sides - french fries. The fries at Phil's are in a word, perfect. Nice and crunchy outside and soft inside, and just enough salt. And best of all they serve them mixed. Mixed with what, you ask? Seasoned curly fries? Thankfully no. I'm afraid Phil's is a few steps above that Clown-In-A-Crate place. They come mixed with a serving of their distinguished cousin - the sweet potato fry. Crunchy, soft and a little sweet with just the right amount of salt on top. I only recently discovered this particular creation and have quickly become a huge fan. And to wash it all down we had milkshakes of course. Their Milkshakes are made, of course, with Amy's Ice Cream. And Amy's, as I pointed out at the beginning of the review, is some of the best ice cream anywhere. They also start each shake the right way, with the ice cream flavor of the shake. A chocolate shake does not start with vanilla ice cream and three pounds of syrup from a poor quality choclatier in Pennsylvania, it starts with chocolate ice cream. The same is true of any flavor shake, syrup doesn't count. The portions are large and the prices are reasonable ($4.50-7.50) so you can expect to be left with change and a snack for later!

AFJ Rating: 3 Lone Star points

Phil's Ice House Website Google Maps Location 5620 Burnet Rd Austin, TX 78756 Sun-Thur: 11 A.M.-9 P.M. Fri-Sat: 11 A.M.-10 P.M.