Affordable favorites to steakhouse splurges: 10 best dishes I ate in Austin in February
- Filet mignon and frites at Hopfields
- Quince and manchego empanada at Tzintzuntzan
- Hunan pork stir-fry at Hunan Bistro
- Pho at Pho Phong Lu
- Pretzel "bagel" with lox at Easy Tiger
- Pork chop at ATX Cocina
- Chicken Parmesan at Birdie's Aiello's pop-up
- Crab tostada at La Piscina
- Beef enchiladas at Habanero
- Tom kha at Thai Fresh
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February was a month for revisiting a neighborhood staple that is in great new/old hands, taking a trip to Mexico via a plate of pastries at a new breakfast spot from a celebrated name, sharing a favorite dish with a friend, researching some great values and more.
These are the 10 best dishes I ate during the year's shortest month. For more great restaurants, broken down by cuisine, location, category and more, visit statesman.com/best-restaurants.
Filet mignon and frites at Hopfields
Filet mignon and frites at Hopfields. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Hopfields is one of those restaurants/bars that I long to have in my neighborhood every time I visit. It makes me wish I was getting a PhD in comparative lit at the University of Texas and had an excuse to walk over and drink a few beers or red wine with some bistro food once a week. It's hard to believe the French gastropub will celebrate 15 years this fall, but it also makes perfect sense: It's hospitable, inviting and serves some of the best French-inspired cuisine in Austin. And with Thomas Reeh - a veteran of Wink, Mars, Fino and more - running the kitchen for most of the past year, Hopfields is as strong as ever.
I've had a run of pretty mediocre steaks in Austin lately and, friends, they have not been cheap. The most maddening thing about an underwhelming steak (besides the value proposition) is the fact that you usually feel you could've made a better one at home. I felt no such disappointment with a recent filet mignon served with perfect fries. The salt-and-pepper-crusted cut, seared evenly in tallow on a French top, was bigger than my fist. It jiggled like Santa's belly when I carved into it and blushed with the same red as Old Saint Nick's cheeks.
The steak was soft on the inside and as crunchy as the herb-flecked fries on the out, and the buttery Dijon spread ringing the plate added a lively dimension. At $54, it was actually a great value, especially considering it is the best steak I've had in Austin in months.
Quince and manchego empanada at Tzintzuntzan
Quince and manchego empanada at Tzintzuntzan. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/MATTHEW ODAM / AMERICAN-STATESMA)
One of the great joys of a vacation at a Mexican resort (besides all of it) is breakfast each morning. In addition to plates of eggs and dishes of yogurt with fresh fruit and granola, you are often introduced to a pastry you've never seen.
The closest I will come to a Mexican vacation this year is likely my recent trip to Tzintzuntzan, and I'm not complaining. The new breakfast and lunch restaurant from Fonda San Miguel owner Tom Gilliland is as beautiful and serene as a four-star Mexican hotel and the empanada - firm but flaky, stuffed with quince jam and edged by baked manchego cheese - was sweet, savory and gooey with a nice touch of umami. It's the kind of breakfast you'd obnoxiously tell people about when you got back to Texas.
Hunan pork stir-fry at Hunan Bistro
Hunan pork stir-fry at Hunan Bistro in Anderson Mill. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
This Anderson Mill restaurant serves a variety of regional Chinese cuisines, along with a broad offering of more generic Chinese and Chinese-American dishes. The Hunan stir-fried pork, a collection of thin-sliced shoulder and bacon tossed with the grassy notes of sharp green pepper that sting but don't overwhelm the palate, is one of my favorites from the menu's "Hunan Sichuan" section and one reason the restaurant landed on my list of best Austin restaurants for dining for $20 or less.
Pho at Pho Phong Lu
Pho at Pho Phong Lu. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
If you read my piece about the best soups in Austin during our recent cold snap or my story last year rounding up 25 great Asian restaurants around town, you might know of my affection for Pho Phong Lu.
At the restaurant on Dessau Road, the servers are at your table and ready for your order within a minute or two of seating. Part of that is because the place is packed with regulars and the menu is not sprawling. Also, because you're probably going to want one of their dozen or so versions of the pho. And within seconds of ordering it, a bowl of accoutrements - fresh herbs, lime and bean sprouts - shows up at your table.
What makes it so great? The soup is well-developed, with deep flavors, but also clean and light. There is nothing unctuous about the clear, aromatic broth. It's great no matter the weather.
Pretzel "bagel" with lox at Easy Tiger
Pretzel "bagel" with lox at Easy Tiger. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Baker David Norman makes some of the best pretzels in the state. At the revamped Easy Tiger on South Lamar - now operated by McGuire Moorman Hospitality - they're sliced thin to replicate bagels and make the perfect sandwich for velvety smoked salmon and seasoned tomatoes. The MML takeover of Easy Tiger has brought more care and attention to the front and back of house. The bright red tomatoes with this dish were even seasoned. 3508 S. Lamar Blvd., Suite 300; 6406 N-35 Frontage Road, Suite 1100; easytigeraustin.com.
Pork chop at ATX Cocina
Pork chop at ATX Cocina. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
There can be so much going on at ATX Cocina that you sometimes feel like you've gotten lost in the shuffle. But this pork chop, coated in a fruity and smoky guajillo barbecue sauce and pooled with a sweet habanero butter sauce, made up for any feelings of neglect.
Chicken Parmesan at Birdie's Aiello's pop-up
Chicken Parmesan at Birdie's Aiello's pop-up. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
One test of a great restaurant is ordering a dish you don't usually love and seeing if you can be persuaded, if only for a night. I will do it with dishes like mushrooms at a great restaurant where I have high expectations.
Though it might seem weird that chicken Parm would fall into that category, for me it does. I often find it to be dry, with a hulking coat of cheese sliding it off it like a drunk from a couch. But chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and her team crush this one at the red sauce Italian pop-up that honors her grandfather. The crackling breading and toasted layer of two cheeses cling to the moist chicken, and the tomato sauce was bright and vibrant. For one night, the chicken Parm wins.
Crab tostada at La Piscina
Crab tostada at La Piscina. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
An unseasonably warm winter means eating a dish I associate with summer is perfectly fine in my book. In this case, it's chilled lump crab meat buzzing with chili aioli and jalapeño butter, with crispy leeks adding to the crunch of the tostada. Throw in a poolside view (through the window), and it almost feels like spring break.
Beef enchiladas at Habanero
Beef enchiladas at Habanero. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/MATTHEW ODAM / AMERICAN-STATESMA)
We filmed a teaser video for my 50 best Austin restaurants where you can dine for $20 or less story at this Statesman Restaurant Hall of Fame member, and you know I wasn't going to just use the food for props. The red chile enchilada sauce is as smooth as the refried beans, and the light, fragrant rice is much more than a stiff side along for the ride.
Tom kha at Thai Fresh
Tom kha at Thai Fresh. (MATTHEW ODAM/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/MATTHEW ODAM / AMERICAN-STATESMA)
I always like turning someone on to a dish they've never tried, as was the case when I slid a cup of this Thai soup over to Statesman video journalist Efren Salinas when we were filming recently. "How is it?" he asked as I nudged the steaming bowl toward him. "Pretty great, if you love the complex blend of sweet coconut milk, the medicinal jag of galangal and lemongrass and the sour punch of lime juice and fish sauce." He did.
