Next stop Austin! Such a quirky and entertaining city! Free
spirited hipsters roam wild and free on the streets and home to some of the
best barbecue in the states!
I’ll start off with the first barbecue spot Cooper’s BBQ
Austin. One of the few joints that’s in the CBD of the city, it’s got a
communal feel to it with long wooden share tables, a courtyard and even an
upstairs section. Typical of barbecue joints, they charge meats by the pound
and offer an assortment of sides including mac and cheese, coleslaw, grilled
corn and pickles. However, at this place they also offer free refills of hot
beans stewing in a pot to the side.
For the meats I got an assortment of the good stuff which
were beef ribs, half pound of brisket and jalapeno cheddar sausage with a side
of pickles and grilled corn. They wrap the meats up in butchers paper and hand
it all to you on a tray for you to devour it at a free spot on the tables.
The brisket was nice and tender with just salt and pepper
seasoning. It was cooked well and showed signs of the smoke ring that happens
when meat is perfectly smoked. However it did have a bit too much fat on it
which I ended up eating around.
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| Brisket, jalapeno sausage, beef rib and corn |
The beef rib was a decent size and moist and juicy like the
brisket. Was great to eat however it was a little on the bland side of things. Not
enough flavour in the centre of the rib.
The sausage was the standout of the meal. The kick from the
jalapeno spice was delicious and the small bits of melted cheddar throughout
the sausage was delectable. The serving size was very generous and the flavour
of the meat itself was seasoned well. Would definitely order the sausage again
if I could.
Unfortunately the side of grilled corn did not live up to
expectation. It was quite bland and tasted as though it had been sitting there
for too long. Such a shame as it would have been a great accompaniment to the
meat. The pickles were great though! Nice and crunchy with a typical sourness to
them.
All in all it was good barbecue and much better than
anything I would find in Sydney. However it does not compare to another barbecue spot in Austin which I will talk about a bit later.
Onto some sweet treats in Austin! Sixth Street is normally
known for rowdy University students, bars offering cheap booze to these
university students, but it’s also home to a really funky doughnut shop –
Voodoo Doughnuts.
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| Lemon chiffon crueller on the left, "Dirt" on the right |
Serving doughnuts of all types including ones made of raised yeast, cake and even vegan doughnuts. There’s an endless choice and the display cabinet certainly shows it off.
I opted for the “Dirt” doughnut which is a yeast doughnut
with vanilla frosting and crushed Oreo cookies on top and also the “Lemon Chiffon
Crueller” which is a cake crueller with vanilla frosting and lemon sprinkling
on top.
Both doughnuts were so fluffy and tasty. The lemon crueller
was a bit too sour for my liking but the dirt doughnut was just right. The sweetness
from the vanilla frosting and crushed Oreos made it a delicious doughnut that wasn’t
too heavy.
I was so sad I couldn’t try more because I was way too full from
a massive lunch I had earlier in the day. However if I do ever visit Austin
again, I will definitely make sure to try many more of the fantastic doughnuts.
Having not gotten enough of Texas BBQ, I decided to hit up
La Barbecue. Being Sunday I was worried there would be a huge line (which I had
read can be up to two hour waits) so I decided to get there an hour before
open. This turned out to be a great choice because I was only tenth in line at
10am. Waiting in line I got to talking to some of the locals about life in
Austin and what meats to get for lunch. They recommended the brisket and the
beef rib which is probably the standard to judge a good barbecue joint.
Going with local advice, I ordered a beef rib, brisket, pork
ribs and sausage. I had their chipotle sausage on my mind but unfortunately they
had run out so I settled for their regular sausage.
I’ll start with the beef rib. It was more like a dino rib
from the size of it. A gigantic bone with the meat still on cooked to
perfection. I could easily pull apart the meat which was moist and flavourful
with every bite. All their meat is seasoned with just pepper and salt which
was perfect and needed no sauce to go with it.
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| Close up of the beef rib |
The pork ribs were amazing. So soft and tender, and slightly
peppery but each bite fell off the bone with ease. I only ordered 3 ribs to
save room for more meat but I instantly had regret when there was no more
delicious meat left.
The sausage was quite different to Cooper’s as it wasn’t
spicy or cheese filled. It had more bite to it and you could hear a loud crack
of the skin as soon as you cut a piece off. The skin wasn’t chewy or hard, it
just had the perfect texture to it. I’ve never had a sausage like this before
where the meat wasn’t soft and oily like most sausages. It was ground up and
packed really tightly into the casing and was so flavourful.
Onto the brisket. My goodness the brisket! It was other
worldly. I never knew a simple piece of beef could be made this way. I’m
salivating as I write this review. I ordered about 3 slices of brisket and was
lucky to receive one of the end pieces where all juiciest part of the meat is.
It wasn’t as fatty as Cooper’s but it was still so tender and cooked to
perfection. You could clearly see a pink outline (smoke ring) at the edge of the brisket
which goes to show why this place is one of the most highly rated barbecue places in Austin. I would definitely go for the brisket alone. It pulled apart
so easily and my teeth bit through it like a hot knife through butter. Yes it
was that soft! The flavour of it was so simple just salt with a little bit of
pepper and the rest of it was good old smoked meat. It is definitely something
I cannot get back here in Sydney and I’m glad I was able to try this at least
once in my life.
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| Closeup of the best brisket ever |
As for the sides they offer the usual suspects of pickles,
slaw and bread but I opted for just a single serve of pickles. Can’t complain
about the pickles. Crunchy and salty and was a good snack in between the chunks
of meat I devoured.
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| The whole shabang |
All in all, this is hands down the best barbecue I have ever
eaten and possibly will ever eat. I would say the one hour line was well worth
the wait but the best part is that they let you order and drink beer in the
line as you wait. Since they recently relocated from a food truck to an actual
shop front, they had a great selection of craft beers and wine on offer.
The last place I’ll talk about is a chain restaurant with
various locations throughout Texas called Torchys Tacos. The one I went to was
on South Congress. It’s a casual restaurant where you order at the counter and
then choose your seat after. With outdoor and indoor seating, I chose indoor
due to the extreme Texas summer heat.
Now onto the food! So many tacos to choose from and so
little stomach space. But in the end I settled for shrimp tacos, mushroom tacos
and blackened salmon tacos.
For sides I chose street corn and green
chile queso and chips.
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| Chips and queso dip |
The tacos were quite tasty and I liked the variety of fillings
you could choose from. There was a slight mix-up with our order so they offered
2 shrimp tacos for the price of 1. Score! Lots of sauces mixed into the tacos with extra chipotle with the shrimp ones. Lots of ingredients in each one and very filling.
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| Mushroom taco on the left, blackened salmon on the right |
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| Fried shrimp tacos |
The street corn was a bowl of corn kernels mixed in with
cheese, beans, spices and a wedge of lime. I would prefer corn on the cob as
the kernels did get a bit soggy but overall not too bad.
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| Street corn |
It’s a great place to have a casual lunch or dinner and the
service was quick and helpful. Each taco is packed full of flavour and the
ingredients are all very fresh.
That’s my Austin eats adventure summed up. A city filled
with amazing food and lots of variety too. Coming up next, the jazzy city of
New Orleans!
What Would Lobi Eat? Barbecue and lots of it! In a city filled with the best barbecue joints in the country, it'll be hard to choose one to visit if you're short on time. With a glass
of the many craft beers available throughout town.
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