Tastes Of Texas: Exploring The Exciting Culinary Scene Of Austin / By Baldwin Ho / Publisher LLM Reporters

Austin may be celebrated as the ‘live music capital of the world’, but its culinary scene pulses with just as much energy.

The city boasts a stunning array of venues serving innovative, meticulously crafted dishes.

While Texas barbecue is famous here, we’re turning the spotlight onto other exciting cuisines that also deserve attention, while highlighting the restaurants that make Austin a top destination for food lovers.

Ezov

The eggplant sabich is a standout dish at Ezov, remaining on the menu all year round. Image credit: Mars Tello

Restaurants like Ezov, for example, are part of the reason Austin has earned its reputation as one of the trendiest cities in the USA.

Think lanterns spray painted with graffiti artwork for the décor, think a rainbow of colourful dishes from their Levant-focused menu. Their young, hip crowd are too discerning for fast food outlets, but instead choose cultural immersion at Ezov.

The menu changes seasonally, but some dishes are so popular that they remain on the menu year-round. The eggplant sabich is a standout: it’s served on hummus, mixed with cucumber and za’atar, topped with a fried egg, and paired with homemade frena bread.

Their signature falafel comes with tahini, amba and green schug, offering an exciting combination of flavours with each dip.

Dishes are as authentic as they come.

The grilled lamb kebab is served with ‘swimming chickpeas’. The Arabic description would be musabaha, which means ‘swimming’. It is used to describe chickpeas immersed in a flavoursome pool of juices rather than being blended into a dish. The meat juices, along with smoked tomatoes, adds considerably more character to the chickpeas.

Este

Seafood lovers should head to the popular Este in East Austin. Image credit: Cedric Angeles

Despite not being close to the coastline, Austinites have a strong yearning for seafood. One of the most popular is Este in East Austin, which serves contemporary Mexican cuisine with a seafood slant.

The converted bungalow building oozes classy beach house vibes: light wood panelling, pastel colours and exceptional use of daylight give the illusion that you are by the seaside. They bring you their addictive tortilla ‘chips’ before you’ve even finished perusing the menu.

Traditional dishes are given their own Este slant.

The tuna tiraditos is ultra-creamy with the addition of avocados and spread with generous amounts of crispy leeks. Shellfish lovers will be in seventh heaven. If you don’t opt for their seafood tower or platter, you can still order oysters and clams separately. The latter is served with guajillo pico, which gives the clams a smoky and fruity kick.

They do cater for vegetarians and have unusual offerings like chilled melon served with Aleppo chilli and mezcal. The atypical combination really helps to enhance the sweetness of the melons.

One of their more controversial dishes is the butterflied shell-on shrimp, where the shell has been cooked until crispy, so you are told to eat the whole shrimp. The shell has a huge concentration of umami flavours, and the whole dish is a treasure trove of varying flavours and textures.

El Naranjo

Award-winning restaurant El Naranjo serves authentic Mexican cuisine

Proudly serving authentic Mexican cuisine rather than Tex-Mex, El Naranjo comes with a considerable pedigree.

Chef and owner Iliana is a Mexican cuisine specialist and chef instructor at the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio.

They’ve famously won the James Beard best chef award in recent years, as well as numerous other accolades. Their cocktail list has an extensive list of mezcal offerings and classics executed with perfection, like their margarita clásica.

Every month, they have a special menu that focuses on a particular region of Mexico. During our visit, it was Baja California and we learnt that Asian flavours are very prevalent in Baja cookery.

As a result, the tuna in their tostada was marinated with yuzu, ginger, soy sauce and sesame seed oil. It was bursting with citrus and umami notes.

Their show-stopping dish is the mole negro de Oaxaca, made with 30 ingredients; this is their king of moles. It’s hard to comprehend how much effort has been expended to prepare this dish. All their moles are made from scratch and are vegetable-based and gluten-free. They are one of the more vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Austin, a city dominated by barbecued meats.

Top Roe

Top Roe’s showstopping dishes include bluefin Akami tuna steak. Image credit: Robert Jacob Lerma

Japanese cuisine fans will need to pay a visit to Top Roe. It is a Yōshoku Japanese restaurant situated in downtown Austin.

There are two concepts you can choose from when you visit the venue: Top Roe Izakaya and Top Roe Hand Roll. The former offers a more formal seated dining service with table service. They have some show-stopping offerings for their main courses, including an A5 Miyazaki steak and a bluefin toro steak.

However, the handroll bar is equally impressive if you are a sushi lover. There are only 13 seats, and you are in close proximity to their talented sushi chefs. Each handroll is prepared in front of you and is meant to be eaten straight away for freshness.

They have some very upscale offerings, including lobster, fried oyster, and blue crab handrolls, and they have a home-made XO sauce for the wagyu handroll. You will find a respectable number of plant-based options, so vegetarians won’t feel left out.

There’s a homely décor at their handroll bar with bottles of soy sauce and boxes of Rice Krispies on display. The wall shelf acts as their pantry, so dishes are prepared with minimal waiting times.

Aburi Sushi

Fareground offers an eclectic variety of eateries, from Venezuelan cuisine to Mexican street food

If you are looking for casual, yet well-executed fare, look no further than Fareground. Also situated downtown, they offer an eclectic variety of eateries from Venezuelan cuisine at Four Brothers to Mexican street food at Taco Pegaso.

Some started out as food trucks, but have been so successful, they’ve opened up a food stall at Fareground.

If you would like to try new-style sushi, make sure you visit Aburi Sushi – the name means flame-seared sushi. The technique originally started in Osaka in the 1990s and it has since become hugely popular in North America since the late 2000s.

At Aburi Sushi, they’ve added proprietary sauces and, along with the flame-searing, have created sushi dishes that are more complex in flavour. Their pop-up at Fareground is kept simple with three options for the aburi offering: salmon, shrimp or tuna. They do offer the traditional maki rolls, as well as temaki sushi.

Factbox

For more information on Austin visit austintexas.org