Odd Duck

Odd Duck
1201 S. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704
oddduckaustin.com
Yelp

For our last meal in Austin, we wanted to brunch it up at Barley Swine's sister restaurant.  My bad for actually missing brunch time, so we settled for lunch.  Mama H.o.P., Smooth Obturator, and The Annoyer made for a perfect party of 4.  I prefer to dine in groups of 4-6 because you can try more things that way and variety is my favorite aspect in dining.

Parker House Roll pig face, mustard
This was a VERY strong start.  In fact, this might have been my favorite dish of the meal.  They REALLY make excellent bread here.  It was so soft and fresh, very reminiscent of the pig bun from the previous night.

The filling was a very delectable porky goodness.  The fattiness was tempered by the perfect pairing with mustard.  Yums for sure!

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Barley Swine

Barley Swine

2024 S. Lamar Blvd

Austin, TX 78704

barleyswine.com

Yelp

With the little time we had in Austin, it was of utmost importance to be wise about our food choices.  Smooth Obturator left it to me to decide between Qui and Barley Swine.  Ultimately, Barley Swine won out though it was tough to pass up a Top Chef winner's restaurant.  The food at Barley Swine seemed looked to be the sophisticated/white linen type though the ambiance was Texas saloon with 80s music.  Our server was wearing manpris and loafers with no socks.

Crab cantaloupe, trinidad pepper sorbet 

We started off with this refreshing and light course.  The oceanic sweetness of the crab paired nicely with the sweet melon.

Butternut Squash Soup pecan miso, pancetta
The soup was silky and luscious.  It was sweet and complemented by a caramelized onion marmalade.  The pecan miso was nutty and unique.  The pancetta brought the needed saltiness.  The shredded orange thing was some crunchy butternut squash for added texture.  Well done!

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Franklin BBQ

Franklin BBQ

900 E 11th St

Austin, TX 78702

franklinbbq.com

Yelp

A 5 hour wait to eat food deserves a long entry...

Every single "Best of BBQ" TV show or list inevitably includes Franklin BBQ as one of America's top BBQ joints.  Enough cannot be said of its famed brisket, which is slowly smoked over 12-18 hours and the envy of many.  The line and long wait speaks volumes to its fame and popularity.  The place doesn't open until 11am, but people start lining up at 7am or maybe even earlier.  You're probably thinking WTF?!  WTF indeed!  You'd think Franklin was a Texas institution.  Smoking brisket and satisfying the BBQ needs of Texans for generations.  Helmed by a really fat, bearded, hard core traditionalist, occasionally ornery but overall loveable and huggable bear type of old man.  Nope, the man behind this operation since its inception in 2009 is a young hipster-looking Aaron Franklin, 37 years old.  His BMI is surely south of 30 right??

After some debate, Smooth Obturator and I decided we had to try Franklin BBQ because when else would we ever have this chance?  We skipped out on some pre wedding festivities just for this.  I guess you can see where our priorities laid.  Somehow, our debate concluded with me waking up at the crack of dawn to camp out while he chilled at the hotel.  Luckily, I had The Annoyer in tow who was my partner in crime for this food adventure.  I wasn't super nazi about getting in line early.  I was shooting for 8am but arrived at 830am.  I didn't think it was going to make a difference.  Uhh, another 10 minutes and I would have been SOL for brisket!

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Lick Honest Ice Creams

Lick Honest Ice Creams

2032 S. Lamar

Austin, TX 78704

ilikelick.com

Yelp

Boy was my time in Austin a hot one!  Ai ya ya ya!  That's my "I'm so hot. I'm on fire.  It burns!" onomatopoeia.  What better way to beat the heat than some ice cream?  I actually had more reason to be visiting Austin than to eat, though that's plenty of reason to be anywhere really. The Annoyer and I drove from Houston to Austin for The DonBon's wedding.  On the way, we picked up Mama H.o.P. and Smooth Obturator at the airport.  After settling in at the hotel we wanted to see a little bit of what "keeps Austin weird, but of course had to start off by filling up our empty tanks.

Horchata sweet rice ice cream, cinnamon, vanilla, clove

Milk & Cookies brown sugar ice cream, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough

Caramel Salt Lick

Pecans & Cream
Hill Country Honey & Vanilla Bean

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