Perfectly adequate, reasonably cheap, Cajun food. And much less annoying than many places on Sixth Street.
Jazz was a backup choice, as our primary and secondary choices both proved unsuitable (for various reasons). Jazz offers decent cajun food at reasonable prices. The onion ring and popcorn shrimp appatizers were good, but seemed slightly smaller than last year. I really enjoyed my crawfish and andouline fettucine alfredo; more, in fact, than any other alfredo dish I've had in the last year. The dessert, a cherry beignets (again, these are more like thick turnovers than the powdered kind served at The Cafe Du Monde), was quite good, and provides quite a lot of bang for the buck, though there was a noticeable delay in getting our desserts out to us. Except for that delay, service was reasonably good.
The main drawbacks for Jazz are the location (on Sixth Street), and the atmosphere (Sixth Street), which is even louder and more crowded than that at Pappadeaux's. Still, for affordable Cajun food downtown, Jazz is your best bet.
Unimpressive TexMex, too loud music from multiple sources, and a waitron who never brought part of my order.
No reason to go back. Ever.
A relative newcomer to TexMex Row on South 1st street, Mercedes Martinez Restaurant and Bar occupies the space once used by the late, unlamented Spaghetti Western. The hot sauce seems slightly above average, and the nachos were quite credible. Also, I really liked my pork Santa Fe enchiladas (stacks of blue corn tortillas with a fried egg on top), which were the best enchiladas I've had this year. Service was fairly good considering that our waitress' grasp of English was shaky at best.
The main problem with Mercedes Martinez is the atmosphere, or rather lack thereof. I can understand having a radio on over the restaurant's intercom; I can understand having a juke box with separate speakers (though I was less than thrilled that they were way too loud); what I can't understand is having both on at the same time. Music as low background noise is fine; as loud foreground noise (live or otherwise), it inspires me to take my business elsewhere. Aside from that, I'd be inclined to try them again.
Not much to add this time around. They seem to have hired staff with a bit less attitude than they've had in the past, and the side dishes were served at a more reasonable temperature than they were on our last visit. I can see why Ruth's Chris ranked near the top in Consumer Reports recent chain dining survey. And at these prices, they'd better.
I really don't have much to say about this trip to Ruth's Chris that I haven't said about previous excursions. Extravagantly delicious steak at equally extravagant prices. The prices have gone up this year, with their heavenly T-bone going for $35.95 (and, while still quite thick, it seemed a touch thinner than last year). The service started off good, but (and an increasingly coomon complaint for Austin area eateries) seemed to slow down around check time. Still, this is one of the few places I can drop $65 and still feel like I got what I paid for.
I love this place.
I love the exotic meats. I love the service. I love the setting. I love almost everything about Hudson's except...
I have two complaints about Hudson's. One minor: the men's room is a little too small for the size of the place. The other complaint, I think, is a bit more serious: Texas wines (especially Texas reds) are dramatically under-represented on the wine list. While we ended up drinking two bottles of a very nice white from Alamosa Wine Cellars (the 1998 Fume Blanc), I still would have liked a good Texas red with my mixed grill: I don't recall seeing even one Texas red on the list. This bothers me a bit.
(And a tip of the SDC's Hatlo hat to my folks, E.M. and Karen Whittington, for underwriting this excursion.)
Hudson's on the Bend has a well-earned reputation for offering wild game dishes, and we took full advantage of it. Appetizers included water buffalo enchiladas, rattlesnake cakes and wild boar tamales, all of which were quite delectable. For my entree, I had the elk chop, which was very hearty and flavorful indeed, and the tastes of venison, duck, and venison ancho sausage I had off other diners plates were also extremely good. A creme brulee, perhaps a touch less fine than those served at Ruth's Chris, topped off the evening.
Drawbacks? Well, there's the drive, of course, as it's way out on 620 (right next to Hill Country Pasta House. And there's the price, on par with or even a little more expensive than Ruth's Chris. The salad dressing was good but a little thin. They don't serve Dr Pepper (I made do with Coke). And the portions could have been slightly more generous (of course, who knows how much meat comes on an "average" elk chop), though some of our fellow diners had problems finishing their entrees.
Though it doesn't quite displace Cafe Josie as my favorite Fine Dining establishment, Hudson's on the Bend is a wonderful choice for celebrating special occasions or for trying some exotic dishes that you're never going to find anywhere else in town.
I continue to eat here fairly regularly, and Java Noodles continues to serve good, cheap, and plentiful Indonesian food. I do get a little creeped out by the lack of people in the place during the dinner hour, and by the owner's promotion of his religious beliefs (I don't mind that he has religious beliefs: printing bible verses on the placemats at the table is what bothers me). But neither of these things are enough to keep me away.
I wish they'd add some soups, though.
Java Noodles serves up good, cheap Asian food in plentiful quantities (and with a lot more variety than you would find at a pho place). Think Thai, but not nearly as spicy (if you can imagine such a thing). Though I've experienced service problems with them in the past, they handled our ever-expanding party fairly smoothly. My beef dish had a nice flavor and generous portions, and the chicken resoles were tasty as well.
You can get food that's cheaper, and food's that's better, but it's hard to get food this good this cheap.
See the logs for May of 2000.
See the logs for March of 2000.
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