An Average Joe in San Antonio

You might wonder why I decided to eat at two restaurants right next to each other for two days in a row.  I actually tried to eat there on Monday but it turns out that the restaurant is closed then.  This was another restaurant that I had a Groupon too and was excited to check it out.

The inside of The Little Aussie Bakery is similar to Sweetie’s Deli where it is an older house with hardwood floors and a warm atmosphere.  While we didn’t talk to anyone with an Australian accent, we were told that the woman who owned it was indeed Australian.  Additionally, this is a gluten free bakery, however, being gluten free doesn’t mean that the desserts look any less decadent!

Strangely enough, even though I was at the bakery, I didn’t really order any baked goods!  I decided to get the same thing as my friend which was a salad with mango chicken curry.  Now, I have never really had any sweet curry, but this worked really well.  The chicken had a little bit of spice and you could really taste the mango in it along with brown sugar.  The salad was HUGE and incredibly fresh with cherub tomatoes, cucumbers, and assorted colors of bell peppers.  It was accompanied with a little bit of fresh baked bread that had this garlic butter that was to die for.

For some funky and fresh food, you can't beat the mango chicken curry.

Our waiter was incredibly cheerful and friendly and talked with us offering suggestions on the menu along with just chit chatting.  The light and pleasant conversation went well with the light meal to just leave you feeling good as you went back to work.

Value: 7.5/10 (A little expensive for lunch at $10/plate, but you pay for freshness)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (Another chill restaurant with a quirky feel to it)
Service: 10/10 (The waiter made you feel good and happy to be there)
Taste: 9.5/10 (Everything was fresh, fresh, fresh)
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I know that this is my second post in a row that is about a restaurant outside of the Rivercity, however, my job has recently asked me to travel to our Austin office so I thought I would stop by one of my favorites, North by Northwest.

Playing on the name of the popular festival, SXSW, North by Northwest (NXNW) is located on the North side of Austin and is a microbrewery along with serving some of the funky Austin fare relatively cheap.  A friend of mine who lives in Austin introduced me to this restaurant several years back and I really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, I can’t really say anything about the beer because it has been a while since I got to drink at the restaurant (read: been at the restaurant afterhours and not on a lunch), but from what I remember it was pretty good for a microbrew.

I ordered what I think has to be one of the best things off of the menu, the cedar plank salmon.  It is served on top of cooked spinach along with blue cheese scalloped potatoes.  The spinach is incredibly tasty and a little salty which I think compliments the salmon nicely.  I used to not even like blue cheese, but these potatoes changed all that several years ago; they come out piping hot and are incredibly creamy.  Not to be outdone is the salmon which just flakes off and I think is glazed with a soy/ginger type of sauce.

I love the cedar plank salmon at NXNW!

I really like the atmosphere of the restaurant; the patio is on the front so you can people watch as patrons arrive, the seating in the bar area encourages you to meet new people, the main restaurant is in an open room with a big fireplace that kind of feels like a lodge; you can also see all the brewing equipment through the glass wall.  There is a nice sound to the restaurant because you get a good noise from the crowd as people start filling in; you don’t have to shout to talk over it, but it has a good vibe.

When you are in Austin, be sure to stop by, but make sure you go when you can actually partake in the beer that they brew there!

Value: 8/10 (if you go at lunch you get a better bang for the buck and they are the same size as the dinner portions; at lunch the salmon is like $12, dinner it’s $19)
Atmosphere: 9.5/10 (cool feel on the inside and the patio is nice on a sunny day)
Service: 9/10 (nice and friendly staff)
Taste: 9.5/10 (good food with some of the funky Austin charm)
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