Last night we tried East Side King and loved every flavor packing bite. The pork belly buns are nearly as good as Momofuku’s. The Veggie Meshi is the perfect crunchy yet soft roasted fried brussels sprout/ garlic rice combo with just the right hint of sweetness. Hands down, he shining star of the meal was the beet home fries. Don’t let the name fool you…they’re the traditional round slices and not chopped up. Ideal for dipping in the cool, thick flavored mayo dollop they come with. We think we could even give up french fries for these!
One request East Side King, please re-park on Rainey. We’ll visit much more often. You’re the only reason to walk through Liberty Bar right now and that’s the low point of your brand experience.

4 days ago
After having a great experience at Pirhana next door to Max’s we thought we’d try Zushi Sushi next to Mean Eyed Cat. Pirhana:P Terry’s::Zushi:McD’s. In other words if you are looking for downtown sushi, skip Zushi and head to Pirhana which is an all around better experience.
5 months ago
We went to Max’s to try to their new “lunch” yesterday and found out its not lunch at all, but rather their regular dinner menu. Their prices are high to begin with and especially for lunch when everyone else in town has a separate lunch menu. Don’t be fooled.
5 months ago
Big thanks to Mike Sutter (Austin American-Statesman food critic) for asking Frank Bruni (New York Times food critic) a question for us in a recent interview.
Mike Sutter: We asked readers through Twitter if they had questions for you. Here’s one: ‘I would love to know what unique characteristics are common among great restaurants. What makes what might be an otherwise “good” restaurant “great”?’
Frank Bruni: This isn’t a particularly original answer. But the characteristic that is most common to great restaurants is they approach every dinner service and they approach every order they get as a chance at perfection. They set the bar really high.
Check out the full Q&A here: http://www.austin360.com/food_drink/content/food_drink/stories/2009/08/0819bruni.html
6 months ago