Ciclo

 Came back to Four Seasons for a business lunch.  

They have a very nice restaurant one floor down from the lobby.  Though it was not busy, a reservation is recommended just because we saw a large table of ladies lunching, so you'd never know when they're busy. 

My coworker got a Cobb and I must say, that's a better looking Cobb than most that I've seen.  A plus for not having nothing but corn and called it Cobb.  The chicken breast also looked great.  

I got the Tuna Poke salad, which you cannot see but there's a small bed of rice underneath.  The entire thing is not too overwhelming, and nice touch with edamame, mushroom, cucumber, carrots, avocado and mix it all up it's delicious.  Now, I will say one thing, and that is, no one needs that much ginger.  That was a tad overkill there.  Even if this is a sushi bowl, that's still too much ginger. 

As expected at Four Seasons, the staff are courteous, they offered us a fresh up of our drinks to go, which I take them up on, especially it's a nicely balanced Arnold Palmer.  Not too much lemonade and not too much tea.   The view is stunning over the river, and you see people bustling about while you're having lunch.  That's the life!

Ciclo in Four Seasons Austin

98 San Jacinto Blvd

Austin, TX 78701

https://www.fourseasons.com/austin/dining/restaurants/ciclo/

Alouette Bistro at Lark & Owl

Came to Austin for a book event.

It was hosted by this cute little bookstore outside of Austin.

They have a cute and brilliant concept to have food, wine and coffee at the bookstore.  And how many of you already curl up with a book and a glass of wine or a mug of something nice to read anyhow?!

For the event, they have special drinks on deck.

This is Butterflies, which is a book inside a book that's being promoted.  If you're interested to read more, it's inside Love Story by Lindsey Kelk - in case you haven't figured out, yes, it's chick lit.

The drink, however, has guava nectar, Seedlip's notas de agave.  It is not too sweet, hint of pear and agave,  and some citrus.  As far as non-alcoholic spirit goes, this is pretty mild without all the sugar. 

Also got a mini charcuterie box.  Some olives, salami, and brie.  Perfect to tie me over.

Alright, I'll tell you whose event I went to.... It was a book tour for Lindsey Kelk's new book in US (been out in UK for some time) called Love Story.  And this tour, they have conversational partners of Julie Soto and Ali Hazelwood.  All 3 are new adult romance writers, and all are very different in their own right.  That said, the three of them together are a hoot.  We as audience had such a great time being a fly on the wall just to listen to friends chats.  They are so fun together.  Super grateful that they let us have a peek.  But more importantly, that they're doing these at Indie Bookstore and supporting small businesses.  

The bookstore itself is super cute.  Has books for the entire family, and even have second hand books for folks who wants to get a discount, or give books a new life.  Also, lots of cute merch.  They do all kinds of book readings with different authors, and have book clubs and they are such a tight community that it's like you're sitting amongst friends.   Grab a book, buy a cup of coffee and hang out at the knook.

Lark & Owl Bookseller

205 W. 6th Street

Ste 101

Georgetown, TX 78626

https://larkandowlbooksellers.com/bistro/

 

Room Service

Was working out of town, and called for room service is a perk.

Selfishly, I overslept and needed breakfast quick and not knowing the area, room service was a quick fix. 

As room services goes, they do put all things in a very nice presentation, and your remote in tow.

Of course, I start out with my liquids.  Latte, OJ, and water.  

Got the American breakfast, and yes probably most expensive breakfast, but hey it's Room Service.  Eggs, Bacon, Fingerling Potatoes, toast with 3 kinds of jam, puck looking butter and all came up nice a hot.  

As you know, room service is 'extra', but as far as dining goes, this is snazzy.  They charge for the dish and also a delivery charge.  So, if you're price-alert, pay attention to the charge. 

Four Seasons Austin

98 San Jacinto Blvd

Austin, TX 78701

https://www.fourseasons.com/austin/dining/in-room_dining/in-room_dining/

 

Salty

Got thirsty while walking ton SoCo - saw the little shop.

Didn't realized this is a chain, but it looked very busy from the outside and the lines was to the door.

Didn't realize the array of donuts, kolaches, and what not that they have to offer.  They all looked delicious. 

And a Star donut?  I've never seen one before.  Too bad I was too stuffed to try it.

I got the Strawberry Hibiscus tea.  It's truly hibiscus tea with strawberry syrup, but it's not too sweet because there's lemon in there to curb the taste.  Overall, pretty refreshing for a humid day.

Salty

2000 S. Congress

Austin, TX 78704

https://www.saltydonut.com/locations/south-congress

 

El Alma South

For a TexMex in Austin, this is what we found.

This location is on the South side at the Westgate mall location. 

We got the Blanco y Rojo Queso - I definitely wouldn't mind if we have more umph in the queso.

I got the Cantaloupe Aqua Fresca  - sadly, not a lot of flavor in there.

This is the Tinga Chicken enchilada with Mole Verde sauce.  I was totally in love with the sauce though.  It made alot of the stuff taste 10X better.  

We splatted the Espresso Tres Leches cake - it has slices of mango in the middle, but the cake is too dry for a tres leches.  Also I think because they named themselves Espresso, I was expecting some coffee flavors but didn't find any. 

The Chocolate Creme Brûlée, however was a hit.  It has little chocolate on top and its flavor came thru super clean and nice.  It was one of the better ones there. 

The meal overall is super mix.  There are stuff that they have flavors for a TexMex is not there, but then they excel at some other dishes which was a surprise.  So this is a split for me.  As far as TexMex go, this is more water-down than most that I've had, but the place is popular.  So book a table ahead of time is worth your while.   Next time, we'll make sure we get the Barton Spring location, they have a bar on rooftop that looks over downtown.  

El Alma South

at Westgate Mall

4521 Westgate Blvd

Austin, TX 78745

512-351-8010

https://www.elalmacafe.com/

 

Midnight Cowboy

Been hearing about various speakeasies in Austin, and came upon this one.

Since one of the girls in our party has been here before, so we decided to come here.

To maintain the speakeasy-ness, you have to reserve ahead online.  Once your reservation is near, there will be instructions as to how to get in.   The place does not look like a bar like the others on Sixth Street, but once you get in, it is very much a bar.

We were seated in our booth, very interesting, it has a light for when you need your server, which match it's seedy backstory of the place.  

They have a long list of house specialty drinks, and they also have a list of zero proof. 

I got the Moontower, which match the red-light history here.  I've never had Slow Luck 'liquor' before, but  it has citrus and floral taste to it.  That mix well with the Blueberry, Lemon and sage.

Overall it's a great place for a drink, it has a fun history and an added layer of fun with the speakeasy aspect.

Do make a reservation ahead of time, they give you a 90 minute time-slot for your session.  They even make drinks in a cart table side.  I will say, sitting in a booth at the back has its disadvantage, you do feel like they've forgotten about you.  Our first round took 45 mins to get our drinks.  We didn't have enough time for round 2.   I do love the secretive aspect of the place.  

Midnight Cowboy

https://midnightcowboymodeling.com/

 

Choo Sando Omakase

I've been waiting for this for a loooooong time.

Finally made it here in person.  Last time was a quick grab and go back to work. 

This time, we properly ordered ahead of time.  And seeing how pretty this is, I was just ecstatic.  You are truly getting a present here.  Just love the meticulous details.

Cue the heavenly music, this is one heck of a beautiful box of Sando.  There are 9 kinds of Sandos here, and let me tell you, even with 5 people we could not finish it all.  What do we have here: in no particular order, Egg Salad, Salmon, Bulgogi Beef, Katsu (pork cutlet), Fried Chicken, KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), Lobster, Fried Shrimp, and Strawberry.

We have 5 people, of course the 2 Strawberry wasn't going to be enough, so we added mixed fruit Sando.  This is Strawberry- Mango mix.  Very delicious, they use house made Hokkaido Milk Bread, the whipped cream is also made in-house, definitely less sweet than your normal whipped cream. 

As the name said, they also do Omakase, I just ordered this mini Chirashi, it has Bluefin Tuna, Salmon, Mad, Yellowtail, scallop, sweet shrimp, roe and uni - all over a bed of rice.  Everything here is supremely fresh, and don't know how they do it, but they did it well. 

Also ordered the seared salmon, oh my gosh, it was torched on top and the flavors are all there, truly amazing dish. 

Then we impulse-buy a few things when we're in line.  Such as this, this is milk toast with Yuzu sauce.  We thought it would be like French Toast, but this was more like crunchy toast.  But never mind that, the Yuzu Sauce was amazing.   Definitely would love to have that on all breakfast from now on.

This is like a mini poke bowl if you would, you have this mix of sashimi, veggie, egg, and roe all over a bed of rice underneath.  Perfect for anybody's lunch.

This is fish liver, which no one touched but just as delicious.  Frankly don't ask me which kind of fish and what kind of liver.  It tasted good and that's all I needed to know, as the same for you.  It was soaked in house-made soy sauce too.  The soy sauce is not too heavy in texture and not too salty in taste, which brings out their sashimi that much more.   Giving an awesome experience.

Why not get a Yuzu Soda to match?!  They do have a few kinds of import sodas and tea for drinks . 

So here is what we learned.  First of all, an H Mart is about to be opened in the same shopping center, which means it will get extra popular and busy as people see this shop.  Good for them, but not for me, because it means longer lines and what not.  As it is, they are pretty much sold out on the days they are opened with people waiting in lines about 30 mins before open.  Now, there's a solve for it, and thanks to my friend who gave me this tip: that is, definitely order online a day or two ahead.  You don't skip the line, per se, but at least you can rest assure that you will get what you want.  That said, it's' still fun to stand in line and see what offerings they have and gawk at all the sandos and sushi boxes they made.  So much fun!

Choo Sando and Omakase

5222 Burnet Rd

#535

Austin, TX 78756

512-800-0119

https://www.chooatx.com/

 

Rocheli

Went to Austin and gone to tea...

This little place in the East Austin area. 

The shop ran by two sisters that brought French into the neighborhood.

It's a small little shop, and they set aside a side for us.  Super cute set up.

Cute little tea set in these cute little holders.

Top layer of dessert, it has Madeline, macarons, fruit tart, rose cake, and canales. 

Middle layer has Blueberry Scone (pretty good) with jam and butter.  And mini almond croissants.

We have Cucumber Sandwich, Swiss and Herb Sandwich,  

They have a nice selection of tea.

They have them imported from France, which totally adds to the experience.  

They have lots of macarons, and cakes.  They also have croissants and eclairs too. 

Tea is $75 and you have to pay in advance, and should also tip in advance.  They do provide very good service, as you can see they set it all up for us in advance.  Practically block off half the shop for our little party.  We can try like 2-3 kinds of tea during the set.  If that's not your jam, they also have coffee and latte's.  If you're parking, use the street parking.  They are off off a busy street, so pay attention and look around.  

Rocheli 

1212 Chicon Street

#102

Austin, TX 78702

512-220-4107

https://www.rocheli.com/

 

Taco Pegaso

Another food vendor in Fareground: 

Taco Pegaso is a Mexican street food fare.

I got Brisket Bowl - it's pico, lettuce, super tender brisket over a bed of Mexican rice.  The flavor is legit, it's nice and super tender.  I imagine fall off the bone nice.  

Again, super easy, you order online and you see them preparing for it, just start over and it's ready for pickup.  At Fareground, everything made easy when ordered online.  Definitely easy for the office worker. 

Taco Pegaso

111 Congress Ave

Austin, TX 78701

512-465-2107

https://www.faregroundaustin.com/taco-pegaso