~~ The Steeping Room ~~

Today's foodie adventure took place at The Steeping Room @ the Domain. This place is incredibly cute and seemed somewhat out of place. It reminded me of a upscale, yet cozy little tea shop that should have been on South Congress. However, it's current location is ideal due to the steady flow of wealthier customers. They have an extensive tea list and a relatively decent menu. 

I went with my friend Kimee. This is good because that means there were two people, two different orders, and more info for me to share here. 

Kimee ordered a hot black Indian tea with a hint of chocolate in it. Putting my aversion to chocolate aside, this tea was surprisingly delicious. The tea flavor balanced out quite well with a semisweet chocolate aftertaste. She also order a roast beef sandwich with a cup of soup. My beverage of choice was the Berry Freeze. It was this nice fruit smoothie blended with tea. It really is a nice and refreshing concept especially on a hot and sunny summer day. I ended up ordering the classic BLT with a side of soup too. This wasn't just any BLT though. The bacon was so crisp and extra bacon-y. It was probably the best BLT I've ever eaten. The soup I keep referencing was a freshly made cream of mushroom soup. The best part is that they use fresh mushrooms and cream to make the soup. 

The food: Quite tasty. The sandwich portions are smaller than I hoped for. The cup of soup was average size but better than average flavor. However, the tea and smoothie definitely made up for it. Everything was delicious and delightful. 

The service: Neutral. Nothing special about their service. Sometimes the waitresses seemed remotely interested and other times they seemed completely disinterested. In the end, we were taken care of in a prompt and timely manner. Supposedly, that is what matters most. 

The price: Ouch! The prices are steep for a college student. This explains The Steeping Room's location. In the grand scheme of food and drink, the prices were definitely worth the quality of the meal. Everything we ate and drank was noticeably of a higher than usual quality. 

Thomas' ranking: 9.5 out of 10

If you're in the area and willing to splurge, go here for a pleasantly surprising experience. This would be a nice place to relax with a book and freshly brewed cup of tea. 

- Thomas :)

~~ Korean Grill ~~

While Hanna is off galavanting around the globe (going to Taiwan to be specific), I am holding down the fort in the big ATX. Today's foodie selection was...**drumroll please**... Korea Grill located in Chinatown off Lamar (near the MT Supermarket). This is actually my 4th visit to this establishment. This time was great though because I was joined by a few friends from Korean class-- Kimee, Gia, and Gia's friend Tim. It was kind of funny since the females both owed the two of us guys a meal. We ordered soondubu jjigae (silky tofu stew or 순두부 찌개), kimchi pancake (김치전), galbi (marinated beef short ribs or 갈비), and spicy pork bulgogi (불고기). We also received lots of banchan (반찬 or side dishes) -- that included kimchi (김치 - spicy fermented cabbage), gamja (감자 조림 or a cooked sweet soy potato), kongnamul (콩나물 or seasoned bean sprouts), dubu chorim (두부조림 or fried tofu), rice and many others that I can't remember the names to. 

Service: excellent! The owner was our waiter. He was incredibly nice and even helped my friend Gia with some Korean placement test questions. How awesome is that? He was giving us pointers on Korean dishes and what combinations of food were highly recommended while visiting the country. 

Taste-o-meter: It was pretty good and tasty. However, some of the "spicy" dishes could have been spicier. The pork bulgogi was kind of shredded unlike other kinds that I've previously eaten. The kimchi pancake was very tasty too. 

Overall ranking: 8.9 out of 10

The service was great. The atmosphere was light and comfortable. The place was clean and inviting. However, the food just wasn't as traditional tasting as I'd like it to be. Is that even possible in the middle of Texas though? I'll certainly be returning to this place.

**Hanna, I'm expecting foodie blogs from Taiwan!!**

- Thomas :)

the picnic post =]

So Chelsea, Thomas and I went on a picnic in Butler Park in Austin last Monday. I posted on my blog about it. Here's a recipe for those delicious Cinnamon Carmel Pears that I made:

<----they're at the bottom

Cinnamon Carmel Pear Tarts

*adapted from http://www.puffpastry.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=23986

Ingredients

1 package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Shells

5 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ground ginger

pinch of salt

3 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
2/3 cup caramel topping, warmed (optional)
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions

THAW pastry shells at room temperature 30 min. Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix sugar, cinnamon and ginger.

Cut circles out of the pastry sheets using a small bowl or glass on lightly floured surface. They should be about 4" to 5" circles. Place on 2 baking sheets. Divide oear slices among pastry circles, overlapping slices. Sprinkle each with 1 tbsp. sugar mixture. Make sure to put some between each layer. (2-3 layers of the fruit are ideal).

BAKE 25 min. or until pastry is golden and pears are tender. Drizzle caramel sauce over tarts. Serve with ice cream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

notes:

* I only had 1 sheet of puff pastry leftover from a previous baking project and was able to squeeze 11 small 2.5 in diameter tarts out of it.

* I also added a little slice of butter on the pastry dough before putting down the pears, but I don't think this step was necessary. It did make the tart come out more moist.

* I definitely put A LOT MORE than a tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar on each. To each his own though.

* I wish we could've done the ice cream with it!

* I always use parchment paper when baking now. It just makes cleanup so much simpler.

~toodles, and let me know how your efforts come out if you try the recipe!

Latke Time!

Although I have some restaurants to post about (I promise those posts soon!), I decided to take a short break and fry up some latkes. Latkes are these amazing little potato pancakes. The funny thing is that I should be writing a scholarship essay on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead... I decided to make some nice Jewish food. How convenient.

Want to know how to make them? Well, today is your lucky day.

You can make them from scratch (fresh potatoes, onions, etc...) or you can go to the international/ethnic aisle of your local grocery store to by a packaged mix. They'll probably be called potato pancake mix. I'm sure my grandmother probably would've looked down on the second option, but it is so much easier. 

Ingredients:

1 package of latke mix (vegetable kind is my favorite)

1 large egg

1 cup of water

3/4 cup of vegetable oil

1. Mix the egg well in a medium bowl. Add 1 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Then add latke mix. Stir until mixed well. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes.

2. Heat a thin layer of oil in a large pan (I prefer using a nice wok due to the high sides. It reduces any oil splatter.) Once the oil is heated, drop a tablespoon of latke mix in the it.
3. Depending on the size of your pan, only cook 4-5 latkes at a time. Cook until golden brown on each side.

4. Once they're done, gently place them onto a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess vegetable oil.

Now it is time to enjoy them! How should you eat them? You can use your fingers or a fork, I suppose. The key question is what condiment should be used. Some people prefer sweet and others prefer savory. Traditionally, people often eat latkes with applesauce. This does taste good, but I prefer using ketchup because it is nice balance of both savory and sweet. 

Now it is time to get back to my essay writing along with my thematic food. Yum!

- Thomas :)