I Ate My Way Thru Austin

I finally had time to take a short weekend vacay!    
Where to: AUSTIN! 
Hungry Venturers: yours truly, Twin Sista, Erin, Erin's bf, Twin Sista's bf
Plan: eat at as many fun places as possible in two days (food trucks, tacos, Texas bbq)  

November is of course a month to eat like crazy.  I've definitely got a head start on my Thanksgiving food baby this past weekend.  Twin Sista and Erin basically planned out our meals for the entire weekend and I happily just went wherever to eat whatever. 

Most Interesting Entree: Chicken & Waffles.  I didn't actually order this, Erin had it at 24 Diner and it was my first encounter with this unusual pairing of food.   I wasn't sure if you ate them separately or if you only put syrup on the waffle part.  What I learned: doesn't matter how you eat it, it's pretty tasty.  24 Diner is not your typical diner.  It serves farm-to-table produce and home to Top Chef Texas contestant Andrew Curren (he actually didn't quite make the cut on the show).  

Longest Wait to Eat: 1.5 hours.  I only waited an hour in the line since I arrived late with Erin and Erin's bf (we slept in).  Twin Sista and her bf endured the long wait for lunch at Franklin Barbecue.  The long lines at Franklin aren't unusual since it is open 11am until they run out of food.  (By the time we left, which was two hours after opening, they were sold out!)  We ordered, for the five of us, 1lb each of brisket, pulled pork, and ribs along with some sausage, cole slaw, potato salad and beans.  Boy, this was some goooood bbq.  The ribs almost melted in your mouth and the other meats were super tasty (I think the fat on the meat really aided in the yumminess).  They had 3 bbq sauces at the table: vinegary, smoky and molasses-y.  The vinegary and smoky options were delicious while the molasses-based one was too bitter for me.  It looked like other customers weren't a fan of it either since it was the most filled bottle of bbq sauce at the table.  

Number of Food Trucks Visited: FIVE...and that was all in one night.  Dinner was at an Asian truck (mostly Korean flavors) called East Side King.  Twin Sista and Erin ordered their instant ramen noodles.  It had Shin Ramen noodles but in their homemade broth and pork belly and served in the original Shin Ramen styrofoam bowl (haha).  It gave a nice makeover to a familiar, cheap, in-home meal.  

East Side King Food Truck

Snacks were had at a Japanese Street Food Truck, Love Balls, that served Takoyaki, which are pancake balls filled with octopus, scallion, ginger topped with sauce and bonito flakes.  We also had fish and chips at a British Food Truck (I can't remember the name).  Love Balls and the British Food Truck were in an area called the East Side Drive-In, which houses a food truck park next door to a cute lil outdoor movie theater.  

East Side Drive-In located at E 6th & San Marcos, Austin

Late night bites were eaten at two trucks.  First we went to Gourdough's, a gourmet donut truck that makes enormous donuts topped with a plethora of topping options, which can even include fried chicken.  Erin and I shared a Black Out which was a donut topped with fudge, brownie chunks and chocolate chips.  It was AMAZING!  We ALMOST weren't able to have one because the truck initially ran out of dough.  But by some miracle, they got more dough and we stuffed our faces happily! Finally we ate a post bar hopping snack at Kebabalicious with some really delicious kebabs.   

located at 1219 S Lamar, Austin

Number of Taco Eaten: 4 but at 2 different Taquerias.  It was a battle for the best taco at Torchy's and Tacodeli.  I somehow managed to order one amazing taco and one not so special taco at each place.  So, there was no clear winner but Torchy's did have a unique soda flavor options and these were not Coke or Pepsi products.  I found love in their cream soda...mmm.  

my colorful tacos from Torchy's

Number of alcoholic beverages: I'm gonna remain quiet on this one mainly cause I don't wanna know the answer. I'll just say I didn't finish a lot of them.  It was more of a tasting.  I did have some unique cocktails.  The most "interesting" was basically a giant jar of sugary booze, Malibu Tea, which was a Long Island with Malibu and blue curacao.  I'm not saying it was good, it was just...interesting.  

Malibu Tea aka the Blue Monster

Number of Cupcakes: ONE! This was an unbelievably tasty cupcake too.  I knew about a cupcake truck in Austin called Hey Cupcake! from a friend that sent me a pic of their cute trailer.  Then Erin's bf found out their actual bakery was right by Torchy's so we made a trip there for post lunch cupcakes.  The bakery had a gift store in the front of Hey Cupcake! items and the bakery itself almost seemed like an afterthought.  I ordered a Pumpkinator (pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting and graham cracker crumblies) while Erin's bf ordered a Michael Jackson (chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting).  

located at: 5530 Burnet Road, Austin
also 4 cupcake trailers are located throughout Austin

This cupcake was super moist with a mild pumpkin flavoring and topped with not-too-sweet frosting.  You could almost still taste the sourness from the cream cheese but it was still incredible.  This might be my new favorite cupcakery!  Each cupcake is $3.  

All in all, vacay food journey was a success.  Can't wait for the next food journey at the Chung Thanksgiving Table!