Max's Wine Dive

Dive is correct, as in downward dive.  I have been here twice, and how does that saying go? “Fool me once....”  After hearing so many raves about Max’s I went.  I felt it was my duty as a fried chicken lover.  The fried chicken was just okay.  Nothing to blow my sox’s off.  Crust had a nice flavor to it, it taste’s like they add cayenne pepper to give it that “hmmm, what is that?” mystery.  The texture is nice and crunchy, however past that there is nothing.  The chicken isn’t wonderful, moist or flavorful.  It’s just very “ho-hum”.  There just wasn’t anything spectacular about the plate.  My partner had the pasta primavera, and it tasted like something I could make at home (ME, not my chef boyfriend....me).  We went in the middle of the day and there was probably only six other tables, so there was no crowd to blame it on.  The service was great, he was very attentive and I truly loved the atmosphere on this quiet afternoon.

So...months later there is a Groupon for it.  I decide to purchase it because there was no way I was going to pay full price for mediocre food again.  I decide after all the hoopla about this place to give it another shot, I mean there has to be a reason this place is getting such good marks.....right?  So I make a reservation for Friday at 7:45.  The place couldn’t be more packed!  The good thing is we check in five minutes early and we were seated at 7:50.  It was wonderful not to wait, however a short time later they have to put a very large party right next to us and there is no room.  The management was literally putting ten people where only six fit.  As a consequence every time the waiter went to their table I feared he would sit in our food, or knock my wine over, and I am certain my dining partner didn’t like another man’s ass in his face!  

We start to order small plates and sadly I am disappointed again.  I had the ‘Nacho Mama’s Oysters’.  It was fried Gulf Coast oysters with garlic aioli on crispy wonton “chips,” habanero salsa and cilantro.  The heat was so overpowering, it was almost inedible.  There was beautiful micro-basil on top of the chips, but you couldn’t appreciate anything due to the heat.  I have had habanero salsa before when it’s balanced and proportioned correctly, and this was anything but.  Then we had the ‘Pan Borracho’ torn sourdough baguette, prosciutto and fresh thyme, soaked in a white wine custard, baked with Gruyère, mozzarella, provolone and Grana Padano cheeses.  The prosciutto tasted like cut ham, which is what you get with a low quality prosciutto.  Other then that, the dish was at least edible, but again, nothing to blow your socks off. 

Lastly, we had the ‘killer calamari’ calamari with Texas jalapeño and cilantro tartar sauce, other then the calamari being too soft it was good.  We finished with dessert being the best part of the meal, a half chocolate brownie a la mode and a banana’s foster bread pudding with cinnamon ice cream.  The brownie fell into an assembly line of other brownies, nothing special.  The banana’s foster was very good.  Well flavored and the cinnamon ice cream from Amy’s (local company by the way=major points for Max’s for going local) was a great compliment.  So, quick  synopsis, food overall is just ok.  It  is overpriced for what you get.  We did have wine with our dinner.  Great wine list with quality exceptional red wines.  I would definitely never go back to eat, however I would go back to have a great glass of wine.  

Brunch@Tost

Brunch!  Brunch!  Brunch!  If you don’t love brunch, then you just haven’t been to the right spot yet.  If you have, then you are critical and passionate about a good brunch!  Today was my second time at Tost.  It is located off of Blanco Road, a few blocks from 1604.  

I apologize in advance for no pictures in this post, however I was already inebriated, so distractedness took over when the food came.  The first time it was great service and atmosphere, with okay food.  I had the lobster BLT, which is no longer on the menu, but it seems like it has the potential to be great.  I totally think they should revamp it with some great bread, perhaps a béchamel sauce, and bring it back.  

Second time back, and it made up for the food the first time...and then some.  Again, great service.  My dirty plates were taken quickly from the table every time, glass was never empty and my carafe of mimosa was always filled!  Tost has bottomless mimosa’s for Sunday brunch, priced at $13.  They are a steal!  I saw them being made while passing the bar and all I can say is they are VERY generous with the champagne!  I also like that they leave the carafe at your table for you to fill at your leisure versus having to bring you a single mimosa every time.  That involves waiting, which I am not a fan of.  

I ordered the waffles with fried quail and Tabasco sauce infused syrup.  It was their play on chicken and waffles.  The quail was fried expertly and not gamey tasting at all.  Crisp skin and tasty, well seasoned meat.  I loved that the back drop had a hint of Tabasco sauce because it reminded me of the dinner table when I was young, when my father put Tabasco sauce on everything and the smell would inhabit my nose.  It was not overpowering, but very subtle.  

My company finished their plates and said the potatoes served with the egg’s benedict were very good!  I loved the laid back atmosphere.  Nobody felt hurried in a “turn and burn” sort of way, and they had smooth jazz music playing in the background.  This is a great spot to go for brunch, I only wish I had enough space to fit the “lavender pot de creme”, that is next on my list to try at Tost.  

BJ's Brewhouse

This is a place that I am constantly recommending to people, and usually those people end up being returning guests.  BJ’s  never disappoints, from the environment, to the service, and of course to food.   It’s what I call a people pleaser.  Their menu is constantly updating, keeping up with the food trends, but old favorites are kept, like their deep dish pizza.  If you like doughy, buttery crust pizza with great toppings, then this is your place. 

 Another great thing is not only do they have a full bar, but they brew their own beers in house too.  I am not a beer drinker myself, but they have a great variety of light to dark beer’s sure to satisfy any beer drinker.  

On this particular visit I had the stuffed mushrooms, they were not rock my socks off good, but they still had good flavor, and presentation.  They are stuffed with their spinach and artichoke dip, and topped with parmesan cheese.  I can say, anytime garlic meets mushroom in my mouth, its a sure love connection.  

My visit was mostly small bite’s and drinks.  Happy hour is during the week from 4-6.  Service was prompt and friendly, even with our initial indecisiveness on where to sit.  Once we heard the happy hour though, our decision to occupy the bar wasn’t hard.  My second small bite ordered was the Ahi Tuna, at $3.95, I felt was a steal.  The tuna was super pink, and tasted really fresh.  The seasoning on it reminding me of pork tenderloin, so to someone who isn’t familiar with Ahi Tuna who was in a blind taste test, they might think they were eating pork.  However paired with the asian slaw and soy ginger sauce, a classic combo, you can tell you are eating sashimi grade tuna.  Yummy for the price!  It had a good amount of sweetness in every bite.  

My dining partner and I split the fish tacos.  I was a little apprehensive since she suggested it, and I hadn’t heard anything about it, but what the hell?  All in the name of research, right?  I was definitely not regretting it later.  Two panko breaded fish tacos arrived with chips and cilantro avocado cream sauce, and another fire roasted salsa.  The fish is excellently breaded.  In fact, I have rarely met anything panko breaded that I didn’t like.  It’s topped with a slaw that taste’s like its tossed in a chipolte sauce.  The heat is forgiving for the weakest of all, and paired with a chip dipped in the avocado cilantro cream sauce after, it cools your taste buds well.  The only thing I would change about the dish is the tortillas.  Obviously we know its not made on your grandma’s comal.  However it tasted like it was a cross between flour and corn? Not your best pairing. Lucky for the tortilla, the inside was so good, it over powered the not so great tortilla.  I would change the tortilla from an in between, to a full fledged corn tortilla.   I think it would nicely round the dish out.  I may consider bringing my own next time!  All in all, everything was great.  The all begging question....”would you go back?”  Yes, a thousand times yes.  The service, the environment, the food, all within the 8-10 markings.  See you again BJ’s!

Tamale's, Tamale's, Tamale's!

It come’s but once a year, scent’s of cinnamon, and pine fill the air, christmas carol’s play in the background, and without fail come’s a craving for tamale’s.  I have to say that is one of the FEW thing’s I miss about corporate america....the holiday potluck’s with dozen’s of tamale’s!  In my absence my fix goes, well unfixed.  Today I find myself on a mission, to find the best tamale’s in San Antonio.  

I received over ten suggestion’s.  While I couldn’t try all ten (although I intend to) I did try three.  

My first stop was Molino Luz Verde on Potranco and 1604 (I think it’s renamed Lina’s).  I checked the review’s first, and saw it had four and a half star’s!  Although none of the review’s were on tamale’s, my tip said they were great there.  I have to wonder if they were having an off day because I have eaten dinner at her place twice, both great dinner’s, and the food she has recommended has always been good.  Well this place had the blandest one’s.  The tamale’s were so light, I almost thought they were just corn tamale’s.  The masa was also super moist, and sticky, too wet.  They were the biggest one’s though, they had that going for them.  They weighed in at 2.8 oz each!  It came out to $3.50 for half a dozen.

Second stop was Delicious Tamale’s.  I liked here because of the variety of tamale’s, and you can order tamale’s ala carte for $.90 each.  This one flavor wise I felt was the best.  I really liked the masa, it was a very dark orange color, and it had a little spice to it  so that you got a kick in flavor.  The only thing is that they were very small!  It weighed in at 1.8 oz each.  Lame.

My last stop was Adelita’s on Fresno.  This one is probably the best for your buck.  The masa was the good dark orange.  They only had pork, but I felt like I got more for my money because this one had pretty good flavor, and weighed in at 2.3 oz each.  

I am still in search of a great tamale because I could have gone down the street to 

H-E-B, saved myself the time, and still have gotten a similar product.  I did get some great suggestion’s that are on my list to try next, so stay tuned!

Restaurant Week-RoMo's Cafe

Restaurant week is upon us, and there is no better opportunity to try premiere restaurants at an almost fast food price.  My first stop for restaurant week is RoMo’s.  I can’t say enough good things about this particular visit, from the attentive service to the remarkable food.  The pre-set lunch is three courses for $15.  For dinner you also get three courses, however you also get a glass of wine for $35.  

I started with the signature kale soup.  It’s a great fall soup that has turnips, carrots, rutabaga and of course kale. If you are a greens lover, then you will swear by this soup.  I loved the little surprise of pieces of pork in the soup. 

My friend had the Caesar salad, it comes as a large wedge and the dressing is made in-house.  It’s not a normal, run of the mill dressing...it has a dijon mustard after taste.  Nothing too harsh, just enough tingle on your taste buds.  

Our main courses were heaven on a plate.  My course was like comfort food meets fashion for a rendezvous.  The presentation was done well, but when you took a bite, you were at a great Thanksgiving meal.  I ordered the pan seared pork belly with rutabaga mashed potatoes and asparagus topped on a rich pan gravy.  The pork belly is obviously the star of the show.  It’s seared once to get the nice crisp top, then roasted, then seared again before serving.  The gravy made from the drippings makes me loose my mind its so good!  My friend ordered the braised short ribs with rosemary creamers and sauteed swiss chard. After trying both dishes I have to say, this restaurant certainly knows their meat and potatoes! I could not stop stealing her rosemary creamers! They were slightly crispy on the outside with wonderful flavor and soft and creamy on the inside. The ribs were cooked in a merlot wine reduction, and they were so tender you could pull the meat off with just your fork.

Lastly we finished with our desserts.  My partner ordered the pastel impossible after I insisted.  It did not disappoint.  I had this dessert the first time I came, and I was hooked.  The flan is rich and velvety and it is baked on top of the most moist date cake.  I had the chocolate cake.  Rich layers of chocolate on chocolate.  The cake was pretty dense, and I found that towards the end of the day and warmed up it tasted better then the first bite at my table.  

The all begging question, “Would you go back?”.  Each time I return is better then the first, the service was impeccable, and the food was so good that at some bite’s I needed a moment to savor.  This is a must go for restaurant week.   

RoMo's Cafe

7627 Culebra Rd
San Antonio, TX 78251

Chicken Slider Soup

This place almost didn’t make my list, on the count that the owner is a Yankee....but after I saw that they were converted Texan’s AND the menu, I knew I had to try this place.  The place is small, but vibrant.  Hung around the restaurant is San Antonio memorabilia photo’s, and there are touches of red throughout the restaurant.  One of the most unique things I found about the environment was the large screen in the back corner of the restaurant.  On a constant stream is video of the food being prepared in the kitchen.  We were greeted immediately, however the service was a little slow.  It took at least five minutes for us to get our drinks, and an additional five minutes for her to get our appetizer order from when dropping off the drinks.  The service was slow during the entire meal, but friendly.  Perhaps they just need to learn how to time the meal a bit better, or perhaps that’s what they were trying to accomplish. The food was so good that I want to give the service the benefit of the doubt.  Another thing that stood out from the get go was that they have the cucumber infused “spa water”.  I usually don’t see this outside of hotel’s and spa’s.  I liked it because cucumber’s are so fresh that I think this water is an excellent palate cleanser.  For an appetizer we choose the Duckodent Fries.  The menu describes it as “Hand cut fried in luscious rendering of duck.”  This is where my lack of knowledge hinders me.  I honestly thought that the fries would have like a gravy on the bottom from perhaps pan drippings of duck confit...but my oh so gracious dining partner explained to me that it’s just fries that are fried in duck fat.  He had to explain to me after because the fries looked, and tasted like normal fries.  An excellent fry with a crisp outside and soft potatoe inside, but a normal fry, no less.  Joseph explained that the fat was probably a very clean fat, I made a mental note to save the $2 and get the regular fries next time.  I ordered the half a sandwich and soup.  I am a HUGE soup lover, and when I saw that the soup was made fresh, daily I had to give it a try.  I choose a Philly as my sandwich.  This plate was slap your momma good.  The Philly meat is hand-cut ribeye steak w/ provolone and sweet onions on a hoagie roll.  The meat was so tender and juicy, and I loved that the caramelized onions still had a bit of a bite to them!  The soup was called Chicken Slider Soup.  It was one of the best chicken soups I have ever had.  Right off the back, you can tell it is a homemade stock packed with extremely fresh vegetables cooked to perfection.  The chicken was so soft and flavorful, and the “slider” is a flattened rectangle pasta, made from scratch!  When it came time for Joseph and me to switch...I didn’t want to share.  He ordered the Roast Beef Au Jus.  The meat is great and seasoned well, however I didn’t really care for the bun it came on because half way through the sandwich it wants to fall apart to mush on you due to the meat being soaked on the au jus.  I know that’s the price you pay for that type of sandwich, but I like my bread to hold up well.  For dessert we had Pastel Imposible.  My first reaction....Mmmmmmm.  It was one of those, “hold everything” moments.  This has got to be one of the best non chocolate desserts I have ever had (other then my peach dessert).  It’s a date cake topped with vanilla flan, with salted toffee and creme on glaze on the bottom.  It’s sinful, the nutty flavor from the date’s marries the creamy vanilla custard so well, you don’t want this harmony to end.  So, the question....”Would you go back?”.  YES!  All of the sandwiches sound so good, it was hard to pick the Philly, and I can’t wait to try another one of their soup creations!  

Duckodent Fries

    

Roast Beef Au Jus

Foodies Diary-Chayitos

6565 Babcock Rd.
San Antonio, TX

In a city filled with Mexican restaurants around every corner, it’s hard for one to stand out.  This place is one of my favorite’s to go for a quick, cheap bite.  The price’s are what they should be.  I have to be honest, paying over $10 for enchilada’s, rice and beans is outrageous, I mean I know how much it cost’s to make rice and beans! They have good lunch specials, usually under six bucks, AND THAT’S WITH A DRINK.  The service is always fast, and friendly too!  On this particular night I walked in about thirty minuets before closing, Joseph felt under the weather and was in need of some good caldo.  On a side note, everything I have had here is good, and it all taste’s like it’s made from my grandma’s kitchen.  To start we ordered Queso Flameado.  What was unique about this one is that they not only have the chorizo and onion’s on top, but also add green bell pepper.  Unlike Joseph, I have a love of green bell pepper because it reminds me of my father’s cooking.  They didn’t flame it, but I thought it was very tasty with the homemade tortillas.  Our server was very nice and timed our meal very well.  We both ordered the tortilla soup that came out as we were more then halfway through the appetizer.  This tortilla soup is something special, and especially when we are under the weather, this soup is the “go-to” meal.  To start with, the broth is made in house, and it’s very clean.  When making tortilla soup, homemade broth take’s extra effort to constantly skim the fat to produce such a clean, aesthetically pleasing finish.  It’s a very large bowl, for just $4.99 you get your money’s worth.  The chicken is very tender, and all the vegetables are fresh and soft.  Our server, Miguel was very attentive to our needs, even though it was near closing time.  I have said before, service is a very large part of the over-all dining experience.  It’s very important for a server to be polite, but also to know how to time your meal and to be attentive to your needs.  It’s easy for service to slip as the closing hour near’s, however the service was so good, you would have thought that we were his first table of the day.  Now...the question.  Would I go back?  This place is near my home and I have frequented this place many times, not only will I be back...but I would recommend it highly to others.