Friday, June 17, 2011

Satay, Thai Passion, Bananarchy

So this is quite a trio, it made for a delicious weekend. 

Bananarchy

We had Bananarchy coupons that were about to expire so we went twice in a row.  It sucks to be forced to have dessert but it was pretty darn good so we won't complain.  OK so there is some complaining, but not much.  So first off the hype of this place wasn't quite met so it was a bit disappointing in that sense.  It is just a normal banana, covered in sugary chocolate and there is nothing above average from there.  We agreed that we prefer our frozen bananas to be a little more squishy on the inside but that is probably hard to keep up with in a trailer.  Also, we prefer simpler bananas and these were a bit over the top.  You couldn't even taste the banana because of the mound of chocolate it was covered in and because we had to spend $10 for our coupon we had to pile toppings on top of that.  Now for the good stuff, you get that really nice sugar buzz afterwards and no bad taste so they must use good quality ingredients.  The GOB is delicious, we added coffee to it and it counteracts that sugary chocolate perfectly.  They sort of messed up the order so we apparently got more toppings than most and man was it good.  The salty peanuts counteract the sweetness as well.  Then we had the custom order of oreos, peanuts, and coconut but they accidentally added cinnamon.  The cinnamon ruined it but we had already said it was OK so oh well.  If you are like us and don't like your sweets overly sweet, don't add anything sweet to your banana.  Then the Joe Banana with coconut instead of toffee since it's not vegan.  This banana was really good, the crunchy coffee with the cinnamon, yum.  You could not taste the coconut and there was a lot of chocolate.  Overall, they were fun to eat and in the future we would probably get the half and keep it simple for more enjoyment :)

Recommended
http://bananarchy.net/blog/

Thai Passion

Oops this is going backwards from the title but let's just say we're saving the best for last ;)  So we were in the mood for "chinese" food, which with our lack of experience in the Asian world means all Asian food so we dug through the groupons and picked Thai Passion.  Of course we are sauntering along through the 100 degree whether and got half way to 6th Street before Shannon checked the address and saw the coupon was only good at the South IH-35 location, grr.  So we sweat our way back home and get in the car because you can't stop us now.  We really have never legitimately eaten Thai food before, one time in Orlando we ate at Royal Thai and the flavors were so sour and gross we wrote it off.  Well Thai Passion rekindled the faith.  Hey-zues.  We started the meal off with rice balls and fried tofu, yum and yum.  For our entrees we got a bowl of Tom Yum and the Tofu Mus Mun curry, insert singing angels.  The Tom Yum was a little weird, the sour was literal sour but once we got used to it it was all good from there.  The Mus Mun curry was outstanding, everything we love from curry but not too thick and stuffed with the perfect vegetables.  We also got a thai tea with coconut milk and it was the best one we've ever had, even though it was only like number 3, trust us, very good.  Then it was dessert time and Miguel was apprehensive about ordering rice for dessert but he had no choice because Shannon ordered the sticky coconut rice with mango before he could object.  We were in heaven at this point.  Who would have thought that hot rice with fruit could be good?  Well it's more than good, this meal was just an overall taste sensation.  We will most definitely back, next time to the much closer downtown location but hey the Southern one was near a lot of shopping so that was fun.

RECOMMENDED!
http://www.thaipassion.com/?p=index

Satay

So you may be wondering how it could get better after that glowing review.  Well it just can so there.  Apparently Thai food is just out of this world and we've been missing out.  What really caused us to enjoy Satay so thoroughly was a combination of atmosphere, service and food pairings!  We were greeted inside by 2 very friendly looking women, one being the hostess.  We asked if we could sit outside and they said of course, they would prefer if we did since they have a garden out there.  So we sat down and our server came and she just about ruined the beginning for us.  She was not very knowledgeable, very insincere and seemed slow.  We were starving so we ordered the Miang Khum for an appetizer, it was extremely light, as in a few spinach leaves with some toppings, but it was really good.  We had just about decided on what to order when the owner, Foo, came out and offered her help.  We told her what we were thinking about and she steered us in the right direction, even suggesting added vegetables and an extra pepper, to really refine the taste.  Apparently, her and her family are all vegans so we felt safe ordering with her.  One of her specialties is her ability to pair food with wine so before she left we got a suggestion.  She suggested a pinot noir that was the best we've had on it's own, but paired with the food made magic.  Miguel ordered one of "Foo's Recommendations" the Laksa Noodle Soup which was amazing.  The perfect curry with vermicelli, tofu, veggies and soupy, definitely Miguel's favorite combination of food.  Shannon ordered the Bataan Delight with an extra chili to add heat.  It was delicious on it's own but the wine really ignited the flavor for this entree, it was really amazing.  Then we finished off the meal with some black, sticky coconut rice and it was really good.  They have more vegan desserts that we will try next time, including a black silk pie, yum.  We talked some more with Foo when she came out to ask how it was, she told us of her travels in Paris and through France and how her world was opened up when she learned what wine could do for food.  Well, we agree and we are glad it happened!  The best thing about Foo's role in all this is she really limited how much time we had to spend ordering from and talking to our server so that was nice and the hostess even came out to check that everything was great so we really felt welcome.  Overall, it was a perfect night and we eat here every night if restaurant.com didn't limit the use to once a month, ha!  Satay has been added to the list of the few restaurants in Austin we would go to daily if we were rich :)

RECOMMENDED!
http://www.satayusa.com/index.htm    

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