On our first morning in Austin we headed to the Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse for breakfast.
I started my day with that classic breakfast favourite, root beer! What? It'd been almost 4 months since my last fix!
Food wise Nick went for the Predictable Breakfast which consists of tofu scramble, a potato hash cake and sourdough toast.
I went for The Renedict, a grilled ciabatta served with tofu scramble, baby spinach, local tomatoes, tofu bacon & a homemade vegan hollandaise.
I also payed the extra $1 for a side of fruit.
I loved The Renedict, the tofu bacon was a little on the hot side (Hi! Spice wuss here!) but the fresh tomatoes, spinach and cheesy sauce were perfect. They really have their scramble spot on here too, it was just how I like it, no unnecessary veggies and loads of nooch - yum! I also loved that you got to choose what was in your side of fruit, I hate melon & am allergic to pineapple so I'm a little fussy when it comes to my fruit! I also had a taste of Nick's breakfast and I have to say that the potato hash was delicious, we both loved that it came with sourdough toast too because that's our favourite.
We loved both the food and the atmosphere at Bouldin Creek. Everyone working there was super friendly and we're actually about to go there for breakfast again right now!
We're having the best time in Austin & it's quickly grabbed the top spot for favourite city in my minds. Aside from eating (more on that tomorrow!) we've been swimming at Barton Creek...
...watched a movie or two... (Seriously American movie theatres are SO MUCH cooler than ours and we even went to a drive in)...
...and we spent the day at Hamilton Pool...
...which is the perfect place to cool down on a warm day, and by warm I'm talking 33 degrees C. Texas in late September is hotter than our hottest summer day in England!
MOFO!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYum! That tofu benedict looks fantastic!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your Mofo posts. Enjoy the rest of your holiday x
ReplyDeleteI love the "caffeine dealer" sign! I'm glad you guys are having fun in Austin! What movies did you see?
ReplyDeleteWe <3 Austin and that sign is rad. We saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Paranorman & Hotel Transylvania. We also rented Moonrise Kingdom and watched it in bed with pizza!
DeleteI love Maine Root soda! If you ever get a chance, definitely try the blueberry. Also, the tofu scramble looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI didn't spot the blueberry but I'll look out for it next time, thanks for the tip!
DeleteHuzzah Austin and huzzah root beer.
ReplyDeleteI already wanted to go to Austin and you're making the need even more desperate! I need a second, post-Vida Vegan America trip next year!
ReplyDeleteOh man, so much yum in that Renedict! Seriously. I love your love of Root Beer; It's my fave too! I've only been to Austin once and I didn't really get to properly explore food options. Major sadface. Must go back soon!
ReplyDeleteYou must!
DeleteYum, the Renedict breakfast looks so good especially with the tofu bacon on top! I love swimming in beautiful spots like the Hamilton pool, it looks so peaceful and inviting.
ReplyDeleteThe Renedict breakfast looks really good. I am so happy with a good Root Beer and that one looks good. Love the swimming locations. And a movie at a drive in I miss those. Sounds like you are having a great time in Austin.
ReplyDeleteWow! I would pay quite a bit of money for a Renedict.
ReplyDeleteWow, so cool that you're in Austin right now! I just moved here two months ago, for grad school. I'm really loving it so far, it's just a little sad that all the cool vegan places are quite far away from the place I live. I don't have a car and the public transport here just sucks... I only made it to Bouldin Creek once, so far. I was a little bit sad when I heard that they just ran out of the Renedict for the day. The Portobello Sandwich was delicious though, and my friend, who didn't know if she ever ate sth vegan before (imagine that!) loved her tacos with tofu scramble, too.
ReplyDeleteI really hope you have a great time here and get to post more about Austin :-D
Helen
I can imagine Austin without a car would be challenging, I don't drive but thankfully Nick does! You should definitely try to head out to Bouldin Creek again, I tried their Garden Breakfast on our last day & loved it even more than this one.
DeleteAustin has the best food! I dare say it even beats out Portland! Have fun in Texas, Jojo!
ReplyDeletexo
kittee
You're in the USA!! You lucky thing (I wish we could fast forward to VVC next year!)
ReplyDeleteYour brekkies both look good to me :)
I can't wait for VVC! It's gonna be so rad!
DeleteDon't forget to have a popcorn tofu po' boy from wheatsville co-op! Enjoy Austin!
ReplyDeleteI did. It was AMAZING!
DeleteI'm glad to read you are in Austin -- it's my hometown, having lived there
ReplyDeletea total of about 18 years since 1986 when i went there to
University. Ironically (but not really coincidentally) the Missus and i
have lived in Brighton since March of this year, and your blog came up
when i searched for "vegan brighton" and we';ve been benefitting from your
advice since then. (That reminds me, i think tonight i'll need a vegan
Vesuvius with extra chillies from Pizzaface).
Allow me to return the favour and give you a few recommendations. (I suspect these are all in happycow, but hopefully some additional testimonials will be helpful.)
Counterculture
Eat everything on the menu you possibly can during your stay. The proprietress Sue is an incredible chef. If you speak with her, please tell her johan said "hi."
A bit more West on Cesar Chavez is Mr Natural -- 100% veggie, many things vegan. I really miss the milanesa. They also have a restaurant on S. Lamar
Schmaltz
Just opened -- i was just n Austin for the last 3 weeks of September, and one of my (bviously awesome) vegan friends introduced me to the vegan reuben sandwich. It's incredible.
Wheatsville Co-op - The Popcorn tofu po-boy is really, really good. Definitely with the cashew tamari dressing. The "Southern Fried Tofu" is also pretty damn good, as is the vegan queso. Lots of weird sodas there for you to try as well.
If you get a craving for good Indian food, Swad (all veggie, but not all vegan) is the best IMO, but it's a bit of trek up north.
Mother's Cafe
Probably the oldest surviving veggie restaurant in Austin. For a long
time, all i would get was the BBQ tofu. I've since re-focused on the tofu
enchiladas (with chipotle sauce, which can be a little spicy if you are
not accustomed). The cashew tamari salad dressing is excellent. Brunch
on Saturdays and Sundays is really good -- i'm a big fan of the tofu
breakfast tacos and the vegan pancakes. Don't miss the vegan desserts --
belgian chocolate cake and the almond torte are my favs. After dinner you
can adjourn across the street to Dolce Vita for cocktails. The
neighbourhood mostly to the West is Hyde Park, which is and older area of
Austin (meaning it's slightly younger that Muesli Mountain :), and is
pleasant to walk around.
On the other end of 43rd street from Duval is the Parlor, a family owned
pizza-beer place that sometimes has vegan toppings. (Call to be
sure... the toppings are homemade and can run out.)
If you are craving Thai, the best place i know of is Titaya's on N. Lamar.
Be careful of the spice, when they say hot they really mean it. I love
spicy food, but would not recommend the hottest they will make stuff.
Epoch (coffee shop) on North Loop is walking distance Southeast of
Titaya's and a nice place for a cup of joe (or double espresso... or
beeer) afterwards.
Casa del Luz is a really good vegan macrobiotic place.
Aster's Ethiopian is pretty good, and their vegetarian menu is (according
to the waiter when i was there about 10 days ago) 100% vegan. It's next to
IH 35 at Dean Keaton.
About 1/2 a km East of Aster's on Dean Keaton is Vivo's, which is not
vegetarian, but has a couple of really good dishes -- the tofu puffy
taco's are yummy.
There are a lot of other places, of course.
Be careful at non-veggie Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants. Many traditional
recipes use lard and chicken stock, so it's always important to ask about
even seemingly innocuous things like beans and rice, as they might have
the former or latter.
sorry this is so long, but just a bit more i've typed in on the train to London and i'm not willing to sacrifice to the 4096-char max:
ReplyDeleteFor pubs, i'd recommend the Draughthouse just a few blocks west of
N. Lamar, about 43rd St. Tell 'em i sent you. :) Most US microbrews are
vegan (not fined with isinglass), but as in the UK, the cask ales are fined with it, so
not vegan.
I'd also recommend Black Star co-op brew pub. The garlicy chips are
about all that's vegan here. Right next to a stop on Austin's new train line.
Other stuff: Mt Bonnell has an amazing view.
Lots of funky shops along South Congress, and another cluster up on
North Loop. (as well as a new veggie cart i have not tried.)
For shows, best thing to do is pickup the local Austin Chronicle and take
a look through for shows to see.
The Alamo Drafthouse is my fav. place in the whole world to see movies.
Lots of good beer to chose from, and and they will make any of the salads
with Tofu instead of chicken. (I like the Asian salad with tofu.)
I really hope you enjoy your stay in Austin!
Wow Johan, awesome advice! We loved the Amamo Drafthouse, The Parlor and Wheatsville. Unfortunately this was posted on our second last day so we didn't get the chance to try out any of your recommendations, we'll be putting them on the list for next time though. Thank you!
DeleteYep, sorry i didn't get the info to you sooner -- a few weeks ago i tried sending mail to the address in your profile, but it probably got eaten by spam filters or something!
DeleteI used to think that root beer tasted like toothpaste, but then I saw the root beery light.
ReplyDeleteI would have had a hard time choosing between your and Nick's breakfasts, they both look kick-ass to me. High five on the side of fruit, w00t!
Oh yum! Your breakfast looked amazing, I definitely would have picked that too.
ReplyDeleteRoot beer is dirty and not in a good way!
ReplyDeleteThat brekkie looks rad though.
Shut it Sal!! Root beer FTW!
DeleteI think you are the queen of MoFo because you're blogging from on the road.
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks! Luckily the hotel had decent wi-fi!
DeleteI'm so happy that you did so many of my favorite things!! Bouldin, then Barton Springs, then the Alamo is like ideal day and you got to do all of it while you were here! Yay!
ReplyDeleteWe LOVED The Alamo and we re-visited both Bouldin and Barton Springs on our last day, so perfect! I can't wait to come back & do it all over again.
DeleteExcuse me for my impertinence but I am new to your blog. It seems to me that you are constanly travelling here there and everywhere but there never seems to be a context. You never explain the background, how or why you are where you are. Are you travelling for a job, or are you just independently rich and can afford to indulge yourself in a hendonistic lifestyle?
ReplyDelete