Rudy’s BBQ

11570 Research Blvd., 78759.

Texas is known for BBQ, and Rudy’s BBQ is a well-known chain in Austin. Went there on a Saturday night, a good/bad meal choice (take your pick) right before a night out on town. I had some BBQ a few days early and was still craving it, so we went to Rudy’s.

For the table of 4, we ordered a lot of food. I would have eaten more, had I not been conscious on the fact that I still have to go out that night, calories are all just a figment of my imagination, and big protruding bellies look good on no one expect the preggies. We ordered 1.5 lbs of moist briskets, 1 slab baby back ribs, 2 links of jalapeño sausage, bread, cream corn, coleslaw, and mustard potato salad all nicely placed on our parchment paper dinnerware. Don’t forget to add condiments! I like to load up my BBQ with lots of onions and pickles.

The briskets were the right level of moistness, which means, a good distribution of fat. I like them fatty! But, it was too too salty. The whole outer crust was nothing but a sodium coating. The sausages were alright, but I had brisket in mind to care too much for that. The baby back ribs were decent, but again, too salty. Always love potato salad, the cream corn was something new for me, never ate it with BBQ before.

Rudy’s BBQ is average in Texas. I’ll eat here if I’m craving bbq, but if I want good bbq, I probably would go somewhere else. Another downside is that they don’t offer combo platters, you have to order everything separately… that sucks.

Texas Roadhouse

13345 FM 1960 Rd., 77065

So, like always I am behind… this should be dated 2/11/07. Anyhow, Texas Roadhouse (big chain) is much like the other Roadhouses with offerings of steak and bbq and country food, mmm. As you enter the restaurant you will know how Texan the place actually is by the placement of peanut shells all over the floor and a huge barrel of roasted peanuts greeting customers at the door and and decor of course. Yes, the peanuts were delish, I probably ate a whole bag full waiting for seats. It was a Sunday around noon, there were lots of families (probably off from Church), the wait was around 20mins.

One cool thing is that the hostess showing us to our seats carries a basket of soft rolls to the seat with us. It’s so convient, we can eat right when we sit down, and also, a small tin bucket of peanuts also awaits us at the table. The service here is quite like no other… it was awesome, the attention our server gave us was amazing… we must of had 4 baskets of rolls brought to us one after the other. The great part about the rolls is that they come with a sweet whipped butter, probably consisting of cinnamon and brown sugar, it was different and enjoyable.

Now… for my lunch I ordered the country fried sirlion steak (because I am still on the CFS obsession right now, trying to find the best in town) with sides of Texas house chili and steamed veggies (~$10). The chili was pretty good and hot on a cold day. The cfs was different because it was sirlion they used and not the usual cubed steak, I could tell the difference. The meat was thicker and better tasting. But, I don’t think their batter lives up to some others. It was just okay though, not crunchy, and very very oily. I had to use my napkin to dab off excess oil because I felt like it was swimming in it. The white gravy was very very thick and I prefer something in the middle. The steamed veggies, like the post before, was probably marinated in butter oil before steaming… tsk tsk.

My friends had ribs, ribs, and some steak. The ribs were pretty dang good, I think I would come here next time for the ribs. It has the usual thick red bbq sauce and fall of the bone pork meat…. kinda like Tony Romas (yum!). The steak was okay, cannot compare to TLC. Loaded baked potatoes are always welcoming…

All in all, the food was decent, but the service was way above par. I think if I was craving ribs, I would definitely go back, otherwise, maybe not so much.

Luling’s City Market

4726 Richmond Ave., 77027

I’ve been quite bad at taking pictures recently… my Cali friends came in town and we ate out lots, mostly Texan specialties… but I haven’t been up to par on the picture taking. That is partially due to me being a gluttonious pig, as soon as the food arrives I forget all about my camera, oh and completely neglect the store front photos too.

Luling, a city in Texas, is famous for their bbq. There is one located off of Richmond in Houston, so I decided to take my friends there for dinner. After the experience, I think bbq is best consumed at lunchtime, when the meat is hot and fresh. At 8pm, the meat just feels like it has been sitting out for a while. I ordered the brisket platter and it came with 1/4 lb brisket (or was it 1/2?), potato salad, and bbq beans. The brisket was inbetween lean and fatty, so a good consistency for me, but the edges were a little hard and dry though. I like potato salad and their salad was pretty decent… the one rave I got all night from my friend was in regards to the bbq sauce (not pictured). It was an orangy-yellow sauce, tangy and sweet, very different than the thick red bbq sauce most people are familiar with. I gotta say, it was quite different and the taste was pretty good. I think I would prefer it over the thick red sauce.

Overall, I bet it could be a lot better given the right time of day because even at night I could say the briskets were up to par, the only other thing to be aware of is the people who go there. It seems like its a specific type and if you don’t fit in, you get some stares… yeah. Also, bbq is expensive; briskets, 2 sides, 1 drink = $12.88.

Asiana Garden

1055 Gessner Dr., 77055

Hmmm… this is by far not even remotely recent… but since all my authors are taking it chill, I had to update on something.

Went to eat here with my family, and let me see what else I can remember… Korean food is not cheap. At least I think I am not Korean enough to know where the good deals are… Anyhow, the service here is not good either. Many a times we wanted refills on drinks or refills on the small dishes and the waitress did not bring it forth, that might actually have something to do with how she did not even speak a lick of English. I can withstand bad service as long as the food is good.

We had lots of bulgogi, dur. And the ribs, very tasty. But then again, I wouldn’t really be able to distinguish the excellent from the good… unless I had a side by side taste test. It tasted like all the other Korean restaurant bbq, but it wasn’t bad either. I should of ordered some tofu jiggae, just cause I absolutely adore that stuff. I think we had bimbibap too… like I said at the beginning of the post, it was a long time ago. So here are pictures:

Sorry for the lack of pictures, next time I will really try hard to document. On a side note, thats my mom’s hand doing all the cooking. I am perfectly able to cook for myself and I love to cook, but when she does it, its extra special awww… One day I will turn out just like her (yeah right).

Bottom line – I don’t recommend this establishment on the basis that you can find better service and cheaper deals down the street. Travel down Long Point above I10, thats Korea town.