Lunch: We went back to Texas Roadhouse for lunch because Tina and I both felt like a nice hearty salad for lunch and didn't know where else to go. Also, we had a $5 off coupon (which is one of the reasons why we went to Texas Roadhouse last night) that we forgot to use last night. I don't think we've even gone to the same place in two consecutive meals before. We went to a different Texas Roadhouse (this time in Southpark Meadows - the most southern part of Austin on I-35), and it also said it was owned by Willie Nelson. One day I'll get to the bottom of this - but not today.

I ordered the Chicken Critters Salad (Chicken Critters are fried chunks of chicken breast). The breading on the chicken was quite flavorful and went well with the salad. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lighting was really bad again - we had a red colored lamp hanging over our table as our main source of illumination.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: August 22, 2009 (Texas Roadhouse, Tapioca House, Coco's Cafe)

Lunch: I had a leg from a Central Market rotisserie chicken (Spicy Thai flavor) with sweet corn and sweet peppers.

Dinner: On our way to a movie, Tina and I decide to try the Texas Roadhouse in San Marcos, Texas. Texas Roadhouse is a multistate chain of bar and grills whose spokesperson is Willie Nelson. This particular one had a sign out front letting you know who owned it and who was the chef and managers. It said Willie Nelson was the owner. Now, I don't know if that's part of the spokesperson contract or he actually owned this one - I've never been to a Texas Roadhouse before. Since many of Willie Nelson's documents and archives are stored at Texas State University in San Marcos (much of it donated by Willie Nelson), it's possible that he has some ties to the town and perhaps actually owns this Texas Roadhouse. I dunno.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: August 21, 2009 (Texas Roadhouse)

Lunch: Left over pizza with caesar salad

Dinner: I boiled some creste di galli pasta from Maestri Pastai and blended it my jarred meat sauce. I served it with diced calabaza squash sauteed with prosciutto and heatless jalapeno chiles.

Two good meals today - both restaurants we'd visit again. Unfortunately, neither meal photographed well - aluminum foil, paper wrappers, and messy foods.

Lunch: We tried Maria's Taco X-Press (2529 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 444-0261‎) for lunch.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: August 19, 2009 (Maria's Taco X-Press, Elevation Burger)

Dinner: Tina and I had been craving ramen since yesterday, so we went to try Banzai (3914 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 323-2151‎) which has ramen on their menu. Now, when I say ramen, I don't mean that dried stuff in a cup (instant noodles). I mean the yellow wheat flour noodles that are slightly firm, slightly chewy, and slightly alkaline that has been prepared in a rich flavorful broth (usually pork and chicken based). Ramen was one of those foods that I made sure I had when I went to Japan (once in Osaka, once in Kyoto, once in Tokyo, and once in Yamamoto) and also had fairly often while living in California (my favorites were the shoyu ramen at Ringerhut and the ultra-rich ramen at Ramen Hulu). As far as we could tell, there's no ramen-ya in Austin, so we started looking around for Japanese restaurants that had ramen on their menu. So far, we've only found Banzai, but Peter Tsai has informed me that his friends recommend Kyoto which we'll have to try in the future.

Banzai is counter service - you order at the counter, pay, then take a seat and food is brought to you. I started the meal with an order of seaweed salad ($5).

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: August 18, 2009 (Banzai)

Lunch: Leftover Papa Murphy's pizza heated in a countertop convection oven until the crust was crispy again. (Just noticed there's no sales tax on a Papa Murphy's pizza - I think it's because they don't cook it for you.)

Dinner: We wanted ramen, but couldn't find a place in Austin for it. Ended up heating up the noodles from last night's Chinese food and augmented with some roast chicken and kale. Tina had the remaining manicotti.

Lunch: Tina and I headed to a Steak 'n Shake because Marc Summers said it was the best thing he ever ate between two slices of bread. I got a Double Steakburger with fries and enjoyed it. For a thin patty burger, this is my favorite since coming to Texas. It was somewhat similar to In-N-Out (as opposed to the Whataburgers and Sonic burgers). Next time, I'll have to see if I can make some special sauce and slather it on.

Tina had three shooters which were poorly constructed but very tasty. The Chipotle sauce was our favorite.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: August 16, 2009 (Steak 'n Shake, Hays City Donuts)

Lunch: I made a couple of Turkey and Swiss sandwiches (with kale sandwiched in the middle)

Dinner: While coming back from visiting our home site, I swung by Papa Murphy's and picked up a family sized half Papa's Favorite Pizza (pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, fresh mushrooms, mixed onions, green peppers and black olives) and half Gourmet Chicken Garlic Pizza (grilled chicken, roma tomatoes, green onions and herb & cheese blend), baked it, and enjoyed it while watching this week's America's Got Talent with Tina. (Strangely, I watch the results show first to take the suspense out of it and then watch the performances knowing if they did well or not.)

Lunch: A couple of Coyote Creek Farms pastured chicken eggs cooked over easy and served atop wilted arugula.

Dinner: Chinese stewed beef with bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms with white rice and sauteed kale.

Dinner: I cooked a ribeye steak and served it with mustard greens and homemade tortilla chips.

Lunch: Leftover pasta