What I Ate: October 19, 2009 (Natural Planet Grill)

Dinner: We tried another restaurant in Escarpment Village: Natural Planet Grill (5900 Slaughter Ln W, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 394-1111‎). At first we were not going to eat there because natural food tends to be bland and unappetizing, except I thought I was parking in front of a bistro/cafe but instead found myself in front of Natural Planet Grill. We thought we'd be adventurous and give it a try.

We ordered a Philly Cheesesteak and a Tuscan Pesto Pasta with Chicken. We ended up splitting the penne and taking the cheesesteak home. The penne which is "tossed with fresh baby spinach, sauteed onions, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini and [their] homemade creamy pistachio pesto sauce" was not bland at all! In fact it was quite good with vegetables cooked just enough to be cooked through but retaining some crispiness and texture and an incredibly tasty pesto sauce. We might have misjudged this restaurant by their name. We're glad to find that the restaurants in this shopping center nearest our new home are pretty decent so far.

Lunch: I ate leftover fried chicken, fried okra, and cole slaw from Gill's.