TC Shaved Ice

Strawberry "Shaved Ice."  The texture of the shaved ice was similar to a slushie-almost like an Icee.  It was great on a hot day, but nothing like shave ice from back home in Hawaii. 

TC Shaved Ice is a small little stand alone building in the middle of a small shopping complex. 

Mike and I also decided to share a cup of Elote. 

Elote-Corn with sour cream, mayonnaise, hot sauce, and queso fresco. It was pretty much fatty goodness with a sprinkling of corn. I did not eat very much of it because I'm pretty sure that my digestive system could not handle all that fat.  Mike, on the other hand, was on a quest to finish that whole cup.

TC Shaved Ice
1126 E Parker Rd
Plano, TX 75074
(972) 422-0449

Allen, TX~Torchy's Tacos

Last year when Mike was visiting a friend in Austin, TX they ate at Torchy's Tacos. Mike was raving about Torchy's and was excited when he found out that there was a location in Dallas and one that recently opened in Allen, TX (which is about a 10 minute drive from our house).

This is the "Democrat", which is filled with shredded barbacoa meat, avocado, cheese, and cilantro. At $3.75-5.00 a taco (slightly bigger than a street taco-but stuffed with filling).  The fillings are creative and the ingredients are fresh, but I just was not as excited about the tacos as Mike.

"Brushfire"-Jamaican Jerk Chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, sour cream, and cilantro.
I'd prefer to eat at Chipotle's because for the price, you receive fresh food and the burritos are so huge that I usually only eat half a burrito. While you probably have to eat at least 2 tacos at Torchy's to call it a "meal."  Mike and I agreed to disagree on our taco/burrito preference.

Mike loves this place.
Me, on the other hand, was not too impressed with my first visit. I had a rubbery under-cooked piece of chicken (I'm not sure how that happened, because most of the chicken was cooked) as well as some ground up hard pieces of bone in my barbacoa.  Definitely not good for baby.

Torchy's Tacos
1008 West McDermott Drive, Allen, TX

(214) 383-8226

In-N-Out

Back in May of this year, In-N-Out opened in Texas.  Mike and I finally checked out one of the restaurants in Allen, TX. We had been meaning to check out In-N-Out for a while, but every time we happend to drive past the In-N-Out the parking lot looked so crowded that we decided to put off our visit.
It's difficult to compare burgers from restaurants because you are relying on your memory of the burger. The last time I ate a burger from In-N-Out was in June 2011 when I was in Las Vegas. I did not eat a "fresh" burger because someone had picked it up and I ate it about 20 minutes after it was made. 

Man In-N-Out is one of the most efficient fast food places I have ever been to.  They quickly churn out order after order and the line keeps moving. The only way that they could improve their efficiency would be to install TV monitors with order numbers instead of having a worker shout out order numbers on the speaker.  I saw this at a Rosa's Cafe the other night and I think they might have the slight edge in speed over In-N-Out.

Mike ordered the "Animal Style" burger-includes extra sauce and toppings. I just had a plain cheeseburger (I rather eat a hamburger sans cheese, but I was saving us seats and Mike ordered me one with cheese).  We were hungry, and those burgers tasted good. The fries were okay (I prefer twice-fried fries), but I overheard a kid shout, "These are the best fries," so everyone has their own preference on fry type. 

Neapolatin Shake

Meh. Mike and I were not a fan of the fan of the shakes.  Sorry Jay, I know that you really like them. I think so far, our favorite fast food shakes are from Chick-fil-A.

So here's our verdict on In-N-Out, for the price of a burger (<$2) it's a great deal. The burgers are tasty and have a fresh taste to them, if given a choice between McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Jack in the Box, and In-N-Out, I'd choose In-N-Out. 
If I throw "Five Guys Burgers and Fries" into the mix, I might choose Five Guys.  Five Guys burgers set you back about $6 each (that's like 3-4 In-N-Out burgers), but I think I'd give Five Guys my vote because I like that you can add a lot more toppings to your burger (sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions, etc) AND I think the fries are better at Five Guys. 
Mike says that it would be a toss-up between the restaurants because price becomes a factor. If he wanted a good cheap burger, he'd go to In-N-Out. If price wasn't factored in to the decision, he'd choose Five Guys for the win on flavor.

Vietnamese Food Run

Mike has cravings for different kinds of food.  Last week he wanted to eat at the All-you-can-eat sushi place. For the past couple of weeks he's been wanting to eat good Vietnamese food.  He has also hinted that he wants to eat shepard's pie (I guess that means I'm in the kitchen this week).  So last Sunday we drove to Garland, TX with a couple of friends to a eat authentic Vietnamese food. 

Look at all the Vietnamese desserts!

Banh Xeo-Crispy pancake filled with vegetables, pork, and shrimp. You break off a piece of this pancake, wrap it in lettuce and add fresh herbs, and then dip it in a clear sauce (Nuoc Cham).

This is what my friend really enjoys eating

Vietnamese steamed sticky rice flour dessert coated with coconut and sesame seeds.  It had a similar texture to mochi.

Summer Rolls-The filling was different from the typical shrimp and vermicelli noodles. It contains lup cheong, egg, and pickled vegetables.

Spring Rolls

Meat Balls. There were three on the stick, but by the time I took a picture, there was only one left.

Banh Mi Sandwich with roast pork.

We then traveled to Quoc Bao bakery for some banh mi sandwiches. It's a good thing that my friend spoke Vietnamese. She ordered for us and explained that I wanted my vegetables on the side so that my sandwich would not be soggy for my lunch the next day.

Quoc Bao received rave reviews on Yelp and a Vietnamese co-worker of mine recommended it (so it must be good, right?) to another friend, who told me to go check it out.

Mike and I bought some extra loaves of bread (3 for $1). The bread was so light and fluffy!

Roast pork sandwich

Char siu-type pork sandwich

My squirreling habits have rubbed off on Mike and he purchased a couple more sandwiches so that he would have lunch and snacks later on in the week.

Austin, TX~Touristy Activities and El Arroyo Restaurant

This concludes the posts about our foodie trip to Austin, TX.  While we were in Austin, TX we were also able to meet up with one of Mike's high school friends and saw some of the famous tourist sights. 

View from Mount Bonnell

People on Congress bridge waiting to see the bats!!!

Mike and I went on a bat cruise to see the famous bats fly out from under Congress Bridge to go hunting for food at night.  One of our friends told us that if you have a better view of the bats from the river rather than on the bridge. 
   It was a neat experience to see millions of bats fly out from under the bridge to hunt for their nightly meal. I think the string of bats lasted for almost 30 minutes. It's amazing to see so many bats, but after a few minutes I was over the bats.  I told Mike that I only need to see bats once in my life. After a few more minutes, I become a bit dopey and thought, "gee it looks like a lot of little black birds flying....or large pieces ash in the sky."  Now every time I see a large group of black birds flying in the sky, I immediately think, "Oh bats!"

A friend at work graduated from UT-Austin and sent me a list of her favorite places to visit and eat in Austin. El Arroyo was listed as one of her favorite Mexican restaurants. While Mike and I were trying to find Gourdough's we passed El Arroyo, and decided to make a detour and eat lunch at El Arroyo. 

Appetizer Sampler~Taquitos, bacon-wrapped chicken and shrimp, Mexican crab rolls, and guacamole

I ended up ordering a appetizer sampler platter for me.  Do you notice a trend in my ordering? I like the option of trying multiple dishes.  I sometimes order plates that contain food that I will not like, but I know Mike will enjoy.  Hmmm...maybe I should not do this because that means Mike will end up eating more.

Relleno De La Casa Especial (Based on my limited Spanish, I think this means "The house special stuffed")

Mike ordered this extremely rich dish composed of a poblano pepper filled with shrimps, cream cheese, and a tequila-lime sauce.  I did not care for the dish because it was too creamy and rich than I expected from a Mexican dish.  Mike seemed to like this dish, but could not finish it all because he was busy eating all the food from my plate.  

El Arroyo
1624 W. 5th St.
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 474-1222

Austin, TX~Gourdough's

This was the second donut shop that we ate at during our 40-hour stay in Austin.  It's this funky food truck with dozens of donut concoctions.

Here's some examples:
*Mother Clucker-Fried Chicken Strip with Honey Butter (which I heard tastes amazing...I heard this after we returned home from our trip to Austin)
*Flying Pig~Bacon with Maple Syrup (which I also heard tastes amazing)
*Son of a Peach~Peach Filling, Cinnamon, sugar, and cake mix topping. 

 Each donut costs about $5 a piece and costs an extra dollar for a scoop of ice cream or if it is a donut that includes meat (chicken strip or bacon).  

Miss Shortcake~Cream Cheese Icing with Fresh Sliced Strawberries (Mike's selection)

Mike equated this donuts as a "fancy supped up donut dessert."  I totally agree with his assessment of the Gordough's donut. These donuts are not your traditional cop-eating type of donut.  You have to change your mindset and expect a gourmet dessert...think along the lines of eating a piece of pie, or cheesecake.  Does that make sense?  These are large pieces of fried dough (delicious goodness) that are topped with sweets.  You cannot (or maybe you can) eat a half a dozen of these bad boys. 

Black Out~Brownie Batter, fudge icing, chocolate covered brownie bites

   I ordered this donut, and had mixed feelings about it. I think that if you're a choco-holic you would think this was the best donut in your life. But for me, I felt that it was too much of a sickly sweet chocolate overload for my tastes.  I really wanted to eat more of it, but just couldn't get myself to finish the whole thing. 

The donuts were really good, but if someone gave me a choice between Gourdough's and Round Rock donuts; it would be a tough choice, but I think that I'd probably choose Round Rock donuts.  I guess I'm a "donut purist" that enjoys simple taste and wonderful textures.  Plus I think in a Calorie showdown, I'd be able to eat at least two Round Rock donuts versus one Gorudough's donut.

Gourdough's

1219 S. Lamar Blvd.

Austin, TX 78704