Sugar Mama's Bakery in South Austin

While out and about one Saturday early afternoon, my partner in crime and I happened to be in the South Austin area when we passed by Sugar Mama's Bakery. 

I've passed by there many times, but usually when they were closed. Finally, it was open so we could stop in and see what it was like. 

They had quite the selection of cupcakes, and I must say they all looked divine. They had cookies, cheesecakes, and a few other treats as well. I really wanted to try everything they had, but that was not an option. 

After much debating, and my asking the lovely ladies behind the counter for their favorite treats, we finally decided on some delectable cupcakes to take with us and eat a bit later. We got it down to 3 options. 

The first fabulous looking option was a classic carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I am obsessed with carrot cake, so any opportunity for some I will take. 

(Side tangent: My wedding cake was carrot cake made by my amazing pastry chef friend. He made us a huge 3 tier wedding cake. While we did share with as many people as we could, sharing still left us with 2 rather large tiers of cake left. It freezes really well, so in the freezer it went. And the two of us finished off every slice within the month. It was that good. And we like carrot cake that much. Best carrot cake I've ever had, and I eat a lot of carrot cake).

Along with the carrot cake option, we also picked a chocolate rose and raspberry cupcake (I also love raspberries), and an unusual pear and cheese one that had me totally intrigued. 

The Carrot Cake was really good. Nice and rich, creamy frosting, moist cupcake. Would definitely eat this again.

I really liked the Chocolate Rose Raspberry one as well. The rose flavor was all in the frosting. My significant other was not a fan of the rose flavored frosting as it brought back memories of his childhood getting his mouth washed out with soap. In that regard he was tainted and a bit biased. 

For those of you who have not experienced that particular childhood trauma, I thought it was tasty. I couldn't eat a ton of it, but there was just a nice hint to the frosting. Too much and it can taste like soap. But this was nicely balanced. 

The chocolate cake was moist, and the raspberry compote filling oozed out in a great way, including whole pieces of raspberries. But you can't really go wrong with the flavor combination of chocolate and raspberry in my opinion.

The pear and cheese one was very interesting. I didn't notice so much the small cheese pieces that were on top. Once again their cake was moist, and the inside filling had a pumpkin spice style flavor. I tasted more of that pumpkin spice flavor than I did a pear flavor, but a pear flavor is very subtle and hard to really overpower anything. It's a difficult cupcake to describe, but I really enjoyed it. It is worth trying if you like the pumpkin spice style flavors.

I will say they are very generous with their frosting. I am not one who likes a ton of frosting, so I could not eat all of what they provided with the cupcake. But for those of you out there who are frosting lovers, you'll be in heaven. 

All in all I'm so glad we finally got to come here. I will definitely be venturing here again sometime in the future. The hard part is going to be deciding what other delectable treats to try. Get another one that I liked? Or try something new? And what new thing to try? So many options. 

I find it a challenge to find a good homemade style bakery, and this was definitely it. 

I rate it 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Chennai Café in Round Rock

 I have been craving some good Indian food for a while now. As a result we ended up at Chennai Café in Round Rock.

This is a place I've known about for a few years thanks to a good friend of mine who has discovered. They serve Southern Indian Cuisine here.

The food. It's REALLY good. The service - it's pretty hit or miss. Sometimes I've been here and the services is great. Other times I've been here and the service is terrible. You never really know which way it's going to go, so be prepared for the not the best service, then you won't be surprise. But I promise the food is worth it.

My favorite dish here is the Saag with chicken. Saag is a spinach, garlic kind of curry dish that is AMAZING. Since I haven't been here since COVID hit, I was sad to hear this dish is something they will only make after 7:30pm now. Why? I have no idea. I was definitely disappointed it was too early to order it, but it did force me to try something else on the menu.

I got Tiki Masala with garlic naan bread, while Justin got Butter Masala with garlic naan bread. Both were fantastic. As in, we made are selves sick eating too much because it was so good we couldn't stop eating it. 

A note of warning. I admit I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy food. I always get the non-spicy dishes at this restaurant. The non-spicy dishes still have my eyes and nose watering like firehose. It's still so good, but it's so spicy. I can't imagine what an actual spicy dish would do to me.

Whatever you get, make sure you have a full glass of water to help with the spice. There is a good chance you will need it.  

We give the food here a 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Mesa Rosa in Round Rock

 Mesa Rosa is a restaurant in Round Rock off of 620. It's a Mexican food joint with a large menu selection and big patio dining.

I've been to this place many times, but I've only ever had one thing - the fajitas. When I want fajitas, I come here. .The meat is tender, they give you a lot of food, the tortillas are fresh, and it's just yummy. I have no idea if anything else on the menu is very good. I come here for the fajitas and they do not disappoint.

Of course they do give you chips and salsa. The salsa is good, and has a good spicy kick to it. The spice builds so you don't realize anything until your nose starts to run. And yet I still can't stop eating it.

We did try an appetizer this time that seemed intriguing. It was the Flamitos. Chicken, filled with jalapeno and cheese, wrapped in bacon, then battered and fried. They were big, crunchy, and filling. Really good with the ranch dipping sauce. I could definitely eat those again. 

We give this place a 4.5 out of 5 starts. Of course this is all solely based on the fajitas, as I've not idea what their other menu items taste like. It definitely hits the spot though.

Dolce Neve in Downtown Austin

 

Dolce Neve is a gelato place. This is as real of gelato as I can find in Austin. I've been to Italy, and I get a gelato multiple times a day when there. I love it. I've also gone through and tried many of the "gelato" places in Austin. I've always been disappointed until I discovered Dolce.

Why is this the best? To begin with, the owners are three brothers from Milan Italy. They have the thick Italian accents, are super friendly, and know what they are doing when it comes to making gelato. 

They source their ingredients from local farmers (which I love), and their flavors change often. You never know what flavors they have until you swing by and see them. They are so good. Everyone needs to try this place out. The original that I go to often is on South First Street in Austin. They did open up a second location in the downtown area east of I-35. But even if they are nowhere near you, they are worth the trip. 

My favorite flavors usually involve goat cheese. It sounds totally weird, but it tastes like cheesecake in an ice cream form. AMAZING. Their sorbets are also really fantastic. The strawberry tastes like fresh strawberry. But those are just a few. I've never had a gelato here that I was disappointed in. And hopefully soon they bring back they flavor tasting. So many options, so little time.

Hands down and 5 out of 5 stars. I love this place.

 

The Russian House in Downtown Austin

 The Russian House is a restaurant in downtown Austin on 6th street. We decided to give this one a try and see what it was like.

It is on 6th street in downtown Austin, which means parking is going to be a pain. Parking is always a pain downtown. But that's just how it goes.

The first part of the restaurant is the bar area, and then behind the bar area is a small space for the actual restaurant. It's a bit of a dark place, in that the way the place is situated there are no windows anywhere other than the front door. So you do feel a bit like you are walking into a cave. I did not find the ambiance off putting though. It was more interesting than anything else.

They have a fairly large menu, though most of it were things that we were not familiar with. They do have good descriptions of what the dishes are. 

They also have a large selection of caviar should you choose to get super fancy. They have a lot of fish, sauerkraut, and meat. Essentially most of the food seemed very hardy - a good eat and potatoes kind of place where you are going to leave feeling full.

We started of with a Piroschki - it's essentially a stuffed roll. You could pick your filling, so we went with meat and pork. The bread part was soft and sweet, and the meat filling was good. It wasn't full of spices, or sauce. It was rather plain, but still tasty. It reminded me a but of an English Pasty. 

For the entree's  I got Schnitzel. I love a good Schnitzel. It's a thinly pounded piece of pork that's been fried. It came with potatoes and sauerkraut. It was really quite good. And I was really full because I basically licked my plate clean.

Justin got the Chicken Kiev, which is chicken, wrapped in butter, coated in breading and fried. Obviously we were going for healthy options here. It was also rather tasty. His only complaint was that he wished he had more of it to eat, though we were both rather stuffed by the portions we got. 

For dessert be tried a Babushka Rosa. I'm not really sure how to describe this. It's chocolate, and has walnuts in it. It's really rich and very tasty. It's kind of like fudge, but much softer, but then it's kind of like a brownie, but not as cakey. Very hard to really contextualize this into a dessert I'm familiar with. All you need to know is if you like rich chocolate, you will like this dessert. 

As I mentioned above the menu is quite extensive. Based on what we chose on this visit we would absolutely come back and try some of the other options as well. 

If you want to take a chance on something different, but very hardy and very good, I would totally recommend coming here.

We gave it 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Inca Chicken in Pfugerville

Inca Chicken is a hole in the wall kind of place that you wouldn't know was there, unless you knew it was there. It is a jewel of a find too.

This place is all about the rotisserie chicken. When you arrive in the parking lot, you can smell that enchanting smell of roasting chicken that makes your mouth water. 

You could consider this place a fast food restaurant. They do have a drive through that you can go through and order, or you can go inside and place a pick up order like you can in any other fast food place. If you decide to sty and eat there, they do bring you your food on real plates, with real silverware and actually glasses. No plastic anything. 

It is hard to find a place that has a good rotisserie chicken, but these guys specialize in it. I don't know of any other locations beside their one, which is located off of Well Branch Parkway and I-35. You will not be disappointed.

If you don't want straight chicken, they have salads, burrito bowls, a pretty good selection for the most part.  

I got a half chicken with white meat and a roll, with a side salad and yucca fries. Justin got a half chicken of dark meat with a roll, and regular fries. Their dipping sauces are good for the chicken and for the fries. Also the salad dressing was amazing. I believe they make it in house and it is SOOOO yummy.

They do have a selection of other sides as well, but these ones are my favorite. I have never left this place hungry or disappointed. 

We give this place 5 out of 5 stars. 

Torchy's Tacos - Damn Good Tacos

 Torchy's Tacos is another favorite haunt if you live in the Austin area. They started out as a foo truck, but are now at locations all over the city. And it is always a busy place.

Their tacos are big, yummy, and they have a good variety of options. In addition to their staple taco options (which was sadly paired down due to covid so come of my favorite tacos are no more) they have lots of delicious sides and desserts as well. Really, you can't go wrong here. They even have a special taco of the month.

If you also happen to swing by here for a breakfast taco, you will not be disappointed. The are big and don't skimp on the filling. Plus they have a selection of sauces for the taco that just make an amazing taco sing loud. LOVE this place.

As with any local who's been here before, you tend to have a specific taco you get every time. It takes a few visits to "find your taco," but once you do you can't go back. While all their tacos are good, some just hit the spot in different ways. And everyone has a different taco that is "their" taco.

Chips and queso are a must here. The queso is fantastic and does have a spicy kick to it. It doesn't say it on the menu, but you can ask for a half order of queso. It's still a really good portion, but not as overwhelming as the full size order. Of course you can always save any leftovers for later - IF you have any leftovers. I can drink this stuff up all day long.

My taco is the Crossroads on flour tortilla, hold the jalapeno. Justin also likes the Crossroads on corn tortilla, as well as the Baja Shrimp taco.

Honestly, you can't make a wrong choice here.

We give this place 5 out of 5 stars.