San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Eating the good with the bad
Restaurant critic dishes about the highs and lows of the job last month
I eat out. A lot. And the stories I write don’t always leave room to single out the individual plates that I loved and the ones I didn’t love so much in any given month. Here’s a closer look at the 10 best (and worst) things I ate in and around San Antonio in January.
The best
Black sesame latte at Bright Coffee:
Solomon Gerges, who operated the late, great Eclipse coffee bar, introduced me to this caffeine-free revelation at one of his favorite coffee shops, the appropriately named Bright Coffee in Beacon Hill. The color of a lavender gray cloud at dawn, it’s hot and sweet and smells like a Tokyo snack shop. People say it’s high in fiber, calcium and iron. I say it gets you high without giving you the jitters. The perfect second cup after a pour-over coffee from Bright’s curated bean collection. 1705 Blanco Road, 956-592-4517, Instagram: @brightcoffeesa
Caviar at Cullum’s Attaboy:
Chris Cullum calls it The Swell Life, this gathering of osetra caviar and smoked trout roe with crema, chives and blini. I call it date night in the daylight at this urbane brunch counter just off the St. Mary’s Strip. It’s fancy but not pretentious, and when the caviar pops and the Champagne hits, everybody’s prettier and everybody’s funnier — even you. 111 Kings Court, 210-601-5353, cullums attaboy.com
Lamb chops at Aldo’s Ristorante Italiano:
They make the best spaghetti in town at this Dominion-area institution,
with handmade noodles and meatballs like Sunday in your nonna’s kitchen. But Aldo Ghaffari is also fluent in the language of his upscale clientele, and for them, for all of us, there’s an intertwined tower of lamb chops, seared with garlic and herbs over a heart that beats medium-rare. 22211 Interstate 10 W., Suite 1101, 210696-2536, aldossa.com
Shrimp po’boy at Sauce’s Southern Kitchen:
The po’boy’s a simple thing. Meat, bread, mayo and a little style. Keyon Noel’s got it, and I followed his food truck to The C.O.O.P SA’s Northeast Side hub for an upcoming Top 10
Louisiana roundup to celebrate Mardi Gras. For his fried shrimp po’boy, Noel gets the breading light and crunchy on pearled shrimp tails, fried to order and laid across a split baguette with lettuce, pickles and a spicy-sweet Cajun mayo he makes himself. Simple, and simply done right. Locations vary, 210-577-6396, Facebook: @SaucesSouthernKitchenSA
Tacos al pastor at Taquitos West Ave.:
For my Eat the Street segment on West Avenue, this was my first stop and my repeat stop for Mexico Citystyle street tacos with al pastor cut from a trompo rotisserie spinning in the kitchen window.
Tangy, sweet and cheap, loaded with onions, cilantro, cucumber, radishes and pineapple, they’re on the menu Thursday through Sunday. 2818 West Ave., 210-525-9888, Instagram: @taquitoswestave
Texas Trio fried sampler at Bobbie’s Cafe:
Finding the Top 10 country cafes in San Antonio and the Hill Country meant eating a lot of fried everything. Some of the best of everything showed up at Bobby’s, with fluffy onion rings big as bangle bracelets, crunchy knobs of okra and something I’ve never seen before: full-size dill pickles cut in half and fried as light and crispy as state fair funnel cakes. 6728 S. Flores St., 210-923-1158, bobbiescafe.com
The worst
Cheese enchiladas at Bobbie’s Cafe:
Being a good friend sometimes means being honest with your friends. And, friends, these bitter, sloppy, meltaway cheese enchiladas are the reason “Tex-Mex food” isn’t always said with affection. 6728 S. Flores St., 210-923-1158, bobbiescafe.com
Chicken sandwich at Murf ’s Better Burger:
The retro drive-thru charm of this forever burger bar on West Avenue only goes so far, and it doesn’t go far enough to cover a disaster of a “Deluxe Chicken Club” that showed up without the cheese and bacon that bumped its price up to $9 with fries and drink. A greasy bun, soggy lettuce, a single tomato, a cafeteria chicken patty. Remember when? Forget about it. 2922 West Ave., 210-342-1574, no web presence
Chili at 1838 Grill: They make great carrot cake here. And chicken-fried steak, and liver and onions. And maybe this bitter, chalky brown bowl of chili is a winner for the nobeans-ever crowd. But not for me. 1338 E. Court St., Seguin, 830-401-0980, 1838grilltx.com
Fried catfish at Richter’s Antler Cafe:
Remember that thing about country cafes and fried food? Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And these thin, sad, undercooked and broken fillets came out on the losing end. 1 Sun Valley Drive, Spring Branch, 830-885-6328, www.antlercafe.com