Poco-Cocoa

Sunday afternoon, I was in serious need of some comfort food. So we headed down to Nueva Onda, a little Mexican-food place on South Congress. We used to come here every weekend for breakfast, but when we moved downtown, we sort of forgot about it. The food is good, though not fabulous…what I really come here for is the horchata. This place makes my favorite horchata in all of Austin. It’s so sweet and cinnamony. like perfect drinkable rice pudding…great, now I’m craving some and they’re not open.

I couldn’t have an horchata without a bit of fried goodness to go along with it, so I ordered a beef gordita and a beef crispy taco. The meat filling wasn’t the best…a bit dry and over spiced. And of course, that horrible yellow cheese…but still, you have to have something with that horchata!

Justin opted for a few jalapeno tamales…once peeled, they looked hideous, so I strategically photographed just the cornhusks. The tamales were good, though not as scrumptious as those from Mr. Natural, the vegetarian Mexican place we sometimes visit.

A better choice here would be the fideo, or the breakfast plate with perfectly runny eggs and fried potatoes. I just love their salsa-in-a-squeeze bottle, which makes dousing your taco with salsa so much easier.

What can I say? Go there for the horchata.

Today I met my friend Shara for lunch at this tiny little Vietnamese cafe called Tam Deli & Cafe. I had never seen it before, and probably would never have tried it if Shara hadn’t introduced me to it…but I loved it!

The menu was HUGE…so many options…but I stuck to one section that seemed intriguing…Vietnamese sandwiches. I had heard about these, but had never tried one. I love the mix of French and Vietnamese…toasty baguette stuffed with ham, pate, carrots and peppers. It was so delicious, though the pate became a bit rich after half a sandwich. I think next time I might try the roasted chicken or tofu and veggie sandwich.

We also had spring rolls, loaded with veggies and served with the traditional sweet dipping sauce. (What is that sauce called, anyway?) I thought these rolls were tastier than many I’ve tried, even without the sauce.

And for dessert? The lightest, airiest, smoothest cream puff I’ve ever tasted. They were cool to the touch, flaky and soft, and filled with a delicious cream that wasn’t too heavy or too sweet.

I’m anxious to find more little cafes around the area where I work, and I had forgotten about the large groupings of Asian restaurants and grocery stores in that part of Austin. I should try them all, just for comparison’s sake, don’t you think? 🙂