SA, Last Restaurant/Place You Ate At (Austin, Alamo: rent, to move)

[cr1039]

Vela for HH last week.

I really wanted to like Vela, really. However, the service was completely dissapointing and that right there is the difference between having some wine in the comfort of your own home or going out for ambiance and an experience.

We sat on the front patio. 6pm on a Wed. night. Our server approached us and presented us with the menu. No mention of HH specials, which I had looked up online - 1/2 off bottles of champagne and different food menu specials as well. We needed a few moments and she let's us be.

She returns with waters and asks for our order. We have to ask about additional HH offerings. We go for the HH Cabernet. It was delish.

However, throughout the night, I should not, not ever, have an empty wine glass at a wine bar - and I did. Our server did not sufficiently check in on us. One of the best tips I can give is to treat your section like one large table, dropping in on each table one after the other so that your trips to the computer or to the back are kept to a minimum. Basically, sitting there with an empty wine glass - while my server checks in with the table next to us and then walks away, makes me feel as if it "is not yet my turn". At one point, my girfriend actually uttered the words - "I think she forgot about my wine" as she was sitting with an empty wine glass as well at that point. I mean, you have got to be kidding me.

We ordered a flat bread pizza that was on HH special for $5. We did have to inquire about the HH food offerings though as opposed to our waitress being hospitable and asking if we were hungry or if we would like to hear about the food specials. I felt as if we had to promt her for every last thing. It was very good, crisp, warm and cheesy with tasty "just cooked enough" tomatoes on top. We also split the hummus which was a generous portion served with a sliced baguette and multi grain crackers.

Total bill was $50 before the split, I think that this is a nice HH deal considering the setting and as the wine and food were quite good - and the apps really were dinner for each of us. I just was dissapointed by the lack of service.

If you wish, sign up for their email list. I had brought with me a 20% off coupon for a bottle of wine that I recieved but we did not end up using it as there was nothing that we saw that we were interested in that was also in our preferred HH price range.

[jules07]

Otherhalf got in in from WA fairly late last night (8:30ish) and I was positively CRAVING sushi after a coupla weeks of hardcore dieting. Amazed that many sushi places close at 10:00pm on a weekend night, we ended up at Sushi Zushi downtown. This was my first visit to SZ, and I gotta say ~ it wasn't half bad! We had a couple of very tasty rolls, 2 orders of nigiri, a dinner salad and a "curry" dish for Otherhalf (he's not into sushi as much as me) and a coupla cocktails for under $90. Not bad!!! Brought home quite a bit that was sampled by the kids, with all around. Our server, Daisy, was great! Not overbearing (one of my pet peeves) but correctly attentive and pleasant. We'll look forward to going back!

[Herbrocks]

Originally Posted by elnina

Hi,
I would like to try the others Where is KIM TRAN and PANDA INN?? I think that the KIKU GARDEN is the "lighthouse" on another side of the IH35, right??
What about the places by Rittiman & Harry Wurzbach? I go to the Korean market sometimes, but didn't go to the nearby Korean restaurants. Are they O.K?

KIKU GARDEN is the lighthouse

KIM TRAN is in the shopping center at HW/Rittiman, next to the barber shop. They serve Chinese/American, and also have a number of Vietnamese dishes (spring rolls are usually great!).

PANDA INN is on HW just a little south of Rittiman, next to BIG BOBS BURGERS. They serve old school Chinese/American, I love to get take out there. BTW, the taqueria on the other side has great breakfast stuff, also one of the only places that makes menudo the way I like it.

KOREANA (next to K BURGER), on HW just North of Rittiman, has good Korean food, but I haven't been there since they used to have a buffet, I prefer KIKU in general.

Haven't been to any of the other Rittiman Korean restarants in many years, but I'm sure they are all still pretty good.

[elnina]

Thank you, Herb... Korean food is on my list for the next weekend!

... to many choices...

[SATX_GUY]

The only Korean place I've been to in SA is KOREANA and it was great. Got the Gal Bi.

[LittleTPot]

We've only been to Ilsong Garden for Korean, but we love it!

[Rapscallion]

We visited the Roaring Fork last evening. The restaurant itself is quite contemporary and upscale. The entire restaurant is immaculate. The level of service was quite high, with the exception of one bartender who muttered his preference for cabernet instead of my choice of a pinot noir.

The food was very good, but not exceptional. My wife had the pork carnitas, which were good. They were served with fresh pico de gallo and an avocado wedge atop a bed of grated cheese. The included side was a baked dish of black beans sprinkled with grated cheese. These were quite good and the meal as a whole was more than adequate for sharing.

I had the salmon atop a cedar plank. The fish was quite raw, which is how I prefer it, but I don't think it was meant to be served that way. The unfortunate result was that the temperature was never reached to impart any of the flavor of the cedar to the fish. I've seen a better job done at Dick's Last Resort. I substituted spinach for their normal green bean side, and it was very good. I went ahead and ordered their green chili macaroni & cheese as an additional side to take home for the kids. I ordered it based on the recommendation of our server, and it was quite unique and very tasty. Normally I despise mac & cheese, so you know it had to be good. Unfortunately, it didn't make it into the doggy bag. In fact, neither did the tortillas. A sad day for the kids.

I'd say that I'll return. It's an excellent choice for client meetings and the valet service is free.

[coffeepotbend]

We ate at Beefy's backyard on 281, north of 1604..It was delicious as always. My kids enjoyed the backyard playground while we watched the Spurs game. Friendly staff, quick service.....a good experience.

[Chris Is Bored]

I had Sushi at Godai off of West Ave last night. It's about a mile or two outside of 410, close to blanco rd. This place is by far the best i've had anywhere in San Antonio for fresh sushi. I've got two more spots to visit that from rumors i've heard may be as comparable or better, but for now this place can't be beat.

[SATX_GUY]

I ate lunch today at Taiwan on North Main Avenue Downtown, portions were decent but I thought the food was just fair especially the fried rice which had nothing in it and didn't taste fried at all, I thought it was plain brown rice when it came out.