Food Stop 2 - Madam Mam's, Austin Tx

I'm exhausted by the time I pull into the Day's Inn in Austin. But I had to eat! 

Just yesterday my friend KW suggests that I try out a University of Texas Austin staple. Situated on Guadalupe & Dean Keeton, Madam Mam's is conveniently located on campus and within a nose's reach of hundreds of hungry 19 year old college students. 

As expected of a college town, I walk in upon a bunch of students furiously studying away while at the same time trying to tackle their respective bowls of green curry and rice. Come on guys! It's summer!!!

My dad had previously told me that the way to tell a good Thai restaurant from the Bad is to see how they prepare 2 signature dishes. 1) Fish cakes and 2)Tom Yum (Clear spicy & sour soup). So I ordered a bowl of Tom Yum Kuey Teow (Flat rice noodle) with sliced chicken and some fish cakes as an appetizer, only to be told that they were out of fish cake. But the waiter highly recommended the soft spring rolls, a typical Vietnamese starter (i.e Not Thai!). I was quite interested to see how they would put a thai spin on a Viet classic. 

The Spring rolls arrived first! They look Gorgeous!! At first look, I knew that these were something special. These were pretty hefty (so much so that i decided to only eat one of them and box the other one). The semi transparent skin seems to almost be teasing me, revealing only a little glimpse of what they hold within.

I took a huge bite and it confirmed that this was something special. For one, it didn't feel like i was munching goo (not unlike some of the spring rolls i have had). This one had a huge crunch! Looking at the hole in the roll that i just created reveals the innards....

Stuffed with all sorts of goodies, shredded carrots, lettuce, basil, some mystery slice of some brown crunchy ingredient that I cannot identify and most significant the huge piece of crunchy cucumber which gave the whole thing some awesome crunch. The sauce was pretty awesome too. It's not your asian grandmother's satay sauce that's for sure... God (and probably the chef) only knows what secret ingredient they put in there.

Appetizer over, they bring over the noodles.

The smell of limes & lemon grass have got my salivary glands going to overdrive. Especially the ones at my cheeks which are starting to pucker up in anticipation of the sour soup. I guess they must have "dumbed down" the spiciness of the soup for the local american palate as there was not a single hit of spice at all. The result being an intensely sour soup with no spice to help tame the acidity. Having a pre-conceived notion of how food should taste probably hurt this dish. There is no doubt that the soup was extremely tasty, but it's just ... not Tom Yum.

Halfway through the meal (and 3/4 of the way through my glass of water), I pick up the mostly ice filled glass for a swig. They didn't give me (or anyone else in the establishment) straws for our drinks so we had to drink from the glass, which I initially didn't mind. But 3/4 of the way through my drink of a glass that was 3/4 full of ice, I tip the glass onto my lip to drink and the ice didn't move, having fused together into a huge chunk. As i reached the bottom of my glass, i raise the glass even higher in order to get all the water out of there and yes... you guessed it.... with a glass of ice tipped over my face, the bonds holding the ice together finally decide to give way, sending a torrent of ice cascading all over my face! No amount of laughing it off could have salvaged my pride at that time.  The waitress rushes over and feeling quite apologetic, offers me another glass of water which is once again filled 3/4 of the way with ice and yes..... it still was missing a straw.....

I liked,

- The Spring Roll. That thing is awesome. I wouldn't mind going back there just for the Roll.

- The Prices. Being in a college town, my guess is that it is priced for college students. Good for the rest of us :)

- The flavors. Being Thai, the flavor of everything was phenomenal.

- Service. All the staff there were all smiles. Put me quite at ease even through my "incident'.

I Didn't Quite Like,

- The "Americanized" menu. Being asian, that's sacrilege! 

- That they didn't give me straws.... lo

I do however think that having their name on the bowls is quite a nice touch!

Madam Mam's
Located at the corner of Guadalupe St and Dean Keeton St. (Dean Keeton meets Guadalupe at a "T" intersection.
Address: 2514 Guadalupe street Austin, Texas, 78705 (Other Locations Available Check Website)
Phone: 512-472-8306
Hours: Open EVERYDAY!! 11am to 10pm.
http://www.madammam.com/

Food Stop 1 - Henry's Puffy Tacos, San Antonio, Tx

Well, I'm finally at my first stop! And I'm starving! This isn't the first time i have heard of Henry's. I was in San Antonio for a wedding about 2 years ago and someone kept mentioning this place. Didn't go last time, but i sure am going to have some this time!

Henry's was not hard to find at all. Just off San Antonio's 410 beltway on Bandera, there's no way you can miss the sign....

Not to be confused with the sign belonging to the establishment next door:

Here's a shot of the front of the building:

The first thing you see when you step inside is the bar. Quite nice really...

The Meal:

I had a Two Puffy taco lunch plate consisting of of re-fried beans, rice and two puffy tacos. One of my tacos was "Picadillo" (Shredded beef) and the other was shredded chicken. Both topped with guacamole. The proteins were served up in Henry's own "Puffy" Taco, a thick round of tortilla which "puffed" up when deep fried, creating a mildly crispy outside with a light "bread-y" hollow inside. Kinda like a very light (as in not dense) elephant ear / funnel cake. Despite being deep fried, the tortilla was surprisingly light.

I have to admit, the platter was not the best looking kid on the block, but it was quite tasty and filling. I picked at the rice and left the beans alone, but the 2 tacos were enough to fill me up quite nicely. The lunch was washed down with a glass of EXCELLENT lemonade (although i swear it tasted like freshly squeezed sweetened key limes). I would have ordered me another glass if I didn't have another long ride ahead of me. Overall, not too bad.

I Liked, 

- The price

- The ambiance

- That it was pretty filling.

- The beef and chicken was quite tasty.

- The interesting texture of the tortilla

- The Lemonade.

- Very Friendly Service

I Didn't Quite Like

- That they charged for the individual taco toppings.

Special thanks for my great host Susan C!

Henry's Puffy Tacos (On Bandera)

Address: 6030 Bandera Road, San Antonio, TX 78238.

Phone: (210) 433 - PUFF (7833)

Hours: Mon - Sat 10:30 am to 8:30 pm; Closed on Sunday.

http://www.henryspuffytacos.com

Map:

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Day 1: Houston - San Antonio - Austin

As I type this, I am lying on my belly on the bed. Why you ask? Well because my butt feels like a hundred gorillas have been pounding on it all day. Quite sore indeed. My butt usually gets used to it after a couple of days, hopefully it will be soon... ouchie.....

Not only am i lying on my belly, I have a 1 gal jug of water on the end table beside me.  Last I checked, the temperature around this area of texas was 98 deg and "feels like 106". Going 75 mph down the highway does nothing for me but sends a torrent of hot air straight into my face. Thankfully my Cortech GX-Air Mesh rose to the challenge. With only the outermost layer on, the breeze easily penetrates the jacket and drys my undershirt quite quickly, especially with the warm ambient air. The evaporation keeps me quite nice and cool indeed. But the downside is that i get terribly dehydrated rather quickly. What saved me was the camelbak bladder that I keep inside the main compartment of my tank bag. I keep the tube sticking out of the bag so it is easily accessible on the move.

Every couple of miles I stick the tube up my helmet and take a swig. Keeps me somewhat hydrated, but still not enough as evidenced by my constant chugging of fluids even now. For the ride tomorrow, I'll be sure to take more swigs along the way.

I'm looking forward to bed tonight. After breakfast tomorrow, I'll be heading out towards Waco and Longview, Tx. 

Onward!!!

Saddling Up - Part 2

Thanks to E-bay, i managed to (slowly) collect all the bits and pieces of luggage that i will need. 

I decided to go with Nelson Rigg soft luggage because not only do they fit my needs, but they look cool! I decided to try out one of their SLR "Solar" series tank bags to see how it goes. Supposedly the little solar panel supplied charges an external battery pack which (hopefully) will keep my iPhone 4 running ok. Here's what it looks like....

Here's the rest of the gear on my kitchen floor. NR Saddle Bags + Rear Seat Bag + Tank Bag.

Here's the steed all saddled up. 

This is prob going to be the last update before taking off. Hope to make my next one in either Austin or San Antonio. To the Alamo I go!!

Laus Deo!

Rules

Well, in order for there to be some method to my madness, I decided that there should be some rules I should abide by when it comes to riding and eating....


On Fooding:
1) I will only be eating at places that were recommended by other people. Whether it be locals in the area or any of my friends unless......
2) Somehow I find myself in a place where I didn't plan on being or nobody suggested anything. Then i'll YELP it! The first place that comes up after sorting according to ratings, will be the place I will eat at.
3) No big food chains!!!! (sorry Whataburger!!)
4) No eating at the same place more than once!
5) Whenever possible, update the food blog the same day i visit the restaurant.


On Riding:
1) No riding at night.
2) No riding above the speed limit.
3) Ride defensively.
4) Stop when tired.
5) No answering the phone / messing with GPS / texting while driving!

Jittery Jitters

Well... about 12 hrs away from departure. Planning on leaving Houston by 10 am so that I can be in San Antonio with time to spare. The nice ride should wet my appetite for some nice puffy tacos.

I have to say. I'm actually having the jitters right about now. Everything is ready to go. All I need to do is strap the luggage in and I'm off. But I can't shake the "What Ifs" that keep coming up at the back of my mind. I pray for strength and safety. Tomorrow morning, one last post, and I'll be off. 

Praise Be To God. This trip is going to be more of a personal retreat than anything. With the job market so terrible and work just wearing me down. This will be a good time of renewal. Goodnite!

Last Minute Shopping

I went to CycleGear down on 59 south just to walk around the store and make sure that I had everything I need before setting off tomorrow.  While there, I struck up a nice conversation with Jonathan the sales rep and we begin talking about my trip.  Just as i was convinced that I didn't need anything else, Jonathan points out a rack of communication devices. He started to pitch me the Chatterbox, and before I knew it, this was sitting on my kitchen counter.

The installation itself was simple enough. The two speakers and the microphone were very easily installed with strategically place bits of velcro. All the wires were tucked away nicely under the padding on the inside of my helmet. Installation took about 10 min (inclusive of reading the instructions). When I was done, the only thing that was visible from the comms system was the control pad which (to my dismay) had to be stuck just under my left cheek on the outside of the helmet. 

Did a test run with my iPhone 4 and presto! Now i don't have to use those uber uncomfortable ear buds that will be smooshed up against my ear in the helmet. In fact, I hardly know that the Chatterbox system is even there! The true test will come tomorrow on the highway... we'll see what happens.