only relevant for those of you who might be wanting to hit the east austin scene, but we did a visit to east side king, the little food trailer behind liberty bar on east sixth that has been garnering accolades everywhere.
first, be prepared that the liberty bar is a beer and whisky shots kind of place; we were thrown off by the profusion of bottles behind the bar, so my wife ordered a sidecar. after a few minutes of searching, the bartender let us know that unfortunately there was no brandy in the house. so keep it simple, and go straight to beer (we ended up with a victory double ipa, so at least you aren't stuck with shiner).
the trailer is out back and is cash only; they have a little atm that charges a $2.95 fee if you're truly stuck. the trailer is apparently headed by the sous chef at uchi, and the menu reflects the asian bent, though they seem to be poaching more momofuku than uchi. we ordered the brussels sprout salad, beet fries, and the pork buns. the brussels sprouts salad was skippable - the sprouts were great, but were paired with a cole slaw that was too sugary for my wife and i, and left us with far too much cabbage and not enough brussels.
 
the beet fries were great though; they served them with some kewpie mayo with green onions, and though i was expecting them to be short on texture and overly sweet, they were neither of those things. my wife talked to the guys in the cart and they said that they roasted them for a few hours, then coated them in corn starch before frying them.
finally, the pork buns; pretty straight from the momofuku cookbook. hoisin sauce, pork belly, cucumber, and green onion. these are always great, and if you haven't had them before, it's probably worth the trek just for the experience. the pic on the post is of momofuku's buns, and the east side king version is pretty close.
so - all in all, a great time. we went on a monday night, so there was no line and space to eat. no comment on what you're going to get on a weekend though.
Entered on 02.02.2010 at 9:53
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