East Side Cafe

The Italianini and I grabbed brunch at East Side Cafe on a lazy Sunday. I had been there once before with the crew, and liked it, but this time I wasn't too impressed.

First, let me share with you that they grow all their own stuff... you know, their veggies and herbs (get your head out of the gutter!).
So when we got salsa with our dishes (which they brag about calling it "our own East Side Cafe Salsa" with ** next to it! And you know it's something special when there's * next to it on the menu), I expected the freshest salsa around. NOT!

We shared the goat cheese and shrimp quesadilla. It was SO good. It may be unfair for me to say it was SO good since I'm really into goat cheese and shrimp, but even the tortilla was good. Flaky, a little buttery, like it had been left on the skillet just long enough to toast a bit...delicious.
It also had cilantro and jack cheese which I thought were unnecessary, but who cares! It's heaven in my mouth!

Italianini ordered normal eggs Benedict, and I had the smoked salmon eggs Benedict.

When the food arrived, there was such little hollandaise on them that I almost asked for a side of it...Thank God I tried it first! It was the worst tasting hollandaise I've had in my life. I mean, even South Congress Cafe's is better. The side of home fries were not good either. Something about the texture... the consistency. Super dry and hard on the outside, and the inside was like a McDonald's fry.
Richard Pryor's face says it all.

I really just wanted another quesadilla. Instead, we smiled, got the check, and went on to veg-out on our lazy Sunday.

http://www.eastsidecafeaustin.com/index.html