Before dinner, we spent a few minutes at the bar, which overlooks the main dining room a floor below. It creates a nice effect, making the place feel huge.

We started off with the foie gras, in an effort to eat something not offered in Austin barbecue joints.

In keeping with the busman’s holiday theme, Eliza had a beer that was imported by an Austin company.

The ribs were nice. The meal was nice. The ambiance was nice. And maybe that’s why I wasn’t crazy about it. It felt like something was missing at Ma Peche, and I think that missing piece was attitude. In David Chang, we’re talking about a guy who makes a dessert called “Crack Pie.” But Ma Peche felt a little conservative.

We did stop at the Milk Bar on the way out for some of that Crack Pie, though. There’s a reason they call it that.

Asia Cafe used to be located in the back of Asia Market, a Chinese grocery store tucked away in a nondescript strip mall off 183. Recently it moved into its own space next door. We can’t go a month without stopping by.

Another unwritten rule of ethnic food: there is an inverse relationship between the effort put into decor and the quality of the food.

Only recently did they start translating their specials menu into English.

A final unwritten rule of ethnic food establishments: the higher the percentage of foreign-branded beverages, the better.

This visit, we tried a few new things, like pan fried sesame shrimp.

The shredded pork with bamboo was another first, and a definite highlight.

For some reason, what are normally referred to as steamed dumplings are “boiled dumplings” at China Cafe. Whatever you want to call them, they’re pretty great.

A better title for this post might have been “How We Tried And Failed Repeatedly To See Music During SXSW.” On the Friday of SXSW, we decided to take the afternoon off and head downtown to check out some day parties. On the way, we stopped off at Sushi A-Go-Go. Unfortunately, right after we showed up and started to order our food, I got an email from a co-worker that said “Where the hell are you guys? Is anyone going to be able to do this conference call?” So we took our food to go and went back home. Strike one.

Stevie bravely faced down some ferocious wind.

The sushi was great, but spending my “afternoon off” at home on a conference call put a damper on the experience.

No big deal, we figured. There’s still plenty of time to see some music. So on Saturday night, we went to east Austin for the Todd P Showpaper party. I was hoping to see Real Estate, but we ended up seeing a few minutes of some other band whose name I can’t remember. (Something about Cleveland, maybe?)

What I do remember is that it was absolutely frigid outside and we weren’t dressed for it. Luckily, we were able to warm up with some delicious Korean BBQ tacos from Chi’Lantro, which we had been meaning to try since sampling Austin’s other Korean BBQ truck, TaKorea.

The last stop in our food truck roundup has nothing to do with failed attempts to see live music. East Side King is located behind east Austin’s liberty bar and has been making waves with their take on something we love dearly, the steamed pork bun.

They also have a cow tongue bun. Yum.

And then there’s the fried beets.They’re beets, so it’s healthy right? Especially when you dip them in mayo.

Here’s a shot of the restaurant scene with the new lens. Pretty nice, huh?

This one is not so nice. I need a nap. And maybe a hairbrush.

This little bowl arrived at the table with our hot tea. We had no idea what it was or what to do with it, and we were too embarrassed to ask the surly waitress, so it will remain a mystery.

Some very tasty wontons.

And then the soup dumplings. They were served in a bamboo steamer and, unfortunately, a lot of their soupy goodness leaked out before we had the pleasure of slurping it. But nonetheless, they were very good and still soupy enough that I managed to spill some on my sweater.

We shared one entree – twice cooked pork. VERY spicy and delicious.

Kogi, the LA Korean taco truck that put this stuff on the map, really doesn’t like to be called fusion but apparently that label doesn’t bother the folks behind TaKorea.

The seating consists of a few folding chairs and no tables. The nearby traffic provides a steady soundtrack.

[audio http://69.89.31.159/~chickeo9/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/takorea1.mp3]

They were out of the beef and pork tacos the day we went, so we went with the spicy chicken and a Korean hot dog.

The hot dog was the big winner. It’s a Hebrew National frank with a lot of fun toppings. Can’t say that I know what they were exactly, but it was tasty. The spicy chicken taco was good, but I’d like to go back and try the beef and pork versions.

One of the things I love most about Korean bbq is the variety. I’m sure I’m not combining the right things or using the appropriate sauce for each dish, but it always tastes good to me. Here is our kimchee selection.

A delicious pancake. I used the wrong sauce on this one but it was still pretty tasty.

My friend Young referred to this dish as “Korean party food.” She said it’s what your Mom makes you for your birthday. She also added that she never orders it at a restaurant unless she’s with white folks. I guess I’m pretty predictable because it was one of my favorite things on the table.

Our beef, ready to be cooked on our tabletop grill.

This seafood and rice dish was served still cooking in a clay pot. It was kind of like Korean paella.

The cold noodles with mustard and vinegar were awesome. They would be perfect for a hot summer day.

The aftermath.

Little Willie Nelson was a trooper and a very impressive eater. Jeff and Elizabeth were going to take him ice skating after dinner, but he seemed to lose interest somewhere around dish #98.

Our group of six arrived just as they opened. We were seated right away, which was a small miracle. Shortly after we sat down, the power went out. So much for getting refined. It was feeling more primitive than prim. But the loss of light just added to our excitement, creating a sense of shared experience between us and the rest of the huddled diners.

Luckily, the lights came back on in a few minutes. Eliza ordered the prix-fixe lunch special, which started with this nearly microscopic morsel. I snapped a photo of it with my electron microscope.

Behold the steamed pork buns. These were some of the tastiest things I’ve eaten in recent memory. Sweet, fatty, doughy. How can you go wrong?

Eliza’s meal came with a fried skate bun, which she graciously shared. It reminded me of a McChicken sandwich, and I mean that in the best possible way. The McChicken was one of my childhood favorites.

The main event: momofuku ramen, featuring pork shoulder, pork belly and a poached egg. After traipsing through the New York winter, burying your face in this steaming bowl is like an answered prayer.

Eliza’s was the clam ramen.

Eliza’s meal finished with a nice little dessert: chocolate and peppermint ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie mixed in. She had a few bites and handed it over to me. By this point, my animal tendencies had taken over completely. As we headed back out into the cold, I felt renewed. If this is what it’s like to live life as a refined meathead, I may just have to move to New York and finish my education.