New Brunch Place
Apr. 15th, 2006 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday we tried a new brunch place: Capitol Brasserie. This place was written up in this week's Austin Chronicle. For $17 you get a pastry basket, coffee, juice, and a main dish. Let's compare the views of professional reviewers with my views:
On when to show up for brunch
Chronicle: "Brunch: Saturday & Sunday, 11am-3pm"
Me: Brunch starts at 10:00 am. Both the waiter and the sign outside said they open at 10:00.
On pastries
Chronicle: "The house pastry basket offered three greasy, undercooked croissants [and] a good carrot muffin . . . ."
Me: The pastries we found in our basket were a cinnamon roll, a lemon Danish, and a chocolate pastry, all made with croissant dough, and all extremely fresh. Robin called the lemon filling "lemon curd," which I've heard of but don't recall tasting. It's like a lemon jam or custard, and I bet I have a recipe in my Tea-Time at the Inn cookbook. Yep, two. Both require sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, butter, and lemon peel. Sounds like pudding or custard. These are some of the best pastries ever made.
On breakfast
Chronicle: "While the poached eggs and hollandaise in the eggs Benedict were just fine, the English muffins on which they rested were as tough as shoe leather, and the roasted potatoes on the side were barely cooked. The fluffy scrambled eggs had a rich, buttery flavor and paired well with crisp strips of applewood-smoked bacon, but the artichoke and asparagus quiche was somewhat rubbery. . . . the pommes frites [fries] . . . were so good, the rest of us couldn't leave them alone."
Me: Robin got the steak frites. The steak was so tender he was cutting it with a fork, and he asked for it rare and it was rare. The fries were very good, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with an interesting hint of spicy coating on the outside. In the mood for something savory, I got goat cheese and mushroom ravioli with artichoke hearts and tomatoes and olives. I got four round raviolis and almost as much artichoke hearts (by volume). These were nicely flavored, but floating in grease (probably some kind of fancy olive oil). The fresh-squeezed juice was delicious. Our waiter recommended eggs benedict, croque madame (grilled ham and cheese with fried egg on top) and French toast (made with brioche bread and huge enough that you'll take some home with you).
We liked it so much that we want to drag people with us tomorrow at 10:00 am. Interested? Let us know.
On when to show up for brunch
Chronicle: "Brunch: Saturday & Sunday, 11am-3pm"
Me: Brunch starts at 10:00 am. Both the waiter and the sign outside said they open at 10:00.
On pastries
Chronicle: "The house pastry basket offered three greasy, undercooked croissants [and] a good carrot muffin . . . ."
Me: The pastries we found in our basket were a cinnamon roll, a lemon Danish, and a chocolate pastry, all made with croissant dough, and all extremely fresh. Robin called the lemon filling "lemon curd," which I've heard of but don't recall tasting. It's like a lemon jam or custard, and I bet I have a recipe in my Tea-Time at the Inn cookbook. Yep, two. Both require sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, butter, and lemon peel. Sounds like pudding or custard. These are some of the best pastries ever made.
On breakfast
Chronicle: "While the poached eggs and hollandaise in the eggs Benedict were just fine, the English muffins on which they rested were as tough as shoe leather, and the roasted potatoes on the side were barely cooked. The fluffy scrambled eggs had a rich, buttery flavor and paired well with crisp strips of applewood-smoked bacon, but the artichoke and asparagus quiche was somewhat rubbery. . . . the pommes frites [fries] . . . were so good, the rest of us couldn't leave them alone."
Me: Robin got the steak frites. The steak was so tender he was cutting it with a fork, and he asked for it rare and it was rare. The fries were very good, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with an interesting hint of spicy coating on the outside. In the mood for something savory, I got goat cheese and mushroom ravioli with artichoke hearts and tomatoes and olives. I got four round raviolis and almost as much artichoke hearts (by volume). These were nicely flavored, but floating in grease (probably some kind of fancy olive oil). The fresh-squeezed juice was delicious. Our waiter recommended eggs benedict, croque madame (grilled ham and cheese with fried egg on top) and French toast (made with brioche bread and huge enough that you'll take some home with you).
We liked it so much that we want to drag people with us tomorrow at 10:00 am. Interested? Let us know.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2006-04-16 07:26 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-04-16 01:58 pm (UTC)The pastries were fabulous, though, this time a plain croissaint, a pear danish, and another chocolate croissant, this time with more chocolate. The plain croissant was still hot. They also had a crusty bread that was warm and delicious.
This place is starting to remind me of Belgium. No waffles though.