Austin Critics Visit Steakhouses and Korean Restaurants

Statesman critic Matthew Odam rounds up the best options at fifteen downtown steakhouses this week, from upscale Perry's to affordable institution The Hoffbrau. For most he just lists top dishes, but goes a bit longer on the long-lived Austin Land and Cattle:

The restaurant's design elements, from electric painted roosters to electric guitars, capture the spirit of the city. And, while the restaurant located in a strip mall that dates back to 1941 has been serving legislators and lobbyists since it opened, the operators treat everyone who enters like a big shot. Or is it that they treat the big shots like family, even wise enough to know who doesn't need to be sitting next to whom come supper time?

At The Chronicle, Melanie Haupt explores Austin's Korean dining scene. As the city's Korean population grows, there's a greater number of options worth checking out, including food truck Korean Komfort. On Chosun Galbi:

the specialty of the house is the titular marinated beef ribs (galbi = rib), which arrive at your table splayed on a giant platter and placed on the tabletop grill after it has been seasoned with an onion. The meat is accompanied by an assortment of banchan, small side dishes comprising various pickled and seasoned vegetables, such as cucumbers slathered ingochujang red chili paste, kimchi, and paper-thin rounds of daikon radish. You're meant to eat the meat ssam-style, placed inside a lettuce leaf along with rice and seasonings like doenjang (soybean paste). It's not a generic, Americanized lettuce wrap à la P.F. Chang's, but rather a tidy, one-bite package full of balanced flavor.

THE BLOGS: Fed Man Walking Mike Sutter continues his relentless taco quest, and Vegan Lazy Smurf highlights a new vegan taco truck on East 7th.