Odam Pans The Peached Tortilla; The Chronicle Names Official Beer of Austin

The Peached Tortilla’s expanded menu in the brick and mortar doesn’t quite work for The Statesman critic Matthew Odam. Applying the restaurant’s Southern-Asian fusion approach to dinner ended up with :

Yes, they use catfish in place of eel ($12) for a blistered "unagi" bowl topped with a 45-minute egg, but the only thing Southern about the dish is that the fish is as sweet as your aunt from Biloxi. And you’d be hard-pressed to divine the dual provenance of a JapaJam Burger ($13) slathered in sweet and salty Chinese barbecue sauce and concealed in a mess of pepper-jack cheese, fried egg and tempura onion strings.

In lieu of a review, The Chronicle gathered a group of beer experts to name the new official beer of Austin. The panel, which included Salt & Time's beer program director Jake Maddux, Bitch Beer contributor Jessica Deahl, and editor-in-chief of Austin Beer Guide Chris Troutman, among others, debated the taste and feel of five local beers. The winner was the Pearl Snap Pils from Austin Beerworks:

A beverage that characterizes Austin as a dear friend to crisp lagers and pays homage to our regional German-American influences. A beer that has hop appeal for texture, but finishes cleanly with a sturdy backbone of refreshment. Pearl Snap Pils is a cold-blooded assassin to Austin's ribaldry summer temperatures and a beer with the boisterous ethos of Texas, with the playful tenor of Austin's vigor.

THE BLOGS: Forks Up went back to Dai Due, and Mike Sutter continues to add to his taco index with his fifth Torchy’s Tacos, cheap breakfast tacos at Los Jaliscienses, any which way goes ones at Tacos n' Madre, red corn tortillas from Curra’s Grill, and even vegan tacos from Arlo’s, among others.