Chronicle Finds Peruvian Trailer Killa Wasi ‘Joyfully Unpretentious’

For the Chronicle, Emily Beyda visited Killa Wasi, which she named as one of the city’s “most joyfully unpretentious restaurants.” She notes the teal school bus and bright yellow bottles of Inca Cola create a festive, colorful backdrop for the Peruvian-inspired food.

Beyda notes that at Killa Wasi, “everything is a little more complex, a little more interesting than it initially appears.” Breakfast offerings, served daily, are exemplified by a “monster of a sandwich” with homemade chorizo and a fried egg covered in bechamel.

For the more casual lunch, Beyda enjoyed by the all-veggie ceviche (“reminiscent of a really chunky gazpacho”) while her companion found it “gloppy.” She raved about the messy but hearty sandwiches (“you really can't go wrong with the sandwiches here, but you will not look good eating them.”) However, her most memorable bites come at brunch:

My favorite thing on the menu is the wild boar benedict, with eggs soft-boiled in their shells, perfect spheres teetering on top of a big pile of grilled bitter greens and pork cooked in its own fat until it collapses into confit crispiness. Underneath, instead of your typical English muffin, is a hockey puck of fried yucca mash.

This week, Austin Monthly elaborated on its “best new restaurants list” with reviews of each. Kemuri Tatsu-ya led the pack as the absolute best new restaurant of the year, adding to its piles of accolades. Here are tidbits from each of the nine restaurants:

• Kemuri Tatsu-ya: “The slow-and-low treatment gently cooks mackerel until it’s light and flaky and renders a citrusy duck breast so smoky that it tastes like the best ham you ever had.”
• Mattie’s at Green Pastures: “[The] menu is decidedly American and Southern with just enough of a global gloss, feeling at once steadfast and updated.”
• Holy Roller: “Deliciously messy Trash Fries, topped with gravy, sour cream, cotija, a sunny-side egg, and a lime-and-corn salsa that adds brightness.”
• Bonhomie: “French dip croissant, stuffed with brisket and served with a Vietnamese-inspired pho dipping broth, is already a modern classic.”
• LeRoy & Lewis: “Items you won’t find on just any barbecue menu, such as pulled goat or lamb, pork tongue pastrami, barbacoa nachos, and mac ’n’ cheese–stuffed quail.”
• Red Ash: “Juicy boneless lamb steak is a winner with its meltingly tender texture, as is the large, prehistoric-looking marrow bone accompanied by a substantial wild mushroom risotto. “
• Old Thousand: “Gorgeously silken chicken and congee”
• Pitchfork Pretty: “Don’t miss the rustic hunk of buckwheat cornbread smeared with a dollop of miso-honey butter”
• Eldorado Cafe: “high-quality ingredients and elevated but approachable food that’s good, affordable, and not too fancy.“

THE BLOGS — South Austin Foodie had a pleasant experience at El Chipiron, Hungry Chronicles was impressed with Be More Pacific, and Foodie is the New Forty learned how to cook at Thai Fresh.

• Restaurant Review: Peruvian-Inspired Food Bus Serves Killa Brunch [Chronicle]
• All coverage of Killa Wasi [EATX]
• Austin’s Best New Restaurants of 2017 [Austin Monthly]
• Austin Monthly Names Its 9 Best New Restaurants of 2017 [EATX]