Austin Monthly Questions Whether Guild Is Truly a Neighborhood Seafood Restaurant

Jolène M. Bouchon reviewed seafood-focused Guild for Austin Monthly this week. She found the dinner menu “walk[ed] the line between formality and comfort,” which seemed to ring true for the restaurant as a whole.

While seafood was the focus, Bouchon noted that “vegetables serving in supporting roles.” She found quality offerings from the raw bar, with the oyster sabayon proving to be the standout dish:

The savory sabayon, a French custard-like froth (not to be confused with foam), is made with dashi and green Szechuan peppercorns. In it are nestled ginger-poached oysters, gingered apples, and petite dollops of bone-marrow yogurt, punctuated by peppery, vibrant green rounds of nasturtium leaves.

She also praised the desserts, like a “crisp and ethereal“ cream-filled cardamom pavlova with citrus ice.

Bouchon did find that some dishes “fell flat“ due to certain elements (a statement echoed much more strongly by Statesman critic Matthew Odam), like a “supple and luxe” trout dish “muddied” by the addition of beets. However, she said this didn’t affect her overall positive outlook on the menu.

The service, on the other hand, was less than stellar for Bouchon. She did note that while Guild hopes to be a comfortable restaurant — an aspiration aided by shuffleboard courts on the patio — its high prices seem to indicate otherwise.

In another Austin Monthly review, Megan Kimble stopped by east side Italian restaurant Il Brutto. She found the menu somewhat daunting, as she was unfamiliar with some Italian terms, and after mistaking prosciutto cotto for turkey, still deemed it “better for a sandwich than a charcuterie board.”

The meal improved from there, with Kimble highlighting ”deliciously simple” crostini and a “refreshing” roasted beet salad. Entrees were also a positive experience:

Swayed by the promise of shiitake mushrooms in butter, we ordered the pici pasta — a thick hand-rolled noodle — which was toothsome, flavorful, and very cheesy. The highlight of the meal was the perfectly cooked red snapper, flaky and served over a butternut squash puree with cherry tomatoes, taggiasche olives, and fava beans.

Kimble closed the meal with a chocolate caprese torte, which she imagines will “sway even the most reticent sweet tooth.”

ON THE BLOGS: ATX Eats and Treats tried the unique bar bites at Academia, with the plancha-crisped blue crab cake a favorite. So Much Life Blog found “refreshingly light” dishes at The Brewer’s Table.

• Restaurant Review: Guild [Austin Monthly]
• All Coverage of Guild [EATX]
• Restaurant Review: Il Brutto [Austin Monthly]
• All Coverage of Il Brutto [EATX]