Tuesdays with TT: Austin: Perla’s

Over the past couple of months I have become quite the food blogger. I or (CT) bring a camera to every restaurant we go to. Since Yvo has been busy with school, I am stepping up and will now have a weekly column, Tuesdays with TT. Bon Appetit!

A couple of month’s ago, my Dad invited me to go with him and my Mom down to Austin to visit my sister, M. I visited M in Austin about a year ago and had a great time. It is a very unique place that I like to describe as Brooklyn, but hotter(hipsters are everywhere). Who am I to turn down a free trip?

Once we got our bags and met M, we were all quite hungry. M suggested a new seafood place called Perlas’ that one of her friends works at. Unfortunately, her friend wasn’t working that night so no freebies for us. The restaurant has a large porch area in the front overlooking S. Congress(one of the main drags in Austin) that was pretty busy. Since we were with the parents, we ate inside, since they love their a/c. There were only a couple tables full inside as most people prefer to eat outside.

My Dad must have been extra hungry because he asked the waiter about bread when we didn’t receive any with our drinks and waters. Apparently, they don’t do bread service, but mentioned that some people order hush puppies to nosh on. Of course we got an order.

Since I have lived in the Northeast my entire life, I have not had many hush puppies in my life. These were pretty good. Nice and light without being too greasy from the fryer.

They have a great listing of appetizers so it was pretty difficult to choose. I decided to split two appetizers with my Dad, while M and my Mom split a salad.

I started with the Grilled Octopus, Papas Bravas, Capers, and Herbs.

I love octopus and usually order it any place I go to. It was nice and tender with a good char from the grill.

I got my Dad to order the Wood-Grilled Gulf Oysters, Mignonette Butter, House Bacon, and Breadcrumbs.

The oysters did not have an oily taste to them, which was good. 😛 They were quite good and we ended up getting an extra oyster since one of them were “twins.”

M and Mom split the Roasted Beet, Orange and Endive Salad with Fourme d’Ambert cheese, Pistachios, and Honey.

I had a couple bites and it was quite a refreshing salad. The blue cheese was a little strong, but perfect if you are into that.

For my main, I went with the seared ahi tuna. Since the restaurants prides itself on changing its menu daily based on what fish they get it, I can’t remember what else came with it except some white beans and greens. It had been a while since I had seared tuna and it was quite delicious.

M wasn’t that hungry so she went with one of the smaller dishes and chose the Beer Battered Fried Alaskan Cod.

It came as two large fillets, fried nicely with a grilled lemon and small herb salad. M was quite happy with her selection.

According to our waiter, the most popular dish is the Crispy Red Snapper, so my Dad went with that.

It came a lemon spinach and spicy sofrito. I did not hear any complaints from him.

Mom went with the Oak Grilled Salmon. Apologies again for not writing down what came with it.

All in all it was a nice meal for our first night in Austin. We decided to skip dessert and get ice cream on the way home(more to come on that later). I just found it a little ironic that a city full of hippies that tries to be super green has a new restaurant like this. Cod flown in from Alaska, Salmon from Scotland, etc. It is also one of the more expensive options in town and much closer to NYC prices, which is expected due to the high food costs. I heard from my sister that a couple days after we went her friend ending up serving the Coen Brothers. The Dude Abides!