Flavors of the Month: Q1 2021

Austin restaurants and dishes are featured in my Flavors of the Month posts. Check out this post for recommendations on where to eat next!

Welcome back to the flavors of the month! At the end of last year, I decided to make this monthly series quarterly moving forward, so here’s the first installment for this year. I’m highlighting the best food and drink I had in January, February, and March. All of these are Austin locations, so I hope it inspires you to try something new!

Barbecue Lunch from Interstellar BBQ

I’ve heard a lot about this barbecue joint in North Austin, so we ordered some to-go. We got a sampling of their meats and my favorite was the peach tea glazed pork belly. So delicious!

Dessert from My Happy Place

I ordered special Lunar New Year cookies from this delivery-only bakery. The flavors: Matcha Butter, Chinese Almond, Black Sesame Shortbread, and Red Bean Pinwheel. They were all good, but the almond cookies were my favorite because I loved eating them as a kid!

Be Nourished Cookbook

We were given this cookbook for Christmas and it’s been fun trying the plant-focused recipes. The cookbook features plenty of vegetables, fresh ingredients, and dairy-free and gluten-free recipes. We’ve eaten the chocolate bark recipe every month and it’s so good!

So Many Pastries

The bloggers of Austin Food Blogger Alliance published our Annual City Guide, so I did a lot of research to update my posts. That meant eating a lot of cupcakes and pastries! Thai Fresh and Sour Duck Market were two of the places I visited. Here are all my posts in the guide:

Dinner from Asia Market

We enjoyed take-out from Asia Market one weekend. This spicy beef noodle soup was really good! We also got dumplings and salt and pepper shrimp. I loved the har gow (shrimp dumplings)! (If you’re looking for suggestions on dumplings in Austin, see this post!)

Brunch at The Bearded Baking Company (Complimentary)

Still Austin got a new food truck and it is delicious! It’s easily one of the best food trucks in Austin. What we got:

Southern Decadence – creamy grits, bacon jam, pimento cheese, poached egg, and CHICKEN-FRIED BACON
Ham, Egg, and Cheese Croissant
Rosie’s Pomme de Terre – Fried potatoes smothered in grilled pimento cheese, bacon lardons, and green onions
OG C4 Cookie – the gooeist chocolate chip cookie ever!
Cake of the Moment – Maple Carrot Cupcake

Don’t forget drinks! Still Austin has delicious brunch cocktails. This was the best bloody mary I’ve ever had!

Tacos at Paprika

There are so many taco shops in Austin, so I was glad to try another. This taco trailer was great! Order the quesitaco for that crispy griddled cheese.

Dessert from Mil Leches

I ordered this cookie and creme tres leches cake from Mil Leches and it is decadently delicious! Mil Leches is a pick-up/delivery company in Austin, so get your order in!

Breakfast from Cenote

I won a gift card to Cenote through a giveaway, so we enjoyed breakfast to-go one weekend. The breakfast burrito is huge and tasty. We also enjoyed chai lattes.

Lunch from Carabao Express

I’ve been trying to visit more restaurants in North Austin, and this Filipino restaurant opened this past fall. I got the chicken adobo with pancit noodles, banana turon, and pineapple dole whip. It’s a good addition in the area, especially with the large patio.

Dessert from Bom Bakeshop

I’ve loved Bom Bakeshop’s mochi donuts and was excited to try their mochi bubble waffle. Under all that whipped cream, fresh strawberries, fruity pebbles, and chocolate drizzle is the best mochi bubble waffle cone. Seriously! Best I’ve ever had. It’s crispy, chewy, and easily breaks apart.

Happy Hour with Frankly Organic Vodka (Complimentary)

Frankly Organic Vodka hosted a virtual happy hour with Austin Food Blogger Alliance and sent us each their sampler pack. We got to hear all about the brand from one of their co-founders. Here are 3 reasons why I’m a fan:

Organic. They put ingredient labels on their bottles so you know exactly what’s in them. (No artificial flavors or pesticides!)
Flavor. To develop their four fruit flavors, they started with juice and functional ingredient combinations. For example, their apple vodka is a mix of apple, ginger, lemon, and cayenne pepper. It sounds like a wellness drink because that’s how it started! They have five flavors: original, grapefruit, apple, pomegranate, and strawberry.
Philanthropy. They give 1% of revenue (not profit!) back to animal welfare organizations.