Tuesday, 6/15/10 - Boardwalk Bistro

Date: 6/15/10
Restaurant: Boardwalk Bistro
Location: 4011 Broadway, next to the Witte Museum, in the same Boardwalk on Broadway that includes our beloved Tre Trattoria as well as Koi Kawa
Executive Chef: Russell Atkinson/David Yokuty

Taking a week off for a trip to Dallas, our return back to San Antonio couldn't have been more inviting. We're back to our new favorite cluster of restaurants, right next door to Tre and the Witte Museum (speaking of which, if you're in the area, you might want to check out their Dinosaur Exhibit. It's not huge, but some neat animatronics combined with mind-blowing recent discoveries that even a dinosaur-happy brother and husband didn't prepare me for!).

Where was I?


Oh yes. Boardwalk Bistro.


The inside. We were greeted by the proprietress/sommelier herself, a gracious hostess. Surprisingly uncrowded, although we arrived almost simultaneously with three other parties. (The wait was quite reasonable despite this conglomeration of customers.)


I love this ancient menu! So neat. Mediterranean in decor and menu influence, we had our choices of many types of tapas, lots of seafood, and amazing, in-house-created desserts. In addition, Boardwalk Bistro has a very reasonable 4 or 5 course "tasting" menu at $30/$34 respectively. The only fault with the tasting menu I had was the limited entree selection (only 4 choices!); other than that, it's a great deal for trying a lot of yummies.


Heeheehee! Isn't that just the cutest plate ever?

On to the food! I opted for the 5 course tasting menu, which includes an appetizer, a soup, a salad, one of the 4 entrees, and a dessert.


My appetizer, really more of an amuse-bouche for as small as it is. Artichoke hearts wrapped in serrano ham on a little baguette. Delicious, tangy and savory at the same time--but ordering a la carte, $8 seems a little steep for two yummy bites.


This was the defining moment when I realized I was in the presence of culinary greatness. "Beef stew" doesn't even begin to cover the richness and complexity and just drool-worthy yummy that this bowl contained. The veggies still had a bit of crunch, the beef tender, the broth unbelievably savory. I would live in this soup.

We were served a basket of delicious, buttery brioche as well, the absolute perfect vessel for sopping up bite after bite of soup.


This salad definitely took us back down from cloud 9, despite its pretty presentation in the Susur Lee bowl (hopefully someone besides Mom will get the reference). The blandest Caesar salad I've ever had, I couldn't taste anything but a bit of oil. Very disappointing.


My salad, including goat cheese, a port vinaigrette and a yummy crostini. Considerably better than the Caesar.


The entrees arrive! Mine was the crabcake, which came recommended via online reviews. It's served with a mango relish, avocado, citrus beurre blanc and greens in more citrus vinaigrette. The sweet and creamy salsas and sauces sort of overwhelmed the crab for my taste, but I still enjoyed this. That is, until I tried Tavis's entree and the world changed again.


Pan-seared pork chop. Stilton sauce, stuffing, side of risotto. If the photo is blurry, it's just because I'm weeping for joy at the flavors of this dish.

You MIGHT be a velociraptor if you...
*can't even finish your entree because it feels like cheating on the pork chop
*steal your husband's pork chop bone and gnaw it shamelessly in a fairly classy restaurant
*kiss your husband after dinner in hopes of catching one more taste of pork chop

Needless to say, I recommend the pork chop.


Our final taste of the night, a very yummy, tangy and sweet NY Cheesecake. Their desserts change here all the time, so I'd recommend stopping in often to see what's new. If they're all of this caliber, I doubt you'll go wrong.

Returnability: oh my gosh YES! The service and timing was excellent, the menu has so many unexplored options, including lamb and duck in many different presentations, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of their dessert menu. But I must say, it will be incredibly hard to keep from ODing on beef stew and pork chops. Such a difficult life I lead. :)

Tuesday, 3/30/10 - Koi Kawa

Date: 3/30/10
Restaurant: Koi Kawa
Location: 4051 Broadway St, in the same Boardwalk on Broadway shopping square that Tre Trattoria is in, right next to the Witte Museum.
Executive Chef: Unknown

Koi Kawa is the Japanese restaurant that my International Class visited for one of our field trips. It really surprised me how many of my culinary classmates had never eaten sushi or sashimi before! Even in San Antonio, there are at least 5 good sushi restaurants, and it is pretty trendy. It was perhaps even more fun visiting Koi Kawa with them because they were so new to the experience, watching their reactions from polite confusion to unexpected delight.

Koi Kawa is tucked away just behind Tre. Again, parking is somewhat tricky. However, as you approach the entrance, you're rewarded with this view:


And then you turn back around and you're here:

And then you go in.


Minimal decor, very bare-bones.

(To clarify: there shouldn't be any bones in your food).

We each ordered something over the phone before departing so it would be ready when we arrived. Chef Sanchez ordered about 7 rolls on and off the menu for us to pass and try. Most of them were absolutely demolished before they got to me, so I only grabbed a couple shots. Really, sushi is such an individual preference. I highly recommend the dragon roll and the Spicy Sara roll. Other than that, the sky is the limit!





Examples of a couple of rolls in their glory, before we fell on them brandishing our chopsticks like starving Asian hoodlums.

If you aren't big into sushi rolls, Koi Kawa has other options including "bento boxes," lunch trays filled with an assortment of food for a really reasonable price. They have sushi or sashimi bento but you can get them with katsu, which is basically chicken fried pork or chicken, or teriyaki chicken or tofu. Great options, amazing value.

Here's a teriyaki bento.


It even comes with deep-fried bananas drizzled in chocolate! How thoughtful.


I can't even remember what this little bowl of goodies was, and sadly Koi doesn't have a website or online menu. Looks very fresh and tasty though!


My assortment of food. From left clockwise: flying fish egg sushi, which is just fun for the color and the texture as they pop in your mouth; freshwater eel sushi, my most favorite ever; gyoza, tasty pork potstickers; and unfortunately dry and unflavorful yakitori, which you may remember from earlier in my blog when we were in Japan. This was a far cry from that delicious pub grub, sadly. However, the sole lacking flavor in an excellent meal.

Returnability: high! I enjoyed this restaurant at least as much as I have the other San Antonio sushi spots I've tried, including Goro, Godai and Sushi Zushi. The price is beyond fair, the waitstaff attentive and helpful, the quality of fish was good (by San Antonio standards, as if you still need the disclaimer) and it's right next door to Tre if you should happen to have room for a Nutella X3 after your healthy fish meal. Mwa ha ha!

Tuesday, 3/16/10 - Tre Trattoria

Date: 3/16/10
Restaurant: Tre Trattoria
Location: 4003 Broadway, in the uber-chic Alamo Heights part of town, right next to the Witte Museum WHICH HAS A DINOSAUR EXHIBIT ZOMG.
Executive Chef: "Hi, I'm Chef Jason Dady. You may remember me from such other San Antonio restaurants as Bin 555, The Lodge of Castle Hills, Insignia, and Two Bros BBQ!" To be fair I haven't reviewed any of those others yet, but oh boy am I gonna.

It's a two-fer Tuesday! We kicked off in style at Tre, which I selected because it has a delicious-looking and really reasonably priced lunch option, 3 courses for $20. This includes your choice of salad, your choice of homemade pasta, and their signature dessert.

But I get ahead of myself.


Tre as it is seen by the outside world. Tavis as he ought not be seen by the outside world.

If I had panned more to the left (as maybe I should've), you would see the Witte Museum. If I had panned more to the right, you'd find at least 3 of the other 52 restaurants all in this same Boardwalk area. Good eats run in packs, apparently.


Check out that focal piece! BaDOW!


Impressions of the decor: neat, unique without being kitchy, really comfortable seating--and way too empty! This place should've been considerably more packed for how nice it is and how busy the Witte was at the time. For shame, Antonians, come get your eat on! (Maybe pass on getting your delicious-but-super-overpriced Bellini on, though.)

Our waiter Nick, who by the way was awesome, rattled off the day's specials and recommendations. Tavis opted for the 3 course; I chose the chef's daily panini. More on that in a minute.

We first had to work our way through...
...wait for it...

BOOM, baby! What a healthy blob of cheesy goodness. I almost want to smack it on the bottom and give it a name.

We just ate it instead.

Side note: this wasn't on the regular lunch menu but Nick the Awesome asked them to make it for us anyway. It IS available for dinner though, and will probably go out to movies with you afterward if you ask real nice.

Side note more relevant: while oily, salty and delicious, I think the flavor of Dough's cheese bar was more remarkable. The bread really stole the scene here, grilled in what was probably a combination of oil and bacon fat by the rich amazing flavor. I think if I ordered cheese again--they had other options, including Parm and Pecorino Romano--I would order some of their house-made cured meats as well. That would be fabulous.


Oh Bellinis. You are so tasty. But you are also $12 a pop. No one should have to make that choice.


Tavis's salad, greens in red wine vinaigrette. It was exactly as it sounded, no frills or other ingredients. Snooze. Also, I bit into a peppercorn and had to down half of the Bellini in desperation.


My daily panini, a play on a BLT. It was comprised of bacon, arugula, tomato, smoked cheddar and some of their salami. Tasty, though I would've preferred more filling to the amount of bread. Their salami really shone through, terrific flavor that I would eat all day if it were readily available. My salad was the same as Tavis's, so I mostly ignored it.


If my panini was a take on a BLT, Tavis's Pappardelle and Bolognese was in essence a seriously jazzed-up Hamburger Helper. It was an unfortunate resemblance that really doesn't do the Pappardelle justice. I adored it--sweet yet spicy, hearty, cheesy. I would've gobbled his up in an instant. It was just a tad spicy for Tavis so he didn't enjoy it as much as I did. Such a shame.

There are about 7 options for pasta if you also share Tavis's aversion to heat, and I would definitely try them all.

Here's an example of how Nick the Awesome is Awesome. We were waiting for our entrees, no great impatience--it seemed like a reasonable amount of time had passed--and Nick stopped by our table and said, "Hey, I went and gave dirty looks to the guys in the kitchen to speed it up with your entrees. They should be right out, but for making yall wait, the manager is going to go ahead and buy your dessert for you." Um, sweet?


Ohhhh yeah, sweet. This is their seasonal crostada, currently filled with red plums and served with a caramel chantilly (whipped cream). I was in heaven. This was one of the best desserts I've ever had. The pie crust was buttery and flaky, the plums juicy and tender, the chantilly the perfect creamy contrast. I sent my appreciation to their pastry people in the back.

And then there's their signature dessert, Nutella X3. You know with a name like that, it's gonna be good. (Unless you're one of the bizarre people in the world *cough*MOM*cough* who don't like Nutella, in which case go back and ogle my crostada again.)


Dense, fudgey Nutella cake covered in Nutella sauce, with a crenelle of Nutella mousse alongside. Holy hazelnut, this was a stunner. And soon there was nothing left on the plate to show it had even been there in the first place.

Returnability: high! I enjoyed everything a little bit more than Tavis for some reason, but there were enough options on the menu that I'm sure I could wheedle him back to try something new. The service was spot-on--thanks, Nick the Awesome!--and the price was very fair unless you indulge in bar treats. Go see the dinosaurs at the Witte and stop in for dessert. You'll thank me.