I like adventures, food, and writing. Basically I’m waiting for the Travel Channel (or CNN) to pick me up as the female answer to Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. In the meantime, I’m loving living in one of the coolest cities ever – Austin, Tejas. And until I sign that TV deal, I’ll be here, conquering all that is epic and awesome about Austin culture, one taco at a time.
Just because it makes sense, I’m going to write about my most recent Austin adventure. And because I’m almost too excited to have a lead-in, I’m just going to say it: we went to Whip In and it was just delightful. We were really only looking for college-student friendly Indian, but what we found was not far from an Austin Disneyland. Just a stone’s throw away from I-35, the Whip In pretty much has it all: a rockin’ patio perfect for music, pop culture portraits of Gandhi and Obama side-by-side, a coffee AND wine bar, and a respectable, if not Texas-influenced Indian menu. “Indian Nachos,” Lamb Sliders, and a variety of rice bowls could all be had and devoured for under $10. Surely not the most authentic place in town, but they had Sriracha on hand so who really cares. And while my eggplant curry rice bowl hit the spot, the best part about Whip In was just how much darn fun it was to hang out there. Though the place was relatively busy, it wasn’t chaotic and the staff seemed a-okay with everyone hanging out for a bit. I’d come back any day for either the Indian, coffee, or music.
Our Indian adventure on I-35 was followed by food trailer discoveries on South First. Potassium-deficient and tickled pink by the name, we decided on Bananarchy for dessert. Revolutionizing what it means to think about frozen bananas, Bananarchy’s bananas come in 3 different kinds of dip – chocolate, vanilla, and peanut butter – and can bear a number of toppings from marshmallow to Heath bar. The trailer park was also having movie night, so I was able to nom on my oreo-ed vanilla banana while singing along to John Travolta in “Grease.”
‘Twas a wonderful first weekend back in Austin.
