Dinner: Asia Cafe (8650 Spicewood Springs Rd, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 336-8888‎). After our latest experience at Din Ho, we were very happy that Asia Cafe really was good. In fact, they were close to being great. It's certainly quite authentic (even more so than most of the Chinese restaurants we've dined at in the Bay Area) and they know how to cook. A few of the vegetable ingredients - kong xin cai (water spinach) and asparagus - were a bit old (the stalks had become tough from not being harvested early enough for them to be tender), but the flavors were spot on and the execution of the dishes were clearly Chinese (specifically Sichuan-style).
Dong Po Pork Elbow ($11.50) - a bone-in pork shank slowly cooked in spices. The sauce was flavorful and not so salty that you can't mix it with the pork as you shred it (sometimes the sauce can be too salty and the meat isn't flavorful enough on it's own so it's a balance as to how much sauce to put on without being overwhelmed - here, you just shred the pork, mix with the flavorful sauce, and eat). The skin is the best part with much of the fat rendered so it has a wonderful aroma, flavor, and chewiness (almost like you are eating gelatin instead of fat). So good.
Lunch: We grabbed sandwiches at Which Wich. I had the Wicked (five meats and three cheeses). It was pretty good, but I'll probably stick with sandwiches with a little less going on in the future.
Dinner: I pan-fried a boneless ribeye steak.
Dinner: For Tina's Birthday, we (her parents and the two of us) went to Din Ho Chinese BBQ (8557 Research Blvd # 116, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 832-8788‎). Having eaten the BBQ there before and not liking it, we didn't order any BBQ but instead tried a different set of dishes (except for the kong xin cai or water spinach - we need to eat veggies after all).
Kong xin cai (sauteed water spinach) - no problems here.
Dinner: Left over Thai food.
Lunch: I made Sloppy Joes. Didn't have any tomato paste (just realized that I don't have any canned tomato products - need to pick up some) so I had to use extra ketchup which left the sauce a little too acidic.
Dinner: Pork and cilantro won tons at Tina's parent's home. They used a different won ton skin which was no good - it fell apart while being boiled and was gummy and doughy. The brand was Wing Hing (from Los Angeles) and the product was Wonton Wraps. Maybe they weren't designed to be boiled (they mention steaming and frying). Whatever, avoid these.
Lunch: Roast beef, chicken breast, and bacon sandwich with a side salad. I also had a thick slice of Boar's Head Headcheese - good stuff.
Dinner: Leftover chicken and mushrooms, parsnip root, mustard greens with sausage over rice.
Lunch: Madam Mam's Fine Thai Cuisine (4514 West Gate Blvd, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 899-8525‎). The building is really pink.
Tod Mun Pla Grai - spicy fish cakes (ground fish mixed with Thai spices, magrood leaf and chopped green bean) served with sweet & sour cucumber sauce topped with ground peanut.
Dinner: T & N Cafe (6705 W Highway 290, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 899-9233‎). We were on our way to Costco, got hungry and stopped here. We started with a fried egg roll each.