All posts by Peter Tsai

Austin, Uncategorized

Austin Foodies on Instagram

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How do you discover new restaurants in Austin?

I’ve got a secret to share.

Apart from reading Austin food blogs and talking to friends, I find out about new places and dishes in Austin through the photo sharing service Instagram. While Instagram wasn’t specifically created for sharing what’s good to eat, many Austin foodies use Instagram as a photo diary, which of course includes what they are eating!

Also, because Instagram lets users geotag their photos, clicking on the Geotag of a restaurant allows you easily find the location on a map and browse through many of the dishes at the same place. Hastags allow us to share photos with other users using that hashtags – I’m trying to get more people to use the #austinfood hashtag to better share dishes around Austin.

The following list includes Instagrammers with good taste in food, who help me find new restaurants or help me discover new dishes at restaurants I already love. Many of these folks are first on the scene when a new restaurant opens in Austin and make great recommendations through their pics:

supertsai – shameless plug for my account
austinfoodie
512foodie
atasteofkoko
misohungry
lkreynolds
gourmetfury
thenicolai
pesto88
chaninator
broylesa
subaustinite
polkadotsatx
thecanaryfiles
austinistfood

Finally, I’ve updated the Austin Chefs and Restaurants on Instagram post that I wrote a few months ago. On that list, you can now find:

pqui
eastsideking
whollycowburgers
ramentatsu_ya

If you have other Instagram accounts you want to share, let us know in the comments!

Happy Tasting,
Peter

Food, Reviews

Best Burgers in Austin (You’ve Never Heard Of)

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Austin has no shortage of quality hamburger joints, and what Texan doesn’t like a big beefy burger?

While most everyone knows about great Austin hamburger spots like P Terry’s, Hopdoddy, Mighty Fine, Counter Cafe, Black Sheep Lodge, & Burger Tex (many of which made the Texas Monthly list of the top 50 burgers in Texas), there are other great spots that are off most people’s radar.

Click here to learn about two hidden gems in Austin

Food

$20000 in Grants available to Austin Culinary Innovators

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Do you have a great Austin food idea?  Today we’d like to share some great news for aspiring Austin food entrepreneurs:

In order to make Austin an even cooler place to live, the Austin Food & Wine Alliance will award $20,000 in grants (one for $10,000 and two for $5,000 each) to individuals and culinary nonprofits who have unique ideas that will bring something new to the Austin food scene or enrich the local community. These grants are intended to encourage great ideas and to support local chefs, farmers, wine/beer/spirit makers, bartenders, artisan producers, or food related nonprofits in the Austin area.

Grant applications are available online now at austinfoodwinealliance.org/grants, and you can submit them until the October 19, 2012 deadline.  Winners will be picked by the end of November.

To apply, head over to the AFWA website for complete details or read the press release attached to the rest of this post:

Click here for the full AFWA press release…

Food

Austin Chefs & Restaurants on Instagram

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Instagram photo of raw oysters taken by @supertsai

We all know that a huge number of chefs, restaurants, and foodies have websites, blogs and Twitter accounts. Social media is an excellent platform for us to talk about and share pictures of the food we so love.

Instagram is a simple social media platform with an emphasis on a single photo per post. Instagram’s visual and instant nature makes it a perfect medium to show off what you are currently eating or cooking.

Click here to read more about Austin Food related Instagram accounts!

Food, Travel

Forget Chocolate Milk – Banana Milk Is Where It’s At

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I don’t remember the last time I had chocolate milk.  It’s too sweet, tastes more like powder mix than any good chocolate I’ve ever had, and drinking it out of  paper milk cartons ruins the entire experience. It used to taste good when I was 12, but it’s not suited for adult tastes.

Don’t even get me started on strawberry milk, that’s gross.

Just when I was about to turn my back on flavored milk altogether, I discovered something delicious on a recent trip to Korea… sweet banana flavored milk!

Why hasn’t anyone in the United States thought of this?

Click here to read more about Banana flavored milk!

Austin, Food, Photo, Reviews

5 New Restaurants in Austin, Texas – A Pictorial Roundup (May 25th, 2012)

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It’s a great time to live in Austin for foodies. It seems that every few days, a new restaurant is opening up somewhere in the city.  A couple of years ago it was easy to know about all of the restaurant openings around town, but now it’s almost impossible to keep up.

Now that Austin has become the place to move to for many (including entrepreneurs and restaurateurs) it feels like the city has hit a tipping point where the food scene is changing in profound ways as new flavors and cuisines are introduced.

Whether at a new sit down restaurant or trailer or food truck, Austinites have more food options than ever.

Click here to to read about 5 new restaurants for 2012 in Austin, Texas

Food, Recipes

Taiwanese Pork Rice Recipe ( 魯肉飯 / 滷肉飯 )

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Photo by Yohmi via Flickr

When I think about childhood, I immediately remember mom’s home cooking. When I think of comfort food, I don’t think of meatloaf and fried chicken like many other Americans – I think about Taiwanese street food. One of my favorites is a savory, flavor packed pork dish that’s quite simple to make at home.

Back in the motherland you can get Taiwanese pork rice (魯肉飯 / 滷肉飯 / lu rou fan) in any street market and in many Taiwanese style restaurants. I haven’t found it here in Austin, Texas so I have to make my own using mom’s recipe.

Click through to learn how to make Taiwanese pork rice

Austin, Food, Reviews

Austin Guide to Korean Food – Korean Restaurants in Austin

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Updated on Oct 22nd 2013 to include new places (Rockin Rice, Hanabi, Ichiban) and closures (Shilla).

For a city of its size, Austin is an unlikely destination for Korean food. However, when you consider that Samsung, the largest Korean company and one of the leading electronics manufacturers in the world, has a huge factory here that’s staffed by many Korean nationals, it comes as no surprise that there are an abundance of Korean businesses in Austin.

Korean food in Austin is located mostly in the central part of town on Lamar Blvd, although some markets and restaurants are located up north closer to Samsung (which is located on East Parmer Lane near I-35). There are a few Korean fusion restaurants and mobile food trucks downtown, but for the really authentic stuff you have to look north of 51st Street.

Click through to read the complete guide to Korean food in Austin

Austin, Uncategorized

Guide to Texas Hill Country Restaurants and Wineries

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Because Austin is smack in the middle of Texas, there are many destinations nearby for day trips or overnight visits. There’s something for you within a 1-2 hour drive, whether an outdoor adventure or a relaxing evening sipping wine at a bed and breakfast.

In this Texas Hill Country edition of the Austin Food Bloggers 2012 City Guide, we’re going to explore hidden gems to the West of Austin in the Texas Hill Country.

Click through to read about cool spots to visit in the Texas Hill Country

Field Trips, Photo

Texas Hill Country Adventure in Dripping Springs, Fredericksburg, and Driftwood + One Sweet Ride – Food Photo Friday

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I’ve you haven’t made a trip out to the Texas Hill Country, you should definitely go. Just an hour or so outside of Austin we have a wealth of natural beauty and cool small towns full of great restaurants, wineries, and B&Bs. I try to make it out to the Hill Country at least once a year to visit natural wonders like Enchanted Rock or Hamilton Pool and to enjoy some Texas wine and brews.

So, when Chevy Texan offered me the chance to drive a new Chevy Camaro out to the Hill Country as part of their Driving the Heartland campaign, I jumped on the opportunity (it’s hard to say no to a cool ride out to a fun place). This Food Photo Friday post highlights some of the best and tastiest parts of the trip which covered several cities and food related locations.

Click through to view all of the photos from my Texas Hill Country trip