Wholy Bagel

Wholy Bagel

I admit that I never felt like there was anything wrong with Einstein Bros. Bagels.  In fact, I love them!  I like how they're soft and remains so even after refrigeration.  Being more than satisfied with Einstein's, I never hankered for another bagel joint in Austin.  Almost all the bagels I've had in my life are too heavy, dry, and hard.

After reading the Austin Chronicle's 2011 Restaurant Poll, where Wholy Bagel was named best NY bagel, I decided to give the critics' pick a try.

My first impression was that there are pretty good selections of bagels and cream cheeses.  I'm a variety kind of gal, but I'm also a texture kind of gal.  Will Wholy Bagel be hard and dry like the horrendous kinds from supermarket bakeries or soft and pliable like Einstein's?

Bagels: Cherry, Blueberry, Egg, Garlic, Salt, Rye, Jalapeño Cheese, Sesame, Poppyseed, Everything, etc.

Cream Cheeses: Veggie, Garlic & Herb, Scallion, Spring Berry, Pimento, Blueberry, Strawberry, Choco Chip, Walnut Raisin, Sun-dried Tomato, Lox, and Jalapeño 

My breakfast companion and I shared a Taylor ham, American cheese, and fried egg sandwich on garlic bagel and a plain bagel with walnut raisin cream cheese.  I appreciated how much care was put into the bagel sandwich as demonstrated by freshly slicing the Taylor ham.  I don't know how much this adds to the overall taste, but it's nice to know that your food isn't being handled haphazardly.

Taylor ham, American cheese, and fried egg sandwich on garlic bagel

The end product?  The bagel sandwich was fantastic!  The bagel was definitely sturdier than Einstein's but not hard or dry.

Toasted plain bagel with walnut and raisin cream cheese

On the other hand, the toasted plain bagel with walnut and raisin cream cheese wasn't particularly interesting.  The cream cheese was surprisingly bland.  It was basically plain cream cheese with only a few raisins and almost no walnuts.

I bought half a dozen bagels and a tub of sun-dried tomato cream cheese home to see if I would still like these bagels after a day or two.  The bagels became harder and drier day-by-day and the cream cheese still tasted dull.

I strongly recommend ordering the bagel breakfast sandwich at Wholy Bagel, but I think I'll stick with Einstein's for bagels and cream cheese to-go.

Bountiful Bakery and Cafe

While pondering where to go for lunch at work, Amanda suggested a cute sandwich shop with a cause. The family that runs this local bakery once lost their daughter, Libbie, to cancer. A portion of the bakery's net profits goes to the Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation to help children with cancer.

Once we arrived at Bountiful, we both cooed at the country home, girl's fantasy pink decor. It's definitely a nice sanctuary away from the dull grays of the office. I guess others felt the same way too as the place was packed. Hours before coming for lunch, Chaille and I had consulted the menu online. I had my heart set on the Mango Jack Quesadilla and Chaille ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad.

Pink Case of Baked Goods; Chaille

Chicken Caesar Salad

Mango Jack Quesadilla

The Mango Jack Quesadilla was quite tasty. The mango and the jack cheese made a mouthwatering savory-sweet combination of flavors, but the quesadilla lacked body, which could be solved with some chicken meat, and so the overall effect was floppy and drippy.

I think I'll come back for the fried green tomato and bacon grilled cheese sandwich on my next visit.

We both ended our meal with a sweet treat. It was definitely sad heading back to the office after such spoiling.

Decorated Sugar Cookie

Casa Maria for Machacado con Huevo and El Pastor Taqueria for Al Pastor

My friend, Rachel, mentioned to me a while back that if a Mexican restaurant has its own Panaderia, then it should be good. I took heed of her advice, and haven't failed with Mi Tierra in San Antonio and Casa Maria here in Austin.

Casa Maria Restaurant y Panaderia

I've only visited Casa Maria for their breakfast tacos and pastries. The pastries come fresh out of the ovens every morning. The pineapple pastries are my favorite.

Casa Maria Panaderia; fruit filled pastries

I just can't pry myself away from their Machacado con Huevo breakfast taco. Whenever I come here, I always end up ordering that even during lunch hours (they serve breakfast tacos all day). I tried the Al Pastor, and quickly reverted back to the machacado. The al pastor lacked the pineapple flavor essential to al pastor. The tortillas are the softest and fluffiest I've had in Austin.

Casa Maria: Machacado con Huevo Breakfast Taco; Al Pastor

For a way better al pastor, stop by the El Pastor Taqueria taco stand on Riverside. Yes, the strip mall looks scary and deserted at times, but ignore the atmosphere and go straight to the window for the 5 for $5 al pastors during lunch hours. This is a good place to whip out your Spanish...I made a fool of myself by ordering in Spanish...how hard could it be? "dos al pastors con tortilla de harina." But when asked if I wanted cebollas (onions), I said "oui." Nice.

Oh make sure you get the creamy, spicy, green sauce for your al pastor.

EL Pastor Taqueria Taco Stand on Riverside

Al Pastor

Buenos Aires Bakery-Miami Beach

If you can't tell by now, I love bread and pastries. I love them for their diversity. Miami has a multitude of bakeries-Cuban, French, Continental, and Argentine. Buenos Aires Bakery is a huge bakery with lots to choose from. I bought some for breakfast, and came back the next day for small sandwiches to-go for the drive from Miami to the airport in Fort Lauderdale. The pastries are delicious but once you heat them up, they become very greasy. The sandwiches are stupendously simple, and it boggles my mind how they taste better than my homemade sandwiches. I use fancier ingredients!

Buenos Aires Bakery

Ham and Cheese on sweet croissant-like pastry and Ham and Cheese on wheat bread

Casa Potin: Dulceria, Panaderia, y Cafeteria

On our way back to Miami from the Everglades, we passed by a ton of Cuban bakeries. It was already 1PM and Versailles was still further down the road, seeing how Tamiami Trail has not yet turned into Calle Ocho. We picked out a bakery randomly for a before lunch snack.

I felt ashamed that my high school Spanish has long gone down the drain when the lady behind the counter looked at me incredulously and said, "¿No hables español?" I resorted to saying "uno capuchino" and then using the univeresal language of pointing for ordering the croissant-looking pastry that lacked signage.

The capuchino has nothing to do with cappuccino flavoring. It's sort of like a rum baba but with a lighter cake batter. It's very sweet, but not bad.

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Capuchino

The warm croissant-like pastry has a thinly sugar coated exterior with a cream cheese filling. I would have never thought this combination would taste good together; this was a very pleasant surprise.

Flakey pastry filled with cream cheese

I highly recommend exploring the bakeries on Calle Ocho/Tamiami Trail.

Munchies Around Key West

Besides our big paella lunch, our one day in Key West was filled with other food stuffs. We got to Key West around 10AM and headed for Cole's Peace for mango bread. I heard it's good stuff, and indeed it is.

Cole's Peace

I love how Cole's Peace keeps its bread and pastries healthy and low on sugar. The mango bread maintains the natural sweet-tartness of the mango without the help of other flavor enhancing additives. The bread itself is soft but chewy. Simple and delicious. This loaf was our breakfast for 2 days.

Mango Bread

When I saw the 2 mango raspberry pastry left behind the counter, I quickly snatched it before another customer could claim it. This was the best pastry dough...yes, better than the pastry dough of the gazillion pastries I've had in Paris. The puffy, flakey mango raspberry pastries left no trace of grease! The paper bag was pristine save for the powdered sugar. I don't know how they manage to make such light, airy, flakey, non-greasy puffs of dough. Again, the bakers at Cole's Peace allowed the fruits' natural sweetness and tartness to come through. No need to mask the taste of fresh ingredients.

Mango Raspberry Pastries

Before my parasailing trip in the late afternoon, I made sure to stop for the supposedly best key lime pie in Key West. I know key lime pies are tart--tarter than most desserts, but the pie served at Blond Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory made me wince with each bite. I definitely didn't want seconds.

Blond Giraffe-Key Lime Pie

Seeing how conch fritters are on the menu at all the restaurants in Key West, I couldn't leave the island without trying one. I highly recommend getting these fritters in Mallory Square during the sunset festivities. I was sweating non-stop throughout the day, so I went for the unsweetened key lime iced tea even after the abuse from the key lime pie earlier. This was utterly refreshing and non-threateningly sour. Just the way I like my citrus.

Mallory Square Conch Fritters Stand and Key Lime Iced Tea

The conch fritters were so good. Each fritter contained one chunk of conch, which tasted like clam meat. The batter was not heavy and greasy, contrary to its appearance. They paired well with the cocktail sauce and spicy mustard cream sauce. I would've ordered seconds if it weren't for my leftover paella.

Conch Fritters with Cocktail and Spicy Mustard Cream Sauces