ATX Cocina — Restaurant in Austin

It was a pleasure dining at their sister restaurant Bulevar Mexican Kitchen. When we were invited to a team get together at ATX Cocina, we jumped at the opportunity. We arrived a little early so we could post up to the bar and order a cocktail as my colleagues arrived. I enjoyed the 'House Margarita" if you would. I was at first wondering how it would be, since they were efficient in having it pre-made to make it easy to pour. Suffice to say, no worries. On point and the barkeep remembered not to put salt on the rim as requested. Seems as of lately, there is usually at 50/50 chance salt will be added when I ask for it not to be.

Our table was for 14 and tucked in the back of the restaurant to right of the entrance. We ordered up a plethora of their appetizers. Coctel de Campechana, Octopus/Shrimp, tomatoes and chili's were delightful and slightly charred. Hamachi, flavorful citrus, tiger milk, fresno puree notes worked well with the fresh fish. Tamal and Sopes were vegetarian apps and were delight with black beans, farm greens, yogurt and the such. Part of their Masa offerings.

We moved on to entree's and I couldn't resist jumping on the Lump Crab Meat stuffed Chile Relleno, with a red, spicy salsa. A generous helping of crab meat, lovely charred relleno. Delicious. We unfortunately had to leave at 9pm, so we missed the dessert opportunity, but from all counts, I'm sure the selections which we able were probably carefully prepared as the rest of the meal. I will say, that while at the bar we met a couple that worked at the Bulevar location, which says a lot for the fair.

The service and timing was done to a plomb. They staged the appetizers and explained them as they set them down and when those were almost done, the next wave came in on time. Once the orders for dinner were picked up, they also came out in a timely manner. I was able to snag another margarita, the Frida Kahlo, a creative blood orange margarita and I enjoyed a nice Chile Chardonnay while completing my dinner.

If we are downtown, we will be back. Perhaps sit at the bar and enjoy some of their happy hour taco's and rita's from 5-6pm. The restaurant is lively and conversations were hard to have, which is generally always the case when you are sitting in large table. No...

The last adventure in Austin was to ATX Cocina. ATX is a modern Mexican fare including seafood & mezcal & tequila cocktails anchor this upscale eatery.

We started with Tamal. This was served with acorn squash masa, seared calabacita, cilantro yogurt, farm greens and salsa macha. The masa had a sweetness and was exceptionally light, while the vegetables were tender with a crunch. The crema was flavorful, bright, and fresh and added a needed cooling note. The heat level of the dish was right up to the edge of being too spicy but did not go over.

Next, we tried Sopes. This dish had cochinita pibil, smoked beans, xni-pec, and salsa verde. The meat was dry and overcooked but offered good flavor. The smoked bean flavor comes through and builds the saltiness. The jalapeno and pickled onion provided a much-needed vinegar punch. The fried masa had a great crunch. The salsa verde gave the bite a citrus punch.

We decided to try the Queso Fundido. This dish had brisket, queso mixto, rajas, and pickled chili. The blue corn tortillas were fresh and full of great flavor. The brisket was juicy, tender, and full of flavor. The cheese melted wonderfully, giving good stretch and chew to the dish, while the pickled chilies and onions offered texture and a crunch. The sauce, possibly tomatillo, with the juice from the brisket adds the needed moisture and another level of flavor to the bite. My one knock is that the dish was very salty.

My wife and I split the Crab Relleno as our entrée. It was made with smoked honey cornbread stuffed Anaheim, jumbo lump blue crab, charred tomatillo sugo, and tamarind. My wife said it best. “Everything is light and delicate yet intense at the same time.” The butter-poached crab had just enough flavor to stand out with a light sweetness. The honey cornbread gave the dish texture and a punch in the mouth of sweetness. The pepper was tender but had a crunch, good chew and taste. The charred tomatillo was smokey, acidic, and slightly bitter to offset the sweetness. The tamarind was tangy and tart.

ATX Cocina serves beer and wine and has a full bar. The wait staff was pleasant and knowledgeable about their menu. ATX offers indoor and outdoor seating. The Fat Man says that ATX Cocina is Fat Man Approved...

So I'll start with the positives first. The telela was fire. If you've got eggplant enjoyers, then definitely get that. They're like Mexican samosas. The big glory bay salmon was good exactly medium rare as advertised and was fairly complete overall. The crispy leaks were primo. You get 7 corn tortillas, both regular and blue corn variants with your entree. But yeah, that's where the components end.

So the chips and guac were alright but honestly the guac was so uninspired. The chips themselves were fine. But I've had much better guac at like cheaper establishments.

The salmon was season lightly, which would not have been an issue if the server came back soon enough for me to ask for some salt. The tabblouleh definitely needed a bit more acid or salt.

Now for the worst thing on the menu, the taquitos de atún. 1. We were expecting them to be a bit bigger. They literally add the rocks to the presentation so you might not realize how little you get. If you combine every taquitos together, you might have 1.5 tacos, if I'm being generous. They also aren't consistent with how they make it. If you look at my picture 4 come without the spice mix on top and one did. That's because that one was dropped and they needed to bring a new one. So it's either something the servers do and they readily forget, or it's something the cooks do and they easily forget. I got a stomachache from them and my date got light-headed.

Oh yeah, outdoor setting is heated but the heater is really loud. The insane is pretty loud too, so not as atmospheric as you'd hope. Booking was pretty easy tho so W for that. But the inexperience of the service here palpable and inexcusable considering the...