A Taste of Austin Part 2: Tacos And New American

After my robust BBQ ribs, I was not hungry at all yesterday.

That didn’t stop me from eating.

My lunch stop was Veracruz All Natural Tacos, oddly situated as a food truck out in a residential district. Apparently they have 3 or 4 locations of these food trucks scattered throughout Austin.

It’s a weird set up and you can only order through QR code right now for a really impersonal experience, but we’re here more for the food more than for anything else. I tried 3 of their four taco types: Chicken, Beef and Pulled Pork, while I did not get their fish taco. They give you lots of options, flour or corn tortillas, add cheese, avocado, extra hot sauce, and more, it’s a very customizable experience. I went with adding cheese and avocado to each taco, though the avocado might have proved unnecessary after the first I ate.

The chicken is fine, the most bland of the three, but still a nice flavor. Beef steps it up a notch with a hint of spiciness which works really well, but where it absolutely shines is the pork. They were the tastiest tacos I’ve ever eaten. The seasonings are strange and not exactly what you’d expect, the pork very savory and they actually put some pineapple in there with it which makes for a bit of a contrast.

10/10 for tacos. If you can get yourself some of these, I highly recommend it.

Dinnertime we went to a small New American restaurant that’s set up like a hipster-ash diner, also in a residential neighborhood. It’s an odd little set up but worked really well, and is called Launderette.

The restaurant has quite an assortment of plates from a burger and hangar steak, to a half chicken, and some odd seafood selections like a whole fish bass, grilled octopus, and Bass Crudo.

Since I was so heavy on meats for lunch and for dinner the day before I went hard on the seafood here for a lighter experience.

The octopus was very tender, more than most I’ve eaten, with a black bean and arugula base, it tasted very excellent. The Crudo was the highlight of what I ate, very light but with a hint of spiciness, lot of lime within the sauce. I also tried their buratta, which they paired with a jam and some peaches for a sweeter experience. All the dishes were really well done, fresh, different.

On the cocktail end they have one called “On Vacation” which pairs vodka with watermelon juice, lime juice, and Serrano around the edge of the cup to give a peppery contrast to the fresh fruit flavors. These went down like water, and I’ll probably start making these at home.