Austin FroYo Smackdown II: Mambo Berry and Yogurt Planet

Prompted by Peter from Foodingblog, who did a similar Austin FroYo review, we managed to take in the other two main Austin FroYo locations this past week and now happily present the results.

First, I’m not going to include Mambo Berry in a true smackdown.  Why?  Because Mambo Berry automatically wins and loses.  It wins in terms of yogurt quality–awesome stuff.  And it has incredibly nice people working there, they had a nice promotion on Twitter for 2 free toppings yesterday when we tried them, and they have some creative toppings (I had chocolate chips and Cap’n Crunch on mine–and it included Crunch Berries, which all Cap’n Crunch connoisseurs will agree is necessary).  And to top it all off, it’s quintessential Austin foodie by virtue of its S. Congress food trailer park location (1600 S. Congress, if you don’t know).  So in one ways it’s a complete winner.

But here’s the thing–I’m not a frozen yogurt snob, I’m more of a junkie.  Meaning I prefer variety over quality, especially when it’s all about the same price.  So Mambo Berry just can’t compete with only two flavors and about 20 toppings, even though the flavors rock (basic tart and green tea were on last night) and the toppings were fun.  Other players have 6 or more times the yogurts and 2 or more times as many toppings.  So it just isn’t fair to compare.  Mambo Berry is quintessential Austin FroYo and in a class of its own.  The other places are more likely to meet a particular craving, so we’ll continue the smackdown to pick a winner.

So for this second true Smackdown, we’ll put our current champ, The Yogurt Spot, against the newcomer, Yogurt Planet.  Gentlemen, to your corners.

Location: Yogurt Planet

The rookie comes out swinging by easily taking the location category.  YP is a bit north of campus in the Triangle, but it takes about the same to get there from Mopac (because no true Austinite takes I-35).  But YP wins hands down because of the ample parking.  And not just in a nearby garage like Swirll, I’m talking actual parking right outside the door.  So YP takes the first category, but we’ll see if it’s a repeat of the first Smackdown where the losing shop only won the first category (oh, am I foreshadowing?).

Yogurt: The Yogurt Spot

Like I’ve said, these places are about variety and TYS wins this one.  In raw numbers of flavors, the two are close.  YP has 12, TYS has slightly more (I believe 16, but it’s usually 14 when I’m there).  And YP does some excellent placement so you get some great true swirl combinations like Chocolate Mint with Cake Batter or Cookies ‘and Cream with Pomengranate.  But YP loses overall because of an almost total lack of tart flavors.  They had plenty of sweet fruit flavors and some good savory ones like chocolate and cheesecake.  But no tart.  Unacceptable, especially in this record heat–tart was made for frozen desserts, duh!

Toppings: The Yogurt Spot

This one was easy.  TYS has more toppings hands-down.  And the granola at YP was really weird.  It was like the took a big bag of the really good granola then picked out all the good stuff, leaving just the granola-ish flakes in a bin with a spoon.  Blech.

Decor/Ambience: The Yogurt Spot

Another easy one.  YP is closer to Swirll in total package–loud trendy music, trendier tables and chairs.  But by trendy, I mean bad.  The tables are cool–smooth white stones encased in lucite.  But on each table is a really uncomfortable chair.  Or a long row of what looks like comfortable 50′s-style booth benches–but the moment you sit down you find out the seat part of the bench is about 6 inches too short, a situation made even worse by the overstuffed, non-flexible back that forces you to impersonate the number 7 in calligraphy in order to remain seated and eat your yogurt.

Besh Factor: Unknown

Besher has been kidnapped by his grandparents and I’m unsure of his return date, but given that TYS is already up 3-1, this one’s moot.

Overall Winner: The Yogurt Spot 3-1

Congrats to the reigning champ!  But watch your back if Mambo Berry ever expands.

La Condesa: Attitude, Great Drinks, and Corn Mold

Saturday night Sara and I were able to take in La Condesa with two of our cooler Austin couple friends.  After seeing their menu online, I was looking forward to it–not only do they have a separate drinks/cocktails menu on the web site, but they also have a Ceviche category in their main menu.  Not a single dish, a category.  Cocktails and ceviche–I’m in.  While I enjoyed the food, it did come with an unhealthy serving of attitude that may make it unlikely we return, at least during the weekend.

Six people dining can be a tricky experience.  Most restaurants are equipped for four-tops (that’s fancy restaurant talk for four people) so anything beyond that requires some creative table arranging.  Totally understandable and not an easy accomplishment when a place is busy.  So I wasn’t too surprised that their online reservation system only took reservations for 4.  Made the reservation, but the only time available was 6:30pm.  Our group was meeting at 7pm, but I figured if Sara and I sat down early and started ordering appetizers (did I mention they had ceviche?) then we’d be fine.  But when the restaurant called to confirm the reservation, I asked if we could bump it to 6 people.  The woman looked at the book and said since we were coming in at 6:30 she could manage.  Gulp.  I said thanks, then hung up.

Then I had Sara call a few hours later to see if we could get our 6:30 reservation changed to 7.  She did her best bat-her-eyelash-working-the-mojo voice and the (different) person on the phone said he could do it–but they were really busy so we would have to leave the table by 8:30.  Okay, that’s a bit weird asking people to leave by a certain time, but I gave them some slack since we’d changed a 4-top at 6:30 to a 6-top at 7.  I also figured once they saw the amount of food and drinks we were consuming, they wouldn’t kick us out.

When we arrived at the restaurant we were the first couple, so we checked in.  The hostess said we could only be seated when the party was complete, which we thought was an odd policy given the tables weren’t full.  But we waited and a few minutes later the entire group was there so we could be seated.  But right in front of us, two people were taken to their table of 4 where the other 2 had already been seated.  Ummm…ok.  We’re all led to our table and it’s a 6 person table.  So now I’m confused on their inconsistent policy and that they don’t technically allow 6-person reservations when they have 6-people tables.

But enough of the attitude issues, let’s talk food/drink.  First, drinks were outstanding.  I had a passion fruit and mango margarita on the waiter’s recommendation.  The other two guys had the classic margarita.  The two pregnant ladies (Sara and one other woman) had non-alcoholic beer and one of their many fruit-laden fizzy waters which looked pretty good.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their drinks enough to have a second and possibly third or fourth rounds (seriously, who keeps track after 2?).

We ordered a number of appetizers to share.  We went with the trout ceviche on the waiter’s recommendation–it was one of the newer style ceviches as he explained, which means it looks like sashimi with some other chopped ingredients on top.  But it was awesome.  We also had the crab tostados–three small crispy corn circles piled (seriously, PILED) high with super sweet and not fishy crab.  We had an order of the toasted almond and chipotle guacamole (they have four kinds of guac, another plus) and it had a really nice kick to it.  It was also served with four types of salsa, none of them your traditional red salsa, that ranged from non-spicy vinagrette to a pleasantly hot green mixture and two in between.

One of the special appetizers was a large oval of crispy tortilla with beans and what was described as “mushrooms that grow on corn.”  I’m pretty sure that’s fancy talk for corn mold–but we’d already had a few drinks so of course we were ordering the corn mold.  Either the beans overpowered the corn mold or corn mold tastes a lot like black beans.  Either way, not horrible.

And after seeing some others order it the three men at the table partook of the roasted bone marrow taquitos.  Three bone segments were served with a narrow spoon to put the marrow on a small floppy tortilla along with an incredible spiced bacon mixture.  First time I’ve had marrow–the texture was like a slightly more gelatenous foie gras, but not as flavorful.  Worth trying, but not my thing–although the bacon mixture was pretty awesome.

After all the appetizers and a few more drinks, we pressed on for main courses.  Sara had the chile relleno, the others had a carnitas plate (pork belly and bacon).  I was tempted by the carnitas as well as another ceviche (or three–did I mention how much I love ceviche?) but ultimately went with one of the specials since I wasn’t sure if it would be on the menu if we ever came back.  The special: veal tongue salad with greens and a quail egg.  It was actually pretty awesome–mild flavor and the texture of a good sausage.  Not tough like you would expect and went really well with the greens and egg.  There was also a very salty cracker or three to accompany the dish and putting all four tastes together was outstanding.

By the time the check rolled around it was getting close to 9.  Yes, I took a perverse pleasure in each minute we were there past 8:30.  But it was a small happiness given there were several open tables.  So either they had a lot of last minute cancellations or all the reservation attitude was entirely uncalled for.  Either way, we didn’t do dessert there but instead had some more drinks at another restaurant a block away.

Looking back, I’m glad we went.  Not sure if the attitude we experienced came from it being a Saturday night or if that’s the norm for trendy Austin restaurants these days.  There certainly were enough trendy people in the restaurant, including one woman at the table directly behind me who had…a certain look…and a miniskirt so short it caused us to wonder after she left if her chair now had chlamydia.

One thing very much in La Condesa’s favor is their broad menu.  When I go to a new resturant I may see one or two other items beyond what I order that I would be interested in trying.  This menu easily had 5 or 6 items I’d still like to try, including one award winner I forgot to read about before going on Saturday (their Pulpo Tostados won Best Octopus Dish so it remains uncrossed on The List).  But if we do go again we’ll likely try during the week just to see if the attitude was a weekend-only special.

Austin FroYo Smackdown: The Yogurt Spot vs. Swirll

Besh, Sara and I have been going to The Yogurt Spot for many months and last month we tried the new Swirll.  Given our appreciation of all things forzen yogurt, although it’s technically not on the Best of Austin list I still thought it’d be worthwhile to record and share our thoughts.

In case you aren’t familiar with either of these locations they are part of the growing trend of serve your own frozen yogurt stores.  You pick up a cup, put in as much frozen yogurt and toppings as you want, then pay by the ounce.  Prices are typically in the 40-50 cent per ounce range.

So we present the first Austin FroYo Smackdown: The Yogurt Spot vs. Swirll.  Five categories, one winner, no brain freeze allowed.  Let’s get it on!

Location: Swirll

The new entrant comes out swinging by taking the location category.  Both are very close to campus, with Swirll on the main part of the Drag and TYS on Guad near 29th.  Mostly to bring in the student foot traffic.  Getting to either one from north or south Austin is probably a bit of a wash.  Since they’re so close to campus, parking is bad.  TYS has a few spots in the garage around the corner, but they’re difficult to use and usually full.  The few spots on the nearby road can be hard to find–best bet is a few spots next to the gas station.  Swirll has no parking itself, but the road behind the Drag has a lot of metered spots and the garage for the Coop bookstore is close.  So just on the slight increase in available parking, Swirll edges out TYS.

Yogurt: The Yogurt Spot

Sure, you can get to and park at Swirll a bit easier, but you came for the yogurt, right?  TYS takes this category, although this win is as narrow as its defeat in Location.  Both places have your typical chocolate and vanillas, but they also have more savory fare like cheesecake and plenty of sweet and tart fruit options.  Each machine has two independent flavors and a swirl option in the middle, so flavor placement is key.  Put two weird flavors next to each other and the swirl option is wasted.  I slightly preferred the flavors TYS offered but thought they way they organized the flavors made a lot more sense, so TYS takes this category.

Toppings: The Yogurt Spot

When it comes to toppings, the more you have the better.  The Yogurt Spot wins this hands down.  I didn’t do a raw count, but it wasn’t necessary.  TYS feels like it has twice as many options–perhaps due to the smaller toppings containers they use (which doesn’t matter since they’re always full) or the increased number of fruit and syrup toppings.  TYS also spends a bit more time selecting yogurt-appropriate toppings while Swirll may be showing some of its new-business roots by using mostly bulk-purchased foods from Costco like Vanilla Wafers or their bags of granola or full size M&Ms while TYS uses the more yogurt-appropriate mini M&Ms.

Decor/Ambience: The Yogurt Spot

Both locations try to be comfortable yet trendy, but The Yogut Spot strikes the right balance.  TYS has couches, tables, and a single high bar for staring out the window at all the people melting in the summer heat without enough sense to come in and get some delicious frozen yogurt.  They also have a large flat screen TV typically on USA  or TNT or whichever network is showing Law & Order or House or some cable movie.  Simple, yet comfortable.  Swirll, on the other hand, has the single most awkward stool and table combination I’ve ever sat in.  They’re incredibly high, incredibly awkward, and incredibly ugly.  And they have maybe 3 tables.  Their TVs were showing music videos while we were there–that may be something the college crowd likes (I didn’t know they made music videos anymore) but I shouldn’t feel like I’m not cool enough for frozen yogurt.

Besh Factor: The Yogurt Spot

Besh has been to both.  He has asked to go back to TYS, but never back to Swirll.  Three year olds are the epitome of honesty.  ’Nuff said.

Overall Winner: The Yogurt Spot 4-1

So congrats to The Yogurt Spot for easily winning this first smackdown 4-1!  See you soon.

leaf

Sara and I finally made it to leaf this past weekend.  Tricky to get there since they’re only open for lunch and the initial web reading indicated it wouldn’t be a great place to take Besh.  So while Besh was playing with his grandparents this past weekend, we hit the still-has-that-new-neighborhood-smell 2nd street district to partake of Best Salad/Dressing winner leaf.  BTW, I’m spelling the name correctly.  leaf is too cool to capitalize.

leaf is all about salads.  This makes vegetarians like Sara extremely happy, and even carnivores like myself have some viable options.  The concept is simple enough–you pick your lettuce, toppings, dressing, and optional protein and the heavily tattooed staff tosses everything together into a substantial lunch bowl.  There are also a dozen or so salads written on a large board as you walk in so you don’t have to pick out your own combination.

Sara immediately created her own salad, I went with the Strawberry Fields but added chicken.  The resulting salads were very large, and not inexpensive.  Our two salads and two waters (hers Pelegrino, mine whatever plastic bottled water) ran $27.  That’s a pretty penny, but we both came away thinking the salads were so good that it was ultimately worth it.  We may not go back often, since finding time in the middle of the day is difficult with a 3 year old, but I’d take leaf over Soup Peddler any day of the week.

UPDATE: Can’t believe I left this out–apologies.  The one standout item here, for me anyway, was the bacon topping.  This is not your typical fake bacon bits you find at super cheap salad bars.  It isn’t even the real bacon bits you find at slightly better salad bars.  These were big one inch squares of thick-cut bacon and they were AWESOME.  Plus, since they’re in a salad, it’s totally healthy.  Definitely the best salad topping ever, in its best form, and while not exactly making the salad totally worth its price, it certainly doesn’t hurt.