Dear Steemit Friends,
It has been a while since I lasted posted a Foodie review. Since my last post, My wife and I have been trying to eat out less and spend more time at home preparing our own meals. I find that this is not only healthier but at the same time, a lot less expensive. We have been doing this for the past month and have virtually cut our overall monthly spending in half. This, however, does not mean we don't go out and eat at all, but instead, reduce the frequency and save eating out for the weekends or special occasions.
We happened to be out shopping this past weekend and came across Mandola's. Since we hadn't eaten Italian for a while, we decided this would be a good place to try. Looking at the reviews, it had some great feedback and was said to have some of the best and most authentic Italian food in Austin.
The restaurant
The owners Trina and Damian wanted to create an authentic Italian grocery and eatery with great food, a bustling atmosphere, and warm hospitality as if you were at an actual Italian eatery. Having only one location meant that the focus on quality would probably be a given for the restaurant. As soon as you enter, you feel transported. The restaurant is laid out as if you are in an Italian marketplace, with one side of the restaurant dedicated to an Italian Ice Creamery, a section of the restaurant dedicated to a meat/bakery shop where you could buy fresh meat and bread, and the remaining half of the establishment sectioned out for seating for visitors to dine.
Italian Ice Cream and Gelato bar near the entrance
Cafe and Deli at the back
Dining Area
Open Kitchen
There is an open kitchen, so any given time, visitors could watch the chefs prepare the meals real time using any of the fresh ingredients that are readily available for purchase. All ingredients that are used to prepare the food are available for purchase down to the grain used to make the bread and even the spices
What is best about the restaurant is the atmosphere. There is a sense of happy relaxation in the air. If sitting inside gets too crowded for you, you can choose to sit out in the enclosed patio area and/or even out in the open air patio area. There is somewhere for everyone's preference.
The Food
After placing our order at the front counter, we sat down and waited for our food. While we were waiting, a basket of freshly baked bread and Olive oil was brought out to us. This appetizer is what the restaurant is known for. Nowhere else will you find probably what I consider the best Fucascha bread and Oil mix anywhere.
The bread was fresh, warm and fluffy and mixed with the oil and fresh herbs were one of the best tasting bread baskets I had ever eaten. I could have eaten just the basket of bread alone and would have been happy. We ate all 4 pieces of bread in less than 5-minutes and had to get a second helping - It's unlimited for any of you who are wondering!
While munching on the second basket of bread, our first entree had arrived. We ordered a brick stove prepared pizza covered with fresh meats, cheeses, and Italian spices and herbs.
The Pizza tasted amazing. It was thin crust made from freshly prepared and kneaded dough and covered with a healthy amount of fresh ingredients. The sausage and pepperoni had a hint of spice to give the pizza that extra kick and the cheese was so juicy and tasteful. We ate a couple slices before our creamy chicken pasta was delivered.
The pasta was also freshly prepared and the chicken lightly seared with just a bit of seasoning to bring out the flavor. The noodles were firm but soft and the savory sauce added the perfect flavor to the dish. The one thing about pasta is that it makes me feel bloated and full and although the food didn't look like much, paired with the bread we ate, It was more than enough for us. After finishing a couple of slices of Pizza and about half of the chicken pasta, we had about half of the meal ready for takeout.
Because of the atmosphere - we just had to have dessert. Even though we were already full, the Italian Gelato was screaming out to us. There was an assortment of flavors to choose from and being that it is freshly made and healthy, we decided why not. From the flavors available, we chose from the following:
Almond, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Coconut, Coffee, Mint Chocolate Chip, Nutella, Pistachio, Stracciatella, Tiramisu, Vanilla, and Sea Salt Caramel. My wife chose the Pistachio.
I decided to go a different route and choose from their Sorbet selection of Lemon, Mixed Berry, Raspberry, and Strawberry. I chose Lemon since I was craving for a little sour in my dessert. Digging into my ice cream, the first thing you notice aside from the tart is that the sorbet is made with fresh lemons. Same for the Gelato. You could taste the freshly ground pistachio's that went into making the desert. Given that the weather in Texas is starting to get hot again, this was the perfect way to end our meal.
We spent about two hours at the restaurant enjoying our meal and the atmosphere.
I hope you enjoyed and found my review of Mandola's Italian Kitchen interesting and informative. If you are ever in the neighborhood and are looking for a relaxed homey atmosphere where you can enjoy a fairly authentic Italian experience, I would highly recommend visiting Mandola's. The basket of Focaccia bread alone should be enough for you to want to come and visit. I will definitely be back regularly to this restaurant to try the rest of their menu and to get more of the amazing fucaccia bread. If you know of any other establishments you would recommend, please let me know in the comments section below. If you do have any questions, inputs, or feedback, please also share those with me.
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