Olivia

It's worth coming to this place just to admire the design.

Beautiful interior...

Oysters:
Salad, deviled eggs, onion rings and carmelized grapefruit:
Grilled cheese with tomato soup:

Side of fries.. this is huge so get one to share.

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Soleil

Soleil is the other new restaurant near the Oasis on Lake Travis. It has the same great views but in a smaller more romantic setting.

Market fish sandwich, $12:
Shrimp burger, $13. Both sandwiches came with delicious greens and fries.
Tiramisu, very thick, heavy and creamy, $9:

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Imperia happy hour

We've blogged Imperia before, but haven't blogged their excellent happy hour. They have some dim sum & small plate selections for half price and delicious cocktails for $5.

Yin Yang chocolate martini:

Imperial pearl:
The empress jade salad, this was huge!
Balinese vegetable samosas with mango chutney:
Seabass Kushiyaki skewers:
Duck spring rolls:
Wasabi bloody mary:
Asian pear martini:

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Texas French Bread

We're glad we finally got to try this place- the restaurant is interesting and the food is pretty good. Their menu changes often so I don't know if they still have this stuff available..

House made papardelle with goat cheese and kale pesto:

Quail with broccoli:

Uncle Billy's

Uncle Billy's is one of two new restaurants out next to The Oasis on Lake Travis.

Good beer, BBQ, other basic food options..
And the view is obviously amazing!

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Tea Lounge

We were psyched to try the Tea Lounge after viewing their extensive online menu.  So many different flavors to choose from, as well as tons of "sinkers."  We've stuck with the old standby of tapioca on each visit but have tried a number of the flavors and never been disappointed.  They offer a discount with a student ID, don't forget to show it if you have one..

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Thai Fresh

Thai Fresh fills a glass case with all of their daily offerings, which means you get to take a look at the dishes before buying, and can purchase by the weight so that small servings of two dishes could make one meal.  A pretty cool way to eat Thai food!

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The Good Knight

Classic cocktails: Sidecar and classic Daiquiri

Fried tomatoes, huge and delicious with a flavorful crispy coating $7.50

Bangers & mash, $9

Chicken pot pie, with a light pastry puff on top $10.50

Pot de creme, $6

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El Arbol

El Arbol is one of the best restaurants we've eaten at in Austin. It's a new-ish place with a large outdoor deck built around a tree. The interior is nice as well.

The bread with two different spreads was delicious.

As it was still happy hour, we enjoyed some margaritas.

The spinach empanada ($3.50) was a nice start to the meal.

A salad we can't remember the name of:

The chicken was amazing. Who knew chicken could be so good? Ryan says this is quite possibly the best chicken he's ever had.

I think this is one of the best meals I've had. The fish was perfect and flavorful, and the side of herb manchego gnocchi was possibly even better than the fish. Often, the side dish will be an afterthought: a few pieces of asparagus, some potatoes, or something similarly easy and boring. This gnocchi had clearly had a lot of thought, effort and time put into it. I would come back just to order the gnocchi alone if I could.

Our dessert, which doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore. Delicious chocolate with cream sandwiched between. If other desserts are in the same class as this one they're all gonna be good!

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J Black's

We had been meaning to come here for a while with our restaurant.com certificate, and so glad we finally made it.

I really liked the presentation of the chips and queso.  

This drink was called an "Acai Sangria." ($7)  How cute is it? It was delicious, fruity, and I could barely taste the alcohol, which is just the way I like it.

Crab cakes... oh so good. ($13) I used to shy away from crab for some reason- so glad I've come around.

Umm... don't know where the photo of Ryan's food is.  Oh well.  The most important part of the meal is below: the dessert.  It's called "coffee and donuts" and consisted of coffee ice cream and house-made donuts.  So delicious, and it even has two separate scoops of ice cream, so perfect for sharing.  I was surprised that the price for this beauty was only $5.

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Cuatro's

After driving past Cuatro's and seeing their cute building and expansive outdoor space, you can't help but want to eat there.  If you like a nice outdoor patio but don't like crazy sports excitement, just make sure to come here NOT on a game day.

Tried a watermelon agua fresca cocktail which was both very strong & very sweet.  These were the chipotle chicken tacos with rice and beans ($8).

And the portabella tacos ($7.50).  We really enjoyed both taco dishes.  The rice left a little something to be desired but I am usually picky about rice.  Beans were great.

Now, we had ordered sides along with our entrees and it turned out to be way too much food.  These sweet potato fries ($3) and tater tots ($2.50) were both tasty, but we ended up just picking at them and taking most of it home.  The sweet potato fries actually made better leftovers than the tater tots.

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