Perla's Seafood and Oyster Bar

Taking over the Mars location on S. Congress, this new seafood bar has prime real estate. We went for brunch on a Saturday during their opening week. Our friend, Lindsay, was visiting from Houston, so we took her with us, despite her clear dislike for most fare from the sea. Fortunately, Perla's had limited, but delicious non-seafood offerings on their menu, that suited even Lindsay's picky tastes.

We started off with delicious morning cocktails. They had a wide variety to choose from, including one called "The Minderaser" which has Bacardi 151 in it. What a way to start your morning! We weren't quite so brave. Justin had a bloody mary, I had their frozen concoction of the day, called "Peach Passion" and Lindsay went with a mimosa. The bloody mary was delicious, as was the mimosa. My Peach Passion was incredibly strong, even for my lush tastes. It was more suited for a starter drink before a night out on 6th street than a recovery drink on a Saturday morning. If that's their run-of-the-mill frozen drink, I can't even imagine what the minderaser must be like! I'm never one to complain about strong drinks though, I sure got my money's worth, and it made our post-brunch SoCo shopping a lot more fun!

Justin and I started with a sampler of 6 oysters on the halfshell. We each tried 3 oysters from different Northeast regions. Although the price was steep, ($3 each) they are pretty typical for non-gulf oysters around here. I love eating large plump gulf oysters when I am in the mood for beer, crawfish, and quantity. But when it comes to quality, there's something to be said for the small, zinc-y, briney goodness that only New England oysters can provide. They have a rotating menu with different fresh catch options each day. In addition to oysters, they always have a clam option as well, usually littleneck or cherrystone.

For our main course, I went with the breakfast bouillabaise (I just looked at the menu again, and I guess they changed the name to breakfast cioppino, I never could tell the difference between those two anyway. I know bouillabaise is french and cioppino is italian, but they're both tomato based seafood stews. But I digress...) It is basically a half portion of the dinner option, with two soft poached eggs nestled on top, complete with a crisp toasted piece of baguette. I am such a sucker for soft egg yolks, and these were perfect. Not too runny, but soft enough to mix with the saffron tomato broth for a delicious combination. I love eating my eggs with ketchup, and this was basically a gourmet version. The stew was full of a variety of seafood, including chunks of whitefish, clams, mussels, and calamari. A hearty breakfast for seafood lovers. Justin went with the lobster coddled farm eggs. Lobster chunks mixed in with soft baked eggs. Another highly recommended and delicious option. There was a considerable amount of lobster meat in such a small dish. The egg yolks were also the perfect soft consistency as my poached eggs. It was topped with fresh herbs (tarragon?) that gave a crisp bite to the dish. Lindsay decided to go with the basic wheat toast with eggs over-medium, with a side of fruit. No complaints here. She was also eyeing the buttermilk pancakes, which sounded really yummy, topped with fresh blueberries, whipped cream, and vermont syrup. It was nice to see typical brunch options on the menu, which appease to those who want a more traditional breakfast.

Overall, Perla's is a suitable replacement for Mars. I will miss the cocktails at Mars, but I think Perla's strong drinks will do just fine. I loved the overall environment of the resaturant. The decor was nautical and beachy, with a breezy atmosphere. The waiters looked like they stepped out of a J.Crew catalog (pink or light blue button down, khaki pants). Am I in Nantucket?? My one complaint is that Perla's is going through the new restaurant growing pains. Even on Saturday brunch, the restaurant was far from capacity. The waiter was not very knowledgeable about the menu, and appeared obviously green to the industry. However, everyone was very friendly and eager to please, which will carry them far. I can't wait to revisit Perla's again in a few months, perhaps for dinner this time.

Perla's Seafood & Oyster Bar
1400 S. Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78704
512 291 7300

Quality Seafood

A long-standing Austin tradition, Quality Seafood Market (motto: "Selling Our Sole Seven Days a Week") has been serving Austin's freshest seafood in a laid-back atmosphere since the 1930's.

Because of its location and value, it is rapidly becoming an every-week spot for us. They'll probably know us by name by the end of the year.

Like many Austin favorites, you wouldn't know it by looking at it, and you'd probably drive by it 100 times and not give it a second thought, if it weren't for the hoards of people packed in every night.

The premise is simple, if not unique. Go up to the counter and order any number of fresh seafood dishes, then either take it to go or sit down at a table and chow away. Or instead, get your fish directly from the adjacent fish market and go home and cook it yourself. Han and I have gone both routes, and can vouch for great experiences either way.

When dining in, Quality Seafood's biggest asset is just that: the quality of their seafood. The dishes they serve are exactly the same dishes you've had a hundred times over: fried clams, blackened salmon, peel-n-eat shrimp. There is nothing necessarily remarkable about these dishes except the shrimp are exceptionally savory, the salmon especially delectable, and the fried seafood is the best fried anything you've ever had.

In fact, though it goes against our recent goal of trying to eat healthy, the fried shrimp and the fried clams are what has kept us coming back week after week. Lightly battered and equally lemony and buttery, Quality Seafood's frying process definitely enhances the taste and flavor of their seafood instead of masking it. Something you definitely won't get at Long John Silver.

Also right now is a great time to visit Quality Seafood if you are a fan of oysters on the half shell. Imported straight from the gulf, you can get some of the biggest oysters in town for a very reasonable price. See above.

Quality Seafood also has great specials Monday through Thursday with huge discounts on certain dishes and beers, but even if you can't make it then, their non-happy hour beer is still so cheap ($2.50 domestics) that you can't lose either way.

But the best part about Quality Seafood is the staff. Everyone there from the bartenders to the busboys are incredibly chummy and very friendly and helpful to everyone from regulars to first-timers.

Quality Fun Fact: The most famous employee ever to work at Quality Seafood is none other than Joe Lewis, as in Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears fame. Word on the street is he used to alternate working the counter and driving the fish truck in the morning. I'm not sure if he still works there now that his band has kind of taken off, but you will still see an homage to him at the restaurant, in the form of a Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears t-shirt hanging behind the bar.

When you visit the fish market, the experience is more of the same. Sure the prices are going to be a bit higher than HEB, but everything there was caught that morning, never frozen. And with raw seafood you definitely get what you pay for. The fishmongers there are more than willing to give you their recommendations for the day, and if you have any questions about how to prepare the fish there, they are happy to help. The first time Han and I went to Quality Seafood we ordered two pounds of mussels. The fishmonger helping us personally picked through each mussel to make sure that it was still alive and that we would get no duds when we cooked them. Yeah we paid a little extra instead of going to HEB but we definitely got more of our money's worth by going to the Quality fish market.

Anyways, in conclusion, it may not be in the most convenient location in town for you (or the nicest) but definitely make it a point to come on by. Han and I will probably be there too.

Quality Seafood Market
5621 Airport Blvd
www.qualityseafoodmarket.com