Mags Eats A Lot: Barley Swine, Austin, TX.

On my continuous food journey though Austin, I made a stop at the popular Barley Swine. I would describe it as a farm to table gastropub. Yes, it is hip and it is too cool for school. It was a 45 minute wait so we waited next door at a little bar that was the epitome of the little Texas bar.

Overall, Barley was quite good but not as great as the hype would lead you to believe. Solid cooking, with a few misses. The ingredients are really the highlight at this restaurant. You could really taste the freshness of the fruits, vegetables and meats.

I would call this goat cheese "advanced" and spicy, quite intense. I liked it!

Goat Cheese with Grilled Organic Texas Peach

The freshest, wonderfully juicy, height-of-the-season zucchini, so lightly battered and fried. Mussels were fresh and salty.

Beer-battered Zucchini, Mussels, Basil Dressing

At this point of the meal, I see the theme. Good ingredients, decently cooked, and then something "surprising" or "clever." Sometimes, it worked, sometimes it didn't. Here, the scallop was a little overcooked. And the green swoosh unnecessary. Hard to dislike the pork belly though.

Scallop, Pork Belly, Shisito Pepper, Cucumbe

The other "clever" thing Barley Swine does is to name a menu item in a way that makes you think its one thing, but is actually another. This should have been called "Crab risotto stuffed crepe with morels in egg sauce and squash." The squash was incredible. Wish I had more of that. The crab risotto was tasty as well and I did enjoy this dish.

Crab Pancake, Soft-scrambled Egg, Morels

Basically, a Mexican take on pig cheek. I love pig cheek, also known as pork jowl. You know I do. While I respect the nod to the heavy Mexican influence, perhaps trying a little too hard? Pork jowel is so flavorful by itself that adding the heavy spice took away from its inherent flavor.

Soft-boiled Egg, Refried Beans, Red Chili Potato, Pig Cheek

I love sweetbreads and I will almost always order them. These were lightly fried and lovely with the creamy sauce. Bacon was really good quality. There are a lot of components in Barley Swine's dishes but it didn't seem to always make sense to me. Felt like the bacon should have been incorporated more but hey, who am I to complain about delicious bacon on my plate?

Sweetbreads, Green Bean Salad, Potato, Buttermilk, Braised Bacon

I just had chicken hearts at a churrascuria last weekend and I loved their bouncy texture. So, when we saw the lamb heart on the menu, we could not pass it up. The texture is similar but not nearly as "bouncy." I did not like the tapenade with the heart at all. I wish they would just have salted it and grilled it at high heat.