manny (@manny) on taste

mannymanny

38 following178 reviews

Want to go14 items

manny reviewed The Capital Grille2d

117 W 4th St

●5.0

it was completely empty when i came for happy hour. i just really wanted to try the $16 dry aged steak. 🥩 i couldn’t taste the dry aged 😢 it was all ok

400

Luke, manny, and rohit went to Barley Swine

Brentwood, Austin

manny2d

●9.7

happy birthday luke 🎊🎈🎂 got the tasting menu 👅 everything we had was incredible except for the rogue items i got off the pre fixe menu would recommend but do not veer off track. not worth the extra money. this was the beef rib and mushroom dumpling

lukeMar 3

●9.9

birthday dinner, feb 22nd, 2026. huge shoutout to manny for sponsoring this meal. this was one of the best dining experiences I have had in austin. truly a legendary dinner. barley swine is one of 7 restaurants in austin with a Michelin star. the concept here is a texan centric tasting menu. priced at $120; $90 during the first 30 minutes of sunday service (which is when we went). be prepared to stay a while. this is an experience and you can expect dinner to last around 2.5-3 hours. vibe and service: decor here isn’t overly pretentious; classy yet definitely emphasizes the farm to table vibe with rustic touches and plenty of ingredient jars dispersed around. wait staff was polite and accommodating. service was excellent and exactly what I would expect at a restaurant of this caliber. the bathroom had a vertical I-beam right next to the stalls which I found pretty funny; I almost mistook it for a hipster urinal. food: hiramasa: tasty. had a similar dish at le calamar and I think they executed the sauce better. however still very good blend of flavors. oyster: great oyster of good size. I like seeing what places like these do with oysters. 95% of my oyster enjoyment comes from the dressings and accouterments rather than the oyster itself. very solid. squash: this was the sleeper hit. reading over the menu I kinda skipped over this. squash? cheese? booooo. but it was insane. def a top 3 bite of the meal. squash complemented the cheese perfectly and i’m not sure what type of cheese it was but it was perfect flavor and consistency. dishes like these are what impresses me the most about these type of spots. I would never think to combine these ingredients but it works so so well. tilefish: the tilefish was okay. i’m not really a white fish fan and the fish didn’t really appeal to me. the prep around it was good. I liked the sauce and the crispys. but overall kinda a meh dish. mainly since I don’t like cooked white fish 🤷‍♂️ dumplings: these were an addition that we made. they rotate the menu monthly but this is one of their staple dishes. the very lightly cooked eggs worked very well with the dumplings. soupy inside and the dumpling itself was perfectly al dente (take notes misi). a stellar dish and very enjoyable. worth adding. carnitas: wow wow wow. another top 3 bite of the meal. the sauce on this dish paired perfectly. the carnitas were perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. up there with the best taco spots in austin and honestly probably clears them (granted a lot more expensive but). beef tartare: nothing insane. I enjoyed this but mainly cause it’s been a while since i’ve had beef tartare. tostada it was on was a bit too firm for my liking (not crispy enough). good but wasn’t blown away. beef rib: another addition. we all shared this one. a lil smaller than the beef ribs at bbq focused spots. I agreed with manny’s sentiment here: there isn’t really a reason to order this in austin. maybe in other northern cities that don’t focus on BBQ. but there are plenty of places in atx you can get a better beef rib. it’s perfectly acceptable and not bad. but compare to other dishes; there is no reason in my mind to add this on. ribeye: prepared two ways. there was a skewer with a more fatty part which I really really enjoyed. I think it was a soy based sauce and worked well. the main ribeye was good but not insane. also prepared well; I prefer a filet but it was very enjoyable. scallion roll: these were elite. the butter sauce had some addition minced meat hidden underneath which paired so well. super good. olive oil cake: because of my allergy I had to get a substitution for the first dessert. the olive oil cake was very good and complemented well with the carrot ice cream. very unique. prepared well. I think the sheet cake may have been even better but I guess i’ll never know :/. sorbet: yummy. fudge underneath worked well and made for a really good bite. whipped cream they made was also top notch. chocolate balls: idk what these were. they were not listed on the menu and they came out right with the check. tasted like ground up oreos that had been re cooked without the cream. not a fan but won’t hold it against them for the added bonus. overall I had a phenomenal time here and really enjoyed the culinary experience that barley swine offers. a great spot for special occasions. I think this is relatively affordable compare to the other non-bbq michelin star spots in austin so I would highly recommend checking it out. I think the only restaurant in austin I would personally rank above this is canje. check it out!

520

+2

manny, rohit, Han, Steve, and luke went to Maie Day

Travis Heights, Austin

manny2d

●9.5

new happy hour alert 🚨 pretty insane deals , must go back before it gets nerfed prime rib for $19 and it was better than the famous house of prime rib in sf

lukeFeb 27

●8.5

elite happy hour alert 🚨 maie day (pronounced may, verified by the waitress 😌) is a michelin recommended trendy steakhouse located on south congress. saw a post for a weekend happy hour running until 6:30; knew we had to check it out. they do a $19 prime rib, 1/2 cocktails and 1/2 some other bites (including a caesar salad) during the happy hour. vibe here is modern with lofted ceilings. beautifully decorated. def feels more like a happy hour spot tho than a steak house. I’d feel a lil off paying normal steak house prices here to be honest. service was good and prompt. no free dessert for my birthday thought even tho the table behind us got some… either because we ordered off the happy hour menu or because he was 70 yrs my senior. either way very fair. the prime rib was very flavorful. i’m more of a filet guy since I typically shy away from fatty meat but I tried the fat in this one. it tasted good but one bite was enough to get the idea. sauce complemented it well. for $19 this is a very hefty cut that is worth it. at full price I would def get a filet over this. also got a $5 caesar salad. no anchovies so it tasted more like a normal salad. crunchy and great size. didn’t blow me away though. the coquito I got was very good and sweet; not bad for $8. def gonna come back. we did try most of the happy hour specials and they were solid; rohit’s burger looked a lil sad but he swore it tasted good 👍

710

Jibraan, lily, manny, and luke went to DEE DEE : Country Style Thai

Sunset Valley, Texas

manny2d

●6.1

really cool spot parking lot is really dark 😱 got the most popular dish. it was good but the whole dish was the same flavor. first bite was great but got bored midway

lukeFeb 20

●7.9

very solid green curry here at dee dee. a lil spicy but I was able to handle it with only a mild stummy ache the next day 😎 they have a semi-brick and mortar here. I wish the containers they gave were more conducive to eating curry but the price was very fair for the portions. very flavorful. vibe here is pretty incredible. feels very east austin and glad a spot like this is on the south side. def worth checking out just to hang. the coffee shop here looked cool as well.

500

luke, manny, and Han went to Bar Peached

Old West Austin, Austin

manny2d

●8.6

steak frites is peak. definitely mentioned in discussion as a top contender

HanFeb 27

●5.0

The pork buns were delicious definitely the highlight of the meal. Unfortunately, the fried rice was a bit disappointing. The rice was too mushy, which made me think it may not have been day-old rice. It tasted more like freshly cooked or overcooked rice rather than properly dried overnight rice. The Korean chicken wings were flavorful but a little too saucy for my taste. That said, the portions were generous. I’d definitely order the pork buns again. I also regret not reserving the steaks in advance because I didn’t want to just order the same thing as everyone else, but that might have elevated the overall experience.

400

Mark, Han, Steve, manny, and Aryan went to Quattro Gatti Ristorante e Pizzeria

Downtown, Austin

manny2d

●1.0

food was good but portions insanely small for the price 🤬 i will not be coming back because saporri exists right around the corner and mogs in every regard

300

manny reviewed Manna Korean Restaurant2d

6808 N Lamar Blvd

●6.1

my dad really insisted on korean food again we landed at manna not nearly as good as an nyeoung but still fine. reasonably priced. interior is a little run down more fast casual

300

manny reviewed Steiner Ranch Steakhouse2d

5424 Steiner Ranch Blvd

●4.3

thus place is deep but wanted to try the sunday brunch buffet! the restaurant and view were beautiful but kind of a bust the food wasn’t anything crazy and the price was raised because it was valentines weekend 😡 the only thing notable was the lobster mac 🤤 but i can only eat so much of it

200

manny reviewed an nyeong k tofu & bbq 안녕 순두부2d

5011 Burnet Rd

●9.1

best korean food in austin. the rents came to visit because they were sad about our dog being dead and suffering in the cold ny 🥶 they had the best ban chan (free apps) galbi and soondooboo were pretty great i am not a fan of nengmyeon bc it’s served cold

300

manny, Steven Yu, and Han Liu went to Din Ho Chinese BBQ

North Austin Civic Association, Austin

manny2d

●6.6

really love the pork belly 🐖 also liked the poached chicken even though it is served cold 🥶

300