“Food Review: Blue Dahlia Bistro”

The other day, my friend N and I went out for dinner. Although I love my SoCo, South 1st and DT haunts, we both wanted to try something different, so we headed to the East Side to try out the Blue Dahlia Bistro.

Off the bat, Blue Dahlia has a sort of magical feel about it.  The front patio sets the entrance back off the street, and you have to walk through a mini-garden to get to the door.  The evening we went, the sun was setting and a gentle breeze blew the flowers on the porch, kinda like a fairy tale.

The inside was equally quaint and foreign.  We were seated in the front next to a window, and although he was looking towards downtown, N mentioned that he didn’t feel like he was in Austin.  I didn’t either.

The main thing on the menu are the Tartines. Since the French are always making sweet things into dinner (ala Crepes!) I wasn’t sure if that meant little tarts. It turns out, a Tartine is just a fancy word for open-faced sandwich.

About Blue Dahlia:

• WHERE: 1115 E. 11th St, 78702
• PHONE: 512.542.9542
• WHEN: M-F: 8A-10P; Sa, Sn: 10A-10P
• Modeled after French-style bistros (Unlike French Restaurants, bistro food is lighter and not so soaked in butter and cream)
• They try to use local and organic when possible (see the photo of their mission statement, below!)
• Patio in the back and in the front

What we ate:

• We started with the Hummus Plate, which included taboule, mescalin greens and a whole lotta olives
• I got the Tuna Tartine (tuna salad, capers, sun dried tomatoes) and Tomato Gazpacho
• N got the Roast Beef Tartine (roast beef, capers, dijon creme fraiche)

Our Thoughts:

• We both thought the hummus plate rocked–probably the biggest in the city, it could have been a whole meal.  The taboule was just tart/sour enough to be perfect for a warm day. The plate also came with plenty of fresh bread–olive and sourdough.
• The tartines were HUGE and pre-cut into bite-sized squares, which allowed for easy sharing.
• The roast beef was tender and the creme fraiche was not overpowering
• The tuna salad was European style, which means they use olive oil instead of mayonnaise–a super huge plus in my book
• Total cost: About $12 each (we both took home leftovers)

Overall:

• This place rocks. The ambiance is pretty chill and the staff was super friendly.
• We wanted lite food, but wanted a lot of it. That’s exactly what we got.  The salads look big and bold, too!
• Because they have 10 different tartines (from vegetarian to meat) and tartines lend themselves to sharing, this is a great place to go with a big group of people. We def want to go back to try the other plates.
• People are raving about the happy hour specials.  We havent tried them yet, but they look good.

Blue Dahlia’s Final Rating: A+ (Large portions for the price, lite yet flavorful, great ambiance)

Talk back: Have you had a chance to try Blue Dahlia? What’d you think? Best French Bistro in the city? Let us know in the comments!

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