Posted: September 9th, 2009 | Author: KMT | Filed under: Eating Out, Fort Davis | Tags: Fort Davis, Restaurants | No Comments »
Sunset on the Main Street of Fort Davis
Our second night in Fort Davis, we dined at Cueva de Leon (The Lion’s Den). Later on, while traveling through the neighboring town of Balmorhea (on our way to Lake Balmorhea to take our dogs swimming) I spotted another eatery named Cueva de Oso (The Bear’s Den) and I made the GENIUS guess that Fort Davis High School team is THE LIONS and the Balmorhea High School Team is THE BEARS. (And I was right!)
Cueva de Leon is right on the main drag of Fort Davis, and it’s front patio is surrounded by a thicket of flowering roses.
One of the gorgeous yellow roses that ring the patio
After having an unusually awesome meal at The Hotel Limpia, I wasn’t expecting ANOTHER ONE!
But that is what I got!
Mmmmm....Iced Tea......BRING ME MORE! BRING ME MORE!!
One giveaway sign that I was in for a great meal was that the parking lot of Cueva de Leon is continually full of the cars of locals. Most of the tables were full when we got there, even though it was a weeknight in a small town. The iced tea was fresh, and the salsa was house-made, fresh, and hot.
A word about iced tea: If iced tea is on the menu, I usually order it. It is my very favorite drink. I probably drink a gallon of iced tea a DAY, no lie. I certainly brew a gallon a day at home, plus when I go out to eat, that is what I have. My first impression of a restaurant is usually the iced tea, and it is a pretty good indicator of how seriously a place takes quality. I don’t mean to imply that I judge places by the expensiveness of their tea; I know most places are using Lipton or an equivalent, not whole leaf tea like I use at home. But Freshness! The iced tea MUST be brewed THAT DAY, or it sucks.
Chile Relleno Burrito
Unfortunately FOR DAVE, the beans at Cueva de Leon HAVE LARD IN THEM, so there was almost nothing vegetarian on the menu . That is often a problem in small towns: no real vegetarian options. Dave ordered a Queso, so he essentially had Chips ‘n’ Queso for dinner. I, however, had an enormous menu of delicacies to choose from, and I ordered an item that just sounded wonderful to me: a Chile Relleno Burrito. Now seriously: doesn’t that sound DELICIOUS?
Oh, and it was! The Chile Rellenos at Cueva de Leon are hand-roasted and hand-peeled and hand-stuffed: THE REAL THING. My Chile Relleno Burrito contained 2 Rellenos (with stems, just the way I like them. The flavor of the roasted pepper is always most pronounced near the stem) and a big spoonful of piccadillo (spicy ground beef) all wrapped in a big fresh flour tortilla with, not queso, but real Monterey Jack Cheese melted on top. IT WAS AWESOME.
Paintings from the walls: #1
As an added benefit, Cueva de Leon has admirable Mexican Restaurant paintings inside. These are some of the best, the only ones I think I like as well are at El Patio in Austin. (I should do a SERIES on Mexican Restaurant Paintings.)
The Upshot: I cannot wait to return.
Paintings from Cueva De Leon #2
Cueva de Leon #3
Posted: September 7th, 2009 | Author: KMT | Filed under: Dinner, Eating Out, Fort Davis, Hotel Limpia | Tags: Fort Davis, Hotel Limpia, Restaurants | 2 Comments »
The rustic authentic West Texas feel of the DINING ROOM
I know, I know, the TITLE of the blog..no wait, the SUBTITLE of the blog is “Organic Gardening, Cooking, and Dining Out in Austin Texas”, but I owe it to my readers to inform you about places I eat when I am traveling! Because, let’s face it, it is fairly easy to dine well in Austin, but when you drive out of this Food Mecca, finding a decent place to eat can be A TRAUMA.
Honestly, HONESTLY, I am well traveled, and not a big SNOOT ( I am NOT!) but quite often when traveling, the best one can hope for is a decent truckstop. A decent truckstop is, A DECENT TRUCKSTOP, something to be wept tears of joy over, after a few days of fast food “breakfast sandwiches”. (Lawton, Oklahoma, I am LOOKING AT YOU!)
So I was totally thrilled (as is COULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT IT) when, on our recent long weekend in Fort Davis, Texas, we tried out the Dining Room at the Limpia Hotel (where we were staying) and found that it was Excellent.
I imagine that there was a time, in the Olden Days, when going out into the country meant getting “farm-fresh” food prepared by hand, because, well, that is all there was and that was the only way people knew. Now, in these Upside-Down Modern TImes, it is the City Folks who are more likely to be insisting on farm-fresh ingredients prepared by hand, and out in the country one is a lot more likely to find canned, frozen and microwaved-in-a-bag offerings.
But not at THE HOTEL LIMPIA! Everything they do at the Hotel Limpia is done Properly, so it shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise that the Dining Room was no exception. But it was a surprise, to me anyway, because I have been disappointed so many times before. Everything we ordered was fresh and handmade. Everything.
Freshly tossed bowl of salad and handmade biscuits
The salad was freshly cut and tossed at the table, and served with fresh handmade biscuits. (A note about handmade fresh biscuits: this is a quick bread that is so easy to make that virtually every housewife in America made them daily. Now, they are so rare, even is restaurants, even in fancy restaurants, that people often can’t even identify what they are, and mistake them for cornbread, even though they contain no corn meal. I should do a post on Biscuits! Everyone is America could have fresh hot biscuits for breakfast everyday if they chose to, they are THAT EASY!)
The menu had many interesting choices. I had a difficult time choosing between the Rio Grande Chicken (made with fresh local chickens!) and the Chicken-Fried Beef Tenderloin. Since the Chicken-Fried Beef Tenderloin had been written about in a magazine (Texas Highways, I think?). I opted for the beef.
Ice tea, biscuits, chicken-fried steak, steamed vegeatabels and mashed pertaters
It was everything it should and possibly COULD be! The beef was fork-tender, battered lightly, and the gravy was perfect: rich and flavorful and real. A side dish contained fresh mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots, all fresh and deeply flavorful.
Mr. T. had the Vegetarian Dinner: the same salad, biscuits, mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli that I enjoyed, plus marvelous grilled tomatoes. Since he hates tomatoes, I got them, too!! They were outstanding.
The Hotel Limpia Dining room was so fantastic, I wanted to eat there every night we were there. But I owe it to you, my readers, to try many restaurants when I travel, to screen them for you and advise you. So the next night we ate at THE LION’S DEN, or, as it is known in Espanol: Cueva de Leon. Review forthcoming!