San Antonio, Revisited

I jetted off to San Antonio for a quick overnight for work, and I loved it.  I was last there for work a year ago (read about it here), and once again it included some delicious adventures!  I've found that once your coworkers know that you have a thing for food, they put a lot of care into picking out places to go eat.  I'm fortunate that my boss, also on the trip, is a foodie too, so I had a very happy tummy.

Pretty tiles in San Antonio

The first place I ate is known more for their upscale dinners than lunches, but their lunch is probably the best deal in town!  Bohanan’s Prime Steaks & Seafood is classy to its core.  The restaurant, open for dinner, is upstairs, but the beautiful bar downstairs is open during lunch.  The prices for lunch are very reasonable, and we loved the smaller portion sizes.  I chose one of the house specialties, braised akaushi short ribs over pappardelle noodles.

The food was absolutely delicious.  I would go back and eat the same dish in a heartbeat!  The service was impeccable, both attentive and professional.  The bread they served was hot and wonderful too.  What a beautiful experience!

After our work was done, we headed to the Pearl brewery area as I had last trip, where I made a beeline to Bakery Lorraine for more macarons.  I had pistachio (x2), strawberry, Earl Grey, salted caramel, and raspberry.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!  My Instagram post caption got some chuckles from folks: "If loving macarons is basic, my pH level is like a 14."  If you get it, we can be friends.

For dinner, we had a reservation at Cured next door.  I LOVE MEAT.  (That's what she said.)  Y'all know that.  So to go to a restaurant centered around their meat was right up my alley.  And isn't the old building they chose just stunning?  I was excited to try it, given I'd briefly met the chef a year ago while eating at Bakery Lorraine.

The first thing you see upon entering the restaurant?  Meat curing.  Yep.  So it's no wonder that we started our meal with charcuterie!

We had Apple Jalapeno Pork Rillettes, Bresaola, Smoked Duck Ham, 90 Day Pork Belly, a lamb pick (I'm not a lamb person), and cheese.  I would venture to say you NEED to try charcuterie when you're here.  They can help you make your picks, and it's killer.  For dinner, I was hoping to try their pork chop, but they'd just run out.  I settled for grilled flat iron steak, which came with fries.  OMG.  It has been a long time since I enjoyed such a tender, well-seasoned steak.  Awesome place and concept!

Our last big meal was lunch at El Bucanero, a Mexican seafood restaurant.  I must admit, I was nervous about this one.  The menu has some pictures, but not much description outside of names in Spanish.  The decor is seafood-related and kind of cheesy.  It's casual, loud, and packed with people.  Not to mention, fish and seafood are not my favorite thing in the whole world.  I stayed quiet, wanting to play the part of "super cool foodie" as we ventured in.

We ordered an absolutely enormous Hawaiian-themed ceviche... it was a mix of fruit, seafood, all served up in half a pineapple.  I mean, it was a mountain.  And you know what? I liked it!  I have a personal policy that I'm always going to try something once, food-wise.  I may not love it, but at least I gave it a go.

For my lunch, I chose fried fish tacos.  They were delicious!  I almost detoured and ordered some traditional, non-seafood fare, but after the delight of the ceviche, I had a "when in Rome" moment and decided to get fish!  Definitely a happy surprise.

San Antonio, you're wonderful.  I loved staying on the Riverwalk again, and taking a morning walk along its edge.  I hope to come back again, visit the Missions, eat more food, and absorb the culture of this great city!