| Dining Out with Rob Balon |
| "This is a truly distinctive and exceptional
restaurant that is likely to become a downtown standard. And
a distinct candidate for my Top 20." READ
THE REVIEW |
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| Thistle Café on Sixth: A secret worth sharing |
by Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Thursday, June 12, 2003 |
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| The small, split, free-range chicken breast, stuffed with Boursin cheese, English peas and mushrooms, rested on a salad of sprouts with a smattering of baby lettuce, fresh peas and sliced almonds tossed with a champagne vinaigrette and ringed with alternating red and yellow teardrop tomato halves. |
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| The chicken ($16) was a lovely, flavorful, seasonal item, a light entrée perfect for what is bound to seem like another endless summer that has arrived again before its official calendar date. |
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| The salad also represents what must be the best-kept dining secret in town: the Thistle Cafe on Sixth on the ground floor of the new high-rise at Sixth and Lavaca streets. |
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| An offshoot of the Thistle at Davenport Ranch on Capital of Texas Highway, the downtown version was serving just three tables of diners at 7:30 on a recent Wednesday night. Fortunately, there were more people the next night. |
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| Perhaps word about the place is spreading slowly, because the only plausible explanation for the small crowd is that people just don't know about Thistle. |
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| Dishes produced by executive chef James Blanton, such as the curried mussels ($8), should be attracting diners in large numbers. |
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| The two dozen mussels had been steamed in a curried coconut-milk broth flavored with ginger, lime and cilantro. The lightly spicy broth coated the tender shellfish, plying a host of tastes in each bite (and forcing me to sit on my hands to avoid devouring the entire bowl). |
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| The ceviche ($8), the traditional Mexican seafood dish cooked in lime juice, featured tilapia, scallops and shrimp with diced red bell pepper, red onions, cilantro and capers (Peruvian). A mildly spicy version without the chiles, the ceviche was served with fried flour tortilla triangles and salsa. |
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| Another entree, the prime rib ($24 for the 12-ounce portion), was nicely done, too. The herb-crusted beef, which was juicy and exceptionally tender, was served with asparagus tips and a rich, very cheesy two-potato gratin, along with the jus from the meat and a horseradish sauce. Hearty eaters should note, however, that this is a smaller piece of meat than is served for a comparable price at some other restaurants in the area. |
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| The service at Thistle, supplied by the one waiter working that Wednesday and by two on Thursday, was attentive, friendly and practiced, with a small touch found in only a handful of the city's best restaurants: The servers held napkins between diner and pitcher while refilling glasses. |
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| That added effort went along with the decor, which features a modern elegance built around a retro look with the geometric-patterned carpet and the soft green and orange fabrics on the chairs. There are splashy design elements as well, including the large bouquets of curly branches that fill several wall niches, the hanging white-glass torpedo lights, the large metal chandeliers and the floor-to-ceiling fabric screens with subtle foliage patterns that act as dividers in the large restaurant, producing a more intimate white-linen area. |
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| The bread pudding ($6), one of a half-dozen desserts made at the restaurant, offered a rich finish to the meal. The large square of pudding, formed of cubes of light and dark breads with bing cherries and white chocolate, sat in a divided pool of crème Anglaise and dark chocolate sauce. |
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| A lighter but very flavorful choice was the trio of sorbets ($6), raspberry, kiwi and mango, which were served in a sophisticated style on a bed of crushed ice in a martini glass with the rim coated in blue sugar. |
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| It was another dish appropriate for the season and yet another reason to dine at what should be a bustling Thistle on Sixth. |
