Must Have This: Happy Hour

Friday last, we were taken, as is fairly frequently the case, out for beverages. It had been quite a week, what with a light snow and rolling blackouts doting the Texas countryside. The days had been long, the nights had been cold, and we were absolutely ready for a drink. The time had come for Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, by it's very own self, deserves a Must Have This post. What's not to love? The work day is over (at last), the bright young things (and some a little less than young, but still bright) are out and about, the sky is lovely (that purple!) and the bartender has just set down an exquisite cocktail in front of us (and it's about time). And of course, what make this particular time so particularly happy is that it's done for markedly less coin than if one had engaged in the same scenario on a Saturday, or even later in the same evening perhaps.

So to downtown we were whisked, ready to enjoy a bite and a beverage (or two or five), parking be damned. Having moved to Austin only 5 months ago, there are still a plethora of restaurants we have not yet been to, although we are making a concerted effort to remedy this situation. (read about Trace, a restaurant we are terribly excited to try as told by the lovely Austin Eavesdropper)

Our destination was Malaga, the wine and tapas bar. (We find it distressing that we do not have pictures of our own to offer of the trip- our device woes are ongoing, but hopefully they will be remedied in the near future. The picture below is from their website) The idea of tapas is cosmopolitan and playful and a touch seductive, we think- eating from the same plate, the give and take of sharing, and also wine (of course). Malaga did not disappoint in fulfilling our expectations.



The space is quite big, but feels surprisingly intimate once a majority of the tables are full. The colors are rich and exotic and warm- evoking images of Morocco and spice merchants. We were surprised by the number of waitstaff, as well as their fluidity- while one specific waitress always took the order, plates were delivered by many different persons, and more than one stopped by the table to assure our comfort and enjoyment. In any event, we felt well taken care of, which is exactly our preference.

The stars of Happy Hour -aside your host- are the drink specials. Malaga has quite an array of them- and there's something for every taste. A wide variety of specialty cocktails are available for $5, as well as varying beers for varying discounts. We, however, drank wine- select glasses are quite a find at $4.50. The most seductive offering is the pairing of a glass of wine and a tapas plate for $8. The tapas available are hardly your average happy hour bar fare- not a single tapas on the list is fried, and everything we tried was incredibly delicious (the pincho moruno (pork bites) and albondigas en tomate (meatballs in tomato sauce) were our favorites). Our one complaint? Happy hour is only from 5 to 7PM, so we encourage you to make the most of it.

Malaga is located at 440 W 2nd St in Austin.

Must Have This: Concert

The highly-publicised relocation of Austin City Limits finds the live music show in the still-smelling-of-construction Moody Theater in the base of the still-blocking-traffic-due-to-construction W Hotel and Residences (which is also home to the expectantly-not-smelling-of-construction restaurant Trace, which we cannot wait to try) (also, we have to say, while we love that Austin has a W- and we would like to hear the explaination why Houston does not- and we do find the building moderately agreeable, we are curious as to the lack of advertising- how are we to recognize this particular building as a W property?) (this paragraph, we are finding, is terribly parenthetical) (we just felt it worth pointing out) (so there) (we digress)

Coming up in two weeks are two Must See tapings: Willie Nelson (on Sunday 2/13) and Robyn the following Thursday (2/17). While you may have heard of Mr. Nelson (and his recent extracuricular activities), you may not have heard of Robyn. This, we think, is a low down dirty shame.

Robyn is a Swedish pop singer who we have loved since 1997's "Show Me Love". The time between that particular song and this particular taping is certainly an interesting story, and she has put out some delectable music in that time, but we will let you google those things should you choose. (We will say that 2008's Robyn is an incredibly solid album and very much worth a listen or a few)

We will, however, strongly encourage you to attend her performance (and for those of you located otherwheres, this is the schedule of dates- we do know she plays Dallas 2/18 and Houston (!!!) 2/19) for the taping of ACL. Her recent Body Talk EPs and subsequent LP have caused quite a stir amongst critics, and were certainly in heavy rotation on our devices in 2010 (the LP is great, but both the EPs are equally excellent in their own rights).

And if our endorsement of the quality of her music wasn't enough, the tickets are only $15USD. We'll repeat that: fifteen dollars for an amazing live show. Great music, a true live performer and an inexpensive ticket? We cannot put it any plainer: GO SEE ROBYN.

For samples of her music, go here or here.


Post Script:We are infinitely excited to see that there is a W hotel opening in Taipei, one of our favorite international cities.

Must Have This: Restaurant

Note: We appreciate the patience of our readers during this trying time of unstable electricity. During a particularly frigid yesterday, the power supply in Austin fluctuated between simply Not Working and Almost Possibly Working. Apologies.


We have stated time and time again our fondness for Mexican food. We hold it in very high regard, and consequently take the evaluation of it very seriously. We would go so far as to say that Ninfa's on Navigation may, in fact, be our very favorite Mexican restaurant.

Few cities are as primed for excellent Mexican food as Houston. San Antonio is also one (we have a favorite here, too, which we will no doubt reveal on Must Have This at a later date), Los Angeles is another (we have not been here in ages, so we don't have a favorite to speak of). Houston, being the fourth largest city in the US, and not at all far from the Mexican border, seems quite the obvious location.


There are many good, even great Mexican joints in Houston, and we would encourage anyone visiting (and you really should visit, don't let anyone tell you otherwise) to seek out a handful. They range in size and style, price and location. More than one of them rightfully belongs on Must Have This. Ninfa's on Navigation (alias Mama Ninfas and The Original Ninfa's) is however, in our well-versed opinion, the best in the city. It's combination of ambiance, service, price and taste earn it our top marks.

Where to start? Obviously, a margarita. We think the only real way to get them is frozen with no salt, but we begrudgingly understand those who prefer them on the rocks (and we will let the salt slide- although we do think it truly ruins the tart sweetness of the drink). Ninfa's are the perfect balance of potent and flavorful- incredibly fruity without tasting the least bit fake. And as with any Mexican restaurant worth anything, chips and salsa will appear on your table. One of our favorite things about the restaurant is that there is not just one salsa, but two, and neither of them is too spicy. Don't be afraid to try both- each is fantastic in it's own way.

As for the main event, there really is no bad choice. We have never had anything less than 'great.' The chicken mole, fajitas, tacos al pastor, and tacos al carbon are all excellent dishes, all of which we have devoured in a perhaps less-than-tactful way. Our personal favorite, however, is the Tejas combo. On one plate, fajitas, cheese enchilada, taco (we order ours soft instead of crispy, as an excuse to have one more house-made tortilla) and rice and beans (get the black beans, trust us) all combine to form possibly the most perfect Mexican meal of all time. You may think we jest; we do not.

The building has been slowly expanded as the restaurant has grown, and we find it charming to see the modest beginnings of what eventually became an empire. We can remember before the current new dining furniture arrived- the main room was an amusing mish-mash of old vinyl covered dining room chairs. The enclosed back patio is a fabulous place to sit and sip margaritas. The new patio bar is getting a lot of attention, and we thought it looked spectacular when we stopped by last weekend (we sat inside, with our long-standing favorite waitress, Kady).

Truly, we cannot find a reason you shouldn't go. Be warned, however, while reservations aren't required, they certainly are recommended, as the place fills up quickly, and the wait for a table can stretch well past an hour on busy nights.

The Original Ninfa's is located at 2704 Navigation Blvd in Houston.

Must Have This: Cocktail

As a general rule, we do not consume rum with much frequency. Very early in our young life, we had a number of unfortunate encounters with a particular coconut-flavored variety of the liquor (mixed with a highly caffeinated red beverage, anticipating recent alcohol/caffeine combinations by at least half a decade- oh, the pangs of youth) and as a result, have enjoyed but a smattering of pina coladas in the subsequent years.

So it was with a trepiditious heart that, last Sunday, we accepted a Rum Runner at a party we happened to be co-hosting. (Our infinitely charming co-host had concocted some Cuban porcine magic he informed us was Lechon Asado, salsa emanated from the stereo, and a selection of our favorite persons were in attendance- it was, in short, the makings of a smashing afternoon) We were, however, happily surprised with the delicious and terribly potent beverage placed in our hands.

A Rum Runner, we are told, is made with silver and gold (aged, not spiced) rums, banana and blackberry liqueurs and pineapple and orange juices. The variation we enjoyed was only altered by using black-raspberry liqueur instead of blackberry liqueur (we did make a concerted effort to find blackberry liqueur- and we did- but it was significantly more expensive than we cared to pay for a flavor we planned to mix with three other alcohols), and let us tell you, it was fabulous. Sweet and very strong, the runner was a big hit at the party, and each of us enjoyed five? six? We find the numbers begin to blur once we reached the fifth refill.



We find this recipe to be a good one. We strongly encourage you drink one, or two, but if you do enjoy the rum runner, please employ a driver for the evening.

Post Script: We also found the glasses from which we sipped the runner to be sassy, mischievous and, in a word, a hoot. They are available from Fish & Eddy's here.