1501 S. 1st St.
(512) 291 2881
elizabethstreetcafe.com

Forget what you know about Asian restaurants. Banish your notions of French cafes. Because you’ve never seen anything like the new French-Vietnamese mash-up, Elizabeth Street Café.

Inspired by the French colonial cafes of Hanoi (France ruled Vietnam for about 100 years), the eatery celebrates Hanoi’s penchant for color with its bubble gum pink door, turquoise shutters, cobalt blue stools and violet chairs. Antique French lamps and Louis chairs mix with Asian teahouse wallpaper and Vietnamese art. Toss in some vintage birdcages and a checkerboard floor and it starts to feel a bit Alice In Wonderland. Yet somehow, it steers just shy of kitsch.

While Elizabeth Street Café looks like no other Austin restaurant, it also cooks like no other. It serves lunch and dinner, but breakfast may be its most exciting meal. Pastry chef Alexandra Manley turns out pitch-perfect croissants and brioche served with exotic house made jams like lychee-raspberry. There’s fresh fruit and yogurt and crêpes stuffed with Nutella and bananas.

Things get really interesting with breakfast versions of Vietnamese staples. Pho, the classic noodle soup, is given a morning twist when topped with a soft poached egg, braised brisket, flank and short rib. The breakfast bánh mì sandwich tucks fried eggs, crispy pork belly and avocado into a house-baked baguette. Even classics like Singapore noodles, sticky rice and steamed buns are given the breakfast treatment.

Lunch and dinner appetizers include an outstanding Texas Akaushi beef carpaccio sprinkled with seared shishito peppers, marinated mushrooms and lemon soy. There are 15 choices of Pho including a tasty bowl of chicken broth, sliced chicken breast and grilled chicken ‘meatballs’ served with the traditional accompaniments. Ten bánh mì sandwiches are offered, and our grilled marinated pork version had balanced flavor. Desserts include spins on French classics like puffed rice profiteroles and also bite-size éclairs, cream puffs and macarons.

The drink list covers the globe with a variety of sakes, beers, and food-friendly wines offered by the glass or bottle, with none topping-out above $40. There’s an impressive tea menu and even a selection of punches made from vermouth, sake, champagne or rose wine.

Elizabeth Street Café is an escape from the ordinary. As chef/owners Larry McGuire and Thomas Moorman have proven at Lamberts and Perla’s, dining out isn’t just about being well fed, it’s about being transported.