Well, maybe some of the hype.
Yesterday, Rachel and I took our requisite pilgrimage down to The Mighty Cone, the most buzzed about thing around these parts since Africanized bees.
The Cone is the mobile street food incarnation of Hudson’s on the Bend, the venerable fine dining joint that sports a wild game twist.
The first thing that struck me was how much I liked the set up. Sure it’s in a gravel lot in the middle of a construction zone. But the hand painted signs, the gathering of bright red tables, even the adorable rails with little holes to hold your food, just all seemed so inviting.
The second thing I noticed was the strange hours. 11am to sunset. I guess they’re targeting a lunch crowd, but it seems like a good later-night spot as well.
The third thing, and let’s not delude ourselves on this one folks, the Mighty Cone is selling tacos. Yes they turn them on their end, and sure they stick them in those disposable snow cone cups, but still- tacos.
We ordered two versions of the Cone, the Chicken and Avocado and the Cone Dog. They also have sliders but since I’m suffering serious slider burnout we decided to stick to food they actually named themselves after. Oh. And fries.
The chicken is coated with a thick, crisp crust of sesame seeds, almonds, and corn flakes with salt, sugar and chili for seasoning. They toss in a quarter of a fried avocado, some slaw, and a mild chili sauce for good measure. The end result is a very tasty, exceedingly unwieldy pile of food lacking all structural integrity. I think I ended up with slaw in my hair and on my shoes (bonus points for full coverage!)
Our Cone Dog on the other hand, was quite manageable. At its core is an ample venison sausage with nice spice and good snap. They dress it up with slaw and a slightly sweet, whole grain mustard sauce. This was Rachel’s favorite- most likely because it didn’t require any sort of diagram or strategy meetings to get it into her mouth.
The fries were a little flopsy and a bit undercooked but they did have good chili and real potato flavor. The housemade ketchup certainly didn't hurt either.
All in all, I wasn’t blown away but I liked it a lot. I think the Mighty Cone is a great addition to our suddenly flourishing street food culture here. They did just open, so we’ll give them a bit to work out the kinks. Then we’ll be back for some more of their promising sideways tacos.
-L.Pants
Mighty Cone: 1603 S. Congress, Austin. No phone.
interesting...do they make any cone-shaped desserts?
Posted by: Krista | Thursday, 19 March 2009 at 14:10
They do! Something called a turtle cone. It's apparently a slice of pecan pie dipped in chocolate. There's a picture on this post: http://www.maggiesaustin.com/2009/03/18/the-mighty-cone-trailer/#more-8835
Posted by: rachel @ boots in the oven | Thursday, 19 March 2009 at 19:19