Dishola

How many times have you and your friends had a cool idea and only half implemented it until it fizzled out? How many times have you said to yourself, "Man, I should have stuck with that idea, it would have been really cool if it was done." Well my friend and ex-coworker, Lindsey Simon, did stick it out... and make a really cool website called Dishola.

It really is a cool website. The premise is simple: instead of reviewing entire restaurants, you review only dishes. So if you're in the mood for Pad Thai, you simply search for that and you'll find the highest reviewed Pad Thai dishes in your area.

Reviews by the dish? Bleh, you say... what makes this site special, if at all? It's all in the details. It's 100% integrated with Google Maps. When you search, you'll get a nifty Google Maps interface showing you where the hot dishes are... but even cooler than that is when you are reviewing a dish, it uses a Google API to ensure that you're not making a duplicate of a certain dish (in other words, we want two reviews of a single dish Pad Thai at Madam Mam's, not two reviews of two separate dishes both called Pad Thai at Madam Mam's).

The entire website is like that... very "Web 2.0" as some would say, but without all the super-flashy interface stuff that just gets in the way. It is very community oriented in nature. You have an identity and can find people with similar tastes and share opinions and what not (that's the real Web 2.0, ya know).

The whole operation is top notch. He didn't just make a website and shove it out on the internet to fester. Dishola is constantly keeping things fresh with celebrity dish reviews, video interviews from the nation's top chefs, charity and donation programs.

In short, he's taken an existing, somewhat stale idea and successfully breathed new life into it. Go check it out, I promise it's not like all those other tired food review sites.

Ok.. enough about how awesome the website is... this is my blog and should be about me! So here's my take on the whole thing. I'm massively jealous. He's living every programmer's dream!!! To crank out a cool product that people love using and spawning an active community around it! I want that! I mean seriously, the next best thing would be to create the world's most popular MMORPG single handedly or something.

Also, I have to get something off my chest... I'm a bad friend... I don't use Dishola as often as I should. I've put some thought into why this is and I've determined that it's the same reason why Adam and I needed a bet so our blogs would actually have some content. I hate putting up half assed reviews. See, Adam and I hardly ever posted blog articles because we would constantly revise them and never be happy. We needed a bet just to force ourselves to publish the articles, even if they aren't perfectly witty or deliciously insightful.

I was at Catfish Parlor the other day and I said to Aimee, "Remind me to get a picture of our lightly battered, deliciously fried catfish dinner with jalapeno tartar sauce so I can put it on Dishola." Low and behold, the check came and Aimee "reminded" me... :P

Also, I'm just not that good with words. "Get the Tom Kha soup at Madam Mams, it's really f-ing good." Sigh.

Moonshine, Austin Tx

I've been meaning to try this place ever since my boss mentioned that it's one of his favorites. It has been well over a year since he mentioned that, and I haven't thought about it since then until Aimee recently brought home some porkchops from there.

I'm not a fan of pork chops unless they are thin grilled Vietnamese style, but these thick ones from Moonshine were pretty good. They are described as "molasses and chili cured (for 24 hours) with an bourbon apple sauce."

Anyways, for whatever reason, me and Aimee [sic] decided to go there on Sat. Let me fill you in on a little background about myself. I hate crowds. I hate loud noises. I hate waiting. I hate "no parking." Aimee knew the only way she'd get me to go to a place downtown on the weekend is if we went early. So we went at 3:45 pm (we were both starving for some reason, so it worked out well).

I liked it. We sat outside on the patio and it wasn't crowded or loud at all. There was music playing, but it was very soft... you had to stop talking to hear it (i.e. perfect in my ears). Our server was very friendly and I had no reservations about giving her my standard 20%.

So here's the rundown...

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Baked (really? I could have sworn it was fried) Bree with Ancho Pear Chutney and Toast Points

It was good, but not outstanding, IMO. Aimee was craving this standard faire appetizer, so I think it really hit the spot for her.

Broiled Rainbow Trout with Corn Bread Stuffing & Chile Sage Butter

This was recommended by the server (and my boss). It is awesome. It may not sound like it, but it is very rich. We speculate it's from a lot of butter and sugar in the cornbread stuffing. Definitely a dish to recommend and get again.

Crunchy Coated Snapper with Mango Relish, Crab Meat & Basil Pesto

Very good also. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, but it wasn't a show stopper like the trout. I did like that I could taste the red onions on it and the mango was in large slices and fresh and flavorful as well.

Baked Mac and Cheese (side)

Very good. Obviously not like what you would buy in a grocery store, but very rich and creamy instead. The top is browned from the baking.

Seasonal Vegetable Medley

Good. I ate all of mine (and Aimee's too later at home), which is saying a lot for veggies. It included corn, red cabbage and carrots.

Grilled Polenta with Parmesan and Fresh Herbs

Meh, I liked the normal cornbread better.

Harvest Moon Tea (alcoholic drink)

Good. It's pint sized for $6.75, which isn't too bad these days. Be warned, it's pink.

Hard Lemonade

The twist is mint. Aimee loved this and got two of them.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

I think it was the ice cream that was white chocolate because I couldn't taste any white chocolate in the bread pudding. This was good, but I think at this point in the meal, we just got it to taste because we were so full. We didn't finish it even though it was very good.

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The meal cost $79. 100% worth it for a "night out" or "date" type of meal.

P.S. The picture shown shows the stuffed trout (rear) that I got and the hard lemonade that Aimee got.