Castle Hill Café

I’ve lived in Austin for so many years and I’ve passed by this restaurant a million times on my way to 6th Street. I even went to the door once with a dinner date, looked at the menu and decided that it was too expensive for my budget at the time.

I finally got around to checking this place out last month and loved it so much I’ve already been back three times. I am absolutely addicted to the Hacked Chicken Salad. It is quite possibly the prettiest food I have ever eaten and tastes phenomenal. There are so many elements to this salad: field greens, cabbage, corn relish, sweet walnuts, grilled chicken and an amazing, creamy sesame-ginger dressing. And for an extra bonus, the plate is garnished with cream cheese dumplings and sweet corn mini-muffins.

The only hitch in my most recent visit was an overcooked steak ordered by my dining companion. Rather than complain, my friend J simply stated, “I guess this is their version of medium.” I had to laugh. Having just finished a six week class on meat cookery, I am well versed on what a medium steak should actually look like – and his wasn’t it. Thankfully, J seemed to enjoy his meal nonetheless.

In addition to eating, I wanted to capture the Hacked salad on film. Having recently discovered some new settings on my camera I spent the first few minutes after our meal arrived snapping some shots. I'm sure the people around us thought I was crazy, or maybe they thought I was an ultra-cool restaurant reviewer. Nah!