AUYE – 1st Annual Austin Asian UYE

Errol, you rock! Thank you all for being so welcoming! The food was great, the company was even better. I sat next to Joe C., what a witty and funny dude. I got to try pig intestines for the first time. I knew I had to take advantage as I love trying unusual things. Anna and Tracey were super friendly. Stella and Courtney are awesome gals. We must have all bene starving, we ordered way too much food at our table. We ordered individually, but ended up sharing everything via a nifty lazy susan in the center of the table. I think most of our table brought home left-​overs. Asian leftovers are always yummy eaten cold, straight-​from-​the-​fridge… Mmm. FYI: BYOB.

An awesome event! Thanks to Errol M, for putting it on and being the consummate host (like Mr Roarke, without the white suit.) It was a great little restaurant, and my gal Amber S got to meet a few of my crazy Unilocalin’ friends for the first time. Some highlights– The pig intestines were exquisite; great appetizers; awesome company; walnut shrimp, and ice-​cold Tsingtao. (OK, it’s a BYOB place, so I ran and fetched a six from the Asian Market, but it still rocked!)
I look forward to more AUYE’s from our awesome Asian Unilocal caucus. Kudos, and much thanks for letting me be a part of it!

I’m writing this review in typical asian-​time…
I remember there was lots of duck fat but no eggplant. We had a scavenger hunt in MT for mayo but found no kewpie. I was popular for my Unilocal bottle opener but even more popular for my panda hat.
We jumped on Courtney’s car, Joe took scalp pics, Stella gave me a beer, Khiem ate all the jalapenos. Best AUYE ever.

I feel so special being invited to dinner with all these fine folks!
Errol thanks for putting this shindig together, you put the A in Asian dude. Loved meeting fellow Unilocalers while gorging on duck fat. As you can see we had plenty of food pornographers there to document our time while we ate ourselves sick. I feel bad for not mingling with the other table but you know how Asians are with their pork and duck.
You know the saying «the happier we get the less we see»…let’s do it again sometime, hope to see you guys really soon!

I’ll capture the evening in a series of moments…
— Walking around MT with everyone looking for, but not finding, Kewpie Mayo for me (found it in 2 minutes at Hana 2 days later)
— Heading over to First Chinese 10 minutes early, only to find the rest of us non-​Asians already seated (tick tock, Ann!)
— Bun ftw… Of course we’d have tacos!
— Our table may have started slow, with multi fried rice and beef flat noodle platters, but finished strong with an insane amount of food (all the leftovers found their way to a good home)
— It’s hard to dine on duck while sitting next to Tracey S.
— The second best pig intestine I’ve ever had
— Kev’s facepalm, caught on camera
— Receiving my check, which was really a cutup piece of the «You are a monkey» placemat, with the server’s Chinese writing scribbled on the back that could have said anything, really, on it
— It’s a crime that no one at the table got the straight BBQ pork. I’ve picked it up from First numerous times before, and it’s pretty solid. I figured someone would, so I got a walnut shrimp (yes, Ann, the shrimp is better at Ho Ho) instead. Should have stuck with my gut.
— Errol did NOT order all the desserts
— Courtney W said «Hello Kitty» to the stray cat we saw afterwards (no jokes, please)
I’m astounded with how well they handled the crowd, and the checks. But I’m sure the ease of the evening was due to the conversations that ever-​floating host Errol had with the staff throughout. Nice job, E! See you all next year.

I learned a lot about myself at this event.
Big nod to Errol. Bringing us Asians together… one roast duck at a time.
I realized as a halfer I maybe have less than 5 actual Asian friends. So thanks for opening up the flood gate. Great to meet new peeps!
I will have to update my review for First Chinese BBQ because the food this time around was solid. The fried silken tofu was grossly AMAZING.
Best quote of the night: «My fingers are soaked in duck fat» pretty much sums up the night.
Everyone overdosed on msg, carbs, and fat. Success!
Award for most confused plate of the night: Cheese crusted shrimp… Still can’t pinpoint the cheese flavor. not even the waitress new. Hmmm.puzzling. Nathan fearlessly ordered it and choked it down. It was.interesting. Worth a second order? Nope.
Wonderful night, we should keep it as a regular event.
Errol you are a genius. THANK YOU!

Right now, as I’m writing this review I’m eating last night’s leftovers. I remember most of the things I ate. But I had a great time at Errol’s Unilocal event! Awesome meeting fellow Unilocalers. Table 1, where I was, didn’t realize how much they ordered and we had to use the next table to put our dirty dishes in. Khim was cool and let me taste the sake he brought in. It was good. Didn’t know it was a BYOB. I couldn’t believe that I had pig intestine and I liked it.
After our meal someone yelled out, «Who’s Bernadette?» Where’s Bernadette?” I thought now some people know who I am.
What a great night!

Errol, you sure do know how to organize an event.
I was welcomed to this event by Errol and Alison tapping on the glass of my car as my face was staring into the phone in my lap. As I got out of my car and said, «Thanks for scaring me, you two!» I realized that I was in for a really fun evening. Funny how that works out, right?
Joe said I was sitting at Table B and I quickly responded, «Yeah. B for better.» For once, I was wittier than Joe C. and that is an accomplishment. I am proud of myself, Joe! You can’t take that moment away from me! (And also Mark laughed, which means I am not the only person that finds myself amusing. Success!)
I finally got to eat some of that cute bread! Errol ordered something for an appetizer and I’m not entirely sure what it is called, but I refer to it as the cute bread because the bread looks so soft and fluffy. It was delicious and Google is going to be my friend so I can finally discover the name of the cute bread and order it again sometime.
Stella was kind enough to share her beer with me and I was glad because she brought an amber beer. Alison put her Unilocal bottle opener to good use and I think that confirms the bottle opener as the best swag ever.
Alison also put the best picture ever on the event page which caused me to laugh so hard that everyone looked at me. This picture is rivaled by the picture Nathan took with the Chinese zodiac, because it elicited the same reaction.
I thought my table ordered a lot of food until I saw how much food the other table had. The best part? Each table seemed to order totally different things. Try all the food? Why, yes, don’t mind if I do! (Except the intestine. I did not try that. Maybe someday, but yesterday was not that day.) I really liked the chicken with garlic sauce, the chicken fried rice, the mushrooms, and the dish that had shrimp and scallops. (And also baby corn. If you don’t like baby corn, I definitely took a picture and sent it to you, because I am the greatest friend.)
At every point in the evening, I thought, «I am so full, I hope this is all the food.» Then there was more food, so I made a little more room because when you are at a restaurant eating family style, you have to try at least a little bit of everything. Errol is very good at getting me to try new things, so I had to do his event justice.
Liza wins best comment of the evening for her quip after Stella said her fingers were covered in duck fat. I am still laughing about that comment today.
I got to eat a bunch of delicious food with a lot of lovely people and I made new friends. This event was 100% a roaring success. Thanks for letting me join in on the fun, Errol!

I’m going to describe last night– as seen through my slant eyes– and let you decide what was real and what was not.
1. I’m usually on time to events, but in true Asian fashion, I was late to this one.
2. I arrived with LIlly dressed as Pikachu and loudly exclaimed, «I want to be the very best– like no one ever was!»
3. I, more or less, told Joe C that I was fattening Lilly up in preparation for a feast.
4. I don’t own a Hello Kitty tshirt but borrowed Joe C’s. I didn’t care that it was dirty.
5. I met some awesome Unilocalers and caught up with a few familiar faces.
6. I got to try intestine thanks to some of these awesome folks.
7. I decided that I didn’t like intestine.
8. My round-​eyed husband was the first at our table to grab a fork.
9. I was going to take a poll of how often the average Asian shaves their legs, but I forgot to because the food in front of me was more exciting.
10. Errol rocks. Unilocal rules.

Let’s make this simple: Whatever your passion is, just do it. House the homeless, be a chef, find true love — it may be different for each of us, but the process is the same: Figure out a plan, and then make it happen. You’ll either get what you want or you won’t. Are you waiting for someone to do it for you? Why would you want your last conscious thought in this lifetime to be, «I wish I had given him/​her/​it a shot…»
So on a Wednesday night at 7:30, all I wanted at that particular moment in time was to be surrounded by two dozen people I admire, with an incredible bounty of solid Cantonese food. And that’s exactly what happened. Did they have a good time? I don’t know, I don’t control their feelings. Did I have a good time? Oh, yes. One more thing checked off the list. And that’s as good as it gets.