I was wearing the wrong outfit for East Side Show Room. I should have dressed more like Amelie – a bit French, a bit vintage, a bit, I don’t know…less Banana-Republican-work-appropriate (to my credit, I did come straight from work). They still let me in and didn’t even give me dirty looks, and I’m glad for it.
The interior of the place is quite lovely. The owners have tried to replicate the pre-World War II era in its design, and you get the feeling that it could be a speakeasy, or a 1920s dance hall, or a theatre, or all of the above. The delicate tables, wall art made of iron, exposed brick walls and concrete floors, and the stylishly tattooed servers prompted my friend to call it “steampunk.” Admittedly, I had to look up that term on Wikipedia, but it’s a pretty apt description of the décor.

We took advantage of their happy hour specials, which I have to say are a bit paltry. $2 “cheap ass” beers, $1 off draft beers, wines by the glass (or in this case, tiny jam jar) and cocktails? And, uh, no food specials? Really? Maybe it’s because the restaurant is still new and they can’t yet afford to be super-generous with happy hour prices. I don’t know, but it’s almost like, why bother? I will say that their drink selection is pretty amazing, especially if you like cocktails of the fancy variety. I’ve noticed that the art of mixology is becoming more respected in these parts, and ESSR has jumped on that bandwagon. Their cocktail offerings are original, and everything is handmade from fresh ingredients. Muddled, shaken, mixed, you name it – they craft each cocktail as if it were their own baby. A baby made of delicious alcohol (i.e. best baby ever).

Their menu is not extensive, but the dishes are creative and, of course, made from in-season ingredients. I ordered a cup of their soup du jour, which was zucchini, lemon, and egg in duck broth. If I had a cold, this would be my remedy of choice – forget mom’s chicken soup (sorry, mom). For my entrée I had the gulf shrimp with curry grits and shaved fennel. I was a bit curious as to how all these flavors would fit together, but somehow they did. The shrimp was perfectly grilled, the grits added a light spiciness to the dish, and the shaved fennel was cool and crisp with that slight hint of anise. Dessert was the only stumble, I thought. The waitress recommended the special, which was a ginger-peach crème brulee. Now, I love me some crème brulee (could I be any classier?), so I was happy to take her word for it. However, the crème was slightly overcooked, and I didn’t detect much ginger-peach flavor. In fact, the dessert was a bit bland, except for the tiny slivers of fresh peach that accompanied the dish. I should have gone with my first instinct – a lavender chocolate concoction of sorts. Will have to try that next time.

Service was decent, if a little over eager at first. I won’t lie to you, the prices at ESSR are not what one might call “recession-friendly.” It’s a perfect place to take a cool date or have an upscale drink after work, but some people might be a little crotchety about higher prices at an eating establishment. But you know, I’ve noticed that Austin’s becoming more well-known on the foodie scene. After all, our own Olivia was just listed as one of Bon Appetit’s Top 10 Best New Restaurants in America. Point is, we can’t be all tacos and BBQ all the time. Folks want variety, sometimes they want something a little fancy, but most times they want something unique, fresh, and Austin-made. Newcomers like ESSR fit the bill.

East Side Show Room
1100 East 6th Street
512-467-4280