You can also go for an interactive Skies Over Texas 4D Theater Ride to experience what makes this city so unique. You can gaze at the scenery using a telescope or images on the deck floor that point where specific landmarks are located. One of the best ways to experience San Antonio is from way up high!Įnjoy the stunning views from the Flags Over Texas observation deck of the 750-foot high Tower of the Americas. There’ll be plenty of opportunities for romantic down time and settings for a casual chat. There are also stops at famous tourist destinations such as the Alamo, Tower of the Americas, Buckhorn Saloon, San Antonio Museum of Art, and Pearl Brewery District. The skinny: Las Vegas setting meets Mediterranean cuisine with both French and Texas accents.Explore the beauty of the city of San Antonio aboard a double-decker hop-on, hop-off bus.Ī friendly & knowledgeable guide will be there to provide you with information about the city’s history.ĭepending on the tour, the package can include a cruise or a walking tour of the San Antonio River Walk. More than with complex dishes, depending on exotic ingredients or preparations for their appeal, this is where a kitchen shines. And if something more filling is on the agenda, then consider the de-boned short ribs served, along with tender, twisted, Cara Nonna brand pasta, in a basil-accented ragu any nonna would be proud to claim. It's a simple but expertly dressed plate in which all parts, the candied hazelnuts as much as the rye croutons or the duck, pull equal weight. If you must order something sturdier, there's a burger and a deliciously anachronistic French dip, but I'd head straight for the pulled duck confit salad. I can see sitting here all afternoon with just an order or two of these delicately battered beauties, pausing occasionally for a few strands of pickled radish, a discreet dip into the spicy aioli. And at first glance, the more-casual noonday menu seems like less of a fit than it does at dinner.īut then you order the oysters. At 12:30 on a Thursday, the place was hardly bustling. Red-lamped sconces and suspended fixtures seem especially out of place.
The setting that is sexy and sultry by night is not quite as successful in the light of day. And the bedding of lemony polenta (the lemon actually matters - taste the polenta on its own first) with lusty tomato sofrito is an excellent backdrop for the just gutsy enough goat.
But it had no old-goat toughness or gamy taste - far from it. First impressions here were of the "this must have been from a very large, very old goat" sort the shank was that prodigious. One enthusiastic server suggested that its flesh fairly bounded from the bone. The revisit yielded another winner, rosemary and red pepper spiced goat shank. Recalling my just-after-opening experience with entrées, I found the cassoulet Rebelle quite good as a collection of parts, though as a traditionalist, I still prefer the beanier, cook-it-all-together original, and had praise for the then bone-in short rib braised with mushroom duxelles. The octopus is spice-crusty and tender, the beans are perfect in their bath of basil pistou and everything comes together in rare harmony. But once that hurdle is overcome, it's clear sailing. My only issue with this handsome dish was structural: cutting the coiled and grilled tentacle atop the slightly slippery/soupy Corona beans. And I found the recently tasted char-grilled Spanish octopus appetizer to be triumphant in almost every sense. But I would leap on the ground goat kebabs again in a heartbeat. The texture of veal carpaccio also failed to thrill. Nevertheless, I would still be reluctant to reprise the Pernod-cured salmon - not so much for the salmon as for the accompaniments.
That menu has remained essentially the same since last fall's opening, but cuts of steak have been adjusted, "chem-free" Gulf shrimp have replaced lobster in the excellent green curry preparation and roasted duck breast takes the place of a duck leg confit. Yes, an $89, 48-ounce côte de boeuf will taste the same whether one is in a tank top or Tom Ford, but think of this as an opportunity. The menu, too, deserves a degree of sartorial respect. In the evening, the lighting level at Rebelle, the hotel's flagship restaurant, is such that a wrinkle here or there thankfully won't be noticed - but that doesn't mean that diners shouldn't dress up to the glamorous surroundings. Anthony Club bar just off the Alley is only one way to help populate a place that looks way better with people in it - preferably beautiful people. Tuesday night's Jazz on the Rocks at The St. Anthony seems to be slowly coming to terms with its nip-tuck facelift, programming events to keep proud-again Peacock Alley active.