Mixin' It Up*

The mixmix bibimbop at Koriente in downtown Austin is among the most comforting, filling, healthy meals for under $10 you can find in this town. It's actually $6, though I pay a little extra, as I'm wont to do, for the avocado. Free salad, free miso and free lemon water are a great little bonus. So is their cozy interior and back outdoor patio on days like today. Partly cloudy, warm and breezy.

I met my sis and a good friend - both of whom are unemployed** - for a leisurely lunch on this mid-April Friday. This is the time of year when I'm most likely to shed pounds, mainly because dishes like the mixmix bibimbop actually sound good. I want to eat light 'n' healthy this time of year. And if I don't lose some weight between April and August, I have a lot less hope for the rest of the year.

Koriente's mixmix comes with warm rice, fresh red peppers, purple and white cabbage, salad spring mix, shredded carrots and slivers of cucumber. I use a combination of their house salad dressing and a spicy red Sriracha-like sauce that might rival Huebscher's, though I have only dreamt of hers and have done no actual sampling.


Toss it all together into a jumbled, healthy mess of veggies. What's not to love?

I love Koriente for many reasons but the origins of this place have a lot to do with that -- love, that is. Check out the message painted at the back entrance. I couldn't say it better.

*Thanks, Stewie.
**This was also my little sister's first of many celebratory lunches. She got a new job today! She starts May 4, so the little bugger gets three more weeks off.