July 7, 2009 at 5:54 pm (Food)
Tags: Banana Pudding, Biscuits, Blueberry Pancakes, Breakfast, brunch, Coconut Cake, Crab Cakes, French Toast, Fried Green Tomatoes, Granny's Kitchen, Highland Bakery, Lunch, Murphy's, NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, North Highland Bakery, Ok Cafe, Omelette, Pancakes, Restaurant Review, Salmon Croquettes, Social House, South City Kitchen, Sweet Potato Pancakes, Tasty Tuesday, Waffles
For this edition of Tasty Tuesday I am not going to review a restaurant. Today I am going to share with you my favorite places to have Brunch. During the summer, more of my friends and associates want to meet up for breakfast/lunch instead of dinner. I don’t blame em’. I love breakfast and will eat it morning, noon or night so I never complain. However, once it’s decided we are going to meet for Brunch the next question is where should we go? This list is my solution to the breakfast/lunch conundrum.
1. South City Kitchen – This is my favorite Brunch Spot. I believe they have the BEST pancakes. They also have the BEST fried green tomatoes. I have both whenever I go. Plus they give you a big basket of biscuits and cornbread to munch on while you wait. Try the Maryland Style Crab Cakes they are excellent with the grits. Oh and it’s the only place I know where you can get banana pudding.
2. Social House – This place reminds me of my Granny’s house, except my Granny prefers to hang chandeliers instead of bicycles from the ceiling. SoHo has excellent pancakes, they make a mean salmon croquette (only place besides my Granny’s kitchen that I will eat them), but it’s the spinach bacon feta omelette that keeps me coming back.
3. Murphy’s - I go to Murphy’s for French toast and sometimes for the waffles. It’s a great brunch spot if you can stand the crowds, but people tend to linger at this spot. There’s something for everyone on the menu and they have baked goods you can snack on while you wait.
4. OK Café - This place is an old school diner and it’s very kitschy. They have a great big dollar tree, waitresses in crisp white uniforms and a confederate flag in the dining area. You should probably warn people about the flag before you decide to dine at OK. There’s always a wait at this place, but if it’s just two people you can generally sit at one of two bars. Let me warn you, if you sit at the bar in the money tree room you are going to want dessert. They guy behind this bar makes all the deserts and they have good deserts! My favorite is the Coconut Cake. I come here for blueberry pancakes (ask for your blueberries on the side), omelettes and lemonade (it rivals the lemonade at chick-fil-a).
5. Highland Bakery - I refer to it as the North Highland Bakery, but whatever you want to call it this is the best place to go if you just rolled out of bed, pulled on some flip-flops and barely wiped the sleep crumbs from your eyes. It’s very unpretentious. They have some interesting things on the menu, but my favorite hands down are the sweet potato pancakes. They should be called sinfully, delicious candy-cakes. They also have peanut butter French toast that is great and I don’t even like peanut butter. It’s a bakery so try some deserts or a cinnamon roll.
6. Thumbs Up – Last, but certainly not least is Thumbs up. I don’t frequent this place for two reasons they are cash only (I rarely carry cash and it’s against my religion to pay to retrieve my money at random atms) and the wait times can be ugly. I also prefer to go to the location in east point. When I do plan ahead and stop at my bank’s atm or meet up for brunch later in the afternoon this is the best place to go for fish n’ grits or chicken and waffles.
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March 11, 2009 at 3:53 am (Food)
Tags: Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bacon wrapped Date, Crab Cakes, Jezebel Magazine, Macaroni Grill, Maxim Prime, Mrs. Dash, Old Bay, Pork Chop, Repast Restaurant, Restaurant Review
I feel obligated, no it is my civic duty to start reviewing restaurants. I believe that if real people write real restaurant reviews others will do the same and save me from making bad restaurant choices. Additional Disclaimer: I am not trying to pass myself off as a food critic. I enjoy chips and cheese and believe that pizza is one of the best culinary creations ever thought up by a chef. My palate isn’t refined, but I know good food and if a dish is tasty or NOT.
I went to Repast over the weekend. First let me say that I was put off by the name. Isn’t a repast what you go to after a funeral? However, I thought that maybe somebody’s grandma or aunt might be back in the kitchen whipping up delicious comfort food for the masses. Despite the name, this place got great reviews AND it’s #5 on Jezebel’s Top Restaurants AND the Atlanta Journal Constitution gave it four stars. I thought I was safe and the place was a sure bet.
My friend and I braved a man-less valet stand and parked our own car. It was raining, so we ducked in through the side, but managed to find our way. I thought the space was well designed and artsy, but not overly so. Some restaurants are just TOO cool for school and rely to heavily on decor, think Maxim Prime. I think simple, uncomplicated decor goes a long way, save the money for good food and a fantastic chef.
We were both starving and ready to EAT. After being seated, we immediately asked for bread and water. The bread was okay, but it has nothing on the bread at say Macaroni Grill . We decided to start with the dates wrapped in bacon because they were highly recommended. I must admit they sounded strange, but actually anything wrapped in bacon is tempting to me. They were very good, sweet, salty and savory. After this first course, I was eagerly anticipating my entree.
I ordered the chorizo crusted pork chop and my friend ordered the crab cakes. The pork chop was excellent, tender, perfectly cooked and the crust went nicely with the sherry sauce. I was confused by the sides. The first side was ham bits and brussel sprouts, but it was bland and a little mushy, maybe some red cabbage could have spiced it up. I love cheese, but the cheesy au gratin sweet potatoes were just wrong. Based on this dish I have decided that the “au gratin” style does not work for the sweet potato. Both sides were a little off and didn’t complement the meat.
My friend bless his poor heart didn’t fair so well. He ordered the crab cakes. I’m a big believer that you should order seafood at seafood restaurants and preferably in the north or near water. When the cakes arrived they looked pretty, but they were a disappointment. They tasted very fishy and they weren’t lumpy, crumbly or flakey. It was a circular gelatin, tofu like glob. Even if it was more cakey with bread crumbs and eggs the texture wasn’t right, it was slick and slightly rubbery. I wasn’t sure it was a crab cake at all. I forced him to send it back. I believe if you’re paying you should be satisfied. So we sent the cakes back and ordered the bass. The second dish gets a gold star for presentation. The fish was perched atop mushrooms and more brussel sprouts. After the waitress sat the plate down, she poured a brown broth around the food. His plate resembled a pool with an island, it was pretty. Despite the beachy presentation, the fish and sides were tasteless. Bring on the Old Bay or at least some salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash . The fish was very fresh and maybe it was prepared to allow the natural flavor of fish to shine through. Well if you are on a salt restricted diet this is your dish.
Overall I wasn’t impressed. I can’t subsist on bacon wrapped dates alone so I will have to pass on Repast .
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