Chow Down Atlanta

My sister has the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I know. Last month, her childhood best friend Brigid gave her a box of French macarons from this place and in the process, tipped us off to Maison Robert’s new location near Chamblee. Needless to say, we’ve been back every week — me for the bread, the sister for the sweets.

The short and sweet: absolutely delicious macarons, fantastic baguettes, delectable flourless cakes, rich cheesecakes, flaky and buttery croissants. And one of the best sandwiches I’ve had.

Surprisingly, I don’t have any pictures of the macarons because we eat them faster than I can take pictures. But Sean has a beautiful one here.

Check out more pictures from Broderick here.

Insider tip:
Closed on Sundays.
Croissants on Saturdays. Call ahead to reserve.

The scoop:
Maison Robert Fine Chocolates
5256 Peachtree Rd
Atlanta, GA 30341
(770) 454-6442

Technorati Tags: French, sandwiches, bakery, chocolatier, Chamblee

There’s an advantage to being the only girl and younger than everyone else in the premises: you get all the lovin’. Two seconds from entering and I’m already on first name basis with the guys behind the counter. It’s a nice way to make someone feel at home in the midst of all the testosterone under one roof. And all them guys are nice!

It’s my first time at this location although I’ve been to the other two many times. Order at the counter, get your utensils, then sit down and wait for your food to get delivered to you. I ordered the pork ribs, the counter guy looks at me and writes down a quarter slab plus my two sides. Hmmm, quarter slab. He clearly doesn’t know me — my size is inversely proportional to my appetite. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I didn’t disagree with him and ended up with what looks to be a kid’s plate. Fine, I’ll just eat again one hour later.

I have always liked their sliced beef brisket, pulled pork, and pork ribs. Barbecue Man also agrees. They are moist and fall-of-the-bone tender with a good layer of fat. I also like the smoky flavor that is evident in every bite. Sides are forgettable (read: frozen kind) so skip the fried ones and opt for either the coleslaw, baked beans, or Brunswick stew (all homemade).

Definitely a good place for cheap but good eats. My total bill was close to $12 with 2 cans of Diet Coke.

Insider tip:
They have Fat Tire beer!

The scoop:
Pig-N-Chik BBQ
5071 Peachtree Industrial Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30341
(770) 451-1112

Technorati Tags: barbeque, Chamblee

I have been frustrated with Atlanta’s lack of real, good, authentic Indian restaurants for some time now. Most times, the cuisine has been customized to the American palate. Such is the case here at Himalayas. I came in on a Friday night and the place was packed. With non-Indians. Bad sign. While service is good, the kitchen got slammed and the wait was a good 25-30 minutes for the food to arrive. They seriously need to add another tandoor oven.

The mixed appetizer plate came with a vegetable samosa, a pakora, 2 pieces of chicken tikka, a beef sheekh kabob, and an onion bhajee. While the samosa had a flavorful filling, the pastry shell was so soaked in oil that it fell apart as soon as you bit into it. The chicken tikka, however, was perfection. The pieces were fork tender and evidently marinaded for hours. The sheekh kabob, resembling more of a sausage due to its minced meat, was delicious with its perfect blend of spices. The fried onion patty was also a disaster with half of its weight and all of its flavor coming from the frying oil.

Perhaps the only saving grace here is the tandoor chicken, which, if anything else, is a winner (as was the beef kabob). The meat pieces are fork tender and very flavorful. You can actually taste a hint of yogurt in every bite. Best of all, there is a lot of flavor as you bite deeper into the meat.

The curries, unfortunately, all taste the same: sweet. All the ingredients are so mixed together that there are no discerning flavors. The naan, although yeasty and with lots of buttered goodness, is so stretched thin that there isn’t enough chewiness that makes naan bread the awesome bread that it is.

If you’re not a very adventurous eater, then this spot is for you. Tandoor, Royal Palace (Norcross), Udipi Cafe, and Zyka still retain my current Indian rotation with Tandoor blowing everyone away.

Insider tip:
Special dinners (combo meals) available.
Homemade desserts.

The scoop:
Himalayas Indian Tandoori Restaurant
5520 Peachtree Industrial Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30341
(770) 458-6557

Technorati Tags: Indian food, Chamblee

Ok so I took the Chinese new year further by lunching at Mini Hot Pot. My mom is a huge fan of Chinese hot pot. I like it from time to time but I’d rather not cook when I eat out. Since no one else in my family likes hot pot, my mom usually has to drag me along with her whenever she gets a craving. We usually go to the one off Pleasant Hill but that place has gone so filthy it’s gross just thinking about it. So we’ve been visiting Mini Hot Pot since it opened.

MHP is sparkling clean and sits in the same plaza where Penang and Hoa Binh are at. I love that you get your own mini hot pot so you can do your own flavors and use the ingredients you prefer. At other places, they give you a gigantic pot and you either have to share with the entire table; or they put a divider in the pot so you can have two things going at a time. The part I don’t like about these divider things is that they don’t work. Your soups will get mixed-in after a while. Not good. With MHP you get your own.

I went for the Clam-Beef combination. I usually get the seafood-meat combination but everything here is a good choice. For $12.95 (and up), you get a heaping platter or greens which included napa cabbage, tofu, fried tofu, a taro wedge, a daikon wedge, a raw egg, tofu skins, a green-leafy veggie that I can’t remember the name of right now, a tomato quarter, a slice of fish cake, half a corn, and vermicelli noodles. You also get a platter of your meat/seafood selection. In my case, two huge clams and some thinly-sliced steak. I kicked it up a notch by getting the spicy broth (an upcharge of 75-cents) which is so worth the additional charge. Beware, as it is very spicy. Add more of the included spicy flavoring and you’re good to go.

The key to a successful hot pot is to not add everything into the pot all at the same time. Put enough ingredients that can fit in your bowl and replenish as you eat. The back wall has a myriad of seasonings that you can dish yourself and use as you please.

Verdict: a good place for hearty soups on a chilly day. But I call this diet food. Because I can never get satisfied. I have to run to the Vietnamese grocery next door to eat more food (they have good cooked food to-go such as the steamed black rice with sugar and peanuts, steamed rice cakes, and more). Else, I am hungry again 30 minutes later. My mom loves it. I just don’t go here when I’m very hungry.

Here’s a tiny clip of the dragon dance show they had for Chinese New Year:

Insider tip:
A bowl of steamed rice to accompany your meal is available upon request.

The scoop:
Mini Hot Pot
4897 Buford Hwy
Chamblee, GA 30341
(770) 458-8882

Technorati Tags: Mini Hot Pot, Chamblee, Buford Highway, hot pot, Chinese cuisine

current President of the Chinese community — a GaTech graduate

Happy New Year!!! My family has close ties with the Chinese/Asian community here in Atlanta (my dad has close business ties with the region). As such, I had to tag along to the yearly Chinese lunar new year celebration dinner held the Saturday before the lunar New Year. This year, it was held at Oriental Pearl. This year marks the 4707th year of the lunar new year. This year’s event is the biggest so far with 38% more in attendance: a total of 180 people. A surprisingly low number considering there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese here in Georgia.

The evening began with some speeches from the notable officers of the organization. Dinner was supposed to start at 6:30pm but we didn’t get served until close to 7:30. I’m used to it so I was smart enough to eat a snack prior to arriving. Good move on my part.

The 10-course dinner started with the Crab Meat Fish Maw soup. The soup was so bland I had to “re-cook” it myself — dousing it heavily with red vinegar, copious amounts of salt, and about 2 teaspoons of pepper. Still no taste. After 2 spoonfuls, I conceded defeat and abandoned it altogether.

Next, came the beef and Chinese broccoli. The beef was tender and the broccoli was crispy yet the dish didn’t really jump at me and make a lasting impression. Passable, if at all.

The Shrimp with Roasted Walnut was probably the one and only winner of the evening. The shrimp were plump and fresh with just the right amount and consistency of the mayo-based sauce. The roasted walnuts added texture and slight sweetness to the overall taste. Delicious.

Dinner service is interrupted as a young lady performs a Chinese fan dance on stage. A good way to pacify hungry people who are waiting for the slow kitchen that is so slammed at this point. The performance ends and still the kitchen isn’t ready. More performances. This time, from two teen-aged boys who wows us with their prowess of hip-hop and break dancing. More speech from the emcee and dinner resumes.

The Baby Chinese Vegetables was actually quite good. It had baby bokchoy in a chicken broth garnished with dried shrimp. The saltiness of the shrimp gave flavor and contrast to the bland broth and vegetables. I liked it.

The Spareribs with Peking sauce was actually Porkchops which was even better. Tender porkchops were battered, crispy deep-fried, then topped with a Malaysian-flavored sweet and sour Peking sauce. Good, but the porkchops had way too much batter.

The Grouper Fillet with Special Bean Sauce came next. The fried and battered fish was so chewy our entire table thought they were squid at first. It was also tasteless and the fish didn’t seem very fresh.

The Steamed Chicken looked so appetizing. It was a whole chicken sliced beautifully then topped with white sauce then garnished with Chinese broccoli. One thing I hate about steamed chicken is that some places can’t get it right. Tonight, they didn’t. Though the chicken was tender, it was also flavorless. Worse, the leg and thighs were so undercooked. Gross.

The most abominable dish of the evening came in the form of the House Special Fried Rice. This fried rice was so awful. First, the rice is so undercooked, you can taste the raw rice. Second, there just wasn’t any flavor. Like the chef forgot to season it. Now if a Chinese restaurant can’t get its fried rice right, then they have no business being a Chinese restaurant. I can still taste its awfulness in my mouth.

At this point, I’m thinking that everything just didn’t have any taste at all. I was right. The Black Mushroom with Prosperity Delicacy (baby cabbage) was a gooey mess of black mushrooms with some tentacle-looking things on a bed of baby cabbage in a thick chicken-broth-based sauce. No taste. Soft and chewy.

The last dish served, supposedly the best for last, was the Double Lobster with Ginger and Scallion. Now, would it be too much to ask that a dish be seasoned before being served. This is another bland dish. Too bad, the lobster was fresh out of the tank.

I have never liked Oriental Pearl. Back in the late 80s, my parents used to take us here for dimsum when we were kids. Back then, they served good authentic food. Really good food. But back then, the owners were different. It has changed owners and names several times since then. Now, it’s gone down hill. We haven’t been back in a while and we don’t intend to come back. None of the attendees that evening liked the food especially the respectable elders. In fact, none of the people there ever go to Oriental Pearl to eat. It’s probably the reason for the low turnout. But the organizers got a good deal so it was held there.

Still, the camaraderie among everyone more than made up for the awful food. And the event was very well organized. There were prize giveaways and a raffle. I even won a lucky envelope filled with a lucky coin. Best of all, it was fun. I had fun. It’s nice to see how other cultures celebrate.

The scoop:
5399 New Peachtree Rd
Chamblee, GA 30341
(770) 986-9866

Technorati Tags: Oriental Pearl, dimsum, Chinese cuisine, Chamblee, Buford Highway

This is probably one of the worst places to eat in Atlanta.  I’m sorry but I gave it a try and I vow never to return. A non-foodie friend I’ve known forever actually recommended this place to me five years ago for “some Southern home cooking.” Well, he’s a rheumatology physician so what does he know.

Korean owned and operated, Oga’s is a diner-type restaurant specializing in “meat and two” — meals consisting of one meat and two sides. The place is clean, although, they seriously need to get rid of their Christmas decorations when it’s in the middle of summer.

Food is (not so) cheap with meals costing $7.50 and jumbo burgers for $4.75 (the smaller version starts at $2.85). However, here at Oga’s, you really get what you pay for. Veggies come from cans, beef patties are frozen, and I don’t even want to know where the meat comes from. The worse thing: everything is bland. In fact, I can’t even remember a single item I ate that had even the slightest hint of taste whatsoever.

The verdict: there are much better places in Atlanta for cheap eats that are far more superior in quality and taste. Skip this one. You’re better off having a real fast food nearby.

Insider tip:
Limited parking. Located inside the perimeter.

The scoop:
Oga’s
5719 Peachtree Industrial Blvd
Chamblee, GA 30341
(770) 458-2747

Technorati Tags: Oga’s, Chamblee, PIB, southern cuisine