Chow Down Atlanta

I’ve been craving for naan bread. So last week, I got in my car and drove up and down BuHi and Duluth in search of an Indian Restaurant that did not serve lunch buffet. I went to four. I called two. No such luck. Until my lovely friend tipped me to Tandoor.

This place is literally a hole-in-a-wall. It’s in a strip mall. It’s cafeteria style. There’s no waiter service. You go up the counter and place your order. You eat off styrofoam plates and plastic utensils. You serve yourself water from a huge plastic jug. There’s even no air conditioner. But what it lacks in ambiance and decor, it makes it up big time in food. This is the best Indian/Pakistani food in the city. I was totally impressed by the taste, quality, and value of food.

The Palak Paneer is the best version I’ve had here — much like the ones I’ve tasted in Asia. It is made with fresh spinach and paneer. It is creamy and the perfect shade of spinach-green — a welcome sight from the ubiquitous fake bright green color seen at most places. The curry is subtle but flavorful. The consistency is perfect. It is certainly delicious.

The tandoori chicken is so (finger lickin’) good — the meat is fresh, juicy, and tender then grilled perfectly. The boneless chunks of chicken in the Chicken Boti is evidently marinated for hours and the divine tamarind chutney it is served with, is a magnificent paring that provides some heat and additional contrast in flavor. The skewered leg-and-thigh in the Chicken Tikkah is also as good as the Boti. If chicken in bone is your thing, then this is for you.

The curries are all delicious. I particularly loved their Chicken Butter (Chicken Makhani). It was light yet still retained a great curry taste. The Nehari (a popular breakfast stew that is cooked for hours) is my favorite. Made of beef shank, the super tender morsels of meat are so flavorful. The stew is rich, but not so that you feel weighed down after a meal. I had my heart set out for the Goat Korma, unfortunately, they were already out.

Of course, the naan is absolutely dreamy: doughy, pillowy, buttery, charred. It took a good deal of self-control to stop after eating two (though, I could have very well eaten more). The garlic naan is equally good and doesn’t have an overpowering garlic taste as one would expect.

I am dreaming of the food (and naan) as I write this and I am already plotting my return later for lunch. Yes, it’s that good.

Insider tip:
Prices are very inexpensive (bbq items start at $4.99, curries and stews at $6.99). Three items on the menu will feed two hungry people very well.
Their Mango Lassi is the best.
Combo Platters are available daily (choice of curry, rice, and naan) and are priced from $7.99.

The scoop:
Tandoor Restaurant
279 Powers Ferry Road SE
Suite F
Marietta, GA 30067
(678) 560-2038

Technorati Tags: Indian, Pakistani, nehari, Marietta

This restaurant offers a more traditional menu and mainly soups but they do have a few items that are not: fried rice, bulgogi, pork bulgogi, and maybe two stir-fry dishes. My choice of dish here is the Galbi Tang (beef rib soup) which I get every time I visit. The broth is very flavorful. The ribs are tender but could have used another 20 minutes in the pot to make them fork tender and fall-of-the-bone. Although the amount of ribs was substantial, they use different cuts of beef making them look like scraps from other dishes. No matter, the soup is very comforting.

The banchan has a good selection and they give you 8 which is standard. I like the soy beans and peanuts, as well as the steamed broccoli doused with kimchi sauce.

One of my quirks when visiting hole-in-a-wall Korean places is that their bulgogi tastes soapy. It’s not the case here. Their version is very flavorful with tender pieces of meat. A great accompaniment to the kimchi fried rice.

The very simple kimchi fried rice is so not worth it for $6.99 because it’s nothing but rice and no meat but the taste is quite okay with a very distinctive eggy taste to it. I don’t recommend eating this by itself (it’s not filling) — you have order the bulgogi with it. For the best Kimchi Fried Rice, you must, must go to Tofu 88.

Definitely a great place for cheap but okay eats.

Inside scoop:
Not a lot of English spoken here. Be ready to point at what you want on the menu or tell them the Korean name of the dish you want.
Sorry, no galbi here.

The scoop:
Jin Mi Garden
2863 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.,
Duluth, GA 30097
(770) 418-9579

Technorati Tags: Korean food, PIB, soups. Duluth, cheap eats

I eat at the food court inside the Hong Kong Supermarket on Jimmy Carter just about every week. My new favorite is the bakery on the left side of the market (on the opposite side of the food court). This Vietnamese bakery makes the best croissants — huge flaky, buttery creations that are just irresistible. At $1 apiece, it’s difficult to buy just one. I buy a dozen chocolate ones every week. They’re great for breakfast and as a quick snack. Incidentally, they also have other flavors — plain, almond, ham, ham&cheese.

While they no longer have the roast pork banh mi, the cold cuts is a great alternative. They don’t skimp on the filling here — the deli meat slices are thick and there are ample veggies to complete a great sandwich. The $3 price tag isn’t bad either.

I found the best Cháo lòng heo in Atlanta here. No Chinese or Vietnamese place can even come close. For $6.50, I had a huge bowl of boiled-for-hours rice soup filled with lots and lots of meaty goodness: pork slices, a big slice of pork sausage made with pork innards, and pork blood cubes. This is the best congee I’ve ever had outside of Asia. The soup is just so flavorful. Each order comes with a plate of fried baguette slices, fresh bean sprouts, cilantro, lime, hot sauce, and a cup of hot chrysanthemum tea. It’s comfort food at its best.

This is a wonderful place for cheap but delicious eats. Don’t miss it.

Insider tip:
The Vietnamese got their baking from the French. Need I say more?
There are two other types of congee: duck and chicken feet.
They only make a dozen croissants of each flavor. Call the day before and place an order.

The scoop:
No. 1 Hong Kong Bakery
5494 Jimmy Carter Blvd
Norcross, GA 30093
(770) 837-0270

Technorati Tags: congee, chao, Cháo lòng heo, croissants, Vietnamese, bakery, bahn mi, Norcross, Jimmy Carter

I am very sad. This place has closed as of May 22, 2011.

I’ve been to V1 BBQ more than six times since it opened in August including a Saturday night when there was a 20-minute wait for a table. Although no one beats Hongkong BBQ when it comes to roast meats, V1 is a great contender and a much cleaner place. I actually went to Hongkong BBQ for a late lunch today and further realized no one can trump their roast pork. But I love V1 and have become friends with the staff who give warm and friendly service.

Hainanese Chicken is my favorite Cantonese chicken dish. It’s the national dish of Singapore which they have adopted from the Chinese. I’ve had Hainanese chicken in hundreds of places; all over Singapore, Hongkong, and China. I’ve had it in Chinatowns in NYC, Toronto, San Francisco, and here. V1 has the best Hainanese Chicken outside of Asia. Simply put, their Hainanese chicken is superb — it’s clean: the chicken doesn’t smell fishy, it is steamed perfectly (cooked all the way through), it is not fatty, and there are no traces of dried blood inside. It is seasoned all the way to the bone so each bite is as fantastic as the last. It is so flavorful, succulent, tender, and juicy. I love it.

The roast pork, roast pig, and roast duck are all also good but, like I said, Hongkong BBQ still has the best. Not even Ming’s BBQ can come close to Hongkong BBQ. The roast pork here at V1 just doesn’t have the requisite texture and crunch. Theirs is a little on the soft side.

Possibly the best Malaysian dish on the menu, the Homemade Noodle soup is fantastic and definitely a must-try. It’s a soup made with tasty chicken broth added with fat, chewy house-made noodles, pieces of Chinese broccoli, ground beef, then topped with crispy fried small fish. It is comforting and plain delicious. This is one of my favorites here.

I recommend sticking with V1′s Cantonese dishes. Their Malaysian dishes seem novice. These dishes are usually bland and the sauces are thin. Despite that, I do think they make great roti canai pancake. The pancake is flaky yet so chewy inside. But curry dipping sauce just doesn’t have that simmered-for-hours taste and is on the thin side. The bubble teas aren’t as good as other places either and they don’t put as much tapioca.

V1 is a must-try for their Cantonese dishes and competitive roast meats. The place is spotless and doesn’t give off a cheap Asian fast-food joint.

Insider tip:
Rice plates with two or three roast meats are a great sampler.

The scoop:
3940 Buford Hwy NW
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 623-1896

Technorati Tags: V1 BBQ, roast pork, roast duck, roast pig, roti canai, Cantonese cuisine, Malaysian cuisine, bubble tea, Duluth

I went to the bakery next door so I decided to try Maldives. Another place for cheap eats, Maldives targets mostly students in the area. They serve grilled dishes that start at $6.99 and come with rice, and whatever sides they have available that day (it was an eggroll, boiled corn, and soup when I visited).

Like the name implies, their grilled dishes are either marinated in teriyaki sauce or doused with it. As such, they taste like teriyaki instead of Korean. I got thrown for a loop because my grilled Korean shortribs, although cooked perfectly, do not really have that Korean taste to it; and, well, the extremely nice and friendly husband-and-wife owners are Koreans so I naturally just assumed they would have Korean barbeque. My dish was $8.99 and for that price, I would rather go to Super H. Of course, they have a better ambiance and a 100 score on the health report card, but taste-wise, I’d go for Super H anytime.

The Clear Vermicelli Noodles with Shrimp (Chap Jae) was actually quite good — flavorful and fresh, with huge pieces of shrimp. The Chicken BBQ plate is actually a winner. The chicken was good-sized, tender, and tasty and tastes better than the ribs.

Maldives offers lunch discounts to Emory students. They also do a lot of catering at Emory. This is a nice, clean place where you can get more-than-mediocre-tasting food at cheaper prices.

Insider tip:
Free softdrinks and free Wi-Fi.

The scoop:
Maldives BBQ & Teriyaki
2899 North Druid Hills Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 321-1605
Mon-Sat: 10:30AM-10PM
Sunday: 12:30PM-9PM

Technorati Tags: Maldives BBQ & Teriyaki, Korean barbeque, Korean cuisine, Emory, cheap eats