My past two weeks. In food.
I went to Haru twice and Yakitori Jinbei once. Ate ramen both times. My sister is on a ramen and onigiri obsession phase. It would be our 14th ramen of the year, rotating Haru, YJ, Taka, and Blue Fin. The tonkotsu broth remains stellar at both places after all these years. And it’s been consistently good the last two years. We look like piglets when we eat. Two girls ordering dishes for four, sometimes for five people. We get stares. But we’re used to it.
We also hit Taka. Had the 5-star shoyu ramen which, I believe, is the best in the state. There was also a Miso Gindara on the menu that day and it’s one of my favorite Japanese dish. Taka is kinda hard on the pocket. A lunch here for two (mind you, we don’t eat like normal people so that’s really lunch for 4) can buy us two lunches at Haru with twice as much food.
Confession: I crave slutty Chinese once in a while blue moon. And nothing satisfies the craving better than General Tso. My awesome friend, Gracie-G3 (who’s into teachers teaching right now), decided we’ll just go to a random place. We ended up at a buffet place that was $6.99 per person. There was a whole ton of food, so many stations, sushi, hibachi, and a chocolate fountain! A great deal for the price. The food wasn’t memorable at all. But it satisfied the craving. The General Tso? Blech.
I also had dinner with a no-name friend also from school. We’ve know each other for maybe over a year. No-name-girl often calls me but never identifies herself or leaves a voicemail. And I’m too ashamed to ask her name. Last week, she invited me to dinner. At her house. She made batura (fried Indian bread) from scratch. She made the dough, took a small ball out of it, dipped it in oil, then flattened it with a rolling pin. After she’s made a 5-inch square, she then deep fried it. It was so good. She also made a cauliflower dish, an okra dish, some noodles, and gulab jamun (milk balls in sweet syrup). So tell me, help me – how do I find out her name?
Got a chance to witness a 5-star chef from Israel in action. Chef Ronin Skinezes was visiting Atlanta to promote Israeli tourism. He had a demo at Cook’s Warehouse where he prepared an amazing eggplant dip, a fish with artichoke hearts and gorgonzola beans, and the most incredible (yet simple) strawberry dessert that I’ve ever had. Omg, it was better than…
Went to visit Vingenzo’s again. I love that place. The pizza is perfection: the perfect amount of Antico and Varasano’s. (Jimmy, are you reading this?) The pastas rival La Pietra and most times, just better all around. Had two kinds of pizzas that were both stellar (all the pizzas are great anyway). They had this special pasta of the night that was really mind blowing. It was wild boar in a light tomato sauce over handmade pappardelle. The sauce tasted so clean and refreshing and the wild boar was not that gamey at all. Did I mention they make their own mozzarella? The bufala is fantastic but the stracciatella di burata is so creamy it’ll make you swoon.
I’m an equal opportunity eater. I also like bad pizza. The Big Dipper from Pizza Hut, however, is not something you should scoff at. It was actually pretty good! It’s two-feet long and doesn’t have marinara sauce. You get small tubs of sauce for dipping. It’s also a steal at $12. Best for watching sports in front of the television. By the way… I love hockey. 
Went to Philips Arena. Twice. Aside from Wetzels Pretzels, one of my favorite things to snack on here is the crepes. They are so chewy and doughy. But a mess to eat so watch out for that dripping chocolate sauce on your dress. Or pants.
Korean BBQ is so great for late night. Two of the places I hit the past week are Iron Age and Hae Woon Dae (x2). Had both good food and great company.
I also crave chain food once in a while. Did you know? I like the bread sticks at Olive Garden. What can I say? Bread is my kryptonite. They’re so soft and slightly garlicky here. Best dipped in a side of marinara sauce. G3 and I wanted no-fuss pasta and we knew we can get them here. I looked at the pictures on the menu and kept thinking about Tami. You should ask her how those pictures look so amazing. In any case, I had the simple spaghetti and meatballs. Can’t go wrong with that. G3 had this surprisingly good braised short ribs over ravioli.
Alton Brown went to speak at school. He’s really like a stand-up comic. Very entertaining. He talked about how he got into where he is now, but for the most part, he answered everybody’s questions. Including mine: “Do you read food blogs?” I’ll post the video soon. Anyway, the free event was sold out. Good thing I got there a little bit early. Stopped by to get Panera chili for lunch on the way there. That chili is delicious. Lots of meat chunks: ground Angus beef and flank steak.
Lastly, I had dinner with my childhood best friend. It was slutty Tex-Mex. Passable at best but the cheese dip was cheesy. We just got this brilliant idea of trying to eat our way around the world. In Atlanta. You know, visit all the restaurants with different cuisines from all over. So far, we’ve covered two continents. Yeah, we have a long way to go.
Hope your food week was as fun and filling as mine. Til next time!
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