Chow Down Atlanta

Just a quick post about this new addition to our Korean dining scene. This one opened a few months ago right before winter and sits next door to Cafe Mozart. It used to be First China restaurant. The menu is extensive and includes almost all mainstream Korean dishes.

I’ve been here a few times. Banchan is good: tasty, fresh, good selection. Dumplings are your regular frozen then fried variety. But at $4.95 per order of five huge ones, it’s a great deal. The soy-sesame dipping sauce is wonderful, however.

Soups are okay. They’re a little on the thin side but will do in a pinch. They do come in bigger-than-usual and bigger-than-everywhere bowls. The bbq meats are pretty solid. Rice dishes are decent.

I’m grateful we have another place to add to our pool of Korean restaurants to choose from. Prices are on the cheaper side, too, so you can hit it several times a week.

Korea Garden
5295 Buford Hwy NE
Doraville, GA 30340
(770) 558-2282

Technorati Tags: Korean, Buford Highway, Doraville, epicurious, tidal

Ok folks, in honor of this blog’s 6th birthday today, I’m going to add to the Yumazing series — things I’ve been eating (which you need to try) from places I regularly visit. Here we go.

Houston’s Chicken Fingers
If you grew up in Atlanta like me, then you have surely eaten at Houston’s when you were a kid. They happen to call themselves Hillstone these days. But whatever. Their menu hasn’t changed much and you can still get the famous Chicken Fingers. But wait. These aren’t your everyday chicken fingers. These juicy, tender chicken fillets have a light tempura-like batter. You know, just go. By the way, it’s not on the menu so you need to ask for it.

Dan Moo Ji Kimchi Fried Rice
One of the things to eat that can make you weak in the knees. Yes, Virginia, it’s that good. You see, this is the best Kimchi Fried Rice in the city. It tastes perfect and get this: it comes topped with masago! A side of creamy corn salad completes this amazing dish. I’m gonna tell you again… GO!

Flying Biscuit Turkey Brisket
You read it right. Turkey Brisket. Oh my god is all I can say. Oh, and you won’t even notice it’s turkey.

Chung Dam Beef Fried Rice with Egg
Fried rice and egg. What could be a better combination? The smoky fried rice with bulgogi pieces comes topped with a fried egg. Two if you want. But. Like the chicken fingers at Houston’s, you have to ask!

Bo Bo Garden Pork Belly with Pickled Mustard
Nothing says delicious than thick slices of buttery pork belly stewed for hours in soy-based sauce. Don’t worry about the pickled mustard, you won’t even notice. A classic Cantonese dish. You owe it to yourself to try it.

Ming’s BBQ
I grew up eating at Ming’s on BuHi. Their sister location in Duluth is bigger, nicer, cleaner. Get any of the BBQ meats — roast duck, roast pork, crispy pork, roast chicken — wonderful all around.

Captain D’s Fried Bread
Ok, it’s fast food. But so? I’m an equal opportunity eater. Besides. They had me at Fried Bread.

Tomo’s Bread Pudding
Because I’m a breadgetarian. And their pudding has the consistency and texture of a flan. You gotta taste this piece of heaven to believe it.

West Egg Sweet Corn Pancakes
If it’s on the menu, GET IT. Sweet corn in a pancake. That is all.

What The Pho Crispy Seafood Noodles
One of the best versions in the city. The crispy noodles turn soft as they bathe in gravy. Fresh seafood and decoration veggies give it a crunch and a punch. Don’t take my word for it. Get going.

There you go. You now have quite a list of things to try! You can thank me later

At last, the long-awaited food court finally opened earlier this year. I had high hopes, thinking it would be as awesome as the one in Your Dekalb Farmers Market or Great Wall in Duluth or Assi Plaza in both Duluth and Suwannee or even Super H. But, alas, such is not the case here.

The food court is in its early stages. I see considerable space for expansion where other stalls can be rented out. For now, there are only three spots to eat from. The main one is the cafeteria-style food stall. They have Eastern European dishes as well as Korean, Southern, Indian, and Hispanic. The food is ok. They’re not as delicious as YDFM where every single item is amazing. It’s just passable here.

One of the stalls is the Delimanjoo joint. It’s those yummy creme-filled tiny doughnuts baked in the premises. It was a mainstay from the snack bar that was around since the market opened. These has been my favorite for many, many years. (Sorry, no photo.)

The other stall is a Creperie. They’re exactly like the ones on the streets in Europe. They have both sweet and savory flavors.

Everything here is take-out only. There’s a huge eating area right outside the cashier stand if you want to eat before you leave. The cafeteria food is sold by weight. The other stalls sell per item. Be careful with the amount of your selection. My tiny lunch, crepe, and a bottle of soda came to close to $20. That’s highway robbery! You could go to a nice sit-down meal at a nice restaurant for less than that. Consider yourselves warned.

Food Court at Buford Highway Farmers Market (BHFM)
5600 Buford Highway NE
Doraville, GA 30340
(770) 455-0770

Technorati Tags: BHFM, Farmers Market, food court, Buford Highway, Korean, Hispanic, Russian, Indian, Epicurious

There are many places in our city for good Chinese BBQ — think roast duck, roast pork, bbq pork, roast chicken. But one place that truly stands out is inside the Assi Plaza supermarket in Duluth. This place has been around for quite a while now but it still never ceases to amaze me. There is only one person in the kitchen: the wise BBQ man himself. He preps and cooks everything. It’s like a one-man band. But with better tune and rhythm.

His BBQ meats are truly stellar. The duck is perfection. Crispy skin, juicy meat, delicious taste. You can see the chef’s experience in his food. The succulent meats are reminiscent of BBQ institutions in HongKong. I have no words to describe the food here except phenomenal. You can’t go wrong with anything here. Everything is just good.

You can order one type of meat or any combination of meats. Each order comes with steamed white rice, steamed Chinese cabbage, and this amazing BBQ sauce that’s just to-die for. It’s not really sauce but more like au jus. Trust me. You haven’t had anything this good in your life. Well, unless, you’ve eaten BBQ in the dirty streets of HongKong.

He makes the best Dry Beef Chowfun. The noodles are firm and are coated with just enough sauce. There are plentiful of tender, tasty beef pieces, too.

It’s difficult to find a place where everything on the menu is good. That’s how it is here. Every dish is just plain delicious. So, make the trek. It’s a lot closer than flying to HongKong.

Located inside the grocery (not in the fast food area.) Order and pay from the lady who cuts the meats and packs your food.

Sky BBQ
1630 Pleasant Hill Rd
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 807-7289

Technorati Tags: Chinese BBQ, Cantonese, Duluth, tidal, epicurious

I’m going to start 2013 off with a post about one of the best meals I’ve had in a very long time. Yes, you read that right: one of the best meals. I have not read any reviews about The Spence prior to visiting and not even up to now. Most of the intel I have on the place was from hearsay. And most of those weren’t very favorable. But I’m here to tell you my experience and why I love this place.

I came on a very busy Friday night with four friends. The place was packed. Being an impromptu dinner out, we didn’t have reservations. Big mistake. Luckily, we were quickly able to snag space at the communal table at the bar and didn’t have to wait over an hour for a regular table. Being in the communal table can be awkward, as my friends lamented. Servers constantly reach overhead for bottles of alcohol stocked on the hanging shelf above the table. But I’m ADHD so I didn’t even notice it. But what I did notice was that it was loud, the place has an awesome, fun vibe, and everyone from guests to servers to cooks looked cool.

While menus change daily, there are mainstays I wouldn’t mind eating again and again. I’ve been here twice and both times have been phenomenal meals. One of the things you shouldn’t miss here is the Bone Marrow. Bone marrow is quite difficult to pull off. Most versions elsewhere give you nothing but a big glop of tasteless fat. Here, the grilled marrow is topped with tuna tartare for added texture and flavor. Oh, and the best part? Get this… it comes with two fried quail eggs. Eggs! The result is a flavor explosion in every bite. A perfect topping for the grilled brioche.

Salads and veggies are usually a waste of stomach space for me. But the Fried Brussel Sprouts were definitely worth a tiny bit of the space. They weren’t bitter. They were firm and crunchy. And the peanuty vinaigrette made them easier to eat.

Fries are also usually ho-hum. But here, the Juicy Lucy fries are triple cooked (boiled, fried then fried again). They were crispy and crunchy and just plain good. I taste a hint of duck fat in them, too.

Macaroni and Head Cheese. I would love a huge bowl of this. So delicious and creamy. Pulled head meat that was so incredibly flavorful topped the mac and cheese.

I had the Beef Short Rib that was just divine. The meat melted in your mouth like butter. The reduction sauce, to die for. A different take on meat and potatoes, this dish had creamy, cheesy mashed potatoes that just went well with the meatiness of the short rib. Chinese cabbage, radishes, and mushrooms rounded up an exceptional dish. I can eat this over and over again.

Chicken is chicken. But guess what? Not at The Spence. Richard Blais managed to elevate this normally dry dish into the most juiciest, tastiest roast chicken on the planet. A huge serving, better pace yourself.

I love pork and the Pork Leg dish here did not disappoint. The crispy exterior enveloped a fall-of-the-bone, delicious meat interior. Slight sweetness was added to the dish by way of slices of dried apple. I get tired of pork dishes that are accompanied by apple sauce or something so sweet they take away from the real flavor of the pork. This was one inventive dish. Bravo!

The Cod was another amazing dish (sorry, no photo). It was so clean tasting. The red wine sauce was so subtle it still allowed the flavor of the fish to shine through. Turnips and potato wedges gave it a more interesting twist.

I’m not a dessert person. I’m a breadgetarian. I would rather eat bread for dessert. But my sister has a huge sweet tooth and ordered three desserts. The Vanilla Panna Cotta was just absolutely exquisite. It was so soft and creamy unlike others that have too much gelatin in them. It had the consistency of firm yogurt. It tasted very much like vanilla. I could trade my bread for this. The Icebox Tiramisu was like a hard (but not frozen) cake that tasted, well, like tiramisu. The Milk Chocolate was more like a slice of firmer mousse and served with banana ice cream.

Everything about The Spence is good. The food, the service, the vibe. Even the diet Coke It’s my favorite restaurant. Run, don’t walk. GO NOW.

The Spence
75 Fifth Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 892-9111

[tag]American, Midtown, Richard Blais[/tags]