Restaurant experiment: Burger Tap

Burger Tap

1409 North Highland Avenue NE between Lanier Place NE and Lanier Boulevard NE

Suite D

Atlanta, GA 30306

404-249-7191

http://www.burgertap.com

Dave and I wanted burgers and didn’t want to trek too far for cheese-laden patties.  Hopping on Yelp, I stumbled upon Burger Tap, a relatively new contender in the ATL burger biz.  Since it was early on a Sunday evening, parking was a breeze.  You can either park in the lot across from the restaurant, or there’s a wee lot in the back.  Much like other well-known burger establishments in Atlanta, you order at the counter, and then your grub is delivered to your table.  Burger Tap looks small, but there is a whole hidden seating area in the back, and there’s also a back deck for picnic table-style eating.

Much as the name suggests, there are a good number of beers to choose from, though both times I’ve gone, it seems as though a few selections were tapped out.

Eschewing the Classic burger (which I actually ended up having the second time around), I decided to try the Gaucho, which included grilled tomatoes, frizzled onions, jack cheese, and chimichurri mayonnaise.

I’ve had chimichurri before, but if you asked me what’s in it, I’d be speechless.  So thanks to my friend Wikipedia, here is the scoop.  Cilantro-free!

Chimichurri is made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, white or red vinegar. Additional flavorings such as paprika, cumin, thyme, lemon, and bay leaf. In its red version, tomato and red bell pepper may also be added. It can also be used as a marinade for grilled meat. Chimichurri is available bottled or dehydrated for preparing with oil and water.

The food emerged rather promptly.  I can’t remember the first visit,  but the second visit, I asked for my patty to be cooked medium well, and parts of it ended up being on the medium or even more medium rare side.  Hmm.  The second time, the cashier girl/waitress checked up on us a few times.  She showed that she cared.

I give the Gaucho my seal of approval.  The chimichurri was the real star here and elevated the ensemble to a higher plane.  But the bun was just plain weird.  It was like a soft hot dog bun, or something McDonald’s-esque.  Maybe some grilling would have helped.  A strong burger needs a strong bun.  This bun was just a cupcake, as a friend would say.  The fried zucchini was tasty and the dipping sauce as addictive as crack, but they were maybe a bit too heavy as a side for me because the burger was slightly oily.

And that’s Burger Tap.  That’s a wrap!

Restaurant experiment: Highland Bakery

Highland Bakery

655 Highland Avenue NE between Corley Street NE & Sampson Street NE

Atlanta, GA 30312

404-586-0772

http://highlandbakery.com/index.html

I was in change of deciding where Dave and I should dine for a Sunday brunch, and after extensive Yelp searching, I settled on Highland Bakery.  They have a couple of locations, but this one on Highland Avenue in Old Fourth Ward is the original one.  Highland Bakery has a microscopic lot; street parking wasn’t too much of a hassle though.

Don’t be confused like we were; go through the bakery entrance to put your name down.  A tween-aged girl was taking names.  At least the wait was short, though I wasn’t expecting a wait since it was near 3PM.  The place was still hoppin’ even though the closing time is 4PM.  The service staff was very diverse, and like at Leon’s, it was a waitress/waiter tattoo party for sure.  We were seated at some highboys against a wall and next to some lovely glass artwork.

As Dave and I were famished, we elected to have a few pastries to munch on while waiting for our mains.  I, naturally, had selected the eggs Benedict ($8.99) as my main, and Dave had followed suit.  There were two scone options ($2.99 each).  I forgot what the other one was (currant maybe?) and the one we ended up getting was pistachio and white chocolate.  I actually do not like white chocolate all that much, but I’d never had a pistachio scone before and wanted to try it.  Yum!  Divine.  Love the dusting of sugar on top.  Heated up too.  The chocolate croissant ($2.19) was fine though but I could have used a little more flakiness.  I love warmed pastries, especially when gooey chocolate is involved.

For my fellow Benedict lovers, there are some other varieties like the Country Fried Steak Benedict, the Fried Chicken Benedict, and the Cowboy Benedict, but I just got the Classic.  The eggs Benedict was too paprika-y for me.  See below.  Dave complained that the eggs Benedict wasn’t that hot, and I assured him that this seems to be an accepted practice, judging from the EBs I’ve consumed during other brunches.  Have I ever received piping hot EB?  I don’t think so.  I remembered liking the potatoes, though some chunks had more flavor that others.  I was actually getting really full and had to bring home the leftover spuds in a container.  If you don’t like tubers, never fear, as grits are also available.

Our server was polite, cheery, and helpful.  I’m not sure if Highland Bakery is the best brunch in all of Atlanta and I wouldn’t wait forever for a table, but it’s really good, and the scones are totally killer!

Restaurant experiment: Piassa

Piassa Restaurant

3096 North Decatur Road between Frances Street and East Ponce De Leon Avenue

Scottdale, GA 30079

404-717-4328

http://www.piassarestaurantmart.com

The Ethiopian tour of Atlanta continued, all thanks to our sponsor Scoutmob; I picked out Piassa from the other Ethiopian options on Scoutmob.  Piassa is in a strip mall on North Decatur that seems to cater to a Ethiopian clientele.  It’s actually both a restaurant and a small grocery store; you go through the mart to access the restaurant.  When Dave and I showed up, there were a couple of guys at another booth, but that was about it.  The heavy scent of incense washed over me, but thankfully it dissipated.

Our severs were sweethearts who made us feel welcome and were kind.  Piassa’s menu isn’t what you’d expect, as there isn’t an appetizer section, just entrees and drinks.  I guess that should have made it easier to select our dinner choices, but not really.  After much debate, Dave and I ordered the veggie combo ($11.99), yebeg tibs ($11.99), and kitfo normal ($11.99).

Below is the kitfo normal on the left, and the veggie combo on the right, with spices at 12 o’clock and 7 o’clock.  The menu states that the veggie combo has three options (yemisir wot, yekik alecha, and shero wot) but clearly, there are more than three items on the injera.  And salad in the middle.  Good deal.  Embarrassingly, I do not know what the names of the veggies are.  Thanks to Google, yemisir wot in a red lentil stew, which I’m guessing is the red spot on the picture.  Go, powers of deduction.  Yekik alecha is split peas, and shero wot looks to be a chickpea stew.  All you need to know is that all the veggies were awesome, and some were even a little spicy.

The kitfo normal is “fresh ground very lean beef sauteed with spiced butter and mitmita [red hot powder] served with cheese.”  Normally (haha), the kitfo is not well done, but the kitchen staff generously cooked it for us.  Meskerem had performed this favor for us as well though I actually prefer Piassa’s kitfo to Meskerem’s as Meskerem’s was too buttery.  Yes, there is such a thing as being too buttery.  Sorry Paula Deen.

Here’s the yebeg tibs.  The lamb is a smidgen on the overdone side, but the crispiness kind of adds to the whole deal.  So yeah, a tad chewy, but the taste is delightful.  Love these spices (not spicy).  See the table?  Reminds me of being in Mexico.

The servers kept the injera coming…no worries there about running out.  What happened was that we had ordered too much food, but we didn’t fret since Ethiopian keeps quite well.

So to sum up, Piassa is a homey, welcoming secret-like delight.  Yay.

Restaurant experiment: Yeah! Burger

Yeah! Burger

1017 North Highland Avenue at Virginia Avenue

Atlanta, GA 30306

404-437-7845

http://www.yeahburger.com

Soundtrack for this post: “Yeah! Oh Yeah!” by the Magnetic Fields

As we love burgers, it was time to try a new burger business.  Yeah! Burger seemed to fit the bill, though it sounded a lot like Farm Burger with the organic buzz but with more of an emphasis on gluten-free and with cuter cartoon graphics.

Firstly, it’s the Virginia-Highlands, so parking is always fun.  And by fun, I mean annoying.  As the baby lot right by the restaurant was full, we drove down Virginia and found a space.  Then we had to wait in line in order to place our orders.  The line moved and wasn’t as horrible as Shake Shack on a summer day.

So there was a couple in front of us who decided to go to the bar and place a to-go order.  Then they got their grub and sat down to eat it.  Seriously???

The cashier with the peppy hairdo didn’t ask me what kind of bun I wanted, and I ended up with a whole wheat one which luckily seemed to the the same cost as a white bun.  The buns are “locally made with organic flour by H&F Bread Co.”  My custom burger was a $6.49 beef patty (“6 oz. double stack of Georgia-raised, grass-fed White Oak Pastures beef”) with lettuce, tomato, sliced onions, pickles, cheddar cheese ($1), and avocado slices ($1).   There isn’t pork belly or bone marrow on the menu, but that’s fine by me.  I like my burgers basic.  Though the bacon jam sounds absolutely delightful…

The patio was full, so Dave and I grabbed a table right next to the patio, and I spent my time wishing I were on the patio, to some degree.

I was very impressed by the avocado.  Perfectly ripened, creamy amazingness.  The cheddar was robust but didn’t overpower the cheddar; that’s why I went with that instead of blue cheese.  Aw, you can’t see the avocado in the picture.  It’s hiding in the back.  The patty was juicy but not an oily mess.  The fries could have been crispier but were all right.

Cage match: Farm Burger vs. Yeah! Burger

Slight edge to Yeah! Burger.  Despite the irritating-to-type exclamation point, YB has better pickles though FB has more toppings to pick from, and a wider variety of cheeses.  I liked the cashier at YB more than the one at FB.  Plus I can bring my gluten-free pals here.  Both places cook beef medium or well done (why?).

Restaurant experiment: Leon’s Full Service

Leon’s Full Service

131 East Ponce De Leon Avenue at Church Street

Decatur, GA 30030

404-687-0500

http://www.leonsfullservice.com

Dave and I went to Leon’s Full Service (sister restaurant to the Brick Store Pub) for a late dinner on a Wednesday evening.  Initially we were given places at a table designed for a large party since that seemed to be the only available option.  Our hostess mentioned that we were seated in Really Rad Waitress’s section.  Besides feeling somewhat awkward at the banquet table, we were adjacent to the men’s room.  Really Rad Waitress kindly allowed us to move to a more private and cozier booth when one came up.  She had a cool personality.  I guess you have to be a hip gal to work at Leon’s.  Tattoos for bonus points.

Leon’s features a line of rotating quality beers on tap.  I perused the winter cocktail menu but it was too springy out for whiskey drinks.  The bar made me a margarita that earned my approval.

Dave had been to Leon’s several times, so he recommended we share the Brussels sprouts hash.  It smelled and tasted like a hug, so familiar and yummy.  The menu states that there’s also Pine Street bacon, Fuji apples, and sweet onions.  Bacon, it’s all you need.  The sprouts were kind of deconstructed so no little globes in case you were wondering.  I actually tried cooking some Brussels sprouts this week.  Raw, they smell sort of like broccoli.

I went for one of the specials: mixed grill of pork loukanika sausage and duck confit terrine with green lentils, sea island red peas, golden beets, dried cranberries, pork jus ($16).  I liked the sausage fine, though I found the terrine to be a little more superior.  In case you were wondering, loukanika is a Greek sausage flavored with zesty orange peel.  It wasn’t overwhelmingly orange, in case you were wondering.  The peas & lentils had a bit too much salt, and normally I don’t like beets, but the golden beets were harmless.  The pork jus jazzed up the peas & lentils.

I couldn’t pass up dessert.  Eventually Dave and I decided to split the strawberry rhubarb crumble ($5).  Wow, it was like eating a really delightful rainbow.  Everything was on point; it wasn’t too sweet, the cream complemented the fruit wonderfully, the crumble was magnificent.  Mmmmmmm.

Really Rad Waitress said they would be updating their drink menu with new spring cocktails, and today I checked the online drink menu, and lo and behold, spring cocktails have been posted.

All in all, I found Leon’s to be a fun happening place with commendable grub; the crumble was a definite highlight for me.  I hope to try their late-night poutine another time!

Restaurant experiment: Farm Burger

Farm Burger

401B West Ponce de Leon Avenue between Northern Avenue and Fairview Avenue

Decatur, GA 30030

404-378-5077

http://www.farmburger.net

Hankering for some beef between buns, I perused Yelp listings for a commendable burger in Atlanta and came up with Farm Burger, amongst other options.  They recently opened a second location in Buckhead which speaks to its popularity.  And it’s all down with the whole locavore movement; they raise their own cows and use local suppliers.  In agreement, Dave and I set Farm Burger as our dining destination.

Since it was just past 5 pm on a Sunday night, Farm Burger wasn’t too crowded.  There’s a parking lot right by the restaurant so you don’t have to worry about street parking.  The restaurant has sort of a loft feeling, with lots of big windows and some wooden beams.  You order at the counter and then sit down; your meal is then brought to your table.  I got a slightly flippant vibe from the cashier girl, but maybe I was imagining it.  The runners were a bit more gregarious.

It took a while for us to decide, or rather I decided quickly but Dave put more thought into his selection.  Something weird is that you can only order your beef medium or well done.  Um, okay.  There are free toppings and some toppings that are a surcharge.  I was impressed that you could buy such items as bone marrow ($3) and pork belly ($2).  My $6 basic burger had the usual goodies like lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles, but I also added Maytag blue cheese for a buck more.  As a separate side, I ordered the Farm Burger garlic Parmesan fries with my burger.

There wasn’t too much seating, but luckily we didn’t have to fight anyone for a table.  The three large communal tables were occupied by adults and their offspring.  Seems like Farm Burger is the place for nourishment post-soccer or whatnot games.

The house pickles were on the sweeter side, and they were juicy beings.  The liquid just clashed horribly with the intense blue cheese, producing an unappealing sensation on the palate.  It was slightly bizarre.  The fries were very seasoned.  Best consumed while hot?  Wanted them a tad crispier, but oh well.

I will gladly give Farm Burger another shot.  Maybe I just ordered the wrong topping combination.  I do like getting the warm fuzzies when I’m eating, knowing the cow had a cushy life and all that jazz.

Restaurant experiment: Decatur Diner

Decatur Diner

205 East Ponce de Leon Avenue between Church Street and North Candler Street

Decatur, GA 30030

404-377-8787

The Decatur Diner apparently is pretty new.  When Dave and I stopped in one Sunday late afternoon, it was vacant except for the servers.  The space was clean and roomy, with two separated eating areas.  There’s seating outside but since it was rainy and getting dark, that notion was not even an option.  We plopped ourselves in a booth with good views of football on the television.  In true New York diner style, the menu is 1000 pages long.  And I do believe it was spiral-bound and in color and laminated.  Our waitress was a chatty specimen who kept an eye on us.

Usually I order a cheeseburger at a diner, but I was feeling adventurous so I decided to order the Philly cheesesteak.  Only they had some alternative name for it.  Like the Philly-style steak sandwich or something.  Is Philly cheesesteak patented?  ©®?  Anyway, I ordered Greek potatoes for my side.  Very daring, was I.

Here’s what came out.

The cheesesteak was satisfactory.  No Whiz, but that was fine.  The sandwich came out steaming hot.  The girth contributed to its self-destruction though, as the bun collapsed like Lehman Brothers.  Massive.  I was so full that I couldn’t eat all of my potatoes, and that made me sad.  I ate a few bites of the coleslaw but that was not of much concern to me since I don’t like coleslaw all that much anyway.  The potatoes were very Greeky and lemony and herby.  And soft.  I hate potatoes when they are practically raw.  Dave ate some of my leftover potatoes so I was less sad about leaving food.

Luckily some more people came in during the dinner so it wasn’t just us.  Having a 24 hour restaurant is just dandy.  I don’t speak from experience, but I bet Decatur Diner doesn’t have a spare seat when all the nearby bars shut down and people want grub after guzzling.  But now I know that if I find myself having consumed a lot of alcohol in downtown Decatur, I can come to Decatur Diner for an absorbing Philly cheesesteak.

Restaurant experiment: Cafe Bombay

Café Bombay

2615 Briarcliff Road at Woodcliff Drive

Atlanta, GA 30329

404-320-0229

http://www.cafebombayatlanta.com [warning, has background music]

Café Bombay is actually located in the same small shopping center as Queen of Sheba, where I had eaten not too recently ago.  The parentals were the ones to tell me about this place since they had been several times and were over the moon about the lunch buffet.  We all went one Saturday, and I was pleased that the buffet was offered on Saturdays too, not just weekdays.

The main dining room is a cozy space, if a bit dim from gauzy curtains.  The buffet is divided so that there are two stations as follows (or at least what I can recall):

• Station 1: vegetarian entrees
  • Fritters
  • Spinach
  • Etc
  • Basmati rice
  • Naan
  • Gulab jamun

• Station 2: meat entrees
  • Goat curry
  • Chicken tikka masala
  • Tandoori chicken
  • “Chicken 65”
  • Etc
  • Chutneys
  • Raita
  • Kheer
  • Biryani

The service may not have been fawning-over-you-friendly, but it was certainly efficient and polite.  The food bins at the buffet stations remained constantly full, and everything seemed fresh.  I tried a little of everything and was generally happy except for a few very spicy veggie entrees.  The chicken tikka masala with its rich tomato taste and the tandoori chicken were standouts.

The rice pudding [kheer] was a pleasant surprise.  Usually I am not hugely into rice pudding, but it had a pleasing almond taste, and I found myself having a second serving.  The gulab jamun was too syrupy for me, but it’s tops in the books of two others in my party.

For Indian buffets, definitely try out Cafe Bombay.

Restaurant experiment: Strip Steaks and Sushi

Strip Steaks and Sushi

245 18th Street in Atlantic Station

Atlanta, GA 30363

404-385-2005

http://www.h2sr.com/strip

So I’m not sure if the restaurant’s name is just “Strip” or “Strip Steaks and Sushi.”  The website is giving me mixed messages.  It’s easier to just say Strip so I’ll go with that.  Strip’s slogan is “Meat. Drink. Eat” but what this slogan neglects to mention is the availability of sushi.  I went here with Dave to meet some folks for dinner.  The vibe at Strip is more of the trendy variety…I’d guess there were a lot of post-shoppers and post-workers in attendance.

Since the creative [makimono] sushi rolls were on sale (50% off), Dave and I decided to get those, and that’s what most of the people at our table went with.  Between us, we shared the Jimmy’s Special ($16.50 originally), the California rolls ($4.95 originally), the salmon roll ($11.95 originally), and the volcano roll ($12.95) originally.

The Jimmy’s Special was fine.  Billed as assorted slices, there were a couple of slices of tuna, salmon, and possibly what could be hamachi.  The salmon rolls (“salmon, cucumber, avocado, topped with salmon”) were good, and the volcano rolls (“tuna tartar, cucumber topped with tuna, mango, avocado, Jimmy’s sauce, teriyaki”) had a bit of a kick to them.  Presentation was nice.  Low sodium soy sauce was available on the tables though not regular sodium soy sauce for some reason.

Who is this Jimmy character?  He has specials and his own sauce after all.  The menu doesn’t reveal any clues.

No pictures.

Our waiter was bad.  I don’t know if he had too many tables or what, but he was not on the ball.  Apparently this may be an isolated incident, since Dave said the waiter last time was fine.  Regardless, you shouldn’t have to deal with poor waiters.  And the bad thing was that since it was a large party, gratuity was included.  Water was not refilled, he put miso soup on the wrong person’s tab, he rarely checked on us, dessert never appeared, etc.

Strip definitely probably wouldn’t be my first choice in the future, but it’s fine for groups and all.  If you can score a decent server, that is.

Restaurant experiment: The Porter Beer Bar

The Porter Beer Bar

1156 Euclid Avenue at Moreland Avenue

Atlanta, GA 30307

404-223-0393

http://www.theporterbeerbar.com

The Porter Beer Bar is said to be one of the top, if not the top, beer bars in Atlanta.  As Dave has been a couple of times and has heartily recommended it, I was keen to try the joint.  Even though it was a drizzly Friday evening in Atlanta, a healthy crowd had come out to dinner at The Porter.  That is the cool thing about this establishment is that it is known as being a beer restaurant but it also has commendable food.  What was weird was seeing children in the place.  I’ll take children over cigarette smoke (cough, cough, The Vortex).  The website says it’s all ages and smoke-free until 10PM.  Good to note.

There was a brief wait to be seated, so Dave and I squished against the wall by the slot at the bar where servers pick up drinks (I do not know if there is a term for this).  We began looking over the drink menu but did not get far as the whole clipboarded thing was roughly 30 pages long.  And luckily we were called to be seated.  Unfortunately the only free table was directly across from the bathrooms, in the hallway that led to the main dining room, but we just took it because at least we could rest our feet and not have to flatten ourselves against the brick wall any longer.  The good aspect was that it was a four top and we just used the outermost seats as a buffer against the bathroom area.

For you beer enthusiasts, there are enough draughts and bottles to keep you occupied.  Even flights too.  For the non-beer drinker, there are a couple of house cocktails and some non-alcoholic options as well.  I opted for the grapefruit margarita.  It looks like they make their own grapefruit rosemary juice that is used for this drink.  Yum!  Even though it was more of a summery drink, I still liked it.

Our waiter was a very efficient individual.  He checked on us regularly and almost too quickly, since sometimes we were not yet sure about our selections.  Dave and I ended up splitting the foie gras terrine ($8) and the pork belly as appetizers.  The foie gras terrine had bacon powder (yes, you read that right) sprinkled atop it, and the side relishes included bacon jam (yes, you read that right), fancy red mustard, and cornichons.  Bacon powder looked like baking power but tasted exactly like pulverized pig product.  It was a revelation.  The bacon jam was basically bacon bits turned into a marmalade.  It was all delicious, spread over bread slices.

The pork belly was also divine, though the cheesy grits were too spicy for my tastes.  One spoonful rendered my mouth afire, so that was all that I needed.  Too bad, since there was so much cheese in the grits.  Yum.

I ordered the buffalo shrimp po’ boy ($9.95) as my entrée.  I was wary about chow chow since Laura had warned me not to get it at Full Moon BBQ in Birmingham but relish sounded okay.  Foolishly, I had presumed that the buffalo-ness would not be that hot, but boy, how I was wrong.  The fried shrimps were fiery pockets of pow, so I had to stop frequently and pawn off a chunk of the boy to Dave.  The fries however, were scrumptious.  Terrifically seasoned.  Garlic?  They could have been a little crispier, but I won’t dock points for that.

Dave ordered the beef stroganoff as his main; it was a special.  The brisket was falling apart and in a heartwarming creamy sauce.  The real star was the noodles, house-made.  We remarked how ironic it was that there were generous portions of beef, while the pappardelle noodles were lesser in quantity.

The Porter: wonderful for beer and non-beer people!