Restaurant experiment: Ledet

Ledet

3082 Briarcliff Road NE at Clairmont Road NE

Atlanta, GA 30329

404-320-0210

http://www.ledetethiopianrestaurant.com/

It’s always exciting for me to knock off another Ethiopian restaurant in Atlanta.  Hmm, that made me sound like a bank robber.  Anyway, this time it was Ledet, and Dave and I ended up going with a big group.  Ledet is located in the same shopping center area as Meskerem and Desta.  Our group took over the entire middle of the restaurant.  As with most Ethiopian places, the service is not the speediest, and the food takes its sweet time coming out, but that seems to be par for the course with Ethiopian, but on the upside, the servers were friendly and the food was tasty.

The servers thoughtfully placed carafes of water on the table so that we could serve ourselves.  The carafes were in an attractive tea cozy-like contraption that looked to be make out of a staw-like rope.  The people at our table nearest to Dave and me ended up having all of our entrees on one platter of injera which may not have been the smartest thought due to overcrowding on the plate.  But I guess Ethiopian has that communal quality so it was all good.

Dave and I got our usual order of kitfo, tibs, and veggie combo.  Here are the awaze lamb tibs ($10.99) and veggies ($11.50), squeezed onto this here plate with the orders of three other people.  What comes to mind remarking about Ledet’s fare is that it’s a bit spicier than the other Ethiopian establishments I’ve tried.  Not the best thing for me personally, but the spicy lovers were on Cloud 9.  Note for the future: get one plate per person ordering!

Here’s the regular kitfo ($10.50) which came out on its own.  We ordered medium, still not up to trying rare.  We stopped the waitress from dumping it onto the already crowded main plate.  It was pretty good.

I felt a tiny twinge of large group remorse since I’m sure our table was loud to the other patrons, but oh well.  I at least wasn’t being loud myself, so I didn’t feel too obnoxious.

Splitting a bill with others is a headache.  And add a Scoutmob offer to the mix…avoid avoid avoid!  Thank goodness our waitress was good humored about the payment.

Ledet might not be in my top 3 ATL Ethiopian joints, but it was still fine, and it seemed like the others all enjoyed their food too.  Hooray!

Restaurant experiment: Five Bar

Five Bar

744 29th Street South at Clairmont Avenue South

Birmingham, AL 35233

205-868-3841

http://five-bar.com

It was Laura’s birthday, hooray!  Well, a few days earlier, but close enough.  Birthday celebration at any rate.  It was mutually decided that we should go to Five Bar, or I’ll just call it Five.  Laura had been before, but Dave and I had never patronized the place.  There was an outdoor patio space, but we sat inside, towards the back.  Five is very attractive inside, with chandeliers, artwork on the walls, and frames handing from the ceiling.  A trendy spot, no doubt.  Oh yes, if you’re wondering about parking, you’ll have to street it unless you want to valet it (which I never want to do if I can help it).

If you don’t know what Five is, their thing is that there are five of each item: five appetizers, five entrees, five cocktails, five wines, five beers.  Sometimes fewer choices can be a positive thing, especially since I can often be overwhelmed by too many choices.  So I embraced this concept.

Our server was a very laid-back, chill kinda gal with a good attitude.  I wish our drinks had come out earlier, but I can’t fault her for that.  Since it was before 6 PM, we were able to order nibbles and drinks from the happy hour menu.  For happy hour, the house cocktails were $5 (marked down from ~$9-10), and there was an appetizer for $5 (queso with shrimp).

I went with the Prosé which consisted of Calcu rose wine, peach schnapps, St. Germain elderflower, and champagne.  It was the girliest concoction on the list.  Of course I had to get that.  The drink came with a single rose petal!  Can’t get any more feminine.  The queso dip rocked.  Yeah!

All three of us decided to order the cheeseburger ($13).  The other entrees seemed a tad pricey.  I picked it because it was the cheapest option and also because I am crazy about cheeseburgers.  I’m sure Laura and Dave shared the same ideas.  The cheeseburger came with Five spread and hand-cut fries, according to the menu.  Entrees are accompanied by a salad.

I seem to recall that I ordered my burger medium well, and it came out more on the well side.  Oh well.  The Five spread was fine, some cheese-onion concoction.  Nothing too wacky.  I was very relieved since I was able to have my raw onions on my burger.  Homemade-seeming pickles were a nice touch.  I thought they were cucumbers at first (they were on the salad), so I didn’t put them on my cheeseburger.  No worries.  The fries were of the shoestring variety which I love.  Maybe a tad too much salt, but whatever.  The salad was high class.  Goat cheese?  Dried fruit?  Way above iceberg and carrot shreds.

Amusingly, there is only one dessert option (bread pudding).  Where are the four others?

Thanks Five, you were the perfect place to celebrate Laura’s birth!

Pro tip: Ladies night every Tuesday!