Mmm, fresh seafood in Atlanta

And after a single post about Cleveland, I'm back to Atlanta! Well, only for a short visit over Christmas. In between catching up with old friends and eating my mom's amazing food, my sister pumpkin and I sneaked out for a nice dinner out. I'd heard from a ton of people how great The Optimist was supposed to be, so we finally tried it out.Plus, even though Cleveland is on a lake, getting fresh food here can be a challenge...

The restaurant is located on the West Side of Atlanta, pretty close to JCT Kitchen and Abattoir. It also has the same feel to it: converted warehouse that's now both modern and sophisticated at the same time. But what the restaurant is really known for is the seafood. It has a large selection of raw oysters, which we unfortunately couldn't try :( Instead, we got the tuna tartare as a starter. This dish was both innovative and delicious. It came with duck breast ham and SHAVED hardboiled egg on top. How often do you see shaved egg or duck breast ham?!?!?! And yes, that's ham made out of duck breast. I don't know how they made it, but it was amazing, with a rich flavor that I usually associate with spicy dried sausages. The creaminess of the egg was perfect with the fresh tuna, and the ham provided a punch of flavor and saltiness to the otherwise plain fish. The plate was also spotted with a black garlic reduction for an additional layer of flavor. A great start to the meal that matched my expectations for the restaurant, but set new expectations for the main course.

For entrees, I got red snapper with roasted cauliflower, and Pumpkin had swordfish with beans and capers. Unlike the creative appetizer, the entrees were just standard. Well, they were delicious, but there was nothing special about them. The cauliflower was just like any cauliflower I've had. On the bright side, the fish was fresh and well cooked. Mine was a little bland, but Pumpkin's swordfish was well flavored.

Because we had been eating copious amounts of food for a few days, we didn't get a dessert this time. One things that irked me, though, is that our waiter didn't even ask us if we wanted the check or a dessert menu. He simply placed the dessert menu on our table and walked away. I guess that's a good strategy to entice someone into getting dessert, but I didn't appreciate it. Indeed, I found the service a little lacking and not up to par, especially compared to the other great restaurants nearby. The waiter came and asked us for our order as soon as we were seated, before we could even look at the menu, but when it was time for the check, he was no where to be seen. I did like certain aspects of The Optimist, but it has some work to do before it can catch up with the other great restaurants in the area.

A visit to Chicago

A few weeks ago I went to Chicago for the very first time. Neither my sister, nor I had been there before, so we decided to meet up there. We stayed there for only one night, but we had a great time. Despite the short stay, we got a good sampling of the Chicago food.

One of the places I really wanted to try in this Midwest city was a Mexican restaurant called Frontera Grill, haha. But it's no ordinary Mexican. The owner is Rick Bayless, who has been called the Julia Child of Mexican food. He lived in Mexico for a long time, and prepares authentic Mexican dishes. Unfortunately, his restaurant is quite popular, which meant that there was a long wait even late in the afternoon, between lunch and dinner hours. Fortunately for us, there is a cafe attached to the restaurant (Xoco) which serves more street food-like versions of the dishes at Frontera Grill. So, my sister and I ate there. I ordered the suckling pig torta, and Pumpkin got the seafood caldo. My sandwich was great. I loved the grilled bread. Its crunch made it sturdy enough to hold the pile of meat that was in the middle. The pickled onion was a great addition because it cut through the richness of the meat. The sandwich came with a spicy salsa that was REALLY spicy. At first I scoffed at the warning by the server, but this is seriously the spiciest thing I've had. One drop was enough to set my mouth on fire for half a sandwich. I wish they would tone down the heat a little. Pumpkin's caldo was also hot, but in terms of temperature :P Compared to my sandwich, it was very light :) Yet, the broth was very flavorful and refreshing.

We also got the Mexican hot chocolate because I was curious what the original thing tastes like. And OMG, it was AMAZING! It tasted as rich as if you were drinking molten chocolate, but it was a lot more liquid to be simply that. However they prepare it, I can see why the Aztec rules loved it so much.








Of course, our other meal in Chicago had to be deep dish pizza. We went to a place called Giordano's that a friend of mine had recommended. We ordered the original deep dish pizza as it was our first time trying it. Pumpkin was a little worried whether the small pizza would be enough for the two of us, but as soon as we saw the pizza, we realized that there's no reason to worry. The pizza is GIANT! It's as thick as a cake. It has a crust on the bottom, then layers of cheese, peperoni and bell peppers, and another layer of cheese that acts as a top crust. Pumpkin and I ate a piece each, and we are stuffed. Rather than not being enough for one meal, we got three meals out of it over the next few days. I did like the deep dish pizza, but I prefer the thin crust ones. Sorry, Chicago...

Tapas

I love the concept of tapas: you get to try several dishes at once. Even though Eclipse di Luna is a popular place for tapas (and late night dancing) in Atlanta, I didn't get to go there until recently. I met up with my friend Ems one last time before leaving for Cleveland. We started the night with some cocktails: I had the lychee martini, and Ems got the grapefruit martini. My drink was really good. It was slightly fruity, but because the lychee has a tart flavor, it didn't taste too cloying overall.

In an attempt to find crispy potatoes (patatas bravas) as good as the ones at Loca Luna, I was really excited to try the ones at Eclipse di Luna. (Side note: what's up with having the word "Luna" in both tapas places???) There are a couple of things that must be done right with the patatas bravas. First, they need to be CRISPY on the outside, but not drenched in oil while frying. Having some good seasoning on them is also nice to have. Second, the Romesco sauce on the side needs to be both creamy and spicy. Well, I'm happy to say that the patatas bravas at Eclipse di Luna perfectly satisfied both of these requirements! :) They were as good as the ones at Loca Luna that I love so much, and I couldn't find any difference.


The other two dishes we decided to try were the fried goat cheese with caramelized onions (seen above with the potatoes) and the pulpo salteado (octopus "hash"). The goat cheese was good, but not exceptional. I guess it's hard to change its potent taste into anything else. And the taste is the reason why I got it anyway. The octopus wasn't really hashed, but that's what it reminded me of. It came sauteed with potatoes, onions, capers, peppers and lemons. The octopus itself was cooked really well and was not chewy. The poptatoes were crispy and contrasted the soft peppers and onions. And the acidity from the lemon made the dish really pleasant to eat. In summary, it was delicious!

I can honestly say that I loved Eclipse di Luna. I think I might like it even more than Loca Luna. My only regret is that I didn't know how good it was until now, when I'm about to leave the city :(

Global seafood kitchen

Pappadeux, a chain with locations throughout the South, claims to be a seafood kitchen that draws on many cultures. Cajun dishes (etouffee, gumbo, alligator) are prominent on the menu. There are also interesting dishes from around the globe, from Southern America to Asia. Of course, there is a fried food section. So when I friend of mine suggested that we meet up for dinner there, I was up for it.

I'm fortunate to have been to New Orleans several times, so I stayed away from any of the dishes typically associated with the city. Maybe the etouffe or the gumbo at Pappadeux are amazing, but it will be really hard to make them the same as in New Orleans itself. I didn't feel like having something heavy, either, and butter seemed to be a prominent ingredient on many of the dishes. Instead, I decided to try how good the fresh seafood at Pappadeux was.  To do that, I simply ordered the half a dozen oysters and half a dozen chilled shrimp. They turned out to be even better than expected! The oysters were HUGE, but more importantly, FRESH. The chilled shrimp was perfectly cooked, and not rubbery at all. I enjoyed both very very much. My friend only got the dozen oysters, so nothing new to describe here.

And because I couldn't be completely healthy, I also got a pina colada :) I think I've had pina colada once or twice in my life before, but I was really craving it. Just like the food, the drink was excellent. It wasn't overly sweet, did taste like real fruit, and I could taste the alcohol, but it wasn't too strong. Overall, very satisfying. Pappadeux is making me re-think my conviction that chain restaurants are evil ;)

Seafood Streak

Pumpkin was in Atlanta recently! And the only reason I was excited about that was because she had said she would go eat crawfish with me ;) I had restaurant.com coupons for both Crawfish Shack and Fontaine's Oyster House, so we made a seafood weekend out of it. We went to Fontaine's on Friday and Crawfish Shack on Saturday.

I've been to Fontaine's several times, but every single time I order the Hot combo platter. You get one pound of shrimp, one pound of snow crab legs, mussels and clams, and one dozen steamed Gulf oysters. Well, we always ask if we can get the oysters raw rather than steamed. Every time they say, Let me check with the kitchen. They have been able to accommodate our request every time :) But now to the food. My favorite thing on the platter are the shrimp because of the spices they are cooked with. Most pronounced of these is cumin (I think), and it gives them a flavor I normally associate with my mother's meatballs rather than shrimp. The crab legs are generally of great quality and taste fresh. I don't think Pumpkin enjoyed them too much because of how hard they are to crack. She needs more practice! And even though she was afraid that we didn't get enough food, we were both stuffed by the end. This platter is a perfect portion for two people.

The very next day we were ready for more food at Crawfish Shack, and Snooki tagged along as well. Of course, we got crawfish (3 lb of it!). Snooki wasn't too eager to eat the whole crawfish, so she opted for a shrimp po-boy.  The coupon I had required us to spend at least $45, and we made up the balance by loading up on sides: Cajun fries, sweet potato tots, herb-roasted red potatoes and corn nuggets. The crawfish was fresh and spicy - just the way it was supposed to be. The "Cajun" fries, though, had NO seasoning on them, not even salt, let alone Cajun spice. Well, maybe a tiny bit of salt, but you get my point. They were so plain, they were impossible to eat. But we were too lazy to return them and had plenty of other things to make up for the fries. The roasted red potatoes were also rather plain. The only seasoning they had was a little butter on the bottom of the dish and hard to get to. The sweet potato tots, though, were just what I expected from them and still retained their flavor after frying. What I was really impressed by were the corn nuggets. I LOVED them. We couldn't imaging what they would be before ordering, but I'm SO glad we got them. They remind me a little of arancini balls, but with corn instead of rice and flattened. The corn kernels are still whole inside and so sweet when you eat them. And overall, all the fried sides did help to counteract the spicy crawfish :) 

Elegant Buffet

Elegant buffet? Huh? That can't exist. Right? Well, turns out it's possible, in Las Vegas of all places.

Buffets have been a part of Vegas history from its initial days. People who went to Vegas didn't care what they ate as long as it was enough to get them through a night of gambling. Thankfully, all of this has changed. Together with the sophistication of the city, the buffet has been revamped. A perfect example of this is the opulence of the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar's Palace.

How many times have you had to wait for 2 hours to get into a buffet? Well, you better be prepared to do that at peak times at Bacchanal. But once you get in, you forget about the wait. The chic modern decor, the subdues lighting, the delicious food scents wafting through the air - they all make you want to dig into some food. But hey, slow down! [Record scratch noise.] You need to wait in another line for seafood! Yes, that's right. That's why my boyfriend (Rusty) and I started with the Asian section that was less busy and got some sushi and dumplings. There was nothing too special about the sushi, but it did fill our starving stomachs a little bit. Then we were ready for the seafood!

Rusty and I were at Bacchanal at a particularly busy time, so the seafood line was winding all the way to the back of the buffet, past most of the other sections. While waiting, we were often tempted with Mexican (Rusty said the tacos were delicious), carved meats, breads, deep-fried baskets, etc. Well, we made it to the seafood without too much damage to our hunger, so we loaded up on seafood. There were all types of clams, mussels, shrimp, fish, steamed and cold oysters and crabs, ceviches, shooters, etc! And yes, we got a little of everything :) The appearance was often deceiving, and the things I thought I would love were a little bland. Overall, the food was liking spice, but I do tend to like more spice than the general population. Still, there was a lot of amazing food to make up for the blander one.

The next stop was the "potatoes and meat" section. I call it that because it had many types of meat and all the typical sides they would go with. Rusty and I tried the lamb chop, ribs and chicken wings. The sides we had were mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, and cornbread. I absolutely loved the chicken wings! They were spicy and herby (because of added cilantro). The cornbread was also really good. The rib and lamb chop were cooked perfectly, but were a little on the bland side again. The mashed potatoes were really really creamy :) However, the mac and cheese had a weird, grainy texture despite having a ton of cheese in it. I don't like buttery corn on a cob, but I think other people would have enjoyed it. Oh, we also got wagyu beef sliders. They were sooo moist and well-flavored! I wish I wasn't that stuffed because I wanted to eat several of them.

Finally, even though we could barely walk, we had to try the dessert. There must have been about 100 options just on the dessert display. There were soo many things that we wanted to try! We had to settle for a key lime tart, pecan tart, tiramisu, red velvet cheesecake, chocolate peanut butter cupcake, chocolate creme brulee, and vanilla and espresso ice cream. I LOVED the key lime tart. It was tart and just enough sweet :) Also loved both types of ice cream, especially the vanilla one. The vanilla flavor was so rich, but not overwhelming. All the other desserts were also good, but not as amazing. And it says a lot if I enjoyed them after all the savory food before that ;)

There were definitely hits and misses at the buffet, but the overall experience was very good. Most of the time I forgot it was a buffet. Vegas is going in the right direction with its food scene. Another development are the many elegant restaurants, many of them run by celebrity or award-winning chefs. But those will have to wait until my next visit to Vegas :)

IP restaurant week pt 4: Parish

Parish is one of those restaurants that elevates comfort food to make it fancy without sacrificing the taste. Ever since Ems and I went there a long time ago, I had wanted to go back to try that mushroom cheesecake. Unlike the spring edition of Inman Park restaurant week, the menu at Parish looked amazing this time. Well, the cheesecake wasn't on the restaurant week menu, but I still wanted to try everything!

All three appetizers sounded interesting: parsnip soup, chicken hearts, and octopus and sausage. I was even considering getting two appetizers instead of an appetizer and an entree. Snooki got the parsnip soup, which was creamy and delicious. I finally decided to get the sauteed chicken hearts because I know that it's very easy to overcook octopus and make it chewy. My biggest surprise about the meal was the portion size! It was bigger than many entrees and included three huge half-slices of brioche bread. Well, at least the bread was toasted, coated in a creamy sauce, and tasted well. However, I couldn't eat more than a couple of bites knowing that I had two more meals coming up. The hearts themselves were perfect. I even liked how they were cut in bite-size pieces. Plus, they were sauteed in butter, and you can't go wrong with that ;) Unfortunately, the carrot puree was a huge disappointment. The texture was somehow gritty and it didn't even taste like carrots...

I wish I could try all entrees as well: fried chicken, fried mussels, and Israeli couscous. I settled on the mussels. Honestly, I've had much better mussels before, even at gastro pubs. The ones at Parish were sauteed in a butter sauce, but the butter just didn't seem to go well with the mussels. I wish they were cooked in a wine sauce with some fresh herbs and citrus. On the bright side, the fries were really great :) I probably ate more fries than mussels. Anyway, the entree made me wish I had finished all of my chicken hearts and skipped the second course.

At least the dinner ended well. I ordered the banana bread pudding for dessert, and Snooki got the chocolate tart. Both of them came with ice cream on the side. The crust on the tart was a little hard, but it was still delicious. And my banana bread pudding was AMAZING. The banana flavor was very prominent, the pudding was soft without being soggy, and the caramel sauce on the bottom of the plate went great with it. Plus, it was a pretty big potion, too :) Just what I needed after the light entree.

I thought Parish was supposed to serve a mixture of Southern, Louisiana-style food with emphasis on seafood. However, this meal didn't really fit into any of these categories well. There was a lot of seafood, but it didn't seem to be the strength of the restaurant. The chef is definitely creative, but it's hard to attract customers if you can't even describe what kind of food you serve. But if you're looking for a charming place with a unique menu, it's definitely worth a try.

IPRW Part 3: Wisteria

It's the beginning of fall, which means it's time for Inman Park restaurant week again! I love that they have it twice a year: in the spring and in the fall. Last time I went to Sotto Sotto and Wisteria. And guess what? I couldn't resist going to Wisteria yet again this week :)

The menu for restaurant week this time was pretty much the same as it was in the spring. However, there were multiple choices for both appetizers and entrees, so I had a hard time choosing something even after having tried several of the things. Actually, I went there with three friends, and we all got different dishes and we all loved what we had. I guess I'll first summarize what the others had before describing my meal.

My roommate Snooki had the mixed greens salad and the pork tenderloin. The pork was lightly seared on the outside and literally melted in your mouth! Definitely the best pork tenderloin/chop I have ever had anywhere! This is not an over-exaggeration. It's so easy to overcook the pork to the point where it's too dry. This one was the opposite of dry. It reminded me more of seared tuna steak than any other pork dish. My friend Els ordered the black eyed peas hummus and shrimp and grits, which is exactly what I had last time. She liked both of them. Finally, Els's boyfriend got the deviled eggs and fried chicken. His favorite piece of food was the sweet cornbread. He even wanted to get the recipe :)

The appetizer I decided on was the tomato soup with arugula pesto. The soup was really delicious by itself, with sweet tomato notes. I'm glad that there wasn't anything spicy in it. The pesto, when mixed with the soup, added some herbal freshness to the dish, but I didn't like how oily it made the soup. The soup came with a really incredible toast covered in Parmesan cheese. The toast was very simple, but the crunch and the cheese made it irresistible.

For my entree I ordered the Southern-fried catfish. The portion size was surprisingly large because each plate came with two rather large pieces of fish. I ate only one of them and saved the other one for lunch the next day :) The breading was a little soggy, but it didn't overpower the fish. And the tartar sauce on the side was pretty good, too. I also liked the stewed roasted peppers, green tomatoes, okra and crawfish that accompanied the fish. I'm not a fan of okra, but the one here wasn't that slimy so I could eat it. Overall, I liked my entree, but wasn't wowed by it.

Just like last time, the dessert was a trio of traditional Southern desserts: carrot cake, brownie, and lemon pecan bar. Unlike my last visit to Wisteria when I didn't like the carrot cake, it was my favorite this time, haha. It was just so moist and the perfect sweetness. I was also impressed with the lemon pecan bar. There were pockets of tartness that mixed well with the sweet dough. The brownie and spicy ice cream were delicious as well, but not as novel as the last time... But the general consensus at the end was that we all wanted a second serving of dessert :)

Well, that was my visit to Wisteria. Stay tuned for a dinner at Parish, also as part of Inman Park restaurant week.

Seafood Feast

Once in a while Restaurant.com will have a 90% off sale, and whenever I see this, I make sure I get a certificate for Fontaine's Oyster House. I'm always up for trying new foods, but this is one place where Cashew and I order the same thing over and over again: the steamed seafood platter. And because we need to order at least $45-worth of food to be able to use the certificate, we just end up getting a dozen of raw oysters in addition to the one on the platter. Mmmm, oysters! Can't get too many of them!

The platter comes with all the amazing goodies that the seas have to offer: mussels, clams, shrimp, crab legs, oysters. The only way to make it even more perfect would be to add calamari :P (Did you take the hint, Fontaine's?). Well, and to get the oysters raw rather than steamed.... But you can do that if you're nice to your servers and politely ask them to do it for you. Even though most of them say that they'll have to check whether it can be done, we've had 100% success rate, and I have yet to try steamed oysters. No complaints from me, though. I love them raw, with just a little bit of lemon squeezed on top of them. On the bright side, everything else on the platter is perfect as it is. The crab legs are fresh, not cooked in butter, and only with their natural saltiness. If you do want to ruin their taste, there's a container of melted butter to dunk them into. The shrimp are cooked in an herb broth that doesn't overpower them. I'm not quite sure what's in the broth, but I do suck out all the flavors from the shell before pealing it away... Finally, there's a good number of clams and mussels cooked in a simple broth to complete the seafood tasting trip.

The last time Cashew and I went to Fontaine's, we were feeling extra adventurous and ordered the chicken jambalaya instead of more raw oysters. Oooo, aren't we just crazy ;) It turned out that Cashew had meant to try the gumbo, but had the two mixed in her head. Well, I wasn't too upset about the mistake because the jambalaya was amazing! It wasn't dry like the jambalaya in New Orleans. Instead, it had a good amount of liquid in it that made eating it easier. Plus, all the flavors and spiciness were spot on. I think we have a new item to add to our "usual" order!

OK, now I need to do a brief aside because I just realized that I didn't post anything about my New Orleans trip last December. How could I forget to do that?!?!? Anyway, it was a few days of amazing food! I did try all the New Orleans staples: jambalaya, gumbo, muffaletta, etouffee, rice and red beans, shrimp po-boy, raw oysters, beignets, and hurricane and green alligator cocktails! My favorite was the gumbo, with the crawfish etouffee a close second... The beignets lived up to my expectations as well. I was pretty disappointed in the jambalaya because it was too dry, as if it had been overcooked. But I'm glad that I had the jambalaya at Fontaine's to see that it can taste great as well.

In Seafood Paradise

I love seafood, so what better place to be than on a bay? The problem is, how do I know which seafood restaurants are good and which ones overcook it so much that you can't even taste it? My solution, which is probably not the best one, was to go to a pretty expensive restaurant and hope for the best...

Last weekend I went to Sausalito, a small town on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. When it came time for lunch, I had plenty of options. Of course, most of them were Italian restaurants that served seafood items in creamy pasta dishes. However, I did find a place called Horizons that seemed different. First, the interior of the restaurant, which featured wood-paneled columns and arches, was very pretty and elegant. In addition, the restaurant was right on the bay, so it had glass walls on three sides for great views of the ocean. The tables were set on several different levels, so pretty much each table had a good view.

Apart from the atmosphere, the food menu also looked encouraging. Pretty much all of the dishes it offered contained some sort of seafood, so I was actually having a hard time deciding what I wanted to get. I followed the waiter's suggestion and ordered the Horizons Bouillabaisse. Knowing that this meal would be a treat, I also got the Cucumber Mellonball cocktail. The meal started with complementary French bread and butter, but there was nothing special about the bread. It wasn't even warm, which was a big disappointment for me :( The cocktail wasn't that great either. It was nice and strong, but it tasted a little like grapefruit, one of the few fruits I don't like at all. Well, I drank it anyway.

Thankfully, the bouillabaisse was amazing. It contained giant scallops, mussels, clams, tuna, salmon and humongous shrimp. Basically, all the types of seafood I love in one dish :D. They were all cooked well, and they were tender without being chewy. The broth was also very tasty. It reminded me a little of pho, but with tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Another good feature of the dish was the half lemon on the side that came with a little net to catch the seeds. How cute is that! Finally, the dish came with garlic herb toasted bread. Too bad I had filled up on the plain bread earlier because the garlic bread was incredible. I couldn't finish the bread, but I ate every last drop of the broth and the seafood! I knew that good seafood must exist in the San Francisco area, and I'm so glad that I found it :) Well, I ended up spending almost $40 on lunch, but it was totally worth it.

Seafood extravaganza

I loooove seafood. I love all types of seafood: fish, shrimp, crab meat, etc. I have to admit, I've never had octopus, but I am pretty sure I won't hate it. Anyway, Cashew and I like to go on seafood "splurges" when we eat a ton of seafood for dinner. We've been to Fontaine's Oyster House a couple of times and shared their steamed seafood platter (meant to be shared by 4 people...). Every time we've been there, we have a restaurant.com coupon for $25 off our check, so we end up paying only about $15 each for huuuge amounts of seafood. Sadly, we hadn't been there in a few months, so we were going through seafood withdrawal...

Thankfully, Cashew found out about another deal in town: $5 for a dozen oysters at Steamhouse Lounge. This deal seemed too good to be true, but it is real and it is going on every Wednesday. The oysters were surprisingly huge for the amount of money we were paying. Yes, there were some smaller ones, but overall I was very satisfied with what we got. Well, they could have been scrubbed a little better, but I guess that's what distinguishes a nicer restaurant from a bar.

Of course, a dozen oysters is not enough to fill us up, so Cashew and I shared the crab legs platter as well. We got 1.5 lb of crab with sides of cole slaw and corn on the cob. The good news is, the majority of the crab tasted fresh and delicious. The bad news was that there were definitely pieces from old crab legs mixed in with the good crab. This is a really bad idea actually because the bad crab stands out so easily when you eat it right after a piece of fresh crab... Another negative about the meal was the overly-buttery corn. I love my corn on the cob to be simply boiled in salted water, nothing else added. I can eat corn with a little butter, but when the butter is dripping off the cob and makes your whole mouth feel as if you ate a solid piece of butter, it's not enjoyable. Well, I guess many people in the South are used to get their corn on the cob prepared in this buttery way, so it was just personal preference.

The amount of seafood we consumed that night did satisfy the craving, but I think it's smarter to stick to food that doesn't rely on seafood freshness when at Steamhouse Lounge.