The beginning of summer is the time of the year when we all flock to pools, parks, and patios. [Ha, they all start with a "p"] It's not too hot yet, and we're sick of spending time indoors. Well, it's been a tricky summer here in Atlanta, raining pretty much every single day for as long as I can remember. But Snooki and I had a deal for brunch, so we chose a not-too-rainy Sunday to use it. And yes, we chose to sit on the patio :) What could be better to start a Sunday that fresh air, coffee and a nice breakfast at half the price :)
The aforementioned brunch deal was for
Olmsted, a relatively new restaurant in Midtown. The deal included bread and a meat platter to begin, one mimosa or bloody Mary each, and an entree. Unfortunately, we didn't think ahead and went there early on Sunday morning when you can't buy alcohol. That's the South for you... Well, the server was nice enough to let us use our cocktail credit for coffee drinks. And well, that was one of the few things about the service. It took forever to order and get our food even though the restaurant was pretty much empty when we got there. Also, we never got silverware when we were seated. We had to ask for it after the food was brought to us. By the time we started eating, it was already getting cold.
So now to the main point, the food. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special either. I was very disappointed by the bread platter that we were supposed to share. I expected several types of breads/muffins/maybe cornbread/scones. Instead, we got four dainty pieces of zucchini bread. The meat platter was ok. It had sausage, ham and bacon. But it's really weird to eat greasy meat by itself. It would have been much much better with some bread.
For the entree, I got the Yet Another Shrimp and Grits, Snooki got the Eggs Savannah, and her boyfriend (BrayBoy) ordered the fried chicken. Yes, "Yet Another Shrimp and Grits" is the name of the item on the menu, and that's exactly what it was. I have definitely had much better shrimp and grits before, and I can make better ones myself. There wasn't any flavor on them. I was hoping that the name was just a joke, but unfortunately it wasn't. Snooki's dish was good, at least. The crab and shrimp cakes weren't overflowing with flavor, either, but there was a good amount of crab meat in them. The hashed potatoes were crispy, as they should be. BrayBoy was happy with his dish, though. It was definitely a guy's portion, with a huge chunk of cornbread that was the size of half a loaf. On the bright side, he had leftovers.
I guess the best part of the meal was sitting outside. But once it started drizzling, we were ready to go and I don't think any of us would be going back.
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.
