Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Cafe 101

Walked into Asam House, only customers in entire joint, sat down, looked thru menu, waited, waited some more, no service, not even a glass of water, look around, whistled a tune from Mary Poppins, scratched my butt... Still nothing, starting to get Snarky, got up, thanked da skank for a delicious meal of oxygen and walked out. And headed straight to Cafe 101... It was packed and got seated right away.

This chow is still tops... I can eat here everyday and not get tired of the grub.

Basil Squid - Hellz yeah...

Chinese Okra & Golden Shrooms - Mmmm...

Smoked Pork & Leeks - I can't bweathe...

Za- Jiang Mein - OMG, someone open a window...

Shaved Ice Combo (Strawberry, Kiwi, Mango) - A threesome of manscaped goodness...

Washed it down with some Sapporo and Asahi...

All is well in the land of Gastro's marsupial pouch...

Burp.


5412 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340
(770) 458-8883

Babette's Cafe

Gastro doesn't do brunch... Every Joe Blow joint in town runs a great scam with their $10 omelettes but I won't even buy that for a dollar. Lunch is for wimps and brunch is for chicks. Gastro is neither. A real man eats dinner... Not the early stages of a Balut with cheese.

Take a gander of a night in the life of Gastro's pouch...

Escargots - 2 big ass snails in a puff pastry bouche wading in a delicate red wine reduction... Ah, yum, oui oui! Toilette is to the left, pal...

Mushroom Tartlette - Call me a tart, I don't care because this grub was G O O D.

Piroshkis - Nice pastry crust but the pork and veal was a bit overwhelmed by the heavy amount of onions. The tarragon butter sauce is very Fwench... Thick and fatty goodness. If you closed your eyes, it almost tastes like foie gras... I said Almost.

Creme of Celeriac - Campbell's cream of mushroom ain't got nothing on this celeriac wild mushroom soup. I can swallow a mouthful of this creamy goodness every night and I don't even expect a kiss. Yumum.

Paella - Ok, you're asking WTF am I ordering this at a Fwench joint? I asked the same question and wonder could this be good? The answer was meh. It wasn't bad just not a real paella obviously, no crispy yum yums. They shoulda just called it Latin-Atlanta rice with meat and seafood. I still didn't get why they put this on the menu... Curiosity didn't killed Gastro's appetite cuz he ate every last morsel. Burp.

The bwead service was kinda dirty but tasty... Half a crunchy baguette that you shred to pieces trying to break apart. The wine selection is good for a cozy joint of this size... A bot of Cotes Du Rhone was reasonably priced and did the trick for the Snarky Snacker but she didn't get too rowdy.

This joint gets looked over so many times and really doesn't get the attention it should for it's fresh ingredients and good cooking techniques. As good as the dinner menu is... I'm still not paying $16 for a friggin Balut Benedict for brunch.

Munch.

573 N Highland Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
(404) 523-9121

Hearth Pizza Tavern

From the owners of Cypress comes this red-headed stepchild of a mess... And I ain't talking about the pizza sauce.

I really hoped it would be good but everything seems out of place here. From the missing bartender that no one seemed to know where she and the manager went, servers all huddling around the kitchen area instead of the dining area... To the family of 5 where the dad and 3 boys looked like they just played mud football and the mom is dressed like she's ready to goto Hal's in her 5 inch leopard print heels.

This oven fired 'ZA comes in 8" or 12". The "Queens Right" is basically a Margarita 'ZA... But it gave me the "Silent Fluidity". This thin crust thing came out covered with raw flour. I didn't know whether I should blow it off or snort it. The bottom had spots of char which didn't add much to the flavor... It really looked like a pita bwead re-heated. The sauce was thin and flavorless... Eerily similar to watered down tomato paste. The fwesh mozzarella and basil chiffonade sprinkles after it came out of the oven barely saved this shipwreck. This tasteless mystery orange oil in a squirt bottle had me dumbfounded, I guess it was there to help lube your linings. Sadly, my ship sank as well in the bathroom.

The pedestrian menu reads like a high school student's wet dweam. It would do well in Sandy Spwings... Oh, wait, it is in Sandy Spwings! Skip this Californication Pizza and go next door to Canton House for some real tasty grub...

Ni Hao!

5992 Roswell Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30328
(404) 252-5378