bb.q Chicken and Howlin' Willy's- Revisit

I know, I know... The Obeast Underlord has been MIA for awhile... This fat fuck has not died on it's one reader... Not yet at least. The Pouch has been busy eating away like usual but nothing has been exciting enough to waste my time and energy poking away on the keyboard with my Vienna sausage fingers. But when it comes to fwied cheekan, especially, CFC (Corean fried chicken) will always get this bloated pile of lard up and moving. I have a bunch of reviews in the works but I know my one fan and reader needs something to chew on in the meantime and nothing is more tasty than fwied cheekan... Let's make a couple of revisits and see if the foul is still worthy to be on the Pouch's rotation.

BB.Q CHICKEN.

So, last time I went to the original location on Buford Hwy and it was pretty good. They have locations spread out around the ATL where most of their ex-pats live like Doraville, Duluth (x2), Suwanee... But now, they have opened a location in Decatur near the Square. There is no rhyme or reason why they opened a CFC here in Dickhater. Maybe they're hoping to capture the student biz from Emory or Agnes Scott. C'mon, who are they kidding, Pouch... Have you seen the demographics of these two schools? Woof! Those dorks never come out of their dorms unless it's for class or some crazy protest against 'Murica. But this location has been cursed for a long time... Anyone remember Pho King and Taziki Mediterranean Cafe? Does anyone really care? Crickets... Walked in and there were two people eating in here. That's a bad sign already. You know the other locations are floating this one but for how long? I might as well try it before it shuts down sometime this year. The menu is still pretty much the same. One girl was barely working and was constantly on her phone socializing. I tried to peep the kitchen crew but the wall was too high... I doubt there were any Coreans working here because I didn't hear any yelling. Whatever, let's get to to the cheekan...

Half & Half Whole Chicken, Golden Original and Secret Sauce (sweet & tangy), $26. It still looks pretty good. The crust is thin and crispy and the sauced one seemed properly coated all around. There's a Hot Spicy sauce option with this combo but I never had the Secret Sauce. They give you two pickled daikon, one cup for each half. Let's take closer look...

Secret Sauce. They say it's sweet and tangy and it sure was more sweet than tangy. It's sticky and you'll be licking your fingaz a lot. They give you plastic gloves but no self respecting cheekanhead eats fwied cheekan with gloves on. No glove, no love does not apply to fwied cheekan sex. The crust stayed pretty crispy the entire time and it's a nice balance. The Hot Spicy is not really that spicy anyways so I wasn't really missing it. The chicken itself was juicy, steaming and piping hot. That's a good sign they double fried it correctly.

Golden Original. I still always get the plain as a baseline to judge any great fried chicken. The thin crust seems a bit different than the Buford Hwy location version, it's kinda flat... It's still ultra crispy but it was kinda unseasoned. Not bland but even a little salt woulda stepped it up a bit... Shit, I shoulda asked them for some MSG to sprinkle on top. It's still a pretty good CFC. I don't if I would come back to this location again in the future... But I just thought about Popeyes on my way out the door.

319 W Ponce de Leon Ave

#40

Decatur, GA 30030

https://bbqchicken.com/

HOWLIN' WILLY'S. 

So, they were running a BOGO special for a 3 Tender Plate (slice of bread, 2 sauces, 1 side) for National Hot Chicken Day on March 30. And of course, this fat fuck couldn't pass up mo' cheekan for one price. I got my ass there early because you never know with BOGO deals... No one was ordering hot chicken, they were all at the burrito line. Good, more cheekan for the corpulent one. I had their Nashville hot chicken sando at the midtown location before and it was pretty good. But I didn't want to deal with midtown's parking nightmare on a weekend so I went to the Briarcliff location, got a spot right at the front door. Easy peasy, boom.

Heat Level: Kinda' Hot. With Coleslaw, Buttermilk Ranch, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce. 

Plain tenders are boring, so, I got the next level up for the baseline test. It's a good tender but they were kinda small. The crust is thin and crispy enough, no crackling sound when you bite into it. The buttermilk ranch was tasteless and watery. The BBQ sauce is store bought but it was way better than their in house made ranch. The slaw had big pieces of cabbage and it was nothing special, just pretty much filler.

Heat Level: Howlin'. With Mac n Cheez, Buttermilk Ranch, Comeback Sauce.

I had to bring it on the second order... The hottest level they got. The bro at the counter literally asked twice if I was sure I wanted the Howlin' heat level and I told the bro there's nothing hot enough to take down the Pouch. He said, I was a brave creasture because he couldn't even eat one bite of it. When it came out I'm like is that just one tender? Seriously, it was one normal tender and two tiny nuggets hiding under the pickles... They should have put more pickles on top to throw me off. Let's goto the mac first... It's cheesy and creamy and the mac was pretty good, no complaints. The buttermilk ranch sucked like with the other order but the Comeback sauce was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of it but anything was better than the watery ranch. Let's take a bite of the Howlin' tender... It's basically a wet hot tender with a dry pepper mix sprinkled all over it. The dry mix is what makes it hot hot because no hot sauce will ever have that heat level... Unless it's pure capsaicin oil extract. Took a bite, it wasn't that bad but after a couple more bites you can feel the heat building up. I even produced a sweat droplet on my face, I licked it off like a skank. The Howlin' heat level was actually respectable... It's not gonna make your ass explode but it will definitely give you some meat sweats. On my way out, I was thinking about Popeyes like usual and then the bro asked me if it was really hot and I said, it's aight... He was like, damn, yo. Their cheekan will not be on my regular rotation but Willy's burritos are pretty good.  

2566 Briarcliff Rd NE

Atlanta, GA 30329

https://howlinwillys.com/

Talat Market

With a mere mention in the Michelin guide this past October 2023, the wannabe hipsters have been invading this trendy Summerhill spot like meth zombies... Some are even sleeping on the sidewalk for hours hoping for a chance to get in for their 5PM feedings. Unlike these automatons, I still remember when Talat was just a pop up honing their concept years ago in the Gato space... Which has became an incubator of sorts for cooks with novel concepts and ideas. Some have worked out and others have quietly disappeared into the night like a strung out junkie living under a bridge on Cheshire Bridge. I really like their approach to traditional Thai cuisine, in the beginning. But over time, they seemed to have morphed into more of a trendy spot looking to capitalize on the newest fad. I guess it's time for this fat fuck to see what all the fuss is about after receiving their Michelin nod... If y'all are confused with their Michelin standing- They didn't receive a star nor their newest category called Bib Gourmand which is basically a recognition of trendy spots that serves good food that are moderately priced. I'm still pissed that Estrellita got a Bib Gourmand over Kamayan ATL... Kamayan absolutely destroys Estellita's subpar flip flop slop. Let's see why Talat only received a nod...

I went a few minzies early before 5PM to see if I could get in and out quickly by sitting at the bar... There were a few porkers in front of me and they filled up the bar like it was a freshly filled trough. I thought I was in the Clermont Lounge pisser for a second that I almost pulled out my pud from muscle memory. Fuck, those Blondie flashbacks are painful. OK, so my bar strategy just went down the shitter... Talked to the hostess and worked my sorcery to convince her that I would be in and out quickly (that's what she said), but seriously, she said, "Can you be out by 8PM?". Wimman, I will be a distant memory within an hour... As long as the kitchen did their part in firing my order ASAP. Snagged a corner table which was totally preferred... I get to see the whole joint without any slobs breathing down my sweaty back. 

Let's go all in, fatso!

This Fords Martini Hour $12 special is an amazing deal because it comes with 3 oysters! Shit, I could just have a flight of these martinis and 9 oysters and I would be happy as a fat fucking pig in shit.

The Fords Gin Martini Trifecta... The Valencia, Gibson and 50/50. No matter what order you drink them in, you will be a winner and I'll still be a wiener. And each martini comes with 3 oysters... Winnah winnah bi-valve dinnah!

Flight round #2... And where's my sea snots, bro? Boom...

On this night, the oysters were from Murder Point in Alabama... And they were really good. Clean, rich, creamy, medium salinity and a hint of butter. The "mignonette" is more of  a Vietnamese nuoc cham than a Thai seafood dipping sauce. But it was still great with the oysters. Save the enhanced fish sauce to dip with other menu items.

Murder Point aren't really dirty oysters since they are raised in baskets... So, not much scrubbing required, they have super clean shells naturally. Beautiful specimens.

I had 33 oysters, guess how many gin martinis I drank... Because it's all fuzzy math after all them cocktails. I need grub before I keel over... Garcon! Comidas, apurate, por favor, danke!

Corner seat, best spot in the house for spotting hot broads that will never talk to me and when my food is coming out. The place filled up pretty quickly and not one ex-pat in the entire joint... Not even a jook-sing. I was the only slope... I thought this was an authentic traditional Thai joint. Maybe all the ex-pats were at Rain Thai or Thai Chili. Let's take a peep at the traditional Thai menu... BTW the menu is not on the website, so, you won't know what's on the menu until you get in there... Not a fan of that practice.

Wait a minzie, am I at Harry & Sons? Wake up, Pouch, wake up. Everyone has been soiling their underpants about the crispy rice salad, but meh, I rather put that $18 towards something more substantial. Every roundeye ordered it, so, it was basically every table. I was pretty disappointed that Som Tum with fermented fish or salted crab was not on the traditional Thai menu... Speaking of Thai, there were not many Thai dishes on this menu tonight... Which is their whole schtick. Did the Pouch just fucked himself, again? Hmmm... Ah, fuck it, just order all the proteins, all 3 of them... And keep them martinis coming every 10 minutes, and if I pass out, bring one every 5 minutes.

Sunchoke & Crab, radish/pear/salmon roe/pork rind, $20. It's a nicely presented dish but after mixing it all up, it was a muddy mess. There were only a couple of pieces of sunchoke... The other toothy items that mimic the Jerusalem artichoke were the radish and pear and I swore I tasted potato in there... Shit, throw some galangal in there and try to trick me properly at least. It sounded great on paper but if you closed your eyes and took a bite, you would be like... Smoothered covered chunked? All The Way woulda only cost ya $5... And that would taste more Thai.

Pork Ribs, nahm jim jaew/crudite, $25. Plating is simple and classy... But does this look anything like a traditional Thai dish? The only thing that was remotely Thai was the classic Thai dipping sauce which tasted like the chili fish sauce with the oysters. The ribs looked great... If I was at Heirloom BBQ. Look, this fat fuck is still gonna just eat it like a weirdo. Unfortunately, they were a bit dry and chewy. Dipped it in the nahm jim jaew and it helped a bit... Then I dipped it in the Gibson and the house brine really softened it up. That raw carrot couldn't lead a horse to these ribs. Would I get the ribs again? Fuck no, but it was worth a try. I mean, what else was I gonna order besides the 3 mains? Oh, yeah, I also got a cup of sticky rice for $4.

Octopus, xo sauce/daikon/scallion, $18. Isn't XO sauce Chinese? Oh, well, it's all Oriental I guess... The octopus was really good, tender and toothy. Or as the hipsters would say, it has a wonderful mouth feel. WTF, you stupid trust fund hippie?! If your mouth was a trough, I wouldn't even piss in it. The XO sauce could have been a bit more umami but it still worked. Shit, I put XO (the scallop one) on everything, even 'ZA... Wait a minzie, hot honey is better on 'ZA. The octopus was good but it was more an app than a main.

Flatiron, mushroom/cilantro/beef jus, $40. Wait a minzie... Did I walk into Bistro Niko? Fuck no, because I would never go back to shithole and their fraudy half assed Fronch dishes... Who's the chef, Lane Meyer's mom? What do you have to drink here, Peru? Listen, it's a pretty looking dish here... But c'mon, how is this even remotely Thai, let alone traditional. Flatiron is usually an inexpensive piece of chuck but still pretty tasty. This cut here was cooked perfectly... All that's missing was the frites. But to say this was traditional Thai is kinda an insult... Along with that price tag.

This joint definitely has the trendy vibe and concept going on here. It is the new "It" place to see and be seen. And the zombies are piling in like they were only serving brains on the menu... Oh, only if they had offal on the menu I woulda been a lot happier. By the looks of the crowd, I don't think anyone eating here really cares if they are traditional Thai as long as it's pretty on the plate and IG-able. If they were serving authentic traditional Thai dishes, none of these wannabes would be eating here because it would be too foreign for their fragile palate. But the service industry is really tough these days and you gotta do what you gotta do... Even if you have to go outside the lines of your central cuisine theme. Hey, maybe they're bringing Fusion cuisine back, baybee! I would love to see a Thai birria taco on the menu.

So, do they deserve the Michelin nod? I guess so because it's trendy and safe for the gringos. But they do know how to cook and plate a novel dish and the service was great. I wish them luck and hope they keep going... But maybe, just maybe, as Jen Psaki would say, they will circle back with some traditional Thai dishes in the future... Just not in a circle jerk.

112 Ormond St SE

Atlanta, GA 30315

https://talatmarketatl.com/