The newest fancypants joint that is so out of place in this Emory student infested area was kind of a nice surprise, even to me. The price point of this place is just way over the average student's pay grade around this hood. I mean c'mon, you got the Yelpers' all time favorite, Falafel King, across the street that serves grainy falafel and cat food sooshee which the students eat up like it was their one weekend splurge and there's that Doc Chey's or Tin Drum, too, that serves... Well, I don't know what they serve, but it's food that's no where near the continent of Asia, could be from that country, Africa. But I'll tell you this, this is not the kind of neighborhood to find a beautiful build out that sports not one but three different levels of dining experience... And none of them involve Alpo shawarma meat nor California rolls with long grain rice.
Walked in, didn't spot any douches with cargo shorts and flip flops but I did see a few popped collars, some were even double popped. C'mon, I triple dog dare ya to triple pop that fucker. Speaking of triple, those triple pleated khakis has got to go like the black plague. But anyways, the place is really set up nice inside, way too nice for this area. Yes, I understand that there are some people with moolah around here but as we know rich people know almost nothing about food. They just nod their head when the dish arrives and described to them and then they pay the check. The menus (tavern and dining room) were both pretty approachable in terms of ingredients with a couple of daily surprises. I decided to do the tavern menu which had more options to test their cooking prowess. Time for the pouch to dissect the grub... Rip it or keep it.
Bruschetta, Fried Oysters, Crushed Egg Salad. This was a great starter dish. I saw the hipster with the large framed glasses with no glass in it next to me order it so I had to get it after seeing those plump fried oysters on top. Everything on this dish worked well, I liked it a lot (can you believe that?). For $7, this is a dish that is priced right. Keep it up, yo. We're off to a good start. Don't die on me!
Virginia Clams. Nice clam, glad it wasn't bearded. The broth was salty but had a sweet finish. The hefty pieces of grilled beard were perfect for sponging up all that clam juice. Sometimes you just gotta get your face right in that clam and dispense with the table manners and let the bedroom manners out. Nice dish.
Smoked Apple, Endive Salad. For $11, this left me kinda short changed. It's was one endive and half an apple and few other tidbits in there. It was decent and not a bad tasting dish at all but sometimes your hard earned moolah is better off spent elsewhere on the menu with more substance.
Duck Pot Pie. Nice presentation, nice crust, a ton of shredded rabbit and veggies in there but it was too watery... Makes me think everything was made separately and assembled at the end and tossed into the oven to finish it off. It was a good dish, but the watery broth needed a liaison to hold everything together since the crust ain't gonna do it.
I&E Cheeseburger. A single patty? WTF? You mean someone is not copying the 10PM burger? It was a good burger, very cheesy and tasty but it's not gonna blow your mind or win any burger contests. No hint of "duck fat" that we're all so spoiled to now. The tater wedges were thick and well seasoned if not a bit too salty. The sauce was some mayo mustard blend that was just for show, didn't really enhanced anything on the plate. The burger was a hit on the tavern side but I did noticed that they started using a different bun after I ate mine... And that bun looked a lot better than the one I got which wasn't toasted, either. Oh, well, will have to see what they serve me next time.
I like this place, it's very well put together with the three different sections, the kitchen executes everything on the menu pretty well with a couple of minor hiccups here and there. The seasoning needs to be checked more often or maybe it's done on purpose like so many other restos everywhere. Salty food = More drinky = More profit margin. The cocktail menu is lacking but their bar inventory is not, so ask them to make you something that you like which will be better anyways. Cocktails are priced like they are in NYC but the decent beer list is more affordable. I think this joint will do just fine with a little time to adjust their execution (menu and service), but I will be back to try the rest of the promising menus on both sides (the lounge menu is cheese and oysters). Damn, come to think of it, I shoulda just asked them to order me that tasty sounding sweetbread dish on the dining menu because I was craving some offal... Next time.
Go now but one at a time, please, so you don't hog all the seats when I'm there next time.
1577 N Decatur Rd
Atlanta, GA 30307
678-244-7050
http://inkandelmatlanta.com/
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