Ah-Ma's Taiwanese Kitchen

A handful of Asian street food joints are beginning to pop up intown. And so far all of them had been pretty shitty and disappointing. When you have to alter the dish to the gwailo's muted tastes, you basically just defeated yourself and your business theme as an Asian street food joint. I have dared these places to show me the money on grub that you can actually find on the streets in Asia. Few have tried and failed. I came by here once before and they were doing some tasting with zero signs on the door saying so. I walk in and these FOBs look at me like, are you here for the tasting? You look Asian so I guess you are until one of them realizes I'm not suppose to be there. I got the fuck outta there quick. Damn, so close. But to tell you the truth, I had a hidden agenda, I already have a preconception on how their food would taste just based off the limited menu. They had some real Taiwanese dishes on there but also some silly ones. There was no way they could be "authentic". Ok, my definition of authentic here is a little different than what you will find on the streets of Asia. There is no way we are gonna get that here so I will give them a little breathing room. If they get somewhat close then I might just bite. They left out some great dishes that are a staple to street grubbery... Oyster omelet, fish ball soup, pan fried buns, giant fried chicken cutlet, scallion pancake,  stinky tofu, spicy hot pot, 1000 yr old egg and tofu, giant pork meatball and the list goes on and on. I know they can't do it all in this tiny kitchen but let's see what they can do with the items on the menu. There were a bunch of FOBs dining in there, so that may be a good sign. Yes, FOBs in midtown. I'm baffled as well...

S&P Chicken Nuggets aka Taiwanese Cheekan Nuggets. Of course, I have to compare them to my favorite at Quickly's (I know they are so corporate but that slutty cheekan nugget is like crack to me)... And these were pretty tasty. Quickly is still tops but Ah-Ma's chix nugs destroys Makan's version. The coating is crispy and not too thick, just the right amount of spices and crunch to dark meat ratio. I could use more spice factor but it's totally acceptable. They send them out right away when it comes out of the fryer which I approve, who wouldn't? Nothing sucks more ass than having nuggets sitting around or under a heat lamp. I would get these again.

Frog Legs. Plump, juicy, crispy and lava hot temp. I'm so impatient that I shoved that toad in my hole and burned like a quarter size piece of flesh on the roof of my mouth. Nothing says fun while tonguing that flap around waiting for this red hot poker to cool down. Legs are obviously frozen but once it gets a nice seasoned dusting and sent to the fryer they tasted pretty darn good. It was a toss up between the legs and ears, so, I will try the pig ears next time.

Lu Rou Fan. Self proclaimed national dish of Taiwan. Hope it lives up to the hype. The minced braised pork belly (well it's suppose to be pork belly, the fat is what makes this salty dish) needed more fat and a little more sweetness but the salty factor was there. Was the comfort street food I was hoping for? Kinda. It's similar but not crave worthy enough for me to order again.

Cup Sticky Rice. Another classic street dish. The sticky rice was nice but the brown sauce tasted similar to the Lurou fan sauce with sweet sauce added to it. It's a close version and I would get it again because of the sticky rice.

Pork Belly Bao. Do I dare to even try a bao here with other places failing to put a decent pork belly one? Fuck yeah, I'm gonna get it. Ok, this version looked better, the pork belly had a good amount of meat on it vs. fat... That's a plus for me already. The bun seemed house made and had that nice pull and chew. I would put some hoisin and sriracha on it for a little sweet kick but this came out tasting pretty decent on it's own.

Beef Noodle Soup. One of the most common favorite comfort items ever. The beef noodle soup. I had a version in Hong Kong once that was claimed as the best Taiwanese style beef noodle soup in HK... And that fucker was. The broth was intense with super rich flavors and the hand pulled noodles could not be any better, the hours long braised beef was incredibly tender, it melted in your mouth. So, how was this version? It was totally acceptable and I liked it. The broth was very nice and flavorful, it's nowhere close to the HK version but it's got balls for midtown Atlanta. The egg noodles were fine, don't expect to get your noodle pulled by hand in this joint unless you go a couple blocks up towards Boulevard. The braised beef was tender and pulled apart with ease. They did a very decent job on this dish. I would get this again but the beef tendon noodle soup at Hong Kong Harbor still wins and it's right down the street.

Ah-Ma's has broken the curse that was once that disgusting Rice Box before them. This little Taiwanese outpost does a decent job with their menu to showcase a handful of the Taiwanese comfort food to the people of midtown and they are eating it! Believe me, I'm just as amazed as y'all that this didn't suck as much ass like how I thought it would. Even the pouch's instincts gets fuzzy math from time to time, ok, rarely but it happens. The plates are on the smaller side which is just enough but the price point reflects that as well which is respectable. I would be a cheerleader of this place if they expanded or rotated some other more adventurous Taiwanese dishes and amped up the flavors and techniques a little bit more. But for now, they are definitely on my radar.

931 Monroe Dr NE,
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 549-9848