Superica

Krog Street Market has proven that ATL wants a hipster food court. But at the same time they can't be too advant garde with the food trends, there's gotta be some give and take and something for the pedestrians that they're familiar with... And Mexican't grub is what they grew up with but in this case it's Mex-Tex or as the pouch calls it, Mex't-Tex. Since the doors opened, every Biff and Buffy has been piling into this joint faster than a family of eight from Tijuana into a one bedroom apartment. I laughed at the 3 hour wait a couple of weeks ago... Yeah, I said a 3 hour wait in this area which was desolate 2 months ago. What is the fascination with Mexican't grub and the pale ones? Why do they love it so much and how can they eat it on a daily basis? Let's take a journey into the lion's den to find out why the entitled millenials and scene whores are such suckaz for some hard tacos, carne asada and fajeetaz...

Chips and Salsa. Standard filler. This place is dark, thank goodness the flashlight app was put into good use throughout the joint. Seriously, look around and everyone is using the flashlight app. The green salsa was not spicier than the red as told, if you were color blind you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Hell, it was so dark in here even a blind man couldn't tell the difference.

Hot Tamales, ancho chili pork, escabeche, mole poblano. Three decent size tamales stuffed with the ancho chile pork bits, the masa could be firmer because they break apart a bit too easily due to not steaming long enough or not enough shortening or reserved liquid in the dough mix. The flavor was not bad, I prefer it to be spicier which was not at all but most people would think they are spicy because of the words "ancho chili". Dried poblano chiles are smoky and a bit sweet and their heat level is very very low like a green pepper. The mole had hints of chocolate but also had a bitter finish which I wonder if they used ancho chiles that they burnt by mistake for the powder in the mole (if this was indeed made in house). The mole had good consistency but the flavors were a bit muted by the bitter finish. This may have been a bad batch, who knows... Taste, taste, taste. But this ain't classical French cooking so who's really gonna notice a bad batch of mole in this crowd? They're more worried about their friend's outfit is cuter than theirs. The escabeche would be better served in cooking with the pork than a side dish. Overall, it's a good effort that needs more work but do you think their targeted demographics really know a good tamale when they had one... Look around, I'm pretty sure it's a 97% no.

Tacos Al Pastor, pork belly, corn tortillas, grilled pineapple pico de gallo. Is pork belly making a come back? If so, where's the comeback sauce? Al pastor is usually with pork shoulder but I guess KSM is too hip for that and needed to bring the ultra cool pork belly back in to the fold. Hell, cubes of pork belly is a lot easier to cook than an authentic al pastor with thin slices of roasted marinaded pork shoulder. The pineapple pico de gallo lends some traditional touch to it which gave it a nice bump in overall flavor. The grilled corn tortillas held up nicely but the filler wasn't really that wet to break it down. I like pork belly (who doesn't?) but it's not an al pastor, it's just a pork belly taco.

Chili Relleno, corn, mushrooms and chihuahua cheese. This is my lemon test for a Mexican (Mex-Tex) joint and I so do adore a proper "chile relleno". Looks kinda like my erupting volcano science project back in the 8th grade... I lurv it already. But will my bowels survive the magma? First thing to look for, the stem, can't believe I even found it under that mess, good sign, though. Cut this skanky bitch in half to see the innards. The whole poblano was in attendance, another plus. The only gripe is that the crispy batter on the poblano isn't so crispy suffocating under that heavy blanket of sauce and cheese, kinda defeats the purpose. No one woulda known it was a chile relleno unless you ordered it. If I showed this to the people up in this joint they would have no idea what this was, half of them wouldn't even know what it was if I told them... Perhaps a Mexi-lasagna. Mexican't food ain't pretty but this was not a good looking dish by any means. The filler inside was pretty good and not overly oily inside. It's an acceptable chile relleno but I would not order this again.

Pollo Perfecto, crispy skin chicken leg refrito con mole poblano, sesame seeds, guacamole puff. First off, what the fuck is a guacamole puff? I think it's just something full of air to take up space on the plate to command that lofty price tag. Second, I love fried chicken in case anybody wanted to know... This is not a real fried chicken per se but my one reader knows what I'm talking about. The chicken tasted pretty good except it was the same batch of mole with the bitter finish. Not a big deal scrapping off the mole but it's still there. I liked the dish on paper but in real life, it was just ok. Once is enough for me, I don't know if I would end up eating here again unless others really wanted to.

I can see why people are drawn to this place because of the vibe and the hip location but the long bar layout is terribly cramped... If you're a chick with your harem of nonstop cackling hens looking to hook up, why on god's green earth would you eat Mexican't. I'm sure a love connection was lost on more than one occasion due to the explosive nature of this cuisine. For me, this place was more about satisfying a curiosity and if there were any authentic dishes to be had. I tried not to order the most common and popular dishes like carne asada, fajitas and the dreaded hard shell taco that the whities adore so much... The specimens that I sampled were not half bad which I hate to admit but I will... But at a cost. No one is really here for the food, they're here for the statement. If people really wanted good Mexican grub they go to Buford Hwy where the comidas are cheap, flavorful and plentiful. There is no shortage of Mexican't grub in this town, chalk up another one on the board. I'm still at a loss to why whities lurv Mexican't food so much... Which brings me to my next post. Stay tuned...

99 Krog St NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
678-791-1310
http://www.supericaatl.com/