Pea Ridge Kitchen & Bar

I have driven by the dumpy Country Cafe a few times in the past, was always skeered to go inside which is very unlike the pouch... Unless they had fried chicken. But they didn't and that's prolly why they failed. Fast forward to the present and now the space has been replaced by a few guys with a vision to bring good local eats to this area which no one even cared about before. They have giant balls to even think about doing something in this rundown shack and location. But like I have said before, I think this town needs more small local joints that are dishing out affordable and creative grub like Dish Dive which I think is badass. So, can this little shack deliver the goods that the locals will accept or will it share the same fate like the dump before it...

Mussels. They are on the smaller size but still pretty tasty due to the garlicky chile butter wine broth. And they give you enough bread to sop up the golden juice. Not too shabby.

The Board. Cheese, pickles, roasted garlic bulb, grilled veg, pâté, zucchini relish, baguette. It's a cute presentation but it's still a work in progress. There's nothing that thrilling about the stuff on this board. The pate is more like rillettes shaped into a sausage patty and pan fried... Kinda threw me off a bit. Get some more interesting stuff on here and it could be a hit but for now I would skip it and go for the nachos. Yeah, I said it... Nah-CHOSE in the most gringo of pronunciation.

Duck Confit Risotto with lady peas, wild mushrooms. This was pretty damn tasty at first until the olive oil pools at the bottom of the bowl. There is no need to put that much olive oil in a risotto, plus, you got confit in there. It's a good dish, just need to watch the heavy handed-ness with the olive oil. Also, a good idea to double check the duck confit for bones before some old lady cuts her dentures on them by accident. A little green garnish wouldn't hurt either to give it some color.

Pea Ridge Burger with cheese sauce, zucchini relish. If you don't eat the burger fast enough, the cheese sauce breaks and gets the bottom of the bun a little greasy. But that doesn't take away from the flavor of this burger. I think this burger has good intentions but the cheese sauce and zucc relish wouldn't be on my signature burger... One word: bacon. Stick with the regular burger. The homemade chips are fantastic and addictive.

Smoked Chicken Salad. A different take on a classic cheekan salad. Chunkier and a bit smokey. Not a lot of dressing which is good and you can actually taste the protein. It's a cute chicken salad sando but needed something else in there besides just the hand pulled chicken.

Roasted Shaved Lamb with roasted peppers, asiago, zucchini relish, baguette. They love their zucc relish on everything don't they? The relish didn't work as well with the other dishes but on this lamb sando it worked very well. Very flavorful shaved lamb with the asiago makes it hard to put down. But you should because the chicken veggie soup was very nice as well. Soup and a sando, perfect pair here.

Memphis Style Banana Pudding. What the fuck is a Memphis style BP? Looks like a regular old BP to me... Come to find out a week later is that there should be BACON on there. How could they forget the most important part of this dessert? But it's ok though, they're still getting their routine down. I would be pissing down their necks if they did this 6 months down the road. You're on notice, pal.

The menu is not filled with crazy ingredients and wacky modern cooking techniques... There's no liquid nitrogen, foams or food tweezers here. But there is heart and comfort food made fresh daily here... And it looks like it's winning the hearts and minds of the local yokels. On the plus side, there isn't really any mom & pop restos on this street within miles of either direction, so they do fill a needed niche... But there is a Bojangles not too far up, I wished it was a Popeyes instead but beggars can't be choosers. I like what they're doing here, it's a good hard working group of people trying to bring back some of the local flavor and with some time I think they will evolve and take the menu up to another level without compromising on their original mission which is all about the small community vibe. I'm still cheerleading for smaller restos like this and Dish Dive, this town needs it.

Oh.. And their booze license should be in any time soon.

2607 Lawrenceville Hwy
Decatur, GA 30033
470-268-4051
http://www.pearidgerestaurant.com/ 

Mai Thai

Who woulda known this place has been around for years hiding in the corner of this dumpy ass strip mall... How the fuck they are still in business is anyone's guess. It's a stereotypical Asian set up... You know, really cheap decor and cafeteria chairs and tables but it's clean, though. Not that there's anything wrong with it. Most of the time, shitty decor usually means the grub is extra tasty... But that's mostly found overseas. This joint supposedly used to have sushi but they 86'd that cuisine. Too bad because every Thai place in town has sushi. I just don't get that combination because Thai people don't eat sushi and the Japanese ain't that fond of Thai food, either. I assume, since whities think all Asians are related, that goes for the cuisines, too... Ok, we secretly are all related. So, go ahead and ask for egg drop soup at Cafe Bombay, it's on the secret menu. The pouch's spidey senses can already foresee the outcome of this specimen but let's go confirm it anyways shall we...

Som Tum Salad. This papaya salad wasn't half bad... For the South. But it was missing something besides the pounding in a pestle and mortar... Oh, yeah, limes and needed more green beans, fish sauce and spice. It was just ok.

Curry Puff. Looks like an empanada but stuffed with a gummy potato filling. It reminded me of one of those fruit pies that came in a wax paper wrapper back in the day. Those were better than this. That sweet and sour sauce tastes like it's from a rusty can of G12 coolant.

Taro Balls. Not really what I expected but it was ok. It's crispy and crunchy and full of taro inside but it's too chunky. It doesn't chew well inside your mouth. Came with the same Pentosin coolant sauce.

Pad Thai. Have y'all ever seen pink noodles? I don't know if it was from the ultra sweet tamarind juice pooling at the bottom or what but that ain't normal. It was wet, real wet. The only people I know who like to slurp on wet noodles are usually on their knees in an alley. Why is there broccoli in there... This whole dish is baffling.

Green Curry. They promised it would be done correctly... Thai Hot. First, thing I see on there is no Thai eggplant, just some regular old Chinese eggplant. The curry was ultra weak, it was almost too sweet. Where the fuck is the heat, bro? It was soupy and just not what I expected from the real Thai people running the joint who thought I was Thai and told me they would prepare this like the motherland. Fucked again by my own peoples.

How come every time I walk into a real Mexican or Thai joint, they automatically start speaking Spanish or Thai to me... Must be my gorgeous olive skin and devastatingly good looks that throw people off all the time. I feel kinda bad for them because they're really nice timid people and tried to get their shit together right. Apologizing dish after dish. Maybe they were nervous, maybe their food is just too Americanized and far too gone to come back. Who knows, who cares, all I know is that the food is mediocre at best and the sparse crowd proves it. I mean who asked for not spicy on every dish at a Thai place... Right when I'm about done with the place, three juice heads came walking in with all tank tops on... Was this the Tucker army? They seemed like regulars and all of them ordered Pad Thai with 3 orders of eggrolls each like bosses. I didn't know ginzos even knew what Thai food was... Oh, wait, this wasn't Thai food, now I get it. Atlanta will never have good Thai food... Bless their hearts.

4394 Hugh Howell Rd
Tucker, GA 30084
770-493-8002
http://www.maithaiatlanta.com/

The Ultimate Fried Chicken Pouch

It's about time the pouch did a fwied cheekan round up with all the crispy yardbird it stuffs in it's haggis-like sack. Let's not waste any time, there's a lot of cheekan to go through... Pouch space is limited.

Fork In the Road.

Made to order. I must admit this is some of the best fried cheekan I have had in this town. And in a place that is not much talked about. The crust is medium thin and crispy, pulls apart nicely and the all dark meat flesh was juicy and full of flavor. Damn good cheekan and damn good price. How is this possible?

Busy Bee.

It always tastes better with a side of hype. I have been here a handful of times over the years. Every time I come back, I think it will get better... But it's just the same as the last. It's not a bad fried chicken but it's definitely not considered one of the best in my book... I just don't crave it. It's more like a cafeteria fried chicken. I hate to say but it kinda tastes like Matthew's fried chicken. When there's that much hype, it usually is.

Matthew's Cafeteria.

Speaking of the devil... This local favorite has been around for a long time. Their fried chicken is similar to Busy Bee's. Decently fried, a tad saltier but pretty much average at best. It's cheap, though, unlike Busy Bee.

Colonnade.

I must admit, they weren't as good as they used to be. It seemed like they fried off a shitload of them and let them sit under heat lamps. You would think they would fried their most popular dish in batches so the quality is consistent. This chicken deserves the same crust/batter that they fry the livers in because that shit is really good. This visit the chicken skin/crust was already falling off the meat before you even take the first bite. Ok, not that it was a bad fried chicken, it just didn't live up to the past visits which the chicken/skin/crust combo was real solid. Would I come back again for the cheekan? Fuck yeah. But the livers even more...

Cheekan Livers. They ain't fried cheekan but I had to include these giant crispy liver nuggets which are some of the best intown. Half portion is more than enough. I have never attempted to order the full portion... That would be just sick and perverted.

Watershed.

Wednesday Night Fried Chicken. I have tried it a few times when they moved to their new Brookwood location but it was not impressive... It reminded me of a Shake 'n Bake chicken. It just didn't do it for me back then but the biscuits were good. Fast forward to the present and it has improved a lot. The skin/crust is crispy and covers all the pieces, there's no bare spots. It's juicy and tasty but the pieces are on the smaller side. It's a little underwhelming when the biscuits look bigger than the cheekan. It's a lot better now but still not as good as it should be given the history and hype of this cheekan.

General Muir.

Friday fried cheekan night. Bartender tells me they are sold out at 7PM with barely a dozen people in the place. I thought it was way too quiet on a friday night to be sold out.. But oh well, maybe next time. Then he comes back 5 minutes and says, oh we have a ton of chicken for tonight. Maybe his attention to detail would have been more focused if he wasn't still prepping his bar well into 8PM. He played it like he was a veteran in the industry but his actions were more atypical of someone just starting out trying to impress by looking busy. Who knows, who cares. Let's get back to the cheekan... So, the price is now $20 for 3 pieces (leg, thigh and boneless breast) and small side of grilled asparagus and a beurre blanc. It also came out within 3 minutes of ordering... I saw the cook back there flash fried the pre-steamed pieces. The leg and thigh were well covered in crispies but it's a pretty thin crust. It was pretty juicy inside. The boneless tender was less covered and it almost had that pan fried textured and not that fried chicken crunch... Seemed like most of the coating came off during the steam/chill process. It's not a bad fried chicken, pretty decent but definitely not worth $20 nor on my top 10 list. You're paying for the hype of the one day special.

Napoleon's.

Drizzled in honey. Very crunchy crust, not too thick, but not thin either. The honey obviously gave it a sweetness to it. I prefer my cheekan not sweet, though. But this white meat fried chicken was acceptable. Did you expect dark meat for this crowd? C'mon. Not a bad showing, but not on my list of best fried cheekan either.

1 Kept.

They're doing something a little different than everybody else. Using cornish hens for their fried chicken. I like the sound of that already. The skin is thin and crispy, the meat juicy, seasoned very well overall... It's a fancier style of fried chicken but it's worth a try at least once in your life.

Pijiu Belly.

The half portion was decent for $10 with 2 sides and the strange sauce. The problem with the half portion is that it's a toss up on whether you will get one that was just recently flashed fried and cut in half to order or one that has been sitting around. With my luck I get the one that has been sitting around. The skin was nice and thin, but it didn't have that crackling goodness. The chicken itself was dry inside. The rub on the skin was decent. I should have just gotten the whole bird and have it flash fried right then. I'll check them out again in a month or two.

Oddbird.

The bun (Gen. Muir) is gorgeous and toasted/charred nicely. The ginormous chicken breast was coated and fried very nicely even though it was skinless and boneless. Y'all know how I feel about boneless fried cheekan. But this specimen was a very respectable hot cheekan, even I can't believe I'm saying this. It's real good for this town.

Greenwood's.

For under $16, this is a massive portion of half a chicken. The crust is pretty thick but it falls off with little effort. Closer examination, I noticed there were no skin. I don't remember it being skinless before, maybe I just ate it so fast last time I didn't even check. I'm ok with it being skinless here. The chicken is made to order but it came out piping hot under the 30 minzies required time. The shit was still sizzling and crackling and I had to wait like 32 seconds to take the first bite. The honey pepper sauce I could do with it on the side but it wasn't bad. The crust is a bit too thick for me, some parts had big clumps of crust that you set off to the side and eat later. It's a good crust, though.. And it gives it that girth in the presentation when it comes out to the table. The chicken was juicy, tender and had really nice flavor. 

Southern Art.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken, whipped potatoes, garlic green beans, red pepper gravy. Wait, fuck the gravy. All it does is make my shit soggy like elbow skin on a hag's face. I like my cheekan hot, greasy, juicy, crispy and crackling. Tis was a good fried chicken, it had everything checked off my list... Damn, it better be for this price point but it didn't hit my craveworthy level. For the money, I could get about 26 1/2 pieces and a retarded wing of amazing Popeyes for the same price. Can you feel me?

South City Kitchen.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken. The infamous dish that people rave about... Sometimes, I wonder why. Nice crispy coating all the way around but it was a tad dry even the leg. Not that it was bad but you just know a great fried chicken when you take your first bite. It was a decently executed dish but pretty much standard with other places on this level.

Harold's Chicken.

Half Chicken Mixed. You get a breast, leg, thigh and wing... The standard combo. Crust looks pretty nice. Crispy and hot as expected with a light coating, but their "peppery" flour mixture lacked any real seasoning or just not enough of it. All you taste is the oil it was fried in. I opted out on them dousing their "hot sauce" all over my cheekan when I found out it was just regular old store bought hot sauce. Was it a bad fried chicken? No, but it won't compete against many other local favorites in town. I would say it was similar to Church's old recipe, where the crust is thinner and crispy but super greasy inside, before they changed it a few years ago to be more on par with Popeyes' crust.

One Eared Stag.

Monday Night Fried Chicken. This fried chicken gets better and better every time I have it. It is not over-seasoned and doesn't taste like a block of salt lick. It is brined nicely, tossed in seasoned flour and fried perfectly (not burnt or heavily browned). This is one of the best fried chicken in the city. Super crispy crust with a beautiful golden color all around and just the right balance of juiciness and flavor inside. Love this chicken. Is it better than Popeyes... Cmon, stop teasing. But this is a very good fried chicken.

Popeyes.

Well, you know... A+++.

Church's.

Sometimes, you get lucky and get a box full of cheekan just right out of the fryer. The crust/batter is pretty crispy but you usually get a money shot to the eye right after you take the first bite. The hot grease that's sealed inside jizzes you all over your face. I mean, not even a fucking warning! I have a love hate relationship with Church's, either they're really good or they're really bad sometimes. It's like a crap shoot... That's why I rarely make a visit there unless I'm desperate.

Bojangle's.

The cheekan is very crispy and juicy inside, mostly it's from the grease that gets sealed in tight from the crust but overall, this is still a tasty piece of cheekan.  Not as good as Popeyes but it'll do. The dirty rice is one of their best sides. The biscuit is fluffier and less buttery than Popeyes but totally acceptable... I can see why they are used for so many different types of breakfast biscuit sandwiches.

Publix.

Probably the best supermarket fried chicken in the lands. Great crust/skin, juicy flesh, always fresh and hot. Wait the extra few minzies if they are frying up a new batch. It's worth it. How do they do it?

Southbound.

SB Hot Chicken. As a boneless fried chicken, it's great but as a hot cheekan, not even close. Sprinkling some cayenne rub on the top piece does not make it a hot cheekan. I want it drown in some super spicy cayenne chicken grease!

Golden Corral.

The skin was crispy but not very flavorful, the smaller pieces seem to be over-fried since they throw everything in the same fry basket. The chicken livers are pretty decent. But I don't think I will ever go back to another one for the rest of my measly life... People order their steaks ultra well done. Baffling.

Sobban.

KFCW. The best semi spicy fried chicken wing in ATL. The end.

Pho 24.

They call these fish sauce glazed wings. I call them bullshit. It's ok as a fried cheekan wang but it ain't no fish sauce glazed wing when you have to personally dip them into the sauce... I guess they never had the sick ones over at Nam Phuong.

Nam Phuong.

Speaking of the devil... Fried Chicken Wings Glazed w/ Fish Sauce. Not exactly fried chicken but these are fucking awesome nonetheless.

Luqma.

Churga. Indian fried chicken. What is this? Stop it. Why? Just don't do it. Dry as hell and the flavor was flat... Like the half chicken itself. Looks like someone sat on it.

Grub Burger Bar.

Harlem Chicken Tenders. I know these ain't the traditional fried cheekan but damn, these ghetto tenders are craveworthy. The light airy crispy batter outside and bubbly hot love juice inside... Squirt. They're worthy enough to be on this list.


I am pooped... Literally and figuratively. I hope my water bill is not too excessive this month from all the flushing. That's a lot of fried cheekan shit going through the pouch. I need a rest from all these yardbirds for awhile... Til Memorial Day. C'mon, you know I can't die on my one reader... So, they can live vicariously through the pouch without all the fat and calories.

Pouch Eats Again

I'm fat. So, I went on a diet. True story... Lost 5 pounds. But that coulda just been a mix of water weight and poop because my muffin top is still flowing over my underpants like Niargara Falls. Hell, since I just made more room... It's time to fill that empty pouchhole. Let's do this...

Southbound.

Short Rib. This ginormous beast was only available on Wednesdays... Now, it's available all the time. Good job. About time.

Octopus. If you don't have octo on your menu, you haven't bought into the gimmick yet... Or you're just a true hipster leading the way out of current trends. But whatever... This octo was still pretty good.

Watershed.

Wednesday Night Fried Chicken. I have tried it a few times when they moved to their new Brookwood location but it was not impressive... It reminded me of a Shake 'n Bake chicken. It just didn't do it for me back then but the biscuits were good. Fast forward to the present and it has improved a lot. The skin/crust is crispy and covers all the pieces, there's no bare spots. It's juicy and tasty but the pieces are on the smaller side. It's a little underwhelming when the biscuits look bigger than the cheekan. It's a lot better now but still not as good as it should be given the history and hype of this cheekan.

Duck Hush Puppies and Bar Burger. The duck stuffed hush puppies were crispy outside and moist inside. I don't usually like HPs because they're just filler but if you put duck in there, it's a totally different creasture. The 2/3 size burger was spot on at mid-rare, great bun, seasoned well and just tasty for a bar snack.

Banana Pudding. They actually put banana bread instead of vanilla wafers, very cool idea and tasty, too... But I still think Community Q's classic banana pudding is still tops in my pouch.

Arepas Mia.

Pabellon. Shredded grass fed beef... Naturally, who isn't using this common protein found all over the place? If you're not using grass fed beef, you're prolly a vegan (booooo!)... But their arepas are always tasty. 

BoccaLupo.

20 Yolk Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms, Tuscan kale kimchi and butter. It's a real tasty pasta but does the 20 yolk really make a difference? Some will say yes and some will say no, I say it's a gimmick but still tasty.

Southern Fried Chicken Parm with creamy collards and strano. I love this dish. Pasta on top and a surprise at the bottom. Eat it fast or else the fried cheekan will get soggy... I wouldn't know, though.

Golden Crab House.

They should just call it the Golden Crap House like some Korean resto's menu typo... How does this pile of slop take 30 minzies to make? The breading on the skrimps were falling off, the fries were limp as a tased bro and the wings were worse than at a cheap buffet. The crap cake was all filler with a few strands of canned crab meat. Tasteless.

Kimball House.

Oysters... We meet again. Best oyster program in the city.

Creme Brulee. Bless their hearts... One thing that they aren't that good at. While it looked nice, the custard was warm and too wet. They didn't let it set. Vanilla bean seeds settled all at the bottom. Oh, well... Another cocktail, pweez.

General Muir.

Burger. One of the best... If not the best in the city.

Friday Fried Chicken. Up to $20 for 3 pieces and a couple of asparagus. Prolly has become the most pricey fried chicken intown and it was just ok. It's juicy and crispy at parts but it's thin crusted. The Asian steaming/frying cooking style is kinda lost in translation here. And the boneless breast tender mad me sad. I wouldn't get it again.

NY Cheesecake. It ain't no Juniors but this will do... For now.

Chef Liu's.

Beef Tendon in chili oil. Tender yet toothy piece of tendon but the chili oil was weak.

Pan Fried Pork Buns. C'mon, these are always good here.

Soup Dumps. They are decent but there will be casualties with leakage before you even try to pick it up.

Puras Tortas.

Tacos- Lengua, Chorizo, Al Pastor. These tacos are real cheap and excellent. There's also many other options for the filler... Like stomach.

De..Mar Ceviches and Seafood.

Shrimp Cocktail. Get the small portion, it's more than enough. You don't know how much shrimp is in there until you're tired of eating shrimp and more keeps coming. Remember- get the small portion.

Pulpo Ceviche. Maybe one of the only places intown that does not rip you off on octopus.There's a ton of octopus chunks in there. This is a hefty platter on the cheap.


Time to go back on a diet until tomorrow... Stay tuned for more eateries and shiteries.