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 Fast forward to the present and now the space has been replaced by a few guys with a vision to bring good local eats to this area which no one even cared about before.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/
3 comments:
used to come here with my mom many years ago. It was Korean run southern food, but no fried chicken, typically stuff like white rice and meatloaf, or black eyed peas. Wasn't great stuff, but was quick and easy to get in and out.
Looks like I need to get over here
~mindspringyahoo
wow these guys have some serious kinks to work out. We sat for 15+ minutes before they take our order, the food takes forever, the lamb sandwich barely had any meat or any relish on it. The reuben was actually pretty solid. The housemade chips were mostly cold and entirely unsalted. Big dud for us. The soup was broccoli cheese. Could they make something heavier for the summer months?!?
~mindspringyahoo
i hear ya. growing pains... i assume. i have been there a couple times and it was pretty smooth sailing but you could see the stress in the kitchen. so it coulda been an off day which would piss anybody off and make them not want to come back anytime soon. their heart is there and execution needs some work but i think they will work it out. it has become a hood fav, tho... it sorely needed it.
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