Mixed Pouch

Like usual the pouch just eats random shit here and there... The past couple of weeks were no exception. Let's see what this fat fuck has been slobbering over lately...

Rustic Couch.

Salt And Pepper Chicken Nuggets. Stylish presentation vs. in a paper bag with a couple of sticks to poke at them. But how does it taste? The crispy factor with all the little crunchies were present, the dark meat chicken was ultra tender that it almost didn't taste like real GMO chicken (wonder if they marinaded it beforehand). The spicy level was medium and the Russian-esque dressing was just ok, just something to dip your cheekan nuts into. It's a decent display but it's no Quickly nuggets... How the fuck do they do it?

Oh, there was bubble tea as well... Mango black tea and milk tea. Both were pretty tasty but this place was located in some weird mall castle thinger from another dimension for the pouch to be a regular here. There's like a golf driving range where the nets are all ripped and falling apart, a I love Pho and I love Bowling, and a handful of non essential businesses. They have other snacks, sandwiches and desserts as well in here... Maybe if my spaceship flew by this quadrant of the universe again, I would stop in again and try some other stuff.


Quoc Huong.

Did I mention that I hate Lee's now... It has been crackerized to hell. I wanted to get a quick bite and the entire fucking place looks like a Chipotle. I haven't seen this many whities at an Asian joint since the Panda Express food court at the airport last week. There's no need to even wait to eat there anymore because everything has been so watered down to shit. So, let's hit up good old Quocky... Always reliable, let's hope they are still. The two favs here for the pouch are the almost dac biet (everything except tripe and tendon which isn't offered) and the all meatball pho. Their meatballs are some of the best if not the best in town. But on this visit, the broth was fucking unreal... I mean fucking unreal. Deep, dark, ultra flavorful, intense and fucking savory as fuck... I wonder how much MSG, err, I mean Umami they used in there. The rice noodles were spot on al dente and the meat portion was generous. This was one of the best bowls of pho I have had recently in this one horse town. Don't get me wrong, I have had some mediocre bowls here before but they were still totally acceptable. This time, it was better than pleasuring myself with a toilet brush in my porn lab.

BBQ Pork Banh Mi. To me they are still the original banh mi joint for Atlanta... And they are still kicking ass in quality, taste and price. The bread is lightly toasted for that little crunch factor and they stuff the fuck outta it with the gorgeous bright red BBQ pork, but they were chintzy on the pickled carrots and non-existent daikon which was weird. They weren't cheap on the jalapenos, more the better which I love. This is the standard for this town and the prices between $2.50-3 still blows my mind how cheap these dericious little torpedoes still are in this day in age of overpriced fake Asian grub found at every hipster joint.


Argosy.

Sometimes, the pouch imbibes way too much party liquors during the weekday.. But when it comes to the weekends that motherfucker goes all out balls to the wall. So, after drinking all sorts of brown party swill almost everywhere in EAV, the pouch was in the mood for some 'ZA (couldn't believe it didn't want Octopus' grubbery, well, it did.. Except the joint was packed and standing room only), so, it made it's way to Argosy for some hair pie. The arugula kinda looks like pubes on a pie when you're boozing. I remember eating a couple of slices and then the pie disappeared. Who knows where the rest went but the two slices were real tasty... Shit, even the pizza rat's slice woulda tasted great in my physical and emotional state that night.


Ramen Crush. Ration & Dram.

Tonkotsu Ramen. I was kinda excited to finally try their ramen pop-up. The previous couple of weeks were a total shitshow. Long waits and running out early without notice made the pouch unhappy. Third time's a charm... Or maybe not. For $13, you would have expected a little more, not that it was awful but what do you expect from pop-ups... The broth was decent but the collagen level was low, no sticky cheekan lips smacking found here. I know it's tough making a kick ass pot of concentrated pork bone broth and there will be some watering down but this was blended with another broth (most likely chicken) and just killed the creaminess of a legit tonkotsu. The braised pork belly was ultra tender but a tad too fatty. The thick cut bamboo shoots overwhelmed the other ingredients. The soft egg was spot on. The straight noodles was a nice nod to the traditional tonkotsu ramen used but the broth was not strong enough to offset the blandish noodles. It's not a bad bowl of tonkotsu ramen, but it won't win any awards either. Tough to go back and spend that much for it again but for the people who don't know any better, it's a real treat for them.


Japan Fest.

Unagi Rice Plate. $10 for this relatively lifeless and mediocre plate of eel rice. C'mon, it's Japan Fest, do y'all really expect to find authentic Japanese food here... Geez. It's like the redneck Dragon Con here. I swore I was on the set of Karate Kid, the original one. I have never seen so many crackers at an Asian convention... I bet they love Lee's Bakery, too. Gotta admit, the place was packed as fuck and the line was out the door to get in. The food court was just ok, very limited options and when they say "sushi", it ain't fish, more like cooked shrimp and tofu skin. 

Tonkotsu Ramen. Served in a styrofoam container, half way full. Looks like a water cooler size cup doesn't it? Well, it might as well be. This place is called Hajime and it's a new ramen joint that's opening up on Cheshire Bridge at the old BJ Roosters location. They hired Umaido dudes to help them set this up. Gives tonkotsu milky creamy pork bone broth a new meaning in this wicked space. Too bad this jizzy broth preview didn't give me a blood flow at all. It was pretty weak and watered down... Shit, what did y'all expect at a festival. 

Pulled on some noodles to get a visual... Straight noodles was a good sign but it tasted chalky and looked eerily like angel hair pasta. It's better than instant ramem but based on this sample, they ain't gonna win any awards for this boring bowl of slurp. It was so full of sodium that I was dehydrated within 10 minzies. I would prolly be stupid enough to go to their brick and mortar shop when they open to see if I get the same results.


Last Word.

Bone Marrow. Ladybird was a millennial hot mess... So, strolled down here for a real cocktail and this massive order of bone marrow appeared before me... It was decadent and sinful, not to mention the marrow sweat pooling on the plate. That's when the hunk of bread came into play to soak up all that fatty goodness. They also had this cocktail concoction inside a glass canteen type contraption full of booze, fruits and other goodies that totally reminded me of the Aviary in Chicago... I'm like this is so Aviary and they said, wow, you know where this came from. I'm like, dudebros, I get around... Being this portly and round, you don't stay in one place for long. Weeble wobble...