Jia Szechuan Food & Bar

There is a reason why ethnic restos stay on Buford Hwy... Because the mass pedestrians can't or won't eat most things on the menu. They just don't understand the foreign cuisines... And that's ok, they don't need to know about our secrets. Szechuan grub has been headlining this town for the last few years and some FOBs are even taking the chance to boldly go where no FOB has gone before... To hipster intown markets. First, there was Gu's Dumplings in the KSM which turned out to be a total dud, overpriced and lacked the Szechuan flavors and techniques... But they're cool hipsters with oversized glasses, now. Then Sweet Hut in the heart of midtown which is ok but a dumb down version of the original. Shit, I don't even care for the original on Bufo Hwy as much anymore. And now, the Tasty China peeps is breaking the quiet nerdy stereotype and assimilating in the hipster crowd at PCM. Tasty China OTP is still good even without that narcissistic Peter Chang. But will they open these dirty hipsters' roundeyes to a fiery Chinese cuisine that has eluded them their entire lives... Will they truly enjoy it or pretend to? Who the fuck knows, the Pouch only cares about the quality of the grub and how closely they will execute it true to the original.
They have been pretty packed since the opening even without a liquor license... But they seriously do not know how to run a busy restaurant. The volume is just too overwhelming for them in PCM compared to their stand alone OTP location. There is zero training, the staff is basically doing their own thing without anyone clearly in a leadership role. The service is seriously lacking and amateur at best... Wow, they really must be fresh off the boat.
The extensive menu could have something to do with the mass confusion and chaotic atmosphere thrust upon them on a daily basis. Doesn't take an industry expert to see that they are constantly in the weeds and way over their heads. The menu is very prettily designed and laminated with beautiful color pictures of the dishes offered. This is not your traditional Chinese menu... Red flag right there. This menu is totally catered towards the roundeye crowd... It's like the Very Hungry Catepillar, who isn't drawn in by those colorful pages? Their mistake was to put on way too many dishes on the menu, I mean fucking way too many... There were at least 100 dishes, some looked authentic and some totally Americanized. And believe me, many of these dishes all looked and prepared the same way except for a couple different ingredients in each dish. I looked at the couple's dishes next to me and they all looked exactly the fucking same. Either they wanted to eat the same fucking dish 3 times or they just didn't know what the fuck to order in a Chino resto... And the fat chick was Asian, too. Shame upon your family.
Fuck it. Let's just get this out of the way, so the Pouch can move on with it's measly life to bigger and bolder restos and flavors... Fuck, I don't think I have ever dreaded eating food this much, especially Chino grub... Well, maybe except for Gu's Dumps. The things I do for my one fan...

Jellyfish in Red Chili Oil. This did not look half bad. The jellyfish was actually pretty good. It had the texturous crunch and the red chili oil was a bit muted... Until you get under the cucumber slivers. The chili heat settled and concentrated at the bottom. Make sure you mix this up thoroughly. For an app, this was not too shabby.

Dry Fried Eggplants. WTF is this? Looks like a game of Pick Up Sticks... or midget Dicks. The presentation and portion was depressing. This is evidence that they have way too many menu items and can't handle the volume going through the kitchen. This is just plain sloppy cooking. Hey, motherfuckers, people are paying for this... I had nicer plating at the Pine Street soup kitchen. These were some of the worst DFE I have had in this town. They were almost as bad as Gu's Dumps. These were just deep fried and then tossed with Szechuan peppercorns, dried chilis, oiled soaked coriander leaves/stems and a good handful of MSG...er, I mean Umami sprinkles. These were not dry fried after wok frying them... They just don't have the time to do it correctly. The batter/crust was pretty thick and the eggplant was mushy and shrunk half the size due to deep frying it... Basically, like a bad mozzarella stick. Skip these, they were total crap.

Mapo Tofu. The classic Szechuan dish... C'mon, they can't fuck this up, right? It looked pretty decent when it came out. After examining it and taking the first bite, this was like shit you find in a can. It wasn't spicy, lack the all important ground pork bits, the tofu was ultra soft and broke apart, medium firm is preferred, the chili sauce was gummy (cornstarch much?) while watery at the same time, the black beans were the only noticeable flavor due to the fermented beans and don't forget about the MSG... In short, this was a shitty version of Mapo tofu. If you don't eat it and just stared it, it woulda been ok. 

Chicken with Scallion and Chili. This looks more appealing in the flaming stove setup than actually eating it. First, there is no need for this dry stir fried chicken to be sitting on top more flames... It will just burn and smoke. Blow the shit out and just eat the fucker. The strips of chicken and onions dominated over the scallions and chili portion but the main star of this dish was salt. Lotsa lotsa salt. So salty you need a 10:1, rice to chicken ratio... Just to absorb the sodium/MSG effect. It wasn't that spicy and there was barely any scallions in there. Coriander leaves yes, scallions no... Maybe the scallions on top of the Mapo tofu was for this dish. A very middling and boring specimen of a dish.

Chinese Sausage with Sour Cabbage. I wanted to save the best for last... The best of the worse that is. Chinese sausage with sour cabbage or mustard greens is a classic. WTF this is, I have no fucking clue. The vermicelli noodles were fine and the sour cabbage were chopped up and mixed in with the noodles which didn't give you the multi-level of flavors and texture I was looking for. The brown sauce underneath it, I had no idea what it was except that it was too wet, too salty and too brown to go with this simple hot pot. Don't mix it up, you have been warned. But wait, that is not the best part of this creasture... That is not Chinese sausage. No fucking way. Who are they trying to fool... That is fucking Murder Kroger brand Polska Kielbasa. Did they run out of real Chinese sausage and went next door to Kroger for whatever sausage they could find? Possibly. But somehow, I don't think this crowd would even notice the difference.

Close up of the Murder Kroger brand kielbasa. The horror, the horror. Avoid this at all costs.

They have so much shit on this overpriced menu that it will become their undoing. Every dish seems rushed out because they are trying to turn over tables as fast as possible. I saw many dishes that came out to other tables that looked indistinguishable from one another. The fish in chili oil, Shan City chicken, soup dumps, Szech burgers, pork belly, Dan Dan noodles, etc etc did not look like anything close to the pictures of the menu... Except for the string beans. This may be a reason why so many gwailo's are confused just as the staff was when the dishes are brought out to their table... The amount of dishes the kitchen have to execute properly is mind-boggling... And they are fucking up every single dish coming out. What are they trying to prove? The only thing they are proving is that they can't run a restaurant, can't cook properly, and in way over their heads trying to be hip and trendy. I'll give Gu's Dumps this much, that they didn't overloaded their menu in that tiny shack... But the quality is still not there.
As for this joint, if they continue doing what they are doing now they will all drop dead from a heart attack... Imagine what will happen when the bar gets the green light and the volume of drinks they will have to pour and make in addition to cooking and serving. It is going to be a fucking goat rodeo up in this piece. Cut the menu down to like 30 of the best traditional and new style dishes, make them totally kick ass, train the staff to actually service their tables or a specific section and this may have half a chance of survival. We all know that there are at least 40 dishes that no one has even ordered on this menu since opening, why keep ingredients for all those dishes in stock when they're already so swamped in the kitchen.
It's saddens the pouch that it doesn't even have the smallest interest to return to try any other dishes on the colossal menu after the shit show it witnessed on this night. I imagine the crowds will keep coming in to see what the fuss is all about but believe you me, they won't be ordering most of what the menu truly has to offer in terms of Szechuan dishes... Which they will prolly fuck up as well, not that anyone here will even noticed. So, make sure y'all keep a good stock of breaded cheekan nuggets for the highly popular General Tso's cheekan with the ultra cloying HFCS sauce.

Flush.

675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
404-900-7900

Popeyes

It'll only come out at night
The plump and hungry type
Nothing is new, they've seen the Pouch here before
Watching and waiting

It's salivating with you but it's eyes are on the fryer

So many have paid to eat, what'd you think, you'd get it for free?
The Pouch is wide, a cheekanhead tamed by the foghorn of a Leghorn
Flavor's the matter, if you're in it for mild you ain't gonna get too spicy

Oh, oh, here it comes
Watch out yardbird, Pouch will chew you up
Oh, oh, here it comes
It's a cheekaneater

I wouldn't if I were you, I know what Pouch can do
It's deadly man, and it could really rip your thigh apart

Dark over white
The beauty is there but a breast is in the Pouch

Oh, oh, here it comes
Watch out yardbird, Pouch will chew you up
Oh, oh, here it comes
It's a cheekaneater

The Pouch is wide, whoooa
(Oh-oh, here it comes)
Here it comes
Watch out yardbird, watch out yardbird
(Oh-oh, here it comes)
Oh, watch out, watch out
Watch out, watch out

Gaja Korean Restaurant

Is EAV trying to be a little ethnic grub hood with all these Buford Hwy-esque style joints popping up? I don't know but you got Soba, Octopus, We Suki Suki aka "Buford HWY EAV" so far and... Not much else. I guess EAV's got some work to do before becoming the next ethnic destination. But for what it's worth, it's a start I guess. And now comes a pretty much quiet but yet somewhat long awaited opening of Gaja... I had doubts about a Korean joint opening in this area. Will it stick and do well in EAV? Korean food has been gaining some assimilation in the mainstream but it has only scratched the surface with kimchi this and bulgogi that. Let's face it, the mass sheeple do not know shit about Asian grub, let alone Korean. If this place can get some traction with the menu and the people in this hood, this could be a break through... Let's go fill the pouch with some hipster gook vittles... And don't forget to BYOB. 

Anchovy & Peanut Brittle. I know what y'all are saying... WTF is that lint ball you ask? It's cotton candy with anchovies inside. Sprinkle that shit with the peanut brittle dust and shove it in your piehole. It's totally retarded but I liked it. The sweetness to salty contrast and the crumbled peanuts for texture.

Dongjip, chicken gizzards & hearts. The quickest way to the pouch's stomach is through cheekan hearts... And gizzards. I love these offal things. Gizzards have that wonderful cartilage crunch and the hearts that foamy stress ball bounce inside your face gash. The house made rice chips reminded me of my childhood fav, Munchos... Which were tasty, too.

Pajeon "American Carnival Style", scallion fritter cake. You can dump anything in batter and fry da shit outta it and it will be good... Hence, this specimen. This is like an Asian bloomin' onion with onion powder sugar on top. Just tear this clumpy creasture apart, dip it in the Corean sauce and enjoy. Yeehaw.

Bibim Mandu, duck and barley pan fried dumplings. I love taking dumps in my mouth and these were long and meaty. These will be a hit with the roundeyes.

Jokbal, pig trotter. These will prolly NOT be a hit with the roundeyes. But it sure does look purdy. I love pig trotter... Just wrap it all up and jam it in your hole. Good stuff.

Spam & Egg. I love this. House made spam and tamagoyaki style egg cake thingers. This was pretty damn good.

Ddeokbooki, house made nori rice cake and sous vide egg. This could be either stuff scraped off from a flat top or one of the 25 courses at Alinea. I love it that they dump this mess all over a sheet pan. The nori rice cake nuggets were real nice and the sous vide egg yolk looked soft boiled but it was solid and toothy. Basically, just mix all this up together in the gochujang sauce and spoon it down. They say it's spicy but it's not. You will be ok eating this, hipsters.

DAK, Korean style fried boneless chicken thigh. Boneless? C'mon, can it be good without the bones... Damn straight it could be if it was executed effectively. The gochujang hot sauce gave it a little heat but it's not spicy at all. The tofu ranch is different and helped cooled it down a bit but it really didn't need it since it wasn't spicy at all. The kimchi was nice, the bean sprouts and salad were just ok.

Dubu, roasted tofu with American cheese. Say what? American cheese on top of tofu? Sounds like one of Roy Choi's instant ramen with cheese deal a meals. This is gonna be really interesting or really disgusting... Turns out,  it was really tasty. The gooey melted cheese with the soft tofu worked, don't ask me how but it does. The banchan were the same.

Dwaeji Bulgogi, spicy pork belly. Who doesn't like pork belly... Even though, this other white meat has disappeared from most whitie menus around town in the last couple of years, Corean joints will still serve the shit outta some pork belly all year round. I am totally down with that shit. It was good and also had a sample of some thinly sliced Galbi on the side. But it needs to be spicier, no, a lot more spicier.

At first glance, I thought this concept may be too adventurous for the EAV hood but since Octopus, Soba and Suki are doing pretty well (eventho Soba and Suki are ultra Americanized), this joint may have a decent shot at introducing the filthy hipsters to some "more" authentic Asian grubbery in this part of town. Is it traditional Korean grub? Far from it. The food isn't gonna change your life at this point. Don't get me wrong, it's playful and creative but it needs some tweaking here and there and is by no means perfected yet. It needs to find that perfect balance of Korean and approachability in this hood. So, it's basically in the experimental stage at this point. But I do see a lot of changes down the road for this menu but the foundation is there with the talent in the kitchen. They just need that one or two "hit" dish and the rest will follow. They don't serve booze yet, so that is also a big disadvantage for them with the competition. Since, Octopus dominates the late night grub and drink scene around here, it will take awhile and a lot of work before Gaja even catches up. But I think they will eventually and become a valued addition to this melting pot hood... Shit, let's hope so because I like what this place is doing so far.

491-A Flat Shoals Ave. SE
Atlanta, GA 30316
404-835-2126
http://gajaeav.com/

SOS Pouch

Sometimes it seems like my whole life has been a total shipwreck and stranded on an island surrounded by bad food and a crew of misfit cooks... I just can't seem to find a way to get off this crusty rock. Maybe it's because I'm just a fat fuck like the Skipper that will never get skinnier eating coconuts for years... We all know fat people can't swim, we just bob. I'm like a bloated whale that children want to push back in to the water. Eh, fuck it, let's just see what the pouch has been squirreling away this week. Because winter is coming...

SOS Tiki Bar.

Mai Tai. Flame on... This new tiki bar is all about the show. Dimly lit and fire effects is the gimmick here... And I liked it. We need gaudy, silly, tchotchke joints like this... Makes you feel like a kid again but with adult beverages. The classic tiki drink didn't disappoint... They go down real easy but they'll knock you the fuck out later on if you don't watch how many you have.

Pina Colada. Frozen slushie drink, it's their version of the Jack & Coke slushie at Victory. This version wasn't half bad from the machine... But I would get the bartender made drinks first. You can have this for dessert.

Rough N Rowdy. It was either this or the fruity drink that looks like Ian... Since, I like it rough, I had to see what kinda spanking I would get from this... Only small spanks from this drink. They had a couple of really cool tiki mugs that I wanted in my collection but unlike Bookhouse tiki night, you can't keep the glass here.

Fried Coconut Shrimp. For $13, I expected Bahama Breeze style coco-skrimpz... Not that their coconut shrimp are really that good. I don't get why people are so fascinated with this low rent dish. It is such an Americanized dish that tries so hard to convince people that it's exotic... Ok, maybe when they ate it on the Brady Bunch Hawaii special it was exotic. But fast forward to now and these were just plain boring. It needed seasoning, the coconut crust thinger fell apart a bit too easily and the pineapple sauce was weak. I shoulda had another tiki drink instead of this... Speaking of which, the drinks go down fast and smooth but they kick in later on and you're buzzing like an alarm clock at 6AM. Now, that's good medicine.


Waffle House.

All Star Special, pecan waffles, raisin toast, bacon, scrambled eggs w/cheese, hashbrowns. If Anthony Bourdain claims "it's better than the French Laundry", then it's good enough for da pouch. Ok, maybe it's not better than the Fronch Laundry but this is the best hangover grub ever invented. It's actually not as greasy as one would think, even while I watch the line cook pour ladleful of oil/clarified butter into the well worn and warped saute pans. The eggs are fluffy, bacon crisp, hashbrowns golden brown, raisin toast raisiny and the waffle pecany... What's there not to like about this feast. Take your medicine and like it.

Smothered and Chunked. I love you, Chunk... This is like my morning after pill after a night of heavy boozing. Plus, I  can't say no to more of their dericious hashbrowns.


Taco Mac.

3-Mile Island. I have not had this flavor in years because I don't come here much, almost never. Be smart and always get them naked with sauce on the side... That way it stays crispy and you don't taint the batch. If the sauce sucked ass then I'm screwed with the rest of the wings. The 3-Mile is barely spicy, it tingles and tickles the tongue like how you would work a virgin downtown. It's pretty weak and it peaks quickly. The wings are decent size and pretty crispy but they are pretty much flavorless. No wonder why I don't come back here. The service usually sucks a giant donkey dick, too. Yep, nothing has changed.

Lemon Pepper. This fucking flavor got me again. I am such a gym tan laundry douche-bag sucka for this salty mess of a flavor. It's usually never peppery enough, just all salt. But this version was neither. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, I rather eat plain wings than some fucked up chemical lemon/pepper blend on my GMO cheekan wangz. These wings are boring. The fucking chopping broccoli had more flavor. Give me a shot of whiskey and pint of beer, now... or 10 minzies later. No worries, I'm on your schedule, sweet tits. Service still sucking after this dismal display.


Sweet Hut.

Black Pig. This damn black bun has gone through so many different reincarnations. Now, they're like a puffy square bun with a big cavity inside with minimal bacon/ham filling. It's just ok now, not like how it used to be. I guess quality always goes down a bit due to increased volume when you open more stores. I'm pretty much over this commercialized dump.


Saigon Tofu.

Banh Mi. This new Vietnamese mini-mart next to the new City Farmers Market has a bunch of food to go items as well as silken tofu and made to order banh mi's. This one is the classic grilled pork which looks nicely stuffed... But the grilled BBQ pork were chopped up bits of pinkish pork. No grill, no char, no sweet exterior on the pork like a well executed banh mi. Even the do chua (pickled carrots & daikon) were weak. For $3, I expected Quoc Huong quality in this new Viet joint. Their crispy eggrolls were pretty good, though.


Time to go create an island of my own in the bathroom... Splash.

Tavernpointe

This space was first Midcity Cuisine under Shaun which did pretty well, then it got sold, business turned to shit and went bankrupt, then the space became La Pietra Cucina under Concentrics which was a very decent Eyetalian joint when Bruce was cooking, then he left and they shortened it to LPC with a contestant hack cook from Hells Kitchen which bombed and disappeared quietly into the night... Then the space sat empty for a long time. This location has been plagued with problems over the years no matter who was in there. Now, it's alive again as Tavernointe... An upscale-ish casual bar/resto by a mix of dudebros from Cypress/Grain/Seven Lamps. Too many investors usually spells doom for many concepts like this because everyone wants their name and ideas on it but none wants to be involved in the daily operations and promotion of it. I'm not as concerned about the execution of the menu and staff than I am of the location... It is a cursed location. Nothing has lasted within 500 feet of this place. Even Joli Kobe, gone. I don't think even Mex-Tex magic man Ford Fry would touch this space. But the pouch does need to check it out and give it a fair shake before the grim reaper claims another victim...

The cocktail menu looked sooo boring... So, I went back to the classic old fashioned. No cocktail menu should ever not have this on the list. This was not too shabby, at least I didn't find a disgusting muddled up pulp and all slice of orange in there.

Octopus. When I see octopus on any menu that is not Asian, I kinda cringe and intrigued at the same time. The lightly charred tentacle were sliced into meaty pieces and they were pretty damn tender. I liked this octopus.

Lump Crab Fritter. This is just weird... It looks like a pet rock I had when I was a kid. It has no uniform shape to it... I guess you can call it a freestyle crab fritter. There were more filler than the minced lump crab meat inside. It may look ok on the outside but this was just plain boring.

Beef & Bacon Meatballs. It has beef and bacon and grits... What's not to love. They were tender and meaty. The geechie boy grits were creamy and toothy. It's just good comfort food.

Rosemary Pan Seared Sea Scallops. I hate ordering scallops in restos because they are the biggest fucking rip off of a dish. For $27, you get 3 decent size diver scallops which still kinda pricey (at least they were seasoned and seared spot on)... Even with the bowl filled with a few shrooms, hazelnuts, farro, aruglua and soft apple, this serving barely constitute as a meal for da pouch. It would be a good dish at $19.

Steak Frites. According to the WHO... This flap of cancer was cooked spot on. Seasoned well, nice char on the outside, great color on the inside. It's hard to really screw up a nice slab of meat... Wait, strike that, I had a really fucked up piece of meat at the ultra pricey Marcel. The parmesan herb fries were crispy and pretty good... Not all dried out like some other places.

GA Shrimp & Grits. This is new look for this classic southern staple... Suppose to have some type of poblano broth, looks kinda not wet to me. Moving along... The shrimpz were plump and cooked properly, the tasso ham were a bit chunky on the size and you get a mouthful of saltiness, but I guess you should be shoveling in a bit of each item on every bite to balance out the flavor. Shit, my face gash can only stretch so wide... For two bites at a time. It was a decent dish, wish I had some of that broth woulda been interesting, though.

Maine Lobster Roll. There's a sucker born every minute... And P.T. Barnum was right... About me. I am a sucka for any lobster roll. Might as well live up to that image... $21 seems to be the going rate for a lob roll in this town... Except Optimist tried to fuck me over for $25 on a 3" lobster roll. Will I get bent over and rammed up the ass with a hot poker? Prolly but I will pretend to like it. Ok, it doesn't look halfway bad when it was placed in front of my snout. The side of the roll was grilled but there was a tad too much color, it was almost black. The lobster filler was a decent portion. The flavor of the sea was there even if it was a bit faint. The sweetness was a tad muted but the seasoning was not bad. The crunch to soft meat ratio was acceptable. It's an above average lobster roll but I'm not craving it the next day like I do with some N.E. specimens. This dish fills a void, I guess. But I won't be returning to this part of the sea, again.

Pumpkin & Brown Butter Mezzluna. These little half moons filled with pumpkin puree were pretty tasty. Could use more brown butter because it was a bit dry looking. The candied pecans, bread crumbs, parmesan were adequate but coulda used more sage. Totally decent dish.

Spaghetti Carbonara. So, they say a little old lady comes in the AM and makes a whole shitload of fresh pastas... I'm like fuck yeah, this would prolly be a damn decent carbonara version since LPC's pastas still haunts this space. Too bad this tri-color pasta looked like it came out of a Ronzoni box... All of the sudden I wanted to make a tuna casserole... Y'all know what the fuck I'm talking about. This was no carbonara... More like a Carbonaro Effect and made it disappeared and replaced with this grade school specimen. Tasted weird and it was just not pleasing to the eyeballs and pouch. Just keep it simple and do a real one instead.

Smoked Sliced Beef Brisket, creamy blue cheese slaw. I'm confused... Is this a turducken? Can those slices be any thicker? And what is with that sauce all over it? I'mma skeered... I hate brisket that is drenched in sauce, makes it looks like they're trying to hide something. The sauce basically destroyed the bark/char. While the meat itself was tender, that sauce ruined the natural flavors of the brisket. Why take the time to smoke it when you're gonna blanket it with crap all over it. I hated the sauce, I hated what this brisket had to endure from the smoker to the pass and ultimately to my snout. Do not sauce this, put it on the side, let me dip my meat in it. That blue cheese slaw was a bit too over powering with the cheese... And I love blue cheese.

Smoked Springer Mountain Chicken. When I saw Peruvian chicken on the menu, I'm like yeah whatever bro... But yet I knew I had to have it because the new Las Brasas was pretty much a let down on the cheekan. When this also came out soaking in the same sauce as with the brisket, my pouch dropped. This was no Peruvian cheekan... There's no mistaking a Peruvian and they ain't slathered with some sauce either... Just a nice aji verde (green sauce) on the side for dipping that crispy skinned and juicy aromatic cheekan in to. Too bad this was far from it. It's just a plain old smoked/roasted chicken bathing in some brown drippings. Oh, look and there's that funky coleslaw again.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin, Crackling Cornbread, Seasonal Mushrooms. The sprouts were pretty good, the cheddar bechamel and bacon bits paired well with it. The mixed shrooms were real earthy and juicy, real nice. The cornbread was presented flipped over which was nice to see the beautiful brown crust from the cast iron but it needed to be more cornbread, it was bland, dry and grainy, just plain pedestrian. It's sad because it looked great sitting there on the plate.

Overall, the food were a balance of hits and misses... Some dishes were totally acceptable and some totally forgettable, but nothing outstanding. The menu is fine but the execution needs work. There really isn't a bar scene here because of the weird location and even with a big crowd letting out of the theater one Saturday night, only a couple of people came in for a drink. The place was barely half packed and the space is quite large. At this rate, it looks like the curse may be winning. I don't know what else they can do to get this place on the map when all the other past concepts faded away after awhile... And they all had a great showing in the beginning. If it's this quiet now on the weekends, one can only imagine the weekdays. There were valet issues even before them and it's just as bad now (no show, but to find stickers on the windows when we came out), maybe it was only that night but I doubt it. I just couldn't figure out why they would even entertain this location with their industry experience and knowing this space's track record. I really hope it works out for them with more crowds coming in but the pouch's instincts are usually spot on... Poor fellas, bless your hearts.


1545 Peachtree St NE #101
Atlanta, GA 30309
404-549-3954
http://tavernpointe.com/

La Mei Zi Revisit

The demise of Chicken World paved the way for a dericious Taiwanese and Sichuan joint that fills the pouch with joy. Stopped by again to see what's new... They still have that disgusting AYCE lunch buffet that the health department has yet to shut down. Serio, skip that $10.95 sterno pans of sneeze sprayed and heavily breathed on buffet of slop and stick with the regular menu of goodies. Trust the pouch, you won't regret it. But if you eat the buffet, you're on your own... Wiping endlessly in the toilet.

Beef Tendon Hakka Style. Tender, gelatinous and a little spicy and so good for you.

Taiwanese Salt & Pepper Chicken with Basil and Garlic. They are still very good but could use more fried garlic slices... They make the dish even better.

Pickles. I kinda prefer the spicy peanuts they give you at dinner vs. these things at lunch. Not very pickled but they're not bad, either.

Smoked Duck Taiwan Style. Canard is a dish best served cold... Smokey and tender. This was a nice portion for the price. A little ginger scallion sauce on the side would be nice.

Taiwanese Stir Fried Rice Noodle. A nice mish mash of stir fried shit in a wok... A tasty and filling dish.

Smoked Pork Belly with Leeks. They definitely know how to smoke their meats... The belly was tender, savory and the leeks always pairs well with it.

Oyster, Tofu in Black Bean Sauce. This is new dish for me... Spoon this tasty slop over a bowl of rice and proceed to stuff your fat face in it. The sea snots and tofu were soft and creamy while the black beans give you a swift kick in the mouth with that fermented goodness.

This place is doing well because the food is damn decent... Plus, it's clean and modern, too. There's a few more spicy dishes I need to try but this joint is one of my new go to places in my rotation. While it isn't cheap like the spot on Cantonese grub at Ming's next door it is still worth it just as much.

5150 Buford Hwy NE, Doraville, GA
770-676-0225
http://www.lameiziga.com/#welcome

One Eared Stag Spooky Special

Halloween is a special night for special people... When I say special I mean in the mentally challenged way because this night is when all the retards come out to play. When people put on a costume they basically become tools that are not held accountable for any of their actions... Dudebros become amateur drunks and chicks become ultimate sluts... Which I have no problem with but there is always that one toolbox that shows up right before you have the chance to slay that skank in the bathroom and cock blocks you. But on this night there is a place where you can suckle on a witch's tit and slay all the sea gash to your heart's content. I haven't been back to OES in a bit... Looks like they have a decent menu this week and some specials on this night.

Johns River Oysters. New England oysters are some of my favorites... And these farm raise oysters from Maine are pretty hard to come by because there are only a few thousand available each year. How OES got these I have no clue and how they can offer them at a $1 a piece that's even more baffling... But I will eat the shit outta them... 3 dozen were had. Amazing balance of fruitiness, sweetness and brininess... Pure umami.

Chicken Biscuit. This was good but I didn't love it. The biscuit was a bit dry and crumbly which I guess it kinda should be... But that only makes it more difficult to eat it with a hunk of fried cheekan inside. It's better than Hop's cheekan bizkit.

Fried Smelt. The batter was great, thin and crispy, a tad oily but it's totally acceptable. I like the size of these things, too. Not too small and actually a couple of very large smelt. Love this dish.

Hot Oysters. See, I like this... These are the type of grub I like to see on the menu. These were very good, crispy, a little bit spicy and steamy moist sea snots inside. What's not to like here.

Hot Chicken. It's a well made hot cheekan but it could be a bit more spicy. Great crust, though.

Ribs. It's a decent portion of ribs but they were a bit chewy and weren't fall off da bone tender. You get pieces of meat stuck in your teeths.

Butternut Squash. The crispy strips of cancer bacon were basically the star of this plate but I guess it was ok overall. Not again, though.

Tonight's showing was mostly a success... Especially, those Johns River oyster. I wish they would do their Monday night fried chicken every night because that shit is good eatin'. I guess I will have to put OES back on my radar and in my already length rotation list again.

Burp.