So, it's been a few months since my initial visit and this place is still in business... That's a good sign to da pouch. I always forget about this place because it's basically in the back corner of this strip mall and if you were gonna come to this strip mall it would usually be for Community Q's tasty bbq. But one day this place popped up on the pouch's radar like a built in alarm clock for another visit. Let's see if anything has changed for better or worse...
The joint still looks the same but I did notice that the bartenders weren't using those giant 12" fireplace matches for each drink. Good, they took that bit of advice. It was so absurd to me but they thought it was so cool. Screw the matches, what about the food...
Piggy Mac n Cheese, aged white cheddar, braised pork belly, crispy cracklin. Totally different from the last time. It's a bigger portion but there were very few porky bits in there. It still tasted pretty good but if you call it a piggy mac, make sure there is a good bit of piggy in there. Still acceptable, though.
Poutine, cheese curds, pork neck gravy. This is new on the menu and of course, being a fatso, I had to check their version out. Pork neck gravy got me but seriously, will anyone be really able to tell if it was made from pork necks? Fuck no. There was barely any gravy and the curds melted all in the center. I like the cubes of curds sprinkled around all the fries so you can tell it was curds. The fries were pretty decent but it seemed they were pre-fried and sitting in a hotel pan waiting for an order, top it with gravy and curds and tossed in a salamander for a minute. The really good poutine is when the fries are made fresh and crackling hot with oil still bubbling then topped off with gravy and curds and the heat from the fries will melt the curds. That is the right way to do it. But this was acceptable.
Crispy Chicken Wings, sesame, honey, sambal, scallions. That sauce pooling on the bottom of the plate is really wet was my first impression. But luckily the wings were well tossed and coasted in that sauce. The sauce was just ok, you get the sweet and a tiny bit of heat with each bite but a lot more heat would do this more justice. The wings were fine, crispy on the outside but a little dry on the inside... As if they were precooked and then flash fried. I would prolly not get these again... Wings have to be made to order. Period.
Tavern Burger, house blend short rib, brisket, chuck. This burger didn't look like the burger from before. It look smaller and generic. It kinda looks like the Hamburglar. The bun was ok but it needed to be buttered and toasted. The pickles placed on the barely melt single serve slice of American cheese looked like two coins waiting for the ferryman to come take me to IBS hell. Ok, it wasn't that bad but it's funny as shit. The patty was to temp, mid rare, but it was pretty thin and lame in flavor/seasoning. You got that nice blend of cuts but it was almost flavorless from the thin patty... Maybe the Hamburglar took the other patty that was supposed to be on there, too? The onion rings were not worth the extra dollar up charge, oversized onion rings with heavy thick bready batter. They may look crispy on the outside but after one bite they were just mushy on the inside. Giant onion rings are just for show, they suck everywhere that has them.
Spiced Cauliflower. Is this a joke? Flash fried florets then tossed with a spice mixture and wrapped in a pita... This was not worth the price of admission. It was just awful. Even vegans would be like fuck no. The generous amount of slaw to make up for the crappy cauli-wrap was ok. Awful dish.
Fish Taco. They said the fish is fried, so we asked for grilled to see if they could cook it. Yes was the answer which was nice but these fish taco were so pedestrian and lackluster. It just looks old, like it has been sitting out for hours. Maybe that's why they prefer to fry the fish, anything is good battered and fried and wrapped inside a tortilla... Even a turd. But I don't think this would be good even if it was deep fried, the entire thing. Skip it.
Cuban. You gotta have giant fucking balls to put a Cuban sando on a menu... If you do, you're just asking to be criticized. The bread is first and foremost the most important thing in a Cuban, if you don't get that right, everything else will be shit. Here's what the Cuban is made up of- s
low roasted pork, black forest ham, house pickles, swiss, mustard, pressed hoagie roll... Everything sounded pretty good until the hoagie roll... Hoagie roll? Don't ever fucking say you use a hoagie roll for a Cuban, that's just insulting. At least spell it Joagie. I gotta check this out. First, it wasn't even pressed fully, shit was falling out the sides, the Swiss cheese was barely melt, the pork and ham was pretty decent but that bread... It lacked that all important crunch on the outside. It was so soft on the outside it might as well be steamed. As a sandwich alone this would be ok but when you label it a Cuban, this was no where close to it. For $12, I can get almost two and a half real Cuban sandos from Pan American Bakery. Skip this and just to PAB instead.
Overall, the place looks the same but there are a few tweaks on the menu... Not all of them for the better. The kitchen feels sloppy to me, like now it's just a job to put out food, no passion, no attention to details, as if it was just a fancy fast food joint with booze. Maybe it was just tonight, maybe it's just me or maybe it's business as usual with Concentrics managing the place. I just don't feel the vibe here for a chef driven menu, it reads more like a generic casual pub menu. There's nothing on the menu that is different, unique, bold or adventurous which was something that I expected from a place like this in the beginning... Everything on this menu can be had anywhere. The cocktail menu was just ok but they do have a decent selection of booze if you want it neat. As a nicer local neighborhood watering hole, this joint fits that bill perfectly for a college dudebro to impress a date. Just stick with the apps and small bites, the rest is not really worth the effort. I hope they realize the path they're on before it's too late... Because this place still has potential. A total revamp of the menu and this may have a chance.
1371 Clairmont Rd
Decatur, GA 30033
404-963-2322
http://masontavernatl.com/
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