Ticonderoga Club

The best time to come to KSM is on a weekday or night... You get to avoid all the mooks and the Buckhead army douchery found on the weekends. I wonder if these creastures even realize that they are the douches that everyone makes fun of... Not that I don't have a ton of shit to make fun of myself about and do as well. First and foremost, I'm a fat fuck that can't stop eating and when I start eating I usually don't stop. And a food hall is the last place you want a fat slob to be at. So, in order not to offend anyone with my grotesque jiggling body like a pair of giant flapjacked fried egg tits, I prefer to come here on an early week day or night and it's quiet as can be. There's no lines to wait on, the food is prepared with care (at most places) and you get to enjoy it without all the screaming, yelling and dudebro-ing from the kids and millennials.
So, Ticonderoga Club has been on my radar since they opened, stopped in a couple times to check it out... Now, my one reader will get the official low down on this joint from the old school H&F guys. Will TC suck a giant schlong or will it slam ass like H&F once did when they made that joint in the beginning. The pouch will once again sacrifice the delicate lining of it's bowels to bring my one fan the yay or nay eats around town...

Lunch.

Spiedie Kit. Chicken spiedie, Moxie and Cape Cod kettle chips. The sesame seed bread is just awesome (made be Gen. Muir). Toasted perfectly. It has that perfect crunch and it doesn't bite into your gums. The grilled chicken cubes are marinaded very well and juicy. It's a good sando but in order for it to be a true upstate New York spiedie, go super light on the lettuce or none at all. A classic NY spiedie is just bread and meat, maybe a little grilled onions. But I do like that this is the only place in town to even find an upstate NY spiedie.


Dinner.

Buckskin Playmate and Ticonderoga Cup... And a Long Henry in the back somewhere. Mmm, bourbon and rum do mix in the pouch. These cocktails remind me of the old H&F and PDT in NYC, just tasty as shit. That copper cup is awesome, I need one but Greg might ask for it back... Again.

Cured Salmon Spring Rolls, cucumber, mango, cilantro, Thai chili sauce. A nice play on the Thai basil roll. The lox was a tad salty, plump and toothy which was perfect in this spring roll but they drenched this with Mae Ploy... Which worked amazingly. This was quite perplexing. Shit, Mae Ploy will make almost anything taste good, even a freshly laid dog shit. This was a fun dish. Whities will love this shit... Just don't ask if there's fucking cream cheese in this cured fish rolls. I will cut you.

Grilled Foie Gras, cherry marble anadama toast. Goddamn y'all, why is a terrine made with whole foie gras so damn good inside your mouth? And layering it with a cherry spread on multiple levels makes this even more fucking special on the flavor scale. I don't know if this was real New England style Anadama bread but it sure was buttery and toasty... Top it off with some fatty organ meats and you have yourself a very healthy snack. This was an instant hit.

Spiced Pork Confit, masa porridge, coriander relish. The pork confit sounded great but the masa porridge interested me more... When a whitie says they have porridge, I'm like a deer in headlights. Ding! So, what's in this masa porridge... Well, it's like eating a tamale porridge. The pork was charred nicely and had really good bits of crispies on the corners and the inside was fork tender. Take a spoonful with a bit of everything and your mouth will be jizzing with ecstasy. Facegasm. Wonderful lil dish.

Sweetbreads, arugula, citrus brown butter, bottarga. This sounds fancy, perhaps a small throw back to the H&F days. Sweetbreads is one of my favorite things to shove inside my facehole... Who doesn't like offal organ gland thingies breaded and pan fried? Top this lumpy organ with some salty bottarga shavings and you got yourself a pretty fancy feast. I liked this a lot. 

Fisherman's Friend, snapper, shrimp, clams, mussels, bacon, broth, bread. This was a real nice dish. It had it all, the presentation, the great colors, the assortment of shellfish and fish, the bread logs, the flavors...  A win win at $14.

Cangrejo El Diablo, hot bibb sauce. Yes, you are not seeing things.. This presentation was a mess. We all agreed that this presentation should be flipped over... Sauce on the bottom with the two tempura-esque fried soft shell crabs on top. The thickish sauce had a subtle but noticable heat which I enjoyed very much. The soft shell crab was mostly soggy by the time it got to the table sitting under all that sauce. The crabs were pretty large and tasted as fresh as can be defrosted but if it was still crispy, it would have been twice as good for the $28 price tag. Change out the presentation and this would be a hit.

Dry Aged Roasted Half Duck, game jus. The second priciest dish on the menu... What did you expect? It's a half duck at an intown hipster joint. But after seeing the dish in real life and in real time, it looked almost worth it for $34. The duck was pretty tender overall but the legs (why are there two with a half duck?) were a bit dried out perhaps from the dry aging process and no fat near it. The fatty layer beneath the skin coulda been rendered a bit more since parts of it were pretty thick. But I think this was a success overall... But nothing will ever beat a whole roast duck from Ming's or BBQ Corner for under $20, damn that shit is so good.  They asked us if we wanted some bread to sop up the savory jus, ah, hell yeah... But it will cost ya a dollar for some day old toasted spiedie bread from yesterday's lunch shift. I just think at this price point, they shoulda sent out some bread gratis.

Wok Vegetables. Shanghai bok choy is a great side dish but for the price this was a skimpy portion at best. It was prepared well with good seasonings but that $8 price tag for four halves of small bok choy still haunts me with a bit of insult. A 5 lb. bag of bok choy is like $3 at the Asian market.

Poh's Eggplant. Nice little eggplant side dish, really savory and full of flavor but it was a bit salty. If the salt factor was dialed down just a bit, this would be an outstanding side dish... I would get it again.

Ipswich Clam Roll, tartare royale, chips (Cape Cod). I was real hesitant to order this because 1) it was pricey for a clam roll, 2) it's made with tiny Ipswich clams with tiny bellies, 3) it could be all breading inside a small roll. Well, it sure was pricey but it was kinda worth it. The clams were small as expected but the breading was proportioned well with the size of the clams. The flavor and seasoning was spot on but there was a bit too much tartare sauce that muted the overall flavor a bit. It's a good clam roll but for the price of admission, I would order something else instead. But y'all gotta do it once in your measly lifetime as I always do with any seafood roll I see on the menu.

Rum Chocolate Mousse. Made by Little Tart Bakery on the other side of the market. I'm not a big dessert person but it was more like a fudge than a mousse because of the thick but smooth molasses like texture. It was pretty tasty I guess. After one bite I was done, the rest of the table loved it.

This treehouse/clubhouse style resto is a hidden gem in the corner of the KSM. It ain't kiddie prices but the big bold flavors and techniques found here will reflect in the big boy prices that you will gladly shell out. Some prices baffled me because of product used but so far, this joint is killing it. The complaints are minor compared to the overall success of the menu and I will get that Chuck Wagon plus CW fixins ("enough to feed an army" ..it better for $72!) next time. Keep cooking the shit outta that menu and the pouch will keep eating the shit outta that menu... All these dishes were had in one disgusting gluttonous sitting. Squirt.

If someone is reading this dumpy blog... Please Don't Tell, keep this joint hush hush, under wraps, on da D.L. Thanks, pal...

PS- Beware of this singing creasture... It will haunt your dreams and my bowels for weeks.

99 Krog St.
Atlanta, GA 30307
404-458-4534 (listen for the duck quacking ring tone)
http://www.ticonderogaclub.com/