My first visit was pretty good but the takeaway was that this place was just priced off the charts for this area. Is it sustainable? I don't know but from initial observations, it looks like they could make it. The place has seen decent traffic even during the week but I don't know if that's due to the special ramen nights after 9PM on Tuesday to Thursday. It's just all so H&F burger. It's all about the marketing and I'm such a sucker for any special ramen night... I would eat that shit up, hook line and sinker... Even the bobber. So, I snuck in in the middle of the week which I thought would be quiet enough that I can eat my shit and go, but it was surprisingly busy. I can't just get the ramen alone, that would make the pouch seem like an amateur... So, a few snacks were had as well. Take a gander...
Ankimo, monkfish liver, ponzu. They musta read my shit and realized how low they were charging for this delicacy which is one of my favs... It's now $7 vs. the bargain of $5 before. It is still worth it and tastes just as good as the $5 one.
Yahata Maki, braised chicken, white asparagus, okra, daikon, bamboo shoot. For $5, this was a very nice tasting of a cheekan nugget stuffed with white asparagus inside.The okra is awesome and this was just a great little dish that tasted more complex than it looked.
Chirashi Don, sliced assorted seafood and vegetables, sushi rice, real wasabi. I see fishes but I don't see no veggies... But that's just filler anyways. At $22, this bowl was pretty small but the quality was evident in the fish selection. This won't fill you up as an entree but it sure will as a very pricey appetizer. This is the most expensive chirashi in town and I just don't know if it's worth exploring again in the future. Put that money towards the entry level omakase.
Duo Broth Ramen, chicken & seafood broth, chicken breast, pork belly, bamboo shoot, spring onion, ajitsuke egg. At a nose bleed $15 price point, this is prolly the most expensive bowl of ramen in the city. The presentation gives you the illusion that there's a lot of stuff going on in there but it's all about how it's laid out in the bowl. There's not enough broth as there should be... Let's face it, the broth and the type of ramen used are the real stars in a ramen bowl. The rest of the garnishes are just for show, filler and conversation. The small amount of the duo broth was barely warmed through which is a big pet peeve of mine, the broth should always be piping hot so you can smell the aroma steaming up. As for flavor, the dark brown broth just wasn't as rich and complex enough for me. Chicken broths never are, it needs more fat and collagen. But it wasn't bad at all, it was what they aimed for the broth to be, medium body. The straight ramen noodles were good but they were a bit over cooked and didn't have that snappy bite and chew to it. The egg yolks could be a bit more runny. The sous vide chicken was soft and melted in your mouth with little chewing effort. The fried lotus root chips gave it that nice crispy texture. The minced pork belly mash did nothing for me... I don't know if they were trying to mimic XO sauce, here's an idea... How about use real XO sauce and leave the pork belly intact. The thing that stood out the most in the entire bowl was the use of dice raw yellow onions, that shit was so onion intense that once you get that potent raw onion juice on your palate, it doesn't disappear and affects the taste of everything else. If the broth was super hot, it would have neutralized the harsh raw onion taste and cooked it off a bit. Use some shallots instead for a sweeter note, shit, even inexpensive white onions would work better. And I don't see the need for both raw onions and green onions in the same bowl. For $15, you should expect perfection, no, you should demand it. This bowl tasted more like a $9 bowl of noodle soup. Was it bad? No, it wasn't but charging $15 was kinda insulting. Until they make some adjustments and changes to their signature ramen bowl, I would not re-explore this dish again. It's just not worth the hype at this point. But I hope they turn that around quickly because there ain't no decent ramen to be found within walking distance.
Ginger Sake Slushie. Hmmm, they look awfully close to the Jack & Coke slushies concept at Victory... No way this was a coincidence... Nope, wink wink. They have like 5 flavors, I sampled the ginger and Chinese 5 spice. I stuck with the ginger because the 5 spice was a little too heavy on the spices after a few sips. For $10 a pop, it's a cute novelty to try once... This will never give you the buzz of the Jack & Coke slushie. Just spend the $10 on the Hitachino, instead... And they don't even let you keep the panda cup.
Even with the ramen disappointment, I'm still cheerleading for this joint. It has promise and passion. Opening a high end sushi joint in Decatur is ballsy, but I do like their menu and the fish quality is one of the better ones in the city. There's still a lot of work to be done to make it that destination spot but they're on the right track and I think they will get there sooner than later.
316 Church St
Decatur, GA 30030
http://www.brushatl.com/
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