Floataway Cafe

Floataway has been around for years and years for a reason, they are consistently good in menu evolution to execution. I have always liked this place but over the years they kinda fell off the radar with all the new spots popping up along the way in this town. It's time to make a revisit and see how they're doing these days... There's been some changes lately, starting with the chef. But there shouldn't be any execution problems since they usually promote from within. I'm friggin starving, enough with chit chat already, pouch... Let's feed already...
The space hasn't change much, it's pretty much a timeless decor that works in any decade... The menu hasn't change much either since the last chef. Time to sample a few bites... Well, my definition of a few bites may differ with other people's definition in respect to portion size and amount of dishes owned. Please keep your hands away from the pouch for your own safety, you have been warned...

Wood Grilled Octopus, crispy ceci, fennel. This looked so good it's almost an excuse to put this testicle all over me, errr, I mean tentacle. What? I was watching Better Off Dead before I came here... I swear my mind wasn't in the gutter, like usual. The octo was tender, lightly charred and just super tasty. The fried chickpeas gave it that little extra pop in texture. It's a simple good dish that was well executed.

Prosciutto di Parma, apple, basil. Large thin sheets of meat paper on a plate... I wanted to make origami with them, I'm really good at making those swans that can flap their wings... Right into my pouch. They were good like with all prosciutto but nothing really that memorable that I can't get anywhere else. It's a non-threatening dish for the masses, especially, with the melon ballers of apple.

Piccolo Fritto, young squid, onion, lemon, cauliflower, pepper vinegar. Basically a plate of fried sea creastures... A fritto misto. The presentation looks kinda thoughtless and low rent... Shit, dress it up a bit, make me feel like I ain't at a fry shack. Wait, fry shacks have fucking kick ass grub... I'm just saying for the price tag, it shoulda been presented a lil nicer. Maybe they're starting the new Fryer Basket to Plate movement. It's a fun dish to share but nothing was really that spectacular, same old ingredients found on every other menu. Still tasty, though.

Blue Crab Fritter, olive tapenade. Jesus, you can bowl a few frames with that crab ball before it falls apart from taking a bite after each frame... This thing is huge! And my mouth ain't that big. That's what she said... Really, a chick really said that. This was a thing of beauty, full of lumpy crab bits and the crispy crust will make your facehole happy. The olive tapenade wasn't really necessary except to hold that fucker in place.

Caserecce, veal meatballs, tomato, parmigiana. A glammed up version of spaghetti and meatballs. Love the curly pasta to catch all the sauce in it and the veal balls were large and soft to mouth. It's like eating fluffy meat pillows... I know a stripper that calls her enhanced girls the same thing but these veal balls tasted better with tomato sauce, less veiny, too.

Sorghum Gnocchi, sugo finto, brussels, kale chips, provalone piccante. This sorghum gimmick is still in effect on menus... What year is it, again? It's ok, though, if it works well then have at it... I'll still eat it. It's an interesting dish, not very appealing visually but tasted aight. I wouldn't get it again, though.

Maccheroni, Georgia white shrimp, romanesco, saffron, swiss chard, calabrian chili. I kinda liked these giant mac elbows. You can get a lot of shit tucked inside those elephant elbows. The whole romanesco broccoli is getting some attention recently and will play a bigger part on menus this year. I don't know if it works in this dish because they get all covered up by the sauce and oversized mac but it's interesting to see them in the dish and makes people curious of what they are. They were pretty chintzy on the shrimp.. Maybe a whole 3 smallish shrimp was found swimming on this plate.

Taglietelle, duck bolognese, percorino. This pic makes it seem like it's a huge portion but it's not. It was pretty small, maybe the size of a rainbow trout... Filleted. Server asks me if I'm ok with pork... I'm like yeah... Then she walks away. Then the hamster in my small head starts running on a wheel, thinking about what she just said. Then the dish came out... Took a bite of the "duck bolognese", it tasted more ground pork. I don't but I didn't taste duck anywhere in that bolognese... Oh, I say and I say it again, I been had! I been took! I been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! I wasn't impressed at all with this dish... Sad duck face.

Wood Oven Roasted Loup de Mer, fennel, radish, escarole. They asked if I wanted whole or filleted... What do you think, ese? Don't you know I'm loco? Whole, of course! So, I know what I'm eating... Kinda like when butchering a rabbit, always make sure you get the carcass with the feetz because a cat has the same exact anatomy without the paws. With this dish I wanted to see the fish head... Well, shit, I just wanted the cheeks. No one eats the damn cheeks, it's the best part of the fish like the oysters on a chicken. This branzino was pretty good... Nicely scored and ultra tender. Spot on execution on this dish. And the cheeks? I Hannibal kissed that little mermaid (perhaps merman?) and ripped it's face off. Where's that Chianti?

Hakurei Turnips, Semolina Gnocchi, Anson Mill Farro w/ Lacinato Kale. I can not lie but the veggie sides were better than most of the mains... Shit, I'm just gonna order all the sides and one main next time and the pouch will be all set.

Fried Brussels Sprouts. Can't fuck this up if you tried... Just fry everything and it will taste good. Speaking of which...

Ok, I know they are just fries but damn, they were good... Highly addictive like Mickey Dee's fries.

Gateau Victoire, chantilly cream. This flourless chocolate cake looked promising but I was never a fan of this cake. It's a fragile cake that is often too dry... And this just crumbled like sand when you try to fork a bite of it. It looked like work was put into this.. But this wasn't for me.

This revisit didn't tickle my balls like it did in the past after sampling most of the menu... While there were some very tasty dishes, the average ones clouded most of the meal. Not that it was bad but with their reputation and pedigree, you expect more from them. If this was just some other regular old Italian influenced resto, it would be great but they wouldn't be charging as much as they would here for it. It's still a good resto and they got their shit together operationally but the food was not crave worthy enough for the pouch to come back any time soon. Is there a Popeyes around here... All of the sudden I'm craving a spicy thigh with a little cajun sparkle. Happens every time after an average pricey meal.

1123 Zonolite Road
Atlanta, GA 30306
http://www.starprovisions.com/floataway-cafe/