Anyone remember Mason Tavern? Who? Yeah, exactly. They tried real hard to fit into this area but no matter what they did, they just couldn't get their neighborhood gastropub concept to take in this space... And the Emory area is not hard to please. This space has always been cursed. Nothing has worked on this end of this tiny strip mall. Community Q kills it, Pyng Ho who knows how they do it, Mint 2 the sequel always suck, Apple House pineapple pen, Janet's flip fusion is a surprise and the newly open Brew & Bird in the old Villaggio space seems to be a sad joke in the making... This strip mall is filled with hits and misses. But now Ms. Icey's took over the space by the same owner of Negril Village in midtown. They were leaning towards a more Jamaican Southern theme but in the end they changed it up a bit to be more demographically friendly for this area.
They didn't change much of the interior, did a facelift just so that it didn't still look like Mason Tavern. The layout is still the same. The first week was packed as expected but it has tailed off since, even on the weekends. It looks like Negril's loyal patrons don't want to drive all the way over here every weekend anymore. I like the owner and he seems like a good guy but I was kinda skeptical of his concept in this mostly student body community. And the cuisine may be a bit off the mark for the area's palate. I have driven by it so many times and just never had the desire to go in... Until now, because I had no other options in mind and I didn't want to drive all over town for shit food. If I'm gonna get a disappointing meal, I want it to be close at least... So, I can purge it out ASAP. On that note... Let's go take a first look...
Walked in on a recent Friday night and it had a neutral vibe, no loud music or gaudy murals screaming in your face... I'm ok with this so far. It was pretty quiet in there and the large bar was empty which was great because I could take two seats, one for each cheek. There was no one at the bar but somehow the bartender was in the weeds... Cleaning glassware. Oh, this is gonna be fun, I can feel it already. Took about 5 minzies to get some menus. I asked about their whiskey pours... She said, they are about 1.5 oz pours, but she was gonna take care of me... Wink wink. And I'm ok with that. I got some Bulleit rye and she was generous with the pour, I was happy as a pig's snout in a trough, until... I started swirling the brown juice in the glass and this little black dot was just going with the flow. What is that? I mean I watched her grab a new glass and pour it in and everything looked legit. I stick my sausage finga in and start poking at it and trying to run it up the side without exploding whatever the fuck that was in my drink... It turned out to be a fruit fly. The bartender checked the bottle, I checked the bottle in the light and it was clean... And the glass was clean. Maybe it fell out of her noise. No matter, she poured me another glass and all was right in the world again.
Let's get to the grub already pouch, we don't care if you drink diseased insects... The food is the only reason why your one fan still reads this ridiculous blog. The menu is pretty simple which is a good thing... I hate big menus with a million items, you already know it's gonna be a shitshow. Take one guess what will definitely be on the list tonight... Yep, fwied cheekan... Let's go to the video tape.
Cassie's Fried Chicken, sweet potato waffles, bourbon praline butter. $18 for a leg and two nuggets (I assume they were hacked up thigh trimmings) of fwied cheekan. The crust looked pretty good, not too thick. But still, I couldn't get the chintzy ass pieces out of my pea brain. The more I stared at it the smaller the cheekan became... Was it an illusion or was it really deflating before my eyeballs? Took a bite, the crust was really crispy but too thick to break down easily in your mouth, the chicken itself was a bit dry but the flavor was ok. The thigh nuggets were even worse, dried out and hard to eat. This was not a craveworthy fried chicken, far from it... I have zero interest in getting them ever again. The floppy waffles were a bit too soft, I don't like them hard like a frozen Eggo but a little bite to them gives them some contrast. I'm not a fan of this dish. Why do people think chicken and waffles are such a great combination? Maybe it's just me, but the waffles were just cheap filler to make the portion look bigger so the joint can charge more visually. All I can think was how much cheekan I could get for $18 at Popeyes...
Grandma's Oxtails, mashed potatoes, charred baby carrots, pearl onions. It may look like a garbage plate but to me it looked dericious. The oxtails were ultra tender and flavorful... And a good amount of meat on them bones, too. The mashed taters mopped up the savory sauce nicely. It's a heavy dish but kinda worth the price and calories. I would get this again.
Blackened Trout, vegetable risotto. A very simple and classy dish. The blackened trout looked great. The spices spread over the trout evenly and the color was spot on. The trout was moist and had a nice bite. The veggie risotto is a bit mushy but it was fine, I rather have a regular old creamy risotto, instead.
Icey's Mac N Cheese, smoked gouda, yellow and white cheddar, parmesan. $8 for mac n cheez better be damn good. It was definitely cheesy and the large shell pasta captured the melted cheese nicely. But it was nothing over the top that I would crave it again. It's fine but I would skip it next time.
I'm OK with this concept in this space. It's something different for the area and that's a good thing... But I don't know how long it will last in this area at the same time. It's not cheap for the students to eat here and while the menu is pretty decent, I don't know if the locals will want to eat this all the time. People will come just to see what the fuss is about but you can get the full experience on the first visit and that might not bring them back in anytime soon. One visit was basically it for me... It's not bad by any means but it's not terribly exciting either... The fwied cheekan was pretty much a disappointment and that doesn't help to bring me back in... Oh, and the bar program was kinda lackluster as well and the fruit fly in my drink didn't help, either. I hope they do well in this area and break the curse of this location but that's gonna be a big challenge. Wait, the new Brew & Bird on the other end will have an even bigger challenge and I can't wait to ride that goat rodeo... The food pics on their website are just awful looking. That is gonna be a fun one.
1371 Clairmont Rd
Atlanta, GA 30033
http://www.msiceys.com/
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