Decatur: Cafe Lily

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Apr 242011
Category: Wonderful local place, worth regular visits
Verdict: Elegant Mediterranean food and outstanding service
Cafe Lily is one of those places that I've walked past dozens of times but never tried.  We went there tonight for a Georgia Tech event at the behest of my friend Yorai.  I had assumed from the name that the menu was vaguely French.  To my surprise, it is actually Greek and Mediterranean.  This turned out to be a wonderful treat.
When I realized that the menu was Greek-influenced, I had to try the horiatiki salad.  Those of you who read this blog regularly have read my occasional rant about the unwanted appearance of lettuce in the American Greek salad.  This, boys and girls, is what a Greek salad is meant to be.  The presentation I've seen in Greece is a little different, but this gets the list of ingredients exactly right: tomato, feta, onion, cucumber, olives, all in an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. This style of salad is both refreshing and satisfying.
Yorai steered me away from eggplant and toward lamb.  My lamb chops were excellent: juicy and tender.  They had a light covering of pepper herbs that wonderfully complemented the meat.  The potatoes were finished to exactly the right level of crunchiness.   If only all breakfast potatoes were so well prepared...
Cafe Lily on Urbanspoon
Posted by Melinda at 7:33 pm Tagged with: , ,

Eating Around Georgia Tech: Moe's Original BBQ

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Apr 072011
This one snuck up on me.  I saw a sign outside their door on 14th Street and thought they had just opened after a long prep.  As it turns out, they had been open for a month.  Moe's is a chain that fits the upscale BBQ trend, although I wouldn't call it totally buzzword compliant (no sign of the "O" word).  The decor fits the college theme very well.  They're located in the Kool Korners building.  I'm relatively new to this town but I understand that the building has  a long history with Georgia Tech.
I decided to go with a rib plate.  The slaw was vinegary, which I found very refreshing.  (Keep in mind, however, that I'm on a sour kick, so your tastes may vary.)  The beans were pretty sweet, overall well executed but nothing exciting.  The ribs were very porky---soft meat with a little bit of tooth.  But I didn't taste any smoke.  Perhaps it was just me; I plan to try something again at some point.  I just didn't get that smoky, burnt bits BBQ feel.

Moe's Original Bar B Que on Urbanspoon

Posted by Melinda at 6:52 pm Tagged with: , ,

Decatur: Golden Buddha

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Jan 162011

category: interesting Chinese/Korean restaurant
summary: ask for the special menu---ordering the right thing is important

Hyesoon and I went to Golden Buddha on Clairmont for dinner. I've driven by there dozens of times and never been in. Even if I had, I probably wouldn't have ordered the right things. It turns out that this restaurant has a big reputation among Georgia Tech students as a good place for Chinese/Korean food that is good and reasonable. The restaurant is totally nondescript and, like many Asian restaurants, have a special menu that they generally give to Asians but not Causasians. I suspect that some of their dishes are ho-hum, but I definitely enjoyed our meal from the special menu.

 

My favorite dish was the seafood soup (which, by the way, is on the regular menu).  This large bowl is a half-serving.  It is chock full of seafood, a healthy dose of noodles, and a little greenery.  The broth was delicious. It was spicy but just enough to tickle your tongue. The taste overall was very smooth, almost buttery. I'd like to know the recipe.

We also had some chicken wings, although we had to take most of them home. This was also a big dish. The sauce isn't hot even though it could pass for a chili sauce in look. I would call them Chinese Buffalo wings but they aren't hot. The sauce was just sweet enough to balance the crispy fried chicken.
Golden Buddha Chinese on Urbanspoon
Posted by Melinda at 6:11 pm Tagged with: , ,

Thelma's Rib Shack (Thelma's Kitchen)

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Jan 032011
Category: Atlanta institution, worth a drive
Summary: Wonderful home-cooked Southern food
Thelma's Rib Shack (a.k.a. Thelma's Kitchen) is an Atlanta institution, having been here for decades.  Their old location was closer to Georgia Tech; they are now located on Auburn Avenue in the Martin Luther King district. They are extremely easy to get to, just around the corner the I-75 off-ramp.  Urbanspoon for some reason lists Thelma's as closed, but reports of their death have been greatly exaggerated.

I've been there once before.  The atmosphere is classic Southern steam table cafeteria; the staff are very friendly and courteous. This time I decided to try the fried chicken (despite the restaurant's name).  As you can see, the food is served with real silverware and china, a sign of they pride they take in their work.  The chicken was perfect: crisp crust and tender, juicy flesh.  The greens were tender and kissed with pork, with very subtle flavors. The sweet potatoes were flavored with butter and sugar, sweet to the taste but not overpowering.  The cornbread was excellent.

Thelma's Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Posted by Melinda at 10:41 am Tagged with:

South City Kitchen

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Dec 232010
In the mood for something other than the usual lunch, Xiaoli and I decided to try South City Kitchen for lunch.  It's one of those restaurants tucked in between the skyscrapers of midtown. These places attract a very different crowd from the Georgia Tech experience.
We started with the fried green tomatoes, which were my favorite part of the meal. The crust was very crispy and the tomatoes inside were tender; combining those two can be a delicate balance.  They were garnished with some goat cheese and tomato sauce. The tomato sauce had a nice collection of herbs.
I tried the BBQ pork sandwich and salad for my main course. The BBQ wasn't bad but the sauce was a little sweet. I read an article on BBQ the other day that pointed out that the Kansas City sweet sauce is the style of BBQ most tolerant to lapses; I wish this sauce had been a little less sweet so that I could enjoy the pork more. The salad was very fresh and the potato chips were fresh and crispy.
South City Kitchen Midtown on Urbanspoon
Posted by Melinda at 7:10 am Tagged with: , , ,
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