FLYING BISCUIT

She says:
I guess this is the week for catching up on reviews of places we love but never write about. We managed to hit up another of our favorite brunch spots this past weekend, the Flying Biscuit Café. I can’t imagine that anyone who lives in Atlanta has not visited this place already… it’s an institution around here. Unlike Mary Mac’s or the Varsity though, there’s a very good reason for it.

We’ve only been to the Midtown location, and on weekend mornings there is always a large crowd outside. Fortunately, they set a large thermos of coffee outside to take the edge off. The place is pretty small, and they’ve really crammed in as many tables with their Hawaiian tropical tablecloths as possible. It’s a funky space, filled with loud music and a young, but diverse clientele.

He says:
As for food, I haven’t had a bad meal at the Flying Biscuit. Their grits, as far as I know, are the best in Atlanta. They’re rich and creamy without the heaviness that burdens so many other grits in town. And the namesake Flying Biscuits (aptly named as they are always flying out of the store) are also by far the best biscuits in the city. Shaped like two conjoined hockey pucks of dough, the biscuits are a perfect gold on the outside and, when popped apart, piping hot on the inside. Add a dab of butter to each half – and a slathering of the café’s signature compote if you choose – and we are talking biscuit perfection.

The rest of the Flying Biscuit menu is quite strong, particularly the omelettes and other egg dishes, though they don’t scale the culinary heights of the biscuits and grits.

She says:
I completely agree with Downtown Boy… both their biscuits and grits are the best around and just simply delicious.

The most recent dish I sampled was the Meggxican wrap, which is scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, onions, and serrano peppers encased in a flour tortilla. It’s topped with a mildly spicy tomato sauce and sour cream. It’s hard to go wrong with a breakfast burrito, but I think Flying Biscuit does a particularly good job with theirs, keeping it simple and not monstrously large, and with just enough kick.

We say:
Atlanta is a rock star when it comes to brunch, and Flying Biscuit definitely belongs in the top tier. It’s a great place to bring visitors, particularly those anxious to sample some southern staples like biscuits and grits!



Flying Biscuit Café
1001 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.flyingbiscuit.com/

SWEET MELISSA'S

She says:
I don’t know why we’ve never reviewed Sweet Melissa’s before… It’s one of our favorite brunch spots, and, along with the Vortex, one of the few restaurants in Atlanta that we go back to again and again. In fact, we were back this past weekend, so it seems a review is in order.

This Decatur restaurant is nothing fancy, just a comfortable dining room with a mix of booths and tables, with local art adorning the walls. On weekend mornings, they generally have live music… I think it’s been the same duet of hippy dudes every time we’ve been there – one on bass, another singing and playing guitar. And the waitresses are incredibly friendly. So basically, it’s the type of place you go when you want to feel at home.

But the real reason to go to Sweet Melissa’s is the pancakes. Besides the standard side orders of fried eggs or grits, the only thing I’ve ever eaten there are the pancakes. They are so good, I can’t imagine going to Sweet Melissa’s and not ordering them. Made with yogurt, they are the perfect density (not airy and insubstantial, but not too thick either), and are wonderfully buttery, griddled to a lovely golden brown. I always get two cakes with chocolate chips cooked inside, which satisfies my sweet tooth and keeps me full almost all day long. This past weekend I tried their pumpkin pancakes. They were good, with a distinct pumpkin flavor, but I think the season for pumpkin-infused foods ends in December. Plus the original recipe really can’t be beat.

He says:
Uptown Girl pretty much said it all … Sweet Melissa’s is the king (or is it queen?) of pancakes. I think the restaurant’s only weakness is that it doesn’t fare as well in its other breakfast items. That might not be an issue if you only crave pancakes, but it’s slightly problematic for an omelet and grit lover like me. The biscuits and gravy are alright, but not at the level as those found at West Egg Café. The grits are serviceable, but not as good as the Flying Biscuit’s. And overall I prefer the creative spunk of the menu at Ria’s Bluebird.

So what does an omelet lover do at Sweet Melissa’s? Easy. You order the pancakes =)

We say:
For the best pancakes in… well, anywhere, go to Sweet Melissa’s.



Sweet Melissa’s
127 East Court Square, Decatur, GA 30033
www.sweetmelissas.com

MACHU PICCHU

She says:
Machu Picchu is a little known hole-in-the-wall Peruvian restaurant on Buford Highway, literally right next door to Panahar. Although they share the same strip mall address, the experience of dining in these two restaurants is a world apart! Rather than Mirza breathing down our backs, we had the sweetest, most sincere, and least obtrusive waiter you could ever ask for happily giving us recommendations and beaming at us when we complimented the food.

As for the food, it’s nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

For appetizers, we tried the Papas a la Huancaina. This is basically boiled potatoes served in a cheese sauce, which sounds incredibly bland, but one of our friends insisted we order it. It wasn’t too bad… the cheese sauce was vaguely reminiscent of Caesar salad dressing and definitely gave the potatoes some zing.

He says:
We also tried a seafood platter that included a mix of squid, mussels, and shrimp in a tomato base, sort of like paella sans rice. Uptown Girl thought the shrimp was some of the freshest she’s had in Atlanta, but overall I thought this dish was rather tasteless; none of the flavors really stood out.

She says:
The second entrée we shared consisted of chicken chunks sautéed in onions and tomato and served with rice. The chicken had been marinated to give it a touch of flavor, although it certainly didn’t pop out at you. I think this is ok, though. Machu Picchu is not trying to be revolutionary. Instead, it simply provides a place for Atlantans to sample the traditional fare of Peru.

So what’s my verdict? When Mirza scolds you for not making reservations at Panahar, simplify your life and go next door to Machu Picchu to sample some Peruvian food.



He says:
I only wish the food was as engaging as our waiter.



Machu Picchu
3375 Buford Hwy NE Ste 1130, Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 320-3226

99 MILES TO PHILLY

He says:
Finding 99 Miles to Philly was the most fortuitous of accidents. Uptown Girl and I were about to meet a good friend for buffalo-wings when we passed by an eatery specializing in Philly cheesesteaks. In case you don’t know my eating patterns by now, I adore Philly cheesesteaks. Shredded beef and melted cheese on a hoagie bun … what’s not to like? The problem is that it’s really hard to find a good cheesesteak in New York City; believe me, I’ve tried.

99 Miles to Philly consists of a takeout counter and about six tables in a clean, casual setting. The brick walls are adorned with several cut-outs from magazines like Time Out New York recommending the place for cheap eats – good sign #1. Good sign #2 were the others eating lunch around us, mostly guys sitting by themselves reading newspapers. I like the fact that 99 Miles to Philly is not a place to see and be seen; it’s a place where you go to get quality grub. Good sign #3 was the menu, which clearly indicated you can only order one thing: Philly cheesesteaks.

She says:
I still have fond memories of my first Philly cheesesteak, which I had in the sandwich’s hometown of Philadelphia, so I was definitely game for sampling a non-beef version. I ordered an American chicken cheesesteak “wit’” (translation: a cheesesteak with shredded chicken, American cheese, wit’ onions). It was an oozing, oily, delicious mess, and I nearly managed to eat the entire thing. And with all the cheesy goodness, it was hard to even miss the beef.

He says:
I ordered an American steak cheesesteak wit’. In a word, it was excellent. The gooey American cheese blended perfectly with the moist, shredded beef steak for a wonderfully fatty, and filling, combination. The bun could have been slightly firmer – it tends to droop as you eat it – but otherwise this was as good as a Philly cheesesteak as I’ve ever had.

We say:
It’s the next best thing to jumping on Amtrak and heading to Philadelphia.



99 Miles to Philly
94 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10003
http://www.99milestophilly.net/

PUNJAB

He says:
Uptown Girl can attest that whenever we try a new South Asian restaurant, whether we’re in Atlanta or Seattle or Washington D.C., at some point in the meal I will inevitably say, “It’s still not as good as Punjab!” I probably sound like a broken record, but you would too if you’ve ever eaten at this legendary hole-in-wall.

It is fairly well-known around Brooklyn that at lunchtime, 691 Coney Island Avenue is jam-packed with double-parked taxicabs, full of Pakistani drivers stopping for their lunch break. It certainly says something when cabbies, who can drive to eat wherever they want, will head deep into Flatbush for quality food. In fact, if I recall correctly, my father first heard about Punjab via a recommendation from a taxi driver.

Punjab is not much to look at, which isn’t surprising since Flatbush is the kind of neighborhood that has more collision shops than Starbucks. Back in the day the restaurant only had one Formica table (always greasy), and naan was cooked by throwing the dough against the walls of a brick oven coming out of the floor like a well. It would appear that Punjab is doing better these days because now they actually have multiple tables and chairs and tiles on the floor. It’s not much, but hey, you don’t go to Punjab for aesthetics.

She says:
I have to admit, I was a little doubtful about Punjab… and it wasn’t so much the spare setting, but the fact that we ordered our food at a counter by pointing at pots full of unidentifiable (and not completely appetizing) medleys of meat and sauce. But all doubts were laid to rest as soon as I took my first bite of vegetable samosa. The pastry shell that enveloped the spiced potatoes and veggies was substantial and crunchy, much like a very good pie crust. Delicious! They were easily the best samosas I have ever tasted. The one other vegetarian dish they had – a saucy chickpea dish – was also excellent.

The rest of the food followed suit. As expected from Pakastani food, all of the food was well-spiced, heavy on the meat, and rich (as well as cooked in an ungodly amount of oil, although it didn’t taste oily).

He says:
The lamb curry at Punjab is the standard by which all others are judged, and to this day I still have not found its equal. The thick curry swarms with oil, robust spices, and gigantic chunks of meat, which are still on the bone. Keeping the bones in the curry may very well be the secret to this dish because the resulting intensity and gaminess of the lamb is simply awesome.

Likewise the grilled chicken tikka and chicken kababs were spicy – hot, but not too hot – and surprisingly tender on the insides. We polished off the meal with Ras malai, which are balls of ricotta cheese soaked in sweet, thickened milk and cardamom. They were firm enough not to crumble in the bowl, yet retained their velvety mouth-feel. Even Punjab’s desserts can knock it out of the park!

She says:
In general, Pakistani food is too meat-heavy for my taste, but I’d say this is as good as it’s ever gonna get.



He says:
Can you tell that I love this place? For me, Punjab sets the standard for South Asian cuisine.



Punjab Restaurant
691 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218
(718) 856-6207

YAKITORI TAISHO

She says:
When I think of eating in New York City, I picture cramped hole-in-the-walls with a heavily-accented staff serving up authentic fare. Yakitori Taisho epitomizes this ideal, and for that reason I loved dining there. We stepped off the bustling sidewalks of St. Mark’s Place and ducked through a low doorway into the cozy Japanese grill house. The first thing we noticed is that it was packed with Asians… it’s always a good sign to see Asians in an Asian restaurant! As we waited, I marveled over the cook who worked furiously behind the grill… with his pointy goatee, wispy black mustache, bright red cap, and outdated, enormous glasses, he was absolutely fabulous.

Yakitori is a type of skewered meat (typically chicken) that is grilled over charcoal. Unlike sushi, it is an everyday Japanese food, something grabbed from an outdoor stall to accompany a post-work beer. We tried two types of chicken yakitori. The plain chicken was delicious in its grilled perfection, but the chicken with plum sauce was inedible until we scraped off the sauce. It was WAY too tart and salty, and nothing like the sweet hoisin taste that I was expecting.

He says:
It was a cold and windy evening that night in NYC, so I ordered a bowl of ramen with pork to warm me up. I’m glad I did because it was the best thing I had at Yakitori. The pork strips were very tender and the broth had a far richer consistency than those I’ve found at other noodle shops.

Uptown Girl and I also sampled the soft-shelled crab, which had been deep-fried in its entirety! Beside the awesome novelty of biting through the crispy shell of a crustacean – a first for me – I thought it was very good. I like my seafood to taste like the sea, and you can’t beat this dish’s intense brininess.

She says:
I really didn’t like the soft-shelled crab. Because we were eating the entire crab, we were exposed to the full flavor of the little critters, which was overwhelmingly fishy in the way that only a bottom-feeder can achieve.

Fortunately, my pan fried glass noodles were simple and satisfying, and reminded me of the delicious Chinese noodles my college roommate used to cook up late at night.

We say:
Stick with the yakitori and noodle bowls and you can’t go wrong.




Yakitori Taisho
5 St. Marks Place, New York, NY 10003
http://www.yakitoritaisho.com

ATLANTA'S BURGER KINGDOM

He says:
Here is an article about Atlanta's burger scene, courtesy of Creative Loafing.

Atlanta's burgers are VERY good, as anyone who has read this blog knows. However, I haven't found a local establishment that can topple Bartley's in Boston just yet!

SIMON PEARCE

She says:
If you like to dine while looking out over waterfalls, then Simon Pearce Restaurant in Quechee, Vermont is for you. Set inside an old mill, the restaurant is designed such that the dining room literally juts out over a waterfall. From where I sat I could peer out the window and watch a roaring river gush over the rocky edge, with huge icicles clinging to the boulders below the falls. With such an impressive scene below me, I’m not sure I made for great dinner conversation!

The mill also serves as a showcase for Simon Pearce’s famous glassware. All the plates, cutlery, and glasses are made in the workshops below and can be conveniently purchased for outrageous prices in the spacious gift shop.

He says:
Simon Pierce is pretty much considered THE restaurant in the Upper Valley – it’s where well-heeled Vermonters go for anniversaries and graduation dinners – and the staff takes its job seriously. The service is fairly impeccable. When we asked for a window seat, they asked us to wait 5 minutes and then provided us with a gorgeous view of the waterfall. Whenever I looked up for our waitress, she was there within seconds. If only all restaurants trained their staff at Simon Pierce!

As for the food, it’s certainly a notch or two above anything else in the area. The mushroom chevre strudel is a wonderful appetizer. The “exotic” mushrooms are incredibly bold, their flavor enhanced by a rich sauce infused with truffle oil, and the many layers of baked phyllo dough provide an airy crunch. The salad of seasonal greens with warm goat cheese is good but not much better than what you could make at home.

She says:
We also shared two entrees. Sitting atop a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes, the horseradish encrusted cod was done extremely well, with just a slight crustiness enveloping the tender fish. It was piled high with thinly shredded leeks, which were fried to a delightful crisp, reminding me a bit of tempura.

He says:
I think I liked the cod even more than Uptown Girl … after she finished her portion it only took me a few minutes to wipe the plate clean!

She says:
Not that that’s a big surprise…

The second entrée – ravioli filled with gorgonzola, walnuts, and apple – was a disappointment. The home-made pasta was too thick, and the sharpness of the gorgonzola overwhelmed any other flavors. I tasted no apple whatsoever. On a positive note, I was worried that the three-cheese fondue sauce that it came would be too thick and oily, but it was nice and light.

He says:
The three chocolate bread pudding we ordered for dessert seemed tailor-made for us, since Uptown Girl loves chocolate and I love bread pudding. While she felt it wasn’t chocolatey enough to fulfill its role as the sole chocolate item on the menu, I thought it was very good. The bread pudding had the perfect texture, not too soft and not too firm, and for me the amount of chocolate was spot on.

We say:
If you find yourself anywhere near Quechee, Vermont, it’s definitely worth stopping for a scenic meal at Simon Pearce. The food isn’t revolutionary, but it is well-executed for the most part.



Simon Pearce Restaurant
1760 Quechee Main Street, Quechee VT
http://www.simonpearce.com/CSTM_restaurantsQuechee1.aspx

NYC DESSERT EXTRAVAGANZA

While in NYC, we sampled three of the trendiest dessert spots in town to see if the collective hype is warranted. And so we waited 30+ minutes for cupcakes, sampled a healthy ice-cream substitute, and paid top-dollar for rice pudding. Here is what we decided…

MAGNOLIA BAKERY

She says:
This was my second visit to Magnolia, the cupcake shop made famous by “Sex and the City” and the SNL rap skit “Lazy Sunday,” so I already knew it was worth the half-hour wait. The chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting ($2.00) are the best store-made cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. The chocolate cake is super moist and fluffy, and the chocolate frosting is densely rich and chocolaty. It’s what all chocolate cake should aspire to be.

He says:
As a native New Yorker and cupcake lover, I’ve been to Magnolia several times and I concur that it sells the best store-bought cupcakes around. I ordered the vanilla and the “special” red velvet cupcakes. Uptown Girl thought the vanilla cupcakes lacked the moist fluffiness of the chocolate ones, and I have to agree. We also agreed that the red velvet cupcakes are overly sweet and flavorless, and at the “special” price of $2.50 I strongly recommend passing on them.

I do wish that Magnolia would manage the crowds better, though. The line to get in always winds around the corner and moves at a snail’s pace, and once you’re in the tiny shop you have to press your way to the cupcake tray and then to the cash register.

Ah, the price we pay for great cupcakes!

We say:



Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014
http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/

PINKBERRY

He says:
If you watch MTV’s “The Hills,” then you might remember a scene in Season 2 when Lauren and one of her fab friends go to Pinkberry and have the following conversation:

Lauren: Oh. My. God. This is so good!
Friend: So good!
Lauren: I know. So good!
Friend: So good!

This inanity goes on for another 20 seconds, but you get the point. Pinkberry is SO good. In fact, it’s so good that one of my best friends in LA told me that there are traffic jams and parking problems wherever Pinkberry shops are located.

What is Pinkberry, you may ask? It’s all-natural frozen yogurt made without preservatives or excess sugar, served with healthy toppings like fresh raspberries, pomegranate seeds, granola, shredded coconut, etc. At Pinkberry, fat is out; thin is in.

And the verdict? I like it. The frozen yogurt actually tastes like yogurt... that is, slightly tart and light, instead of those ultra-rich, ultra-sweet yogurts you find in cafeteria dispensers. The yogurt acts as a blank canvas to emphasize the quality of their toppings, in my case delicious pomegranate seeds and white chocolate chips. I still prefer high quality gelato to Pinkberry, but I’ll take this healthy yogurt over Ben & Jerry’s any day.

She says:
Not me. I found the cup of tart, barely sweet frozen yogurt piled high with raspberries seriously out of place. This was not the decadent (and fattening) dessert that I was hoping to end my evening with. In fact, even though I had chosen to add the least healthy topping, Oreo cookie crumbles, this “dessert” tasted like it was sucking calories OUT of me. I like the idea of it – the healthiness, the focus on fresh, organic ingredients – but where Pinkberry belongs is on the breakfast table, or maybe at an LA Fitness snack bar. To me it’s not a dessert. I apologize to all the Pinkberry fans out there, but the healthy dessert thing just isn't my style.

We say:



Pinkberry
41 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 (and several other locations)
www.pinkberry.com

RICE TO RICHES

She says:
If you like rice pudding, Rice to Riches is the place for you. It may be a passing trend, but it’s certainly innovative. There are about 20 different flavors of rice pudding to choose from, and catchy flavors at that. How could you resist a bowl full of “Secret Life of Pumpkin,” “Sex, Drugs and Rocky Road,” or “Fluent in French Toast” rice pudding? On top of that (literally) comes a slew of toppings… toasted coconut, mixed nuts, even jelly! It’s all up to you.

(photo from www.liketocook.com)

He says:
We shared the “Stubborn Banana,” which came accented with a bit of coconut. Very “banana-ey” and very rich. What I don’t like about this place is the lack of recycling. Rice to Riches serves its rice pudding on funky plastic dishes that look like colored flying saucers, but they don’t offer a bin to recycle them. In fact, I don’t think the plastic is even recyclable. I can imagine with the number of customers coming every minute that the shop generates hundreds of pounds of unnecessary garbage a day. Definitely not cool.

We say:



Rice to Riches
37 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
www.ricetoriches.com