KYMA

He says:
Everything about Kyma is boring and white. Take the décor of this Buckhead dining mainstay. Traditional white linens cover every table of the dining room without offering an ounce of personality. Or take its well-heeled patrons. On a recent Friday night, the entire restaurant was filled wall to wall with old white people. It’s hard to find such a homogeneous crowd in a multicultural city like Atlanta, but hey, there you go! Finally, take my $30 entrée of dorado. Lightly sautéed in butter and garnished with a few capers, this soggy white fish is average-tasting at best. At worst, it’s an awful value.

She says:
That’s not the only mediocre thing at Kyma. For a Greek eatery that specializes in seafood, there is a surprisingly lack of variety on the menu in terms of preparation – all filets come lightly buttered with capers. Apparently you are supposed to glean knowledge from descriptions like “clean” and “moist” to choose your fish dish. We went the more challenging route and chose our dishes based on the sustainability of the fish, using our handy sustainable seafood pocket guides. This narrowed our options down to a measly two choices.

The barramundi does indeed have a “clean mild flavor” and is “flaky” compared to the slight chewiness of Downtown Boy’s dorado. So it’s a nice, fresh-tasting, boring white fish. For $30 you’d think they would add a serving of saffron rice, or roasted potatoes, or something to the plate (something besides the slop of indecipherable wilted greens, that is).

If I went back to Kyma, I’d probably focus on the appetizers, as they fare much better. The wood-grilled octopus is extremely tender and tasty, and the spanakopita has a fantastic flaky crust, though the interior is too salty.

He says:
Kyma handles its red meat decently well. Their lamb shank is plenty big, and the slow-braised meat slides right off the bone. The wood-grilled lamb chops have a decent gaminess, but the preparation is inconsistent. One of the chops I tried was cooked medium while the one right next to it was rare.

As for Kyma’s dessert list, well, you guessed it … it’s boring.

We say:
Kyma is the worst kind of bore – an expensive one.



Kyma
3085 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30305
http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/index2.html

ACME OYSTER HOUSE

He says:
Before heading to New Orleans, I consulted several online sites seeking the best cheap eats in the city. Apparently so did every other tourist visiting the Big Easy, which explains why the line outside Acme Oyster Company stretched all the way down the block. It was a truly random crowd, as pretentious East Coasters in bug-eyed sunglasses mixed uneasily with good old boys sporting eyepatches (no joke). Ah, the price we pay for inexpensive seafood!

And in the end, was the thirty minute worth it? In a word, no. Like most eateries that cater to gullible tourists who believe everything they read on the internets, Acme Oyster Company does the bare minimum to stay in business.

My fried peace maker po-boy was a mixed bag. Half the sandwich came with fried shrimp as rubbery as pencil erasers. The fried oyster side was much better, creamy and crunchy in all the right ways. The Tabasco-infused mayo added a welcome bite, though it couldn’t raise this sandwich from mediocrity.

She says:
Eager for a traditional Creole dish, I opted for the gumbo. Bland, bland, bland. Isn’t Creole cuisine supposed to be fiery? The shrimp were all small and insipid, and the rest of the soup just tasted like indistinct brown gravy.

Downtown Boy and I also shared a side of jambalaya, which thankfully did have some kick. Isn’t it sad when a bowl of rice becomes the highlight of a meal?

We say:
You see that long line of people waiting to get inside the Acme Oyster House? Don't join them.




Acme Oyster House
724 Iberville Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
http://www.acmeoyster.com/

PIERRE MASPERO'S

She says:
After being duped into eating lunch at the non-original, name-stealing Café Maspero, we discovered the real Maspero’s around the corner… the one with the really great food for a great price.

Or did we?

The Original Pierre Maspero’s is a dark, pub-like space with brick walls and tightly-packed wooden tables. It would have been charming if we hadn’t spent our entire meal shooing flying termites off our table and, at times, ourselves. While Pierre Maspero’s can’t be blamed for termite spawning season, wiping alates from your clothes simply doesn’t make for a pleasant dining experience.

At least we were about to get some really great food at a great price. Right?

Wrong. We began with the crab cakes. Unfortunately they lacked any true crabby flavor, and the texture was also off, as the cakes fell apart with a touch of the fork.

He says:
The Cochon De Lait sounded terrific on the menu (a po boy of slow-roasted pork loin with garlic and jalapenos) but turned out terrifically boring. I didn’t detect any garlic or jalapenos; even worse, I could not taste the pork. Biting into this sandwich was like eating … nothing.

She says:
I chose one of the traditional Cajun dishes Maspero’s highlighted as a specialty, the crawfish Pierre pasta. The fettucine pasta tossed with crawfish tails and a cream sauce was a lesson in blandness. I don’t think I could prepare pasta this tasteless if I tried! When a termite finally flew straight into my food, I shrugged and let it wallow in the pasta’s misery. I’d had enough.

We say:
Maybe there’s yet another Maspero’s hidden somewhere in the French Quarter, that reclusive, fantastical gem with great food at a great price. It is not Pierre Maspero’s.




Pierre Maspero’s
440 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130
http://www.pierremasperosrestaurant.com/

VINOCITY KIRKWOOD

He says:
The bandstand was empty. So were most of the tables. The dim, cavernous dining area could easily accommodate two hundred people, but on Saturday morning it only boasted two, both drearily sipping cups of coffee. On the television behind the bar, a woman in an infomerical was demonstrating how to use gallons of OJ and full laundry baskets to work out. Our waiter’s “bedhead” hair didn’t look artfully coiffed. In fact, it looked like he’d just woken up, rolled off the futon, and was looking for his pants. At any second we expected a janitor to come down the aisle, pushing along some red plastic party cups with his broom.

“This place looks like a hangover,” said Uptown Girl.

I couldn’t agree more. When we first reviewed Vinocity in 2007, it had a better location and higher ambitions. Its menu was all over the place, but at least it tried.

In contrast, I can't help but feel that Vinocity Kirkwood has given up. The new brunch menu contains several cutting edge dishes with names like “French Toast,” “Belgian Waffles,” and “Veggie Omelet.” Wow, really?! An omelet with vegetables in it? And $13 for a bagel & lox? Gee, thanks!

She says:
To be fair, Vinocity's main focus is on lunch and dinner, not brunch. My guess is that the addition of a weekend brunch menu is an attempt to turn an extra buck. But breaking into Atlanta's robust brunch scene is a hopeless endeavor with such a boring, overpriced menu and cheerless space.

As for the food... I can't complain about my crab cake benedict. The poached eggs jiggled amiably over two large and acceptably crabby patties. What I can (and did) complain about was the side of fruit, a pile of melon chunks which had gone rancid. When I handed the fruit back to our waiter, he agreed, saying "Yeah, that looks pretty bad." I suppose he was too busy wiping the sleep from his eyes to notice their disgusting condition earlier.

He says:
I ordered the special of the day, an omelet with polish keilbasa, red pepper, and feta cheese, mostly because it was the only item on the menu I’d never cooked before myself. As it turns out, I could have done better. The eggs were overcooked, almost rubbery, and there wasn’t enough pepper or cheese to balance the heaviness of the sausage.

We say:
If you’re going to serve brunch, shouldn’t you try to give a damn?




Vinocity Kirkwood
1963 Hosea Williams Drive, Atlanta, GA 30317
http://www.vinocitywinebar.com/

GEORGE'S BAR & RESTAURANT

He says:
When talk of the best burger in Atlanta pops up, the Vortex and the Earl are frequently mentioned. Hence when someone recently named George’s in Virginia Highlands as the best around, I raised an eyebrow. Was it true? Could the tastiest burger in a city renowned for its burgers be located less than a mile away from our house?

As it turns out, not so much.

The chili cheeseburger I ordered was messy and yummy alright, but it fails to reach the sublime heights of its burger brethren. The beef patty wasn’t very juicy or fatty. The chili tasted generic. This is not to say the burger isn’t good, because it is. In fact, it’s very good. It’s simply not great.

I did enjoy their mozzarella sticks, which are of the supermarket freezer variety I love so much.

She says:
Unfortunately, my black bean burger wasn’t up to snuff. Like most black bean burgers it was pretty mushy, and although the waitress warned me it was spicy, it was really bland. One of our friends also tried the veggie burger and said that it was mushy too.

Besides the disappointing veggie options, George’s other fatal flaw is that they don’t serve milkshakes, which is a big disappointment at a burger joint. That said, their onion rings were awesome… large, fat rings coated in just the right amount of crisp batter.

We say:
George’s might stand out in a city with a less awesome burger scene, but in Atlanta it’s just a typical burger joint.

He says:



She says:



George’s Bar and Restaurant
1041 N. Highland Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
http://georgesbarandrestaurant.com/

DESI SPICE

She says:
We should have known that it would be too good to be true to have a fantastic Indian restaurant next door to the nearby Midtown Art Cinema. We’ve walked past Desi Spice dozens of times on the way to the movies without even noticing it, but we recently stopped by with my brother and his wife one night before a show. After all, you never know when there might be a hidden gem right in your own backyard. As it turns out, though, it couldn’t have been much worse.

He says:
Dinner got off to a shaky start when I ordered a mango lassi that was so sickeningly sweet that I couldn’t finish it. It was like drinking honey.

Our group split the vegetarian sampler for four, which includes samosas, fried onions, dal, saag paneer, two types of vegetable curry, naan, and rice. The samosas were solid though they left a bit to be desired. The outer pastry was nice and thick, but the potato and peas within didn’t stand out in any way.

The rest of the entrees in the sampler suffered from a fatal flaw – the complete absence of any spice. This is all the more peculiar since “spice” is in the name of the restaurant. It seems that Desi has so thoroughly Americanized its dishes that this “Indian” cuisine no longer tastes Indian. In fact, it doesn’t taste like anything at all.

She says:
Agreed. The dal was the only edible dish, probably because it’s the only dish you wouldn’t expect to be spicy. The other dishes – a vegetable curry, sag paneer, and some other forgettable dish with veggies – were completely bland. Coupled with the fact that most of the veggies (and the paneer) were overcooked, this meal could have been repackaged and sold as baby food.

As we were leaving, my sister-in-law took another look at the menu. At the bottom it read “If you like spice, please tell your waiter.” Wait a second… Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Isn’t Indian food supposed to have some kick?

We say:
Desi “Spice” is unfortunately lacking.




Desi Spice
931 Monroe Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
http://www.desispiceatl.com/

BAY LEAVES

She says:

I don’t think the future is bright for Bay Leaves. We visited on a Thursday evening with a Creative Loafing coupon in hand and ended up being the only ones there during our entire meal. This doesn’t bode well for the Little Five eatery, which only opened in May. I can’t say that I will feel any great loss if the restaurant ends up closing, but there may be some disappointed vegetarians out there, if only because their options are few and far between in this meat-loving town.

Bay Leaves’ menu focuses largely on vegetarian items and meat that comes from local, organic animals. (There’s also quite a few fish choices, but I forgot to see if they were sustainable options.) As for the cuisine itself… I’m not sure what’s going on. The menu is supposedly “international fusion” but seems to be primarily a mélange of Thai and American – an odd combination, particularly in a city so laden with good Thai food. Downtown Boy and I agree that a chef should pick one cuisine and do it well, rather than try to please the masses with multiple cuisines.

Our meal started off well, with the Bay Leaves’ Volcano appetizer, which consisted of pita bread topped with sautéed mushrooms, basil, spinach, tomatoes, and fake meat. A drizzle of creamy, chipotle dressing brought it all together. It’s not rocket-science but it tasted good.

He says:
The fish sandwich I ordered was one of the sadder things I’ve seen in Atlanta. The grilled tilapia was passable, but what happened to the “pesto dressing” the menu mentioned? My sandwich only came with lettuce and tomatoes. And where was the “fresh ciabatta bread”? The tiny fillet of tilapia came between 2 slices of supermarket brown bread – and not the nice Pepperidge Farm 7-Grain bread, but the cheap, Home Pride 99-cent stuff.

Seriously, if I want to eat a sandwich like this I’d rather stay home and throw a can of sardines on Wonder Bread. The dish’s saving grace was the sweet potato fries, which were nice and crunchy.

She says:
On our very sweet waitress’s recommendation, I got the ginger chicken. I was eager to back Bay Leaves’ support of all-natural, wholesome, happy chickens, but the chunks of chicken didn’t taste very happy. In fact, they were a little dry. The chicken had been sautéed in soy sauce with bell peppers and LOTS of shredded ginger. The ginger was everywhere and could have used a lot more dicing. Overall, the dish was overwhelmingly gingery and easily something I could make at home.

He says:
For dessert we tried the fried ice cream, two large scoops of vanilla with a thick, doughy crust. The fried exterior was far thicker than I’ve seen in other restaurants, but I didn’t mind since deep-fried anything tends to be A-OK in my book.

She says:
I thought it was terrible. The fried dough on the outside was too thick and tasted slightly of rancid oil.

We say:
While we support Bay Leaves’ use of natural ingredients, we definitely do not support their mediocre cooking.





Bay Leaves
1138 Euclid Avenue, Atlanta GA 30307
http://www.rewardsnetwork.com/details.htm?merchantId=91891

SUGAR SWEET SUNSHINE

He says:
Let the cupcake wars begin! Magnolia threw down the gauntlet 12 years ago with its delicious $2 cupcakes, setting off a craze that has swept across the country and even infiltrated Atlanta in recent years. Few of Magnolia’s imitators have come close to the original, though. Too often their cupcakes are dry or airy, and the icing just not distinctive enough to justify their high prices.

But with Sugar Sweet Sunshine, we have a contender.

Unlike Magnolia, there is no half-hour line that wraps around the block. We walked right into SSS on a Monday afternoon and ordered our cupcakes and coffee, which is a good thing. Also unlike Magnolia, there are more than three flavors of cupcake. Actually, there are more like ten, and they look amazing. What to choose? The Sunshine, a yellow cupcake with vanilla buttercream? Or the Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting? Perhaps the Lemon Yummy, a lemon cake with lemon buttercream? It’s hard to decide because they all look and smell delicious.

From the first bite, it’s clear that SSS’s frosting is lighter than Magnolia’s and the cake less dense. I actually prefer this to the “heaviness” that accompanies Magnolia’s cupcakes. However, the flavored cupcakes are where Sugar Sweet Sunshine really takes flight. The pistachio cupcake was wonderful, the cake simultaneously rich yet not too sweet, with a pistachio current running through every bite. The vanilla frosting was sprinkled with crushed pistachio nuts for enhanced texture and flavor. Awesome. The strawberry cupcake was nearly as good, with fresh strawberry slices baked right into the moist cake.

She says:
Ok, step back. I may be incredibly biased, but the only valid way to assess a cupcake shop is through its chocolate cupcakes, or – to be generous – at the very least its chocolate-frosted vanilla cupcakes. Because what is a cupcake if it does not contain chocolate?

And so I sampled the Ooey Gooey, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate-almond buttercream frosting. My first complaint – the cupcake itself. It was barely chocolate. I don’t even think something that subtle should be allowed to call itself chocolate. Not to mention that the cake was lighter and drier than cake should be. And then there was the frosting, which was way more almond-y than chocolaty, and for a buttercream, it was certainly lacking in richness. Overall, there was nothing ooey or gooey about this “cupcake.”

After the disappointment of my cupcake, I did try a bite of Downtown Boy’s strawberry and pistachio cupcakes to see what he was raving about. My impression? Muffins. That’s right, these imposter cupcakes taste exactly like what they should be – muffins. Last time I checked, a muffin is not a cupcake.

He says:
For their range and expertise in cupcake flavors, I’m going to give the nod to Sugar Sweet Sunshine in this latest round of the cupcake wars.




She says:
Magnolia may only have 3 flavors, but they do cupcakes right – rich, moist, and chocolaty. Unlike Sugar Sweet Sunshine, where any true cupcake essence has been lost in the quest to diversify.




Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002
http://www.sugarsweetsunshine.com/

BHOJANIC

He says:
In the world of dashed hopes, there are letdowns, and then there are letdowns. I am sorry to report that Bhojanic falls into the second category, which is unfortunate because I really want to like – and recommend – this north Indian restaurant. Heaven knows Atlanta needs some good South Asian food.

Earlier this year Uptown Girl and I took Indian cooking classes at Cooks Warehouse with Archna Becker, and after 3 hours of crazily running around the communal kitchen trying to keep pace with Archna’s madcap exuberance, we feasted on some of the freshest and best Indian cooking I’d ever had. At the end of the meal, Archna told us to visit her family’s restaurant, Bhojanic, where the food was even better than what we’d just tasted. Needless to say, we were thrilled to drive over to Decatur to try the finest Indian cuisine in Atlanta!

She says:
At Bhojanic, you won’t find the garish decorations typical of Indian restaurants; instead, live jazz, colorful décor, and a front patio attempt to make the dining experience a bit more modish. Happy in our outdoor seats, we so wanted to love Bhojanic!

We started with the samosa chat, which was a potato samosa topped with yogurt, tamarind chutney and mint chutney. Although the samosa was on the bland side, the chutneys and yogurt added an interesting tangy and sour relish. We also tried the daal canai (lentil of the day); it tasted like a watery bowl of unflavored black beans and so we left it mostly untouched.

For entrees, rather than eating family style, you create your own platter and pay according to how many meat and vegetable dishes you choose from the menu of specials. Downtown Boy and I both got the punjabi, which included one meat dish and one vegetable dish, along with rice pullao, chapati, pappadam, raita, and salad. For the meat, we both ordered the chicken tikka masala, remembering how scrumptious this dish turned out during our cooking class. Unfortunately, Bhojanic’s version wasn’t nearly as good as Archna’s. The chicken that was so fresh and spicy the first time was now goopy and tired. As for my veggies, the okra I ordered was so salty that it was inedible. Fortunately, the waiter had accidentally delivered the wrong platter, so I also ended up with chickpeas, which turned out to be the best dish of the night.

He says:
I agree with Uptown Girl. Overall, the food was underwhelming in terms of flavor. In fact, I don’t even remember much about my side items, they were so boring. Another oddity was that the meal was served on a stainless steel tray, like something you’d see in the mess hall of the Citadel.

After such a disappointing appetizer and dinner, Uptown Girl and I opted to skip dessert. Can you blame us?

We say:
Alas, the search for great Indian in Atlanta continues …



Bhojanic
1363 Clairmont Road, Decatur,GA 30033
http://www.bhojanic.com/

OSTERIA 832

She says:
Osteria 832 is the type of place I would go back to again and again. It’s not that the food is amazing – we’ve certainly eaten at restaurants of higher caliber – but the Italian fare is good enough, and much more affordable than the usual suspects. The setting is pleasant and low-key… the type of place that you feel comfortable ordering a glass of wine while wearing sneakers. From my experience, it’s pretty hard to find a dinner spot in Atlanta that meets these criteria (good food, casual neighborhood setting, and affordable) that isn’t a burger joint, BBQ shack, or Thai restaurant.

Be warned: part of that casualness is a no-reservations policy, which makes for long lines on weekends. We arrived at Osteria around 6:00 pm with the kid-toting crowd, and only had to wait about 15 minutes. But by 7:00, the bar was packed with hungry people eyeing our table.

He says:
We wanted some Italian comfort food, so we started dinner off with fried calamari. The squid was perfectly fried, chewy but not too rubbery. For my entrée, I went with the Bascaiola – shell pasta in a cream sauce with pancetta, mushrooms, peas, and plenty of parmigiano. I was hoping for the pancetta to come through more strongly, as it is one of my favorite cured meats, but it was barely indistinguishable from regular ham. The creaminess of the sauce also overwhelmed the mushrooms and peas, but for a filling $9 platter, it’s not bad.

She says:
My dish, Melanzane alla Parmigiana, was comprised of enormous slices of eggplant covered with mozarrella, along with a bed of spaghetti covered with Osteria’s delicious pomodoro sauce. It’s perfect for the eggplant lover, and with slivers of sautéed garlic sprinkled throughout the dish, for the garlic lover as well.

For dessert I had the special – a crepe filled with caramelized banana and drizzled with nutella. It was ok, but I found the banana filling to be too sweet and the nutella on the sparse side.

He says:
The mascarpone cheesecake was both less sweet and denser than regular cheesecake, which I appreciated, but overall I would say the dessert was just average.

We say:
Judging from the crowds, we’re pretty sure everyone in the Highlands has figured out Osteria’s secret – good eats without a lot of fuss. We’re happy that we did too.




Update:
Uptown Girl wrote in our initial review of Osteria 832 that she would go back again and again. So we did, and now we’ve changed our minds. On our second visit, the pomodoro and ricotta appetizer had the sophistication of Pizza Hut breadsticks. In fact, that’s exactly what it was: a few sticks of cold bread to dip into tomato sauce. The pomodoro entrée (spaghetti in a basic tomato sauce) was so salty as to be nearly inedible. Before we labeled Osteria 832 as “Good eats without a lot of fuss.” Our recommendation to the kitchen: a little more fuss may be in order when it comes to the food.




Osteria 832
832 North Highland Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30306
http://www.osteria832.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

PANAHAR

She says:
It seems as though everyone in Atlanta either loves or hates Panahar. Reviews on CitySearch range from calling the Bangladeshi restaurant “homey” and “one of the best restaurants in Atlanta” to warning: “If you or your parents are from the Indian subcontinent or ANYWHERE in South Asia (or just know authentic when you taste it) DO NOT GO HERE!!!” Similarly, reports on the service either tout it as incredibly attentive or excruciatingly slow.

First conclusion: the service is excruciatingly slow. We arrived on a Saturday evening around 8:00, assuming that a restaurant in a Buford Highway strip mall wouldn’t have a problem finding seats for two. Guess we assumed wrong. The owner chided us for not making reservations. But he also said he could seat us in 15 minutes. After 30 long minutes we were finally seated. (During this time we came to our second conclusion, that the irate CitySearch reviewer’s warning had in fact been heeded: there was no one of South Asian descent anywhere near this place.)

But Panahar’s service is also incredibly attentive. Almost to a flaw. The owner, Mirza, is a tad on the overbearing side, and, acting as host, waiter, and your new best friend, is hard to avoid. When I asked what type of sauce had come with our appetizer, he elaborately described exactly how the sauce was made, detailing each of the 10 or so ingredients. Later on, as we paid our bill, he presented us with a coupon and proceeded to explain no fewer than 6 times that it could be used unlimited times. This type of service can go either way – it’ll either make you feel right at home or slightly violated.

He says:
Personally, I’m offput by Mirza’s enthusiasm. The first time I ate at Panahar was a slow Wednesday evening when he hovered over our table, insisting we order mango lassi and lauding the deliciousness of his chicken curries. I find this strange since curries are where Panahar stumbles the most; all the ones I’ve tried are goopy and generic. On that first visit Mirza also insisted that we order the cheese naan (a truly horrendous suggestion by the way – slices of American cheese baked onto naan? WTF?!), and afterwards he stood over our table for a good 45 seconds grinning like a fool while we sampled it.

Fortunately I find Mirza handles certain dishes better than he does personal space. On Saturday we started with an appetizer plate of pakoras, chicken shingaara, and vegetable shingaara (shingaaras are similar to samosas). The chicken shingaara lacked real flavor, but the vegetable one had a tasty potato, pea, and herb stuffing with an outer shell fried to a pleasant crisp.

For the main course I ordered the chicken tikka, which comes sizzling on a cast iron pan with a generous helping of onions. Indian restaurants often over-grill their breast meat, leaving them dry and tough, but Panahar got it just right. The meat is seasoned as well as one can hope for, neither too mild nor too hot.

She says:
I was happy to see one of my favorite Indian dishes on the menu, Matar Paneer, which I had been craving for weeks. Although I’ve had better versions, I’ve also had far worse. The sauce was creamy and pleasantly seasoned, though it was a little heavy on the peas and light on the cheese.

We say:
Panahar’s food is nothing mind blowing, but since options for South Asian food are limited in Atlanta (and since we have a coupon we can use unlimited times), we might go back. After making reservations, of course.

She says:



He says:
Because of Mirza …



Panahar
3377 Buford Hwy. Suite 1060, Atlanta, GA 30329
http://www.panahar.com

JOHNNY'S PIZZA

He says:
I noted in a previous review that Atlanta has notoriously poor pizza, and our recent experience at Johnny’s Pizza did little to change my mind. It’s too bad, because downtown Decatur would be the perfect place to have a small, neighborhood pizzeria serving New York style slices.

In terms of décor, Johnny’s gets everything right. From the dingy lighting to the red Formica booths and retro shoot ’em up arcade games (1943!), everything about Johnny’s channels the old-school pizzerias I frequented when I was growing up in Brooklyn. Those places had balding Italian men with tomato sauce and grease smeared across their white shirts, and the slices they served were thin, crisp, and piping hot. Johnny’s has a very similar vibe to those pizza parlors of yesteryear, but that’s where any similarity ends.

The plain pizza we ordered at Johnny’s came out smothered with goopy cheese, throwing off the balance required of a good slice. The crust was thin, but incredibly doughy and soft, making it nearly impossible to lift without the slice drooping all over itself. The sauce was run-of-the-mill, and too much dripped down onto the plate.

She says:
My impression… floppy, greasy, and far too cheesy. It’s not a surprise either, given that Johnny’s Pizza is a chain with 41 locations in Atlanta alone.

We say:
You call this New York pizza? Fugghedaboutit!



Johnny's Pizzeria
340 Church Street, Decatur, GA 30030
http://www.johnnyspizza.com/main.asp

SAGE

He says:
Everything about Sage is rather innocuous. It’s agreeably situated at the back of Decatur Square among a row of other nondescript restaurants. The “upscale casual” interior, full of spacious booths and polished hardwood floors, aims neither to excite nor to offend. The waiters are friendly and competent. And yet, for some reason, Sage’s lack of personality annoys me. I feel this bistro is only a couple of quirky road signs short of becoming an Applebee’s.

The restaurant’s blandness persists right down to the lackluster food. The chicken piccata is tender but completely tasteless, the bold zing of lemon and capers that define a piccata sauce notably absent. The orzo pasta is similarly devoid of any flavor; it’s like munching on air.

She says:
The vegetable soufflé – roasted vegetables and pine nuts stuffed inside a puff pastry – isn’t as bland, thanks to the zesty roasted red pepper coulis that accompanies it. Regardless, it isn’t the most exciting or well-prepared dish I’ve had of late.

We say:
If you’re looking for exciting and exceptional dishes in Decatur … look elsewhere.




Sage
121 Sycamore Street, Decatur, Georgia 30033
http://www.thebistros.com/sage_home.htm

SAVANNAH EATERIES

We say:
While visiting Savannah, we had the challenge of trying to find a few decent restaurants. You can see how much success we had at the city’s most well-known eatery, The Lady & Sons. Our remaining Savannah dining experiences were not as noteworthy, but we wanted to say a few words for the benefit of anyone who might be visiting Savannah in the future. At least you’ll know what to avoid.

Café Ambrosia
Café Ambrosia is a charming bistro with a European feel. It’s the perfect place to take a good book, grab one of the big plush chairs that are scattered around the café, and spend an afternoon sipping a glass of wine while avoiding the hoards of tourists roaming up and down River Street.

The grilled panini with pesto and roasted red pepper is straightforward but satisfying. The same can be said for the spring greens salad with goat cheese, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries. The raspberry crumble tart we had for dessert was lighter than expected, and thankfully not as sweet as many fruit tarts tend to be.



Café Ambrosia
202 East Broughton Street, Savannah, GA 31401


The Shrimp Factory
When you dine at a place named “The Shrimp Factory” you tend to lower your expectations. Maybe it’s the River Street location, right in tourist central. Or maybe it’s the cheesy nautical décor. The Shrimp Factory doesn’t really stand out in any way.

The “Crab-wich” has crabmeat in a mornay cheese sauce served on an English muffin with melted cheddar. The two cheeses make the sandwich a soggy mess, more gooey than crabby. The Shrimp Fantail Barbecue was better, though it was simply eight skewered shrimp coated in barbecue sauce and served over rice. Ho-hum dining at a ho-hum restaurant.



The Shrimp Factory
313 East River Street, Savannah, GA 31401
http://www.theshrimpfactory.com/home


Café at City Market
For the worst food and service in downtown Savannah, you must go to the Café at City Market. The ineptitude of this restaurant borders on the absurd. Two couples next to us left early because their server never actually served them. Our waiter, who seemed to be in a restaurant for the first time in his life, forgot our cutlery and our orders, and eventually overcharged us as well. On Sunday night, the café was out of pizza, cheeseburgers, and grilled chicken. After we ordered the salmon and asparagus fettuccine, our waiter told us the kitchen had run out of asparagus, but they could substitute it with “mixed vegetables.” (That’s code for carrots and broccoli). Instead we replaced it with a chicken salad sandwich that could have come pre-wrapped at 7-11. It was supposed to be accompanied by a cup of soup, but either a) the waiter forgot it or b) the kitchen ran out of it. It didn’t matter because it probably sucked anyway. The chicken cordon bleu was wrapped in a rubbery pastry and floated in a “cream sauce” that was actually just reheated half and half. Needless to say, we didn’t stick around for dessert.

This place gives tourist traps a bad name.



Café at City Market
224 West Saint Julian St, Savannah, GA 31401
http://www.savannahcitymarket.com/cafe/index.html


Gryphon Tea Room

Nestled among gorgeous Georgian style buildings and kiddy corner to one of Savannah’s many verdant squares, the Gryphon Tea Room is a beautiful café in a beautiful setting. Natural light beams in through the enormous windows, giving the café an airiness that contrasts with the dark wood trim. An enormous chandelier hangs down from the stained-glass ceiling dome while bright orange chairs provide a hip contrast to the otherwise classical decor. Can you tell that we love the look of this place?

The menu is simple but sufficient. The scones are warm and sweet, served with fresh cream and a dish of sliced fruit. And the ham sandwich comes with thick hunks of warm, buttery brie, a terrific combination. The coffee could be better though; perhaps we should have stuck with the tea.



Gryphon Tea Room
337 Bull Street, Savannah GA, 31402