I have lots of eating to catch you up on. Since I am knocked up and super lazy, Moon and I have been eating out a lot – maybe *too* much. I was going through my phone today and had a “holy shit I need to write about these meals now” moment. Here are some nibbles for you in case you’re hungry for ideas or just in the mood for a little iPhone food porn.

While Moon’s brother was living here (he works on a popular television show that was filming here for six months), Miller Union became one of his favorite haunts. So, it was only fitting we take him there for his last meal in Atlanta. Chef Steven Satterfield and team did not disappoint.

Homemade charcuterie platter. Note the “duck jelly” at the bottom right.  It was a big win with the table.

My shrimp boil.

One of chef Pamela Moxley’s ridiculous new desserts. Specifically, the upside-down blueberry cake.

Tom Maicon of Food & Beer (formerly Atlanta Cuisine) recently wrote about Franco’s Italian Tavern and gave its pizza high marks. Since my search for New York style Pizza is never-ending in Atlanta, I went up one weekend and also used it as an excuse to get some BB’s bagels. The menu is quite large, but we focused on pizza-mainly a NY Style and a classic Italian pizza. The difference, from what we could tell, being the cheese.

NY-style

NY-style upskirt

Margherita

Margherita upskirt.

Verdict: Good crust texture and flavor. Sauce very bright on both pies. Biggest problem was both pies were not seasoned so none of the flavors popped. Not a bad pie if you live nearby, but Verra-Zanno still reigns supreme for NY-Style pizza. What else you got, Atlanta?

Smashburger is rapidly expanding all over Atlanta. A location recently opened near my house so I thought I’d give it a go one day for a quick lunch. I went super basic and got a cheeseburger and fries.

Before I assembled.

Afterwards.

Verdict: My expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of the food. Good, soft bun. Well seasoned meat that tasted fresh. Even the fries were good. All in all, not a bad addition to the area although I would still choose Five Guys over it. I will, however, be returning.

A lot of my friends are crazy for One Eared Stag so I went by to see what the story is. In short, the menu is inventive with some fun things to try, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in the execution of the dishes (the squid in my fish stew was a bit undercooked) and service can be very very odd. I also found the vibe very strange. Maybe because little has changed since it was Shaun’s? There was, however, one dish that knocked.my.socks.off.

This was the best strawberry shortcake I have ever had. No joke. The biscuit was salty, not too sweet, and super flaky. The strawberries were also perfectly tart so the dish wasn’t a cloying sugar bomb as many are. Ditto for the whipped cream. I need to get back here for this dessert. Amazing.

I have been to No. 246 twice since it opened. Once for dinner and again for lunch.

My dinner was exceptional with the agnolotti with corn and mushrooms being the standout. My husband’s braised rabbit pasta was also very good. I really enjoyed the toasts (pictured above) that were fun even if they weren’t perfectly prepared. My lunch was just aight. My porchetta sandwich was a bit salty, the jus tasted super fatty, and the fries – while handcut and tasty – lukewarm. Still developing although I am really enjoying the menu and space. The noise level, however, had me hoarse at the end of dinner because my talkative self had to practically shout to be heard.

The funny thing about pregnancy is that you wake up in the morning with a craving and you MUST eat that NOW. Today, it is a cheesesteak from Roy’s in Marietta. The other day it was a Medio Dia from Super Pan. Still one of my favorite sammiches in Atlanta. Just look at this beauty.

Reopening a restaurant with a new owner and chef while keeping the same name, look, and style of cuisine is a risky proposition no matter where you fall on the dining spectrum. That’s exactly what the owner of the “new” Cafe 101 (5412 Buford Highway, Doraville, 770-458-8399) has done. Once the darling of critics and food lovers alike, the old Cafe 101 — whose reviews still grace the restaurant’s entrance — received a less-than-stellar health inspection score and, after months of decreased quality, closed. The new Cafe 101 is led by a Taiwanese chef/owner who hails from Los Angeles. Though much of the menu seems familiar — including the handful of Szechuan dishes — this incarnation’s energy has clearly been renewed.

The smaller plates hold the most interest. One such dish, the Taiwanese-style fried chicken, is virtuously greaseless with bite-sized pieces of white- and dark-meat chicken encased in a batter as light as tempura and fried to a beautiful crisp. A little dish of ground chili with the tiniest hint of smoke arrives alongside the chicken to scatter on for a little heat. Add it in increments or you’ll be coughing for a good five minutes. Pork wontons swimming in a sour-and-spicy bowl of sauce are tender, fresh-tasting and remain intact when plucked from the small bowl with chopsticks. Less successful or desirable dishes like the “green pea cake” — a gelatinous white substance made, chilled and formed into cubes, then draped in a spicy sauce — sound interesting enough, but fall flat.

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I’ve never really understood how Vietnamese could be anyone’s favorite Asian cuisine. Sure, I always loved the standards — cha gio (fried spring rolls), bun, pho and green papaya salad — but, given the choice, I’d rather eat Korean or Japanese. That all changed the minute I experienced the expertly prepared wonders featured on Nam Phuong’s enormous 12-page menu. Beyond the nuoc cham (fish sauce-based dipping sauce), are more specialties and textures than I could have imagined. The only downside was the Norcross location, so you can imagine my recent excitement when I learned that another Nam Phuong was opening on Buford Highway.

After several stalkerish drive-bys, I found that the second Nam Phuong Restaurant (4051 Buford Highway, 404-633-2400. www.namphuongatlanta.com) had opened just across the street from Fiesta Plaza, smack-dab in the middle of Buford Highway’s unofficial Little Vietnam. The new, impeccably clean location greets you with a shiny new sign, leather-bound menus, and servers who operate with the same sense of professionalism and pride as the original — the mark of owners Tieng and David Nguyen’s extreme attention to detail.

And I’m happy to report that the food is even better here. After years of many sad cha gio, I’ve finally found a version worthy of the indulgence. Instead of being tough and greasy, these spring rolls are light and flaky with juicy ground-pork interiors. Within the menu’s “street food” section are specialties not often found in our many pho parlors, including immense crepes (banh xeo) made with rice flour, water and turmeric powder, then fried and filled with shrimp, slices of roast pork and mounds of bean sprouts.

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We went to the newly opened Raku Ramen + Tonkatsu, which is located next to the Super H Mart on Pleasant Hill. Being a ramen-otaku, I was super excited to eat there (especially considered the lovefest happening on other Atlanta food blogs), but our meal fell incredibly short of my expectations. Scattered service–like my husband’s ramen just never arriving.

Weak and watery broths across the board.

My ramen.

Moon junior’s ramen.

Thick tonkatsu with no flavor.

The dumplings were the only redeeming part of our entire meal. I’m sad to report that, as of today, this is not a destination. I was actually so dissatisfied with my meal that I went to Dan Moo Ji afterwards to grab some spicy rice cakes. Win.

We visited Kaleidoscope Bistro after reading a very favorable review by Christiane Lauterbach, the only person whose advice I follow when it comes to restaurants. Seriously, the woman is a goddess. I was especially intrigued by her mention of the incredible burger (big surprise). Before the burger, a little ambiance.

Berkshire pork rinds. Good form.

Really good chicken wings made with Springer Mountain Chicken and a homemade sauce that was kick-ass. I love the smattering of blue cheese just applied directly to the wings. Only downside was finding a few wings to be very undercooked.

My burger, which was honestly just okay. The meat tasted kind of like a hotel room service burger and was underseasoned. Definitely not splurge-worthy like Bocado or Five Guys. Yeah, I said Five Guys. Fries were kind of meh–definitely frozen.

Moon’s fish and chips, which he declared excellent.

Verdict: Not a destination, but I can see it why the restaurant appeals to people. It’s quirky spot with a nice patio and an interesting–although almost weirdly 90′s–menu. Can’t say I’ll be back though.

I’ve also been to Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand a few times recently, but I am holding my tongue for my review, which will come out in Creative Loafing eventually.

In other news, according to the Georgia Asian Times, Nam Phuong (one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants) is slated to open a second Atlanta Location on Buford Highway sometime in April. Moon also spotted a new Thai restaurant called Thai Pointe on BuHi, which we will be visiting as soon as they have had time to settle in.

Four pounds of chicken. Five pounds of meaty pork bones. Two stiff sheets of kombu. Two cups of dried shiitake mushrooms. A pound of Benton’s bacon. Massive hunks of roasted pork shoulder and pork belly. Countless other ingredients and 12 hours on my feet.

Obsession can make you do crazy things — like spending an entire day preparing a single dish that you know will never live up to your expectations. However, that’s precisely what I did a few weeks ago. I was chasing the elusive magic that is ramen.

I’m not referring to the prepackaged blocks of preservatives and sodium we all ate during college. Instead, I was aiming for the slow-cooked, complex, silky broth, crinkly noodles, delicate slices of pork, tangled slices of bamboo shoots, a piece of nori and sharp pops of fresh green onion. It’s not simply a meal, it’s something to get lost in.

Ramen is a dish so revered in Japan that there is a museum dedicated to its existence. Movie-making ramen-otakus (a Japanese word to describe someone with a particular obsessive interest) have even made the soup a central character in cult classics Tampopo and The Ramen Girl. The obsession has crossed oceans and landed with a slurp on U.S. soil. Ramen is no longer just an old-world dish made by masters. It’s a bona fide phenomenon.

My at-home ramen endeavor was inspired by chef David Chang’s Momofuku cookbook. Each time I passed the book as it collected dust on my shelf, I could swear Chang himself was daring me to try the recipe for his famed Momofuku ramen — a dish that, without fail, is the first thing I eat every time I visit New York. After announcing my plans to attempt the 18-page recipe, my friends, even those who would benefit from the spoils of my labor, told me I was crazy. Still, it was something I had to do. As expected — and despite my steadfast adherence to the recipe, procurement of great ingredients and diligent broth baby-sitting — I’m ashamed to report my at-home version did not resemble Chang’s or any other (good) ramen I’d ever eaten. I couldn’t help but feel like Brittany Murphy’s character in The Ramen Girl. After making the ramen exactly as she has learned, her master tells her it’s still not right. With tears forming in her eyes, she pleads with her master to tell her what she has done wrong and he gruffly gives her the reason: “No spirit.” Perhaps that was my missing ingredient.

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(Photo courtesy of James Camp)

El Pastor was a sketchy-looking, albeit beloved, Buford Highway restaurant and one of the only spots in Atlanta with a trompo, the revolving spit normally used for al pastor or shawarma. My father, who’s from Mexico City (the epicenter of tacos al pastor), loved it. I was never a fan, mostly because local health regulations required that they cook the meat after slicing it off the trompo. After much time as a fixture, El Pastor closed and a new restaurant, El Chisme Mexican Grill (5091 Buford Highway, Doraville), was born in its place. Much of the same ambiance-free décor remains, but there’s a fresh coat of garish neon paint in the hallway leading to the bathrooms. As one of my friends said, all they need to really induce an acid flashback is a black light. A disco ball hangs from the ceiling and it’s easy to imagine the tables being cleared out for a late-night dance party fueled by Mexican beer and a jukebox loaded with old-school Latin standards and, of course, Enrique Iglesias.

Non-Spanish speakers be forewarned: The staff speaks little English. However, our waitress — a friendly Mexican girl in her mid-20s — reminded me how enthusiastic service can enliven even the slowest of meals. Really, though, a long wait can be a reassuring sign. And how can you possibly fault a lone cook making everything from scratch?

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In a time when most Chinese restaurant menus resemble phone books, it sure is refreshing to see some focus. Te Wei Chinese Kabobs (5090 Buford Highway, Doraville. 770-455-8388) specializes in the Chinese Muslim street food “chuanr,” grilled and skewered kabobs. Most of the ingredients used — vegetables, seafood, meats, you name it — are seasoned with cumin, chili flakes, salt and sesame, and practically everything is covered in sesame seeds. Probably my favorite kabob at Te Wei is the “fish tofu.” It’s a rectangle of tofu brushed with a sweet sauce and cooked until it almost resembles a tofu doughnut with sweet, fishy undertones. Sounds weird, but trust me on this one.

What I thought was Chinese sausage on a stick is actually a regular American hot dog manipulated with a knife to look like a totem pole, and treated the same as the other meat kabobs. My dining companion, a hot-dog lover, proclaimed it “the most delicious hot dog ever.” It was. Huge chicken wings, also covered in the same sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds, remain juicy after their time on the grill. None of the kabobs costs more than $2. Some, like the quail eggs, chicken hearts and most of the vegetables, are only 50 cents. Add a bowl of soup and some dumplings and you have a relatively healthy and shockingly inexpensive meal that’s big on flavor and interest.

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Like any cuisine, Sichuan lends itself to a variety of styles depending on the chef. Many of us first tasted its telltale ma-la (hot and numbing) flavors at Tasty China under the helm of Peter Chang. But it’s only appropriate that newcomers would step onto the scene to give us more choices and spicy variations. Gu’s Bistro (5750-A Buford Highway, Doraville, 770-451-8118) — one such newcomer — opened a little more than a month ago in the space that formerly housed Chong Qing Hot Pot.The man behind the spice is chef Gu, a purported Chengdu native who used to cook at Sichuan House in Johns Creek. Along with his daughter Yvonne, Gu has already cultivated quite the following among Atlantans, so the restaurant is usually packed at lunchtime.

The thing that makes Gu’s goods stand apart is how clean the food tastes. There’s seldom too much of any component be it spice, salt or MSG. The “traditional menu” is immense and there are normally a few specials on the chalkboard at the front of the restaurant. Yes, there’s an “American menu” for the unadventurous palates out there, but c’mon — why bother?

There’s a long list of small bites, each a little more mysterious than the one before it. A little advice: The names don’t always reflect what you’ll be eating, for better or worse. Case in point, the Salt & Pepper Hair Tail, which is chunks of strongly flavored — and very bony — fish, coated in a light batter and fried. Other starters are more straightforward, like the seriously chewy shreds of homemade beef jerky doused in red chili oil and smothered with white sesame seeds.

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Tucked into the same Buford Highway strip mall that’s home to cult favorites Cóm Vietnamese Grill and Lee’s Bakery, El Señor Taco (4005 Buford Highway, 404-982-0777) is poised to become just as much of a classic. The dining room is bare-bones except for flat screen televisions, and table décor in the form of a fresh floral arrangements and the odd whole pineapple. When he’s not busy behind the scenes in the kitchen, owner David Romero works his customers with the same amount of friendly grace you’d find in a more upscale establishment.

Despite a substantial Mexican population, there’s an odd absence of fish tacos in Atlanta. Leave it to someone from Ensenada, Baja California, to fill the void. Romero moved to Atlanta just to open El Señor Taco after many of his friends told him how well a fish taco place would do here. Romero was no stranger to the business; he learned the ins and outs while working in his family’s wildly popular restaurants, El Taco Nazo and Señor Baja, back in California. The former has been open for an astounding 30 years.

You’ll be tempted to try the nonseafood items — pastor, carnitas, menudo (tripe stew), etc. — from El Señor’s small menu, but don’t bother. This place is all about the fish. If someone along for the ride is completely anti-fish, the chicken nachos made with crunchy, thick El Milagro tortilla chips draped in gooey white cheese and all the other accoutrements will pass muster.

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Last and certainly not least, the fish tacos.

We got one fish taco and one shrimp taco. The batter was light and practically greaseless. The fish (guy said they use pollock) and shrimp tasted fresh and I appreciate the use of smaller corn tortillas. They are also served with chopped cabbage, tomato, onion, and a drizzle of cream. Some of the best Baja-style tacos I’ve had in our fish taco starved town.


Innards.

Goodies from the salsa bar.

Verdict: Already a big fan of this place with just one visit under my belt. Will be coming back again and again. Can’t wait to try more of the menu including the sopes, which are handmade on the premises.