Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

Ponko is a new addition to Chamblee's food scene, located near I-85 just off Chamblee-Tucker Road. It is a fast casual restaurant specializing in chicken tenders with an Asian twist. Service was very attentive and helpful. My tofu tenders were quite good. The coating was crispy and a great contrast to the tofu. I asked for the spicy sauce, which was just enough to moisten the coating without making it soggy, and just spicy enough to tickle my tongue. (Given that I have raised this concern at other restaurants, I would mention that a less fish-sticky shape might be nice.) The sweet potato fries were tasty. I really enjoyed the slaw, which was very crunchy and nicely tangy.

Shuvra introduced me to Asean Bistro, a family favorite. The menu and décor are both pan-Asian. The overall ambiance is upscale and they offer a nice selection of wines. I ordered the dan dan noodles, something that I really like but rarely get the chance to order. The noodles had great tooth and the sauce was very satisfying. Everyone else reported that their meals were similarly enjoyable.

On a recent short trip to the Bay Area, Ken introduced me to a new Palo Alto restaurant, Indo, where we caught up over wonderful food. It is located across from the Fish Market on El Camino. For an appetizer, we ordered roti bread with a dipping sauce in the style of a korma. The bread was wonderfully fluffy with a kiss of thin, flaky crust. We ordered two main courses. The lamb korma was very tender and subtly spicy. The chicken was … For dessert, Ken ordered a pudding which he enjoyed. I ordered this outstanding chocolate cake. The cake itself had a note of gingerbread that I really enjoyed.

I go to the Ballston area occasionally and Ballston Commons is a convenient food stop. On this trip I decided to try Noodles & Co., one of the several chains going after the fast Asian food market. It's a pick-your-categories type of place, with a list of choices for each type of ingredient. My lunch was the Indonesian peanut sauce noodles with tofu. I wish that the noodles had been a little firmer; I'm sure that the constraints of fast noodles makes al dente difficult to achieve. But overall it was a perfectly satisfactory lunch. The sauce had a nice hot kick to it and rich peanut taste.

At Kimberly's suggestion, my first stop after getting off the plane was Asian Box. It's in the Town and Country shopping center in Palo Alto. It has a mix-and-match menu of Asian ingredients. This type of menu---choose one item in each category plus some toppings---is very common in the nouveau burger establishments of Atlanta. Palo Alto has, naturally, applied it to Asian food. (I think their inspiration is largely Vietnamese. You should expect a rant from me on generic Asian food at some point.) Although they bill themselves as take-out, they also have indoor and outdoor seating. I ordered a box with brown rice, tofu, peanut sauce, and bean sprouts. All the boxes come with a veggie mix, which you can order stir-fry or steamed. It came out in 3-4 minutes and hit the spot. It was quite healthy as well as filling. The peanut sauce had just enough heat to contrast with the richness of the peanuts. Interestingly, the default utensil was a fork but they gave me chop...