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

Fish Shack is located on the main drag out of Athens. It is a little tiny place decorated with funky, eccentric items and paintings. Inside, the establishment is clearly run with care and pride. I originally stopped in for a drink, but since I had spotted them on previous trips, I wanted to try some food as well. One of the proprietors explained that their fish plates (either catfish or whitefish) would take 10 to 15 minutes to prepare. I was unfortunately in a rush, but what I ordered wasn't settling. Here are my lemonade and cake. The cake was superb---dense and full of flavor. It may have been a pound cake; it certainly leaned in that direction. The high quality of the cake confirms what I saw---these people care about their food. I will return on another trip to try their fish.

Trev, Jan, and Karem took me to a wonderful evening at West End Grill located, appropriately enough, in the West End. The restaurant still has its old tin ceiling festooned with stained glass chandeliers. I was too hungry to take a picture of our appetizers: crab cakes and bleu cheese tarts. The crab cakes had just a bit of heat to them, something you don't always find in a crab cake but which worked very well. The bleu cheese tarts lived up to their intriguing premise, rich and tangy. This is my caprese salad. The mozzarella, tomato, and basil were all outstanding. The balsamic vinegar had been very well aged, giving it a thick consistency. My main course was tuna, perfectly prepared to a medium well. The tuna left just enough room for a chocolate lava cake paired with decaf coffee. The cake was rich and moist. I kept scraping my plate to be sure I retrieved all of the chocolate.