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

China Delight is one of the few Chinese restaurants in Chamblee that I hadn't tried until today. I had heard good things about it from my students but it somehow never made it into the rotation. The parking lot was full but I didn't have a problem getting a table. Although the outside of the building is pretty plain, the interior decor is pretty nice in a Chinese restaurant sort of way. Since I was there for Sunday lunch, I had to try at least a little dim sum, and I have a well-known weakness for bao. Busy times are, of course, the best time to have dim sum---the little plates leap off the cart and everything is fresh. These bao definitely hit the spot. My main mission, however, was mu shu pork. For the past few days, I've been on a stereotypical ethnic food run: tandoori, etc. This mu shu was also very fresh (pancakes that sit around before they get to me are very frustrating, which wasn't the case here). I was in such a lowbrow mood that I loaded them with plu...

Leslie, Carol, and I converged on Ippolito's in Norcross, one of several locations. The atmosphere is new and slightly sports bar, but the food is definitely mainstream Italian-American. You won't hear the Chairman of the Board playing in the background but you will have some very good food. I tried the calzone and my friends tried various pastas; we also had calamari to start. I was most impressed by the sauces---my calzone, the calamari, and our bread all had different tomato sauces and each was excellent. They understand the difference between a pizza sauce and a marinara. The calamari was very good; our waiter bragged that the crust was like fried chicken crust, which was true. I was also impressed by the house Italian dressing on my salad, which was a light oil and vinegar with all the appropriate spices.

Roasters is a local Southern/BBQ chain. My Georgia Tech colleagues Linda and Kristen recently had lunch at the Roswell Road location. I tried a BBQ combo platter. Overall, this is competent and perfectly reasonable but not exciting. The meat was well prepared but didn't have any particular smoky feel. The fried okra was OK but a little soggy. My wedge salad was pretty good. I think that gien the choice between Roasters and Folks, I'd choose the latter.

Grant Central Pizza is located, appropriately enough, near Grant Park. (This photo is of the inside of the door, so don't drive around looking for this.) The corner it's on has several appealing-looking hangouts but this is the only one I've been to. I ordered the pizza this time, along with a salad, and I've tried the calzone before. The crust on the pizza is a little thick for this to qualify as a true New York pizza, but overall the pizza is pretty good. The dough is appropriately tasty, the sauce is rich and thick. As you can see, they use high-quality mushrooms. The cheese is good. My salad was very fresh and appealing.

I forgot to take pictures, but my colleague Mary Jean Harrold and I tried lunch at Legal Sea Food. It is a big-deal family of Boston seafood restaurants that has outposts in other cities, including now Atlanta. Ours is conveniently located ner Georgia Tech, in the Hilton Garden Inn across from the aquarium. We both had broiled wild salmon, which was excellent. Wild salmon is always more flavorful (when you find real wild salmon, that is, not farm-raised counterfeit stuff) and ours was very well prepared. I am a sucker for blackened fish, but I'm glad I didn't go that route with this meal. I also introduced Mary Jean to the charms of Legal's bon bons, which are chocolate-covered ice cream balls that are hard to resist. One of my Bell Labs colleagues once ate 30 bon bons in one sitting. They don't seem to have low-cost lunches; ours was a full-size portion. But the seafood is good enough that it is worth the expense.

Leslie came through once again. Our friend Giselle joined us for lunch at Mini Hot Pot (don't ask me what the Chinese part of the sign says.) It's at Buford Highway at Chamblee-Tucker Road. It's a very small, homey place run by two very sweet women. This is a different style of hot pot than I'm used to. It resembles shabu shabu or Korean-style hot pot. I ordered the beef hot pot. As you can see, you get a huge variety of vegetables along with the meat: tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, ... Everyone has their own pot of water and you cook for yourself at your own pace. The table also has a wonderful sauce---moderately hot and with lots of different components and flavors. You can vary each bowl by changing what you put into it. The food was very good and it's a great social experience to share with friends.