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

I can't help but comment on this.  I passed by Eclipse di Luna, near Perimeter Mall, which bills itself as a tapas restaurant.  Their special tonight?  Chicken fried steak.  Hmmm...I didn't realize that was a Spanish delicacy.

At the last minute, my plans changed and I did not have time to cook Thanksgiving dinner as I had planned. I decided that this was my chance to try the fried Cajun turkey at Copeland's. I had heard good things about it from a friend. I ordered a complete meal: turkey, dressing (as my mom calls it), mashed potatoes, green beans with ham, gravy, and biscuits.  I also ordered some corn maque choux, which mixes the corn with red pepper and puts both in a rich sauce.  The online reviews don't seem to think much of Copeland's food, and I haven't eaten a sit-down meal there, but this meal was excellent.  Fried turkey is one of those devilishly good ideas.   The grease doesn't penetrate very far, so the turkey is moist because it cooks so quickly.  The drumstick is a special treat. The base of the drumstick is moist and meaty while the handle end becomes crunchy, giving a wonderful contrast in textures.  The side dishes were also good.  I'm glad that I ...

Category: Local evening out place. Verdict: Enjoyable evening, great for sharing. Yu and I decided to try Mirage, one of the restaurants on Sandy Springs' Middle Eastern Row. It's a standard strip mall location but the interior is fairly nice. We started with an eggplant appetizer. The eggplant was pureed with a few onion crisp-style springs on top, presumably of eggplant. It was served with a flat bread plus the dish of accompaniments that seems to be common in the Middle East: walnuts, mint, etc. (I particularly love the fresh mint.) A lot of the dishes combine sweet and savory and we both went in that direction for our main dishes. Yu ordered a lamb skewer with a rice flavored with fruit and nuts. I went for a chicken stew with a sweet sauce. My dish had a rich, thick gravy that was filled with sweet fruits and ground nuts. The result was very, very sweet. Although I enjoyed it, eating the whole thing myself was a big much. Dishes this sweet are best shared. ...

Category: Local Evening Spot Verdict: Safe, Simple Sushi Sushi Mio is in one of the strip malls on Roswell Road just north of the perimeter. The decor has some upscale touches, more Western than Japanese. They do have a sushi bar. I probably should have sat there to talk to the chef but I chose a table. I ordered the sushi (with rice) and sashimi (without rice) platter. All the fish was prime flesh---no eggs or other parts that might scare the uninitiated. Of course, some of those strange things are wonderful, but this restaurant is clearly going for the mainstream American audience. The fish itself was good, though I would say nothing popped out at me. Being a realtively borign sushi person, I often judge by the salmon, which I found pleasantly buttery. It wasn't a shazam item, though.

Category: Local Hangout Verdict: Satisfies the burger craving Village Burger is a cozy little place on the edge of Dunwoody town center (to the extent that Dunwoody town center is big enough to have an edge). The decor is burger stand with a family-friendly upscale twist. The menu has, of course, burgers plus hot dogs. They also serve beer and wine for the adults. I went for a classic burger with bacon. The burger came in two patties but was hearty and juicy. The bun was of above average quality. I also went for the cajun fries. They smelled great as they sat on my table. Given the fresh-from-the-grease smell, I expected them to be a little crispier, but that's OK. The fries satisfied the starch side of my burger palate.

Farm Burger is in downtown Decatur next to Watershed. (Luckily, parking was pretty easy when I visited.) The format of the restaurant is similar to Yeah! Burger (I don't know which came first), but Farm Burger goes with the natural, farm look and definitely goes upscale in its ingredients. They offer a gluten-free bun, for example, and offer toppings like bone marrow (interesting...) and arugula. I got the #3, which has creamy bacon/blue cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I also had to try the fries. The bacon/blue cheese sauce was great. Everything was high quality, but I wish the patty would have been thicker. Their patty is of moderate thickness, which is probably better for my diet but doesn't have quite the beefy attraction of a really thick patty. I can't figure out from their menu if you can get a double burger. I was, quite frankly, a little disappointed in the fries. They were probably great when they came out of the fryer, but they had sat around for just ...