The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another helping of some favorite reviews
Our restaurant reviews publish every Friday in the Go Guide. But it’ s summer time, and between vacation and shuttling kids to camp, perhaps you missed a few of them. Here are some of the restaurants that the AJC’s dining critics gave high praise to over the past few months. Our regularly scheduled restaurant reviews will return next week.
JAI HO
InMarch, Mumbai-bornPaulNair, the food-and-beverage entrepreneur behind Savi Provisions gourmet-grocery chain, teamed with chef Vijeesh Parayil to open Jai Ho Indian Kitchen & Bar.
There’s a “Street Eats” menu section with dosas, chaat and a few other token nibbles. There’s a “Chef’s Specials” list inspired by the cuisine of Southern India.
But the bulk of the menu consists of Indian standards (tandooris, biryanis, kormas, masalas, etc.) — the work of a chef who is more content to play it safe than reach for the stars.
A case in point: the Jai Ho appetizer sampler. We enjoyed its one puffy and delicious vegetables amos a and solid chicken tikka. But the rest of the lot (pakoras; tandoori chicken wings; pieces of seekh kebab) seemed to be cooked in advance and kept warm.
Tandoori chicken was good but would be better a little less wet and a little more charred.
There are pleasures to be had. I’d be perfectly content with a starter of masala dosa and a plate of lamb biryani.
And if you are feeling ravenous for Indian food, the weekend lunch buffet is a safe, dependable option.
But in trying to dos om any things, Jai Ho is just so-so.
560 Dutch Valley Road. N.E., Atlanta. 404-458-6888, jaihoatlanta.com. — REVIEWER: WENDELL BROCK
WHISKEY BIRD
Whiskey Bird is a place that draws on the Japanese tradition of putting stuff on sticks and cooking it. If that imprecise phrase sounds irreverent, well, Whiskey Bird is a place with an irreverent, imprecise eye to tradition.
The best way to enjoy Whiskey Bird is to order all of the skewers. The octopus skewer will bear small, tender hunks of tentacle with dense, richly spiced Chinese sausage. Two caps of shiitake mushroom will be touched with char and a creamy, salty sauce. Pork belly, rather than cut in the thin ribbons common to Japanese izakayas, is cut into clean, geometric cubes that boast a fried crisp exterior. Green peppers, cut in half and stuffed with chorizo and cotija cheese, are a satisfying twist on the more common shishito pepper skewers.
There are plenty of dishes aside from skewers. A bowl of shaved Brussels sprout salad is a fine, generously portioned option. Chinese broccoli arrives al dente and with a dollop of thick sesame dressing. Not bad.
The larger plates here are impressively large. An en tree of pork tenderloin was so massive that I think it exceeded the promised weight of 16 ounces.
1409 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta. 404-600-5797, eatwhiskeybird.com. — REVIEWER: WYATT WILLIAMS
OLD LADY GANG
Old Lady Gang is the creation of Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker, whom you may know from the wildly popular television series “The Real Housewives of Atlanta .” The name of the restaurant refers to Joyce Jones, Bertha Jones and Nora Wilcox, Kandi’s mother and aunts who, respectively, have become recurring characters on the show. The menu, which focuses on old-school Southern dishes, is an homage to them.
Abasket of crumbly, moist, sweet cornbread needed no extra butter. The honey dip that accompanied it was way too sweet for me.
Appetizers included a basket of fried catfish strips, the thin, lightly fried cornmeal dusting wrapping respectably moist white fish. I was less impressed by the deviled eggs.
Entrees fared a little better. The blackened salmon is just right: a strong crust of peppery spices that conceals tender pink flesh. The fried chicken is good, too, though I longed for a bit more depth in the brine or seasoning.
All in all, this is the sort of food that inspires the thought, “Just fine!” Not great, not bad.
On our way out, the host stopped us and said, “Y’all should go downstairs. Kandi is here.” We took a staircase down to the lounge-y basement bar, and there she was, Kandi, hanging out, taking pictures with fans, enjoying herself. It felt a little like walking onto a TV set, but also comfortable, like just hanging out with friends.
177 Peters St., Atlanta. 404-6924407, oldladygang.com. — REVIEWER: WYATT WILLIAMS
9292 KOREAN BBQ
9292 Korean BBQ is a restaurant built to fit Korean-style barbecue’s qualities of elaborate, massive service. The tables and booths are long and spacious, made for seating crowds of friends and holding dozens of little plates. At the center of each table are metallic grills, and above them are large, polished steel exhaust hoods.
The server who brings those many plates and meat-laden platters will also serve as a kind of tableside cook, flipping and cutting meat over the charcoal.
On one occasion, the fat rendering out from our beef brisket led to a massive flare-up of fire that required a little work from our tableside cook to subdue. It was a fun show, but it left our brisket a little too charred. In short, this is not polished service, but your tableside cook will get the job done.
Results were much better with the rib-eye. I wouldn’t call this cut steakhouse material, but the marbled, tender meat was still thick enough to catch a caramelized crust and still be mid-rare in the center.
The highlight for you may be the kalbi, a cut of de bone d short ribs. Or it might be the fatty strips of pork belly. As with most meats at 9292, these are not choice cuts but, like the service, they get the job done.
3360 Satellite Blvd., Duluth. 678938-7979, Facebook: 9292 Korean BBQ.