Serpas Restaurant

Serpas is located in the Old Fourth Ward and is situated midway between Lotta Frutta and the Irwin St. Market. The head chef, Scott Serpas, hails from South Louisiana (instant check-plus for that) and worked in restaurants from Texas to The A before opening his own in 2008. Mario and I stopped by for dinner on a weekday evening. We immediately loved the wide open space of the restaurant, which has probably 15′ ceilings (don’t take my word for that, I’m terrible at estimating measurements) and is dominated by a wall of windows on one side. First off, I have to comment on our AWESOME service. Our waiter was one of the most enthusiastic I’ve ever had and clearly enjoyed the food at Serpas. He deftly fielded our questions, made recommendations, and gave insightful comments on what dishes were his favorites and why. Unfortunately, I don’t remember his name, but if all the servers at Serpas are as passionate as he is, you’re in for a nice night.

Now then, the food. We had a My Daily Thread coupon (like a Groupon) to spend, so we did our version of a “splurge” and ordered an app, entrees, AND dessert. To start, I ordered the flash fried oysters (pickled chilies, mirliton) and actually got picky eater Mario to try one!

Flash Fried Oysters

I actually do have my own photo of our plate of flash fried oysters, but 1) Serpas’ is so much prettier, and 2) My pic has one oyster missing The oysters were fried to a perfect crisp, and the sorta sweet/sorta spicy chilies were an excellent accouterment. This is the 2nd time in my life I’ve [knowingly] eaten mirliton, the first being at The Red Maple in New Orleans where it was served stuffed with seafood, and maybe this is the reason (or because of its very mild taste) I think of it more as a vessel for other goodies than a side item in its own right. My point is, I’m not sure what it added to the dish. The oysters also came drizzled in a spicy mayo-based sauce that added that “NOLA” kick. I had Mario try his FIRST OYSTER EVER IN LIFE and…he actually admitted it was pretty good. Next mission: get him to slurp a raw one.

For entrees, I went with our server’s recommendation of the trout (lemon thyme butter, new potatoes, spinach, mushrooms), and since Mario had already made his big eating leap of the day, he stepped back into his comfort zone with “Big Papa’s Double Beef Patti” (smoked cheddar, red wine dressing, apple smoked bacon, house fries):

Stuffed Trout

Big Papa's Double Patti

Look. at. that. burger. No, really, look at it:

BURGER.

So, it goes without saying that the Double Patti was a BIG burger. Mario studied it for a minute or two to determine the best course of attack. He enjoyed it immensely and has now even put it at #3 on his “Best Burgers” list (CraftBar and Bocado hold the top spots). My overstuffed trout was fantastic as well–the stuffing was fantastic, the sauce was fantastic, the sides were fantastic, and added to a perfectly-cooked fish, they all worked fantastically together.

To finish, I decided we needed to try the Peach Bread Pudding:

Peach Bread Pudding

The dessert was good, but not great. The addition of fruit to the bread pudding made it more reminiscent of a cobbler than bread pudding to me. But, the peaches were fresh and flavorful, and the bread part was deliciously moist.

We really enjoyed our meal, our service, and the laid back but stylish atmosphere at Serpas True Food. I’ve been searching for a reason to go back since our original visit, and I might have to schedule in a Sunday Brunch in the near future. Fried Oysters Benedict?? I’m there.

www.serpasrestaurant.com

Now, I know I just gushed about Inman Park and their Restaurant Week 2 posts back, but now the announcement has been made for my for-real favorite Restaurant Week–Midtown!

Image via atlrestaurantweek.com

Midtown Restaurant Week will run from Sept. 4 – Sept. 12. Just like the previously mentioned restaurant week, restos participating in Midtown Restaurant Week offer 3-course $25 prix fixe menus. I’m personally pretty excited about 4th & Swift and Serpas True Food participating this year (and the latter has an overdue blog post in my queue). As an added bonus, some of the participants are also offering $15 3-course lunch menus. I won’t go through the 5-W’s this time, as the workings of a restaurant week are pretty standard, so you can check out the participating restaurants and menus here. Make those reservations soon!

Crawfish Shack

In my mind, Crawfish Shack is working to emulate the coastal eateries I grew up around in Louisiana. The interior consisted of a very simple ordering counter, picnic-style tables, and cheesy plastic seafood decor on the walls. Menu items include mixed seafood platters containing mostly fried items (as it should be) and po’boys. I’m usually VERY wary of restaurants outside of Louisiana trying to do the Cajun thing, but the good news is, Crawfish Shack does it VERY well.

For lunch, I ordered what I guess would be my “usual” at any po’boy place, the oyster po’boy with a side of oddly delicious rosemary & olive oil chips. The boss got a shrimp po’boy and side of hush puppies. My pictures stink because by the time our food came out I was too hungry to worry about composition. That is probably my only complaint about lunch–2 po’boys took waaay longer to come out than po’boys should (I’m talkin 15+ min. Shrimp and oysters take <5min to fry). Anyway, the food:

Oyster Po'boy

Shrimp Po'boy

Hush Puppies

If you’ve read one review on Crawfish Shack, you’ve read them all. I’ll echo the consensus: DELICIOUS. The bread makes you feel like you’re in NOLA. The seafood is well seasoned and fried to the perfect crisp. The hush puppies were good too, but probably fried a little too hard for my taste, though I know hush puppies vary widely.

At the end of the meal, we both wished we had either gotten a whole po’boy or a seafood platter, because what we had was so good we could have kept on eating. This review is pretty short and sweet due to our limited selections and general agreement over quality, so we can both say that if you’re looking for some good fried fare in Atlanta, ride down Buford Hwy and find Crawfish Shack!

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I don’t typically post much ATL food-related news on this blog (mostly because there are a few others who already do a great job at it) but because I love restaurant weeks and I think Inman Park is a cool ‘hood, here’s the lowdown on Inman Park’s upcoming (next month) restaurant week. Let’s do this 5-W’s style:

Who: Fritti, Pure Taqueria, The Albert, North Highland Pub, Wisteria, Parish, Park’s Edge, Rathbun’s, Sauced, Shaun’s, Sotto Sotto, Kevin Rathbun Steak
What: 3-course prix fixe menus at $15, $25, and $35 price points
When: September 20-26, 2010
Where: Inman Park!
Why: To allow you to sample some great restaurants at a great price!!

Check their website to see menus for all of the participating restaurants: www.inmanparkrestaurantweek.com

We started out with one of their famous flatbreads (Grilled steak and cremini mushroom with fresh spinach and Wisconsin blue cheese) and edamame with green tea salt (no picture) to share:

Steak & Mushroom Flatbread

When the flatbread arrived, I was expecting more of an actual bread consistency to the base of the flatBREAD. What we got, however, was more “cracker” than “bread.” After tasting my first piece, I found that I didn’t too much care about the texture of the flatbread because the toppings were so delicious. I know they look fairly ho-hum in the picture, but everything worked really well together and was quite flavorful. The slices I had were much more satisfying than I expected.

For entrees, there was some variety around the table: I had the crab-stuffed shrimp (with a medley of fresh vegetables in a light garlic sauce), one labmate had grilled caramelized sea scallops (with roasted asparagus and sundried tomato pearl pasta), 2 ordered grilled trout (with roasted new potatoes, asparagus, baby carrots and broiled lemon), one tried the roasted pork tenderloin (served over soft corn polenta, fresh leaf spinach, cremini mushrooms and sherry glaze), and one had a spicy pork flatbread, the weekly special:

Crab-Stuffed Shrimp

Grilled Scallops

Grilled Trout

Pork Tenderloin

The only photos I have of the spicy pork flatbread are blurry (not my handiwork), but suffice it to say it looked similar to the other flatbread from above, and the orderer enjoyed it as much as I did my bites of the appetizer.. My stuffed shrimp were pretty good and comparable to those I’ve had at other restaurants (though those are typically fried and not roasted–big calorie savings right there!). The veggies were delicious, and the plate also contained a lot more shrimp than I was expecting for 475 calories. My labmate with the sea scallops wasn’t too impressed with his meal. He thought the scallops could have used more seasoning because they just tasted like…scallops. This probably would have been fine for my personal tastes, because I love scallops with just a sprinkle of S&P.

The two who ordered the trout both loved their meals (I know because the fish quickly evaporated) and were especially pleased with the rosemary seasoning. We all commented that we hadn’t ever really seen rosemary paired with fish, as it’s typically a poultry seasoning, but they really enjoyed it. Finally, the pork tenderloin was apparently good enough to quickly disappear from the plate as well. The guy who ordered it complained that he definitely felt the lack of calories and was still hungry after his meal. To be fair though, he was quite a bit more muscle-y than anyone else at the table–and not a a lab nerd, if you couldn’t figure that out

Usually, I can fairly easily pass up dessert at restaurants. Charging $8 for a slice of cheesecake is how they make most of their money after all. But when our waiter came by with a tray of Seasons 52′s “mini indulgences,” everyone’s eyes widened and we decided we couldn’t resist. This is why:

Mini Indulgences (from Seasons52.com)

Seasons 52 is credited with inventing the “dessert shooter” that you now see copied at casual dining restaurants like Applebees and Ruby Tuesday. I had the pecan pie shooter and it was sooo yummy. Not too sweet, and I discovered that a shooter of dessert is just enough to top off a meal. As opposed to say…a brownie the size of 4 normal brownies topped with ice cream and drizzled in a sugary sauce. I don’t remember what desserts everyone else chose, but I know that we were all impressed with the mini indulgences.

Seasons 52 is a chain restaurant slowly working its way across the country. There are two locations in Atlanta: the Buckhead location I visited, and one near Perimeter Mall. Our service was excellent, and our waiter even took the time to suggest some wine pairings and tastings for the people at the table who weren’t quite sure what they wanted. I liked that it showed me that I can eat well–and still have the food be good.

www.seasons52.com

Indigo

When we parked at Indigo, we were slightly concerned that it wasn’t even open. Ours was the only car in the lot. When we got to the door, there were indeed 2 people at the bar and a few servers milling about, though we remained the only other customers for a good 30 minutes. I understand that Indigo’s outdoor space is the place to be for Roswell’s Alive After 5 event, but on this Sunday evening, it was pretty dead.

I’m going to have to try and recreate dish names from memory since the menu on Indigo’s website is slightly different from what we saw, but we started out with chicken satays with chipotle buffalo sauce & herb-buttermilk dip, basically a fancy name for “fried chicken on a stick”:

Chicken Satays

The plate definitely came with more than one piece of chicken, we just forgot to snap a photo before we dug in The chicken was nice and juicy, but nothing special. For our main courses, Mario had a brown sugar-glazed pork chop with “spicy” mac and cheese and grilled asparagus, and I chose the grilled diver scallops with sautéed spinach and a sort of loaded baked potato:

Pork Chop

Scallops

Mario’s pork chop was beyond excellent. The glaze was delicious and the chop itself was extremely tender and juicy. It was a double chop, and Mario devoured it and cleaned the bones too. I managed to beg a bite or two off him before it disappeared. As for the sides, the mac and cheese was only so-so (but it would have taken a GREAT mac and cheese to stand up next to that pork chop), but the grilled asparagus was done right–crisp yet still tender.

My plate was good, but not great. I felt a little overwhelmed by licorice flavor, which I think came from some fennel sautéed with the spinach and fennel seeds in the crust on the scallops. I am not a fan of licorice, so anything involving a lot of fennel, anise, or tarragon (including Jagermeister–all of these have a licorice-y flavor) has to be something really special for my stamp of approval. Besides the seasoning though, the scallops were cooked well–nice crust on the outside, firm on the inside. I thought my potato was a little overcooked and mostly avoided it on the plate. Despite my aversion for the flavors of the dish, overall it was nice, and would have been better for someone who actually does enjoy a little licorice flavor.

For dessert, we had a white chocolate strawberry shortcake compliments of the house in recognition of my birthday:

Stawberry Shortcake

That golden mound of baked goodness may look like a simple biscuit, but inside was a gooey white chocolate filling; delicious paired with the fresh strawberries. I wish the white mound in the photo had been ice cream, as it would have gone well with the rest of the dessert and helped moisten the biscuit (toward the end, you really began to notice that there was no liquid on the plate). However, it was homemade whipped cream–not that that’s a bad thing, because it was quite good too.

Indigo was a great birthday meal and worth the drive up to Roswell. Service was attentive, though the food took a while to come out. I wouldn’t be surprised though, if this was because they literally had to fire up the grill for us, the only customers on a Sunday evening. I would love to see the place when it’s packed.

www.indigoroswell.com

Balsamic Cherries over Ice Cream

This is an adaptation of a healthy dessert idea from Ellie Krieger. Unfortunately, it does not include ice cream in its original form. To practice portion control, I use the small party cups of vanilla ice cream I used to eat at birthdays. The balsamic cherries lend a slightly sweet and tart topping, and making them is a snap.

For the balsamic cherries, simply halve and pit a topping-sized portion–I usually use somewhere around 10 cherries, and that’s pretty generous–and add to a small saucepan along with about a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Since cherries are in season right now and are therefore at their most sweet, you can get away with a lot less sugar than a tablespoon if you’d like. Stir the 3 ingredients together and bring them to a boil over medium heat. Then let them simmer for about 5 minutes more. Let them cool a little, then pour the cherries and balsamic sauce over ice cream.

Original recipe here.

Lunacy Interior

We quickly scanned the short menu and decided to order a few of the tapas-style dishes (which makes sense when you know that the chef/owner Paul Luna also runs founded Eclipse di Luna and Loca Luna). I was a little disappointed that they no longer have the slider-sized sandwiches on the menu that I’d heard about since their opening, but what we had to choose from was still a good selection. We probably could even have ordered the whole menu to sample–everything was under $4. You read that right, FOUR DOLLARS. To start, I decided to try the cabbage salad I’d read good things about on Eat it, Atlanta‘s blog:

Cabbage Salad

I thought the salad was decent, but nothing to write home about. However, it probably doesn’t help that I’m not a huge fan of cabbage. Next, we had a plate of the fresh mozzarella, which came with tomatoes, mushrooms, and a balsamic drizzle; sauteed shrimp (no pic); and short ribs:

Fresh Mozzarella

Short Ribs

The fresh mozz was really tasty and refreshing. The short ribs and shrimp were fan.tas.tic. Both came in small bowls with a pool of flavorful cooking liquid underneath, which both Mario and I ended up sopping up with bread. At one point during our conversation, I took a particularly well-seasoned bite of short rib and just had to close my eyes and pause the conversation for about 10 seconds. Mmmm. On top of that, they were quite literally fall-off-the-bone tender. Mario’s shrimp were apparently so good that he could only spare me one bite before chowing down on the rest. No harm done though, I was pretty loathe to share my short ribs as well.

Lunacy Black Market is an awesome lunch spot that is well worth every one of the [very few] pennies they charge. They do also have dinner hours, but are only open Wed-Sun (this goes for both lunch and dinner, dinner only on Saturday). Chef Luna seems intent on integrating the restaurant with the surrounding area and hosts a number of weekly events to cater to neighborhood residents, including “Weekend Wine Downs” on Sundays and “Mozzarella Mondays” where attendees can learn to make their own cheese.

www.lunacyblackmarket.com

City Barbeque

Founded by a BBQ competition team in 1999, City Barbeque’s menu offerings cover many of the US’s barbeque styles. According to their website: “Our pork shoulder is reminiscent of the southeastern United States, the brisket and sausage take you to Texas, and the ribs exude a blend of Memphis and Kansas City.” When I floated into the restaurant on a wave of smoke à la an old Warner Brothers’ cartoon, I decided to keep it simple with a pulled pork sandwich (slider sized for lunch) and my first ever taste of fried pickles:

Pulled Pork Slider

Fried Pickles

I was surprised that the pulled pork came sauce-less. I’ll confess that I had never had a pulled pork sandwich until freshman orientation at GT 6 years ago, but I’m pretty sure that all the variations I’ve tasted since then came pre-sauced. However, I discovered that the probable reason for this was the six sauces available at the table for use at my leisure. From North Carolina-style vinegar sauce to Kansas-style sweet red sauce, they had everything you might want to slather on your ‘Q. I decided to try their Original Kansas-style sauce, and I commenced dousing my pulled pork in lots and lots of the stuff–I tend to like the bun to be slightly mushy when I eat it. The sandwich was pretty good, and I actually struggled to finish the 1/4 lb slider. The generous portion of pork had a little fat, a little char, and a lot of yum.

I wasn’t so impressed with the fried pickles, which to me just tasted like pickles dipped in cornmeal. The batter was a little thin and didn’t have much flavor. Since this was my first time trying fried pickles though, maybe they were supposed to taste this way?

City Barbeque serves up the usual suspects found at a ‘Q restaurant: ribs, sandwiches (pulled pork, sausage, brisket, etc), and chicken. The sides are more of the same. I enjoyed my sandwich, but wished I had tried a different side with my meal.

www.cityqbbq.com

Penn Station

Penn Station is a sandwich chain that started in Cincinnati, OH in 1985 and now has 200+ locations across 12 states. They’re known for their cheesesteak, and I tried one on more than one occasion, along with their vegetarian Grilled Artichoke sub (among other things. I visited a lot.):

Cheesesteak

Grilled Artichoke

I won’t even pretend that these subs are healthy, but they are crazy delicious. The cheesesteak is tender and juicy, and they’re generous with the meat. I was getting mine with grilled onions, mushrooms, and mayo, but Penn Station also offers a ton of other add-ons for the cheesesteak. The bread, baked in-house daily, was soft and perfect for soaking up grill juices.

I think I may have liked the meatless grilled artichoke sandwich even better than the cheesesteak though. With artichoke hearts, mushrooms, provolone, oregano, parmesan, and mayo, it’s a quite hearty sandwich. I know that grilled subs are far from fine dining, but you could really taste the Parmesan come through in every bite. The artichoke hearts are obviously canned but still retain a great meaty texture, even buried under provolone cheese.

Penn Station does not currently have any locations in Georgia, but I would urge anyone visiting any states along the midsection of the US (KY, OH, MO, IL, etc) to check them out. Any potential ATL-area franchisers might also think about putting a Penn Station here. Possibly planted across the street from my apartment.

www.penn-station.com