I’m back home, and here’s the wrap-up from the last stretch of the trip! Apologies, this is super-long, and photo intensive, but I just want to get it all in on one post.

Although I could have simply driven straight through from Birmingham to Atlanta, it being only a little over a two-hour drive, I thought I’d see if there was something enroute that was worth checking out. We had had a couple of barbecue places tentatively on the list way back, but two of them didn’t make the cut, and the third is dinner only. One of my brothers sent a message that there was a place along the way that had appeared on a list of 100 things to eat in Alabama before you die. Now, the list it appeared on was a decade old, but the place is still there, and the thought that there was a plate of shrimp and grits that held such a lofty position was too good to pass up.

So, I dithered about to get myself closer to lunch hour and then an hour after leaving, pulled up in the small town of Anniston, Alabama, to Classic on Noble, 1024 Noble Street. I’ve got to say, it wasn’t remotely what I expected in, with apologies to Annistonians, the middle of nowhere. White tablecloth restaurant, lots of flowers, very elegant, belied partially by the imitation crystal, silver, and china, but still, somehow felt out of place. Then again, so did I, as most of the patrons were dressed for success and I was in t-shirt and jeans. I was, strangely, placed at the end of a table for twelve, not sharing it with anyone – most of the tables are for four, and by the time I left, most were occupied by 2-4 people, so I guess this was simply where they stick solo diners.

I dutifully ordered up the shrimp and grits, described as: “jumbo white gulf shrimp scampi served over grits with fresh collard greens, Andouille sausage, tomatoes and bacon topped with shaved parmesan cheese”. I have to say, I’ve never had anything quite like it. The coarse grits, oven baked I think, with bacon, tomato, and collards; an entire smoky andouille sausage grilled and sliced, half a dozen good sized shrimp, perfectly cooked, a whopping pile of parmesan shards, and an unctuous wine cream sauce. So over the top it barely recalls the classic shrimp and grits. Also so rich I could only handle about half the dish. I was going to call it quits, but the chef’s 94 year-old grandmother apparently showed up with her “famous bread pudding”, which I was informed I had to try. Not anything like a bread pudding I’ve ever had – almost more like a tres leches cake, or a babka – it was a dense, almost fudgy cake soaked through with sugar syrup. It was good, but again so over the top I only managed a small amount of it.

The last time I was in Atlanta, my cousin who lives there had to be out of town and we weren’t able to meet up. It’s been somewhere between 25-30 years since we’ve seen each other. This time, we planned it out and I intentionally came in a day earlier than my friend David (you remember David, of the oyster, dumpling, and other deep dives in NYC and Boston…) was arriving. We bandied about various places to try out near his house and settled on one that had a dish that caught my eye: “Southern Ramen – shoyu pork bone broth, pulled pork, collards, black-eyed pea relish, chow chow, deviled egg”. You tell me if you could resist that?!

Unfortunately, I kind of wish I had resisted. Southbound, 5394 Peachtree Road, in Chamblee, was a nice casual neighborhood spot. But to my palate, they’re over-reaching. It’s all creative southern takes on a myriad of dishes from around the globe. But of the various dishes we tried, my sense was that it was like whoever created the dish had read about these things, but maybe never actually tried them. The broth in the ramen was over-reduced and salty, the pulled-pork was dry and chewy, the deviled egg was ice cold, the rest of it just sort of sat about pretending to be interesting. I had similar reactions to, I think, everything on the table except the “grit fritters” – yummy deep-fried balls of grits and pimento cheese topped with a pepper relish. But then, that’s just a twist on good local cooking.

As I opined on my last visit to Atlanta, the banh mi sandwich, in any of its variations, though particularly the classic “dac biet”, or mixed meats version, is the breakfast of champions. On that trip I managed four spots, and wanted to get in that many or more this time around too. On the first morning, I was still solo, and started off at Be Banh Mi, 2180 Pleasant Hill Rd, in Duluth (they also have one at the other end of the Buford Highway corridor, in Doraville). No. Just no. This was, other than spectacular bread, the worst banh mi I’ve ever had, anywhere. A thin slice of pork, a weird selection of greens, plus strips of green bell pepper, no chilies, and, instead of the usual pate or head cheese, they’d chosen to use pork floss. Now, if you’ve not encountered pork floss, zoom in on the photo and see the wads of it. It’s finely shredded roast pork, that typically is used in soups or stews or sauces, rehydrated and giving flavor and texture. Here, they simply picked up clumps and deposited them, dry, on the sandwich, like so many hairballs. They were hard, chewy, and unpleasant. I managed about two bites before tossing it in the trash.

Thankfully, the second breakfast stop of the day went almost completely the other direction. Banh Mi 135, 1630 Pleasant Hill Rd in Duluth moves into my second position for banh mi tried along the strip. Excellent bread, a generous amount of pork, pate, and headcheese, lots of pickled vegetables, herbs, and chilies. It all just worked beautifully. And clearly popular – all those bags you see on the counter were being filled with pre-ordered banh mi, and over the fifteen minutes I was there, a steady stream of folk came in to pick up their orders.

Early afternoon and I picked David up from the airport. We could eat. Lunch stop at Food Terminal, 5000 Buford Hwy NE, in Chamblee (the Buford Highway corridor, known for both its Asian and Latin American restaurants basically stretches from a southwest point in Chamblee, and passes to the northeast through Doraville, Norcross, and ends up in Duluth). Primarily a Malaysian restaurant, the menu seems a bit more varied than that. I’d read about the place in an article awhile back, and the recommendation was to try the Thai Chili Pan Mee (see, Thai, not Malaysian), touted as “the most craveable noodle dish in all of Atlanta”. Now, it was good, it was quite good, but if that’s the most craveable noodle dish in the city, the city is in trouble. And, as it turned out, good as it was, it wasn’t even the most craveable dish we had on this two-day venture. We also had a side plate of sambal okra, which were fine, but the sambal had almost no spice to it.

About five years ago, food “vlogger” Matt Kang put out a video on the hard-to-find Korean spots in Atlanta. One that he highly recommended was Yet Tuh, 3042 Oakcliff Rd, Doraville. We’d been warned that it was hard to find. But surprisingly, not as hard as one might think, because although it required driving around the back of a strip mall, then down a hill and around a snaking curve through some trees behind a series of buildings, Google’s gps came through with those detailed steps when it was dinner time, ending us up in a little hidden away parking lot with two small Korean restaurants sheltered under some trees. Here, Kang had touted the seafood and scallion pancake, and I’ve got to say, easily, far and away, the best one I’ve ever had. Beautifully browned, seasoned, and packed with both shellfish and scallions. A meal in itself. Though we did manage our way through a plate of excellent mandu dumplings, and an okay grilled mackerel (cooked perfectly, but needed some sort of seasoning).

Next morning we set out bright and early for first breakfast, in proper hobbit style. Another two banh mi, beginning at No 1 Hong Kong Bakery, 5495 Jimmy Carter Blvd, Norcross, right near our hotel. Not easy to find. It ought to be, given that it’s in the Hong Kong Market, but though the bakery listed its opening hour as 8 am, the market doesn’t open until 9. We wandered around outside, and off to the left of the main entrance, found an open door that lead into a service corridor at the side of the market. And lo and behold, semi-hidden behind stacks of boxes and various things we didn’t have the temerity to approach, we found a small counter with a sign letting us know we’d arrived. No options, just one banh mi sandwich offered, it seemed. Nowhere to sit in the hallway, so we headed outside and sat on a bench facing the parking lot. And, not bad. It wasn’t the best balanced sandwich I’ve had in the genre, but perfectly edible. Missing the spice – there was only one small slice of chili on the whole thing.

Second breakfast we headed to one of the top-rated spots around, Quoc Huong Banh Mi, 5150 Buford Hwy NE, Doraville. And, a really good rendition of the classic. Plenty of meat and veggies, nicely seasoned, a selection of sauces available. And, we talked ourselves into also ordering a plate of the roast pork steamed rice, which came with delicious roast pork, textural pork skin, a fried egg, and an “egg cake” of egg wrapped around a sort of pork meatloaf. Delicious all around!

We did want to do more than just eat, and we spent about an hour and a half in downtown Atlanta at the Georgia Aquarium. The place is huge, and has some really interesting exhibits, and some fish that I’ve not seen at other aquaria – like a couple of whale sharks and a pod of beluga whales. Well worth a visit!

For lunch we headed to Northern China Eatery, 5141 Buford Hwy NE, Doraville, where, no surprise, the food is primarily… northern Chinese. Now, in that same article about the craveable noodle dish, it was asserted that the best dumplings are to be found here. And, we had some really good ones – pork, shrimp, and chive potstickers, and crab roe soup dumplings. Also some okay skewers of cumin laden lamb. But the surprise standout was the “tiger salad”, or Lao Hu Cai, with thin shreds of celery, scallions, chilies, and cilantro in a spicy sweet dressing of vinegar, soy, sesame oil, and sugar. Online recipes suggest it also contains either small or finely ground dried shrimp – we didn’t see any in the mix, but if ground, it might just be a background flavor.

I mentioned in the post from last time that I’d spent some time at the H Mart up in Duluth. This time we went to the one in Doraville. Seriously, “Crying in H Mart” is a thing. There’s just so much to see, from vegetables to meats, to pre-filleted fish, to live seafood, to… an entire corner dedicated to kimchi and other Korean fermented vegetables.

Finding an open wine bar anywhere near to us turned out to be difficult, at least one that sounded interesting. We ended up taking about a half hour drive to the south to The Vibrary, 970 Main St., Stone Mountain, a “black and woman owned” neighborhood spot that offers up about a dozen wines by the glass, and books to either buy, read, or exchange. Nice spot to relax and just enjoy a glass.

Saturday we decided to cap the day off at Lan Zhou Ramen, 5231 Buford Hwy NE, Doraville, where they hand-pull the noodles throughout the night. Talk about a craveable noodle dish! While we had some decent pork soup dumplings, and a good, but not near spicy enough Chili Chicken, the star of the meal, and I think perhaps the star of the weekend, was the star anise scented roast duck ramen. I mean, just think that through. So good. And the noodles so good that we ordered an extra bowl of them to add into the soup after we’d finished off the duck and veggies.

Last day of this long trip. Way too much food from start to finish, but we made it. When I didn’t give Lee’s Bakery, 4005 Buford Hwy NE, at the far southwest end of the corridor, top ratings last trip, I was met with objections both from the person who’d recommended it, and others. I mean, I did give it second out of four. So, we opted to give it another shot. I’m going to stand by my thoughts from last time, and, actually, I think two of the ones that I noted above top it as well. I think Lee’s is just such an institution, and perhaps because it’s sort of the closest to the city proper, that it has an allure. We also split a bowl of chicken congee, which is sort of like a savory cream of rice cereal breakfast.

So, in order now, of the eight places I’ve tried, from best to worst: Banh Mi Café, Banh Mi 135, Quoc Huong Banh Mi, Lee’s Bakery, Huy’s Sandwiches, No 1 Hong Kong Bakery, Khanh Vietnamese Pho & Sandwich, and Be Banh Mi. Next time in Atlanta I’m sure there will be more!

Honestly, the less said about second breakfast at Flying Biscuit Café, 705 Town Blvd, Brookhaven, the better. It’s one location of a small chain of breakfast cafes. The famed “fluffy flying biscuit” was so pale it was obvious it wasn’t fully baked, and that was backed up by the compressed, wet, center. The cranberry apple butter was delicious, but given the inedible biscuits, nothing to put it on. The fruit salad was fine.

A lovely late morning spent at the Fernbank Museum and Forest, 767 Clifton Rd. The museum is a natural history museum, with a focus on Georgia and the surrounding area, particularly the Appalachians. It’s primarily, I’d say, designed for kids and teens. It’s a bit… plastic. On the other hand, the “forest” is a delightful place to wander through the walkways and just take some tranquil time.

And, we finished off our gastronomic adventure at the famed southern institution of Mary Mac’s Tea Room, 224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, after a visit to The Bremen Museum (I reviewed it on my post from a couple of years ago). I’d been warned by my cousin that the place just wasn’t up to snuff, and, unfortunately, he turned out to be right. The famous fried chicken was “good” at best, the white pepper gravy was stodgy and had no pepper flavor. Of the side dishes – pickled beets, tomato pie, pot liquor… only the fried green tomatoes with horseradish parmesan dipping sauce, was really worthwhile. And service was slow and forgetful. Happened to overhear at a table near us, when a couple regulars came in and ordered their favorite meal… when it arrived, the woman looked at the mac ‘n cheese, another dish they’re know for, and said, “what’s that? that’s not the mac ‘n cheese souffle.” The waitress replied that “things have changed in the kitchen since we re-opened and they’re no longer making the famous souffle, just a bowl of mac ‘n cheese scooped out”. Sounds like maybe post-covid they got a new chef or something and have decided to fiddle with the tried and true. Who knows? But just a shame to end our food tour on a low note.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.