Georgia French Bakery and Cafe, Duluth GA

Georgia French Bakery has been in Duluth for, roughly, one and a half decades, and yet, bloggers just don’t write about this place. Why? Because the new insert-trendy-cliche-here joint in Midtown is more newsworthy than an authentic French bakery in the ‘burbs? I suspect in all honesty, as the location is a little tricky (on Satellite, a bit to the mall-side of the corner of Satellite and Pleasant Hill), and the proprietor (yes, French) is modest, disconnected from the food news machine, that it gets missed. No spiky jelled hair, no chummy chum with Tony, and well, whether you’re authentic and serve the real deal just doesn’t need to count, does it?

At lunch they serve sandwiches. You get four styles of bread, and the offerings for the day are placed on a blackboard, easy to see. I’d show the blackboard but the picture is blurred.

I enjoyed the proprietor, spoke with him briefly, largely about the closing of Cafe Gourmandises, which used to be the lead French eatery in these parts.

Recommended? Yes. We’ll be back. Authentic French isn’t all that common.

Georgia French Bakery and Cafe
3512 Satellite Boulevard
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 622-2682

 

Honey Pig, Duluth GA

There is food, and there is food as show. Some people want a quiet plate of tonkatsu. Others want the flash of teppanyaki style cooking. Honey Pig is really in the latter camp in terms of Korean BBQ, very much making the food a show. The inside is attractive, stuffed with pigs of various kinds, a pig with wings suspended from the roof, lots of wood and wait staff all dressed in black.

There is a large grill that centers every table. It has an rounded shape, and a nice handle, to make it easier to pick up after the metal cools down. A hole on one side lets out the grease as the meat grills. There is a temperature control on one side, and by the control, a hemispherical button, which you press to alert staff if you’re not getting enough attention (we didn’t need the button).

The surface on which the meats are cooked. In the upper right is a complimentary carafe of water.

The roof is industrial and there was as much overhead ducting as I’ve seen since my days at Mirak Korean.

We chose three meats, their brisket, their honey pig, and their marinated bulgogi. We didn’t want the fried rice they normally finish with. Our staff started by adding useful collections of sauces and sides, then dropped plenty bean sprouts and kimchi onto the grill.

Dipping sauces. Note the button. In a Korean restaurant, you use that button to call over waiters.

On the left are rice cake sheets (to put veggies and meats in), the middle a very salty dipping sauce, on the right cold kimchi soup, which we sipped to cleanse our palate of stronger meat flavors.

Scallion salad, they call this.

We had a waiter, who cooked the kinchi and the meats, and made sure everyone had what they wanted. Of the meats, we liked the beef the best.

Excellent beef.

Metal chopsticks and a spoon (for rice).

The honey pig wasn’t bad either, a bit less fatty than common pork belly.

Honey pig.

The bulgogi was a little disappointing. We’d probably go with two servings of the beef next time.

The impression I got was a restaurant exceptionally friendly to Korean beginners. There is a lot of show on the table. The well dressed staff were personable and spoke excellent English. It doesn’t have the camp appeal of Iron Age, but neither does it feel like you need to come straight from a karaoke bar with a crowd of same sex friends to get the best out of it either. It’s a better family spot, despite the thump, disco-like, of the Kpop background music. It’s not the meat and seafood bargain that Cho Wan is, but it has a menu with fewer fails, and is easier to navigate.

So go there. If you’ve never done Korean and it scares you a little, especially go there.

Honey Pig
(770) 476-9292
3473 Old Norcross Rd NW
Duluth, GA 30096

Atlanta

 

Moon’s Family Restaurant, Duluth GA

Moon’s Family is a Chloe “find“, full of rich soups, ladies that speak only Korean, and crisp green banchan that would please anyone who hates the recycled stuff. I went recently, because I wanted to try something different. The soon dubu, IMO, is as good as Chloe Morris said it would be; to be considered among the best in town.

Almost no English in their signage.

Crisp, fresh banchan.

Babimbap. At Moon’s, you toss your bowl of steamed rice over the top and mix.

Seafood soon dubu. Thicker than most, more seafood variety than most, and IMO, a richer flavor than many silky tofu soups in town.

I’m not the Korean hound that Chloe is, but I’ve eaten in a few of these places. For those eaters who need people to speak English clearly, you would be better served by Honey Pig, which is in the same mall. I was served off and on by three women, each with different levels of English skills, and one who asked if I wanted a check by making the shape of a check with her hands (my Japanese mother-in-law will trace the outline of a check in the air to indicate that she needs one. Ironically, some rather authentic Japanese restaurants in town don’t get it). Yes, very much a point and choose place.

If you’re a foodie and don’t have good coping skills, go with a friend that does. Soon dubu joints are not hard to navigate and this one has a larger menu than many. You might want to try their grilled mackerel, or their jigaes as well.

Moon’s Family Restaurant
3473 Old Norcross Rd
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 622-7780

 

Sky BBQ, Duluth GA

It’s part of the Assi Supermarket food court, but not the part facing the chairs and seating. Rather, Sky is in that section that looks out into the market itself. So, to get there, weave your way through all the boxes, pass China House (the noodle shop), and go round the corner.

Sky BBQ, for my daughter and I, is about the duck. Chloe and Bliss got us hooked on Chinese duck, mostly by talking about how wonderful Canton Cooks is. The first ‘wor sue duck’ I had there was excellent, and it demonstrated the three virtues of a good duck: crispy skin, creamy liquid fats, and tender, chewy dark meat. This triple whammy is what I’m looking for when I cruise for duck. And yes, Sky BBQ delivers.

Duck. Crispy, fatty, chewy, oh so good.

There are no frills here. I got duck to go and my daughter and I ate when we got home. It’s good for a booth-style eatery in a supermarket. Yes, Ming’s BBQ is nearby and more full featured, but don’t forget the little duck spot in Assi if you have a hankering for the duck triple whammy. You can get plenty triple whammy at Sky BBQ.

Gwinnett Place/Duluth
1630 Pleasant Hill Rd
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 807-7289

 

Luciano’s Ristorante Italiano, Duluth GA

Accessible. Pretty. Good food. A place to take a date. These are a few of my thoughts after having been to Luciano’s. It’s a highly regarded Italian restaurant near the Gwinnett Convention Center, just west off the exit of Sugarloaf Parkway and I-85. I’m not usually much for a fancy lunch, but you can’t do this food blogging gig and stick entirely to routine. The change of pace was probably due.

A good bread starts the meal.

Graceful is the first word that came to mind when I entered. White tablecloths, black napkins, spare, clean, quiet. Service was excellent, of the kind that melts into the background, as opposed to the “over the top” style at say, a churrascaria. Lunch can be as pricey or as affordable as you like. There are plenty of choices in the 6 to 8 dollar range. Paninis ran from 10 to 12 and lunch sized entrées averaged perhaps 15. Ingredients reflect the character of the eatery. Prosciutto, for example, was the core meat in my daughter’s panini.

Italian panini.

Salmon portion for lunch.

I had a salmon entrée, replacing the potatoes for broccoli. The salmon was excellent, tender and a little sweet, a large portion for the price. The asparagus quite good, the broccoli the only disappointment, plain and tasting mostly of the steam used to cook the vegetable.

A quick lunch can’t begin to define a restaurant, and what I had at best is an impression. But the impression was very good, and I can recommend Luciano’s based on what I saw.

Luciano’s Ristorante Italiano
6555 Sugarloaf Pky NW
Duluth, GA 30097
(770) 255-1727

 

Arena Tavern, Duluth GA

The Arena Tavern is a bar that does plenty of business with sports talk radio. Advertisements and promotions with the local radio stations are a major parts of this small chain’s identity. And when I saw the 790 the Zone truck in front of the bar, I changed plans (even after lunch) and stuck my nose inside.

Yes, I’ll go inside if a local radio station is talking with bar customers.

This bar and Marlow’s Tavern are close by, and “the book” on these two is that the Arena is a better place to watch a game and Marlow’s has the better menu and food. My experience here suggests that might not be as clear cut a choice as in the past.

Catfish Bites. These things were fantastic. If I was blinded and told these came from a high end traditional all you can eat catfish spot, I’d have believed you. Tender, moist, perfect crust and flavorful.

Some of the best crust on cheese sticks I’ve seen in a long, long time.

I only ordered appetizers because I had already eaten, and besides, the rep for Arena was that it was the lesser of the two large taverns for food. And what I received were two of the best appetizers I’ve had in a long long time.

Crusts on the catfish bites were really good. Crust on the cheese sticks was about as good as any I’ve ever had. The cheese sticks alone are better than anything I’ve ever had at a classic wings n sports chain, and reason enough to drop the wings n sports chains and come here. That doesn’t count the catfish bites, which were as good a bit of catfish I’ve had in ages.

The beer selection is large, not huge, but there is plenty of most things for most tastes. There were good craft beers, good Georgia craft beers, good English, Irish and German brew, and plenty of American light lagers. Dozens of beers were on tap, and dozens more in bottles.

Having said all that, the Arena a roomy bar with plenty of wide screen TVs, with large roomy tables on which to watch those televisions. Yes, it’s a spot to watch games, and listen to sports talk. Further, Arena has rather surprising appetizers. Consequently, the culinary competition between this restaurant and Marlow’s is closer than the generic consensus suggests.

Arena Tavern
2000 Satellite Boulevard
Duluth, GA 30097
(770) 623-4585

Update: fixed typos.

 

Japanfest tips, for the foodie

Japanfest is this weekend, and is one of the more pleasing events I’ve experienced. It is being held at the Gwinnett Convention Center, just off Sugarloaf Parkway. It is a spectacle of sight and sound, people dressing in silly ways, whole families mingling with the young and old. Some of most precious memories of the festival are my daughter and a friend of hers being dressed in a kimono.

A sample booth from a previous Japan Fest. ‘Sold out’ is more common than you think. get there early, get in line and eat!

More than just food is available.

For the foodie: a list of vendors and the foods they will serve is here. Note it’s a pretty simple menu. Arrive early, on Saturday. Eat as soon as the booths open and don’t expect any popular dishes to be around for much more than an hour or two. Expect long lines at the best booths.

Saturday is the better day of the two. Sunday will be good for a couple hours, then the booths and exhibits begin to go away.

For the newbie: because the foods are simple and easy to eat, if you can stand the bustle and the crowds, this is a very gentle introduction to Japanese cuisine.

Off Topic: Shizuo Tsuji it turns out, has a second cookbook other than the one mentioned here. A review will becoming soon.

 

Kurt’s Bistro, Duluth GA

My daughter said of Kurt’s, “This is a good date restaurant. Take a girl here, and she’d be impressed.” And that Kurt’s Bistro is. The outside is typical strip mall fare, but inside is lush and luxurious.

The price point is also at a healthy setting, entrées starting in the teens and into the twenties, steaks up into the mid thirties. An appetizer might run somewhere between six and twelve dollars. After looking at the menu, we ended up with the Schwabian Platter, a mix of brats and pork chops, along with potatoes and saurkraut. I tried the Saurbraten, tender pot roast layered over spaetzle (a kind of pasta), and a substantial serving of red cabbage. The platter we received was less one pork chop and had an extra brat. They had run out of chops the day we arrived.

Kurt’s bread was excellent.

Schwabian platter.

Saurbraten

I didn’t try many of the starches, but I did have to get a bite of Kurt’s bread (excellent; we took home a roll for my wife). The various kinds of cabbage were really good. Saurkraut, properly prepared, can really be terrific, and doesn’t come off at all like the stuff in America in a can. The flavors are more delicate, and lack any metallic twang.

The brats were good and spicy and the sauce on the saurbraten really good, rich tomato flavors coming to the fore when you first bite into the meat and sauce and then the acidic zing of vinegars coming in a bit later. Unlike many places that call themselves German restaurants, the flavors here are full, rich, balanced, and nuanced.

There is a substantial German heritage on my father’s side, and it was a pleasure to flirt with the cuisine of my ancestors. By my generation, almost all the German foods in our family tree had been lost, replaced by American staples. German, therefore, is not a cuisine I’m very familar with. My brother, who spent some years in Europe, is much more aware of how Germans eat. I recall plenty of conversations with him about how much better German food is in Germany, about the amazing variety you see there, in things like saurkraut.

In conclusion, Kurt’s Bistro is the first restaurant I’ve found in Atlanta that deals in German food that I can recommend. And I do recommend it highly. Service, if I haven’t said, is excellent. You’re paying for a good meal here and you get that: great food with plenty of flavor, and excellent service. This place I can heartily recommend.

Kurt’s Bistro
3305 Peachtree Industrial, Suite 100
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 623-4128

Atlanta

 

Boudreaux’s Cafe Acadiana, Duluth GA

On point gumbo. Po boys, enormous and good. These are just two of the reasons to go to Boudreaux’s Cafe Acadiana in Duluth. Reasons not to go? Well, I found out I’m addicted to crawfish fat, and a shrimp étouffée, as opposed to a crawfish étouffée, doesn’t quite do it for me. That said, the one cuisine that I eat at and refuse to blog most is Cajun. There are a plethora of Cajun/Creole/New Orleans restaurants in Atlanta that do nothing but butcher the cuisine. Boudreaux’s is not one of them.

The gumbo has the best flavor I’ve tasted in an Atlanta gumbo since Benny’s Bar and Grill was active in my neighborhood. I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of filler compared to meat, but I’d drive half way across town for a broth this good. Highlights are the hit of the roux, the complexity of the pepper blend, flavors driven by black pepper aromatics as opposed to too heavy a hand on the red.

My daughter had the alligator po-boy and it was fantastic. Fried just right, and huge, we took half the sandwich home. This restaurant has a all you can eat catfish night on Thursdays, and it makes me look forward to trying one of those, sometime.

Shrimp étouffée? All I can say is it doesn’t have the flavor highlights of the crawfish kind. It’s probably the crawfish fat that’s doing it to me. What I ate was good enough, but not that heavenly bliss I get from fresh crawfish, properly spiced, in a superb roux.

Boudreaux’s evidently boils crawfish on weekends when they are in season. Check out their website for more details.

Boudreaux’s Cafe Acadiana
2750 Buford Hwy NW
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 814-8388

Two interesting reviews, with perhaps different opinions of the restaurant, are here and here.

 

Shabu & Shabu plus Hansel and Gretel, Duluth GA

Shabu & Shabu is a restaurant on the Wall Mart side of the intersection of North Berkeley and Pleasant Hill, an intersection that on the northeast side also has a Super H Mart. It’s a Korean style mini hot pot, and immaculately clean.

In the mini hot pot setup, there is a heater in the table. You take your meats and greens and dip them into broth, and fetch them out yourself. This differs I’ll note from the Japanese style of serving these dishes, where a staffer helps you cook and eat, and as Chloe has pointed out, the broths on these various hot pots are quite different.

Dipping sauce comes in three levels of heat: medium hot, hot, and very hot. My daughter got medium hot and said she’d get a hotter variety next time.

Meats are thin sliced to cook quickly. Use the back sides of your chopsticks to place raw meat into the pot.

Prices for the main dishes are reasonable, and the cleanliness, and the simplicity of ordering there (there is no sauce bar, as there is in Mini Hot Pot 2) make this an ideal place to introduce a mini hot pot to a relative newcomer.

Next door to Shabu & Shabu is the Hansel and Gretel Bakery. It’s a classic EuroKorean bakery, with a mix of Western and Asian sweets. It’s smaller than the Cafe Mozart near Gwinnett Place, and so the selection of bean paste goods isn’t as extensive as that bakery. But certainly it is clean and nice, and they seemed affable, and much easier to deal with than certain (unmentioned) Korean bakeries in the area.

Shabu & Shabu
2605 Pleasant Hill Road, Suite 300
Duluth, GA 30096
(678) 584-1111

Hansel and Gretel Bakery
2605 Pleasant Hill Road, Suite 400
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 623-5555