Road Trip to the South: Atlanta

Looking for more burgers in Atlanta

Vortex Cheese Burger with Onion Rings

Steakhouse Bison Patty burger with Tater Tots 

Vortex House Salad

The Varsity - The World's Largest Drive-in Restaurant 

Longest counter too?
"What'll Ya Have!!!"

Yes, Varsity is known for its hot dogs
not appearing here because it was AGAIN!! :( consumed before photographed

My sister's research for food in Atlanta lead us to Vortex Bar & Grill and The Varsity.


I wasn't convinced to go to Vortex. NOT INTO BAR SCENE, yo.
But eh... wasn't that bad at Vortex. In fact, it was quite nice.
Music wasn't crazy loud (the thing I dislike about bars) and food was good.
Bison burger that mon ami had was fresh and juicy.
Vortex cheese burger got thumbs up from the sister too.
I had the salad... weight watching, YO! 


The following day for brunch, we went to The Varsity.
Sloppy fastfood but inexpensive and fun to visit.

Road Trip to the South: Richard Blais

Cuban Burger

Burger of the Day (Can't remember its name.)

Blacken Shrimp Burger with Sweet Potato Tots

Raw Tuna Tartare Burger with Fried Zuchini

In Atlanta, Georgia live 2 of my favorite Top Chef contestants/star chefs: 

Kevin Gillespie and Richard Blais.

For sure, we'd love to go to Kevin Gillespie's restaurant, Woodfire Grill

instead we opted for Richard Blais' more budget friendly, Flip Burger.

I love you, Richard Blais. 

Don't take this the wrong way

but your burger "boutique" is too sleek.

The interior decor looks like the now defunct Fashion Cafe,

not that I have been to one but it's what I imagine Fashion Cafe to be.

I'm not fond of flashy clubs and your burger "boutique" looks like one.

I had the shrimp burger.

I LOVE shrimps (it's hard to do wrong by me with shrimps)

yet the Blacken Shrimp burger was bland and boring.

I rather have a Mos Burger Ebi Rice Burger any day 

and it's cheaper too.

The raw tuna tartare burger disintegrated too easily.

I had to eat it in my open palmS.

I had 2 Flip Burgers, that's how much I want to believe in Richard Blais.

Mon ami enjoyed his burger of the day with a name I cannot recall.

Because I have witness Richard Blais' struggles and triumphants

in Top Chef and have deemed him as a good man and chef,

I shall retain my faith in him.

Hasta la vista, Richard Blais.

Road Trip to the South: New Orleans

Cafe Du Monde
(after a TORTUROUS long wait for lunch at Stanley restaurant.
No photo from Stanley because we were driven INSANE by hunger)  

Crowded but hey! NO line when we came :)

Sugar fix (after the depressing long lunch wait)
Chicory flavor in the coffee... hmm... interesting...

We didn't order ham at Mother's.

Seafood Platter
(fried oysters, fried catfish, fish softshell crab & fried shrimps with turnip green and grits)

Gee... it's either a seafood gumbo or a jambalaya or a shrimp creole...
featuring hyper overcooked shrimp that tasted like crumbly erasers

At Johnny's Po-boy

Shrimp Po-boy

Another dose of beignet and coffee

I LOVE seafood and decided to have only seafood Po-boys for meals in New Orleans.
There is only 1 photo of a shrimp Po-boy belonging the table next to us at Johnny's
because I couldn't remember to take a pic before eating 
and often, neither does my sister or mon ami.


The better seafood we have eaten in New Orleans were the fried ones.
The seafood we had, done in other ways, (etc Jambalaya or the baked crab from Restaurant des Familles below) were criminally overcooked and flavors buried in seasoning and spices.

The corn and rice sides were cop outs.
The sad slice of bread under the ceramic crab shell dish is probably not to be eaten but rather to keep the dish from slipping off the plate? 

Road Trip to the South: I got the blues... for tuna taco

In Clarkedale, MS, we ate the first & BEST tuna tacos EVER!!!

Tart cabbage slaw paired with smokey seared tuna still pink in the center...OoooooOooo 

The place is called Oxbow. 

I got a tuna salad also, yum yum yum!

Check out the menu!
It's short, it's simple, it do what it does best.
You don't need to sell a million items in a shop.

Oh, why aren't you everywhere O' good tuna taco?
If only Oxbow set up shops EVERYWHERE!
I will be its loyal customer.
I will queue up in its long line.
I will name drop it in every conversation.
I will make everyone who loves me love it too.

(No comment on music even though 
Clarkedale is supposed to be the home of the Blues.(??)

But I know NOTHING about the Blues.
If Shug Avery in The Color Purple was singing The Blues,
then I think the Blues is very lovely indeed)

Road Trip to the South: Before and after visiting The King

FRIED CHICKEN - World Famous...
Ooo la la

Pilgrimage to Graceland

Elvis Presley's living room

Adam Richman from Man vs Food is an idol of my sister.

Anywhere he went eat, my sister wants to go to.

First stop in Memphis- Gus's Fried Chicken World Famous.

At Gus's, we had fried green tomatoes for the first time ever.
They were consumed in seconds (though slight old frying oil taste), hence no photos.
The fried chicken were good but not this good: 
"Fried chicken connoisseurs across the globe twitch in their sleep at night, dreaming about the gossamer- light fried chicken at this downtown concrete bunker." - Lonely Planet
We weren't blown away but hey! it's fried chicken so I'm not complaining.
There are Malay Mamas that make just as good fried chicken in Singapore. (btw, that's home)
Gus's isn't boasting about their side dishes so I won't waste time talking about them either.


After Graceland, it was Charles Vergo's Rendevous for BBQ RIBS!
Savored, relished, devoured by my sister and mon ami.
Not a pork fan, I took a nibble anyway to understand the phenomenon.
OKAY. Yes, very tasty ribs indeed.
Maybe I will reconsider pork.

Road Trip to the South: Nashville

Delicious local tomatoes.
The market smell so good of tomatoes and peaches

Indian food for lunch at the Farmers' Market Foodcourt

Before we leave Nashville, we dropped by its Farmers' Market.

It was filled with awesome vegetables and fruits.
All fresh and NO NEED to pick around or examine carefully for rotten, shriveled bits.
Just take one from the top of any lovely stack of veg of choice.  

Mon ami said he wish this was his local green grocer market 

instead of the supermarket near his studio where most items

are cling-wrapped, plastic packaged and shipped from Spain or Africa.

Yes, WE DON'T WANT SHRINK-WRAPPED ORANGES. whatthefuckisthat.