what I ordered: tin drum asiacafe
January 3, 2013 § 2 Comments
I went to lunch awhile ago with a fabulous lady just a week before her wedding day. I still hadn’t tried Tin Drum AsiaCafe at the Summit, and I wanted to give it a shot. My dear friend so willingly obliged.
This casual spot is quite accurately described as an “Asia” cafe. Its menu didn’t pick an allegiance to any specific country within the continent, but featured Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese fare. It certainly put its own spin on classic flavors and boasted a menu that had a long list of street-food type dishes I wanted to try. Also, after a bit of reading up on the semi-local chain, I was surprised to discover that the first Tin Drum was on Georgia Tech’s campus and had expanded from there. The service was great, and the staff was friendly.
When we went to order, we were told that nothing was frozen and that everything was fresh and prepared daily in-house. That’s always a plus.
So, to start, I tried the Crab N Cheese Roll, which was delightfully fried and greasy and cheesy (three of my favorite food characteristics), however, I couldn’t detect very much crab; I definitely would have appreciated more.
And then I went with the Thai Basil Spring Roll. I liked the first bite—the brightness of the basil with the deep savory tamarind sauce was a nice pairing, but as I continued into the roll, I felt a lot to be lacking. It felt a bit too dry to continue, even with the addition of the sauce. Plus, due to its spring/summer roll nature, it started to fall apart.
As my entree, I chose the Tin Drum Curry.
The chicken was tender, the curry was spot on in depth, spice, brightness, and that hint of sweetness. The rice was perfectly sticky. I enjoyed the fresh spinach, but I felt there could have been a bit more of it and perhaps a bit more to it. I would have enjoyed some additional flavor added to the spinach—a quick sauté perhaps? A bit wilted? For some reason it seemed a bit out of place in the dish, but then again, I liked how the warm curry handled the wilting of it. So I guess overall I’m undecided on how I feel about those baby spinach leaves. I would definitely take them rather than leave them, though, as a bit of freshness is always appreciated.
Everything aside, the prices were good. My little rolls only set me back about $3 altogether, and my curry dish was $8. I will be giving this place another try (I’m anxious to sample their street tacos), and I recommend you do, too.
what I ordered: Urban Cookhouse
February 6, 2012 § 4 Comments
My sister and I finally live and work in the same city, so we have been having regular sister lunches. Last week, we went to Urban Cookhouse. I’ve made many a trip to the one in Homewood, but this was my first visit to the new location at The Summit.
In the past I’ve enjoyed every meal at Urban Cookhouse, so it’s hard to give a bad review of what I ordered. But I did learn at Food Blog South last weekend (which was awesome by the way) that bloggers need not be afraid to be critical. But hey, sometimes it is just easier to just go on and on about all things you love.
So I ordered the Pepper Patch Wrap, which is grilled chicken, black beans, corn, red onions, tomatoes, pepper jack cheese, and roasted jalapeno vinaigrette wrapped in a wheat tortilla. While a lot of these ingredients weren’t in season, I decided to try it anyways. Much to my chagrin, the wrap was very dry. There was not enough dressing on it. The tomatoes were mealy, and I didn’t get any “pepper” taste until the very end of the wrap.
I ordered a side of hot cheddar pasta, which was delightfully cheesy, though the pasta was a little overcooked and mushy, but still delivered a great sharp cheddar flavor.
In the past, I have ordered the pulled pork sandwiches and they were quite delicious (at the Homewood location). Also the broccoli salad is sweet and crisp and definitely worth trying.
The one thing I will rave about is their strawberry lemonade. It did taste very fresh and the man behind the counter told us that they press the fresh strawberries right there in the kitchen the day of. And the flavor definitely confirmed that story.
My sweet sister Brynn enjoys her strawberry lemonade.
I’m certainly willing to give Urban Cookhouse another try, but I left feeling like I should have ordered something else or gone elsewhere for lunch. Sad. But with time, maybe the kitchen at this location will catch up with its Homewood sibling. Have you tried the new location? What are your thoughts?
