I’ve actually eaten at one of the newer restaurants on the Westside, Bocado, many times, but have never written a blog post on it. This is partly because ~80% of my visits consist of me ordering their delicious burger.

Bocado

Delicious Burger

On one of the most perfect days we’ve had in a while (beautiful weather and the start of college football), Mario and I visited Bocado after GT made a decisive rout of South Carolina State in our home opener. Mario couldn’t pass up the usual burger (no pickles, add bacon), but I decided to step outside the box and try a lobster roll. Now, this is important news because I was just one more bad lobster away from finally conceding that I just don’t like lobster. All my experiences with the crustacean have yielded a lukewarm, slightly rubbery, unseasoned piece of tail meat. I will partly chalk this up to the fact that I grew up eating crawfish, and lobster, I’m sorry to say, is an inferior substitute for perfectly seasoned crawfish. Bocado’s lobster roll, however, turned my assumptions on their head.
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Remember back like, almost 2 months ago, when Atlanta had it’s 2010 Downtown Restaurant Week? Well, this post was supposed to be written then. I know, I’m a little behind. So, way back when, I went to the Midtown location of Spoon with a couple of lovely ladies. If you follow this blog at all, you have probably noticed that I don’t eat a lot of ethnic foods. It’s not at all that I don’t like it, it’s just that I am genuinely clueless about most Eastern cuisines. So to dip my toe in the Thai food pool, I figured a restaurant week with some more experienced eaters would be the way to go. So we stopped into the hip space on a weekday evening and except for the dessert course, ordered one of everything on the restaurant week menu. Our starters: Coconut Soup with Tofu, Sweet Tofu Basil Rolls, and Scallop Samros (three flavored Scallops).

Coconut Soup with Tofu

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If you are a reader of any other ATL food blogs, undoubtedly you’ve seen posts recently about Chay J’s New Orleans Candies. This leads me to believe one thing: this woman (owner/confectioner Channon Powell) knows her marketing. And if a few food blogs aren’t enough for you, her treats have also been featured on BET’s The Mo’Nique Show. I had the chance to try some of Ms. Powell’s creations when she hand-delivered them to campus for me to try (where she was subsequently fawned over by a strange foreign student who was–to say the least–impressed by her 6′ height…but that’s another story ) Ms. Powell dropped off some “Creole Crunch” popcorn and “Creole Pretzels.” I was too busy munching to get any pictures of my treats, but these photos from chayjs.com should give you the basic idea:

Creole Crunch

Creole Pretzels

Mmm. My hands-down favorite was the popcorn, the sweet coating on which somehow made it feel like it was melting in my mouth. For those who love a good sweet/salty combo, the creole pretzels are the way to go. Since these were mounded together by their caramel-y coating, they took a little more mandibular force to crunch into, which was a bit of a turn-off after my meltaway popcorn. But don’t get me wrong–I still finished the bag! You can order Chay J’s treats for delivery all over the country, and can even get personal delivery in Metro Atlanta with a minimum purchase.

Because I enjoyed Chay J’s New Orleans Candies so much, and in celebration of my new-ish Facebook page, I’ll be having….a GIVEAWAY!!!
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I had almost forgotten about writing this post until I clicked through some photo albums on my computer and saw the pictures from the meal. It would have been a real travesty if I hadn’t caught it, because I enjoyed my meal at Serpas True Food so much.

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!
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