Taverna Plaka

Atlanta’s best kept Greek secret – Taverna Plaka. This Mediterranean restaurant sits unassumingly on Cheshire bridge road. What looks like a bistro-next-door from the outside, is anything but that on the inside. Sensuous lightning, brick walls, a cozy gazebo for private dining and a spacious patio, all promote a definite visit to this restaurant. The food was also worth writing home about – I would recommend the lamb kabobs served with saffron rice! Like most Greek places, this one is pretty pricey too.

Have I spoken about the clincher yet? The sexy belly dancers of course!

Rice Sevai

Rice Sevai is another Mangalore specialty and one of my favorite breakfast fares. Here's a simple recipe.

Ingredients:
1 packet Rice sevai
5-6 red chillies
2 tsps of oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp gram
1 tsp tur dal
A few curry leaves
Coriander leaves to garnish, salt to taste

Method:
Boil 3 cups of water and add the rice sevai to it. Allow it to cook for five minutes. Remove and transfer to a strainer and allow the water to drain completely. Heat oil in a pan seperately, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and the two dals. When it starts spluttering, add the red chillies. Finally add the sevai (ensure that it is completely dry). Cook for 2 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

A nice Sunday morning breakfast.

Steak n Shake

Steak n Shake, is an old American fast food chain. I would never recommend this place for their burgers or sandwiches. The food is greasy and not very appetizing. What I would highly recommend is their desserts - Just Desserts!

My two favorite are the strawberry shortcake and the molten brownie, both served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The desserts are all below $4 and the portions; simply enormous. Another favorite is the side by side milk shake; strawberry and banana. This shake is so thick you wont have to eat for the next three days.

Go check 'em out, perfect place for that after dark dessert binge.

Pizza in Pisa

All smiles, G jn. at a little bistro beside the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Pho 79

Pho 79 is a Vietnamese restaurant. It belongs to a chain that is apparently spread across the country. This one is located just off Winters Chapel Road. It definitely qualifies as a food-find. Vietnamese food, to me, is a combination of Thai and Chinese. Yes they have all kinds of noodles; fried, steamed, boiled, flat, angle hair, etc but they also incorporate the use of ingredients like coconut and basil leaves; traditionally used in Thai cuisine. The food at Pho 79 was definitely good. One has to be careful to ask for a description of each entrée though, for there are some that are served lukewarm and some cold, and not everyone would enjoy that!

The menu is in Vietnamese and you could just about have a crash course in the language if you so desired. They also had an entire vegetarian section, a much appreciated aspect of this restaurant. The only downside was that the service was not that earthshaking. Despite there being very few patrons that night, the food took forever to come. It was a girls night out though, and time tends to fly when you’re with a bunch of noisy girlfriends.