This, so far, is the hubby's favorite place to eat in Athens. I took him here once as a special treat. He was much more impressed than I was, but it was an ok place to eat.
Appetizer
He had the Asian Dumplings- Filled with a blend of chicken and seasonings, then steamed and seared. Served with sesame-peanut sauce.The dumplings were good, he quiet enjoyed them, being almost obsessed with pretty much all dumplings. I hardly ever like any I don't make myself. For some reason everyone feels the need to make the meat taste like cardamon sausage. The peanut sauce was a little weird with them at first but balanced them out to make the Asian feel complete.
I had the mozzarella sticks. I am a sucker for fried cheese with marinara sauce. I am used to being jipped in this department, even though I can get about a dozen in a box at any Dollar Tree with a freezer section. But there were more cheese sticks than I could even consume. They were delicious. The seasoning wasn't too overpowering but was fantastic if you wanted to eat them by themselves. The cheese was soft and stringy like it should be, not greasy and like taffee like so many other places believe it should be.
Entree
I had the Top Sirloin with creamy mashed cauliflower and spaghetti squash. Now, here is confession time. I am not big on too many veggies. The ones I have grown to like are normally how Chef Autumn makes them at Rhapsody. I love buttered, garlic, sauteed fresh veggies. However, though I hate cauliflower, I was very interested in trying it. It was creamy, but sweet. I didn't finish it because it tasted like it was trying to be a dessert rather than a side for steak.
The spaghetti squash was horrendous. I was told they toss it with some olive oil and put pasta sauce on top. Now, I know spaghetti is in the name, but this is a squash people. Pasta sauce and squash should never go hand in hand. Its like cheese and shell fish, it rarely works out well for anyone. I know the waitress absolutely loved this combination, but even just hearing her describe it made me want to stab her with a fork for liking it. But I tried it anyway. It was bland and bitter. Like I was eating a leaf. Part of it was dried out and crunchy and just plain dull. I added as much salt as I could, trying to make it taste better, and even tossed it around with the steak juices, but this one could not even come back to life with CPR. However the steak was delicious and cooked perfectly, for once. Nicely seared and the seasonings weren't overpowering.
The hubby had the Smokehouse Burger- Topped with aged New York cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, tangy barbecue sauce, and crisp onion rings. Now I work at a restaurant that also has a Smokehouse Burger, so this was some competition, seeing as how I am a grill cook there and make this a million times a day. In comparison, I like this one better. He loves onion rings, and these were perfect. Not greasy, crispy and the onions didn't fall out of the batter. The only disappointing thing about them is that he didn't want to share.
After this, there was no room for dessert. We left pretty satisfied with our meal, for the most part. The waitress was nice and attentive. We spent about $45 here, which I was expecting, yet still cringed at.
All in all I give it 4 stars because the veggies are just gross.
Mini Chef
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