Rising Roll: A Review

Back to what I really should be doing...reviews!  Rising Roll has been my go-to for lunch since I discovered it, shortly after starting my new job in downtown Atlanta.  Rising Roll is a franchine and this particular downtown location is just a few blocks away from my office.  They have a very large selection of sandwiches including garden, hot, paninis and salads and sides too.  They even offer breakfast.  And a 16-punch punch card, which requires (as the name would indicate) 16 punches for a free lunch.  Yes, I have in fact, already earned myself a free lunch.  It doesn't hurt that 2 days a week are double punch days. 

I came in so often, that I have gotten to know Natasha, who is planning to go back to school for a Masters in Physics.  She is super nice and friendly and always recognizes me, so finally one day I introduced myself to her.  Sometimes the service can be a little slow, but it is only because they take so much care in preparing your sandwich.  And, for me, because I can barely see (or be seen) over the very high glass deli case in which they store their fresh ingredients.  For a quick, hot sandwich at a reasonable price in downtown ATL, they cannot be beat. 

Here is what I've had from the menu and my tasting thoughts:

Killer Blue Turkey  This is pretty standard turkey with blue cheese.  A good, solid turkey sandwich.

Buffalo Wrap  I guess maybe I am not a huge wrap or buffalo fan.  I was looking for something kind of spicy and different, but the wrap was so huge (good for some of you, I am sure), that it was hard for me to eat in a neat, graceful fashion.  Taste-wise, it was good if unmemorable.

Ham and Brie  I think this has to be my favourite.  It's a hot sandwich and I usually get it on sourdough.  I didn't mention you can choose your bread?  Oops.  You can choose your bread.  But this hot 'wich has ham, brie, thin slices of apple and a dijon aioli.  Quite delicious and really hits the spot.  Since I usually only eat a half a sandwich at a time, I remove the apple when I reheat this delicious bite, as apple I have discovered, does not reheat (or probably just heat) well. 

Durango Chicken  This is a pretty good one too, but I have to say, guac doesn't appeal to me when it is slightly heated.  This might be better as a not hot sandwich, but I still really like it.  I am just kind of in love with guacamole in general.

French Dip  I admit, this is my first ever French Dip sandwich.  Really.  I am 30 and never have had one before.  I do not know why.  I must also admit to being an Arby's roast beef fan.  So, I did not really care for the roast beef on this sandwich.  It was kind of thick and too chewy for me.  I did, however, like the au jus and the whole dipping of a sandwich in it thing appealed to me entirely.  Note to self: eat more french dips.

Roast Pork Caliente  This is a panini that I really like.  I am not sure why I haven't ordered it more than once.  Oh yes, it is because of the vast menu that I feel obliged to fully explore.  But this is a good one.  I may have to order it on Monday.  I have been out of town for a week on business, so I think this will be my grand return meal. 

Oh, and soup!  Have I mentioned that they have soup?  Yes indeed.  Check their website for which soups are served on which days, but I usually get the Loaded Baked Potato or Tomato Basil Bisque, both of which are pretty decent takes on the standards.  Beware that the LBP might be slightly oily and if you have a sensitive tummy to such things, it may not sit well with you. 

I also haven't had any of their sides; I am not really a fan of mayo, so potato salad and such things are out for me.  But I do know that for $1 more, you can choose a side and a pickle.  And they have one mean soda machine...it dispenses my personal crack, Coca-Cola!

Lastly but not leastly, breakfast!  I admit to one hangover (at least) in my time here in HotPants and Starbucks just was not going to cut it.  The only remedy for a hangover, in my opinion, is soda.  Fountain soda, in particular.  And it goes well with a Rising Roll croissant with eggs and bacon.  It was delicious and cured my hangover pretty quickly. 

Rising Roll delivers a solid, usually quick, always friendly lunch experience.  If you're downtown and need something quick, solidly American and want a lot of options, I would recommend this place.  And as for breakfast...I haven't found a better place yet.

Two Bloke Weekend

Now that sounds like a great name for a beer...there is Two Hearted Ale, so why not a Two Bloke Weekend?  If I even come up with my own beer or wine, it will be called that.  But I digress.  

I know you came to read a good story.  Apparently one about two blokes and a weekend.  Please note this weekend was several weekends ago...like 2 or 3 to be exact.  So, here it goes.  It all started out pretty swell.  Oh, wait...maybe this is a three bloke weekend!  My friend MD and I decided to catch a movie after work, so we went to see Hereafter and have a bite to eat.  We are actually really just friends.  No, I really mean it.  I promise.  Just. Friends.  Okay, so that was how it started.

I had reserved Scuba, a cute little Nissan Sentra Zipcar for Saturday, an all day, 24 hour reservation.  But, little Scuba was for some reason unavailable, so they gave me Bennett, a nice BMW 328.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  Like, I can hardly describe how I felt.  It was like I was weightless, light and floating; my whole body was warm and tingly; flowed seratonin flowed freely throughout my entire body and it was nothing short of orgasmic.  Everything Oz had told me about driving a BMW was in fact, quite true.  

With such a great start to my day, I ran errands and mailed a present to little Lila, as she is about 2 months old, it was about time.  Dry cleaners, Goodwill, eyebrow wax, grocery store, Nordstrom, nails, two conference calls and a whole lotta driving Bennett...and then, it was date time!  

I stepped into my hot date jeans, a cute top and sweater and hot 4" heels and cute jacket.  I fluffed my curls, added some eye makeup suitable for an evening date, added jewelry and voila!  I was off to Cafe Intermezzo.  I really liked this place and hadn't ever been to a place designed with the concept of a European coffee house in mind.  The menu was like 50+ pages, with copious coffee drinks, pastries, wines, beverages, entrees and so much more available.  Each new section (such as Cognacs, Ports, etc.) had a description and history of the beverage, which was really fascinating.  Had I not been on a date, I might have snuck one of the menus home with me, and next time I think I will.  

In addition to the amazing menu, I loved the ambiance.  We sat outside, cafe style (I forgot it was about to get a little chilly after dark).  It was lit with low lighting and candles on the small, wrought iron tables. It's an excellent choice for a date, I have to say.  It can be intimate without being overly so.  The place filled up gradually, with couples sipping espressos and having dessert.  One of my first thoughts was, I would love to bring Oz here.  He might have thrown a fit over the service, however.  Our waitress did not have any answer really when I asked for a Malbec recommendation, and she did not come back to the table more than twice, until it was time to hand over the bill.  

I had a very good Deseno Malbec for $8 and it was a generous pour.  That seems pretty reasonable for HotPants.  Neither of us had eaten, so we decided to have a bite to eat as well.  So I ordered a panini with pulled chicken, apple, spinach and honey mustard.  At first, I was skeptical of having the spinach on it, but it actually turned out quite good.  The combination of flavours was very engaging and it was not just eating something because I was hungry, but it was genuinely enjoyable. 

For dessert, we went inside to the little bakery, cafe area.  If you're not familiar with the place, what you do is leave your table (tell your waitress you're having dessert!), order a cheesecake or other cake from the delectable choices and return to your table.  Shortly thereafter, your dessert arrives.  My date opted for his favourite, the Strauss cake, a rich chocolatey creation.  I asked for a recommendation and was told the apple pumpkin cake was delicious and there was only one slice left.... so I ordered it!

The Strauss cake arrived, but mine did not, so I had to ask the manager about it.  It was okay, but I have to say I was disappointed.  I generally am not a cake fan and the only part of this cake I liked was the pumpkin cheesecake wedged between two pieces of apple cake.  There was some kind of apple-cinnamon streusel top, but it was just okay. Long story short: lovely date and I will be back to further explore the menu, particularly the extensive coffee drink menu!

After I got home, Oz decided to stop by for a visit and we talked a bit about his mum's visit (she was at home sleeping).  It didn't take long for him to become allergic to the cats, so he didn't stay too long.  I'd like to think that he just missed me so much that he wanted to see me, but in fact...it was probably a good thing his allergies got to him. 

There you have it...a three bloke weekend. 

Zippety Don't

Nothing exciting has happened in this Atlanta blogger's life.  Eharmony continues to be my main connection to the outside world.  It is hard sometimes, for me to believe that life exists beyond Marta, Hurt Plaza and home.  Like, really strange that there is anything other than that.  Oh, and Oz's place, but that is a thing of the past.  Or so I thought.  More on that later.

Yesterday I had dinner at The Brick Store Pub, in Decatur.  My friend's niece who is 22 and just graduated from Clemson just moved to Atlanta about 3 weeks ago.  So I've been trying to help her find a job and such, so we went to dinner to just kind of get out of the house and whatever.  I had gone to BSP once before, when I had been searching for an apartment before I moved to HotPants.  It was lunch and everyone was super nice and had suggestions about where I should live.  Dinner was pretty good as well.  We had to wait almost an hour, after we were told 30 minutes, but it was a Friday night and I know I like to linger over many beers on a Friday night after a hella long week.  We split the shepherd's daughter's pie and pierogi primavera.  Delicious!!  It was quite good.  The portions are not huge, which is fine for me because I do not eat lots all at once, but if you were a huge dude, you might want to get a starter as well.

I love that they have a vast selection of beers and I love the inviting, dark, cozy ambiance.  And the upstairs bar area is all nice and cozy and wooden everything.  It is very charming.  I wish it was closer to where I live now, because I would for sure make it my regular watering hole.  There is no such place near me.  If you're looking for a nice first or second or third date place, especially as it gets a wee bit cooler, I would highly recommend The Brick Store Pub.  You can get all nice and cozy there.  They even have Framboise in peach and raspberry.

Okay, okay, I've been stalling.  Oz!  He has been missing me, so we got together on Friday night.  He was up to his usual antics, but it was a completely platonic get together and I had mentioned that I was going to go run errands Saturday morning.  On Saturday morning, he asked how I was going to run errands and of course, I mentioned ZipCar.  I had to explain what it was.  And how I got to/from said cars.  After he had put some laundry in the washer, I walked into the kitchen and he asked, "So, what if you used my car to run errands?"  I was pretty sure he didn't want me driving his BMW 330i, so I said (after a long pause, staring at the ground because I didn't want to seem too excited), "Well, that would be really nice but I don't want to be a nuisance."  He assured I wouldn't be, and he had errands to run at a few of the same places too, so...off we went.

Lesson of the day:  it doesn't pay to be nosy.  While we were at Nordstrom, picking up my tailoring, he sat in a chair and immediately whipped out his text machine (aka cell phone).  It appeared he was texting a...gasp!...girl!!???  I realized how heartbroken I was, reminded myself that he was with me at that moment and hey, wasn't I still eHarmonizing?  Yeah...so... Still, it was amazing how my heart seized up on me and totally gave me away.  We grabbed lunch at Tin Roof as it was about 2 ish or something and we were both getting a little cranky from not having eaten. 

Long story short:  We had a great day, he helped me drop some things off at my apartment, saw my mess (slightly embarrassed as he is a neat freak!), but I blamed it on still unpacking (6 weeks later).  It was another completely platonic day and I just absolutely adored him all day.  He is definitely high maintenance and used to being spoiled, but crazy me, I love spoiling my loved one.  

And, that's a wrap!  Nothing more going on here this weekend, except I may finally reserve a ZipCar to go to CarMax and see what's up there.  Just another slllooowww weekend in HotPants

Cafe Bombay

Today, we are reviewing a restaurant called Cafe Bombay.  It is an Indian place on Briarcliff Road, near N. Druid Hills Road.  I dined here with the now ex, and sadly, this experience may well have been the catalyst for the prefix "ex"now applied. 

I like good service, just like anyone else.  But, I have to say, I never expect hurried or rushed waiters at an Indian restaurant.  It is usually pretty laid back.  And such was the case with this place.  I was quite happy with being seated immediately; the place wasn't packed.  The interior was slightly dimly lit and warm, friendly and inviting.  We sat and were not waited on for a few minutes.  Our waiter (clearly not part of the Indian theme going on) had a little bit of an attitude, I sensed.  Oz ordered a dry, dirty martini with no olives.  I decided I was too tired to drink, so just stuck with water.

We asked the waiter what he would recommend and his sass-filled answer was, "Well, depends what you like." So I said I like chicken and he pointed out a few dishes.  I chose Chicken Vindaloo.  Oz also asked for a recommendation and after confirming he liked spinach, ended up with Saag something... I am not sure if it was Saag Paneer or something else, but possibly.  

Oz's drink was brought out a little later (okay, even I thought it was a little slow in coming out).  He was already agitated at this point, so when he sipped his drink, I think it just put him over the top.  Dry martini means no vermouth.  Dirty martini means extra olive juice.  This was not a dry, dirty martini, and I can attest to that.  So he brought the waiter over and unfortunately, the waiter chose the wrong person with who to argue.  Oz knows his drinks.  The waiter stated that dry meant extra vermouth and dirty?  Well you didn't want any olives.  Oz finally just said, I want vodka with olive juice.  The waiter: We don't have olive juice.  Oz: Well how were you going to make a dirty martini.  Waiter: Well you didn't want any olives.   Oz just said forget it, that he would drink whatever he had been made. 

Shortly after, the food arrived but Oz was so agitated he demanded that we get it to go and leave.  Sigh.  There went my nice, spur of the moment, hey, I want to take you out to dinner....

But the story isn't so much about Oz as it is about the food.  The food was phenomenal!  I personally don't believe you go to an Indian restaurant for a dry, dirty martini....stay in Buckhead if that is what you want.  But you do go for the food, and it was really, really good.  I will definitely go back to Cafe Bombay, sans Oz.  And hopefully they will have replaced the waiter, who graciously (after first running the bill with the drink) ran the bill without the drink, since we "hadn't been satisfied with it."  

The Chicken Vindaloo was very spicy, as I had wanted it to be, and Oz eagerly ate his Saag something... and even after his little grinch moment, agreed that perhaps he would go back for take out.  

Stats, Stat! A tale of college football kickoff weekend

This weekend was the oh so glorious, much anticipated, long awaited college football kickoff weekend!  Football season, in my opinion, far surpasses Christmas as the hap-happiest time of the year.  By far.  What other time of year can I sit on my couch for endless hours, riveted by amazing fetes of athleticism, anticipating the effectiveness of the play, withstand the suspense of a 50 yard field goal attempt and unleash my pent up furies on any opponent by yelling vociferously and in an unladylike manner?  When and where else am I going to find such an excellent collection of the finest specimens of black men, well muscled and vying for my affections through their athletic efforts, all in one place?  Christmas in August for me!

I am a Big Ten supporter, through and through, and finding my Wolverines' games on tele here in SEC territory might prove somewhat more difficult than normal.  I did, however, discover Stats, a sports bar in the downtown Atlanta area.  I walked about 1.2 miles to see my beloved Wolverines in this, their fourth season with Rich Rod at the helm.  With baited breath, I walked every step, hoping they would turn out in awesome force, rather than the weakened team they have been in the last few years.  

Rich Rod must have known his ass is on the line and his head on the gauntlet.  They looked great!  But I only saw half of the game, and here is why:

UNC and LSU fans were abundant, to say the least, as they met on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome.  When I called Stats to see if they were playing UM v. UConn game, I got an immediate response.  It took the girl a few minutes to verify, but she was pretty pleasant and told me to come in asap to get a table because they were so packed.

Even though it was 1:45 and the game wasn't until 3:30pm, I decided to walk down there (I figured it would take me close to a half hour, depending on how slow I wanted to walk which depended how hot it was outside).  It was indeed packed when I arrived.  Or so I thought.  During the next few hours, I would come to realize what exactly "packed" means.

Stats is a pretty big place with multiple levels and rooms.  When you arrive, they check your ID and give you a wristband.  They have girls selling canned Bud Lite and Miller Lite in a few places around the place so that you don't have to wait at the bar and can quickly get a drink in your hand.  This is pretty efficient.  I paid $5 for a 16 oz. Miller Lite.  After looking at the bar, I figured I would be better off grabbing something at one of these kiosks than trying to get a bartender's attention at the bar.  

It is pretty much standing room only, even at the bar (no stools or chairs), unless you are one of the lucky few who arrived early enough to get a table.  I stood near the stairs to the deck upstairs which you can pay $5 to go sit in the blazing hot sun.  This proved to be a bad location because I kept getting bumped around.  I finally spotted a spot at the bar and inserted myself.

I had a hard time getting service when I wanted it, because it was so, so busy.  There was a particular guy bartender that pretty much ignored me and I had to work to get his attention to get a menu.  Finally, I got one and a good bartender would have kept on eye on me, to see if I wanted to order something.  But, he didn't.  I am fairly certain that the loads of loaded LSU fans who were giving $5 tips for 4 glasses of (free) water were his priority.  In the end, there was a nice lady bartender who made sure I was okay and so I tipped her nicely.  

So I realize that the UM game was not the showcase game that day, so I had to deal with only one screen, about 3 screens to the left of the one directly in front of me.  I also had to crane my neck a little more than was comfortable after a few hours, but that is just the deal when you go to some of these places.  I only stayed for the first half of the game because I, a petite lady, kept getting squished and more squished.  Obnoxious LSU fans who were twice my size kept encroaching on my space, and while I stood my ground, not moving when their asses, elbows and shoulders were shoved into me, I had had enough after a few hours.  

In general, I think Stats would be a fun place to pre-game and watch a bunch of games, if you are with a bunch of people.  On my own, I was less than enthusiastic about watching my game with a bunch of asses, elbows and shoulders in my face.  

And of course, my Wolverines were looking quite good and I hear they were even better in the second half.  I'm looking forward to seeing how they do against Brian Kelly's Notre Dame next weekend...