Tempo Doeloe - Doraville - Atlanta Georgia

You can find Tempe Doeloe at 5090 Buford Hwy, Ste 110, Doraville, GA 30340 in the Intown Plaza shopping center. This plaza is also home to Spicy Ga Ga Duck and China Hot Pot (aka Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot). The parking for this plaza is pretty tight but I've been able to find a space near the front - might be a good idea to carpool just in case. 

This is an interesting restaurant featuring the cuisine of Indonesia presented in authentic flavors, ingredients and combinations. Most restaurants that are similar are more a fusion of Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, etc. The experience is fast casual where you order at the counter and get your dishes delivered as they are prepared - my sense is that this is a family run business and in conversations with the people here the effort is to bring more "at home" styles of cooking to Atlanta as a dining experience.

In general the dishes were very simply prepared - nothing fancy - but the flavors were really distinct, on the strong side, with multiple layers. There was more turmeric than I expected and the flavors are really earthy - they reminded me a bit of Ethiopian cuisine but that may have more to do with the stewed chopped greens - I could just see myself eating this with injera.

  On the night we attended (this was part of my regular weekly Buford Highway "Clawr" restaurant group) it was empty except for us - so we had the full attention of staff (a woman, maybe the chef/owner?) who was great at answering questions. We discussed the food for some time and enjoyed it immensely.




(also posted to Yelp)
 

Northern China Eatery - Doraville - Atlanta Georgia

You can find Northern China Eatery at 5141 Buford Hwy, Ste C, Doraville, GA 30340 - this is in the basement of Italy Optical and almost directly across from the Asian Supermarket shopping center (where you'll find several great restaurants including the popular Doraville location of Sweet Hut). There's some parking in the alley between Italy Optical and I Luv Pho or if it's in the evening I believe you can park at Italy Optical.

This is one of those classic Buford Highway hidden gems that's known for it's Sichuan cuisine and dumplings - when I first became aware of it my favorite local Little Szechuan was still open and down the street so I continued to go there instead of trying Northern China Eatery. I've since been a couple of times and the food here is quite good - most of what I've eaten has a lot of authenticity in the flavors, with perhaps just a nudge toward being milder on the heat side, to conform to most American tastes. Do yourself a favor and explore the menu with an eye towards the unusual - you'll be glad you did.

On this evening I met John F and Michelle T as part of our regular Buford Highway Clawr group. The place is fairly small with maybe a half-dozen tables. While we sat (this was around 8:00 PM mid-week so late for this restaurant and area) it never got more than half-full, but we witnessed quite a few take-out orders being processed - seems the locals have figured out that eating remotely will prevent disappointment at arriving and not being able to sit. Honestly I loved this place - it's pretty divey and you can tell it's been in business a long time. The menu has both Chinese and English and the prices are very reasonable with a red pepper to the side to indicate that the dish is spicy. As with most authentic Chinese food, don't expect much on the menu that is strictly vegan.

We started with hot black tea and a soup - as I recalled it was Hot-and-Sour - there was a fair amount of ingredients (dropped egg, shrooms and firm tofu) but it wasn't very "hot" as in spicy. It did have a fair amount of vinegar that helped.

We ordered the Xiao Long Bao - classic soup dumplings - these were some of the best I've had in Atlanta - most in this town are made using a very thick dumpling skin - these were thin and very delicate - make sure you slide then onto a spoon to keep them from breaking. I like to add a bit of chili oil to sauce (if provided or you can use soy), scoop some up in the spoon then slide the dumpling onto the spoon - as you pop them into your mouth take up the sauce too - lovely.

We ordered two entrees - the Chef Special Spicy Pork and the Chong Ching Spicy Chicken.

The Chef Special Spicy Pork is a very wet dish - more like a soup (but the thin gravy is a bit too much for drinking like a soup) - this is spicy but not so hot that people that can't handle heat couldn't enjoy it - just keep away from the dried red chilies. The pork is very delicate and it's this texture that I think the chef is trying to achieve - I enjoyed it but really like the chicken much better. I usually like to pour a bit of the sauce on the rice and eat it like that but this was a bit much and didn't seem to add any value.

The Chong Ching Spicy Chicken - I believe this is the same as chongqing la zi ji –重庆辣子鸡 on other menus - it's a dry woked chicken with fresh whole garlic, ginger, dried red chilis and Sichuan peppercorns - the best has a bit of flower pepper so you get the numbing, metallic effect that's quite engaging. This is an elusive dish for me (not that you can't find it, but I haven't found it anywhere done as well as Gu's and since they moved from BufHi to Krog St it's not very convenient for me to acquire it when I'm in the mood). This is a fairly competent rendition - very solid if not quite to the same level as Gu's - I do like that they provide more chicken than peppers - that's one of those complaints I have when ordering this dish as it tends to have more dried pepper than chicken - they're modest in their use at Northern China Eatery.

Service here is very competent - you can tell the owners have been in business a while and they are good with recommendations. We had a good time eating all the food and will be returning for sure. The food is very reasonably priced and you get huge portions. As such I'm elevating my review to 4/5 stars.

(also posted to Yelp)

Mamak Malaysian Cuisine - Doraville Atlanta Georgia

You can find Mamak Malaysian Cuisine at 5150 Buford Hwy, Ste A-170, Doraville, GA 30340 in the Asian Square shopping center anchored by the Asian Supermarket. Mamak is on the right-side when viewing the Supermarket from the street, just a few doors down from the Doraville Sweet Hut location on the right-side corner. There's plenty of parking in the main market lot or if you're lucky you'll be able to park out front of the restaurant.

 

I've now eaten at Mamak on several occasions for both lunch and dinner and like the food here quite a bit. The interior is a bit sparse with light green walls and nice, industrial finishes. The place is a bit small so best to hit it during non-peak times - otherwise you may have to wait (the wait is worth it). I consider the cuisine more a fusion of Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai and Chinese which seems to be common in most restaurants that originate in Malaysia or Indonesia as those seem to be melting pots of the surrounding countries. I think that most people who like Thai food will like the food here - it's very clean (more like Vietnamese) and relies on the actual flavors of the food rather than on heavy sauces. There's also a distinctly local take on turmeric that delves a bit more into Indian cuisine flavors - if you like all that I've described, you'll love Mamak. If there's something in there you don't like, don't worry, as there's enough variation that you'll be able to find something delicious that's to your liking (the cool thing about fusion in my opinion).

I've enjoyed every dish I've tried at Mamak - from the samosa-like fried meat and/or veggie pies to the delicious seafood dishes. I love the curries and noodle dishes as well - lots of interesting flavors and textures.

Roti Canai - I've had this before (at Thai Spice specifically) and it's very Indian style, your basic roti served with a curry sauce for dipping. I think this is the best version I've had with very distinct flavors.

Curry Puff Pastry - this is basically a samosa only using puff-pastry (it's the fried-pies I referenced above) - very interesting made this way with lots more emphasis on the container than typical.

Papaya Salad - this is an awesome version of the green papaya salad with a bit more fish-sauce and slightly spicier than I've had elsewhere.


Curry Laksa - Coconut milk curry with chicken, potato, cilantro - this is delicious and one of those signature dishes that combines Malay and China flavors.

Sambal Shrimp - Shrimp with sweet peppers, onion and okra in homemade sambal - slightly spicy and awesome. 

Hainese Chicken - Another classic dish, soft chicken served on pasta.

Kari Ayam - chicken curry with potatoes - delicious.

Mamak Tofu - fried tofu, shrimp, pork, egg and gravy - delicious and saucy, great over rice.

Service here is very good but the place is small and very busy so keep that in mind. They serve Malaysian Ice Coffee here which is worth trying (sweet with lots of condensed milk). I think if you like Asian cuisines you'll love Mamak as much as I do.

(also Posted to Yelp)