The Capital Grille–I never knew Capitalism Tasted this Good

I'm embarrassed to say, being a food lover for most of my life, I have never been to a high-end steakhouse. Houston's and Fogo De Chao seemed like the "highest-ended" steakhouse I've visited so far. So I didn't know what to expect at The Capital Grille.

When I walked in, I saw that everything looked fancy. I knew the dress code said "dressy," but I didn't take it too seriously. I wore some nice slacks and a dress shirt, but I still felt underdressed. I did see one table where they dressed business casual, but most men dressed in suits. If you want to fit in, wear a suit.

The reason they call this place "Capital Grille" is because of all the famous portraits of capitalists they have on the wall. But they assured us they had no political affiliation. It's just a gimmick. Maybe someone should open a competitor called "Marxist Grille." 

The Non-Important Food

When we sat down, they gave us some free bread. The basket of bread included several types of bread.  I didn't eat too much bread because I was saving room for the steak. But the breads I sampled tasted good. 

Good bread but save room for the appetizers and the main entree.

The appetizers felt tiny to me. I asked our server if that's the case for all of their appetizers. He said some of them had bigger portions.

I guess it's okay. Appetizers shouldn't be a whole meal anyway. I know at some places, when you order an appetizer, it's sometimes bigger than their entrees. At Capital Grille, however, it felt like the appetizers were a bit overpriced for the quality and quantity I got.

Lobster Fritter. 

For example, the Oysters in a Half Shell looked like the smallest oysters I've ever seen. It also had some chips of shell in the meat. So I didn't enjoy it. But at least they tasted fresh. The cocktail sauce tasted fine too.

Oysters in a Half Shell, oyster power!

The Best Part of the Resturant: Their Steaks. 

Even though the appetizers felt small enough to piss me off, the main entrees seemed like the perfect size. I ordered their special: the 3 fillet medallions with 3 different types of rubs and sauces.

One had 12 year aged balsamic vinegar. I liked this one the best. I loved the taste of the balsamic vinegar they used. It provided a nice taste to my already juicy steak.

The other had a coffee rub with caramelized shallot butter. This was a close second. My server looked shocked when I told him I liked this one as well. I guess if you're not a coffee fan, you won't like this. But I loved it.

The other one had some sort of aged blue cheese and cajun sauce. It tasted good, but I didn't like it as much as the other two. I'm not fan of blue cheese, and the blue cheese spread tasted too strong for me.

I'm glad I ordered this dish because I got to try out their different kinds of rubs they put on their steaks. It also provided a nice variety.

12 Year Old Aged Balsamic Vinegar, Kona Rub, Blue Cheese and Cajun

Mrs. Kitty ordered the Seared Tenderloin with Butter Poached lobster. Her dish was high quality and delicious. The lobsters were a great touch. I also liked the mashed potatoes in the middle.

Tenderloin with butter poached lobster.

We also ordered some haricots verts with roasted tomatoes and fennel. It made a great side dish to the meat. I like haricots verts, so I had nothing to complain. They were cooked perfectly. 

Green beans with fennel and tomatoes.

Pretty High Quality Place

Capital Grille seemed like a top notch steakhouse. They treated us like royalty. I sometimes felt a bit guilty on how well they treated us.

Capital Grille made their steaks very well. We got the fillets, so I didn't get to experience their dry aged steaks. But I'm sure they're also high quality.  

Our fillets were the best fillet mignon I've tasted. They cooked it at a perfect medium rare. They were like butter, soft and tender. 

I enjoyed the steak here. They were one of the best I've had in my life. Now I need to try out the other high end steak places in Atlanta and see how they compare. For now, Mr. Kitty gives Capital Grille 4.5 paws up.

The Capital Grille

255 E Paces Ferry Rd NE

Atlanta, GA 30305

(404) 963-9500

http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/locations/atlanta/main.asp

Joey D's Oak Room–A Huge Place

This is truly an American restaurant. You can tell by its name. Its name is not some fancy sounding French or Italian name. It's Joey D's Oak Room. That sounds pretty American to me. It certainly lives up to the American standard: bigger, badder, and better.

The inside looks huge. It seems like a popular place for parties or any big group of people. They also have a huge collection of alcohol. It's so big, they need a ladder to reach certain bottles. 

That's a lot of alcohol. 

I thought the food tasted good overall. I did not realize how big the portions were. So I kind of overstepped my stomach's boundaries.

We ordered some Honey Butter Croissants. They had a buttery and sweet taste–like what its name implied. It was also very soft and tasted delicious thanks to its overabundance of butter and honey. It had so much honey on it, it was very sticky. It kind of tasted like a glazed doughnut. They were huge too. One could almost be a meal itself.

Ginormormous Honey Butter Croissants. Very good.

I also ordered the She Crab Soup. it came in a huge bowl. I guess at Joey D's, appetizer means it serves 4.

They definitely loaded the soup up with tons of cream, butter, crabs, and other stuff. It felt so heavy, I couldn't finish it. Which surprised me since I usually clean up all my dishes. I did like the taste. But I think they should shrink the size by half.

Giant Bowl of She Crab Soup.

The side salad Mrs. Kitty ordered tasted delicious. It also came with its own Honey Butter Croissant. Like the soup, it also came in a gigantic bowl. The Brooklyn French dressing tasted incredible. It had a strong horseradish taste and gave the salad a very nice flavor. If you get a salad here, try the Brooklyn French dressing.

The biggest and the baddest side salad you'll see. 

Unfortunately, my Low Carb Filet Mignon salad was the low point of my meal. It was pretty boring. The filet Mignon was too dry. The salad didn't have any dressing either. I think it was suppose to come with dressing, but it didn't. Epic Fail.  I should've gotten the house salad instead.

Filet Mignon Salad. Boooorrrrriiiinnnnng

Mrs. Kitty also got the Prime Rib. That tasted juicy, tender and delicious. It also didn't seem too fatty.  They cooked it to a perfect medium rare.

Prime Rib with Sauteed Spininch and Au jus.

Expect a lot of food at Joey D's. Unless you're sharing the appetizers with 4-5 people, don't order them. You won't be able to finish your main entree. But I guess you can take it to go and eat it as leftovers.

The price is steep, but I think you get the right quantity and quality of food you pay for. Mr. Kitty gives this place 4 paws up.

Joey D's Oak Room
1015 Crown Pointe Pkwy
Atlanta, GA 30338
http://www.centraarchy.com/joeyDs.php

Fuego Mundo is on Fire

I'm sorry guys. Like an idiot, I didn't take pictures of the food. I'm still getting used to this whole taking pictures for a food blog thing.

As a back up, I blatantly stole the pictures from their website. Hey, it works. I just hope their lawyers don't sue my tail off.

Anyway, let's get to the actual review:

The Food

First, let me get this out of they way: Their burgers suck. They advertise it as, "The world's best burger." Don't believe them. It tastes like a giant McDonald's burger. The bun, meat, and everything just tastes low quality to me.

Doesn't it look yummy? No way, just go to Evos if you want a burger at the Prado. 

It surprises me on how low quality the burger tastes and looks. I like their meat dishes, but their burgers turns out as a huge disappointment.  Fuego Mundo, you disappoint.

Now for the good parts: their meat dishes. I will give praise for their meat dishes. They offer various combinations of steak, chicken and fish. I usually get the steak combinations, and they always taste  good. They season the meat liberally. It comes with fried plantains and a healthy side combination of your choosing.

Finally, the good stuff.

Fuego Mundo's sides consist mainly of vegetarian or health-conscious style dishes. They offer various vegetables, quinoa, beans, and plantains. If they didn't offer meat, I would say Fuego Mundo seems like a good place for people on the Ornish diet. I'm not a big fan of their sides, however; since being a carnivorous cat,  I rather just have more meat.

Overall, I think Fuego Mundo is going after the health conscious market. I don't know how much salt they sprinkle on the meats, but everything seems healthy. Even the cuts of meat they use taste lean and don't have much fat.

If I ignore the burgers, I think I like everything else here. I like the unique, South American taste. It gives a nice alternative to my regular lunch food I get.

Are Their Prices on Fire too?

If you mean on fire, do you mean kinda expensive? Yes, the food here costs a lot. For lunch, you can expect to pay around $11. However, I do enjoy coming here regularly even though it costs a bit more than the other usual lunch places. And the dishes do taste higher quality to me. So maybe I'm getting the right value.

Mr. Kitty gives this place four paws up.


5590 Roswell Rd
Ste 120
Atlanta, GA 30342
http://fuegomundo.com/