Dreamland revisited: The mystique of Bob’s Salad

Alhough the LITG faithful might wish to poo-poo our lunch location selection today since we went to a chain restaurant (gasp!), the TRUE faithful will know (1) that a review of Dreamland has been posted on this blog previously (http://lunchinthegump.blogspot.com/2009/07/dreamland-bar-b-que.html) and (2) that we don’t really give a damn what you think about our lunchtime choices (I would include a parenthetical hyperlink to support this statement but there are too many too include, so take your pick).

But this was no aimless lunchtime gathering; we were on a mission. Fat Clemenza, Shadow Pup, and I had heard rumor of an off-menu item called “Bob’s Salad” and decided to investigate. There is a shroud of mystery around Bob’s Salad, but we knew at least enough to know that (1) other people had ordered it more than 24 hours prior and had not died; (2) the salad has chicken on it -- the pulled variety (I had to assure Shadow Pup that the chickens were humanely “put down” before any "pulling" commences); and (3) the salad can be ordered “hot” – with jalapenos – or “mild” – without jalapenos.

We coolly entered the establishment and took our seats near the back. As always, the place was hopping and the ribs were smoking. We scoffed when the menus were brought to us. As if! Mustering up the confidence of someone who orders exactly what she pleases, on the menu or not, I told the waitress that I would be ordering a Bob’s Salad. With bated breath, I waited. Did I need to have a password to successfully complete my order? Was she going to ask to see my Bob’s Club membership card? Would she start quizzing me about this mysterious “Bob” fellow (whose last name may or may not be “Salad”) to see if I really knew who he was and whether I was really entitled to eat his salad? (By the way, if “eating one’s salad” is some sort of vulgar metaphor, my inclusion of it here is completely unattended.)

But nothing happened. Well, I mean, something happened. I mean, the waitress wrote down my order and moved on to Shadow Pup. What I'm saying is, nothing unusual happened. There were no requests for secret passwords, handshakes, or ID cards. Bob did not appear and denounce having any relationship with me, at least not one that would rise to the level where I could eat his salad. (Gosh, that’s really starting to sound bad, isn’t it? My sincerest apologies to Bob…and his family.) We moved right along, and the waitress simply turned to Shadow Pup and asked what he would be having in his bowl. He barked twice. Since he is a regular at Dreamland, she was able to interpret his dog-speak and figure out that he wanted the “hot” version of the salad. Fat Clemenza got on the bandwagon and ordered a hot one too.

After several minutes of conversation, we had ourselves a table full of salad:

Kickin’ it healthy style at Dreamland!

So, it turns out that Bob’s Salad is basically just a healthy version of the pulled chicken salad. We got lettuce, grilled tomatoes, pickles, jalapenos (optional), pulled chicken, and – my favorite touch – pineapple. The only dressing was a bit of olive oil. There may have been more ingredients but I can’t recall them right now.

We dove into our bowls. Shadow Pup was particularly ferocious whilst eating. Either he was especially hungry, or he was happy that he was (for once) not the only one eating his food out of a bowl. We ate…and ate…and ate. There was a lot of food in that bowl! I finally gave up. The thing about having a salad as the sum and total of one’s meal is that, well, it just gets boring after a while. You can’t move around your plate, taking bites of different items as you go. There’s no variety for the palate. Sure, your forkfuls can vary as to chicken/lettuce/veg/fruit ratio, but, all in all, there’s not much difference in what you get. So, some perhaps satisfied more than others, we finished our meals:

Shadow Pup likes to pretend he knows how to use a fork sometimes.

Bob only charges $8.95 to eat his salad (seriously, I hope this man doesn’t have kids who are reading this), so we managed to stay under the Tojo line. Normally I don’t care too much for salad but this one is worth a try. It is a unique meal with some interesting flavors, and it’s certainly more healthy than most anything else on Dreamland’s menu (if you’re into that sort of thing). I must say, though, the mystique of ordering an off-menu item is part of the allure. All in all, I give it 3 out of 5 ribs.

Ala-Thai Classic: Lard Sha Na Na

[Ed. Note: Normally the LITG gang would not have selected the Carp to rate any restaurant that never serves cornbread.  But, as you will see below, due to the head injury to Tojo, we made an exception. Please forgive us.]

I was honored to be invited by the gang to write the first real review of one of the Ala-Thai restaurants in the Gump: Ala-Thai Classic on Ann Street. As the Show Dog pointed out, the owners of this family Thai restaurant did not screw up like Coca-Cola by changing the formula and issuing a “New Coke” and then having to bring back “Coke Classic.” They opened two different places at the same time after establishing the brand in a very dingy place on Coliseum Boulevard (which I think is now closed). They operate Ala-Thai East a/k/a West Shorter on the Atlanta Highway and Ala-Thai “Classic” on Ann Street.

We, of course, would never drive past a Classic Gump establishment to visit a place with similar food in the East where the rich folk dwell so today, Tojo, Cheers and Show Dog met for our regular Monday lunch at the Midtown Plaza Development (managed by our own Gump developers McClinton & Company) and located Ala-Thai by moving toward the big phallic symbol in the SE corner of the center.

Coincidentally, the menu listed a lot of priks: There was “Prik Pao Noodles”, “Prik Khing”, “Pad Prik,“, “Lard Prik” and that well-known prik: Mao Prik (actually it was Pad Khee Mao). They even had “Crazy Noodles” as if noodles themselves were not wild enough. Nothing really wets the old appetite like a big plate of Lard Prik or Crazy Noodles does it? Actually, Pla Lard Prik is a classic Thai fish dish with spicy garlic, lemongrass and sweet chili sauce. And the noodles were not crazy at all. At other places they are called “Drunkards’ Noodles” which are made from delicious wide rice noodles, chicken, tofu, chopped garlic, red sweet peppers, red onions, cabbage, eggs, white pepper, fresh lime juice, bean sprouts, white vinegar, date palm sugar and “prik phom” which are ground red chilies. It was pretty mild until I spiced it up with the sweet red pepper sauce supplied on the table for a very different and memorable lunch treat not too gassy or burp inducing. And “Lard Na” has nothing to do with that stuff we fat-assesses use to cook in the South, but is actually rice noodles with broccoli covered in a house gravy and a very tasty gravy at that. If you are timid, you can always just order the dish that sounds the best to you. Cheers suggested the “Tom Yum.” (which is a hot and sour soup with plenty of meat) for one new to the menu.

Lard Sha Na Na

One note: Inside we found a clean and neat place with a vaulted ceiling and some Thai-themed constructions, some of which were hazardous to our tallest member. Poor Tojo collided with one of the Thai roof shingle thingies hanging down like a sharp icicle. Although his bald dome was marred as he was in line to pay and we heard him mutter: “Oooch” [Tojo’s attempt to say ‘Ouch’], Tojo’s acting—usually overdone as you would expect from a former professional wrestler--was not sufficient to earn a free lunch. Actually, the lunch was so good Tojo was happy to pay despite the scob on the noggin. So despite the ‘interesting’ names for the dishes and the hazardous cashier-area construction, Ala-Thai was four for four in satisfaction from the LITG gang and at $8.75 per lunch WITH their fresh and soft spring rolls (not fried) with what tastes like sushi and cream cheese inside (delightful and easy to eat with the chopsticks) it was a pretty reasonable deal well below the Tojo-line. But please forgive me if I cannot resist giving Ala-Thai the following high rating based upon the votes of those LITG members in attendance.....yes, you guessed it....... Four Priks, no, this is funnier.....Four Puds.

Oooch!

NP Bistro Lights Up Z-Red

A gaggle of gumpsters with very little notice visited the burgeoning Zelda Road Entertainment District (Z-RED) and its newest entry, the reconstituted Nancy Paterson’s Bistro. After leaving the friendly confines of C-RED under a full moon, Nancy, Burns and crew have opened a stylish café in the old Klein & Son Jewelry location in Zelda Place. Tales of long waits and slow service—and no Pine Bar in sight--made the boys a little nervous, but that was certainly not the case as a table for five was immediately available at high noon.
Impressed with the classy décor, Shadow Pup jumped into his chair, quickly realizing that his were the only hindquarters that would fit comfortably. The first thing Tojo noticed was the complimentary sauna, leaving Tojo with three pounds to give going into the appetizer. It turns out that the air conditioning was only temporarily on the fritz, and Tojo’s body temp was restored to its normal 108º by the time his gazpacho arrived.




Shrimp and Pasta (notice the cutlery is not plastic)

The bread was well received and the orders taken promptly. Shadow Pup opted for the Reuben, which was deemed both large and tasty, and led to much tail-wagging. He was, alas, the only one to even sniff the Tojo line. Others used TARP funds to finance a massive Oriental Chicken Salad and an oil-free Summer Shrimp Pasta dish. There was also a salad with tuna that was replete with distinctive French cutlery, reminding Tojo of an item he once saw in the Yokohama Tattler advertising French rifles. Tojo say “French rifles good deal. Never fired, dropped once”. Other menu items--some old favorites and some good-looking new entries—promised a return visit. As loans were closed and checks settled, all were happy. Good food and good service--the recipe for success with this group--garnered Nancy three moons. With Nancy’s Bistro joining its sister eatery, Sal’s Pizzeria, along with Moe’s, Michael’s Table and the restaurant-to-be-opened-later, Zoe’s, Zelda Place is definitely becoming a happening lunch/dinner destination. Now when you throw in Kraze Yogurt — a very cool new ice cream with toppings spot — the Aronovs might be orchestrating the most harmonious lunchtime playground in the Gump.



Oriental Chicken Salad (yes that is feta cheese) Tojo like.


--NoGritsNoGlory

“All You Need is Lunch”—The Rutles Would Have Liked Ruddles Pub & Grill

“Never go outside the Gump” we have said over and over. But we, the LITG gang, never learn from our prior mistakes and thus are destined to re-live the past—sort of like the Pre-Fab Four super group—The Rutles—made all the mistakes those copycats—The Beatles—repeated. This time, however, perhaps we have found at least one reason to visit the far east. I mean one more than lunching with Tojo. So on Monday we took a “Tragical History Tour” outside the by-pass and spent two hours away from our businesses in the Gump partaking of lunch in West Shorter’s Ruddles (not to be confused with “The Rutles”) Pub & Grill which is neither pub nor grill but is certainly a fine place to have lunch if you eat and work outside the friendly confines of the Gump. Getting there from the Gump is not easy however. As we approached the East Blvd exit on the eastern boundary of the Gump, although driving in an armored “Titan”, we began to feel anxious about going over the wall. Will they accept our money? Are the speed signs there in kilometers? Can you drink the water? Questions like that flood in when you start seeing signs turn from this:

To this:

(“Ouch.” Tojo said this one means “Never ride over head of a fallen bicycle rider.” I guess that is a problem in the far east.)

One also has to have a visa and know a code to enter Ruddles from the little known back entrance to Bell Road. Indeed, they guard “West Shorter” neighborhoods better than Obama defends the Mexican border as Bo-Diddly (who actually lives over the wall) demonstrates below:

(Don’t tell anyone, but the code is: “Riff Raff”)

Once we finally arrived and walked through the pizza oven that was the parking lot on a 100 degree day, we were pleasantly surprised to find the place nicely decorated with dark oak and Corinthian leather which thankfully only created the fleeting impression of an English Pub. I, being Irish of course, do not like anything English and was pleased to note the presence of some things (a “Schlitz” lamp) and an absence of others (no dartboard or “Sgt. Rutter’s Only Darts Club Band”) that quickly dispelled any pretense of having an English pub atmosphere. The only real problem in that is that they do not have any Guinness on tap. (They have it in a can if you choose to stoop that low).

Penny Lane, our perky waitress, quickly noted the presence of Bo-Diddly as a regular Ruddles cigar smoker and scotch drinker (after five of course) and announced “I am the Waitress” with the kind of fake English accent made famous by “The Rutles.” She noted that on Monday they offer the Chicken Supreme (just like the old Sahara would have made it) and two veggies for under $7. That is exactly what I ordered. It took a little longer than normal but when it arrived, the main course was excellent and the green beans tasted fresh. But the house salad was a little wilty and the cornbread too sweet and cakey. If you do not like olives on your salad you ought to skip the salad and get two more veggies. And, as the Carp pointed out: no real butter for the cornbread. A couple of demerits there. (Or as Tojo said: “Two Stomach Claws”).

By and large, however, the entire group enjoyed their lunches and thought the prices were very reasonable. I hear that one Monday a month they serve “killer” baby back ribs from their “grill” located somewhere behind the “Samuel Adams” wall. If you can determine which Monday that is, it may be a good reason to venture out to Bell Road.  I also noted the average age was over 70 this lunch time which is an indication of either an appeal to experienced taste buds or to value on a fixed income. And if you need a spare “walker” I am sure they can provide you one at Ruddles—not to be confused with "The Rutles" who would all be about 70 by now and probably hate listening to their own music. So, if you have two hours for lunch—portal to portal from downtown Gump—Ruddles Pub and Grill is a good choice: They take Gump money, they speak English, and you can drink the water. "The Rutles" would have liked it!

We recommend Ruddles whether it is a real Pub or not.

By the way, I have learned of a new radio station called 104.9 “The Gump.” It plays “alternative rock” so we see no danger of trademark infringement at this time. Due to the average age of the clientèle we saw today, they will not be playing that station at Ruddles anytime soon.

"Goo-goo tha lube..goo-goo-tha-lube"--from "I am the Waitress" by The Rutles.

Bama Bistro - Who are we to criticize the new business model?

Bama Bistro lunch crowd at 12:00 noon Tuesday

[Ed Note: We regret to inform you that it appears that our little hole in the wall is now a void between two walls i.e. closed]

As loyal LITG readers already know, Bama Bistro (15 Commerce St.) has made some changes to its business model. In these trying economic times, many business people are tweaking their modi operandi to hang on until we get through this rough patch, or until the banks own everything, whichever comes first.

Anyway, last week we learned that Bama Bistro is no longer open on Mondays, so we went around the corner to Lunde's (no, that doesn't rhyme). Lunch in the Gump, being a Monday thing, doesn't get to review many of the "closed on Monday" joints, like the Capitol Oyster Bar or the Montgomery Chicken Salad Club, but we wanted to give Bama Bistro a shot at redemption. So this week Fat Clemenza, Shadow Pup, Tojo Yamamoto, Chase N. Allpots and I, Bama Bing, broke protocol and went to lunch on Tuesday.

Anyway, when we got there at noon (see above) we deduced that Bama Bistro had decided to close on Mondays and Tuesdays, and that the last to leave had just forgotten to lock the door and turn off the "open" sign. We didn't see a soul in there. Luckily, however, before we started looting the place, a very nice young lady appeared for the greet & seat.  She took our drink orders and we settled in for a quick lunch, happy to have beaten the crowd.

12:10... no drinks yet. Or customers.

Clemenza surmised that maybe the new business model was geared toward "private dining." Well, good thing it was private because Tojo, as usual, didn't have on shirt or shoes, and Allpots didn't put his napkin in his lap (the horror). Worst of all, Shadow Pup (he of no opposable thumbs and limited conversational skills) got bored waiting for his water and started licking his balls.

Happily, though, things started happening at 12:11. Tea and water were served. Orders were taken. Salads began to appear, then chicken tetrazini, basil pesto chicken, chicken marsala, and chicken something-or-other. You would think we were all a bunch of vegetarians. The food was tasty, inexpensive and plentiful, although not terribly photogenic, as shown below:

What LITG is all about: Good food -- cheap and plenty of it.

As we finished our excellent lunches we found ourselves in a moral dilemma -- do we give Bama Bistro a good review on Lunch in the Gump, and thereby run the risk of derailing their new "private dining" business strategy? Or do we keep quiet about this scruffy, quirky little hole-in-the-wall? One would think that a positive review here would bring crowds, followed by word-of-mouth buzz and millions in profits, but who are we to say?  Maybe they are doing it this way for tax reasons.

Side notes: We are happy to report that Bama Bistro provides a solid beer selection (see left), including the usual domestic brands and favorite imports like Heineken (Holland), Corona (Mexico), and Germ-X (Germany). These are proudly served in plastic go-cups so you can take a cold one back to the office and continue your deposition with gusto. You only go around once.

Lastly, you will be glad to learn that Bama Bistro is serious about cleanliness, and for the discerning diner this establishment provides hand sanitizer on every table. In fact, on our table there was no salt & pepper, but there was hand sanitizer.

Imagine our shock, however, when we noticed Tojo applying tangerine-scented hand sanitizer to the remains of his Bama Bistro lunch. 

Tojo like.

Bama Bistro may not make it, but hell, neither did any of the banks or investment firms who used to have palatial offices on this part of Commerce Street. We recommend you check it out. For just $6.99 plus tax (the price of a darn good Bama Bistro lunch w/ H2O), you can help save this locally-owned joint.