Paschal’s fried chicken, was equally incredible. The skin had been fried to a nice thin light brown crisp and the chicken was moist and consistently seasoned throughout the entire bird. Wow. It was good. The sides were okay, we had mac and cheese, yams, collards and potato salad, with none being a real standout. The cost is a little more than you’d like to spend for soulfood, about $12 - $20 a plate but its worth it. I understand why they’ve been around since 1947.

Paschal’s
180 Northside Dr
Atlanta, GA 30313
(404) 525-2023

To say that I was not absolutely enthralled by the sounds of the menu would be a lie. From the review I could tell that this place would have interesting flavor pairings and food that was down right delectable, creative and inventive. Top Flr’s decor was as described, very cool, very small, but very cool. Top Flr had nice wall paper, cool rounded plush seating in the back, real dim atmosphere, and if I must say so, a DOPE soundtrack that seemed to be some sort of electronica based down tempo deep house goodness; slammin’!

The food and music sounded great, but when our meals actually arrived I can’t say that they tasted as good as they sounded. For an appetizer, we had the white bean hummus with artichoke, chili oil and olives. The hummus was good, but the pita bread that it was served with was soggy and cold. I love hummus and I love my hummus with warm and/or crunchy pita, Top Flr did not deliver. I would have at least been happy if it wasn’t soggy. The olives were pretty good and paired well with the heat of the hummus.

Next we had our entrees. Initially we were going to try the pork tenderloin, but they ran out of pork. That’s fine, things happen right? So, we got the Duck confit and applewood smoked bacon pizza along with the hanger steak (which comes highly recommended). Since the meals are ala carte we’d share a side of jasmine rice. The rice was prepared in a creamy coconut milk sauce with edamame and resembled risotto. The pizza had a great taste, however it arrived to our table cold, maybe it was lukewarm. But if you know pizza the way I know pizza, lukewarm is cold. A hallmark of great pizza preparation is its temperature, there’s nothing better than fresh pizza right out of the oven, steaming hot. So I was disappointed, because i wanted my pizza to be hot, you know? The hanger steak was okay. It wasn’t cold, although it wasn’t hot either, however it was cooked to a perfect medium. The standout dish for me was the jasmine rice. First of all it was served to us piping hot, which is a good sign. The consistency of the dish was great, it was creamy and flavorful, although it needed just a bit of salt.

Altogether, our food needed a slight dash of salt to and pepper to wake it up a bit. To their credit though, it was like 10pm on a Friday night, perhaps our food was waiting around a bit before we ordered it, or maybe they were just real busy. At any rate, the food was a little cold and a little bland.

After that, I figured how could it be worse. I heard the dessert was pretty good and included a flourless chocolate cake with a tobacco flavored ice cream. My wife wasn’t feeling that adventurous and she doesn’t really like flourless chocolate cakes so we settled on some truffles. We truly enjoyed the truffles, hands down. No if’s, and’s, but’s or maybe’s. These truffles were outstanding. We had the milk chocolate with green tea and a dark chocolate with ancho chili. The first truffle was fantastic the hint of green tea was great and not overpowering; it was enough to green tea flavor to taste but not enough for you to know what it was if I didn’t tell you. You know what I mean? Similarly the ancho chili flakes in the dark chocolate truffle added a fantastic flavor pairing that you might not be able to pick up at first. You might find yourself wondering, “what is that flavor” as the truffle dances across your taste buds. It tasted as though the truffle was stimulating my taste buds with sweet, bitter and spicy-hot sensations in wave-like succession of flavors, it was quite enjoyable.

Lastly, there was the service and cost. I could tell that our waitstaff had been there all day and all night because by the time they got to us they were somewhat distracted and not really helpful. Our total bill was just north of $50 including tip. With entrees averaging about $9 to $12, not only will Top Flr hardly break the bank, it won’t even put a dent into it. As a matter of fact I’ve spent alot more for alot less then Top Flr.

Top Flr didn’t initially deliver as promised, but it shows enough potential to warrant a return visit. The service wasn’t stellar, the food was cold and needed some salt and pepper, but the decor was dope, the flavor profiles were awesome and inventive and the dessert was top notch. But we found Top Flr scored higher on concept then on execution and delivery. I give Top Flr a 2.75 out of 5, mainly because the value, atmosphere and great dessert.

(for an alternative take on Top Flr, check out Chow Down Atlanta, a resource I’m sure I’ll be using especially since I’m new here; looks like a pretty nice blog, we even use the same template, great minds think alike. . .)

Top Flr
674 Myrtle St., Atlanta, GA 30345
Telephone: 404-685-3110

Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday 4:30pm – 1:30 am (kitchen closes at 1)
Friday – Sat 4:30pm – 2:30 am (kitchen closes at 2)
Sun – 4:30 pm – 12:30 am (kitchen closes at 12)

Normally, when I think of tapas, I think of little plates of tasty morsels that pair well with my beer. To be honest I haven’t done alot of tapas but when I have it was just a few steps above bar food; basically, it served as second fiddle to my main course, beer. Soul food on the other had, never plays second fiddle. As a matter of fact when you get soul food, its the ONLY fiddle! Me and my wife knew this place back in Brooklyn called Mamma’s, the food was so good we promised only to visit bi annually, the food was just too good and the portions were just monstrous. (more…)