Southern Regions

The last thing I expected to find in the state that introduced Paula Deen and Waffle House to the world was fresh seafood, but luckily for us, we found a fabulous seafood restaurant next to the hotel we were staying in Atlanta called AquaKnox that specializes in “global water cuisine” (whatever that means).

I must admit that when I first arrived to Atlanta, Georgia, I thought I would have no option but to eat fried this and fried that and expected to gain 20 pounds in a week. Little did I know that Buckhead, the uptown district of Atlanta where I was staying, was a hip part of town with super exclusive retail stores and trendy, upscale restaurants – not much different from Los Angeles.

When I was greeted by wonderfully fresh salmon on the bed of pureed edamane, I thought about the time I found the best Italian restaurant in Paris. And also the time I found the worst Fish and Chips in London. I guess when it comes to restaurants, you can never judge the food by its regional covers!

aquaknox salmon
Slow Roasted Scottish Salmon, sugar snap beans, spring Vidalia,
squash blossom, cured lemon (27)

aquaknox scallop
Seared Day Boat Scallops, sweet potato puree and
mushroom pancetta fricassee (29)

The seared tuna that my friend and colleague C order was flavorful and the scallop M ordered melted in my mouth! And the French fries were so yummy too!

aquaknox tuna
Seared Ahi Tuna, eggplant caponata, olive tapenade and
celery herb salad (28)

aquaknox fries
Pomme Frittes (6)

And desserts, I’ll let the photos do the talking. 🙂

aquaknox cheese cake
Cheesecake

aquaknox chocolate
Chocolate Molten Cake

aquaknox chocolate cake
Chocolate Cake

I really love M. She is so smart, kind, and a lot of fun to be around. Although we were here for work, a round of wine and wonderful conversation made us forget about it — even just for the night.

AquaKnox
3280 Peachtree Rd, Ste 200, Atlanta, GA 30305
★★★★☆

scream Dear General Manager,

Several colleagues and I are in the Atlanta area for business this week and decided to dine at your restaurant Nan Thai Fine Dining on 1350 Spring Street NW tonight. I have heard wonderful reviews about your establishment and we were really excited to dine at one of local’s favorite restaurants.

The night started out very promising, with wonderful glasses of wine and delicious appetizers. However, our dining experience was cut short when we spotted a cockroach crawling on the booth where we were seated. The server immediately came over to remove the cockroach from our table by squishing it with a napkin, and the manager came soon after to apologize for what had happened, which we appreciated.

What bothered me the most about the experience was not necessary that there was an insect at our table (which, of course, were quite traumatizing) but the fact that your staff did not even offer to compensate for our dinner. Most of us at our table were still midway through our main course but we were not able to finish our meal because of what had happened. I appreciated that the manger came to apologize but I was truly disappointed that he was not going to take the matter further and compensate us for the experience.

Please know that I was not looking for a monetary compensation, as I was willing to pay for the entire bill of $200 (and I did), but I was hoping that he would at least offer to make up for the unpleasant experience by offer some type of compensation – even a plate of dessert. This was particularly disappointing because of your reputation as one of Atlanta’s 10 best restaurants. A simple act of kindness would have gone a long way.

It is unfortunate but we will not be returning to your restaurant and I will not be recommending this place to our friends and colleagues in Atlanta. I understand, in the restaurant business, that having pest and insect issues are inevitable. However, thoughtful customer service is controllable, which, I am sad to say, your establishment did not demonstrate tonight.

Disappointed,
Hirono

nan thai

(I was not going to publicly post the name and location of the restaurant, but after failing to respond back to my letter after five days, I had no choice but to disclose the information. This place obviously doesn’t give a shit about customer service. It’s time to go over to Yelp and Chowhound to talk some more shit about this roach coach, you inconsiderate, insensitive, unsanitary mofo.)

Nan Fine Thai Dining
1350 Spring Street NW
☆☆☆☆☆