Salt 'N' Pepa Squid

originally published August 27, 2008

Emphasis on the Drag: You know, some weeks you just have no luck. After seeing the sign for Golden Dragon Restaurant (not to be confused with Golden Dragon on Alps Road, this unconnected restaurant is in the shopping center at 1850 Epps Bridge Parkway that also contains a Five Guys, a Five Points Deli and more) that promised an all-you-can-eat international buffet, I had hopes, that while not high, could at least be described as middling.

I'm hardly a connoisseur of the Chinese buffets in the area, but China Star Super Buffet (on Atlanta Highway) at least provides a large and decently tasty selection of dishes, from simple sushi to some American options to the standard array of Chinglish preparations. Golden Dragon Restaurant doesn't even quite get that far. Those watching their waistlines probably aren't likely to enter the doors anyway, but be warned: the ratio of fried items to non-fried items is heavily in favor of the former. Vegetarians might take notice too, especially if they're the strict kind who don't eat fish. Most offerings are meaty.

Golden Dragon Restaurant didn't seem quite to be operating at full capacity - a neon sign reading “sushi” above one segment of the several bars was unlit - but even the stuff that was out was disappointing. A buffet is certainly an opportunity to venture into unknown waters, and the “cheesesteak pie” that was in the same area as the pizza seemed, well, at least unusual, but its strudel-like composition led to a taste mostly of previously frozen pastry, which utterly overpowered the meat and cheese therein. Some of the seafood dishes were fine, and although the salt-and-pepper squid overdid the first part of its name, it at least had flavor. Also, there were large, flattish corn nuggets that came as a pleasant surprise.

The décor, however, is really the most notable thing about Golden Dragon Restaurant, with that sense of bizarre flair that really should come with a buffet of this kind. An etched-glass mural of Manhattan (World Trade Center Towers intact, though whether due to patriotism or surplus is unclear), an array of pastel colors, and big TVs playing the Olympic Games more certainly evoke the right atmosphere. The buffet is $10.95 during the week and $11.95 on weekends. The restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner, does catering and takes credit cards.

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No Free Lunch: The second weirdness of the week came with a trip out to Lucky Dawg Billiards (1120 Mitchell Bridge Road), formerly Brass Rail Billiards, which promises free pool with lunch and a revamped menu. Here, too, much of the selection is fried. Mini tacos sound much more exciting than they really are, consisting of a basket of 2-to-3-inch deep-fried enclosures of meat and beans heated to a level sure to scald the heck out of your mouth. Not that meat and beans aren't great, and I'm sure no one at Lucky Dawg is carefully crafting each of these by hand (no doubt they, and most other things on the menu, come straight out of a package), but the tacos sure set the tone.

It might have been a better idea to opt for a burger or to ask the guy running things for a fish sandwich like the one he was eating - it looked simple but tasty (and it's not on the menu) - but the Lucky Dawg Sampler ended up being another basket of fried this and that: jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, decent wings, chicken fingers, OK fried shrimp and mini corn dogs, all of which would be perfectly acceptable if purchased at your supermarket and heated up in your own microwave. That is, and this is no kind of shocker, the reason to go to Lucky Dawg is for the pool (they run frequent tournaments), for the impressive array of booze (lots of fancy flavored liquors), for the darts and trivia, for the Texas Hold'em and for the Keno, which even the proprietor was playing, promising that if he hit his numbers, he'd buy me and my companion lunch (no luck). Lucky Dawg is open every day for lunch and dinner; and they take credit cards.

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What Up? Contrary to what was reported here, The National is no longer doing those three-course prix fixe dinners early every evening, but are still offering the dinner-and-a-movie combo prix fixe dinner on Mondays and are open on Sunday nights for dinner. Also, Transmetropolitan at 1550 Oglethorpe Avenue is now open.

Hillary Brown

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