Southern Belle - Review - Poncey-Highland - Atlanta - The Infatuation
"It's fitting that this sits next to Ponce's artsy Plaza Theatre since Southern Belle feels like a Wes Anderson film in restaurant form—from its quirky vintage tea room aesthetic to its satisfying colorful spins on Southern menu classics. There's a blue bar neon sign that says “Bless Your Heart," and we'll gladly accept those blessings as an order of crispy fried chicken and peanut waffles with a sweet nuoc cham syrup. And we'll count it all joy when the Delta drink cart rolls to our table to make whiskey cocktails with sweet potato syrup. Just be sure to bring someone you actually like here because the menu mainly features shareables that are so rich they’re hard to finish solo. A full bowl of mussels drenched in a hearty butter chicken sauce served with garlic naan is really meant to be shared. Food Rundown Gulf Red Snapper Crudo Thin slices of snapper come topped with chunks of sweet potato, avocado, and a citrusy tigre de leche that servers pour on tableside. This is a great order to share. Pecan Fried Crispy Sweetbreads A cornmeal Johnny cake sits beneath fried sweetbreads and a blueberry, chipotle maple sauce. It leans to the sweet side, so order this if you like to soothe your sweet tooth pre-entree. Spring Lamb Tagliatelle The housemade noodles are so long it’s nearly impossible to wind them on a regular size fork. Ground lamb, peas, and kalamata olives combine to give this pasta dish a savory, subtly sweet, and briny taste. It hits all the right notes. Sweet Crab + Thai Red Curry Risotto If this is on the menu, get it. It’s heavy on the curry and coconut flavors and decent-sized crab chunks hide in every other bite. Crispy shallots on top give it a bit of crunch. There’s not much to dislike about this dish. Wagyu Beef Shortrib The beef falls apart at the slightest touch, but we’d honestly order this dish for the potato combo alone. It's like winning some sort of potato lottery—there’s crispy potato chips on top, a cubed potato salad, and (our favorite) the creamy and cheesy pommes aligot under the shortrib." - Juli Horsford
