a tale of two restaurants

[june 10, 2005] My last (and only) visit to Cha Gio on 10th Street was a few years ago. They didn't have the Wild Curry suffix then (now it's gone beyond being just a Vietnamese restaurant and includes Thai selections too). The artsy look of the inside (another big change from the dining hall setup I remember) seems often like a cover-up for the floor that has seen a lot of pedal battles. The food got no ill votes from most of us, and so it was a good beginning to a new mission to try out more eating places beyond the standard few familiar options and the now-boring and vastly inferior Indian restaurants peppering the Atlanta cityscape. WARNING: Be mindful of the signs for parking near the place. There's an adjacent lot for paid parking for a neighbouring establishment, and if you don't park correctly, be prepared for a boot. Our host at Cha Gio was gracious (and sensible too, IMHO) to enquire about where we had parked (Redundant really, since I had already made sure we did the right thing thanks to my memory of a recent incident where the people at Cha Gio had neglected to provide this note of caution resulting in a boot and more grief and dead presidents (respectively) for friends and the local administration).

[june 11, 2005]Bali Indah was the choice for dinner. We headed out towards Cheshire Bridge Road (the interesting road lined with a mix of eating places and fonts of adult entertainment of all forms). After what seemed like a binary search for the place, we found the establishment at the listed address. The only difference was that it was a restaurant called Thep Thai that offered Thai cuisine. We agreed that this was an option work checking out, since, in all likelihood the place had gone through a makeover (this was confirmed by our server, who noted that it had happened only a few months ago). The food was good too, also service hit a slowdown, despite the place being mostly empty. That said, I need to explore a few more Thai restaurants across town, before I can begin to compare them, though. In the meantime, eat and make merry.