Category: NELLIEL Approved

Things that I approve of

Jeni’s Ice Cream – Westside Provisions District

ATL, Atlanta, Dining Out, Ice Cream, NELLIEL Approved

It was so rainy this weekend. Atlanta’s rain has ruined many plans, but instead of moping about it, I decided to treat myself to some ice cream. I love the Westside Provisions district, PayaThai and Jeni’s are both located here. There is a cute walking area, plenty of tasty restaurants, and the loveliness of Midtown all around. Atlantic Station is right down the street – oh, and so is Ikea.

One of my favorite flavors is the Lemon Blueberry Parfait, but as I couldn’t find it at the Jeni’s location, so I chose to try some of the other flavors. Here is a closeup of the deliciousness, found on the Jeni’s website.

They recently got the Wildberry Lavendar in store. Mmm. Delicious. Here are a few others worth trying.

Btw, my favorite flavor is still sold at the Publix in Atlantic Station, just in case you’re curious about it. The blueberries mixed with the lemon and the buttermilk all come together in a way that is sooo, sooo good. Most of Jeni’s work included a buttermilk base but it seems as though things are changing. When I first tried the icecream years ago, I thought it a bit strange, but it truly comes together in such a lovely way. Just so you know, I am usually a Mayfield kind of gal, – I really think that Moose tracks is hard to beat, not only that, fruit in ice cream? Eh?

The Lemon Blueberry Parfait is NELLIEL APPROVED. But I also approve of Jeni’s.

Just so you know, 3rd runner up is SNICKERS. Yum.

Snapdragon is DANG good

Atlanta, Dining Out, Eateries, NELLIEL Approved, Uncategorized

I grew up eating Maruchan Ramen. The saltiness was soooo good to me when I was a kid. I tried so many flavors, but the beef flavor is hard to get over. The way that I make the maruchan ramen is to never use the whole flavor pack and always pour out the water before eating. In my opinion, the only thing that the water (which would be broth with the flavor pack, if only I’d known that then) was good for, was making the noodles consumable (now, as an almost 40 something, break the noodles in the pack and toss them on a salad, akin to croutons).

I, for sure, survived pretty heavily on the microwaveable noodle variety in college before learning to cook. And by that I mean, learning to cook better. I knew how to cook a lot of things already. It is hard to get over the flavor of those at home ramen packs. I’m probably going to review a few Ra Myun (ramen) spots in Atlanta on this blog, but that is for another time. Enough about ramen, in my adulthood, I’ve moved on to pho.

There is an amazing Pho spot out in Smyrna, but now that I use public transport, I can’t make it out there as frequently. In this absence, I have resorted to SNAPDRAGON and PHONOMENAL (a vegetarian option). These could be considered cup pho. I think that their flavors are divine, and though the broth of these two pho leave a bit to be desired, (especially if you have had the pho from Pho Hoang Long on Pat Mell road), they are still quite good and satisfying. If only I could have that lime soda too! IYKYK. Pho Hoang Long is such a hidden gem over in the Marietta/Smyrna area.

The noodles are standard rice noodles, the flavor packs are really quite good, and the bowl size makes it easy to slurp the end of the dish right on up. The pho also comes in packs similar to what many are accustomed to seeing on shelves, almost like the ramen packs but slightly larger. Just so you know, I’ve also tried the Annie Chun flavor and it didn’t rest well with my pho loving soul.

Give these a try to switch up a thrifty lunch, a lazy dinner night (cook up some baked crispy wings and top with garlic chilli crisps), and sip on some bubbly water or a nice cold Pepsi. You will not be disappointed, at all. I love adding some extra cilantro and garlic for flavor. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

This PHO is definitely NELLIEL APPROVED. Thumbs up.