What The Chicken Atlanta

Discretely nestled within the humble confines of the Underground Atlanta food court, "What the Chicken?" is far more than meets the eye. A most worthy monument to the culinary renaissance that is Southern-Chinese hybrid cuisine. "What the Chicken?"'s interpretation of the traditional oriental dish of General Tso's chicken was perhaps the most significant contribution to the food community in decades. Never before have I experienced such a masterful, elegantly constructed union of so many different food components. As a perfect parallel to the restaurant itself, this dish is seemingly inextraordinary. But upon closer examination, one will find so many succulent subtleties. I found the spilled over macaroni and cheese shells from the neighboring serving tray a most appropriate companion for this dish. Then, as the first morsel massaged my taste buds, I couldn't help but detect a surprising, yet welcome change of texture mid-bite that could best be described as a chewy-crunchy-crusty supertexture. If I may be so bold as to guess how the chef achieved this feature... perhaps by slowly searing the topmost layer of the breading with a high-wattage food lamp for the better part of the afternoon? A most advanced technique, indeed. Not often seen outside of buffet settings and public school cafeterias, this chef yet again artfully fused diverse components of the culinary world into a single dish. Simply astounding. Finally, as I washed down my main course with the combo #4 inclusive fountain drink (Hi-C), I set my sights on my side dish of green beans. "Fall off the bone" is a praise typically reserved for exquisite BBQ, but "What the Chicken?" is blind to all traditional boundaries and predispositions. As i hoisted the first bite towards my mouth, I watched helplessly as the majority of the beans on my plasticware tantalizingly dangled helplessly from a single glistening string before falling back towards my plate. But how thankful I was that this mishap did occur! For it was the beans' way of correcting my method of intake. "You fool!" they seemed to shout from my Styrofoam plate... "We are not meant to be enjoyed so delicately!" The only proper way to savor this food is by lifting your dish to your face and shoveling the green mush violently into your mouth. The eruption of salt and butter is reminiscent of the "butter lover's mondo popcorn bucket" at the local cinema. Yet again! What seemingly conflicting cuisines "What the Chicken?" has forced upon us in within a single dining experience. Bravo! BRAVO! 5 Stars! Gordon Ramsey himself would be envious.