The 6 best dishes we ate in May 2025

Manty or steamed lamb dumplings at Laghman Express Photo by Beth McKibben Beth s PicksManty and guyurou laghman from Laghman Express May Family Meal newsletter Windward Plaza AlpharettaNew York City-based Uzbek-Uyghur restaurant chain Laghman Express just opened off Windward Parkway in Alpharetta The restaurant is already drawing crowds evidenced by the line out the door full patio and packed dining room on a fresh Friday night The halal restaurant features dishes from the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan including guyurou laghman a traditional hand-pulled noodle dish with beef and a medley of stir-fried vegetables spiced with cumin red pepper flakes and coriander brought over by the Uyghur people from the Xinjiang region of China Laghman Express a restaurant former New York Times food critic Pete Wells deemed one of the top restaurants in NYC brings Metro Atlanta a tight menu of dishes from the diaspora of communities that call Uzbekistan and Central Asia home We ordered the guyurou laghman which I highly recommend and steamed Central Asian manti big-as-my-palm dumplings stuffed with savory lamb meatballs The manti comes with a garlicky yogurt dipping sauce And be sure to order a pot of fruit-infused Moroccan tea I m eager to return to Laghman Express to try more dishes including the naan Tashkent-style plov pilaf with lamb and beef and stir-fried lamb with spicy peppers Word to the wise bring friends MARTA dining guide ChambleePhoto by Beth McKibben Wine and pop-ups at Sidetracked Wine Co May Family Meal Pierce Dr ChambleeThe owners behind Elemental Spirits Co and The Zero Co in Poncey-Highland opened Sidetracked Wine Co last year in downtown Chamblee Located across from Asian brewpub Hopstix on Pierce Drive the shop sells vintages from small and family-owned wineries producing natural and low-intervention wines The shop also offers daily wine flights three wines for and wines by the glass with seating inside and outside on a shady patio For me Sidetracked Wine Co makes a nice beginning or end to a day of restaurant hopping and antiquing around Chamblee s burgeoning entertainment district On Fridays and Saturdays there s often live music on the patio and food from pop-ups like Thai-American pop-up Orange Lion But Sidetracked doesn t discourage people from bringing in outside food especially from neighboring Chamblee restaurants like Hopstix and Himalaya s BlueTop and Antiguo Lobo around the corner While parking is mostly free around the area Sidetracked and the restaurants along this stretch of Peachtree Road are just up the street from the Chamblee MARTA station Wine beer cocktails coffee and tea restaurants ice cream and antiques within easy walking distance from the train Not bad for a ticket Chargrilled oysters at Shuckboyz May Family Meal Pop-up at various Atlanta locationsChargrilled oysters might be one of the largest part underrated backyard barbecue dishes Throwing a meager naked or garnished oysters on the half-shell over hot charcoal allows the bivalves to soak up that smoke while slow roasting creating a no-fuss no-muss compact snack you can expeditiously eat with a fork Chargrilling over hot coals intensifies the sweet salty and savory flavors of oyster meat which I enjoy dressed with hot sauce and fresh herbs like chives dill or tarragon But for a fully loaded distinctly Atlanta take on chargrilled oysters check out roving oyster pop-up ATL Shuck Boyz operated by Jeremy Smith and Cameron Lukkar Garnished with melted chipotle gouda cheese collards and lemon pepper-soaked Spam bits Smith and Lukkar dubbed their charcoal-grilled mollusks Oysters Magic City three for six for These devilishly delightful oysters are especially good paired with a light lager or a glass of crisp p t nat chilled red or juicy ros whilst seated on a patio You can catch ATL Shuck Boyz slinging raw and chargrilled oysters along with smash burgers on patios all over Atlanta including on the weekends with wine pop-up Stanky Wine at Pure Quill Superette in Edgewood and at Oakhurst brewery Sceptre Brewing Arts More Best Dishes from April March February January Sarra s PicksPhoto by Sarra Sedghi Red joojeh kebabs from Koochini Persian Kitchen Presidential Pkwy Northeast AtlantaWhile gathering information for my Molino Torterillia story I spied Koochini Persian Kitchen nearby at the Prep Kitchen complex Since then I ve enjoyed Koochini a handful of times If you don t want to drive or need to feed a crowd the restaurant offers catering and delivery and is now on Uber Eats I ve tried much of the menu by this point and my favorite dish is the beet-marinated red kebab It s notably juicy even for a jujeh kebab and flexes a little bit of heat that I haven t experienced much in Persian cuisine I also recommend the olivieh wrap with chicken salad boiled eggs pickles and potatoes Courtesy of Haley Joffre Frozen custard from NFA Burger Avalon Blvd AlpharettaFrozen custard came to NFA Burger s menu at Avalon in Alpharetta by happy accident I happened to be there right when the custard machine which Squad NFA ordered for milkshakes came in which means I stuck around the necessary minutes for the machine to warm up This was the right decision and the staff pretty much promptly realized they d have to add custard to the menu They ve since installed a second custard machine and are offering vanilla chocolate strawberry and banana my personal favorite Related story NFA Burger opens May at Avalon in AlpharettaPhoto by Sarra Sedghi Shrimp and grits from Peckish Rogers St KirkwoodMy husband and I celebrated our first anniversary with brunch at Peckish which in recent weeks started a residency at Pullman Yards in the former Fishmonger space My husband ordered the shrimp and grits and then let me eat a third of it because this is what happens when you re married to a food writer and I m grateful that he did because he unearthed the menu s sleeper hit Tamara Hewitt is best known for her desserts and she reported me herself she only in the last few days returned to savory cooking Succulent almost crunchy shrimp adorn a Gouda grit cake with a delightfully crispy surface The creamy Cajun sauce sauteed vegetables and saffron threads on top bring everything together The post The best dishes we ate in May appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta