On an afternoon Sunday with a need to gnaw Chinese food at our entrails, my girlfriend and I decided to jump over Buford Highway and try yet another new spot for lunch (again for us).
So I took her to the head of Liu. It's on Buford Highway, approximately one mile ITP.
As we got closer and I pointed out where we would be eating, my girlfriend made it clear to me did not eat at this cabin in the middle of a parking lot! After some convincing heated, we opened the sliding glass door (sliding as in, like you go your backyard) and sat at a table nearest the kitchen. Not that we could see through the darkness bamboo hanging and dividing the trailer.
Ambiance? It's so awesome here. With six or seven plain tables set inside a trailer and little decoration other than the mall that you see on the other side of the parking lot through the glass walls, Chef Liu is close what you might find in other countries that allow food to be sold from sinking shacks on the side of the street – at least as close most places you find here in Atlanta.
Cold noodle dishes, dumplings and soups are the main offerings here, but we also commissioned a leek pie – absolutely delicious and we ate before our actual meals arrived. The ferry meatballs fried pork are beautiful and look exactly like the picture in the menu wall overhead. You will not find that the PF Chang's.
You can not compare Chief Liu in a regular restaurant or most other places. It's just different and unique. Of course, they do not premium ingredients, of course it's not the food that you find in establishing a "thin" – is the food for the masses, cheap food done well. Your food comes out fast and hot and you feel like eating at a secret location that only the best known – somewhat matter how many people eat here on a regular basis. About as fast as ordering food at Burger King or Wendy's but not as bland and generic Panda Express – which is good, different from fast food.
Sitting there with the basic Mandarin, you've picked up limited to Pimsleur during your morning commute, listening to the waitresses talk among themselves and with customers – people who are not obsessed foodies the conclusion of the most authentic nothing. Just a place to get food that reminds many of their homeland while living in the deep south. This place is great and will always be near the top of the list of choices when I fret that feeling for a few balls and offer slightly different menu.
Summary of opinion: 4.6
5221 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340
(770) 936-0532
Chef Liu
Originally from Phoenix, AZ. Mark Tioxon is a Freelance writer in Atlanta, Georgia.
My Commute – Upper HELL’S KITCHEN, Manhattan, New York
