Restaurant Review: The Bishop
When it comes to restaurants, I definitely believe in love at first bite. It doesn't happen often, but when great ingredients meet innovative recipes, paired with fabulous cooks, and food served in a warm, gorgeous environment, well, magic happens.
Such is the case with The Bishop in Avondale Estates.
Oh how I love this place! It's the best of what restaurants should be: great food, attentive service, a neighborhood feel, and easy parking to boot!To begin, the grilled artichokes were amazing not merely because they were perfectly cooked, but because they were divinely seasoned with chunky cracked pepper and kosher salt. However, the REAL clutch call was the "burnt lemon" served on the side.
Why is it I never think to grill my lemons? So easy to do and it makes the artichoke leaves spectacular!!
There's also a garlic aioli served with the chokes, but I didn't want any additional flavors happening.We had heard from our Avondale friends about the greatness of the Southern Picnic Board, but the French Dip Sliders seemed more our speed.
I'd like to say we only sampled the sandwiches and didn't consume every last bite of these bad boys, but that's not true. The blend of fresh horseradish and pepper jack on the prime rib was perfect. The horseradish is made on property and lacks any hint of bitterness.
So so good!
This is VERY filling, so you can easily split this with a table of four.We struggled in making our entree selection. I was drawn to the Gum Creek Ham, but I also wanted to try the whipped cauliflower from the Fried Chicken Plate. As I was talking through my dilemma with Billy, he said he'd rather order the Fried Chicken with the Smoked Gouda grits from the ham plate. That's when we decided to make the swap! I loved my ham -- and the cauliflower was solid, but when I sampled the grits from Billy's plate, I realized the chef had a made a better pairing than I (imagine that!). The flavors of the ham were MUCH more distinct when paired with the grits. So on this order, stick with the wisdom of The Bishop's kitchen!!
However, if you come to The Bishop and only order ONE thing, it has to be the fried chicken. The chicken is both smoked AND fried which makes the flavor unbelievably tasty. If you caught the review in this week's AJC, you know how this is winning fans.
Of course, we couldn't leave well enough alone.
Billy decided to change things up and substituted the grits for the cauliflower. This is a risky maneuver because you run the risk of having all of the powerful flavor of the grits overwhelm the subtle deliciousness of the chicken. The menu presents the chicken with cauliflower because this is a perfect balance of flavors.
However, if you don't mind flavor overload, you should consider this option. Billy was thrilled with his decision, but food purists might find the flavors competitive.
After all of this eating, I'm slightly embarrassed to say that we actually indulged in dessert.
Lemon pound cake with grilled peaches.Nothing wrong with this dessert -- or the entire meal.
Can't wait to be back and please let me know when you have the Fried Chicken via an appropriate thank you note !