Airport Sushi in Atlanta? One Flew South!

Let’s face it airport food courts are not exactly the place to find haute cuisine. A meal at an airport usually involves a fruit cup with under-ripe cantaloupe, a soft pretzel with fluorescent orange cheese sauce, and a six-dollar bottle of water. On our way to Los Angeles Ian and I happened upon an Asian-American bistro called One Flew South in the Atlanta airport.

The first departure (pun intended) from your traditional airport food was an actual dining room with a hostess and servers. Not the usual carry your food on a tray and bus your own table type setup. Next surprisingly was our server, Sopee. She was pleasant, knowledgeable, and efficient. The menu, which I have included here, is very well put together and was a nice break in an otherwise long and bizarre travel situation. http://www.oneflewsouthatl.com/foodanddrink.html

So we ordered the braised pork belly sandwich and the Kobe beef burger. Kobe beef in an airport! The pork sandwich was excellent! Pork belly braised slowly in rice wine and seasoned with Asian spices was succulent, rich, and juicy. The pork was heaped on toasted foccacia bread and topped with in-house pickled jalapenos, and fresh avocado. The sandwich was served with a rich dark mole and an asparagus cheese sauce for dipping as well as a portion of Napa cabbage slaw. The two sauces were out of this world. I am a sucker for a good mole and this was it. Deep chocolate flavor, bitter, sweet, and then just enough spice at the end. I have never considered mole a sauce to use for a sandwich. Mole is something that usually is used as a means of braising tougher cuts of meat like pork shoulder or chicken thighs. It was used here masterfully. Ian ordered the Kobe beef burger, which has sautéed shiitake mushrooms and creamy goat cheese on it. The burger was cooked to a beautiful medium and accompanied by a heap of five-spice seasoned fries. Ian loved the burger and wolfed it down. He turned his nose up at the fries claiming, “a bad experience with seasoned fries in the past” so I was only too willing to help him out.

This meal was an oasis, everything from the service, to the gorgeous dining room, to the wonderful food was a complete surprise and not at all what you would expect from a food court. Well done One Flew South, ten out of ten!