Today I had four sandwiches and two sides for just over $6. The sandwiches were all cooked with gourmet combinations like soy/ginger/sesame pork, braised beef with roasted red peppers and ricotta, chicken with spinach, tomato and goat cheese, and crispy mushroom with chunky tomato sauce. The sides were both hand cut fries and sweet potato fries. So how did I get all of this for $6?
1. A friend and I split all of it.
2. While the sandwiches are literally under $2 each, they're slider sized. To the point where it's pretty difficult to divide them in half.
And from this point forth, any sort of gourmet slider, will now be called a "tapas slider." I don't care for tapas. At least, not what Atlanta has to offer in that realm. Eclipse di Sol/Luna and Loca Luna are OK, but not my favorite spots. I think I'm in the minority of Atlantans who typically get excited at the thought of small (and sometimes Spanish inspired) plates. This being said, Paul Luna, from Local Luna and Eclipse Di Luna/Sol fame has made it over to the more gritty part of downtown for his new sandwich shop - Lunacy Black Market.
Housed in an old storefront on Mitchel Street, LBM has been converted into a loft like space with inviting couches and fold up chairs and tables. The digs are comfortable but a little too empty/echoey. The owners and their friends were seated casually when we strolled in and I unfortunately felt too uncomfortable taking pictures of the food while we were there, in front of the owners.
The sandwiches, while small, are good and a good value. None of them were outstanding, but they were all decent renditions of tapas sliders (the bread was really the best part of each sandwich).
1. Braised Beef/Roasted Red Peppers/Ricotta - Hard to screw this up. Tender, flavorful meat but the ricotta wasn't particularly noticeable.
2. Asian style sesame/soy/ginger pork - Nice pieces of pork, but very under seasoned. I only got one bite (out of the two that half a tapas slider allowed) that tasted remotely of soy or ginger.
3. Chicken/Goat Cheese/Spinach - tasted just like those ingredients combined with no other additional flavors. For white meat chicken however, it was particularly moist.
4. Crispy Mushroom/Chunk Tomato Sauce - this was the most surprisingly good one of the bunch. Mushrooms aren't my favorite, but these were really good and the sauce was very flavorful as well.
5. Fries - While housemade/cut, these were pretty boring. The texture wasn't nearly crispy enough and the salt and pepper was minimal. These are thicker cut than most fries, but not quite steak fries. Also each fry was haphazardly cut so that the doneness level was different in each.
6. Sweet Potato Fries - These were terrible. The oil wasn't hot enough and they weren't fried enough. On the menu they're called Crispy Sweet Potato Fries but these were a soggy mess. Also a little bit of cinnamon, brown sugar, and paprika could go a long way on these. But still very, very soggy.
The price is certainly right at Lunacy and that was probably my main attraction. If I was returning, it would still be it's selling point to me. I'm not sure how this place will fare (apparently they have been doing well on weekend nights), the food is good but the location really puts it out of the way for most people seeking this type of food. Additionally, the parking is very minimal on Mitchel Street and most people coming from in town will probably be uncomfortable in this area. If it were in Buckhead or any northern suburb, they would be guaranteed success with throngs of middle aged women flocking for dainty tapas sliders.
I have to say it's wonderful to have new and enthusiastic business owners on this side of town, but it's growing at an alarmingly slow rate for a successful business to thrive. I wish the best of luck to the folks at Lunacy Black Market!
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