We arrived and walked into a very large waiting area, which I guess was good for my friend who had previously visited for dinner and had a rather long, arduous wait. Luckily, we did not and were seated immediately at a table. I really liked the farmy, down home feel of the restaurant. Everything was very Country Living with large wooden tables and antique trays and even chicken type decorations; however, I didn't notice many eggs around. I guess the chicken came first in this case.
Like most new restaurants now a days, the Chicken and the Egg focuses on using sustainable foods from local farms around the area. Their lunch menu was loaded with southern style dishes, like smothered chicken, which is what mother ordered, fried pork chop, and shrimp po boy. To start with, though, we of course ordered some fried green tomatoes.
As you can tell by the picture, the fried crust was so flaky and thin just the way I like it! These FGT came with country ham and tomato jam all atop a pimento cheese fondue. Simply delicious! The tomatoes were so sweet and combining the flavors with the cheese that was made into a sauce and the salty ham and the sweet jam- it was a grand slam said Sam I am! Sorry. Back to the non-rhyming food. While we were enjoying our first bites of the FGT, our bubble was burst with the early arrival of our main courses. We literally had 2 bites of our appetizer and had to awkwardly make room for our entrees whilst in mid-chew. Needless to say, not the best timing.
In order to get the most food for the best price we each ordered a Blue Plate Special which comes with a choice of meat (choices change daily) and 2 veggies. My mother chose the smothered chicken with lima beans and mashed potatoes and I chose the catfish with green beans and mashed potatoes (yes, we are a tater loving family).
My catfish, I have to say, was a little bland. Even though my mother said she had previously ordered their catfish for dinner and thought it was over cooked, I stuck to my guns and ordered the fish anyway. Lord knows have I not learned to listen to my mother because she was exactly right. It was slightly dry for my taste and was just not very flavorful. I was so much not a fan that I uncharacteristically left almost all of the fish on my plate. Sad day in my eating diaries.
On a brighter note though, all the veggies were extremely fresh and delicious and were much more flavorful than my catfish! The mashed potatoes were so creamy and mashed to perfection. My green beans were cooked with ham-bone, which I could tell from the big ass bone in my bowl of beans! They tasted so meaty I didn't ever want to find the bottom of that bowl. My mother's lima beans were amazing. So fresh and cooked until they were just the right consistency. All in all, great southern veggies!
Mother's main course was the smothered chicken. Even though I was expecting it to be fried, I was amazed at how tender the chicken was and the gravy was delicious too. It wasn't too thick, so the meal didn't feel quite so heavy had it been fried and smothered with gravy (which sounds way better to me!).
This was a good experience, but I still think the meal was quite pricey compared to the restaurants in the surrounding area. I have to say, I will probably stick to the West Cobb Diner as the place in Marietta to get my southern veggies. The portions are bigger and the prices are lower. I hope the Chicken and the Egg can compete but as they are currently living in a space that was previously an over priced Italian restaurant that failed, they have a lot to live up to.
