Located in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta is Murphy’s, a restaurant that had been feeding residents and visitors for 35 years. They were packed inside so it was a good thing I had a reservation.
To start off the wonderful evening with friends, I ordered a Sangria. It was full of fresh fruit and had the right amount of sweetness.
The artisan cheese plate was the perfect appetizer to share with the table. They served as assortment of cheeses, including warm ficelle. On the side they served fresh strawberry jam. It paired perfectly with the ficelle. I ate it on top of the crispy, warm buttery bread. It was almost like having jam and cream cheese for breakfast.
For my starter I ordered the Mexico City Tortilla soup. The broth was very savory and loaded with fresh chicken breast pieces. Mixed throughout were tomatoes and creamy avocado. They crush corn tortilla chips on top for a little crunch.
For my main dish I got the grilled Atlantic Salmon. The salmon was flakey and cooked to a perfect medium. They put a sweet bourbon maple glaze on the outside. I could taste the maple and it surprisingly went well with the taste of salmon. They also served a warm lentil salad underneath the salmon. It helped soak up the extra maple glaze and it tasted great.
Now the main part of my meal was delicious but I could not wait to dig into all the desserts we ordered. The first one I tried was the Key Lime Pie. The crust was a combination of coconut and graham crackers. The filling was tart and creamy. They topped it off with a fresh sweet cream and toasted coconut. The flavor was perfect and you would think it came from Key West.
The second dessert was the Bourbon Pecan Cheesecake. The cheesecake was sweet, soft, and creamy; exactly how cheesecake is supposed to be. They covered the cheesecake in a bourbon based caramel sauce. It added richness to the cake.
The Apple Bread Pudding was a nice subtle dessert. They used pieces of fresh apple mixed between the bread. When it baked together the apples and bread became one. They drizzled a crème anglaise all over the pudding. They also served it with homemade vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was creamy and full of vanilla essence.
The last dessert was the richest – the Mocha Cake. This was a flourless chocolate cake. In between the layers of cake was an espresso mousse. Now if that was not enough rich flavor, they covered the top with a layer of chocolate glaze. There was no way that one person could eat this whole slice of cake. It was just so rich and heavy. The combination of chocolate and espresso paired perfectly on my taste buds.
The food and desserts at Murphy’s were fantastic. I would recommend that everyone visiting Atlanta to check them out. www.murphysvh.com
Enjoy!
T
