— TheToothfish

banana cupcake, chocolate-banana medallion in top

Sun In My Belly (2161 College Ave NE  Atlanta, GA 30317) is that neighborhood restaurant everyone loves. This Kirkwood establishment is admired for its breakfast (the scrambled eggs with herbed boursin cheese in the Kirkwood Breakfast is killer). Maybe I’m just out of the loop (probably), but I had no idea SIMB served dinner. My guess is that the move is either new or struggling to attract followers (given the recent Scoutmob deal). My friend, RJ, snagged this $40 Scoutmob deal for two drinks, one appetizer, two salads, two entrees and one dessert.

arugula, walnuts, blue cheese, pears, champagne-vinaigrette

fried green tomatoes, spicy pimento cheese

What I’m about to say may get me banned from entering the land of Kirkwood forever, but Sun In My Belly should stick to eggs. The meal wasn’t bad, but was far more imprecise than I’d like my dinners out to be. A starter of fried green tomatoes came across bland, the pimento cheese almost undetectable. The salad of walnuts. blue cheese and pears is a classic pairing and came together wonderfully, but once on to entrees, it was amateur-hour. I ordered the vegetable plate, and they did nothing with tomato, broccoli rabe, mushrooms and tomatoes that I couldn’t do in my own kitchen with limited time. The short ribs were sorely dry and the accompanying kale was crazy salty and looked like it had been languishing in a pot for far too long, the leaves limp, mushy and lacking in vivacity. For dessert, the banana-cupcake was an improvement, and despite my aversion to cupcakes in general, I’d order it again.

If SIMB is trying its hand at dinner, I wish them the best because a good restaurant makes everybody happy. At the same time, I hope that the kitchen kicks into high-gear and performs on the same level that has earned them city-wide praise for their breakfast. Simple, straightforward and delicious is their game, and that should be the field on which they play at dinner.