Hen Mother Cookhouse: Just Good Food !

Hen Mother Cookhouse: A Surprise In Every Dish

So Daral has been pushing me to try this place called “Hen Mother Cookhouse” for some time but I didn’t want to take the long hike up to Johns Creek for brunch. One day we decided to double up the trip and make it worth it with brunch and doughnuts (we never found a good doughnut place). We came here with our friend Juan to try some dishes on their weekend menu and were blown away by the amount of love and attention that was put into these dishes.

ATMOSPHERE

When you first come into this place, you realize its a bit smaller then it looks outside but there is an outside balcony that’s closed off when it’s cold for some extra space. Either way, we got here int he middle of a Saturday morning and had to wait for a bit to get seated. The interior was very rustic and homely. You have a rustic wooden table feel with flower pots hanging from the ceiling and waiters running around in jeans (not much formality). From the first appearance, you would feel like this will be another southern styled brunch spot and it indeed is for the most part.  I immediately asked for wifi but there was none – a bit heartbreaking for someone like me who works while they eat quite literally.

FOOD

Somehow, the look and feel of this restaurant and the quality of the dishes are made to throw you off. You don’t expect to get the quality of food that you get if you just come and just look around. We ordered the chicken biscuit, the french toast, and a garden hash. Each dish we got here at Hen Mother Cookhouse was shocking, to say the least.

CHICKEN BISCUIT FROM HEAVEN

When the chicken biscuit came out, it shocked the table in its size. Not only that, the chicken was tenderized very well and the biscuit had an extra amount of and attention.

If you’ve been to other biscuit houses or brunch spots, the biscuits are usually kind of basic buttermilk styled but this was the size of the type of bun you would see in a whopper at burger king. It was topped with a fried egg and came with a special type of butter. The Biscuit was flaky but not too flaky and filled with flavor. Juan could barely finish this but it made for great photos watching him attempt to eat it.

FRENCH TOAST OR ASIAN HONEY TOAST?

If you’ve been to Japan, China or any Asian cafe, you may have seen the mile-high toast that many people order that’s filled with ice cream and covered in honey. The French toast here is made in that likeness. A piece of toast maybe 2″ high was brought out will a large portion of ice cream and blueberries. Another wow factor from Hen Mother Cookhouse I must say. I would recommend if your going to try the french toast, go ahead and wait until the end and order it as a dessert for the table.

THE GARDEN SKILLET HASH?????

I honestly don’t remember the name of this dish but it was pretty amazing. I know it used local veggies that were sourced and named on the wall for this particular season. It was my healthy comp out but still very filling and done very well. the vegetables were not overcooked to the point where they are not recognizable but they were done just right. It was topped with a fried egg.

JUST GOOD FOOD

I was asking the owner what type of food would she categorize this as because it seemed to have stepped a little outside of just breakfast dishes and she answered “just good food.” I couldn’t agree more. The menu is changing quite sporadically based on what items they have sourced and are working with but certain items such as the 3 dishes we tried are timeless and stay on the “weekend” menu. the owner Soraya and her husband recently moved here and took over this spot after working under a Michelin style restaurant in Napa California. This explains the detail and attention put in the dishes and why the shock of each dish.

Altogether, I love the atmosphere of this place. The staff were extremely helpful and answered any question I had. The good thing about being in a small space is that many of the staffers will help you if you need assistance and its easy to be noticed. I would recommend trying both the weekday menu as well as the weekend menu.