Yebo Ski Haus (Atlanta, GA)

A few months ago, I was at Phipps and decided to stop by Yebo to grab a quick bite and of course in typical Atlanta fashion the restaurant was gone!  So after a quick Google I realized they weren’t gone gone….just transplanted and re-branded.  They are now known as Yebo Ski Haus…er.. Yebo Beach Haus…it depends upon the season….

The decor of the restaurant is amazing.  It’s based in an older home that has been renovated.  At this time of year it is Yebo Ski Haus so the decorations consisted of things found in a ski lodge.  So blankets, ski, snow boards, pine trees etc.  It was really pretty and it gave me high hopes for how good the food would be.  The bathrooms are even gorgeous and the smelled great!

We sat down to order and decided upon the following as starters: the pommes frites, mac & cheese, and smoked trout pate.

I was not impressed.  The dishes sounded impressive on the menu but the flavor just fell flat.  The Pommes Frites were described as having white truffle oil, herbs, and house ketchup.  The fried overall weren’t bad, they just weren’t anything special or a must have. (You’ll have to forgive my pictures the restaurant is dimly lit.)

The second appetizer was the mac & cheese.  First let me preface this with: I do not like mac & cheese; however, my husband is a huge fan.  We are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to love/hate for mac & cheese.  This mac & cheese is white cheddar, manchego, bechamel, peppadew, and smoked panko.  When the dish arrived at the table it was a nice presentation but according to my husband it tasted just like pasta.  You couldn’t taste the varied cheeses.  He even encouraged me to try it.  At first I was vehemently opposed, given that it was mac & cheese; but I gave in.  He was right.  It tasted like plain pasta with breadcrumbs.  So if you are looking for a tasty mac & cheese, this isn’t it.

The last appetizer or Apres Sk,i as they call it, is the Smoked Trout Pate.  It was served with olive tapenade, chive oil, and a baguette.  Out of all of the appetizers this one was the best.  It was flavorful and the toasted baguette had the right amount of crunch and softness to support the pate.

For dinner we chose: the mussels, prawns, crispy brussel sprouts, and green beans.

The mussels were in a white wine, lemon, and garlic cream served with benton’s bacon baguette.  The baguette was excellent it had fat pieces of bacon that were baked in the bread, almost like lardons.  It added a nice smoky flavor to the bread.  The cream provided with the mussels was good especially for dipping the bread.  The mussels themselves were a little overcooked but otherwise not too bad.

The prawns were in a yellow curry with coconut milk and carolina gold rice.  When we ordered the dish the waiter exclaimed how big the shrimp were and even went as far as to describe them as colossal.  They weren’t that big, I’ve seen bigger (insert joke).  The shrimp come with the shrimp(body) and the head.  The flavor was only okay.  It wasn’t anything spectacular.  I’ve had better curry at Indian restaurants and my Trinidadian friend’s house. 

The next dish was the crispy brussel sprouts in a peri-peri buttermilk sauce.  The brussel sprouts were excellent!  They were crispy and you could tell they pulled back the leaves to allow the sprouts to achieve full cripsiness when flash frying.  I could have eaten a plate full of these and have been fine!  I took a picture of the brussel sprouts but it does not even do the dish justice so I will not post it.

The last dish was the green beans.  Once again I was not amazed.  The green beans were cooked with shiitake mushrooms and red chilis.  They were slightly peppery not overcooked but if I had to choose between the brussel sprouts and the green beans I would choose the brussel sprouts hands down.

We should have stopped while we were ahead but we opted for the s’mores brulee.  The s’mores brulee sounded amazing who could resist chocolate brulee, honey cracker crumbs, and Italian meringue?  The brulee tasted great the chocolate flavor was very subtle, the only issue I had was it was gritty.  I’m not sure if the brulee was torched enough but it was very gritty.  I think the chocolate flavor should have been a little more intense in order to pull off a s’mores flavor.

Would I recommend Yebo Ski Haus to anyone looking for a great dinner: no.  Would I recommend Yebo Ski Haus to anyone who wants to visit a ski lodge in the middle of Atlanta to grab a drink: yes.