First off, I've been in North Carolina for the past month because I was voluntold to go down with a sinking ship. It pissed me the fuck off, but complaining won't do me much good. What I take away from this experience, professionally, is that I can deal with crappy situation much better than I thought I could. Yay?
On the bright side, I did get a chance to spend some quality time in NC, which continues to surprise me. First, thank you Yelp. You just IPO'ed at an absurd amount of money, and though I don't understand why, I appreciate your services and making me look like I know what's going on in terms of choosing restaurants for a date. For that I thank you. Second, southern food is great. It's fairly hard to fuck up. Deep fry it. Add gravy. Always good. But what is surprising is when you mix a genuinely southern style food with a new age American twist. I respect that. A lot.
The first place I found, Glenwood Grille, was amazingly good. I don't trust restaurants in strip malls, because they usually scream CHAIN! or KITSCHY! and generally AVOID! But this one was great. I got the seafood and grits, which was grits (southern, good grits) scallops, crayfish, shrimp over a light sauce. It was amazing. The size of the scallops were huge. In DC, I probably would have paid a SHIT TON for them, but in Raleigh, $22 gets your amazing stuff. My date had the salmon on a bed of creamed spinach. It was "Scottish salmon"... all I could think about at that moment was the Starburst commercial...DAMN YOU COMMERCIALISM FOR SCATTERING MY ATTENTION! I'm not a huge fan of cooked fish, unless fried, I tend not to eat it. But she seemed to enjoy it, which I was very happy about. She also got the succotash, which I didn't try, but since it got finished, I'm going to say it was good.
The dessert was a creme burlee. Straight traditional French, nothing changed. It was the first one she had, since she had given up processed grain for lent, the creme burlee was the only good option. I liked it, and since we both finished it, I'm guessing my date liked it.
The only disappointment was the wine. A viognier. If my cousin is reading this, for the record, yes, I like viogniers, regardless of how hipster or elitist you may think that is. It wasn't good... wasn't bad, we finished it, but I've had much better at about 1/2 the price. Can't win them all...
The second place was a sushi place, Mura. The decor of the place was very nice, check out the website, it does a better job with pictures than me typing about it. I'm very spoiled when it comes to sushi. Thanks to Cais, who worked at Kushi for way too long, I was able to get whatever the executive sushi chef wanted to feed me. 2 of the greatest food joys in the world: super fatty tuna, and super fatty tuna cheeks. And pea sized salmon roe is a close third. They were fairly innovative with their rolls, using mango, which might have been a first for me. Since I am a spoiled brat when it comes to sushi, I will just say that it was a decent sushi place, which probably means it was awesome to most people. Judging from the response I got from my date, I would venture to say that it was pretty good.
I have a feeling that I will be frequenting NC for the coming future, on my own fruition and hopefully on company dime. The food there does bring a lot of promise, though its not the primary reason I would be going down there. But I believe food is to be enjoyed with good company, it enhances the experience. Since I have an amazing person down there, more reason to get to the south.
I would have never expected any attraction to NC. But everything about it has just exceeded expectations: people, capoeira, food, living expenses. UNC is on my list of law schools, and I thought about taking it off, but after all this, if I get in, it might be hard to say no to.
On the bright side, I did get a chance to spend some quality time in NC, which continues to surprise me. First, thank you Yelp. You just IPO'ed at an absurd amount of money, and though I don't understand why, I appreciate your services and making me look like I know what's going on in terms of choosing restaurants for a date. For that I thank you. Second, southern food is great. It's fairly hard to fuck up. Deep fry it. Add gravy. Always good. But what is surprising is when you mix a genuinely southern style food with a new age American twist. I respect that. A lot.
The first place I found, Glenwood Grille, was amazingly good. I don't trust restaurants in strip malls, because they usually scream CHAIN! or KITSCHY! and generally AVOID! But this one was great. I got the seafood and grits, which was grits (southern, good grits) scallops, crayfish, shrimp over a light sauce. It was amazing. The size of the scallops were huge. In DC, I probably would have paid a SHIT TON for them, but in Raleigh, $22 gets your amazing stuff. My date had the salmon on a bed of creamed spinach. It was "Scottish salmon"... all I could think about at that moment was the Starburst commercial...DAMN YOU COMMERCIALISM FOR SCATTERING MY ATTENTION! I'm not a huge fan of cooked fish, unless fried, I tend not to eat it. But she seemed to enjoy it, which I was very happy about. She also got the succotash, which I didn't try, but since it got finished, I'm going to say it was good.
The dessert was a creme burlee. Straight traditional French, nothing changed. It was the first one she had, since she had given up processed grain for lent, the creme burlee was the only good option. I liked it, and since we both finished it, I'm guessing my date liked it.
The only disappointment was the wine. A viognier. If my cousin is reading this, for the record, yes, I like viogniers, regardless of how hipster or elitist you may think that is. It wasn't good... wasn't bad, we finished it, but I've had much better at about 1/2 the price. Can't win them all...
The second place was a sushi place, Mura. The decor of the place was very nice, check out the website, it does a better job with pictures than me typing about it. I'm very spoiled when it comes to sushi. Thanks to Cais, who worked at Kushi for way too long, I was able to get whatever the executive sushi chef wanted to feed me. 2 of the greatest food joys in the world: super fatty tuna, and super fatty tuna cheeks. And pea sized salmon roe is a close third. They were fairly innovative with their rolls, using mango, which might have been a first for me. Since I am a spoiled brat when it comes to sushi, I will just say that it was a decent sushi place, which probably means it was awesome to most people. Judging from the response I got from my date, I would venture to say that it was pretty good.
I have a feeling that I will be frequenting NC for the coming future, on my own fruition and hopefully on company dime. The food there does bring a lot of promise, though its not the primary reason I would be going down there. But I believe food is to be enjoyed with good company, it enhances the experience. Since I have an amazing person down there, more reason to get to the south.
I would have never expected any attraction to NC. But everything about it has just exceeded expectations: people, capoeira, food, living expenses. UNC is on my list of law schools, and I thought about taking it off, but after all this, if I get in, it might be hard to say no to.
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