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Magie is 30 years old and lives in Cary, NC. She likes movies, food, drink, and has an extraordinary sense of smell.

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Tomyum Thai

 685 Cary Towne Boulevard
Cary, NC
 

Lunch specials are great deal, and delicious

I’ve gone to Tom Yum Thai many times for lunch. They have some great lunch specials which include soup and a spring roll with the entree for only $8, and the service is always fast. Usually I get the masaman curry lunch special, but today we came for dinner and I wanted to try something new.

For an appetizer I was torn between the spring rolls, chicken satay and Tom Kha soup. I’ve had the soup and spring rolls before here and knew they were good, but I had never tried their chicken satay. My husband threw me for a loop and went for the thai beef jerky. It was strips of beef, very tough and hard to chew, but warm and flavorful. It wasn’t bad, but knowing there are better appetizers I probably won’t get it again.

My husband ordered the masaman curry with chicken. The portioned seemed only slightly bigger than the lunch serving. The rice comes in a triangle at lunch too. It’s cute, I love the way they make the food look. I tried a piece. It was good, as it always is.

I got the Pad Thai with tofu. I’ve had pad thai at other places before, but not here. It was decent. Not the best, but still very good. I miss the spiciness of the curries, and I think I’ll go for something hotter next time.

Of course we got the Thai ice tea here too, and as usual, it’s always good. I need to try some of the desserts sometime. Someone else nearby had ordered some dessert and it looked gorgeous.

One thing I love about this restaurant is it’s got such a great personality. The staff are so friendly, the atmosphere is classy, yet they’ve got assorted things both inside and out which make the place a little weird and wacky. For example, the chickens outside. Why are they there? Why do they strangle them with Christmas lights?

I think I’ll continue coming here for lunch, but dinner is a bit expensive considering you don’t get the soup and spring roll with your entree. It’s a really fantastic place for lunch though, one of my favorite spots around the Triangle. And it’s very easy to get to as well, just off 40, near the 291 exit.

Pad Thai with Tofu at Tomyum Thai

Pad Thai with Tofu

 

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Sweet Traditions Bakery

 329 N Harrison Ave
Cary, NC
 

Huge, fluffy, delicious donuts

It had been a while since I’ve been to Sweet Traditions. When I walked in, I immediately noticed some of the display cases had been moved from where last I saw them, and they seemed to have less of a selection of the specialty items such as Napoleans, which I love. A sign hanging up asked us to please excuse the mess, as the store was under new management. I asked the lady behind the counter about that and she said that the baker was still the same, just the management was different.

I’ve never had the cakes here, though they certainly do look very nice. I took a picture of one of the plain, undecorated ones, as I didn’t want to trouble the lady behind the counter to bring out one of the customized ones someone had ordered. I imagine the cakes must taste pretty good though, as in the past I’ve had a mini chocolate cake from here that was incredibly delicious.

They also had some muffins on display this morning. The muffins were absolutely huge! I don’t know how much they were but I imagine you could feed yourself for an entire day off them. The topping was some kind of cream cheese topping. They looked beautiful, but again, this was not what I was after today.

What Sweet Traditions has that is better than any place else is the donuts. Big, soft, fluffy sweet donuts. They make long johns, bear claws, twists, donut holes, bismarks, cake donuts and just plain old ring donuts, all huge and fantastic.

I’ve never been disappointed with any donut I’ve had here. I just wish they would expand on the varieties sometime. My favorite has always been creme filled long johns with caramel icing, but often if they have long johns it’s just one variety. Today it was raspberry filled with sugar coating. We got this “dozen” donuts (which was really closer to 25 or so, counting all those donut holes) for only $9. Pound for pound it’s a much better deal than buying from the bakery departments at Harris Teeter or Kroger, and the quality here is so much better.

Though I love this store, the place could use a few improvements. First off, why on Earth are they closed on Sundays and Mondays? Mondays I can understand, probably the least popular day for getting up early and grabbing donuts on the way to work, but why Sunday too? You’d think they’d be missing out on one of their busiest days by skipping Sunday.

The pastries at this shop don’t live up to the high standard the donuts have set forth. The pastries tend to be rather dense, not as light and fluffy as the donuts. I would like to see them skip the turnovers and danishes, and instead expand the donut selection to include more varieties, toppings and fillings that are set out every day. Besides, knowing Guglhupf owns the Triangle area for pastries, it’s probably not even worth trying to compete with them. Just stick with the donuts and cakey-type things.

I think they could also pick up some more business if they moved to a more obvious location, and started serving coffee. A lot of people probably drive right past and never see it, because it’s in the inner corner of a plaza that you can’t see well from Harrison. And lots of people like to get quality coffees and espresso drinks with their breakfast pastries, and without a drive-up coffee place nearby it’d be nice to do an all-in-one sort of place.

A dozen donuts at Sweet Traditions Bakery

A dozen donuts

 

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Korean Garden

 748 E Chatham St
Cary, NC
 

The bento boxes here are great!

Since I work in Raleigh now, I try to pick out lunch restaurants that are between Raleigh and Cary. Korean Garden fits the bill as a very convenient restaurant on East Chatham St. just off of Hwy. 40. I’ve been to a couple of other Korean restaurants in the Triangle area, Vit Goal and Chosun Ok, and was never really that impressed. I was hoping Korean Garden would change my idea of Korean food in the Triangle.

The decor is typical for strip-mall type restaurants in the area. Pretty cheap tables, and the chairs are kind of funny wheely office chairs. There’s big tables for cooking up your own meat, and littler tables for just getting served food. Since it was lunch and wasn’t looking to spend a lot of time there, we just got a little table and some lunch specials.

When we came in, the server just had us seat ourselves. We picked a table towards the back where I could take pictures and not be too obvious. The table was pushed up against the side wall so close though, I had to rotate the chair to get seated. Despite this, the service was prompt and friendly, and we never felt like we were waiting for anything.

They offer a wide range of beers and wines, but I just got water and my husband had Coke. We ordered steamed dumplings as an appetizer, and we each got a lunch bento box. I got the boneless beef option, and my husband got the BBQ spare ribs. The bento box comes with soup, and the soup was served first.

I have no idea what kind of soup it was. It was extremely thick, with long strips of tofu and beef. It seemed like a variation on egg drop soup. It also included some water chestnuts for added texture. It was pretty spicy, and very good.

After that came the steamed dumplings. I have to say, these were the best dumplings I’ve ever had. Not only that, but where most restaurants only give you 2-4, Korean Garden serves 6 pieces. They were mildly spicy and came with some dipping sauce on the side.

Then came the bento boxes. It may not look especially pretty, but everything was delicious. First I ate the fried chicken leg in the top left corner. It had the most amazing flavor, and I wish I knew what spices were used. I ate some of my kim chee, but it was so spicy that even spreading it out throughout the meal I couldn’t finish it all. The lettuce salad had an interesting dressing. I couldn’t quite identify what it was, but I would guess miso and vinegar. The rice was perfectly steamed. And the beef was oh so tender! Even the onions were fantastic. It was served in a very mildly flavored sauce, with not too much spice.

My husband got the spare ribs and I was so jealous. The only reason I didn’t order them was because most of the time they’re hard to eat, especially with chop sticks. But the ones he got were so tender, they came right off the rib without any effort. He said they were delicious.

This is a great place for lunch, and I look forward to a weekend when we can try one of those cook-where-you-eat tables.

Beef Bento Box at Korean Garden

Beef Bento Box

 

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Havana Grill

 404 West Chatham Street
Cary, NC
 

Great place for lunch

The Havana Grill in downtown Cary is a great outdoor spot for lunch. The food is cafeteria style. Everything is out for you to look at, and I usually get an entree and 2 sides for $6.45. Of course they also have the Cuban sandwich, which is my husband’s favorite.

Today I got the fried flounder with yellow rice and red beans. I also got some flan to share, and a cookie. They usually serve 2 pieces of fried bread along with the meal for free. Previously I’ve had the sliced roast pork with onions, black beans and rice, and cuban fries. Everything I’ve had here has been very good. The only issue would be the food temperature. Because everything (except the sandwiches) are pre-made, sitting under heat lamps, sometimes the food may get a bit cool, and not taste as fresh. The fish would have been absolutely perfect if I was able to get it straight out of the fryer, instead of being the second-to-last piece left on the hot plate. But you can’t have too many complaints for food that’s so cheap and quick.

My husband always gets the Cuban. It’s made with real Cuban pressed bread, sliced pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The Cuban fries are always crunchy and tasty, but as with the fish, there’s a problem with temperature. I’ve never had the opportunity to eat the fries when they’re fresh out of the fryer, and I’m sure they’d be better that way.

The desserts are always good here. I’ve had the three milk cake before, which is delicious and rich. It reminds me a bit of tiramisu, but without the coffee flavor. Today we got the caramel flan which was also very rich and creamy, and big enough for two people to share without feeling cheated. The cookie I got for my son, and unfortunately he didn’t like it much. It was 2 very dry, flower-shaped sugar cookies coated with powdered sugar, with some caramel-type stuff in the middle which glued them together. I didn’t mind it but it wasn’t as good as their other desserts.

The atmosphere at this restaurant is very casual. The plates and utensils are plastic, the cups are styrofoam, and the seating is just cheap metal chairs and tables. The inside is usually pretty crowded, especially in cold or hot weather, but we usually only try and go here when it’s nice enough to sit outside anyway. The outdoor area is roomy and comfortable, with shade, and has lively Cuban music playing throughout the eating area.

I haven’t been here for evenings, but I’m told they’ve got live music and the bar outside is actually active. Seems like a really nice place to socialize, though the tables aren’t big enough if you’ve got more than 4 people.

Overall the casual outdoor seating and cheap meals makes for a great lunch place.

Fried Flounder at Havana Grill

Fried Flounder

 

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Paradise India Cuisine

 10255 Chapel Hill Road
Morrisville, NC
 

Biryani is good, harabara kebabs are excellent

We stopped at Paradise India Cuisine last Sunday evening for dinner. It’s a new place that just opened up, right next to Neomonde on Chapel Hill Rd. We had stopped by at 5:30pm because we usually get to restaurants early to beat the crowd, and they had just opened for the evening.

The atmosphere seemed very casual, with paper napkins and the water jug left right at the table. That’s sometimes a good thing though, if you’ve got to wash down some spicy food. The server was very attentive, taking our drink order immediately and coming back frequently to check up on us. Of course, at that time there wasn’t anyone else there. We got some mango lassis and they are perfect for some good, spicy food.

For an appetizer we got the harabara kebab. It was recommended by the server and I had never tried it before. It was very, very good. I have no idea what was even in it, but if we go there again I could just get 20 of them and be happy. They were so delicious.

For the entrees, my husband got the murg malai kebab, which was chicken in a creamy yogurt type sauce. It was extremely tender and tasty, but the chicken only came on a skillet with some green peppers and onions. It wasn’t served with any rice or any vegetables that my husband likes, so it was pretty much just the chicken for him.

I wanted to order the baby goat biryani, but unfortunately they said they were out of the baby goat. Too bad, I had never tried baby goat (or any goat meat) and I had really wanted to try it. So instead, I ordered the chicken biryani. It came out in a little pot with some curry sauce and raita on the side. The biryani was really good. I loved the different flavors in the rice, but the chunks of chicken at the bottom puzzled me. Instead of being evenly mixed throughout the dish, the chicken was attached to 2 large bony bits under all the rice. I was curious about the curry sauce, it was certainly hot in spiciness, but cool in temperature. I wasn’t sure if that was intentional. The raita was good for cooling off when I ate too much curry, but there weren’t any cucumbers in it. It was just onions in the raita, and I really like it with cucumbers.

We had ordered naan with the meal, but unfortunately it didn’t come until near the end of the meal. That was my only big complaint about the restaurant. The server seemed extremely attentive during the first 2/3 of the meal, but seemed to disappear later on.

Overall, I would definitely go back though. I really want to try that goat biryani, and I’m looking forward to eating a lot more of those harabara kebobs.

Chicken biryani at Paradise India Cuisine

Chicken biryani

 

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Ichibar

 1207 Kildaire Farm Road
Cary, NC
 

Great place in Cary for Japanese

Cary just got its first decent Japanese restaurant! Ichibar just opened up on Kildare Farm Road just north of where Outback Steakhouse is. It’s not a typo, for some reason they decided “Ichibar” would be a better name than “Ichiban”. Maybe the market is just saturated with Ichibans already.

I had gotten a card in my mailbox last week announcing the opening of this restaurant. I figured most other restaurants might be packed on Mother’s Day, so a Japanese restaurant would be a good spot to go to. We arrived at about 5:30pm and the place was pretty empty, only 1 other table seated.

This restaurant has a really great interior! When you first come in, you’re greeted by a koi pond with 2 waterfall structures and water running down the tile wall. My son loved looking at the fish throughout our time there.

They also have a very nice bar there. They serve a wide array of mixed drinks, wines, beers, and sake. I was kind of worried though, one of their drinks was a mojito with vodka. Vodka, no rum? Blasphemy! I just had some hot green tea with ice water.

We ordered some appetizers, the veggie spring rolls and some gyoza. Both were good, although I prefer my spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce instead of soy sauce. The gyoza was good, exactly the way I like it.

We had ordered apple sticks for our 4-year-old. They came out shortly after the appetizers, piping hot. They looked like mozzarella sticks, but tasted a lot like McDonald’s apple pies. Probably not a very healthy dinner, but the boy is very picky and usually doesn’t eat anything at restaurants unless we bring him a sandwich. He actually ate most of the apple sticks without much prodding.

My husband got the tonkatsu (pork cutlet). He said it was very good. I tasted the tonkatsu sauce and it tasted pretty authentic. The only complaints were that the miso soup that he ordered never showed up, the tonkatsu was served on lettuce instead of shredded cabbage, and the slices were a little large and unwieldy. But he said otherwise it was very good.

I asked if they would make me some special rolls with my own selection of ingredients. The server consulted with the sushi chef, and said yes. I ordered my favorite combo of yellowtail, avocado, egg and cucumber. It doesn’t really have a name, so I’ll just call it a “Magie roll”. I also ordered the Ninja roll, minus the peppers. It was supposed to be spicy yellowtail, mango inside, yellowtail, jalapeno and tobiko (black caviar) on top, but I decided jalapeno peppers would be a bit too much for me. Maybe next time I’ll go for them.

Everything turned out beautifully, and was delicious. I was so happy to find a decent sushi restaurant in the area. So many either won’t make the rolls the way I want them, or just generally have crappy food or a crappy atmosphere. This one, despite being in a strip-mall type building, had a really gorgeous and welcoming interior. They even had a “sushi boat” for a sushi bar!

I look forward to eating here a lot in the future. Maybe next time we’ll even get the tea room, and I’m sure there’s many more good rolls to try.

Ninja rolls and "Magie" rolls at Ichibar

Ninja rolls and "Magie" rolls

 

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Baba Ghannouj Grill and Buffet Restaurant

 1851 North Harrison Avenue
Cary, NC
 

Everything about this place is cheap, and not in a good way

I went to Baba Ghannouj Mediterranean Bistro for lunch today, at their location on North Harrison near 40. I was told the buffet there was decent, so I paid my $9.99 and got a cup of water to drink with it. The plates are styrofoam and the utensils are all plastic, but at least you don’t have to tip because there’s absolutely no table service.

The buffet selection was pretty small compared to most around here. There was some basmati rice, curry chicken, chicken kebab, pita and gyro fixin’s, some spicy potato dish, salad with Greek style dressing or tzatziki, hummus, Baba Ghannouj, tabouli, some orzo dish, couscous, carrot salad, and for dessert a pineapple and sour cream mixture (that tasted more like yogurt to me). The curry chicken wasn’t spicy at all, and had way too many bones and scraps in it. The only decently spiced dish was the potatoes. The chicken kebob was much better as far as just being a nice, tender piece of meat, but there was no flavor to it. The orzo and couscous were very bland. I ended up eating a lot of salad with tzatziki, since I really love that stuff. The dessert was okay too, but I was told they used to have baklava.

I can’t really recommend this place at all as a lunch buffet. For the same price you can go to China Town and get table service, real plates and silverware, and about 20 times the selection. I think its close proximity to the SAS campus is the only reason this restaurant stays in business.

buffet

 

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Edwards Mill Bar & Grill

 5884 Edwards Mill Rd
Raleigh, NC
 

Good place for business meetings

I went to Edwards Mill Bar & Grill for lunch today with the recruiters who landed me my job. It seemed like a very business-friendly place to eat, as the service was quick, the entrees were all pretty standard American fare, and the place seemed very conversation-friendly.

The place didn’t seem to have a drink menu. I just ordered a water, and both the guys I was with ordered Arnold Palmers. This must be a southern thing, but apparently it’s lemonade and ice tea. They were both disappointed after drinking it and realizing it was made with unsweet tea. The waitress did get them new ones made with sweet tea, but if you go there this is something to probably ask about when ordering.

I wanted to try The Mill’s famous ribs, but seeing as though it was kind of a business lunch, I wanted to stay pretty clean and not spend too much time working on eating my food. I ordered the grilled salmon with a cup of cheeseburger soup and coleslaw.

The salmon was pretty good, though a bit bland. It was served with only a slice of lemon, no sauce or anything else. It was easy to eat and talk at the same time because I didn’t have to cut it at all, the whole thing flaked apart pretty easily. The coleslaw was decent, a bit like KFC’s coleslaw in texture, but the sauce was less salty and sweet than KFC’s (and that’s a good thing in my opinion). The cheeseburger soup was a pretty good too. They also served some hot rolls with the meal.

Normally I like more exotic foods, but I think restaurants like Edwards Mill Bar & Grill are good for meals out with people who don’t necessarily share your taste in food. It’s the kind of place everyone can agree on. The prices are decent and the location is ideal for a lot of people who work around Raleigh, so I imagine I’ll be joining people for lunch here in the future.

Grilled Salmon

 

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Ginza Japanese Steak House

 1077 Darrington Drive
Cary, NC
 

Typical American Hibachi place

I went to Ginza with a large group last Friday for lunch. They have a nice back room for large group that accommodates about 20 people or so. Ginza serves sushi and other Asian foods, but their main specialty is hibachi.

I’ve been to quite a few other hibachi places in my life. I know there’s not really much “Japanese” about what Americans call hibachi, but some places try harder than others to retain some sort of Asian roots. Ginza is more on the American side, serving things like iceberg lettuce salads, simple broth soup, and very mildly flavored sauces.

I ordered steak hibachi, and for lunch it’s at a reasonable price of about $10. Most hibachi places will charge $20 or more for dinner. I was given a choice between soup or salad, but since I guess they got confused with the large party, everyone got both the soup and salad. The service was pretty slow there, slow to order, slow to get the soup and salad, and slow to start the hibachi. Normally this wouldn’t be a bad thing, as it gives more time for conversation, but I only had an hour for lunch and I went way over that.

When the grilling starts, the chefs put on a bit of a show. Lots of fire, lots of fancy knife play and flinging and whacking of spatulas. I’m just glad our chef didn’t toss any food at us, like the other table’s did. I’ve been to hibachi places where the meat and veggies were cooked all at once, and served with steamed rice. This place made all the veggies first. Then they made some kind of fried rice that was pretty plain. Then the meat was served last. The veggies and meat were great, I just wish they could have been served together. I didn’t make use of the sauces, I prefer to be able to really taste the food.

I’m not sure if I’d want to come back again. I know the boy likes to watch the chefs, and it keeps him occupied during the meal. But dinner is so pricey, and I really like Ichibar better for authentic Japanese food. But the restaurant was very nice, and the staff seemed very friendly, so I wouldn’t mind going back if friends or coworkers were going. Seems like a good place to socialize.

steak hibachi

 

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Brigs at the Crossing Restaurant

 1225 Nw Maynard Rd
Cary, NC
 

More expensive than IHOP, but better

The plan today was to go to La Farm bakery, but when we got there at noon we realized the breakfast menu ends at 11am. Since we had promised the boy some pancakes or french toast, he would have been incredibly disappointed with just a croissant or sandwich. So we checked out Urbanspoon’s handy iPhone app for other places in Cary that had breakfast, and Brigs came up 3 times in a row. Since it was just a short drive from La Farm, we’d check it out.

I had been to The Crossing at Maynard and High House plenty of times before, because there’s a Kroger there. I guess I never noticed the Brigs down at the end, or realized there was a restaurant right there. The exterior isn’t very obvious so you could drive past it a hundred times and never see it there.

When we walked in, the interior reminded me of any generic family restaurant from the Midwest during the 80′s and 90′s. I suppose some people might think it’s very out of date, but it’s good if you’re feeling nostalgic. My son was impressed by the light fixtures and fans, because he’s into that sort of thing. The seating was tables, not booths, but at least everything seemed fairly clean. The coloring books they offer kids come with 4 crayons, and have quite a few pages worth of activities. My 4-year-old was busy the whole time doing the mazes and coloring.

The menu was typical of any traditional American diner. They serve breakfast foods all day, with a good selection of Eggs Benedicts, waffles, pancakes, french toast, omelets, ect. They also offer a nice selection of sandwiches, salads and burgers. I got the combo french toast with scrambled eggs and “home fries”, which are basically potato cubes with some seasoned salt and a few onions in there. My husband got the bacon brie burger, which sounded awesome to me, but we try to not order the same thing. My son got the kid’s french toast which came with bacon, but I ate his bacon since he didn’t want it. We also got a pot of coffee which was great, I love having all the coffee I want with my lunch. The sugar even came in an old fashion style glass sugar pourers. The kid’s juice comes in really cool cup that looks like a rocket. My son was very impressed.

The burger looked as awesome as it sounded. My husband said it was great. I’m sorry I didn’t get pictures of any of the food, but we were all so hungry we dug in as soon as the food came out. Maybe someday I’ll try making my own bacon brie burger, with my fried eggy bun. Our french toast was very good, and it came out with a lot of whipped butter on top. I’ve always though the butter was more important than even syrup for french toast and pancakes, so I was happy to find enough supplied. My sides of scrambled eggs and home fries weren’t nearly as good, but that’s ok. I’ll try some other sides next time.

The prices here were slightly more than at IHOP. The two adult entrees were $7.99, the coffee was $1.29, and the kid’s meal was $4.99. But this location is a lot closer to us than IHOP, and the quality of food is much better. I’m glad we found this place, I think we’ll be coming here for our brunches from now on.

French Toast Combo

 

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