What To Have

I had dinner at Five Star last night. Five Star is what i’d consider my local hangout/drinking place. I’ve thrown multiple parties there and the staff/management have always made sure myself and my friends are having a good time.

Since this is the first review of Five Star, i’ll give you a little background. It looks like one of those places you have t know about to get to. It’s nestled between some industrial buildings and the rail road tracks on 511 W. Hargett St. A Door and an awning are all that distinguish the place from the brick building. Inside you see a large bar with a dining area that turns into a dance floor during late night. The also have a loft upstairs with couches and pool tables and a full size dining room behind the bar.

The food is traditional Chinese. Not what you’d find at a peking garden, golden dragon or peking dragon etc… I also think it’s better than the new wave of “sophisticated chinese” dining that’s becoming popular. (better than PF Chang’s) When i moved downtown, a friend told me i had to try it because I’d love it. I ended up waiting almost 6mos before eating there, but since then i’ve been hooked.

Last night I was there with a couple friends which allowed me to get a few appetizers without over stuffing myself. We had a few of the staples, Heat Seeker Shrimp and Scallion Pancakes.

The heat seeker shrimp is probably their most famous app. (Their website is actually www.heatseekershrimp.com ) It’s small shrimp lightly battered and deep fried, served in a special spicy sauce. The colsest comparison would be deep fried buffalo shrimp but with a distinctive asian slant.

The scallion pancakes are excellent as well. They’re just as described, bread with scallions poured like a pancake and served with a soy dipping sauce. The sauce is sort of like ponzu, in that it has a taste of citrus. The pancake is cut into wedges and served hot and flaky almost like a biscuit, but thinner like a pancake

The main course was one of their new additions to the menu. I had the teryaki filet. Served medium rare with a side of rice on top of pan-wilted bok-choy and carrots. I know you’re asking why a filet in in a chinese resturant? Well one benefit is that all their pans are extremely hot, so theyr’e able to cook a steak the way it should be, done on the outside with almost a crust but still red on the inside and warmed throughout.

I’d definitely suggest any of these dishes, they never disappoint.

–matt

Welcome to the site. It’s been a long time coming: The idea behind this site is to write reviews of food at different restaurants in downtown Raleigh and the surrounding area. DTR is quickly growing and has become a destination for dining and entertainment in the Raleigh, NC and surrounding areas.

I live and work downtown so I usually eat and spend my free time in the area as well. Numerous restaurants, bars and clubs have opened recently and there are many more scheduled to open soon. Friends are always asking me where to go for different occasions, so I thought I’d write about what I get into.

I’m going to focus mainly on the positive experiences I have. I’m not out to bash any establishments because I honestly believe people in general want me to have a good experience in their establishment. So, most of what you read will be excellent reviews, but if I have a multiple bad experiences in one place, I’ll write about that as well.

With that said, I want to stress that downtown Raleigh is a great place to eat, if you are open to new eating experiences and foods, there are tons of places to try.

//added 02-10-2007

A couple notes I wanted to add. I work for Ulanguzi, Inc., we designed and host downtownraleigh.com along with several other sites for downtown businesses. We however are not taking any type of editorial direction from any outside groups. I just wanted it to be known that everything expressed here is the true opinion of the author and not something trying to inflate the image of any establishments.

If anyone is going to leave comments, please only leave positive comments. Like I said above, we’re not trying to bash any establishment, this is simply a place to talk about the fun food/experiences to be had downtown. We decided this because open reviews in places like Citysearch are tainted by competing restaurateurs that like to bash their competition. We reserve the right to remove any negative comments.

So, I guess, on with the reviews.

–Matt