What To Have

I grabbed a quick lunch on a cold afternoon this past week at Hard Times. One of the easiest and best things they’ve got going is their chili. Get it 3-way (noodles, chili, cheese), 4-way (noodles, chili, cheese, onions) and 5-way (noodles, chili, cheese, onions, beans). I usually go with a 4-way cincinatti. I love cincinatti style chili. It’s almost soupy, with a hint of chocolate and cinnamon. I think the almost sweetness holds up very well to a nice hot sauce and then you’ve got the best of both worlds.

-Matt

I haven’t written about The Big Easy in a while but their food never fails to satisfy. I recently had my favorite offering there, A Taste of Louisiana. This is a dish with samplings of 4 of the house specialities: jambalaya, gumbo, fried oysters saucy tails. You get generous portions of everything alon with some of their excellent jalepeno corn bread. Each dish stands out on it’s own, i truely enjoy the spice of the saucy tails, and the different flavors and textures of the jambalaya. You can’t go wrong here.

-Matt

I got a chance to get dinner at Dos Taquitos Centro on friday. I believe you simply can’t go wrong here. I started with one of their margaritas and then noticed they have a tequila menu…It’s going to be fun working through all their offerings.

They don’t start dinner with the normal chips/salsa. Instead you get some fresh sliced veggies and some corn. The veggies (carrots, cucumber etc.) were thinly sliced and sprinkled with an authentic spice (I can’t remember the name). This made the veggies stand out, it was a little spicy and a little salty, and it went very well with my margarita. The plate also included deep fried white corn. This was white corn kernels in a light batter deep fried. An excellent crunchy dish.

Next I went with their Guacamolito. Basically guacamole with chips, but truly a thing of beauty. The freshness of everything (avocados, spices, chips) made this hard to put down even though I knew I had a full meal coming.

For dinner I went with the Enchiladas Puebla. The bartender said this was one of the only carry-overs from the other restaurant. I can see why. Three enchiladas filled with steak, black bean and chicken. Each covered with its own sauce and sides of rice and beans. This was a big meal regardless of what I had beforehand. I liked it all, the steak and chicken tasted slow roasted and the different toppings allowed for a lot of different flavor combinations. I’m going to get a new menu item next, but i’ll definitely be having these again.

–Matt

Vegetable spring rolls aren’t on the menu at Five Star, but they’ll occasionally cook them. I got turned on to these by one of the bartenders (see general guidlines) I like my food spicy, and the kitchen knows this, so my favorite part of this app is the diced chili’s the put in the roll. They make it spicy and even more enjoyable.

One of my favorites at five star is the salt and pepper calamari. I don’t eat this enough, they have so many good dishes I keep in the rotation that i often forget the calamari. Anyway, this is one of the best versions of calamari in raleigh. It’s really easy to overcook this dish but it’s never been overcooked here. It’s lightly battered which makes it slightly crunchy, but it’s not so battered that it gets oily. A simple sprinkle of salt and pepper along with a side of sauce complete this dish. Try these out.

-Matt

I hadanother enjoyable meal at Riviera tonight. I started with the Portabella con Cangrejo, i simply can’t get enough of this app. See my previous review here. I finished up with the Proscuitto Wrapped Chicken. This dish is fairly lite even though it’s wrapped in proscuitto. The chick is grilled, tender and stuffed with an assortment of pine nuts, mozzarella and fresh herbs. It sits on a tomato-basil risotto that is lite and fluffy. Try this one out.

-Matt