Save Deep Fried for the Fair

There are few eating events we look forward to more than the NC State Fair. With fall in the air and this year’s fair around the corner, we thought we’d pregame at the new Carnival Delights in Durham. Specializing in, well, carnival food, we thought this would be the perfect place to wet our appetites for the upcoming 10-day fried food paradise (Oct. 14-24).

In order to feel like we ordered a legitimate lunch, we started with hotdogs and fries—these are really the only non-dessert items on the menu. One of us went for the foot-long chili dog with cheese fries and the other a regular dog with chili fries. The food was prepared to order so it came out fresh, but it wasn’t anything beyond your basic hot dog and fries—they probably don’t have places like Joe’s Diner or King’s Sandwich Shop beat in this category.

After getting fairly stuffed on taters and dogs, we moved on to what we’d come for—true carnival food. As usual, we’d done some scouting on their website and had our stomachs set on trying the cookie pops (a deep dish chocolate chip cookie on a stick), cotton candy, and funnel cakes. But likely due to the fact that they didn’t have many customers, they did not have a lot of the food items prepared and we were disappointed to find out they did not have cookies pops or cotton candy. After striking out on two, we went with our third choice—a sundae funnel cake served GWG style with ice cream, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.

The funnel cake was good and fresh—thick and cake-like but crunchy around the edges. The ice cream on top added a cold, creamy compliment to the greasiness of the fried dough—we’d never tried it that way but enjoyed it, leaving nothing more than a few crumbs. The end was certainly the best part of the meal.

Other offerings at Carnival Delights include SnoBalls in 19 flavors, regular ice cream and corndogs. We wonder how long a concept like this will make it, particularly in a location surrounded by tons of food options. We were honestly a little disappointed that they didn’t offer anything a little more adventurous (what of the fried butter, fried macaroni and other concoctions that show up at the fair each year?). Then again, maybe these treats are best saved for the annual trek to the fried food Mecca in Raleigh—a little grease can go a long way.

If nothing else, they would be smart to stay stocked with the small offerings on their menu or they will leave people walking away and not coming back. In this economy we know it’s tough, so we hope they will work out the kinks. You may also be advised to bring a can of Febreeze or you will end up smelling your lunch for the rest of the day.

Stack it High at Bali Hai

We came across Bali Hai after a work project had one of us exploring Ninth Street. This Mongolian grill, in the shopping center just past Elmo’s on the west side of the street, has a concept we’d heard of before—fill a bowl with the ingredients of your choice and have it stir-fried while you wait. The challenge, we found, is in maximizing the food for your dollar—if you can get it in the bowl, they’ll cook it—and using your creativity to build your own meal.

The restaurant is pretty casual and had a decent lunch crowd when we arrived around 12:15—probably in part to the reasonable prices ($5.95 for one lunch bowl). The menu is pretty simple and stays the same for lunch and dinner, although appetizer and dessert options are added in the evening (which we were sad to miss out on—the banana spring rolls intrigued our taste buds). Based on your appetite, you decide how many bowls you want to fill (up to 3)—this includes a nice variety of vegetables (carrots, eggplant, zucchini, onions, pineapple…) as well as beef, pork, and turkey. For more you can add-on additional meat and seafood options (one of us added shrimp and scallops for an extra $5, but decided the quality was probably not worth the price).

Then you add the flavor to your meal by selecting one of their six sauces—House, Sweet & Sour, Spicy, Combination or Curry (unfortunately you can only choose one per meal). If you go with the spicy sauce you get to choose your heat level from a scale of 1 to 10—since we had to return to work we decided to keep it conservative and stayed at 5-6, but we both felt like we could have handled a couple degrees hotter and are very curious about Level 10.

Being true Girls with Guts, we ordered two bowls each. One of us elected for the spicy (spice level 6) and curry sauce mix and the other for the combination sauce (spice level 5). We headed over to the food bar and began to fill our bowls. We weren’t sure how all the ingredients would mesh together, but found that once everything was cooked in sauce, all the favors blended. Some of the food appeared to be freeze dried and not fresh, but the end result was not disappointing; however, it didn’t blow us away either. It is also important to note that Bali Hai does not provide to-go boxes making it even more important to take your appetite into consideration before piling on the food.

The most enjoyable part of the meal was watching how creative everyone got with filling their bowls to maximum capacity—there appear to be some seasoned pros. There are no clear rules about how much food you can take per bowl, but basically as long as it stays stacked you can keep building (kinda like Jenga). We saw one guy using a pyramid strategy; others just have efficient packing methods. Now that we know this we would probably stick to one bowl on another visit—many people got more food in one bowl than we got in two.

Finding Our Bull City Connection

As two girls who spend a lot of their time in Durham, we often find ourselves amazed at the way a trip for food can turn itself into a full evening of activity. This was the case on Thursday after work when we headed off to grub at Chubby’s Tacos on Ninth Street—we had a general plan in mind but were flexible and let the night unfold itself.

We’d gotten word of the Splash Mob throughout the week, and headed from our downtown office on a mission to get a few pictures of the event. The weather hinted at a cooler season and was perfect for this community-wide water war—we weren’t there to play but got a kick out of watching kids and their man-child equivalents having a ball as they blasted each other with water guns, water balloons and eventually buckets of water. One of us even took a few balloons to the face in the quest to get a good shot.

Since we were already downtown we decided to catch the newly launched Bull City Connector for a free ride to Ninth Street. We walked a couple of blocks to Stop 20 and enjoyed a moment to relax, chat and dry-off as we waited for the next bus (our timing could have been better as we had to wait the full 20 minutes, but luckily we weren’t in a hurry). The GWG believe there is something about public transportation that makes you feel like you are a part of what’s going on—not just somebody speeding by in a car.

We got off at Stop 30 and walked down a quiet Ninth Street to Chubby’s Tacos with the mission to pig out (P.S. with all this repaving going on could they maybe work on the Ninth Street sidewalk?). Chubby’s offers a selection of Mexican sodas and we both decided it would be a nice change and a nice compliment to our fatty food—we tried the refreshing grapefruit (similar to Fresca) and sangria (non-alcoholic). One of us ordered the Smothered ChubbyChanga (the item that inspired our trip)—a fried burrito filled with your choice of meat and covered with chili and cheese. While this one is not breaking any size records, we have no doubt it racks up on calories.

The second entrée choice was Chubby’s nachos.  With a large portion of crisp corn chips topped with refried beans, cheese, jalapeno slices, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and your choice of meat—we opted for chicken fajita—this entrée is best for sharing. A few jalapenos from Chubby’s topping bar and some salsa for dipping made these nachos satisfying.

Just as we started to wonder where everyone was, a steady crowd lined up at the counter and we realized we might have to wait a while to order dessert. Unable to choose between Chubby’s selection of sweets, we ordered all four and they came out looking just like they do on the menu board—delicious. Our favorite was the sopapillas (fried flour tortilla dough with cinnamon & honey) followed by the fried plantains, fried ice cream, and the dulce de leche quesadillas.

As we left Chubby’s to walk back up Ninth Street toward the Bull City Connector, we were pulled off course by live music. Excited by the sounds in the air, we made our way one block over to Outsiders Arts & Collectibles on Iredell Street. We walked up as Mel Melton and the Wicked Mojos finished up their set. Two food trucks were selling food and a crowd of people were enjoying the evening air with socializing and dancing on the front lawn.

We looked at each other, smiled, and commented on our love for Durham. Where else can you stop by a Splash Mob, ride a free bus to great Mexican food, and find your way to free live music all in the span of three hours?

Best Letdown Ever

On a recent tip from friends, GWG headed to Cary to attempt a monster meat challenge that promised to outdo all prior challenges. Tribeca Tavern offers an extensive burger menu including the forty-dollar “Glutton’s Glory.” We knew this meal had GWG written all over it and were willing to make the trip—but on arrival we were disappointed to learn it is no longer available.

 After overcoming the burger blow, we still had our hefty appetites to deal with and decided to stay for dinner—a decision that paid off.  We chose to sit on the outdoor patio, but the tavern also offers an indoor sports bar atmosphere and a unique second floor balcony area. We started with a couple of house reds from their large tap system of North Carolina beers—each came adorned with hard pretzels, a nice and unexpected touch.

In order to create some semblance of a massive meal we decided not to skip a course and started with the “Cheesy Poofs,” a dish that is a lot more sophisticated than it sounds. These puff pastries have a warm brie, cashew and smoked bacon center and are served with raspberry sauce. The combination of the flaky crust, the creamy cheese and the tart topping was delectable—we had quickly forgotten about our initial setback.

Then we were on to the burgers and our waitress gave us the rundown—Tribeca uses meats that are freshly ground in-house and offers many cheeses and toppings from local farms. Their gourmet burger menu gives Red Robin a run for their money—they offer a selection of original and adventurous burger combinations that make it hard to chose just one, so we each chose our favorite and agreed to share.

One of our choices was the “Mastering Augusta” beef burger topped with home-made pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes and three slices of bacon—a combination that rang our southern bells. The burger was cooked well and all the ingredients fresh and tasty, but with so much going on nothing really stood out. That being said, with a little more pimento cheese this burger could still qualify as a guilty pleasure.

The second choice was the Really Mean Mexican burger; it was bursting with flavor and heat. The ground beef was cooked medium-rare maintaining its juice and flavor and the burger included heaps of guacamole, salsa, chipotle coulis, NC pepperjack cheese and fried jalapenos. Although it was messy, this burger was one of the top burgers we've ever tasted.  To balance the heat, the GWG opted for sweet potatoes fries with a rum honey sauce. The waffle cut fries were fried to perfection and the sweet rum honey sauce was sent straight from heaven.

Reluctantly passing up on milkshakes made with homemade ice cream and the other delicious desserts at Tribeca Tavern, we made our way to Kilwin’s, a fudge, candy, ice cream shop located in the same shopping center.  Kilwin's, a national chain, has eight locations in North Carolina.

After sampling fudge, surveying the candy and peeking at the ice cream, we opted for the chocolate walnut fudge and some treats for friends. We made our way outside, sat at a table located in front of the shop, and quickly made our way into the fudge. The creamy texture of the rich fudge paired with the crunchy nutty walnuts was the perfect ending to an exquisite meal.

The GWG may not have accomplished the mission of tackling the Glutton’s Glory, but we did walk away happily stuffed and excited to go back and try more of Tribeca Tavern’s unique, fresh menu. With the glossiness of a chain and the special touches of a local favorite, Tribeca Tavern is a must try.

Cupcakes & Cocktails Off-The-Cuff

Thanks to updates from Durham’s active Twitter community, GWG treated ourselves to an impromptu happy hour at Vin Rouge followed by Singles’ Night courtesy of The Cupcake Bar.

We found ourselves at Vin Rouge for the first time, and a little over-eager as we showed up before they were actually open, to try the Watermelon Rickshaw cocktail as seen 15 minutes earlier on Twitter. It was an interesting crowd at 5:30—several regulars showed up on the dot for the early-bird-special as we waited to enjoy our drinks. The drink special was made with watermelon, basil, lime and pinnacle vodka. We both found it tangy and refreshing with its mix of fresh basil and citrus flavors—although we enjoyed it a little less when we saw the bill ($10 each). We’ve yet to dine at Vin Rouge, but we found the smells tempting and will likely return for a full meal.

Next we headed over to our main event a few blocks over on Main Street—The Cupcake Bar’s Singles’ Night. We’d heard about their first event and were happy to have another opportunity to check out these bite-size delights. Normally the cupcakes have to be ordered by the dozen, but this event allows you to try them individually. We showed up right on time to find people lined up out the door of Center Studio Architecture and we heard they sold out by 6:30 (the event was supposed to run until 7:30). We tried an assortment—Strawberry Buttercream, Strawberry Daiquiri, Red Velvet and Coconut. The cupcakes were tasty but we did wish for a cooler seating area to enjoy them—several people made their way across the street to picnic tables but we were not inclined to linger due to the heat. Overall the cupcakes were tasty and worth the calories but the GWG aren’t planning any road trips to Cary right away. Perhaps we’ll get seconds at the next Singles’ Night.

 Our thanks to the active Durham food community for up-to-the-minute tweets that helped us plan a spontaneous and enjoyable after-work outing!

Summer Treat Series

Ox & Rabbit Soda and Sundries—located on Ninth Street, and outfitted with a soda shop counter, Ox & Rabbit offers cool classics including a variety of shakes, floats and sodas. Take a seat at the counter as you casually consume your beverage or browse the store’s unique selection of gifts (including playful Durham apparel by Durham City Goods). We tried the Strawberry Oreo Shake and a Root Beer Float.—both were prepared with care and very refreshing.

Local Yogurt—this cool and colorful shop features a mix n’ match menu of frozen yogurt and fresh toppings. Pick your combination from staff favorites or create your own from the large selection of adornments—both healthy (fresh fruit, gluten-free granola) and indulgent options are abundant (organic cookies and brownies). We tried several from the staff picks—Rocky Road, Strawberry Graham, and Peanut Butter Banana. As their logo states, everything is “good and good for you.” Everything was fresh and tasty but we felt the prices were a little steep for the serving size (XS) and the treats were heavy on the toppings which sounds like a good thing, but ended up making a light dessert feel kind of heavy.

Goodberry’s Creamery—offering frozen custard concoctions (similar to ice cream but made with egg), Goodberry’s dessert stands can be found throughout the Triangle. Each day brings a featured custard flavor (dulce de leche on our visit) as well as daily concrete (like a blizzard), sundae and parfait specials. One of us went in with an established favorite (the “Sandstorm” Sundae—chocolate custard topped with hot fudge and malt powder) while the other was a first-timer and went with the Shortcake Sundae. As we sat out in the heat these cold treats kept us cool and satisfied.

Maple View Farm—the actual farm is located in Hillsborough but their fresh milk, butter and ice cream are for sell at many retail locations in the area. The large front porch filled with (sticky) rocking chairs makes the country store feel like home. Enjoy a trip with the whole family or go for a romantic evening complete with a sunset over acres of farmland. On our visit we tried waffle cones of their long running Carolina Crunch and Double Chocolate but they also offer ice cream by the pint, milk, cheese, soaps and other Maple View products. Nothing flashy here, but it took us back to the homemade ice cream we enjoyed as kids.

Carolina Breakfast of Champions

Nothing gets your day started right better than a fresh doughnut washed down with a crisp, cold Cheerwine–a perfect way to break up your coffee routine and meet half of your daily calorie allowance before noon! Now it is also a great way to show your NC pride as Krispy Kreme has concocted a confection that combines these two local products into a Carolina superfood.

Properly unveiled at the NC State Capitol on June 30th, the Krispy Kreme Cheerwine doughnuts will be available in North and South Carolina through July. Once GWG got word of this indulgent pastry we had to give it a taste test, and when one of us came upon a box at Food Lion it felt like doughnut destiny.

The doughnut itself is similar to any other you’ve enjoyed–regular glazed style with fudge and sprinkles on top. The center is where they’ve injected the Cheerwine-flavored crème–pink, gooey and ready to ooze out after a few bites.

At first bite a cherry flavor stood out, but as the crème made its rounds on my tongue, I was taken back to the sugar highs of my southern childhood. They hit the Cheerwine flavor pretty much dead-on–it makes for an interesting combination–one worth trying but probably not something you will miss after it’s gone (good enough for me to finish off my half dozen by the end of the week, without sharing).

Giving the doughnut a try is really no feat–this type of culinary creativity has already inspired food fanatics to push the button even further (KFC Double Down meets Krispy Kreme Cheerwine doughnut).

So no, the Krispy Kreme-Cheerwine combination is not this season’s chocolate and peanut butter–some flavor duos are just more classic than others. But it is worth a try in the spirit of Carolina pride!