Cowfish's Quirky New Take on Asian American Fusion

When my sister visited Raleigh for my post birthday celebration, she had the fantastic idea of going to the hot new restaurant Cowfish.  Cowfish takes Asian-American fusion cuisine to the next level by dual featuring burgers, sushi, and some very unique combinations of the two. 

I was immediately won over by the quirky cool of Cowfish's atmosphere.  Custom graphic artwork mixing east and west, a meditating Elvis, and a giant fish tank creation by the underwater engineers on the t.v. show Tanked, hit home the quirky vibe.  I especially love the learn to speak English and Japanese audio guide playing in the bathrooms that translates American "country" colloquialisms into "proper" English and Japanese.  Hilarious!

The menu proved to be equally unique, featuring both a gourmet burger menu, a creative sushi menu, and...wait for it...burgerushi.  Yes, burgerushi, Cowfish's own remix of sushi rolls made with burger ingredients like ground beef and tomatoes. In a similarly innovative fashion Cowfish offers sandwich ingredients that have been packed between "buns" made of deep fried spring rolls. Clearly this is menu with entrees you're unlikely to find anywhere else.

Riggs R&R Crabcake Roll

We started our meal with some sake bombs, sake shots tenuously hovering on a pair of chopsticks over glasses of Kirin.  You've got to have birthday shots after all!  We encountered what must obviously be a frequent conundrum, burgers or sushi?  My sister and I each ordered a roll and split a burger to get the best of both worlds.  I tried the Riggs R&R crabcake roll, which sold me with the aforementioned crabcake mix on top. The R&R roll is filled with fresh tuna, avocado and cream cheese roll, topped with lump crabcake mix and baked. The roll was finished with masago, sesame seeds and a drizzle of spicy cream sauce.  It was very rich and unique tasting...in a good way.  My only criticism would be that I would have liked the crab cake mix to have been baked slightly longer.  My sister decided to try the burgerushi, opting for the "Taste Explosion Roll" filled with seasoned natural Angus ground beef, applewood bacon, fresh jalapenos and spicy cream sauce all stuffed inside of a sushi roll and coated with tempura flakes before being topped off with marinated Roma tomato slices and pepper jack cheese.  The rolls are then baked and finished with a cashew cilantro pesto drizzle. Presentation wise the rolls come out looking like immaculately constructed sushi, but the taste is all American. It was immensely clever for Cowfish to Americanize sushi in a way that makes it approachable to even the most Americana-centric eater.  Burgerushi integrates the sushi concept with American cuisine the way that kimbap does with Korean.

Close up of "Taste Explosion" Burgerushi Roll

As for the burger side of the menu, I twisted my sister's arm and we split the black truffle burger. The half pound antibiotic and hormone free beef burger was served up a brioche bun and topped with black truffle cheese, roasted shallots and truffle-infused sauteed mushrooms, lettuce and roasted garlic aioli. The burger came out cooked perfectly, juicy and well seasoned with earthy mushroom flavors.


For those who can't decide what to order, an undoubtedly common problem, Cowfish has got you covered with a compartmentalized bento box featuring a mini version of the week's featured burger, fries, four pieces of sushi, and edamame.

I was excited to go back for a second visit with one of my meat and potatoes loving guy friends who practically breaks out into hives at the thought of raw fish.  He humored me enough to tolerate the hour and 15 minute wait (on a Tuesday!) but he didn't take me up on the burgerushi.  Instead he opted for the giant Sreamin' Korean spicy chicken sandwich crusted in sesame seeds, fried up and topped with kimchi and sriracha sauce. It was giant, but the spicy chicken breading, sriracha, and kimchi made for a flaming hot combo indeed.  I ordered the Firecracker roll filled with shrimp tempura and kani, coated with tempura flakes, topped with fresh yellowtail and salmon and  finished with spicy cream sauce, tobiko and scallions. I never order just one roll of sushi as an entree, but at $15 bucks, I didn't have the option of ordering two.  Thankfully the specialty rolls are not only delicious but also pretty gargantuan.  It helped that we ordered the Togarashi Shrimp shrimp as an appetizer. I like that is came on a bed of spicy gingery dressed cabbage and greens that functioned as a yummy coleslaw.  Mr. Meat and Potatoes still prefers Bone Fish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp to the spicier sriracha laden Cowfish version.

My favorite elements of cowfish are undoubtedly the atmosphere and unique menu offerings.  The food is delicious, but very pricey.  If they had BOGO sushi I'd be there every other week, but unfortunately at around $20 for one roll and half an appetizer this is a special outing kind of place.

Loving Laotion at Bida Manda

There was a time when I wasn't sure they ate in Laos.  Strange comment to make I know,  but after a several hour layover at a Laotian airport without any food or snacks available, (bad timing I presume, nothing was open) I had lingering questions as a the nature of Laotian cuisine.  When Bida Manda opened downtown in former location of the Duck and the Dumpling Restaurant in downtown Raleigh I was thrilled to finally have my my opportunity to try Laotian food.  Strange that the chance should arise not in Laos, but right here in North Carolina.  The Laotian food at Bida Manda is reminiscent of the cuisines of neighboring Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, some of which are integrated into the menu.

My opportunity to try Bida Manda arose on a date with another ethnic food aficionado who was happy go with me to try something new.  We were both greatly pleased with my restaurant selection.  The restaurant space is elegant while in keeping with the Laotian influences and the integration of local materials.  The walls are crafted from woven sticks and feature beautiful photography of brightly robed monks.  Tables are fashioned from reclaimed wood and festooned with fresh flowers. Overall the atmosphere transports the diner to romantic locale, making it an ideal date restaurant.

I like to loosen up on a first date with a drink to take off the edge off.  Bida Manda offers a fantastic (although quite pricey) selection of innovative cocktails.  I ordered the pineapple Caipirinha and my date ordered the El Picaflor with Tequila, fresh grapefruit and lime juices, peppercorn infused honey, Angostura bitters and soda water, which we both loved.

Totally addictive crispy lettuce wraps

A co-worker of mine had recommended the crispy rice lettuce wraps and the saffron crepes with shrimp and bacon. My date and I took the suggestion to try the lettuce wraps as our appetizer. Deceptively simple, the crispy rice is well seasoned with the fresh flavors of lime, herbs like chives and cilantro, and chopped nuts.  When wrapped in the lettuce leaves and seasoned with the sweet chili fish sauce, the combinations of textures and flavors are mind blowing.

Green Papaya Salad with Crispy Trout

For my entree I ordered the Green Papaya salad with trout.  The Green Papaya Salad was a spicy and tangy shredded salad studded with peanuts and a fantastically well prepared trout.  The dish was topped off with sticky rice eaten by hand (as instructed) from a bamboo container.  I will say that the sticky rice was quite a bit drier than I find preferable. Possibly since it was intended to be eaten by hand.  My date decided to try something he'd never had before, and ordered a classic Laotian beef larb, complete with beef tripe (cows stomach.)  I've had tripe before and didn't like the texture, but I gave in to his request that I try it again. The beef larb could almost be compared to a Laotian take on a spicy lime cooked cerviche.  The flavors were great, but I still haven't been sold on tripe. 

I was, however, impressed by my date's adventurous eating.

Traditional Beef Larb.  It's not weird to take pictures of your
dining companion's meal on a first date..right?

The icing on the top of the cake was,  of course, dessert.  We ordered the the triple dessert sampler with a mini apricot cobbler, mango sorbet and a coconut custard in a crispy rice paper shell.  Each one seemed to be better than the last, and I appreciated my date's insistence that we order dessert regardless of how full we were.  My favorite was the rich and creamy coconut custard, his was the warm apricot cobbler. 

Our meal was than topped off by a complimentary shots of fresh squeezed citrus juice, the perfect top off to a great first date and an excellent meal. 

DELICIOUS Dessert Trio

I went back a few weeks later with two of my closest friends visiting town for the more limited, but less expensive lunch menu.  I had the vermacelli noodle herb salad "Manda's Herb Salad" with grilled shrimp and crispy portobello spring rolls, essentially the same as a Vietnamese Bun with the addition of tofu and tempura eggplant. The cool herb salad was the perfect fresh summer entree.  My friends tried the Pad Thai (very good) and the Kang Som Pa a Lemongrass Tamarind and Catfish soup.  Unfortunately even at the lower lunch prices, my meal consisting of another lettuce wrap appetizer, the herb salad, and a Thai ice tea cost me whopping $30 with tip!  For lunch!  Yikes!  My friends who just got entrees and
water fared much better coming out around $15.
When I go back I suppose I'll have to skip on the
appetizer...or maybe just get the appetizer.