Biscuit Head, Put Some South In Your Mouth

     Back to in one of my favorite cities Asheville, I went to brunch, as is our long running custom, with my friend Jon.  We usually hit up Sunny Point (a place I could wax poetic about for some time.) However, going to Sunny Point requires an insane degree of patience to weather the sizeable wait. So this time rather than face the wait in the rain, I decided to introduce Jon to another breakfast place I'd been to once before, Biscuit Head.  This is not your standard bacon egg and cheese fare, in fact that's not even on the menu. The options at Biscuit Head are infinitely more interesting.  Take the Brisket Biscuit, one of the crumbly signature cat's head biscuits (Note: no cats were harmed in the making of these biscuits, they are simply the size of a cat's head.) stuffed with brisket, pickled onion, smoked goat cheese, poached eggs and a barbecue hollandaise. Another option is the Pulled Pork Biscuit filled with a hefty helping of pulled pork, jalepeno pimento cheese, bacon, a poached egg and some maple syrup to top it off. Jon and I both indulged in the Mimosa Fried Chicken Biscuit. A fried chicken cutlet smeared with sweet potato butter, and topped with a delightful sriracha cole slaw, all between two halves cat's head biscuit and topped off with a perfectly poached egg. This is most definitely a fork and knife kind of biscuit; I challenge you to pick it up and eat it with your hands. If none of the specialty biscuits strike your fancy you can order a biscuit with one of seven different gravies including the espresso red eye gravy, the fried chicken gravy or the pork sausage gravy.  There are even gravies for the vegetarians, like the house made seitan gravy or the sweet potato coconut gravy.  If you find you have room in your stomach for a side (I did not) you might try the smoke chevre grits, the fried green tomatoes, or the bacon of the day, among other things.

Mimosa Fried Chicken Biscuit (Full Disclosure, I had already started eating it...)

A plain Cat Head Biscuit

       Our mimosa chicken biscuits were delicious, although I honestly couldn't tell you what makes it "mimosa fried chicken," perhaps some kind of marinade or brining. Here's were I got a little out of control, despite having ordered loaded down versions of feline head sized biscuits, I  insisted on
ordering an extra plain biscuit for us to share.  Why you ask? For good reason. One of my favorite features of Biscuit Head is their butter and jam bar. Yes, you read correctly, they have a delicious spread (haha...spread..get it?..) of house made flavored butters, jams, and honeys.  Some of them in some very interesting flavors.  You may now see why a plain biscuit for sampling all these delights was clearly in order.  A few of my favorites were the orange amaretto marmalade, the peach rosemary jam and the sriracha honey. So as they say at Biscuit Head, head over there and "Put some South in your Mouth."

The selection of spreads

                Biscuit Head Website

Soo Good Korean Fried Chicken at Soo Cafe

     Sahi Bok Mani  Badeusayo! Happy Lunar New Year! Just thinking about Seollal has got me fantasizing about some tasty Korean delicacies, which in turn have me craving Soo Cafe's Korean fried chicken.  In Seoul there was a Korean fried chicken joints on virtually every street.  What makes a southern staple like fried chicken "Korean style" is that it's served up tossed in a sweet and spicy red hot sauce. I was super psyched to find out that the Triangle has been graced with our very own Korean fried chicken establishment!  They were formerly located close to NC State and recently moved near Capital Boulevard. I recently went out on a date with a guy who happened to be a fellow Korean cuisine aficionado and I immediately seized the opportunity to go to Soo Cafe.
      The date turned out to be a flaky fail, but the chicken was an all around win!  Soo served up some authentic Korean fried chicken of the highest order.  The chicken was served PIPING hot, just how they like it Korea. It was delicately fried, but still perfectly crispy. Underneath the crust the chicken was moist and tender.  There were three sauces of varying heat levels to choose from, the popular mild Soy Garlic, the slightly spicy slightly sweet original sauce, and the aptly named hot and spicy.
The subtle sweetness tempers the spiciness for a while, but it hits you in the end with a slow burn!  None of them quite meet the mouth inferno of the spiciest versions in Korea, where the sauce left on your lips and around your mouth nursed an atomic burn even after you wiped it off.  Personally, I can do without that.  You can choose to enjoy a half or an entire chicken cut in pieces, just wings, or boneless tenders.  The chicken doesn't come with any sides, anything else you want to order like rice (which doesn't really seem to be necessary) or soybeans is a la carte. Sool Cafe offers some other Korean fare like bulgolgi and bibimbap, but in all honesty I'm not sure I'll ever be able to deviate from the chicken. Bottom line, if you like both fried chicken and spicy food this is a place you must go! Just make sure you have lots of napkins...

Out of Town Edition: Texas Where Everything May Actually Be Bigger and Better

  I just visited my sister in her new abode in Austin, Texas where I was psyched to dive into the local food scene.  I'd heard tales of steaks as big as your face, food trucks as far as the eye can see, and slap yo' mama good barbecue. I was not disappointed.  My first night's meal actual turned out to be by far my best. We drove outside Austin to Driftwood to go to the famous Salt Lick Barbecue. As soon as you walk in you see meats of various kinds splayed over a fire pit in all their smoky glory. Once seated at a picnic table my sister her boyfriend (even pickier than mine if that's possible...) and I all went for the sample plate with a little bit of everything: smoked turkey, smoked brisket, a pork rib and smoked sausage with potato salad, cole slaw, and pinto beans.  Everything was great, but the pork rib beat all. The meat was smoky candy on it's own, but the amazing barbecue sauce brought it to an ethereal plane.  My sis and her man like the brisket better at their local Rudy's, but couldn't argue the superiority of the pork.  Let me put it this way...a little girl vomited at my feet on my way to my table and the food smelled so good it didn't dampen my appetite for a minute...that's saying something.

    I was able to enjoy a good Tex Mex dinner at Matt's Famous El Rancho on what just happened to be the restaurant's 62 birthday.  My sister and I enjoyed the nice outdoor patio and very prompt service.  We loved bright fuchsia Prickly Pear Cactus Margarita.  The old fashioned tacos I ordered had a great slightly crispy texture from the grill. The brisket was a bit dry though, the ground beef version was much better.

    As for the notorious Austin food trailers, I visited The Fat Cactus and Juice Austin, both parked off "SoCo" (or South Congress St.) The Fat Cactus features Navajo fry breads, which are fantastic on their on own, and even better when used as a taco shell.  Most cultures seem to have their own version of fried dough and I can't think of any I haven't liked...  I tried a fat cactus fry bread taco filled with chipotle chicken, cheese, beans, lettuce, tomato and salsa verde.  It was was essentially a chalupa on crack.  Amazing!  The Juice Austin truck wasn't cheap, but the juice was so tasty it re-inspired me to try juicing...yeah we'll see how long that lasts. I ordered the in incredibly refreshing pear, cucumber and mint juice.  I tried to reproduce it with my juicer today, but sadly not the same.



   My last night in Texas we found a compromise between the David Qui food truck East Side Kings that I was dying to go to and whatever burger joint my sister's man had in mind.We hit up the Magnolia Cafe SoCo after watching the bats fly since it was a name I recognized and we knew it would still be open (It' 24 hours) as confirmed by the sign declaring "Sorry We're Open. Even though the diner served up breakfast classics all day and giant bacon cheeseburgers for Tim (who ordered his with a giant pancake on the side and chocolate milk,) they also serve a variety of fresh and creative entrees. My sister had roasted acorn squash and curried vegetables, which were good, but could have benefited from the addition of some rice.
I ordered the chicken picatta with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables.  The picatta sauce was a little too thick for my taste, but the potatoes tasted like home cooking might, if my mom made good mashed potatoes, and the grilled vegetables were served up aplenty. The prices were reasonable for the quantity and  quality of the food.

Joule: Not Worth the Hype

    I visited famed local chef Ashley Christenson's newest addition to her mini empire of local establishments, coffee shop and restaurant Joule.  I was excited to try out their brunch menu to see if Joule is worthy of all the hype. My conclusion? The coffee is fantastic, but not all of the food was great nor was the service.  The brunch menu at Joule sounded interesting. I ordered the BLT with avocado and was grossly disappointed.  The roasted tomatoes were oozy like a ketchup and the avocado was in guacamole form rather than in slices. The lime of the  guacomole didn't meld for me with the bacon.  Texturally, between the sandwich was like crispy bread with a bunch of goo in the middle. The grits with bacon, cheese, and sour cream were good, but I like my grits to have enough flavor that they can stand on their own, which I found these could not. My boyfriend loves biscuits and gravy so I was able to tempt him with that to go with me having seen them on the brunch menu.  The Berkshire pork shoulder gravy was certainly not the sausage gravy he was expecting. I thought it was pretty good, but it clearly was not for him. The ultimate nail in the coffin for me was the service.  Our waiter didn't show for sometime, our drinks took even longer.  Other tables were seated near us and had their drinks and food from other waitstaff before we'd even gotten our coffee. My lack of enthusiasm for the dishes we ordered were generally matters of personal taste rather than poor quality, however that combined with the slow service will likely keep me from coming back.

BLT with Avocado

Biscuits and Pork Gravy

Grits

Birthday Take Two at Bida Manda

   As I mentioned in my last post, I firmly believe that birthdays last for a week, particularly if they take place on a week day.  For my weekend celebration with friends (or 30th birthday part II) I met a group of my favorite people for dinner at Bida Manda.  I've blogged about my love of Bida Manda before, and my affection has not abated in the least, but nor has the difficulty in getting a reservation.  If anything, as more people have come to discover it, reservations have become even more elusive. It was no small feat getting in a sizable group on a Friday!  In any case, I'm not going to wax poetic about Bida Manda AGAIN, but I will show some of the food porn that I documented.  Strange...when I look at my birthday pictures they all seem to be of food with none of people or of myself...hmm..  Read my old entry Loving Laotian at Bida Manda for a complete review.

Herb Salad with Shrimp and Spring Roll

Hayes Barton: Quickly Becoming a Birthday Tradition

     I recently hit the big 3-0 so to celebrate I hit some of my all time favorite special occasion restaurants. I'm of the breed that believe a birthday lasts a week, thus allowing me more than one opportunity to go out and celebrate.  For my weeknight birthday my gentleman and I went to Hayes Barton Cafe in Five Points. We went there last year for my birthday as well, because there are few better places for a slice of birthday cake. This also gave the boyfriend a chance to make up for not paying for my birthday dinner at Hayes Barton last year. (Can you believe that?!) The atmosphere of Hayes Barton is an intimate 1940s and '50s themed diner. Yes, I said diner, but upscale, not the Waffle House or burger and fry kind. The walls are filled with post WWII Hollywood kitsch and the menu even hosts dishes named after classic Hollywood movies and movie stars.

Crab Cakes

Filet and Macaroni and Cheese

  On previous visits (always special occasions) I've enjoyed the Marilyn crab cakes (very good flavor, good crab to breading ratio and funny play on words to boot!) and their filet with the mushroom demi glacé over mashed potatoes. They do this dish downright perfectly here. Even the green beans are impeccably executed. This time I mixed it up a little and got the even richer special, the filet over macaroni and cheese with a bordelaise sauce. The filet here is perfectly tender, but since we can only afford the four ounce (already 30 bucks!) it's definitely on the small side. Those with bigger wallets can afford a bigger steak.  The macaroni and cheese was sinfully creamy, not a light dish, but hey if you can't indulge on your birthday when can you?!  For dessert, because you would be amiss to go to Hayes Barton and not order dessert, if only to take one bite and get the rest to go like I did. As I child I didn't like cake, weird I know, but likely because I only got the kind from the grocery store bakery or out of a Betty Crocker box. I still don't like these for the record. In any case, I typically had  pie rather than cake on my birthday so I kept up that tradition by ordering strawberry pie. I do like the mile high cakes at Hayes Barton, particularly the lemon curd and fresh blueberry cake with cream cheese icing...although I wish the icing was a little sweeter, or the rich chocolate hazelnut ganache cake. Hayes Barton is quickly becoming my birthday tradition.

 

Triangle Restaurant Week Reminder

Remember, Triangle restaurant week started Monday, June 2nd and goes through Sunday, June 8th. Participating restaurants across Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill will be offering pre-fixe three course menus at $20 to $30 each. Some offer wine pairings for an additional fee.  This is a great chance to sample some high end restaurants that may ordinarily be out of your budget. I went to Buku last night with some friends, but unfortunately I still depleted my wallet since I couldn't resist the cocktail menu..you have been warned.  Keep in mind that many restaurants change their offerings from the options they have listed online. I was pretty broken hearted to see Buku didn't have the macadamia nut crusted wahoo or veggie samosa pot pie that were on the restaurant week menu once I actually got there. In any case, check out the participating locations on the website and enjoy!
Triangle Restaurant Week Site