Neo-Asia's weekend dim sum

We had heard good things about Neo-Asia's dim sum - at least that it was better than Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant's (see previous post) - so we absolutely had to drive out to Cary and give it a try.

**Note: Neo-Asia/ Neo-China has a few different locations in the RTP, and only the Cary location serves dim sum on weekends!

We ordered the typical yum cha stuff, a few of which are pictured below (sorry, I didn't quite get a chance to take a photo of the food before my hungry meal companions poked their chopsticks into the food): siu mai, spare ribs, shrimp dumplings, shrimp with fried tofu, shrimp cheong fun, and the like. All of them were pretty decent, but not that much better than HK's except for the siu mai. However, I did enjoy in particular the chives dumpling, which is not available at HK.

Select steamed dishes

What we thought was really special about the dim sum at Neo-Asia were the cold meat platters: sliced chicken with garlic sauce, sliced pork with garlic sauce, sliced spicy pork (some of which are also pictured). Those were really delicious - especially the spicy pork. The spicy sauce that was used really had a special taste that wasn't too strong, and the meat in all the cold platters was very tender and fresh.

Select cold meat platters; potstickers; green beans

We also ordered some potstickers, the obligatory veggies, and a sticky rice chicken. I didn't try all of the dishes since I'm not particularly fond of sticky rice stuff, but I was told that the sticky rice was pretty good, since it had lots of fillings (chicken and Chinese sausage and ground pork and whatnot).

Finally, for dessert, we tried the tofu pudding and sesame ball. The sesame ball was freshly fried and very yummy. The tofu pudding was both a surprise and a disappointment: the soup that accompanied it was ginger soup, which was perfect for the cold day, but the tofu itself wasn't soft enough to achieve the pudding-like texture. I definitely enjoyed the ginger soup more than the tofu part...

Overall, my favorite part of the meal was definitely the cold meat platters, but they obviously made the meal very expensive. You also do not know how much each item costs, since your card is stamped with a server's number instead of in price categories. My buddies and I enjoyed the meal, but we decided that we'll probably still stay in Durham and go to HK when we crave dim sum...

Restaurant: Neo-Asia (Cary location)
Price Range: $20-$25

My First Contest

I'm entering a contest! The Duke Culinary Society is hosting a Dessert Expo on Monday, November 9th, and I will be one of the participants! I am super excited, and you should definitely come by and check it out :) More details & updates to come!

Firebird's

Firebird's! Finally, a steakhouse :) I hope you guys aren't starting to think that I don't like steak or something.

There are many things on the menu, but as I've been here a couple of times before, I'll just tell you this: if you're here for steak (and you should be), get the prime rib. Herb-crusted, rubbed with black peppers, oven-roasted to medium-rare perfection - pictured below. Top photo is my 10-oz, and bottom is the dinner date's 16-oz. As you notice, the difference is in the thickness of the cuts, so as you might be able to imagine, the thicker 16oz cut is better.

10-oz prime rib, cooked medium rare and served with sauteed mushrooms

16-oz prime rib, cooked medium rare and served with Colorado baked potato

The steak is served au jus and with a light horseradish sauce. I prefer the au jus, but the horseradish also goes pretty well, too. It's not so overwhelming that it covers up the taste of the steak, yet it provides enough flavor. A bit too creamy for me, though, I think.

There is an assortment of sides, although the default is a Colorado baked potato. I chose sauteed mushrooms, which were very delicious, although the flavors were just a bit too much for me towards the end of the meal.

Overall, we love Firebird's - one of my favorite steakhouses all around (and that's sayin' somethin', folks - my home is out in Fort Worth, Texas.)

Firebird's (located in the Streets at Southpoint)

Price Range: $20-$40

Pho 9N9

Finally had a chance to go to Pho 9N9 after I started this blog! I've heard from Vietnamese acquaintances that this is one of the best places to get pho and such, so I'm pretty excited to give it a review.

It was quite a warm day, however, so I actually decided against ordering the pho and went with the grilled pork over vermicelli instead - shown below.

Grilled pork vermicelli, served with fish sauce

Grilled pork on top, vermicelli, and hidden below the vermicelli noodles is a layer of bean sprouts, sliced cucumbers, pickled radishes, etc. Add the fish sauce, and you can imagine that there is plenty of flavor in this simple bowl. However, I will say that Saigon Grill beats Pho 9N9 in the grilled pork department...

Seeing as it's getting colder outside, I will most likely be reviewing 9N9's pho sometime soon.

Pho 9N9
Price Range: $8-10

Goodberry's

I've heard about Goodberry's for a while from a dessert-lover (hehe), so I decided to stop by one day for a treat. They have three flavors each day: vanilla, chocolate, and a flavor of the day (ok, technically four if you count sugar-free vanilla).

Some background about frozen custard - it's a little different from ice cream in that it's made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar. It has less air than ice cream, so the overall texture is thick & creamy, and should be more smooth and soft in comparison with ice cream. It is served at a high temperature (-8 degrees C) than ice cream (-12 degrees C), which also contributes to the softer texture. (For more information on frozen custard, you can read the Wikipedia entry.)

Anyway, Goodberry's does a pretty good job with the soft and smooth consistency - I could definitely taste the difference. Also, they actually blend in the toppings you want into the custard (they call it the 'Carolina Concrete'), so you can get a pretty good mixture. I really enjoyed that.

Pictured below was my mini chocolate-hazelnut custard. It was delicious, and I'm very sad that the weather is getting colder - less frozen treats. It's rather unfortunate that they do not provide indoor seating, because I can't imagine business being good in the winter time...


Goodberry's
Price: $3.50 for a mini with one topping

Recipe: Chocolate-Chip Almond Cookies

I had a cookie craving the other night. But I didn't want to make a batch of chocolate-chip cookies again, so I rummaged around the fridge and found a bag of slivered almonds. Perfect! Chocolate chip and almond cookies.

Because almonds are quite oil-rich already, you don't need as much butter in this recipe as other cookie recipes. Also, I chose not to grind or chop the almonds (mainly because I don't have a food processor...) but the author of BakingBites chops the almonds in her recipe into fine pieces and uses almond extract, which will probably make the almond taste more even throughout the cookie.

The key of using almonds is to toast them – that will bring out their fragrance. It’s easy to toast them using a conventional oven; you can do it while preparing your cookie dough.

Toasting almonds:
Heat oven to 350F. Line a pan with baking sheet or aluminum foil, and spread almonds evenly. Bake for 20 minutes until almonds are browned at the edges. (P.S. Your kitchen will smell delicious.)

Chocolate-Chip Almond Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup toasted almonds
1 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Directions:
Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil (no need to grease).

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until just combined. Stir in the vanilla. Finally, beat in the eggs, one at a time.

With the mixer on low speed, stir in the flour mixture in small additions, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure that the flour is incorporated into the dough.

Finally, stir in the almonds and chocolate chips until well combined.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons unto the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart from each other. (Rounded dough will ensure that your cookies will come out as almost perfect circles!)

Bake for 10-11 minutes at 350F, until browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Yields 3-4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Watt's Grocery

Watt's Grocery is one of my favorite restaurants in Durham, and I was happy to have the chance to take my father there when he came to visit me. Their menu features all local items, and they have a bar with NC draught beers.

The atmosphere of the restaurant feels quite organic, although it's always packed. I recommend you to make reservations, otherwise you're in for a long wait. My dad and I didn't make the reservations, so we decided to sit at the bar instead.

Our food - appetizers:

Housemade terrine with artichoke pickles and seasonal compote

Terrine, in case you didn't know, is basically a pate, and they serve it to you with toasted crackers. It's a good combination, but I felt like the taste is really overwhelming for one person. If you get this, you might want to share it with someone...

Market Lettuce Salad with radishes, fried shallots, little tomatoes, and dijon vinaigrette

The salad, being local, is always an interesting combination of vegetables that you might not have seen before. My dad was pretty surprised. He didn't add too much of the vinaigrette because it was a little too sour for him, but the greens were pretty fresh.

Entrees:

Grilled Center-Cut Pork Porterhouse over brown butter apple galette with seasonal vegetables and Nut Brown ale reduction

This was AMAZING. The pork was so incredibly tender, and the sauce was just the right balance between sweet and tart. I absolutely loved it. Also, the sauce went quite well with the vegetables on the side - an added bonus. 

NC Fish of the Day: grilled NC trout with mushroom and peas sauce and a side of hush puppies & basil mayo

The trout was pretty tender, but I didn't think the sauce was too special. The hush puppies, however, are definitely amazing. It could be that I just love the basil mayo dip, but I seriously think that they're flavored and fried to perfection...

 

Overall, Watt's is always a great experience. Even though the trout wasn't too impressive, it still didn't make me love this place any less. I think the cheerful and friendly attitude of the servers, the speed of the service, quality of the food, and reasonable prices overall just makes this one of the best places to dine.

Restaurant: Watt's Grocery
Price Range: $25-40 (for entire meal)

Blu Seafood and Bar

Whew, I haven't updated so long that it's almost embarrassing. I suppose I should take this long weekend (currently on fall break for school) to catch up on some reviewing...

So, where to begin... Let's start with Blu Seafood and Bar, which I visited to celebrate a seafood lover's birthday.

First off, this place is super crowded. Thankfully, we made reservations - but our table in the corner was right below a couple of speakers, which was pretty annoying because the music was quite loud, and the waiter also never seemed to stop by our table throughout the night.

The waiter started us off with some sourdough bread, which was pretty soft but a bit cold already. However, my very hungry friends were displeased with the few pieces of bread, and since the waiter didn't stop by often, they couldn't keep asking for more...

Anyway, on to the appetizers. We ordered an array of different items:

Steamed mussels with chile and lime

Yellowfin tuna tatare with avocado and miso

I was kind of surprised at how much tuna they gave us, but the tuna also wasn't quite as fresh as what you'd find at a good sushi bar.

Crabcakes with mango salsa, cilantro oil

The mango salsa was great - wish they had given me more of it! The crab cakes themselves are just so-so, though. There's also quite a bit of cilantro oil...

Parmesan fried oysters with basil dip

And of course, the mandatory oysters on the half-shell

I didn't actually try this myself, but my friends told me that they were delicious. I think they'd be one of the best deals for appetizers.

As for entrees:

Pound of steamed crab legs

The crab legs were pretty good. They were fresh, and also steamed well - not too overdone.

Cornmeal encrusted NC trout with corn succotash, chipotle butter

The trout was very heavy. I think the first few bites were great, but after that the taste just kind of overwhelms you...

Lemongrass marinated diver scallops with shrimp, coconut peanut Sauce, fried udon noodles

Whole fish of the day: blackened sea bass, served with mashed potatoes and green beans

Overall, the food was all right - just slow. The service, though, was pretty terrible - it was incredibly slow, and the waiter was quite inattentive to our table. I'm sure they were busy that night, and we did have a corner table, but that's not really an excuse for not stopping by our table, not refilling our waters, not getting us more bread, etc. Unfortunately, I think the service really ruined the Blu experience for us.

Restaurant: Blu Seafood and Bar
Price Range: $30-50 (appetizers + entree)