This post comes a few weeks after the meal, but I hope that speaks to the quality of the experience that we had there.  We must have gotten there after the typical brunch crowd because it was pretty empty, but a welcoming staff and a very friendly waitress (plus some fine outdoor seating) set us up nicely for a good morning.

I have found that it is always a good sign when there are too many good options on the menu and this was certainly the case at Alivia’s.  I went with my typical strategy of asking the waitress what she recommended and she jumped at the opportunity to suggest the Shrimp and Grits for me and an omelette for my girlfriend.  It was a nicely sized portion with plenty of big shrimp and a great addition of bacon and mozzarella.  The omelette was great, as well.  Perfect combination of fluffy and substantive…and served with fruit and homestyle potatoes.

There is no shortage of good places for brunch in Durham, but I think it is time to add Alivia’s to the circuit of high-quality spots.  Outdoor seating was great on a warm, sunny day, but the restaurant also features several TVs that will be great for a brunch or lunch during football season.  The menu also sports a very attractive list of sandwiches, so anyone who knows me knows that I’m looking forward to my return trip.

http://www.aliviasdurhambistro.com/

Tsunami Sushi is a small Japanese restaurant that offers all the standard menu choices, including sushi, bento boxes, tempura, and teriyaki. The atmosphere was fine, if a bit plain, with elevator music playing, green walls, and red paneling. Service was a tad slow for a completely empty restaurant.

Luckily, the food was a lot more interesting than the décor. We started with their appetizer sampler platter; my husband and I were starving that evening. It included shumai, a spring roll, croquettes, and goyza, served up in a sushi boat.

I thought all of these were fantastic, in large part because they were fried perfectly. They weren’t greasy at all, but had crunch and golden-brown deliciousness. The shrimp shumai popped with flavor, the ground beef gyoza had a delicate texture, and the spring roll was stuffed with bright, tasty vegetables. The croquettes were phenomenal. Their creamy inside, a potato and curry combination, was delightful and I enjoyed the drizzled sauce on top greatly, even with a hint of mustard to it. I’m not usually a mustard fan but this wasn’t pungent and had great spice .

For the main course, my husband ordered a sashimi bento box, with which he was quite happy.

I opted for two sushi rolls, a spider roll and the Ocean II.

The Ocean II was very good, and I thought the thinly sliced cucumber wrap gave it a nice freshness and crunch. Contained inside were crab, whitefish, shrimp, roe, and avocado.

The spider roll was also good, and with it, I noticed how great Tsunami’s rice is: moist, tender, and tossed in a light rice vinegar. The spicy mayo wasn’t spicy at all, but it was a good roll regardless, especially the fried softshell crab.

I enjoyed my meal at Tsunami a lot. Generally, I prefer fancier sushi rolls—I make no claims to be a sushi purist—but these were very good, and the appetizers great. Tsunami’s offerings are simple, crisp, and good.

Tsunami Sushi
6118 Farrington Road
Falconbridge, Chapel Hill
Website
Entrees: $10.95–$18.95
Sushi Rolls: $3.25–$5.95
Specialty Rolls: $5.95–$11.95

Reviewed 2.27.10

Anyone have more info?

A departure from our usual choice of breakfast, we got take out for dinner last week. I ordered the shrimp dinner which comes with two sides and hushpuppies. I opted for turnip greens and mac n cheese. The sides were not much to speak of, but the hushpuppies were sweet and moist and the shrimp (cooked calabash style) had a light batter  and were juicy and flavorful.  None of the fried items were greasy either.

For my husband I ordered the classic burger. It was smothered in onions, red and green peppers and gobs of melted jack and cheddar. It came with fries, but they happily subbed fried okra for him. He noted that the burger was overwhelmed by the toppings and that he prefers the burger to be more prominent. He enjoyed the fried okra.

When I phoned in our order, I was tempted by that night’s special of fried green tomatoes for $1.80 so we shared an order of those. They were fried in the same light batter that the shrimp was so it was a little untraditional (no breadcrumbs) in my experience, but you really can’t beat the price. They were perfectly cooked too. We also split a piece of chocolate cake a la mode. The cake, though it looked good, was kind of sad and dry.

For a total of $18 for two entrees, an appetizer and dessert, we felt that Silver Spoon offers a great value with a decent selection for dinner options. I have had the fried chicken and so far, it’s a tie between that and the shrimp for my favorite non-breakfast item. I urge you to try out breakfast or brunch there. I definitely prefer them to Eno River Eatery for North Durham breakfast.

Driving home this weekend I noticed a sign for a new retaurant next to Chik-fil-a in the old Bull City Deli building (prior to that I think it was a Schlotzsky’s). I was intrigued and not two days later read the restaurant opening report here at Carpe Durham. Last week, I dropped in to grab some take out. I noticed the signs advertising a take out window, but didn’t see it set up just yet.

The decor is nice; a peachy stucco interior, filled with booths, soft Italian music playing. The lighting is soft, but bright enough to see your food. It felt very much like a family Italian restaurant to me. It’s run by an Italian family and all the staff that I encountered was extremely friendly (especially Karen the bartender). While sitting at the bar, waiting for my food, I could hear only Italian being spoken in the kitchen – a good sign.

There are many vegetarian options and a lot of eggplant dishes, if that’s your thing. For dinner, it’s mostly pasta, brick oven pizza, panini, seafood and chicken. They also have a nice selection of salads. If you’re a beefeater, this isn’t the place for you. I found the pasta options to be priced kind of high for it not being freshly made pasta, but they do have a “make your own” section where you can customize pasta and sauce and add on homemade sausage or meatballs (not available last night).

I selected “Pasta Della Nonna” which was fettucine with ham and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. For the hubby, I ordered spaghetti with pesto and sausage. I tacked on two side salads with the house Basil-Chianti vinaigrette (for an extra $3.50$3.25).

The food was great. Everything was well seasoned. The pasta was cooked perfectly. The only complaint I have was portion size. The pasta dishes were definitely entree size, but not enough to have leftovers for lunch (which is what I’m used to from the nearby Pomodoro). The salads were honestly really pitiful for $3.50$3.25. 5-6 pieces of cut up romaine, 4 slices of olive and cherry tomato, some red onion, a few pieces of roasted red pepper, a couple of baked pizza dough squares and a slice of cucumber. This isn’t local organic produce or anything so I really expected more lettuce for the price. The ingredients were great, as was the dressing.

We’ll definitely go back, but probably for lunch or perhaps a special occasion. I’m curious about the pizza. The little breadsticks that came with the entrees were nice and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I can’t see dropping $40 for take-out (entrees and salads only) on a regular basis. I think Pop’s definitely has them beat for dinner (food and selection).

Since they don’t have a website yet, we figured we’d share their offerings via their take out menu.

$2-3 for a $25 gift certificate is a very fine deal, and there are some decent Triangle restaurants that participate.

Use discount code HEART and click below.

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UPDATE: 80% is back.  Use code ‘SAVOR’ after clicking below.

El Rodeo is a twothree-restaurant chain in Durham; their other restaurants are in Brightleaf Square and on North Duke Street. This one is located in what I can only assume used to be a national chain restaurant, as evidenced by the booths’ upholstery—an atrocious, sports-themed pattern. The rest of the large space is decorated with the sombreros that denote a Mexican American restaurant, salmon and sea green walls, and interesting carved wood art pieces.

Their menu is huge and it’s worth noting that the lunch portions of their entrees are plenty large and include rice and beans, though still come in a few bucks cheaper than dinner. Chips and salsa roja come with every meal. The salsa had a good kick, a welcome change from most salsa rojas I’ve tasted (¡viva la pico de gallo!). I would wager that the chips are not made in-house as they were not especially fresh or warm, but really, they were fine. Fresh is nice but not necessary.

I decided to have an agua de Jamaica for my beverage, which is essentially cold hibiscus tea. The floral flavor seemed too strong at first sip, but by the time I’d drank half of it, it was too weak and more closely resembled Crystal Light, that thin punch you get at church potlucks. Anybody tried their horchata?

I had the camarones de chipotle for my entrée and I was very happy with it. First of all, any place that throws half an avocado on my plate wins bonus points automatically. The rice was the tastiest spanish rice I’ve had out in a while, and the chipotle sauce was perfect with the shrimp. Sure, it was greasy but that just made it extra satisfying for the mood I was in. There was a lot of char and spice in the sauce. The three flour tortillas were served warm and again, I doubt were made in-house but still did the job just fine.

All in all, El Rodeo offered decent Mexican American food at a great price.

El Rodeo
3404 Westgate Drive
South Square, Durham
Website
Lunch: $4.75-$7.00
Dinner: $6.50-$12.25

Reviewed 1.28.10.

You kind of just know a place is going to be good when every time you drive by, the parking lot is packed with white utility trucks; and such was the case with Libby’s Too.

Libby’s Too is located right at the Durham/Orange county line in a brick, nondescript building where HWY 70 turns into Hillsborough Rd. It’s a no-frills, 12-table room where you order at the counter. Open for breakfast and lunch, Libby’s is cash only and most of the meals come on styrofoam plates.

At breakfast you can get a sausage/bacon/fatback biscuit and an egg for less than $5 and at lunch you can choose the daily rotating meat and two with a tea for $8 or order from the menu of hot dogs, hamburgers, bbq and bologna sandwiches. The service was friendly and most of the other patrons seemed to be regulars and retirees. There was a pitcher of sweet tea on every table.

Based on a quick survey of the room, I ordered the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. My dining companions chose the hot dogs and bbq sandwich with fries. My mashed potatoes were outstanding – buttery, just salty enough and most importantly – not instant. The green beans were tasty too with just a hint of pork. The hamburger steak, two small patties doused in some sort of mushroom gravy, was just ok. The hot dogs were the bright red variety and the chili looked homemade. I was assured the eastern-style bbq sandwich was solid and the fries were surprisingly thick and fresh-cut, not frozen.

If you happen to be driving by around breakfast or lunch, Libby’s Too is definitely worth a stop.

Be warned: If you’re a Tar Heel fan and have trouble eating while surrounded by Duke memorabilia, this is not the place for you. Also if anyone knows why it’s “Libby’s Too” and not just “Libby’s,” I’m curious.

4910 Hillsborough Rd., Durham, NC, 27705

(919) 383-8838

ASIAN KITCHEN (1125 W. NC HWY 54 SUITE 801, DURHAM, NC, 27707)
CAPRICCIO (3820 N. ROXBORO RD., DURHAM, NC, 27704)

Foodstands

POLLOS LA CARBONERA (606 FAYETTEVILLE RD., DURHAM, NC, 27701)
(Replacing Bull City Wings?)

Mobile

JAMAICA JAMAICA OSORIO MFU (4853 S. APEX HWY., DURHAM, NC, 27713)

*DISCLAIMER: Presence on this list indicates that a restaurant has been inspected, not that it is necessarily open for business today (although it usually is).

Last week my boss offered to take me out for a nice lunch and I thought I’d take advantage of the opportunity to try the relatively new Restaurant Eden in the space that formerly housed Starlu.

Opened this past summer, Restaurant Eden’s interior feels really similar to Starlu. Though my memory can be a bit fuzzy, I couldn’t point out a single change. On a rainy Friday afternoon, the relatively empty space felt oversized and too fancy for the casual menu.

Eden’s website claims it strives to offer simple, fresh American cuisine using plenty of local ingredients. The lunch menu was pretty basic: salads, sandwiches and a handful of entrees, all priced at less than $15.

I was a bit taken aback that a restaurant, which prides itself on being “driven by fresh, locally grown produce, meat and seafood,” would tout its pork sandwich as containing Smithfield pork loin. To me, Smithfield implies factory-produced meat that just happens to come from down the road. I could see listing the source of the pork if it came from the pasture-raised pigs of Brinkley Farms or Fickle Creek Farm, but Smithfield? The menu didn’t offer sourcing information for anything else.

I ordered the chicken “pot pie” (their use of quotation marks) and my boss ordered the foccacia grilled cheese with fries. The chicken pot pie, a steaming compote of chicken and veggies piled on a puff pastry square, was warm and comforting on a miserably rainy day. I cleaned my plate. The “foccacia” grilled cheese, though tasty, came on slices of thick, buttered Texas toast. It was gone in 10 minutes; it’s hard to resist melted cheese, bacon and tomato. But it does seem like the waiter should have at least offered a warning about the lack of foccacia.

Overall Restaurant Eden offered a tasty and affordable lunch in a white-table cloth setting. I’d like to try it again for dinner, where the menu is more interesting and the prices still hover right around the affordable $15 mark.

Restaurant Eden is open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays, 4 p.m.-10 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-2 pm. Sundays for brunch.

Restaurant Eden