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  • From: grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: mmmmmm, Durham
  • Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:46:13 -0500

RTP (specifically the intersection of 54/55) is on its way to becoming the Little Korea of Durham. In the stripmall at the northeast corner of the intersection, there's Chosun OK, which is a fairly straightforward Korean restaurant; the menu is kinda stripped down & I'm not sure if there's any cooking-at-table, but then again there are whole sections of the menu which are pricey & bizarre-sounding & which I haven't tried, so I dunno. The food that I *have* tried is Really Good.

Then, a couple of blocks south on Highway 55, there's the top secret Vit Goal Tofu Restaurant. Turn at the new-ish stoplight in the direction of the Rudino's & the Dog House. Vit Goal is in a new little building that's kind of hidden behind some trees behind Rudino's. It shares the building with a brand-new Asian Market.

The Vit Goal speciality is tofu soup served in superheated stone bowls; you basically get a blazing hot bowl full of tofu surrounded by/suspended in furiously boiling broth. There are various options for other ingredients -- various seafoods (mmm, the oyster is good), some meats, plus mushrooms or vegetable dumplings. The owner swears that the broth itself is vegetarian, making the latter 2 soups vegetarian as well. Aimee grilled him pretty hard on this point, and he stuck to his story.

They've also got a handful of other dishes -- the big mung bean pancakes with seafood & veggies; some variation on BBQ; they've recently added bebimbop as well -- but the tofu soup is the heart & soul of the operation.

You get more of the little pickled-veggie plates at Chosun OK than you do at Vit Goal; at Vit Goal, though, you get all-you-can-drink cold green tea.

More info here: http://www.tagzania.com/user/rtplunch/korean

Ben Davis wrote:
And have I raved here about Vit Goal Tofu Restaurant yet?

If you have - do it again....




grady wrote:

Not saying that Piedmont *should* charge more. I'm saying that the setting, the quality of the service, the food, the ingredients, and the care that goes into their preparation are all in line with a price-point that's somewhat higher than what they're charging, compared to pretty much every-other-restaurant of that caliber. The fact that they charge what they do means either they got a really good deal on their lease, or that Abby, Andy & Drew are willing to work extra hours & take home less profit. The latter, while admirable, can also lead to burnout, so here's hoping they've figured out how to make what they're doing sustainable.

As for your desire for Durham to have more restaurants like Federal and Piedmont, well, don't get *too* greedy. Most towns don't even have *one* restaurant that good & that inexpensive ;-)

I do dig what you're saying about Durham & the range of restaurants; it's a conversation that I've had with other people as well. You've got your [delicious] $5 Banh's, or the various tacquerias, and then you've got Starlu and Four Square and Magnolia Grill. In between there's a mixed bag of chain restaurants &/or places with midline prices but mediocre food.

Rue Cler seems to be trying to hit that same $8-$15 sweet spot. I haven't been there for dinner (which I've been told, by at least a half-dozen different people, is excellent), but at lunch yesterday, $10 for a Salade Nicoise featuring a big plate of those pre-washed greens, a single hard-boiled egg, and half a can of tuna was *not* doing the trick for me.

The prewashed salad green revolution has pretty much killed the restaurant salad, near as I can tell. Nearly everyplace I go, I wind up with a *huge* plate of greens that's out-of-balance with the other ingredients, *and* (presumably thanks to the "pre-washed" sticker on the bag) inevitably the salad prep cook hasn't bothered to actually touch or inspect the greens, so the giant pile is laced with little shriveled/gooey blackened bits of rotting lettuce. I pulled 3 or 4 particularly unappetizing examples out of the Rue Cler Nicoise yesterday, but I've also had similar experiences at too many other restaurants to name.

Of course, I guess the lesson I should take away from this is to not order a green salad unless it's in-season, and you can reasonably trust the restaurant to have a reliable local source of fresh greens. Duh. OK. Point taken.

Back to more talk of nice, reasonably-priced food in Durham! I had a really nice plate of Italian-style braised pork shoulder just now for lunch at the Park Diner. $7.95 with 2 vegetables and all the fresh bread you can eat. The only catch is that they're only open for lunch M-F.

And have I raved here about Vit Goal Tofu Restaurant yet?

Ross

Virginia Ingram wrote:

I love Durham. I love the food in Durham. I love that Durham is well-known for it's food.
However, I 100% disagree that they should be charging more for the food at Piedmont. I was there last night and it IS delicious. But Durham needs to be more competitive with restaurants in the Federal and Piedmont price-range. There are way, way too many 2 course one of them $17 dollar places in Durham.
----------------------------------------

From: "rick sawyer" <rickbang AT gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:17 AM
To: "RTP-area local music and culture" <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: mmmmmm, Durham

What's the vegetarian option like? Or, alternately, where do they source
their ingredients?

vegetarian options are scarce but available. they source their
ingredients locally, for the most part. when ordering, make sure that
you ask if there is hidden pork in the vegetables. they love the pig.

r.
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