Skillet Cornbread – sweet corn with topped with maple butter. (This has changed since visit.)

You may want to reconsider a bread-appetizer… you get this bountiful basket of hushpuppies & biscuit before your meal.

Double Combo – Carolina Style Ribs spareribs & Chopped Barbecue – (Eastern NC style) Sides: Cheese Grits &; Creamed Corn

This was an appetizer: Pit Sampler: Chopped Barbecue,Pulled Pork,Baby Back Ribs, Carolina Style Ribs spareribs, BBQ Turkey
Additional Sides: Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy & Mac&Cheese
THIS IS THE WAY TO GO @THE PIT!

The Pit Official Website

Ambience:: Perfect for a date.

Vegetarian plate: squash, spinach, green beans, corn & mashed potatoes

Sauteed NC black grouper, lump crab & lemon butter

So much traffic into this cupcakery…Shocked.

Bigger Shock via website: It’s an incognito franchise!??? (But the product is pretty great, AH?)

GiGi’s Cupcakes

pic:goliveworkplay.com

Pork Chop Bocconcini: Grilled bone-in pork chop, bocconcini of artichoke hearts, slow-roasted roma tomatoes, eggplant and fresh mozzarella, balsamic reduction. Served with olive oil whipped potatoes

Family Gravy: Pennette pasta, meatball, hot sausage, sweet sausage, veal braciole, Gravy, house-made ricotta.

Farfalle & Manchego Shrimp: Sherry-flambéed shrimp, sundried-tomato manchego butter, baby spinach [+added italian sausage]

Gravy Official Website

 
Jibarra Review to come…

Blue Corn Quesadilla: Adobo chicken breast, chorizo, mushrooms, peppers, onions, chihuahua cheese, blue corn tortilla

Carne Asada: Skirt steak, onion, cilantro, lime juice, & salsa ahogada

Jibarra Website

I’ve been gazing at Babylon’s fancy website for months…the amplitude of flash-off posh photos that portray a place of romanticized Moroccan style. In retrospect, my 2-dimensional tour was a fair portrayal of Babylon’s interior concepts — a place belonging in South Florida, with the square footage Raleigh can easily provide. What a courtyard entrance: viewing pool, heating lamps, outdoor bar, and wicker&white cushioned seating – the (black dress shirt) social scene potential is sky-high here. Babylon is housed in a “century old structure” with the top floors remaining vacant — I’m curious to see what arrives here.

I’ll admit we reserved a late dinner – clocking in at about 9:30, but save the house music until at least 10:30, Babs. We started with the Zaalook platter: a weird proportion of bread w/eggplant, olives and roasted peppers spreads. This appetizer was well-received amongst my fellow diners. A truly delicious trio of unique flavors; a somewhat misleading start to our Moroccan adventure.

Entrees included the Marrakesh Couscous (chicken lemon confit and seasonal vegetables) – I thought this entree was safe. I was anticipating to be blown away with exotic spices and flavors, but this was a standard chicken/veg plate. We also ordered Lamb Tagine (slow braised lamb shank, apricot prunes with a toasted almonds sauce) Note to self: “slow braised” is a NO for me… I had ordered a side of couscous, which only worsened my southern perception of bland stewed beef & rice… and again: no spice, no flavor??

For a posh evening out – Babylon could deliver some fancy fun reminiscent of SoFla diversity. All in all, I was distracted by the South Beach Cool and I’m unsure if I received an accurate Moroccan experience. WHERE’S THE SPICE????
This may be secondary to my initial confusion if this Dawson St. address would embody a Glenwood South vs. Downtown Raleigh repertoire… I think this particular case is obvious, and to each their own.

(Tangent: Have you been in trivia taxi? Bizarre dude’s take on Cash Cab.. no cash, just a potential free ride. We dug it.)

Babylon Official Website

If you are pro-downtown Raleigh revitalization – it’s only natural that you pay tribute to Sitti. Summary: Greg Hatem is the real estate guru responsible for the majority of downtown Raleigh’s transformation; Sitti Restaurant honors his Lebanese heritage and grandmother (‘Sitti’).

You’ve got two seating options here: (1) hustle & bustle of the minimalist interior room or (2) the tranquility of the outdoor open-sky courtyard. Really depends on your mood &/or your company. {Tip: Beware of the outdoor rocky table — I loathe a table that dips back & forth.}

We began with Sitti’s Hommos (chickpea/garlic/lemon/tahini purée) & an endless supply of freshly baked, still-puffed pita. Sitti’s pita was intensely good & unique because neither my dinner mate nor I had eaten oven fresh pita – note to selves: the grocery version fails miserably in comparison.

For dinner, I was a bit intimidated by the menu and my unfamiliarity with the traditional entrees. So I played it safe with the mixed kebobs. Fantastic decision: Flawlessly seasoned and grilled assortment of chicken, kafta (beef and lamb) and filet kabobs. The rice pilaf, vegetables, and garlic whip easily disappeared as well.

The only word to describe the food and experience is “perfect” or كمال. Hatem’s Sitti is surely proud.

http://www.sitti-raleigh.com/

Let me first dispatch location – For two failed attempts, I assumed Market Restaurant (MR) resided inside City Market secondary to their shared Blount St. addresses. FYI for future patrons: This is totally incorrect– It’s on the north/opposite end of Blount St, located adjacent to the Escazu Artisan Chocolate store. Yeah, I didn’t do my research = transit glitch. Thanks to my directionally-advanced companion that noticed 938 N. Blount was nowhere near city market… we finally made it for lunch.

Once you know where you’re going, MR is actually an easy visit, especially with its own parking lot right outside (no parking deck fiasco, okay!). The entrance signage gestures that “West Coast” inspirations await indoors…
I dug it – with clean, fundamental interiors consisting of an exposed kitchen, cool bar/tables, and a chalkboard menu. I suppose it’s all characterizing the simplicity of the west coast and green living.

pic:activerain.com

The menu: My guess is that a plate incorporating the illicit drug “Crack” in its name would certainly be a crowd favorite. So, we started with a mountain of Crack Fries (hand-cut potato, truffle oil, herbs, asiago cheese, homemade ketchup). This medley is surely addictive and deserving of its popularity.

(the only R.E. photo taken secondary to extreme hunger & good conversation)

I was aiming for a light lunch and ordered the turkey croissant (turkey, cheese, bacon on croissant w/ sweet potato chips). It was light in mass – but not calories… the combination of the too-buttery croissant and the too-fatty thick bacon left me feeling a bit guilty and needy for a napkin. The sweet potato chips were unique and enjoyable.
The market meat-loaf burger was also ordered. My lunch mate semi-frowned at the size of the burger patty, but was soon distracted with its satisfactory flavor. He substituted the side of fries with a salad, to learn that only vinaigrettes are available here.

Market Restaurant is prime spot, especially for lunch (tues-sat). Their menu is diverse and always changing. Check out their comprehensive website for menu updates and events (i.e. occasional Sunday brunch – which I plan to catch)

Market Restaurant Website

Ashley Christensen was in full throttle this past weekend @ Hopscotch Music Festival, with Beasley’s Chicken & Honey (BC&H) being an official festival sponsor, A.C. restaurants showcasing their food at the Lincoln Theater Day party, as well as Christensen being repeatedly named-dropped by several artists & bands as the Raleigh “it” cuisine.

Beasley’s Chicken & Honey = KFC Original recipe on steroids … and I loves me some KFC Original.

BC&H is all about fried chicken, and you’ll praise your southern heritage that such goodness exists. A concise menu of three entrees (quarter chicken, chicken biscuit, chicken & waffles) and an array of southern sides and desserts are displayed on a chalkboard menu posted above long communal tables and bar stools. Ashley Christensen loves that diner atmosphere – with décor faintly reminiscent of BC&H’s predecessor, Poole’s Diner.

For starters: my dinner mate & I had Mason jar housed signature cocktails (I cannot recall their clever names) – both were tasty and excellent kick-start beverages for Hopscotch Music Festival.

Our dinner included the Quarter fried chicken- dark meat secondary to A.C.’s recent interview describing dark meat as the only meat for fried chicken. The chicken’s breader does not fry overly crispy, hence my KFC original remark – but it was the definition of how fried chicken should present (a la photo). The addition of drizzled honey adds a delicious highlight of sweetness to the subtle salts of the fried chicken. It was unquestionably great.

The chicken biscuit was a hefty fried cutlet atop a cornbread-textured biscuit dressed with honey and picked green tomatoes. Reading this description should be enough… (Just in case: it was incredibly delicious)

We chose three sides: the Mac & cheese, potato salad, & sliced tomatoes.
I personally did not enjoy Poole’s Diner’s mac – but BC&H mac & cheese is definitely fantastic, with a much more creamy consistency and restrained addition of pimentos – upgrade! The potato salad has its fair share of smoky bacon; therefore it delivers a unique, robust flavor. Lastly, the light side of sliced yellow tomatoes with hollandaise/ranch-style sauce was a delicious balance to our heavier carb sides.

Dessert descriptions are very enticing – We didn’t partake, knowing it would incapacitate our festival energy- maybe next time.

[Additional note: BC&H’s staff turns the tables with quickness; I was pleasantly surprised to receive our entrées within fifteen minutes of ordering and they were fresh & hot. Either they turn the food just as quickly or have ingeniously mastered the heat lamp.]

Not to continue to compare apples to oranges, but my previous review of A.C.’s Poole’s Diner fried chicken was a mediocre experience at best… In this review, I’m sort-of eating my words with an enormous preference and admiration for Beasley’s Chicken & Honey.

Official Beasley’s Chicken & Honey website.