October Catch-Up

Good morning, readers! I know I've been a ghost for the better part of a month and for that I sincerely apologize! October flew by in a whirlwind of visitors, travel and of course, food. So I thought I'd do a quick catch-up so we can start November off on the right foot. This one will be a doozy filled with restaurant reviews, anecdotes and fun stories about October.

Basic Fall Photo

Only Burger


On October 17, Nate and I saw the one and only Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live! at the Durham Performing Arts Center. The show itself was hilarious, entertaining, interactive and a fun experience for any age. I highly recommend seeing a show if they come anywhere near your home - or at least watch episodes of the show! Also bonus, I got to see one of my favorite Partners from my firm out-and-about in real life! Before the show we decided to stop by Only Burger's brick-and-mortar store at 359 Blackwell St, Durham, NC 277701.


"It Stinks!"

Décor: The restaurant itself is not very spacious - probably only about 40 seats inside with a few picnic tables outside. The interior is sparsely decorated with a replica of the food truck that started it all above the register/ordering station.


Food appearance: food is served in paper-lined baskets, to-go boxes or paper cups depending on what you get. No frills, no fuss - just burgers, fries and fried sides.


Food taste: The menu is not very expansive with just a few burger options and traditional sides. I ordered a create-your-own burger with a veggie burger, lettuce, tomato, pickled jalapenos, grilled onion, Dijon mustard and pepper jack cheese. The veggie burger itself was a little soft for my liking and I had issues with it falling apart while I was eating. Perhaps they should use more binder in their mixture. The flavors, however, were all delicious together - I love create-your-own anything for that reason.

Create-Your-Own Veggie Burger

Nate and I split The Sampler. This little basket of fried goodness includes fried green tomatoes, onion rings and pickle chips served up with Chipotle Buttermilk Ranch and Sriracha Mayo. All the fried goodies were crisp, golden and I could've drank the Ranch - the mayo however left much to be desired. It was gloopy, heavy and tasted far too much like plain ole' mayo.


Nate ordered the Famous Fried Green Tomato Burger, which in addition to being topped with the obvious, included a grilled egg and pimento cheese. I'll let him describe the particulars. We also split a side of hand-cut fries. The fries were thin, crisp and perfect.

Famous Fried Green Tomato Burger with The Sampler

Since we were spending the night having fun, I decided to order a beer to go with my dinner. However I was severely disappointed to learn ALL their canned beers in the beer cooler had a colony of dead gnats on the pop-tops. I discovered this before I opened it (thankfully) and asked the cashier if I could grab another and what would she like me to do with the original can. I was disgusted to hear her say "just put it back in the cooler". She also made no moves to clean the beer fridge or tell any other employees about it. We then switched to draft beers without issues.


Service: This establishment is one where you walk up to order, pick-up when your name is called and bus your own table. There is very little by way of service. My cashiers looked bored and annoyed when I decided what to order. Plus the gnat debacle.


Cleanliness: Aside from the gnats in the beer cooler, the restaurant itself appeared to be clean.


I would recommend a trip to Only Burger if you were in the area but I wouldn't say go out of your way to eat here. It was good but not worth a special trip, in my opinion. However they are VERY affordable with all menu items being under $10. Also check their hours before you go, they close at 8:30 PM most evenings. Maybe also opt for a draft beer rather than one from the beer cooler.


A few days after MST3K, my best friend Casey came to visit me all the way from Lubbock, Texas. Casey and I have known each other since my sophomore year of high school - which seems like a lifetime ago and I haven't seen her for about 2 years so I was delighted that she came to visit.


We went to a local pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins, ate homemade macaroni and cheese (per our tradition), and enjoyed each other's company.




*Insert Corny Caption Here*

After the pumpkin patch, Casey and I met up with my best friends here in Raleigh, Natalie and Sharron for dinner. Natalie and I met while working at Spring Rolls Parkside back in 2015 and have been great friends ever since. Another one of our former co-workers recently opened a restaurant so we had to go and show our support.


Glenwood Seafood Kitchen


Glenwood Seafood Kitchen is located at 222 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 103, Raleigh, NC 27601 and conveniently in the center of the Glenwood South bar district - really it's prime location for anyone who wants to eat before they enjoy some cocktails or dancing.


Décor: this restaurant is beautiful and my friend did an excellent job decorating, which a few exceptions. There is a unique wood back-bar with pastel-lit cut outs running throughout which house an assortment of vases and liquor bottles. There are also floor-to-ceiling windows on the front half of the restaurant. There are also some kitschy elements that I didn't find quite so charming. There were several lines of fishing nets along the walls that included plastic fish. It really distracted from the beauty of the rest of the space. The fishing lines made me think I was dining at a fast food rather than an upscale restaurant.


Food appearance: our friend and owner, Michael Ma (who was also the chef the night we went) took care plating everything so it was a feast for both the eyes and the palate. The menu is entirely his and definitely puts his mark on every plate.


Food taste: the menu is a unique blend of seafood classics, creole and Cajun specialties and nods to Michael's Asian heritage. This diversity is both a good and a bad thing. The diner is left feeling a little confused as to the direction of the menu. However with such a wide variety of options, there is something for everyone. I ordered the Caesar Salad with Seared Scallops - kind of basic and boring, but I was unfortunately still a little full from lunch. The romaine was crisp, the dressing was absolutely house-made, the parmesan crisps were the perfect light crunch to balance everything out and the scallops were shear brilliance. They were succulent with a great crust. I have never had a more perfect scallop in my 25 years and I got a PILE of them for a reasonable price.


Since the menu is so unique, we each ordered something different and sampled each other's dishes. Casey ordered the Pan Seared Salmon, which she said was a tad dry but redeemed by the mango succotash. I was a tad surprised when our server didn't ask how she'd like the salmon cooked - I can only hope this was an oversight on his part.


Sharron ordered the Kalbi, Korean BBQ short ribs served with romaine lettuce wraps and a side of kimchi. At $25 this dish was definitely a steal. You easily got enough food for 2 people and she said it was one of the best dishes she'd eaten in a long time.


Natalie ordered the Double Cooked Chicken. She similarly said it was some of the most moist fried chicken she'd eaten in recent memory.


Had I not been so full, I would've ordered the Seafood Pasta, squid ink pasta tossed in garlic white wine sauce with shrimp, scallop and octopus - yummy!


Service: It was a little discouraging to see the restaurant so empty at 7:00 PM on a Friday night but I will chock that up to being a relatively new restaurant on the scene. I was immediately greeted by a hostess who led me to our table and asked if I had parked in their underground FREE garage.


Our server was attentive and very helpful when a few of us had questions about the menu. He was friendly and fun.


Cleanliness: this space is gorgeous and the staff definitely does a good job to keep it that way.


I would recommend a trip to Glenwood Seafood Kitchen for the daily drink specials, to gawk at the *mostly* impeccable interior, and enjoy some of this awesome food. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked divine and you can tell there was a lot of heart put into the menu. I sincerely hope that Michael Ma's fledging restaurant makes it in the industry.


Casey had done some independent research on places to eat in Raleigh and found Whiskey Kitchen. I unfortunately mis-read their menu and was slightly disappointed to learn they only offered brunch on Sunday mornings, but we were able to cash in on the $10 lunch menu offered on Saturdays.


Whiskey Kitchen


Décor: this wide-open warehouse space is filled with natural wood tables and picnic tables with a twinkle-light-lined outdoor patio. There is a large semi-abstract mural behind the long marble bar and a few televisions switched to sports. The lights are industrial and exposed.


Food appearance: there is definitely detail to attention here. Everything is plated with care and presented beautifully.


Food taste: I ordered the Tofu Bahn-Mi, which gave me fond memories of eating at the Bon Me! Food truck in
Boston earlier this year. The tofu was flavorful and the sambal mayo was the perfect spread for the crusty baguette. I would return to WK just for this dish. I opted for the malt vinegar seasoned Wedge Taters and smoked ketchup as my side. The taters were thick, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. And the ketchup was a revelation! I typically do not use ketchup because I find it to be overpoweringly sweet, but this is smoky, spicy and amazing.

Tofu Bon Mi with Wedge Taters

Service: we were the first table in the restaurant at 11:00 AM and it was a little awkward. Our server seemed slightly annoyed to have to be serving us and came across as if we were an inconvenience when we needed extra time - dude, what else were you doing?


Cleanliness: considering we were the first table in the door, everything SHOULD be spotless, which it was. I'd be interested to return during peak hours to see how they handle table busing.


Whiskey Kitchen has an expansive list of all varieties of whiskey and bourbon from around the globe. This is clearly where they focus the majority of their energy. The food is good, but in my opinion the menu is a little limited. There's not a whole lot of creativity in the dishes. But I of course encourage you to judge for yourselves.


The Raleigh Wine Shop where Nate and I are members of their monthly wine club was hosting a Cheese and Wine Pairing Class so I bought the 3 of us seats. The class was informative, fun and best of all - DELICIOUS. We tried 5 wine and cheese pairings of various varieties and strangely, my favorite pairing was a pungent Stilton Blue Cheese with a sweet and syrupy dessert wine.


We were also taught how to properly taste wine and cheese and how to narrow down the flavors and aromas. All-in-all a fantastic class.


We threw a psudo-Halloween party as well with cheesy horror movies that were picked via spinner, pumpkin-shaped pizzas and of course, beer.

We took a trip to The Upside Down and forgot what to do with our hands.

The last weekend of October was spent at dancing to 80s tunes with Nate at a Stranger Things-themed Halloween party, imbibing with Natalie and Sharron at the North Carolina Wine Festival (totally worth the $43 ticket!) and preparing for the Holidays. Can you believe it, readers?! Christmas is 7 weeks from today! WHAT?! How has this year zoomed by so quickly?! Are you freaking out? Because I definitely am.

I hope you enjoyed my recap of October and I will attempt to post more regularly. 

The Three Duos at the Wine Festival

Happy eating!