Taste of the Caribbean is Delicious

Taste of the Caribbean (908 Fayetteville St) is quite awesome. I only happened into it looking for the Red Onion, which is in the same shopping center but might be closed for good. Anyway, I’m really glad I found Taste.

We were kind of overwhelmed by the menu, which all looked good and interesting. The waitress suggested the jerk chicken, which was awesomely spicy. The curried goat and brown stew chicken were also delish. My favorites, though, were the sides. There was something called a “festival,” which the waitress described to us as like a large hushpuppy. We ordered one, but there were three of us, and she sweetly split it up into three (making each one about hushpuppy size). Oh my god that thing was good. Kind like a sweeter hushpuppy, possibly with cinnamon in it, and practically melted in my mouth. The samosas were also really good, especially the beef, and I even liked the rice and beans (actually black-eyed peas), which I usually don’t even eat when it comes with a meal.

The place was cheerful and friendly and has a full bar. You should go! Here is an action shot of the fried good stuff:

Farmers Market Tomorrow

The Durham Farmers Market (at the Pavilion in Central Park, 501 Foster St) starts summer hours (8am-noon Saturdays) tomorrow. Apparently Amy Tornquist (Watts Grocery chef) will be cooking there starting at 9:30am. Durham’s local hipster marching band Scene of the Crime Rovers is supposed to play at 11am. They’re kind of fun even if you are one of our non-hipster readers.

UPDATE: I use “hipster” broadly and non-derogatorily.  I actually might be a hipster myself (not speaking for the rest of Carpe Durham).

Panaderia La Favorita!

I always thought this bakery (2022 Chapel Hill Rd) looked cute from the outside, but never ventured inside during the year I lived 1/2 a block away from it.  Not sure what my problem is.   It is a really cute place with a large baked goods selection for cheap (these were $3.20):

Also, the woman there was very helpful, or tried to be, when I was staring at the large bakery display.  I know some Spanish but apparently I don’t know any baked good terms.  They also have dry cooking ingredients/spices that might interest someone who cooks, and they have pinatas.  Probably nothing you couldn’t find at Compare, but less overwhelming and with fewer cow heads.

Best Banana Pudding…?

I recently found out that I really like banana pudding so I went to Tommy’s Mini-Mart (1832 Cole Mill Road, at an Exxon station) on a tip that they had the best in Durham. Although I don’t think that I’m really discerning enough yet to accurately rank puddings, I liked the low pudding-to-other stuff ratio, but would have preferred slightly less mushy wafers.  Does anyone have any Durham banana pudding suggestions?

ShrimpBoats

ShrimpBoats (2637 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd) is another place that I used to pass by every day without stopping until this blog changed my life. Maybe I thought the sign was so awesome that there couldn’t be any awesome left over for the food? Or it could be the fact that the other side of the sign is completely broken so I expected the inside to be falling apart as well. But it’s not! It was bustling at lunchtime and the cashiers were really friendly, seemed to know most people there. They have a lot of food options; more sides than any place I’ve been. Everything I had was good, though not life-changing. I am becoming a greens snob; these (which were turnip) were not bad, but not my fave. The yams were great. The banana pudding was not quite as good as at JC’s, though I liked that there were a few more non-mushy vanilla wafers, you know, for contrast. I heard a woman say that her favorite thing on the menu was the baked white chicken, and I definitely plan to go back and check out some of the many other options.

JC’s

The food I had at JC’s (706 E. Main St.) was not as anointed as the wall led me to expect–it wasn’t bad, but for the same type of thing you should go to Thompson’s (previously Coleman’s), where the fried chicken, beans, and collards were much better (though my collard gold standard is still The Know). Also,Thompson’s has beer. JC seems to stand for the Savior, and there is no alcohol at his (sorry, His) establishment. By far the best thing I had there was the banana pudding. It was my first banana pudding experience so I can’t really compare, but I thought it was good…probably not jello pudding, and the cook told me repeatedly that I was lucky to have gotten it fresh.

But still, I’ll be going back. Michael helpfully commented that the breakfast sausage is great.

Taqueria Abierto’s

This tienda and taqueria (1915 B Chapel Hill Rd, across from Lakewood) is actually called Tienda Latino, which is only slight less generic a name than its unofficial name of Taqueria Abeirto’s (abierto means “open”). It’s very subtle in this photo, but at night, the “abierto” sign is basically the only one you can see, and the person who told me about this place said that everyone he knows just calls it Abierto’s.

I wish I had noticed that this was a taqueria when I lived around the corner from it–at the time, I thought it was just a tienda, and eating out for every meal gives me no reason to go to grocery stores. It’s not one of the absolute best taquerias I’ve tried, but it’s definitely solid. The asada taco was a tiny bit dry, but they do have a good salsa bar to help out with that. The pollo gordita was much better–the chicken was actually not at all dry, the tortilla was better and greasier than the thinner taco tortilla, and the queso was just right.

Know Catering

I’ve mentioned I love The Know. Last time I was there my friend noticed that they catered and pointed out that the law school usually gets kind of not-so-good places to cater events. (I think a lot of times it’s Q-Shack. Not my fave, though I do really like the slogan “BBQ, tender as a Mother’s Love” (TM).) So, for a law school event I organized I decided to go with The Know and it was a really good idea. Especially since I have about five pounds of the best greens ever left over. Also, as the proprietor pointed out 3 or 4 times, the macaroni and cheese had literally just come out of the oven.

We Love Meat

Parker & Otis just got a shipment of bacon-related goods that caused me to go on a shopping spree. It includes lunch boxes, band-aids, and wrapping paper, among other things, and apparently they will shortly be getting in some placemats.

They also regularly have fancy chocolate with bacon bits in it. SO GOOD. If you’ve never tried it, the chocolate/savory combination is amazing.

Wingz and Thingz

I love Wingz and Thingz. I was actually in the neighborhood on my way to JCs, which was closed, so I decided to head across the street and possibly get some wingz. However, the guy outside (proprietor? not sure) said he had the absolutely best samosas ever, and I had to get them. He also recommended the lemonade and the iced tea and gave me a sample of each. SO GOOD. Especially the iced tea, which is mysteriously delicious because it has orange in it. Even better, a suicide (which is a combination of the two). Yum. The samosas were also good–the dough was as perfectly fried as advertised. Three samosas came with fries and a drink (suicide for me) for $7, plus a few carrot sticks and celery, which completely cancels out the fried.

The samosas are described on the menu thusly:

“What is a samosas?glad you asked it’s a wonderful mixture of seasoned ground beef wrapped in a crispy light dough, lightly fried to perfection. We promise when you eat one, you will say ‘Sum-mo-sir’”

Here’s part of the menu. It’s hard to read, sorry, but you can make it out. Note at the bottom the “Lexus rich man’s special.” There is also Boe’s Special, which says “Eat like Boe, look like Boe.” Of course I don’t know who Boe is, but I’m willing to bet that he’s large. I also am tending in that direction after eating there, despite the vegetables.

Also, because I am immature, I noted that due to the font, the name of the restaurant as painted on the outside looks a lot like “Wangz and Thangz.” Haha!