Krispy Kreme Cheese Burger

I didn't make it to the NC State Fair this year, but this picture from Failbook was just perfect!

Via That’s Exactly Why - Failbook - Funny Facebook Status Messages ( Failbooking )

And Don't Watch It!

Just saw this hilarious Boiled Water Recipe thanks to Lisa Rosen. (Read the comments too, they're awesome.)

The Art of the Jello Shot

I had no idea that jello shots could be so artistic! But the girls at My Jello Americans have completely impressed me!

Jasmin Greek and Lebanese

1105 Walnut St.
Cary, NC
(919) 468-8004
TheMediterraneanBistro.com

One day, the Boy and I were in Hohhot, and we stopped to get a bite to eat from a stand on the street. A huge hunk of marinated meat was on a rotating skewer next to a flame, and the vendor sliced off meat shavings with a huge knife and piled them into a flaky bread pocket with some unidentified vegetables. I don't know if we were really hungry from walking around temples all day in the alternately hot and cold desert winds, or if the food was just that great, but we talked about how much we wished American fast food was like that. Well, minus the open flame and giant sword-knife, of course.



Chicken shwarma at Jasmin is exactly that kind of fast food. Did I mention that this is also the kind of fast food that has several kinds of fresh salad? Jasmin is as quick as a usual fast-food place, only you can have a gyro or falafel, hummus and salad in the time it would take to get a hamburger with a strip of warm lettuce on top.

Oh, right, the environment.

Just like our favorite Cary restaurant, Havana Grill, the Jasmin on Walnut Street still has a drive-through window from when it used to be something else. It's like a McDonalds, but with every hint of that creepy clown gone and replaced with bright paintings, fabrics and Mediterrean artwork. There's even a hookah set up in a corner table.

Food comes on plastic plates, on a plastic tray you serve yourself plasticware, straws and napkins from a repurposed container still labeled cream and lemons. The raspberry iced tea is good but unfortunately all fountain drinks come in unrecyclable styrofoam cups. After our meal, the Boy ordered his usual Turkish coffee, which came in a tiny painted mug, on a flowered metal tray.

Overall, a great alternative to a burger and fries, but not going to replace La Shish or Bosphorus for us.

Paneer Butter Masala: Restaurant-Style Recipe

Just as Nags the Edible Garden says, this is the secret recipe for Indian restaurant style Paneer Butter Masala. Yum.

Via Paneer Butter Masala: Step by Step ~ Edible Garden

Felipe's Taqueria

Harvard Square
83 Mount Auburn St
Cambridge, MA 02138
http://www.felipestaqueria.com/


It was recently pointed out to be that there's food in Harvard Square, and not just coffee. Wow! Who knew? With Peet's Coffee and Tea, a Starbucks, boba shop Boston Tea Stop and new-to-me Tea For All, I tend to overlook the actual food in the area.

I checked out Felipe's Taqueria mostly based on the amazinf smells coming out. Felipe's is a taco / burrito assembly line, with a Mt. Auburn Street entrance and Garage mall entrance. I was glad to see a lot vegetarian options, not just a half-hearted salad, but I wasn't feeling it today, and tried the pollo tinga tacos.

Prices were pretty inexpensive (Well, for Boston, that is. About the same as table-service Casa Margarita and Los Tres Magueyes in North Carolina. But, hey, I'll pay a LOT more to finally be in a place that doesn't overlook a parking lot.), ingredients tasted fresh, and everything's put together in front of you, so the chicken is hot and the tomatoes are cold.

There's also an amazing fixings bar. My standard for awesome, flavorful salsa is the salsa bar at La Veracruzana in Amherst. Veracruzana's salsa bar includes killer Salsa Diablo and a fresh tomatillo salsa. I've often gone for Mexican food in other places, looked over at the Boy, and told him how much better things would be with Vereacruzana salsa.


But Felipe's put them to shame. Classic salsa, tomatilla salsa, radishes, jalapenos, lime wedges... anything you could think up to make your tacos even more delicious.

It was extremely crowded when I went in, but the line moved pretty fast. When I got to the front, I realized this was because the servers were efficient, even if they communicated mostly in grunts, and seemed to get annoyed when customers wanted to slow their progress by asking about the ingredients. Don't be deterred by a lack of seating, the Newton Market green is just across the street, and it's a perfect spot to eat and peoplewatch.

Boost Mobile

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

Boost Mobile offers flexible payment options with Re-Boost, so instead of getting a bill in the mail and looking for your checkbook and your stamps, you can pay over the internet, in person, or over the telephone. You can also set up automatic, recurring payments from your credit or debit card so you won’t be late on any payments, and when you set up automatic payments, you’ll receive a $20 credit. There is an unlimited plan, for unlimited talking and text messages, and a pay-as-you-go system so you can decide how you want to pay, and you can control your cellphone costs.

Boost Mobile phones offer the ability to update your social media profiles wherever you are, just like with an iPhone or Blackberry. You can update your Facebook status or tweet, so everyone can know where you are and what you’re doing. And, let’s be honest, reading FB and Twitter is much more important that posting. (I’d much rather see what everyone else is doing right now that tell you that I’m waiting in line at the post office. ) It’s easy to use on a Boost Mobile phone, and you can while away the time on the bus checking Facebook. Speaking of playing with your phone, you can also download ringtones and games from the Boost website. I saw Bejeweled and Ms. Pac-Man available.

Tangerine Cafe

2422 SW Cary Pkwy
Cary, NC 27513
(919) 468-8688
http://www.tangerinecafecary.com/

I might have mentioned before that the Boy is not so fond of Asian food, but we both loved Tangerine Cafe. We started with Thai iced tea -- I've recently discovered that the secret to Thai iced tea is just strong black tea with consensed milk stirred in, instead of rainbows and magic dust, but that doesn't make it any less delicious.

The menu is Asian food's greatest hits album, with winners like chicken satay, pad thai, nasi goreng... What was I saying? Sorry, when I went to the webpage to check their menu, I got sucked into feeding the fish again.

Tangerine offers vegetarian and non-veg options for almost all their dishes. Shrimp-haters like me can also get a just-chicken version as well. This also means that they're cooking it up fresh when you order it, it hasn't been sitting under a heat lamp all day.

An amazing layout with mirrors and bamboo plants helps the small space avoid the cafeteria feel, and Asian decor -- including my favorite, the waving cat -- make it unique. We're planning a spring trip to visit out-of-state friends, and I look forward to reviewing a local eatery that isn't in a strip mall. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and food arrives quickly. A perfect spot for lunch or dinner.

Martin's Curry Rice

9549 Chapel Hill Road
Morrisville, NC 27560
(919) 349-2363

We checked out Martin's Curry Rice the other day. This is a brand-new restaurant on the edge of Cary / Morrisville, specializing in -- guess what -- curry and rice!

You design your own curry from a buffet of cold ingredients, including chicken, tofu, fish, mushrooms, chickpeas and veggies. There's no limit to the ingredients, so if you're planning on a chickpea and mushroom curry, but then you decide to try some chicken and broccoli too, that's fine.

There are three levels of curry, a sweet, a mild, and a hot. The mild is a great cilantro-y green curry, but it is quite mild, I'll probably try the hot next time. (Usually a hot curry in a place that specializing in curries is just too much for me) Custom curries come with rice and a salad side dish.

One side dish was amazing chunks of seed-free cucumbers and tomato in the cool cilantro yogurt. We called this Raita on Steroids since "yogurt salsa" didn't do it justice. The curry was delicious, but it's the killer raita that will bring us back.

The location is brand new, and the set-up and decor reminded me so much of Chinese fast-food, cafeteria style dining. The owner later said he was inspired by Japanese curry shops when designing his place.

Great food, not expensive and a lot of options, including vegetarian options. We'll definitely be back to try the dinner tapas.

Ramblers Way

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.

This isn't my usual post here, but I'm interested in sustainable, environmentally-friendly products, even when you can't eat them. Yes, I know, you're shocked that I'm interested in things other than food!

Ramblers Way Farm is a family business -- from the founders of Tom's of Maine -- making thin, soft wool clothing. They promise that their soft woolen clothes can be worn next to the skin, unlike a lot of my favorite wool sweaters.

I'm most interested in either the thin wool cami in this picture, or a long-sleeved thin wool shirt. I did a lot of backpacking in China and in the UK, and I always wanted something that was warm but didn't take up a lot of space in my bags. You know, I'd try to pack lightly so I wouldn't be hauling a huge bag through train stations and around town, but then it would be cold and I'd have that interesting fashion ensemble known as wearing every single t-shirt and henley in in my backpack at once. (For the full effect, I would try to snatch a couple hours sleep on the bus or train, and wake up with bedhead as well. I'm overwhelmingly sexy.)

Anyway, these superthin wool shirts should also dry quickly, which will be useful for all those times I end up doing laundry in the hotel sink and then hanging my clothes up to dry around the bathroom (Oh! Speaking of that, remind me to tell you a story). The shirts are also nice blonde color, and we all know that when you're packing light, you need go-with-anything neutrals for wardrobe versatility.

The reason I decided to take this sponsored post, and not one of the gazillion pharmacy or refinancing posts, is because all the products from Ramblers Way Farm are produced with an eye towards the environmental impact and humane treatment of all livestock. This is an environmentally sustainable company, and they participate in all parts of the production, from raising the sheep to finishing the clothes.

Jitters Coffee

920 Kildaire Farm Rd
Cary, NC 27511
(919) 468-5454

Since the sad end of the Chocolate Bean, I've been looking for a new Cary coffee stop. I am a fan of the Maynard Street Caribou, but so is everyone else, and the lines are usually too long to make it a practical stop.

When we lived in Amherst, there was an indie drive-up coffee hut... the name has slipped my mind because the rainbow-painted coffee hut on Route 9 was such a landmark that no name is needed. Jitters is a similar small coffee and tea hut in the Food Lion / Unaabi Grill / Los Tres Magueyes parking lot.

Jitters gets all the basics right: Staff say good morning without that scary, crazed I-have-to-smile-or-I-get-fired expession. (We're looking at you, Walnut Street Starbucks.) When I ask for no whipped cream, I don't get whipped cream in my coffee. Coffee is served quickly. Everything is clean.



And Jitters gets the extras right, too. It's no secret that I love coffee drinks. I tried their minty Valentine's special, and I'm currently drinking a St. Pat's Nutty Irish. Both are delicious in the way that makes it hard to remember that coffeedrinks are supposed to be a special treat for me, not an every day stop. Jitters also advertises a bunch of flavorshots, black cherry for example, for other fans of coffee drinks. The Boy is more of a plain latte drinker, and he really enjoyed Jitters' latte.

Jitters might not have the wild rainbow paint job of the Route 9 stop, but it has it's own personality, with a painted coffee-drinking kokopelli on the side, and coffee-loving slogans, stickers and poems all around the Jitters hut. Coupons say Get the Jitters and feel great!

We love getting the Jitters, and we want you to know about them... but please don't tell anyone else, ok? The wait has been very short, and we want to keep it that way!

Tzatziki Sauce

The boy's favorite restaurant in NC is either Greek Fiesta, or La Shish, and his favorite in Beijing was Biteapita. I guess you know what he likes to eat!

Tzatziki Sauce

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (All the recipes I found asked for special thick yogurt, but I used regular and just drained it a bit. It came out fine.)
1/2 cup grated cucumber (It's hard to measure because it's so squishy, grate a couple inches of cucumber and then squish away the excess liquid.)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
garlic salt
mint

(Most recipes I found also called for 1 -2 tablespoons of olive oil but I skipped that because it seemed like needless fat. The sauce was very smooth anyway. Maybe it's because I used the wrong yogurt!)

I was a bit worried about this one as yogurt + lemon juice could easily make a curdled mess. I got around that by grating the cucumber into a tupperware container, and coating it in lemon juice, then garlic salt. Then I added the yogurt + mint.

I sealed the tupperware and stuck in the fridge for about an hour to let everything combine. I was so pleased to find perfect dipping sauce, instead of curdled disaster! YAY!

Breaking News

The spice that makes Xinjiang barbecue taste like Xinjiang food is cumin. Just thought I'd share my exciting discoveries.

A Week of Groceries

TIME magazine did a collection of photos of families around the world, posing with a week's worth of food for that family. It's fascinating, and it got me thinking about how a week of food for the Boy and me would look. I'm proud of how much of our diet is fruit and veggies (especially now, with cheap, fresh local produce coming in!), and how often I cook dinner, but there's also a lot of coffeedrinks and takeout in our diet.

Watching The World Cup In Cary

The Boy was looking for a local place to watch the World Cup games. He was thinking Carolina Ale House or the comfy chairs at Tobacco Road, but I found this instead. Giant screens and beer.

Are you ready for some fútbol? The Galaxy Cinema will turn into a one screen pub for the whole month of June. The independent theater will show select matches from the World Cup 2010 matches on one of their screens. They may serve more beer in the month of June at the Galaxy than in a normal year.

Via Galaxy Cinema in Cary to Show World Cup Matches on Big Screen | New Raleigh

Get the whole schedule here.

Amante Pizza Cary

Amante Pizza Cary Location
9545 Chapel Hill Road
Morrisville / Cary
380-3382
AmantePizza.com

The Boy and I got a doorhanger advert from Amante Pizza the other day. It said they delivered to our area with an $8 minimum order (this becomes important later), and had some tempting pictures. We were pretty excited because we're looking for a go-to pizza stop by our new place.

We looked up the menu online, and couldn't decide what to order. Everything looked so good! We finally picked a tomato-basil-mozzerella pizza and a specialty pizza, the Portabello. I was excited to see so many vegetarian options.

But our total seemed to be a bit higher that I was expecting. After first being informed that "there's tax on it" I found that there's also a delivery charge, that wasn't mentioned on the website or advertisement (or on the second advert that came with our pizza that night). I asked how I could find out that I'd be paying this fee, since it wasn't on the site or the menu, and I was told to wait a moment.

After being left on hold for a while, someone else (A manager? An unlucky employee? Not sure.) picked up and asked me how he could help me. We went through the whole story again, and I was told, again, that it's always been like that, since, like, a couple years now, since, like, gas became so expensive.

I asked where that was listed on the website. He didn't know. I asked how other customers found out about it. He didn't know that, either, but because it's been that way for, like, so long, that, like, everybody knows about it. I asked if it was listed somewhere on the doorhangers that are all over the complex, and he didn't know that, either.

But, on the other hand, I would have paid an upfront charge much higher than $1.50 (the Boy says he would have topped out at a $5 delivery fee). The food was great. Veggies were fresh and tasty, especially the auberine slices on the Portabello pizza. Pizza came with piles of non-greasy cheese.

We had friends over, and we all talked about how good the pizza was. Perhaps I was too quick to judge? I mean, we are in the market for a favorite pizza place, and the food really is great here. And, after all, I just made the assumption that news of a delivery fee should go with "$8.00 minimum order for delivery, limited delivery area" on the advert, or that there's some place on the website where I could find out about a delivery fee, or that the person taking my order would let me know before charging me.

As I was picking up after dinner, I happened see our receipt and notice that a large Portobello pizza, listed on the website for $16.99 actually cost $17.49. Again, fifty cents isn't a deal-breaker (We'd have been quite happy if this had been the menu price), but it made me feel scammed all over again.

Favorite Raleigh Eateries

Couple Money budget blog mentioned spending a significant portion of their disposable income on eating out. We do too -- we also spend quite a bit on exotic ingredients for me to cook. Anyway, Couple Money lists their favorite places to eat in Raleigh:

It’s hard to pick all the places we enjoyed, but I figured if anyone is in Raleigh, they should definitely check out these places.

• Vic’s: Tons of wonderfully delicious Italian food at great prices. I love, love, LOVE their pizzas. My hardest decision with this place is choosing what to eat. This is the spot we go to when there are free concerts in the area.
• 518 West: We’ve taken family and friends here for anniversary dinners (upstairs is a bit more private). They have great dishes (the crab is fantastic) and a nice drink menu.
• Los Tres Magueyes: Our Mexican lunch spot- it’s quick and it’s delicious. We get our Speedy and chimichanga combos and we’re happy.
• Jibarra: It’s not a typical Mexican restaurant, which I like. It’s more urban in style and the dishes are fantastic. It’s hard to describe the flavor of the food beside saying it’s spicy and incredible.
• Sawasdee: Several friends had mentioned to us that this is the place to go for some good Thai food. They have two locations now in Raleigh, which makes it more convenient (and tempting).
• Mura: If you’re looking for great sushi and a wonderful atmosphere, Mura is  the spot. We’ve gone there and had great service and a wonderful time. If you’re in the area, on Sundays they have the buy one sushi roll, get one roll 1/2 special that we take advantage of. We also grab a glass of house wine for 1/2 off too. My personal favorites are the Screaming O, Surf & Turf, and Piano roll.
• Asuka: This Japanese restaurant is a favorite lunch date spot and they have a great buy one, get one roll free special (including dinners). It’s a bit out, but it’s definitely worth the drive.

Mmm.... We're fond of Los Tres Magueyes and Asuka too. We're still working out what our very favorite food spots are,  but some of the top contenders are:

Tangerine Cafe (Fresh, tasty food at low prices -- Have you been here, Couple Money?)
The Duck and Dumpling
Boudreaux's Louisiana Kitchen and Taqueria Guadalajara in Charlotte, NC
and drive-through Jitters for coffee, now that the Chocolate Bean is no more.


Via What We Spend Money On: Eating Out on Couple Money

Xinjiang Kebabs

Awesome expat blog post on the secrets of why Xinjiang barbeque tastes so amazing. The secret is not that it refreshes the expat after endless meals drowned in a mixture of ginger, spring onion, bai jiu, soy sauce and peanut oil, but that doesn't hurt.

Caramelized Onion Sauce

While I was cooking dinner tonight, I found myself putting together a variation on a classic expat supper. This basic recipe, tossed with seasonal veggies, made an easy supper when we were hungry for home food.

Onion
Sugar
Red wine of dubious quality
Pasta
Garlic (optional)
Tomatoes (optional)
Oil or butter


Slice the onion into thin rings, and lightly saute in butter. If you're going to add garlic, add it now. When the onions are translucent, add sugar to coat. When the sugar is absorbed, add the red wine. If you're adding tomatoes, add chopped tomatoes now. Simmer as the sauce thickens, pour over cooked pasta.

If you're at home, this is greatly improved with parmasean and basil, and maybe cooking up some meatballs, too. If you're living in Asia, without dairy products or Italian spices, something about the garlic, wine and pasta in this is deceptively Western and will curb your cravings for home food.

Cupcake Bar

We stopped in at Coffee and Crepes with some friends last night, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover cupcakes from The Cupcake Bar on offer.

I've been interested in trying out the Cupcake Bar since I first heard of this local bakery, but it seemed like something that would have to wait for a special occasion. A dozen cupcakes between just The Boy and me seems like an awful lot, and they're pretty expensive so I'd feel obliged to eat them all immediately just to make sure they wouldn't get the slightest bit stale... And I haven't actually tried it, but I imagine that eating ten cupcakes in a row might not be excellent for my health.

It was hard to choose between the vanilla-lemon cupcake and the mint-chocolate one, but I finally did.

Cupcakes are kind of wasted on me, because they're automatically delicious, but this was a particularly good one. Soft cake and sweet-but-not-sugary icing. Mmm.

Goodberry's Frozen Custard

Goodberry's Frozen Custard
1146 Kildaire Farm Rd
Cary, NC 27511
(919) 467-2386

Let me throw it out there: I love Southern food. I love biscuits, grits, hush puppies, and sweet tea. I love Chik-Fil-A and the Boy loves Waffle House. Goodberry's is another Southern taste that our friends and family told us to try.

I was first disappointed by the scarcity of flavors. Chocolate, vanilla, a rotating special flavor, and a sugar-free vanilla. All this excitement for four flavors?

The secret is in the concrete. A concrete mixes Goodberry's frozen custard with flavored syrups, fruit and/or candy pieces, to make a tasty solid sundae with the consistency of... well, you know.

With the huge array of add-ins, Goodberry's has endless flavors. They have suggested concrete combos, but you can make your own combinations with whatever strikes you. I'm partial to a chocolate custard, coffee syrup and peanut butter cup combination. In the interest of research, we visited a couple times. (The Boy and I are very dedicated.)

The Boy says one can also get milkshakes and non-concrete dishes, but I don't know why.

Servings are what we knowledgable food bloggers refer to as "freaking huge." Definitely worth a visit for a sweet treat!

FruitSlinger

I've been meaning to tell you all about Fruitslinger for a while now, but there always seems to be something else to cook, or eat, or write about. This blog involves some of my favorite things: Seasonal recipes, the perfect-imperfections of really good food photography and zany real-life interactions.

Free Pizza

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Tony's Pizza. All opinions are 100% mine. (Because this is our food blog where we always share our opinions.)

The folks at Tony's Pizza think the Boy and I need some free pizza. I don't know, maybe it's our college student vibe? Anyway, they were nice enough to send us some coupons to try their pepperoni, plain and supreme pizzas.

We were pretty excited because, if you haven't noticed, we really like trying new foods. But we don't really eat a lot of frozen foods. We love to go out, and the Cary / Raleigh area has a lot of great places to eat. I also really like to cook (I've been considering adding Boy and Girl Stay In to this blog, but as much as I love to cook and eat, I'm miserable at food photographs, so every one of my recipes would end "Trust me, it's good."). These were quick to make, and tasty, and the ones with toppings actually had the toppings, not just a lonely piece of pepper on top of the cheese. (I'm looking at you, Lean Cuisine pizzas.)
Now we'd like to share some of these coupons with you! To win free pizza, you'll need to leave a comment with your email, and your favorite place to eat out. Of course, you don't have to be local to comment and enter, but the chances of us checking out your suggested spot are much better if you're near Raleigh.

You can also have an extra entry each time you spread the word. Post on Facebook, mention us on your own blog, tweet this, send up smoke signals, whatever. Just leave a comment with the URL letting us know where you linked us for an extra entry.

Until We Eat Again

Until We Eat Again is a food blog I've been meaning to tell you all about. It's written by a long-distance, vegetarian couple, sharing their recipes and dining adventures. It's hard not to read it and start to get hungry, which is the real test of a good food blog. Anyway, they're running a nut butter contest, where a lucky commenter will receive a jar of New York nut better and a jar of Canadian nut butter. In case you've been wanting to run an internation nut butter taste test!

Oh, and we'd also like to invite Caitlin and Will to come over or come out with us for rocking veggie Indian fare if they find themselves in North Carolina!

(For more food blogs that I've been meaning to tell you again, check the Foodie links in the sidebar.)

When Restaurant Web Pages Attack

We love restaurants. We love trying new restaurants. We find out about restaurants by driving by, and then looking them up online, or by verbal recommendation and then looking them up online, or skipping that tedious social interaction part, and just looking them up online. Anyway, we have this situation quite often:

Me: What are your hours?
Website: Take a look at our menu! It’s a PDF of a screenshot of a scan of a Word document printed on a dishtowel. With fonts!
Me: I don’t care. What are your hours?
Website: Don’t worry, the menu loads in a new window so the music won’t stop. Can I show you some broken images?

Via venomous porridge - A conversation I have every month or so (The whole conversation is well worth reading, I just didn't want to quote the whole post.)

Review Writing Gold Star

The Boy and I were browsing Urbanspoon for a new place to try when we stumbled across this hilarious review. Jim Penny sent in a mobile review describing Danny's Bar-B-Que:

I wouldn't bother for my own purposes, but if I'm entertaining really dull people, they're at risk to be taken there.

We've not tried Danny's BBQ, but that is an amazingly descriptive review!

Via Danny's Bar-B-Que - Cary | Urbanspoon

Salute is closed!

Salute is closed!

Oh no! The Boy and I really enjoyed our evening at Salute, and we were looking forward to going again, but this is what we saw when we arrived last night.

There's also a notice about renting the space, so it's not just closed for renovations. We're very sad to see Salute go!

Wasabi

107 Edinburgh South Dr
Cary, NC 27511
(919) 460-7980
www.wasabicary.com

It's the Girl here with a Boy-less review! I discovered Wasabi mostly because it's in the same complex as Casa Margarita.

The Boy is not usually interested in Asian food. We'll have it from time to time, but I could eat sushi every day. I visited Wasabi with a friend, who could also eat sushi everyday. We really enjoyed the bamboo decor and peaceful ambiance, and like the best of Cary restaurants, inside Wasabi feels like it's far, far away from the outside's stripmall parking lot. Our waiter was friendly, offering to answer any questions we had, and drink refills came quickly.

The actual food is, well, sushi. There are no mind-blowing texture and flavour combinations, but Wasabi offered a solid selection of fresh veggie and fish rolls, all the basics, presented well. There were plenty of vegetarian options, which seems to be pretty typical of sushi places, but I don't eat a lot of meat, so I always like to see it. (I have been talked into accompanying the Boy to a steakhouse, now and again, but I usually perfer lighter fare)

Overall, I enjoyed our meal and our drinks, and I'd go there again, but I don't know if it's you-need-to-try-this-now good. Decent prices for nice sushi, and a good time with my friend.