Saffron (5/5)

Let's just say that the executive chef at Saffron is an amazingly talented chef. He recently moved here from NYC where he worked at one of the top Indian restaurants in the country, Tamarind. I am elated that such talent has come to this area.

The restaurant is absolutely phenomenal. I have dined at many Indian restaurants in my day and moved to the Triangle from the bay area (CA) which boasts one of the largest Indian populations in the country. You can imagine that there were many great restaurants and I had my favorite. When I moved out here, I was so sad to have left that greatness behind. It wasn't until last week that I not only found a great Indian restaurant in Saffron, but the best and the freshest I have ever had. The ambiance is nice, definitely more modern and upscale than your typical Indian restaurant and they boast a wine list of 95 different wines.

http://www.saffronnc.com/home.html

We started with a few appetizers - the vegetable samosas and chicken kabobs. The samosas were great, not too greasy but still a ton of flavor. The chutneys that went along with them were so fresh and so flavorful. They really helped bring out all of the spices. The kabobs were unlike anyother I have tasted. The chicken was cooked to perfection and literally melted in my mouth. They were a huge hit at our table.

For my main dish, I decided on Saag Paneer. Absolutely the best paneer I have ever tasted. It was so flavorful and had the perfect consistency. I typically only use a little rice with my dishes so I don't dilute the flavor and spice, but this one had a lot of great flavor and went a long way. I ended up taking at least half of it home. By the way, I'm not much for leftovers, but it was still delicious the next day.

We ordered a few other things such as a side of mint naan, which was excellent. The mint was very subtle, but added a nice kick to the naan. For the baby, a nice chicken naan that wasn't spicy, but had great flavor. It was easy to break apart and was a good sized portion for a baby. The mango lassi was a huge hit with the baby, and myself as well. Very fresh.

Our son special ordered chicken makhani. This wasn't on their menu, but they had no problem accomodating. This was a wonderful dish as well and definitely earned his approval! This leads me to another point, they brought out two orders of the dish by mistake. We told them that we had only ordered one and they simply said, no problem - compliments of the chef.

All in all, this is a must try. It is certainly the best Indian food in the area and probably one of the best in the country.

Five Star: ( 4.5 / 5 )

The best Chinese restaurant in the Triangle, Five Star, just got better.

We recently had dinner there and was surprised to see that the menu was very different (note: the menu on the website is old). It used to be very minimalist (especially when compared with other Chinese restaurants) and fit on a 5x12 piece of paper. They've migrated to a more traditional 8x10 menu with much higher-end entrees.

If you're looking for your old favorites, most of them are under small plates at the top of the menu. As described, the portions are smaller than previously. However, they've added a bunch of new items including lettuce wraps (warning: these did not sit well in my stomach), scallops, and duck rolls.

They have a whole section of noodle bowls that have a number of options for customizing your dish. I don't like inventing my own food, so I didn't venture into this portion of the menu.

The entrees look awesome. They are all a little more "gourmet" than the appetizers and are not your typical Chinese restaurant entrees. As expected, they are more expensive ( > $15 ). We had the duck with blueberry-lychee sauce. The duck was very tender while the sauce was flavorful and not too sweet.

Kid-factor: Our kids have always loved it here. Our son's favorite dish is the Five Star General's Chicken. Now that it's a small plate, the portion is far more appropriate (although less to share for us).

My rating: 4.5 / 5

Still the best Chinese option available in the Triangle and the new menu items are fantastic. The only reason I didn't rate it a perfect 5 was the decor. I'm not sure what audience they're targeting, but the decor and art were boring.

Welcome to Triangle Foodies

We're Amanda and Todd Olson -- a husband and wife team living in the Research Triangle Park area in North Carolina that are passionate about food and wine. A bunch of people have independently told us that we're "foodies," because we love sharing honest reviews about all the restaurants we've tried. We thought a blog would be a great medium to archive and share our restaurant reviews (it certainly makes it easier to remember).

If you're like us, then you'll agree that there simply are not many good resources for learning about great restaurants. We live in an area where Hardee's is consistently ranked the best hamburger on Citysearch. Pretty insane.

The Triangle is an odd place, with fantastic restaurants hidden away in strip malls that only locals know about. People often don't travel amongst the different locales. The area is growing so rapidly that there are many new dining choices almost weekly.

Focus
- Location: anything food-related in the RTP area including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and others.
- Type: All. Typically non-chain (certainly non-national chains)

Style
Typically we'll each review restaurants based on our own tastes. This will give both a male/female look at every establishment. We have 2 kids, so most posts will have some information on the kid-factor. From time to time our 10-yr-old may even be a guest blogger.

Note: we are not professional food reviewers, so please don't expect us to sample everything from a menu!

Bon Appetit,

Amanda and Todd Olson