Hey guys, just letting you all know that I haven’t been posting because I haven’t had the energy to do much else other than play video games since I came down with the flu on Wednesday.  Summer flu is lame!  I will try to venture out for some festivities tonight but will not be surprised if I don’t last long.

Hopefully, I will have new blogs up starting on Monday, assuming I am alive and well by then.  Have a fun holiday weekend, America!  Drink an extra one for me, will you?

Peach Tea
Tyler’s Taproom, Carrboro
www.tylerstaproom.com

I was drawn to the Peach Tea cocktail while out with friends last weekend to celebrate my husband’s birthday.  I’m a big fan of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, which is saying a lot since I don’t like sweet tea in its natural form at all, by which I mean liquid so thick you could stand up a fork in it.  Firefly is all the rage for mixing these days and Tyler’s had three different drinks featuring it, if I recall correctly.  This one also included peach schnapps, club soda, and Sierra Mist.

Does that last sentence seem strange to you?  It didn’t even occur to me on ordering, but two sodas is a rather odd choice of ingredients, especially when you could just add extra Sierra Mist if  bubbles were the goal as club soda is just carbonated water.  Sure, Sierra adds some citrus, too, but this drink would have been so much better if triple sec or a house sweet and sour mixer had been used instead.  What I ended up with was a drink that tasted sweet and a teeny bit like tea on first sip but quickly faded away into plain soda.  Horrible?  No.  It just could have been so much better if half the soda was cut out or better mixers were added in.

2 stars

Rockbridge Lexington & Concord
Other words on the label:  Virginia Sweet Red Table Wine

The label on this wine, featuring sketches of impressive buildings and people who I am sure are fine patriots, leads me to believe that drinking it will cause me to rise up and fight for the right to duck taxes.

It smells strongly of grape juice with a hint of musty leather.  The concord grapes figure most prominently on tasting as well, though overall, the wine is a mix of their sweetness and a tartness that tastes of lime.  There’s something tickling my tongue as I drink but I can’t place it.

I have a feeling the alcohol of this wine is the type that sneaks up on you, obscured by the sweetness as it is.  It would pair well with a fruit-based dessert, though I wouldn’t think chocolate would be a good choice.  What, you say, is this a dessert wine?  By labeling it a table wine, I would think not.  Yet after drinking it, I dub it one without hesitation.   Rather than inspire me to rebellion, it makes me wish I had some fresh fruit around to bake a pie.

2 stars

Bavarian Brathaus
Cary Parkway and Tryon Drive
Cary
http://www.carybrats.blogspot.com/
Entrees:  $23-27, though you can get just a bratwurst for cheaper.

Disclaimer:  I went to Bavarian Brathaus with a German friend who thinks it is fantastic and has tried many things on the menu.  I think if I were a bigger lover of meat, I may have liked it more.  Also, portions are large!

This traditional German restaurant, complete with servers in traditional dress and beer steins and flags decorating the indoors, is a very welcoming environment.  The owners and several workers are actually German, which delighted my companion as she could speak her language freely.  The outdoor seating area is gorgeous.

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Hanover Park Mourvedre 2005
Other words on the label:  Yadkin Valley, Alcohol Content 13%

This is another wine from our recent trip to the Yadkin Valley wine region and fortunately, this one lived up to the tasting room sample!  We have not been so lucky with some of our other choices from the trip.

It smells like raspberry bottle caps, including the chalkiness of the candy.  There’s a strong hot cocoa smell that also rises up.

The wine is mellow.  I’d liken it to an orange or apricot that has been roasted, thus heightening the fruit’s richness. There’s a hint of lime as well.

3 stars

Reviewed 6.14.09.

Cancun Cocktail
Bandido’s Mexican Café
Woodcroft, Durham
http://www.bandidoscafe.com

The Cancun Cocktail, served in a hurricane glass, is the color of a salmon fillet.  Unappetizing description aside, it’s a great drink with dark rum, peach schnapps; orange, pineapple and papaya juices.  Peach schnapps would overpower a lighter base but it serves to mellow out the dark rum here.  All three juices are easily discernable in the mix and I loved that papaya was part of it.

This drink is ideal for a beachside vacation, especially since it’s as highly alcoholic as it is drinkable so that nearby hotel room would be a plus.

3 stars

Reviewed 6.16.09.

El Paraiso
111 S. Alston Street
East Durham (Note, I only think this is the East Durham area.  Feel free to correct me!)
Lunch/Dinner:  $2-7 per item

I’ve been dying to try one of Durham’s taquerias for quite some time, as they have been heavily praised.  On my way back from the Animal Protection Society for a biweekly check for my lost cat, I stopped for lunch at El Paraiso.  It’s not much to look at from the outside, basic building with barred windows, but I did like the bright green paint!  Inside, the walls are yellow and studded with those beer logo mirrors that I think must be sent out for free advertisement in bulk.  There are two rows of plywood booths and a few red-clothed tables as well.  Pool table in the back.  Soccer on the television.  This sort of relaxed vibe is exactly what I think of when I think cheap eats for lunch.

There’s no posted menu besides a list of available meats but the cashier did produce a printed menu, so just ask for one if you like to peruse your options like I do.  To drink, I had their aqua fresca of the day, pina colada, and it was very delicious if a tad too sweet.  Their salsa verde was, by far, the best part of my meal and I am not usually a huge fan of salsa verde.  This one was creamy due to avocado, bursting with flavor and perfectly spiced for my taste buds.  In contrast, the red sauce had little flavor besides charred chilies and too much salt.

I had a chorizo taco and a chicken sopa, both with cheese, onions, cilantro, lettuce, tomatoes, and a squirt of sour cream.  The tortilla for the taco was heavenly; they definitely make their own here.  The chorizo was bright red, nicely spicy but also drier than I’d like.  I’d never had a sopa before and I’d call it a mix of a tamale and a taco, basically a corn meal patty with a crispy exterior.  It was alright but I probably wouldn’t order one again, with so many other wonderful versions of filling holders available in Mexican cuisine.  The chicken was stewed just right, though.  Plenty tasty.

I liked El Paraiso but I didn’t love it, except for that salsa verde, of course.  I’ll probably stop in again but since I really want to find one of those taco carts or another taqueria, I won’t be running back for another helping anytime soon.

2 stars

Reviewed 6.15.09

Fiesta
Bandido’s Mexican Cafe
4711 Hope Valley Road
Woodcroft Shopping Center, Durham
www.bandidoscafe.com

The Fiesta is a tropical cocktail made with Malibu rum, crème de banane, and pineapple juice.  The noxiously yellow drink came in a hurricane glass with plenty of ice.  The banana is apparent on first sip but is overpowered by the pineapple juice that snatches control and doesn’t give it up.  An uninspired drink.

1 star

Thai Cafe
2501 University Drive
Durham
http://www.thaicafenc.com
Entrees:  $11-19

Thai Cafe is a restaurant that I’ve read lots of good things about on Eclectic Glob of Tangential Verbosity and so has been on my gigantic list of places to try for a while.  It is located across the street from Nana’s, Rockwood Filling Station and The Q Shack, all popular restaurants though I’d take Nana’s over the other two any day.  In that ranking, Thai Cafe comes in second for me.

The restaurant is pretty large and moderately lit with warm, golden mustard colored walls.  There are orchids and splashes of bamboo scattered about tastefully. The tablecloths resemble the boring thick brush stroke pattern found on many of my male friends’ comforters in high school.  Picky, picky, I know.

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Mandarin Crush
Thai Cafe
2501 University Drive
Durham
http://www.thaicafenc.com

The Mandarin Crush is a cherry brandy cocktail served in a martini glass with two cherries at the bottom.  It resembles a golden and pink-tinged sunset, which certainly set me up to enjoy its flavors.

And enjoy it I did.  The cocktail is mildly sweet with a bite from the brandy that I quite appreciated.  It was the ideal amount of orange and cherry to combine with a hearty brandy.  Will drink again, with pleasure.

The restaurant review will follow tomorrow!

4 stars

Reviewed 6.4.09.