Hi 5 Sports Restaurant & Bar - CLOSED

Update: The Hi 5 concept has been closed, its has since been reopened as Drafts Carolina Beers and Burgers.

Originally last Friday night Sara and I were suppose to say goodbye to Bogart's as it ends its decade long residency in downtown Raleigh. Unfortunately, so did the rest of the community. Not willing to sit at the bar top, we decided to go elsewhere. Lucky for us, specially since I forgot a jacket and it was a chilly night, Hi5 was just a couple steps down to the basement of the building. My original experience at Hi5 was the same as many people, an undergrad trying to exude my charm to the ladies with high alcohol consumption. Little did I know there was an actual restaurant. Since then I've had a mixed bag of experiences at the sports bar as both a bar and a restaurant, but this isn't a blog about my experiences of being cramped into a small dance floor chest to chest with freshmen with fake ID's and the middle aged men trying to pick them up.

(minus two other wontons, we were pretty hungry)

It felt like a slow start for the basement sports bar, which is why it perplexed me that it took us so long to place our orders. Another initial disappointment was the signature margarita. For $8 (guess they have to make money somehow) it was small, watery and weak. When Sara considers a drink weak, I question even the presence of alcohol. Once we finally received our food, we started with the crab wontons. It's crab, it's creamy, it's fried; a decent way to start our meal. I am a fan of the sesame ginger dipping sauce.

Sara enjoyed her entrée of the Chicken Taco Salad. The chili-lime vinaigrette was very full of citrus but I didn't get any burn of chili. The shell was nice and crispy and the lettuce was fresh. I couldn't give too much of an opinion on the dish since I only took a couple bites here and there.

I was excited to try the Blue Devil burger. Fried jalapeños has become my new favorite burger topping. However, I was faced with disappointment from the moment the plate came out. I decided get a half order of onion rings with my meal. Placing the dish at the empty table behind us, the waitress dropped an onion ring. As she delivered our dinner in front of us, she asked if there was anything else we needed, without any mention of the fallen onion ring. Looking at her and back at the forgotten ring, I begrudgingly said we were fine. Now don't think there was much she could do for me, unless there were some extra rings in the kitchen. But the absence of an apology for wasting .60 cent of my money really irked me. Say sorry, or if you want to go above and beyond offer a way to make it up, don't just hope I didn't notice. The onion rings themselves were good but the burger offered further dissatisfaction. Though they were able to get a nice medium cook on the burger, the toppings were nothing but a faint bump in the radar on my taste buds.

We also shared a side order of mac and cheese. We both enjoyed it, but I am more of a casserole mac and cheese guy, so I never really get to excited about stove top mac and cheese.

I think Hi5's food is better served late night and even further enhanced after a couple drinks. An evening out with the wife? Probably better served elsewhere on Glenwood.

Hi5 Sports Restaurant and Bar

510 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27603(919) 834-4335 ‎hi5raleigh.com

Escazu Artisan Chocolates

In the meager existence of this blog I've never commented on my profound love for sweets. Dessert comes second only to my favorite meal of the day, breakfast. I even was once on a crusade to find the best cookie in Raleigh (and still am if people would give me some solid suggestions). So in the epilogue of my Valentine's Day with my wife, we decided to go to Escazu. I was first introduced to Ezcazu's deliciousness when their store front was located on Glenwood South. I was actually hoping for a bakery, someplace I could enjoy a freshly baked cookie (which Escazu eventually did have and it was amazing) or a cupcake. But I stood in front of a collection of truffles. Unsure about spending two dollars on a single piece of chocolate, I reluctantly picked one. And in that one bite you understood the price and the artistry of their product.

I love the current love affair that America has with bacon. This love affair had led me to try various bacon confections, from cupcakes to an octagon cake that Sara made for me.

Chocolate , Reese's, and bacon cake.

That's why when we visited Ecazu that night and saw the rosemary, bacon, and sea salt truffle, I had no other choice other than to try it. The moment I bit into the bite-sized treat it exploded with the rosemary. A couple chews later you begin to get the saltiness of the bacon and sea salt, finished with the smoothness and sweetness of the chocolate.

The real reason I suggested to Sara that we visit Escazu was because they updated their Facebook (glory of social media) about their Pistachio Bar. While I am not the biggest pistachio fan, Sara is quite fond of them. As she was with the bar.

I really don't think you can go wrong with Escazu. It might not be that dollar kit-kat bar but dammit, thank goodness its not.

Escazu Artisan Chocolates
936 North Blount St.
Raleigh, NC 27604
(919) 832-3433
‎ escazuchocolates.com

518 West

As the finale of our first Valentine's Day together as husband and wife, I decided to take my wonderful wife Sara to 518 West. We've been there a few times but never visited the place frequently. This is due to the fact that I've never been impressed by a meal there. Yet, it being a favorite of Sara's and my hopeless romanticism, I figured I could bare another meal at 518 West.

I'm not saying that I strongly dislike the food, or for that matter, that I plain dislike the food. It's just that the flavors, smells, and culinary excitement I get from going to other restaurants I've never experienced while dining at 518 West. I really appreciate the freshly made pasta. The taste is definitely noticeable but for some reason it just hasn't ever been enough to motivate me to go back. With all that said, we had a pretty decent meal on our Valentine's Day.

We began the night with the Wood Grilled Shrimp. If you wrap anything in pork I am typically happy. If that thing you wrapped is shellfish, the plate is probably already gone. Nice sized shrimp with the bit of char and flavor from wood grilling, with the saltiness of the prosciutto and the kick of citrus from the lemon made this dish my favorite of the night. The tomato and sauteed spinach were nicely seasoned and were a pleasant addition to the dish.


While discussing what we would have for dinner, Sara confidently landed on the Shrimp Risotto. I, however, jumped around the menu unsure of what I really wanted. I started a long dialogue about how I felt like I should order pasta at 518 West since they make it in house. Apparently my babbling was convincing enough to have her lose confidence in her choice and start selecting from the pasta menu. After much indecision she finally settled with the Mediterranean Primavera. A decent dish full of feta, which is always a plus.

Sara's indecisiveness left me scrambling to figure out what I was going to order, as we have a policy that we do not order the same dish. So in risk of my uric acid levels, I decided to try the Mussels Pomodoro. Plates like this is what frustrates me about 518 West. The dish was unfortunately very bland. The pasta in itself was good, I liked the mussels but I couldn't taste any of the sauce and I had to dose the dish with lemon, squeezing with all my might every last drop of juice.

There are a lot of people who rave about 518 West. My wife being one of them. So it doesn't bother me that I am not one of those people.

518 West Italian Cafe
518 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC
27603 (919) 829-2518 ‎
518west.com

Tom Yum Thai

Previously I mentioned how I'm in constant search for Thai food satisfaction around the Triangle area. With my quest and my wife's craving for southeast Asian food we found ourselves at Tom Yum Thai for dinner. I've always been curious about Tom Yum Thai. It sits in a plaza across from Galaxy Theater by Cary Towne Center. The plaza itself has always appeared dormant with no appearance of activity in the stores or restaurants. The building looked like a renovated Jersey's Mike or Subway, which for some reason made me hesitant to try the place. But the allure of a Thai restaurant had me curious to try it.

Arriving at the restaurant we were seated and served by someone who I assumed was the owner. He was extremely personable, interested in our Thai food experience and how we found the restaurant. We enjoyed his company as our waiter as he was suggesting dishes and making conversation. The meal began with Kanom Jeeb, which are Thai style dumplings. The dumplings, along with the rest of the food, came out quickly and served hot. The owner, as he did for many of the dishes, was proud to inform us that the dumplings were made in house and not frozen like other restaurants. The dumplings were flavorful and fresh but not the best dumplings in Raleigh (David's Noodle and Dumpling bar comes to mind).

I ordered an entrée of the Thai Spicy Basil stir-fry with chicken. Tom Yum's spiciness scale ranges from mild to hot to Thai hot. Not wanting to be embarrassed by perspiration and watery eyes but still wanting a decent burn I figured hot would be that happy medium. While I could see how it would be an acceptable amount of heat for normal palate, I was left craving for a little more hurt. I enjoyed the dish, just nothing overwhelmingly unique about the dish. A nice satisfying stir-fry.

The true show stopper was the Duck Basil. Sara and I are both duck fans and we typically gravitate towards duck dishes at any restaurant we visit. This dish came highly touted from the owner and it certainly didn't disappoint. The owner, beaming with pride, described the painstaking process of how the duck is cooked. Raw, boiled, cleaned, filleted, coated and fried. When you bit into the bird you got the delightful crunch then an engulfing taste of garlic and spice. I will came back to Tom Yum just to have this dish again.

Sara found the pyramid of rice very cute.

So in the end was my quest for Thai food quenched? Well, as the owner put it to us as we were departing, "Now you know where there is good Thai food in North Carolina."

Tom Yum Thai
685 Cary Towne Boulevard, Cary, NC 27511
(919) 463-5523
‎ tomyumthaicary.com

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