Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
A journey to Ethiopia...
... in a shopping center.
Abyssinia Restaurant is quite convenient to our neighborhood, just a short jaunt down Western Boulevard.
It has classic ethnic-restaurant ambience: none. It was also almost entirely empty on a Friday night, which was a bit disconcerting. I wish I'd taken a photo of the menu -- the cut-and-paste graphic design and the seemingly-endless innovations in English grammar and spelling were memorable.
But we'd heard good things about the food, and in general lived up to its reputation. Our table of four was served a giant platter, covered with Injera (a spongy bread), and arrayed with Kay wat (spicy beef), Miser Wat (cracked lentils cooked in a spicy red pepper sauce), and Yebeg Alicha (lamb braised in turmeric sauce), as well as a few garnishes including peppers, cheese, and collards. The presentation and eating experience is considerably different than a run-of-the-mill restaurant -- not just that it's family style, but we ate with our hands, using the Injera to grab little bites of the various dishes. My personal favorite was the spicy beef, but it all hit the spot.
The verdict: novel, fun, and tasty.
User experience recommendations: improve the ambience through decor and lighting; expand the beer list; hire a design student from NC State to redesign the menu in exchange for free food.
Abyssinia Restaurant is quite convenient to our neighborhood, just a short jaunt down Western Boulevard.
It has classic ethnic-restaurant ambience: none. It was also almost entirely empty on a Friday night, which was a bit disconcerting. I wish I'd taken a photo of the menu -- the cut-and-paste graphic design and the seemingly-endless innovations in English grammar and spelling were memorable.
But we'd heard good things about the food, and in general lived up to its reputation. Our table of four was served a giant platter, covered with Injera (a spongy bread), and arrayed with Kay wat (spicy beef), Miser Wat (cracked lentils cooked in a spicy red pepper sauce), and Yebeg Alicha (lamb braised in turmeric sauce), as well as a few garnishes including peppers, cheese, and collards. The presentation and eating experience is considerably different than a run-of-the-mill restaurant -- not just that it's family style, but we ate with our hands, using the Injera to grab little bites of the various dishes. My personal favorite was the spicy beef, but it all hit the spot.
The verdict: novel, fun, and tasty.
User experience recommendations: improve the ambience through decor and lighting; expand the beer list; hire a design student from NC State to redesign the menu in exchange for free food.
Friday, March 12, 2010
NC State Friday
Today Abe and I had a quick breakfast and we rode together to NC State. He had an interview at 9, but gave me a quick tour of Hill Library. They have an awesome hat collection on display in the special collections area, and the learning commons area is very cool. A guy was playing a video game on a big screen they have set up, distracting other students who seemed mesmerized by his progress. I clucked inwardly at their being so easily distracted, but then I saw their computer screens: Facebook. So his was not the first distraction.
And that purpose was to leave enough room to get a milkshake at The Creamery!
The Creamery is inside the library (they also have a coffee place with bakery items) which is pretty fantastic, and they also have an outside window you can order at. It's a good thing they do, really, because despite there being lots of glass that lets you see inside the library, and two doors, you can't actually get in from the Hillsborough Street side. Which is kind of weird, if you wanted to go into the library. The doors are emergency exit only, and duly marked and alarmed. I actually saw a workman go through the doors, setting off the alarm, but he seemed quiet unsurprised and cavalier about it, but that's how I know the alarm is in fact active.
So, the milkshake. Their Blue Ribbon milkshake is named that because it won first prize at the State Fair, I believe. After some flavor negotiations, and after a taste of Java Bean, which was actually kind of weird (not coffee, as you would expect, but more of a coffee-ish vanilla with coffee beans that I wouldn't ever order and am glad we tasted first), we settled on a mix of chocolate-chocolate chip and cookies and cream. It was my opinion that the vanilla base of the cookies and cream would balance the extreme chocolate of the former flavor, and I'm pleased to report that I was spot-on. The milkshake was very, very good. Delicious, in fact, and the flavors complemented each other perfectly. Abe agreed that it was outstanding, but we both thought the size was a little small. It comes in a 16-oz plastic cup, like you would get an iced coffee in, with whipped cream on top (optional but who would turn that down? I ask you). At least, I think it was 16 oz; could have been 12. Either way, we felt like it was too small and were definitely left wanting more (especially since we had to share it!). But that's okay, I suppose. The milkshake, like I said, was really incredibly good, so I heartily recommend checking out The Creamery sometime if you are nearby.
Abe and I parted ways again, and he went back to work while I made my way to Cameron Village to pick up a few groceries. It was a lot closer than I thought it would be -- couldn't have taken me longer than 10 minutes to get there. I walked back through the lovely Cameron Park, starting two blocks earlier than I had in the past (on Park St) and was rewarded by seeing some very nice houses, including two that were kind of tucked into a ravine-looking thing right next to a park. I really like walking through that neighboorhood -- so much green space to admire and play in. There is a house for sale that is only $650,000, so maybe we'll move. Har har har.
I met some people on Abe's team, then he got to business and I got comfy reading a great new book that just came in. I asked about public terminals so that I could check my email. I figured it'd be easy, since when I was at UNC there were dozens (and they had the porn-viewing and homeless problems that go with it). State is a public school and I'm an NC citizen, after all. But, sadly for me, there were only 3. 2 were out of order and the other was being used, so no luck for me. So instead I read my book and student-watched in a mezzanine-kind of area while I waited for Abe to come back. (I just finished the book before I started writing and it was fantastic! It's the new Maryrose Wood and I loved it.)
When he came back, we headed out and walked around the campus. There is a lot of brick, as you may have heard or noticed for yourself. There were some cool new buildings or new additions to old buildings, though, and the grounds were very nice, especially the Brickyard, the Court of NC, and the area around the horticultural building (which should be nice, when you think about it). We were both getting a little hungry, so we walked up to Hillsborough Street to get something small (explanation to come). H. Street doesn't seem to have too many exciting lunch options. Abe had eaten at the Mediterranean place and said it was so-so, and there is a Gumby's, Jimmy John's, a pizza place -- you get the idea. There is also a coffee place that was very cute -- Global Village. We didn't try their coffee (but it says "organic" so that's promising), but they had some premade, saran-wrapped sandwiches from a local catering company (I can't remember the name now). We had a smoked salmon-cream cheese one and it was decent, but nothing amazing. Probably would have been better fresh, but it served the purpose.
And that purpose was to leave enough room to get a milkshake at The Creamery!
The Creamery is inside the library (they also have a coffee place with bakery items) which is pretty fantastic, and they also have an outside window you can order at. It's a good thing they do, really, because despite there being lots of glass that lets you see inside the library, and two doors, you can't actually get in from the Hillsborough Street side. Which is kind of weird, if you wanted to go into the library. The doors are emergency exit only, and duly marked and alarmed. I actually saw a workman go through the doors, setting off the alarm, but he seemed quiet unsurprised and cavalier about it, but that's how I know the alarm is in fact active.
So, the milkshake. Their Blue Ribbon milkshake is named that because it won first prize at the State Fair, I believe. After some flavor negotiations, and after a taste of Java Bean, which was actually kind of weird (not coffee, as you would expect, but more of a coffee-ish vanilla with coffee beans that I wouldn't ever order and am glad we tasted first), we settled on a mix of chocolate-chocolate chip and cookies and cream. It was my opinion that the vanilla base of the cookies and cream would balance the extreme chocolate of the former flavor, and I'm pleased to report that I was spot-on. The milkshake was very, very good. Delicious, in fact, and the flavors complemented each other perfectly. Abe agreed that it was outstanding, but we both thought the size was a little small. It comes in a 16-oz plastic cup, like you would get an iced coffee in, with whipped cream on top (optional but who would turn that down? I ask you). At least, I think it was 16 oz; could have been 12. Either way, we felt like it was too small and were definitely left wanting more (especially since we had to share it!). But that's okay, I suppose. The milkshake, like I said, was really incredibly good, so I heartily recommend checking out The Creamery sometime if you are nearby.
Abe and I parted ways again, and he went back to work while I made my way to Cameron Village to pick up a few groceries. It was a lot closer than I thought it would be -- couldn't have taken me longer than 10 minutes to get there. I walked back through the lovely Cameron Park, starting two blocks earlier than I had in the past (on Park St) and was rewarded by seeing some very nice houses, including two that were kind of tucked into a ravine-looking thing right next to a park. I really like walking through that neighboorhood -- so much green space to admire and play in. There is a house for sale that is only $650,000, so maybe we'll move. Har har har.
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